So here I was, as always. Back home, sleeping with that blue screen telling me my stats. I never watched them so much because of Wildstray. I know it's silly, but it was a good piece of advice. He told me not to get too attached to the stats, as they only serve as a reference for your power. The levels aren't going to make me different if I can't feel like I'm strong enough or have enough mana—it's not because a screen says so. This is real life, and here, the feel is more important than anything else.

  I started to pack as always, ate with the family, and went back to grind in the dungeon. While I was in the dungeon, a group of heroes was there too. They were ahead of me at that time, but what matters isn't who gets there first—it's who completes it. The group of the hero and his companions went straight to the seventy-fifth floor. Meanwhile, the Ruby Kingdom was turning gray from the war against the demon lord. All smiles were vanishing little by little as more people went to hold those front lines that had been active for centuries. They were fighting in long-lost cities that were now only ruins and forgotten memories from when everything was fine, and the only real threats were other humans or random monsters in villages.

  Our MC—wait, that's me, David—is totally unaware of any of this, and his grinding only took him to boring fights against the same monsters, one after another. Coming back home and doing the same thing on repeat for fifteen floors. During these floors, I took some of the hidden tablets that unlocked that weird circle in the middle. I didn't know it, but that circle was actually pretty important. I took two other boost cards from the dungeon. Back home, I talked to XD and Lupita about using these packs. Lupita, XD, and Wildstray told me to open it up right then and there—if something went wrong, well, whoever came out would be as good as a dungeon monster, nothing more.

  I opened the first one. The first person to appear from a pack after all this time since I got Lupita. To my surprise, it was a soldier. I don't know from what country exactly, but one thing was clear: he was a modern soldier, probably from the Second World War era or close to it. I saluted him awkwardly and led him to the table to eat something. The soldier, who hadn't said a word in all this time, ate like he hadn't eaten for days. He was really hungry, devouring the food with a mix of desperation and disbelief in his eyes.

  After he finished his meal, he looked up at me hesitantly, his voice rough and accented. "Am I... you know, dead? Because this has to be heaven, right?"

  I shook my head, trying to explain it gently. "Well, that's relative. You probably died, but you're still alive in a way. You see, you came out from a pack of cards—like those sports trading cards you might know from back home."

  I hadn't noticed it at first, but he was definitely from Spain. Why would I say that? Well, he had the flag on his arm with those black arrows pinned there—a Falangist symbol, I realized later. He straightened up a bit, gaining some confidence, and with the stiff posture of a soldier, he saluted me properly. "Name's Daniel. Male, nineteen years old. I was on my way to Sidi Ifni."

  Not many people know about that war—it was kind of a secret back then. But in that conflict, a good assault rifle surfaced: the CETME Model C, chambered in 7.62x51mm. It was a solid firearm. I didn't know what to do with this revelation at first. I asked him if I could try it out. We went to the store we'd unlocked a few floors ago and started checking out the absolute crap they sold. I don't think this store has the same prices as on the surface because damn—ten gold for a drink with a mug is actually really expensive. Unless they don't use coppers and silvers as coins in the kingdom I'm under. I bought a few anyway, brought a big piece of wood, and set the empty mug on it as a target.

  I looked through the holographic scope and—BAM!—it fired. It was effective, punching right through. I picked up the casing and told XD to analyze it. Then I went back to Daniel and asked if he was willing to live here or if he wanted to leave.

  He paused, rubbing the back of his neck, his eyes distant as if replaying his last moments. "Now that I don't have orders from my superiors... I'm kinda lost. Everything I knew—my unit, the fight—it's all gone. If this isn't heaven or hell, what is it?"

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  I nodded sympathetically. "I get it. War's hell, and waking up here must feel like a fever dream. But if you want, follow me. Be my soldier. Help me in this dungeon world."

  He eyed me warily at first, then his expression hardened into resolve, like a man grasping for purpose. "Can I do that? I mean, am I even real anymore?"

