Daniel flopped onto his bed. His mother and Alice were still clinging to him, too happy and shocked to let go
They were hugging him like he might disappear again at any moment.
Eventually, after lots of effort, polite begging, and a few fake smiles, he managed to slip away and reach his room.
Well, after dinner at least—though it was more like trying to have dinner, since Alice kept throwing questions at him.
"How did you survive in there? Was the Tower really that dangerous? What were the monsters like?"
Daniel answered patiently, more or less, sticking to what he could actually explain.
Now that he was alone, he sighed and stared at the ceiling.
"Only one day's passed… but it feels like I've been fighting forever."
And honestly, that wasn't far from the truth.
He'd never been that close to death before.
Thankfully, the first-floor rules didn't allow for real death—otherwise, he wouldn't be lying here right now.
He opened the Mother System panel.
