The crowd was transported to another chamber, a grand ballroom filled with music and food. Chris was still dizzy from the flood of information he had just witnessed. He spotted a chair nearby and quickly moved to sit down.

  “Is your head still hurting?”

  Arwenwel sat beside him, her face clouded with worry.

  “I’m better now. I thought my skull was going to split open. If you don’t mind, could you bring me a glass of water?”

  Arwenwel nodded and left. Chris was finally alone, able to sort through his racing thoughts.

  'Okay, let’s see what you can do.'

  An empty sheet with multiple tabs appeared before him, visible only to him.

  Cool. It looks just like the layout from Forsaken Dungeons.

  He opened the Status tab, and entire pages of information materialized, so much that he could waste years trying to read it all.

  'That’s too much. More pages than I wrote for my dissertation.'

  As if responding to his thoughts, a new pop-up appeared.

  -Would you like to have it simplified?-

  'That might work.'

  The endless text collapsed into a small box. His entire existence was now summarized in a few lines:

  Name: Chris Sully

  Species: Human

  Gender: Male

  Age: 25

  Job: Soul Reaper *

  'Okay, let’s see my stats.'

  They were neatly divided: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, and Luck. Only his Luck stood out, with 15 points. His Strength was 9, Agility 5, and Intelligence 7.

  Wow. I’ve got the stats of a trash character. At least I’m lucky.

  Arwenwel returned, carrying a glass of water.

  “Are you doing better?”

  “Yes. I was checking out what my ability can do, but I’ll finish later. Where’s Alek?”

  “He found the buffet. He’s… shoving food down his throat as we speak.”

  “I’ve seen the way he eats; it’s dreadful. Still, we should try to enjoy ourselves.”

  “These kinds of parties aren’t really my cup of tea.”

  “Not mine either. But if this is the last day of my unemployment, I might as well have some fun before I start working.”

  Chris stood up, took three steps forward, then stopped. Turning back, he bowed dramatically and asked:

  “Would you honor me with the next dance, my lady?”

  Arwenwel blinked in surprise at his sudden request, but smiled and nodded.

  “It will be my pleasure, sir.”

  They both chuckled. For that moment, they weren’t colleagues or strangers bound by circumstance; they were just two people meeting at a party. Arwenwel placed her hand on his shoulder, and together they walked to the dance floor.

  Chris leaned closer and whispered:

  “It’s too late to admit this now, but… I’m a terrible dancer.”

  “No worries. I’m not much better. I’ll try not to step on you.” She giggled.

  At first, Chris stared at his feet, terrified of making a mistake, but Arwenwel gently told him it would be easier if he looked at her instead. Slowly, they let themselves be carried by the rhythm of the music. It wasn’t elegant, but they were laughing and enjoying themselves.

  Across the room, Alek paused mid-bite just to watch them.

  “I knew it! She’s got feelings for you, you idiot.”

  Then, spotting a minotaur walking off with his roasted beef, Alek sprinted back to defend his side of the buffet.

  But in Chris’s life, good moments rarely lasted. Their night was abruptly shattered when Althus barged between them, reeking of alcohol.

  “All these years, you’ve never wanted to dance with me. Your excuse was always that you weren’t a good dancer. And now, look! One worthless human appears, and suddenly, you’ve found the courage? You slut.”

  Another supervisor tried to pull him away before he caused more trouble, but Althus shoved him aside.

  “Don’t touch me! He deserves to know the truth. Her last ‘friend’ was her mentor, her little human pet. What was his name again? Ah, yes, Edmur. The fool who thought he could win her heart. He died like a dog, hoping his master would mourn him.”

  “Althus! How could you speak of him like that? He was your comrade, too.”

  Tears welled in Arwenwel’s eyes. Unable to bear his cruelty, she turned and fled toward the exit.

  “Run, then! Tail between your legs, just like the bitch you are!” Althus shouted after her.

  Chris hesitated; his heart urged him to follow her, but his instincts screamed to turn back and shut that drunk up. He stormed back, seized Althus by the collar, and snarled:

  “Go out there and ask for her forgiveness.”

  Althus laughed in his face.

  “Ha! She sent her dog to do her dirty work. Did she promise you a treat if you came back and threatened me?”

  Chris dropped him, ready to walk away.

  “That’s right, walk away. All bark, no bite.”

  Althus never saw Chris’s fist coming. The punch sent him sprawling.

  “You filthy monkey!”

  Althus roared, staggering to his feet. He swung wildly, but Chris dodged, pivoted, and slammed another right hook into his jaw. Blood sprayed, and a tooth flew across the floor.

  Chris turned to leave, but the drunken man lunged again, flames bursting around his fist. He aimed to kill. Chris caught the motion in the corner of his eye and spun to strike back.

  But before they collided, Abugan appeared between them. He caught Chris’s punch with one hand and shoved Althus back with the other.

  “Enough! This barbarism ends now.” His voice silenced the room. “Take this drunk outside before he humiliates himself further. And you, human, learn to use your words, not your fists. Everyone else, forget this nonsense and continue celebrating.”

  He released Chris and walked away. Two supervisors dragged Althus out, disappearing quickly.

  Alek rushed to Chris’s side.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Just bruised my knuckles.”

  Chris left the ballroom, searching the gardens until he found Arwenwel sitting by a fountain, gazing at the stars. For a moment, he thought to leave her alone, but she noticed him and waved him over. He sat beside her.

  “The stars are beautiful tonight,” he said softly. “I see why you came out here.”

  She turned, her emerald eyes red and swollen from crying. She noticed his bloodied hands and held them gently.

  “Chris, what did you do?”

  “Don’t worry. Most of this isn’t mine. I went back and gave Althus a piece of my mind.”

  Her expression darkened.

  “You’ll be punished for striking a superior. You’ve put your job in danger for something so foolish.”

  “It wasn’t foolish. You helped me when I was at my lowest. I wasn’t going to let him treat you that way, drunk or not.”

  Arwenwel shook her head.

  “Chris… I’ve known about your feelings for me for some time. But mine are not the same. I didn’t want to have this conversation now, but I can’t lose someone again. I already lost the one dearest to me. Forget me, Chris. For now, we should stay apart.”

  She rose suddenly and disappeared into the shadows of the garden, leaving him alone.

  I knew it was too good to be true… But at least I showed her my true feelings.

  Chris dipped his bruised hands into the fountain, washing the blood away. The water cooled his skin, but it couldn’t touch the deeper ache inside. His heart throbbed far worse than his swollen knuckles as he made his way back toward his room.

  ---- –Later in the night–

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  He couldn’t sleep; he had to find a way to distract his mind, and then he remembered to check the rest of his power tabs.

  'Let’s see what this is.'

  He tapped the icon shaped like a roulette.

  -Congratulations, your first draw will be free-

  'Of course. Couldn’t it just skip the predatory gimmicks? Still, free is free. When in Rome.'

  The roulette spun endlessly, flashing all the shiny rewards. Chris knew that he had a slim chance to get something good. After twenty seconds, it stopped, and his achievement was….

  [These Boots Are Made For Walkin’]

  Passive

  Walk long distances using less stamina.

  'Not amazing, but at least useful. Now for the last tab.'

  The last tab was the list of the talents he unlocked, and countless more were still waiting to be unlocked.

  'It’ll take me a long time before I can unlock all of them. Better focus on the ones I can grab soon, the ones that’ll help with work.'

  Chris scanned the long list and noted down the most practical targets. At last, he felt his mind unwind. Before long, sleep found him.