“How long have you all been back here after completing your dungeons?” Hazel asked, maintaining her calm smile as she began to grill her saviors for information.

  “Nearly a week, I believe,” Zoe answered, keeping her eyes trained on the witch. “We’re mostly investigating the area and seeing where we were. According to what we’ve discovered, we’re in a place called Portland, from Earth, and Mossely, from my world, Meine.”

  That was what Hazel and Astrid discovered as well when they investigated that house from Meine. Hopefully, they knew more than just their current location and possessed more valuable information for Hazel and Astrid to discover, like with the system and what was in store for them.

  They’d been back for almost a week, so they had to know something more important.

  “You said before that we were heading to your base?”

  “That’s right,” Zoe nodded. “You are from Earth, yes?”

  Hazel hesitated to answer, not sure if she should tell them the truth. However, if she lied about something obvious, then it was game over for her and Astrid. So, for now...it would be wise to stick to the truth as much as possible without crossing the line regarding personal information.

  “I am,” She answered with a hesitant nod but kept the same smile on her face.

  “I see, then I suppose you lived here? In Portland, I mean?”

  “That’s correct. I lived in Portland since birth, so this place is my hometown.”

  “Then you have a bit in common with our second in command here, then,” Zoe turned to the left and stared at the soldier from before.

  He stood next to Zoe and kept his head down, likely resting after everything that happened. However, after hearing his title being called, the soldier raised his head and turned her attention to the knight first before her gaze trailed over to Hazel.

  The soldier stared at the witch for a few moments, prompting her to feel uncomfortable by his gaze. Sadly, she couldn’t tell him to stop doing that since she was acting blind and didn’t want to blow her cover.

  The staring lasted for only a few moments before the soldier finally responded. “My name is John Grainger. I’m a First Lieutenant in the army. Or at least I was. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  Before replying, Hazel used Astral Eye to inspect John’s status, curious about what kind of class he possessed and what his current level was.

  [John Grainger, Class: Gunslinger, Level 20]

  It appeared to be a Gunslinger class, which Hazel found a bit unique compared to what the other classes she found were. Maybe it was because he was a soldier? But if that was the case, how did he bring his weapon with him then? When you get sent to the Integration space, all of your belongings would be gone in the process. So, how did he obtain that class?

  There were too many questions for her to find answers to all of them, especially when she needed to give the Gunslinger a reply before it became awkward.

  “To you as well, First Lieutenant,” Hazel nodded, keeping her head faced in front of her instead of at the soldier.

  “Mr. Grainger is fine if you don’t mind,” He told her. “Like I said before, I used to be a First Lieutenant. After everything went to hell and I ended up in that damn tutorial dungeon, I don’t hold that position anymore.”

  “So, you haven’t been in touch with your fellow soldiers from your base?”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  “No, I haven’t. When I returned, I attempted to try and contact them, but communications were down. It was a miracle that these vehicles worked compared to the rest of our technology.”

  “I’m assuming that means we have no cell service then?”

  John nodded. “The same goes for the wi-fi, any TV broadcasting station, and even our radios. Everything is down.”

  So, any forms of communication were out of the window then. Aside from the Chat Room, though, that was only because you had to be part of a party to use it. Hazel figured that Zoe and the other players here were part of one, which meant they had access to their own Chat Room.

  “Because we have no way of communicating with others who have returned, we’ve been scouring the area, looking for any survivors and bringing them back to the shelter for what’s to come,” Zoe added.

  “You mean the System, right?”

  “Correct,” she nodded. “When we first returned to our newly merged world, the system stated that until all surviving integrated residents return from their respective dungeons, the next phase won’t begin yet.”

  Hazel remembered that message as well when she first woke up in the coffee shop. Considering that all surviving players would return after the thirty-day objective was completed or if the surviving players completed the other objectives, which were defeating a Sub-Boss or the Boss of the Dungeon itself, that meant they only had less than a day before the supposed next phase began.

  As for what that next phase was...Hazel was not eager for what was in store for them. Not one bit at all.

  “Do you have any clues as to what the next phase is?” Hazel inquired, curious if they had discovered anything.

  Zoe shook her head. “No, we have not. None of us have received any messages from the system related to the next phase, which means we likely won’t know anything until everyone returns here.”

  “Knowing the kind of hell we went through when we were stuck in those dungeons, I doubt it’ll be anything pleasant,” Kane chimed in, expressing his disdain toward the System for what it did.

  The Brawler wasn’t wrong. Knowing what the Tutorial Dungeons were like, Hazel did not doubt that this was only the beginning of their new hell under the watch and domain of the System.

  However, it seemed that for right now, Hazel had to wait until the next phase was truly initiated. Hopefully, by the time that happened, she would be prepared for what was to come next. Both mentally and physically.

  “We haven’t found many players aside from you two and the ones currently at our base, which isn’t a lot, I’m afraid,” Zoe stated. “Though, I believe that’s because the remaining players are likely simply trying to survive their respective dungeons instead of attempting to fight monsters and grow stronger.”

  “That sounds about right,” Hazel scoffed.

  Aside from individuals like herself, Astrid, and the current players with them, who were driven to get stronger to survive, there will be those who are the opposite. Instead of using the system to their advantage and getting stronger to protect themselves, those players will simply cower and hide until someone else comes and saves them.

  And while Hazel held no ill will toward those kinds of individuals, she also had no desire to protect such people. That was because the moment she decided to try and save them, those people would cling to her like glue and stay on for dear life because, in their minds, Hazel could protect them. She had power and could easily kill any monsters that came their way.

  With that kind of mindset, they would force Hazel to protect them and do all the hard work without helping her at all. And she wasn’t planning on letting that happen to her. Hazel had enough problems currently and didn’t need to deal with civilians seeing her as some protector and making her defend and protect them from danger.

  Again, she possessed no grudge against these types of people, but she also refused to be associated with them, knowing that she would end up unwillingly protecting them because they were too weak and simple-minded to take advantage of the system.

  Hazel honestly felt that it would be a miracle if those types of individuals managed to survive in their respective dungeons. Then again, parasites live off the benefit of others, so it wasn’t necessarily impossible for that to happen.

  “Oh, it looks like we’re close to the base,” Zoe stated, looking ahead to where they were driving.

  Hazel followed her gaze using Astral Eye. At the moment, the cargo vehicles were driving down a highway with a path cleared out for them. Looking from side to side, she watched various cars that were pushed to the edge zip past them as they drove on.

  When Hazel looked ahead to see where their base currently was, she nearly exclaimed her discovery but managed to keep her composure and not say a word. However, as if telepathically sensing her reaction, Astrid communicated with Hazel in the Chat Room.

  [Astrid Skogr: You seem surprised. I’m assuming you know where we’re going?]

  Hazel took a moment to read the message before providing a response, her Astral Eye still glued to their next destination.

  [Hazel Thatcher: Yeah, I do. It seems that their base of operations...is the Portland International Jetport.]

  Off in the distance ahead of them, Hazel’s astral eye gazed at the Portland airport as the building complex got bigger and bigger the closer they got to it.