“Come on,” Bethany shouted, taking off at a sprint towards the open door.


    Peter was right with her, his long legs easily matching her stride while I lagged behind. It wasn’t that I couldn’t run fast, I just wasn’t all that eager to sprint to what could be my sort-of-death. However, it seemed I was the only one who was hesitant since the rest of my cousins were dashing forwards as well.


    Samuel, CJ, and Norris were the first three to reach the entrance, all teenage boys who frequently played video games together.


    Next was Landon, Daisy, and Darlene, this trio at the tail of the other one.


    My group with my two siblings was next, followed by Blossom and Fern who were limited by Fern’s youth.


    Colby lingered in the waiting room, but I didn’t pay much attention to him and his brooding to focus instead on the Dungeon as we crossed the threshold between it and the waiting room.


    The mismatched tiled walls abruptly gave way to a dirt floor and roughly cobbled walls like the area I first began this adventure in. The ceiling was a pitch black void with no discernable end while white floating orbs far overhead provided light to the wide passage.


    As I ran into this new cavern, a notification appeared in the corner of my vision, and, based on the reactions of those around me, a similar thing happened to everyone who stepped outside the waiting room.


    [New Quest!]


    [The Ultimate Goal:]


    [Reach the end of Gram-Gram’s Dungeon and claim the title of Grandma’s Favorite!]


    [Reward: System-Integration]


    “That title is ours!” CJ shouted from up ahead, his group still leading the charge down the hallway.


    Peter had overtaken Landon and his sisters, though Bethany and I lagged behind given our shorter legs and general lesser fitness compared to him. My older sister ran on with determination so I followed suit, even if I thought it stupid to run head first into whatever was waiting ahead.


    My eyes had to remain trained on the ground so I didn’t trip over any of the random rocks lying in the dirt–seriously, why would the Dungeon have such a stupid obstacle to an empty corridor?? This thing really was out to make life as difficult as possible for us.


    Watching my feet meant I was unaware when the people in front of me came to a stop, and I barrelled straight into Bethany and Darlene, knocking the latter over completely.


    “Watch it, Madi,” Darlene growled. She was Peter’s age, but she had little to do with my younger brother since she was in all the honor classes while Peter was… well, he was Peter. She shared the same blonde hair as Landon and Daisy, a family trait based from both Grandma and Grandpa Marks.


    “Sorry.” I held a hand out and helped her to her feet.


    She gave me one last scoff and then stepped closer to her older sister and offered me a small smile of forgiveness.


    With the apology out of the way, I could finally see what caused the accident in the first place. I stood on my tippy toes to see over all heads and shoulders in front of me and discovered that the wide cavern expanded into what felt like an open field of straight dirt. The rock walls remained at our backs, and in the distance I noticed a few pillars of stone, but other than that, there was nothing to denote direction.


    “Where do we go now?” Peter asked from the front.


    As if in response to that very question which was on everyone’s minds, another notification popped up.


    [New Quest!]


    [First to the First Boss:]


    [Find and defeat the First Floor Boss before any other team.]


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    [Reward: Bonus Skill]


    “This couldn’t be easier,” Norris said from ahead. “You chumps don’t stand a chance against the might of team Big Money.”


    The other two boys on his team high-fived him as the three of them dashed away, going straight as if they were confident that was where the boss waited.


    “Come on, Blossom. We can’t let CJ and Norris beat us!” Fern called out as the little ten year old ran after them. Her older sister shook her head and followed, muttering complaints as she went.


    I looked at Daisy, Darlene, and Landon. “You guys want to go right or left? We’ll take the other direction.” I wasn’t so sure that the boss would be in the most obvious location, and even if it did, I had no interest in competing with the three stooges to get there first. My only goal was to survive this whole endeavor with my sanity intact so I could go back to my regular life and get to that NASA internship.


    “I’m left-handed so we’ll go left,” Landon declared without a moment of hesitation. “Good luck guys.”


