Chapter 21: A Tactical Retreat
Bright's brain went into overdrive.
The four officers aiming rifles at him had clearly seen him step out of the portal alone.
Which meant—
They had questions.
The kind that probably led to handcuffs, interrogations, and an uncomfortable amount of government interest.
Bright, barely holding himself together, was not in the mood.
The lead officer took a step forward. "Get on your knees. Hands where we can see them."
Bright blinked at him.
Then, with the most exaggerated expression of horror he could muster, he threw his hands up and pointed at the sky.
"MONSTERS IN THE SKY!!"
The officers whipped around instantly, guns raised.
Bright bolted.
Gone.
It took them a full second to realize what had just happened.
"SHIT—AFTER HIM!"
By the time they turned back, Bright had already vanished into a nearby alley.
Bright moved fast.
The officers were trained, but he had been running from trouble his whole life. They didn't know these streets like he did.
He weaved through narrow pathways, cutting across back alleys and side streets like a shadow.
The sounds of heavy boots and distant shouting slowly faded behind him.
After a few minutes, he was sure they had lost him.
Bright finally let out a long, exhausted breath.
"Idiots."
By the time he made it home, his body ached all over again.
His arms were shaking, his ribs throbbed, and his head was starting to feel like someone had been using it as a punching bag.
He barely managed to lock the door behind him before collapsing onto his mattress.
No shower.
No checking his phone.
Didn't even care about the system notifications still waiting for him.
He was done.
His last thought before sleep took him?
"Emily's gonna kill me."
Then, darkness.
Bright woke up the next evening.
The moment his senses returned, regret hit him like a truck.
He felt like absolute garbage.
His entire body was stiff and sore, and his head throbbed like hell. His ribs ached, his arms were numb, and when he tried to move—
A sharp dizziness overtook him, and he fell off the bed.
"…I'm actually dying."
He lay there for a full dozen minutes, just processing his existence.
Finally, using the sheer force of will, he crawled his way to the kitchen.
He yanked open the fridge, grabbed a carton of milk, and used his teeth to uncork it before chugging it down.
Immediately, he regretted everything.
He barely managed to keep himself from throwing up.
Grimacing, he dragged himself to the bathroom and collapsed onto the toilet, still chugging down milk like his life depended on it.
It took him another hour before he could even think about moving properly.
And when he did?
He went straight back to sleep.
No shower.
No food.
Just pure exhaustion.
Bright finally woke up again the next day—at 4 AM.
This time, he felt slightly more human.
Still aching, still bruised, but at least he could move without falling over.
The first thing he did was scrub himself clean.
Because holy hell, he smelled like absolute shit.
His clothes were ruined, his body felt like it had been through war, and the dried sweat and grime made him want to crawl out of his skin.
It took a solid thirty minutes of scrubbing before he finally felt somewhat normal again.
Feeling refreshed, he sat by the window.
The portal was gone.
Bright frowned.
Had it just… vanished?
For days, it had been there, hovering outside his window like some cosmic joke. But now?
Nothing.
The world outside looked normal again.
Almost like it had never happened.
His fingers tightened around his phone.
He finally checked his notifications.
Missed calls: 17
Messages: 42
All from Emily.
Bright closed his eyes.
"She's actually gonna kill me."
He had slept through an entire day.
If his sense of time was right, he had spent around three hours in the dungeon.
And now—this was the fifth day since the portals first appeared.
Which meant…
If he recalled correctly—
The world had one more day before the global dungeon break.
Bright sighed, rubbing his face.
He wasn't worried about humanity.
People would figure things out.
He was worried about Emily.
Because explaining all of this to her was going to be a nightmare.
And she was definitely going to beat his ass.