James woke up. He was in his bedroom. His body was feeling absolutely refreshed, even though his consciousness had spent all night in the dungeon.

“Mike was right. It is easiest to dive during the night. My consciousness was gone from my body the entire time, and my body has had what was probably the best sleep I’ve ever gotten.”

James checked the date. It was March 5th, 7 AM in the western United States. The gears in his brain turned.

“Everything checks out. The time on my watch is the same. No time dilation or anything freaky.”

James stretched. He had never felt so good. He smiled stupidly and fell back onto his bed. He was dreaming of all sorts of good things when his mother’s voice shattered his visions.

“James, wake up! You’re gonna be late!”

Late? James wondered. Late to what? School? Why would he need school when he could make money in the dungeon? He could do whatever he wanted, and no one could stop him because he had the money.

“JAMES!!!”

Mama Lu’s sent shockwaves through the entire house. The source of the earthquake was right outside James’ door.

James changed his mind. He was going to school.

As he went downstairs, he realized he needed to show up at school anyways. First of all, he didn’t have the money yet. Second, he needed to set up a cover up for the money that he would be making, like Mike’s pharmaceutical company. He couldn’t tell his parents about the dungeon and expect them to believe it.

After a quick breakfast, James burst out the front door and ran towards. His body felt much lighter, and he ran over to his school much faster than he had ever before.

“This must be the effects of the stat increases in the dungeon.”

James was still breathing a bit heavily, though. His body’s condition had increased, but it wasn’t ridiculous. It wasn’t like he would become Superman in a single day.

James walked into school, grabbed the necessary books and folders, and sat down in the classroom, waiting for the teacher to appear. James would usually be taking this time to do his homework, but he was way too excited today, and couldn’t find any motivation. His two best friends, Jack and Mo, walked in and sat next to him as well, chatting about the online game the three of them often played together.

Jack placed his bag down and immediately turned to James.

“Dude, did you see the new update? The new hero is completely OP. She has a point and click stun!”

Mo went next: “Yeah, and if she hits her secondary, she can basic attack, stun, and then chain into her ultimate. That’ll kill all squishies.”

Anyone who didn’t play the game would have a headache trying to follow this conversation. It was for this reason that James’ small friend group of 3 was ignored by others. They didn’t mind hanging out in this small group of 3, though.

Even though James’ world had been turned upside down last night, he still responded like he normally would:

“That just sounds like any assassin character. Except the point and click is good for you guys, since y’all are too bad to aim.”

“Aha, not me,” laughed Jack. “I play melee heroes. Mo is the one that’s bad.”

The 3 boys chatted away for a while, until their English teacher walked in late, just like he always did.

The teacher, with his sports jacket and glasses, spoke to the class: “I have graded the essays which you turned in last night.” Then, he began giving out sheets of paper to students, with the grades on them.

Jack was in disbelief. “He already graded them? No wonder it was due at 8. Shit, I didn’t have time to finish! Look at this, I got a C!”

“You had like a week before to do it, idiot. You probably only started yesterday night.” Mo, ever the good student, got an A on the assignment, sparking an argument between the two.

James sat back and watched the two idiots bicker. Inside, he was really relieved. This scene of his two friends arguing was one he saw often. He was glad that some things wouldn’t change, even he had recently discovered the dungeon. Then, James leaned forward and jumped into the fray himself:

“I started at 7PM yesterday, and I still got a 95. You guys are shit.”

====================

James, Jack, and Mo sat around the lunch table. James and Mo were sitting around doing their homework, while Jack was poring through a graduate-college-level textbook about finance instead. James and Mo had consistently high grades, but Jack didn’t bother doing all of his homework. He scraped C’s and B’s by doing nothing but in class tests and quizzes.

Why was Jack studying finance? His father was rather rich. Or, to be a little more precise: Filthy. Fucking. Rich. Jack’s dad owned a massive company, and he cared more about Jack being able to run the company when he grew up rather than his grades at school. So, Jack’s actual studies weren’t at school.

James finished his calculus and slammed his book shut. Then, he asked:

“What would you do if you had a shit ton of money?”

“Trip to the Bahamas with the boys. We could spend racks on strippers, cocaine and alcohol.” Mo said. It was a reply worthy of being uttered by a high school boy who dreamed of such lavishness.

“I’d be down,” said Jack. “So long as I don’t have to pay.”

“Find me a person that wouldn’t be down if they didn’t have to pay.” Mo grumbled.

“A person who doesn’t like alcohol? I don’t know, I’ve never tried drinking before. I’m sure there are people who dislike it.”

“I don’t like vodka.” James blurted mindlessly.

“Hm?” Mo questioned him. “When did you taste vodka?”

James pretended like he’d had a sip somewhere before. He couldn’t exactly tell his friends that he’s drank a potion that tasted like vodka in a dungeon he visited in his dreams. They’d think he was crazy, if they didn’t already.

“Anyways, lunch is almost over.” James got up and started picking up his stuff. “I finished all my homework, so I got time to play today.”

“Yeah I’ll be online tonight.” “Same.” James heard the two of them respond. Then, the three of them broke off and headed to their separate afternoon classes.

James thought to himself. Bermuda would be nice. But, he’d have to work in the dungeon to make that wish come true. He’d have to get to Mike’s level. James had searched up Mike’s company, MaxMeds, and nearly had a stroke when he saw its net worth. It would be a while before he could get there.