“I never heard of it, but it’s listed,” Death nodded. Her words made Luke cheer internally. She’s going to play a game she’s never heard of? It couldn’t be going better for him.
“There’s some fine print you should know about though,” Death said. Luke shook his head.
“Nah, I’m a three-time Dungeon Master Champion,” he said. It was a flat lie; he didn’t even know if that was an award someone could win. But Death was already unfamiliar with the game. And she was not what Luke expected at all. She wore the cloak and bore the scythe; but, other than that she looked like someone’s college-aged sister. Her light brown hair was put up in a comfortable ponytail. Luke hoped he could unnerve her enough to get away with making up his own rules.
“Okay,” she shrugged at him. “The first hurdle we have is you need a team. We can’t start anything without a full group.”
“Oh, yeah. Of course!” Luke said with mock authority. “That’s always the way it is in the tournaments. I guess I’ll just keep living while you find someone else to join.”
“Oh no, wait,” Death said. She tapped on her glass node. “Here’s a solo version. I need to tell you again; there are probably some differences compared to the game you’re used to. Are you sure you’re skipping the fine print?” Luke almost felt the need to check, but he wanted to maintain his knowledgeable appearance.
“Okay,” Death nodded. She pressed a button on her node and the scene of Luke’s accident disappeared. His smoking, flipped car was replaced by a medium-sized round table with various weapons laid out. A dark, dank, stone cell replaced the empty twilight highway.
“Choose your class,” Death said. Luke approached the table and saw magical staves, glowing shields, and shining swords. Bows, knives, horns, bells, every thing Luke could think of to use as a weapon was available to choose from. He found a sword and shield that were obviously a set. He slipped the shield onto his left arm and hoisted the sword with his right to get used to their weight.
“Bunker Knight” a mysterious male voice filled the room while the rest of the weapons from the table disappeared.
“Good choice,” Death said. She handed Luke a node. “This will teach you how to use your starter skills. Good luck,” she said with a polite wave.
“Wait. Good luck? What about me?” Luke asked. Death spread her arms to gesture at the stone cell.
“Dungeon,” she said. Then, the cell started to shake from the force of a distant roar. “Dragon,” Death said. “Good luck winning your life back.”