  I assured him he was. "There's one rule: Don't do anything inappropriate with Lupita. She and I are together, and I don't want to kick anyone out."

  He chuckled dryly, a hint of his old soldier's humor breaking through. "Fair enough, sir. No funny business. I've got your back." He agreed, and I replied that if that's what he wanted, I'd give him something to start with. It's not like I'm a blacksmith or anything, so I prepared an axe like before and told him to accompany me.

  He glanced at his rifle. "That's okay, but why aren't we taking the gun if we're going to hunt monsters?"

  I smiled. "Obviously, you're going to train first. Can't throw you in raw."

  This time, instead of taking that shortcut as always to train with the skeleton, I told him to kill one of the skeletons with the axe. He was strong and could do it without a problem. Then I told him to pick up the sword the skeleton had. It was rusty and kinda lame for a fantasy world, but it was better than nothing. As you can imagine, he couldn't start on the first floor since I'd already claimed it, so I told him never to underestimate the dungeon and to follow my steps.

  He was fascinated by everything, his eyes wide as he took in the glowing walls and eerie atmosphere. "There wasn't stuff like this where I'm from. I only read novels about this kind of thing—fantasy adventures, knights and dragons. Never thought it was real." His voice carried a mix of awe and lingering shock, like he was still processing his resurrection.

  He started with the sword, dominating it against the same skeleton I'd learned on. I told him how to end the fight and not to die, so he should be careful. With that, I went back home to create a separate house for him. I'm positive I don't want any other man under my own roof. While I constructed his house with magic, it went dark. So I went back home, where Lupita had a hot meal ready for me. She leaned in with her sensual lips and whispered in my ear, "Don't worry, I'm yours."

  I went to bed, and the day ended.

  I started going to the dungeon again. Every time, it was getting more boring until I found, on floor sixty, a great demon. It was dragon-like but bipedal, with only two legs, no wings, and a very, very big mace. That club was made from some weird material and clearly strong. The battle started. I didn't even know what to do at first. But if there's one thing the dungeon—and all those years before on Earth with video games—taught me, it's this: You need to remove every doubt from your head. It's us or them. And I'll do everything possible not to fall to them.

  So the big demon of the abyss was trying to hit me with the big club, but I recognized that pattern of attack. I'd already battled someone like him. Of course—how could I forget? In the game Dark Kingdom, the first boss fight against a demon was with one that had a similar setup. Maybe all those tries to solo it are going to pay off right now.

  I started to roll to one side and another like I was possessed. Doing it made me evade every single attack. This made the demon mad, and it spammed vertical attacks on me. It was big but slow, so I was with my sword and magic, trying to hit it in its tail and legs so it would go down. The sweat, the heat, the stress, the adrenaline—I was feeling everything to the most extreme point. In that way, I was completely alive. When I used to live on Earth, I played games to feel something similar. But this in real life doesn't have a point of comparison. I'd love to tell you that this isn't worth it—the pain, the cuts, the burns. But to be real, I prefer every single kind of pain to the calm before the storm.

  With my magic attacks, I made it paralyzed. It left me a clear window to attack with my sword. I cut off its tail. This made the demon scream in agony. The moment it screamed, I went with all my strength and stabbed its chest with Wildstray. To my surprise, it didn't die and attacked me anyway. Wildstray was panicking, thinking he was going to stay embedded in the chest of that creature forever and I was going to die.

  I didn't—for just a millimeter, I dived to the floor, and the club hit the ground, even breaking it. This fight was going to be very tough. I realized that Wildstray was made of steel anyway, so it might be a perfect spot to shoot an electric spell—everything would be channeled to the interior of the monster. At least that was my reasoning as I started hitting the sword with shocks. Wildstray was cursing at me, but it was effective. Once it got paralyzed again, with all my strength, I shouted, "NUCLEAR KICK!" and kicked the sword (Wildstray) so hard it went through to the other side.

  Making one of my childhood dreams come true: I killed a demon, and on the first try.