    “Same to you!” Bethany called out as our last three cousins separated from us.


    There was still no sign of Colby, but I wouldn’t put it past him to sulk in the waiting room the rest of time if he set his mind to it. The only thing that outweighed his dumbness was his stubbornness. He was even more stubborn than Grandma Marks had been.


    Peter shook his head. “This is a competition guys, a real one, not one to see who can be the most friendly. We’re never going to win if you keep this up.”


    Bethany shoved him. “I care a lot more about the cousins I grew up with than some stupid System, Peter, and you should too.”


    “Whatever.” He turned to the right to take off, but I grabbed his arm.


    “Wait a second. We should make a plan or something. We have no idea what we might run into out there,” I said.


    “My gosh, Mads. Not everything needs your nerd touch. Let’s just figure it out as we go.”


    “No. She’s right. That’s a good idea, Madi. Everyone pull up your screen and let’s talk [classes], [skills], and [stats],” Bethany said. Since she was the oldest, her word was law.


    Peter moaned and rubbed a hand along his face. “Why did I end up with you two?”


    As much as I wanted to have a fun little insult battle with my baby brother, I chose to be the bigger person and ignore him to instead pull up my status screen as Bethany commanded. It just took a thought with “clear intent” to get that blue screen before me.


    [Temporary Class:]


    [Kinetic Mage, Level 2]


    [MP: 15/15]


    [XP: 0/50]


    [Attributes:]


    [Strength: 1] [+]


    [Agility: 2] [+]


    [Speed: 2] [+]


    [Intelligence: 5] [+]


    [Charisma: 2] [+]


    [Luck: 1] [+]


    [Attribute Points Available: 1]


    “Oh, right. I forgot about my level up and the new [Attribute Point]. Where should I put it?” I was hoping my siblings could help me figure out how to maximize this set up with my class.


    “What [class] are you?” Bethany asked.


    “[Kinetic Mage].”


    Peter laughed. “Of course even your [class] is the nerdiest thing I’ve ever heard of. What even is a [Kinetic Mage]?”


    “Something a lot cooler than whatever lame [class] you got,” I said.


    “You wish. I’m a [Dual Fighter], with level two in [Swordsmanship] and [Archery],” Peter proudly proclaimed.


    Bethany blew out a long breath. “I might be the weak link in this thing. I’m a [Sorcerer of Peace] with my [Shield] at level two and my other [skill], [Calm] still at level one. I guess I can put my new [Skill Point] there. It’s probably best to even them out.”


    “I’m not sure about that. Mine are [Push] and [Pull], and [Push] seems a lot more useful than [Pull] in a crisis. I don’t have any weapons so pulling a monster closer is stupid, right? I mean, I was able to use both to tear the [Grass Clippings] apart, but I don’t think that will work on anything tougher,” I said.


    “Yeah. And if it did, that’s not an image I want to see.” Bethany grimaced.


    “I already used all my points because I wasn’t late like you guys.”


    I resisted the urge to roll my eyes again as I looked back down at my screen. “I guess I’ll put my next [Attribute Point] in [Speed] again. I think that one is going to prove useful.”


    “Useful for running away,” Peter murmured.


    I continued to ignore him as I hit the [+] and upgraded my [Speed]. I then navigated to the [Skills] tab and upgraded [Push] just as I planned. Bethany made her adjustments, and then she clapped her hands together.


    “Okay. I think our [Skills] are aligned with fighting from a distance. Madi, you can keep the enemies back, Peter can take them out with his [Archery], and I’ll keep everyone safe with [Shield]. Does that work?” she asked.


    “Good plan, Beth. I like it,” I said with a smile. She used to play a lot of D&D so I trusted that she would be good at figuring this kind of stuff out.


    “Whatever. Can we go kill monsters now?” Peter raised his eyebrows.


    Bethany gestured to the right. “Lead the way.”


    My brother jogged off with Bethany and I right behind him.