Garfield grinned, feeling a sense of pride and accomplishment. He had done it – he had completed the Instance Dungeon and defeated the Serpens Ferrum. He was gradually becoming a force to be reckoned with.
But as he turned to leave the dungeon, Garfield staggered and fell to the ground. While he wondered what was happening to him, the system notified him:
"Poisoned!
You have been afflicted with a deadly venom! Your health will continue to deteriorate until you find an antidote.
Marea's Gift, a rare and precious remedy, is the only cure for this poison. Check your inventory to find this lifesaving item."
"Bloody hell!" Gar exclaimed. He opened the inventory and brought out the elixir and drank it. His HP increased from 15/100 to 100/100. He looked up the other items in the inventory. "Well, I almost died when I fought that lizard without a weapon, so I guess the blade and the Toxic Spores could come in handy." Gar said and imbued the Toxic Spores into the Dragon's Bane.
"System, show me my user profile." Gar ordered the system, which displayed the status window:
_User Profile:_
- Name: Garfield Heights
- Age: 28
- Level: Lv. 20
- Job: Delivery Person
- Title: Dragon Conqueror
"Hmm." Gar sighed. "Now, how do I get the hell out of this shit hole?" Gar asked, and the system sent him a notification:
"Rune of Teleportation"
"_Description:_ The Eye of the Iron Serpent, if removed, becomes a runestone which can be used for one-time teleportation."
Garfield quickly brought out the Dragon's Bane and tore out the eye from the serpent. There were runic symbols on it, but Gar paid no attention to the designs; all he wanted was to leave.
The runic symbols began to glow, and Gar teleported out of the dungeon and to the front of the Clocktower. The key to the instance dungeon disappeared, and he began to head home.
He arrived at his residence and just outside, he found Evelyn waiting. "Where have you been?" Evelyn asked, a bit furious. "I just, I umm... I was held up at work and, you know." Garfield lied but didn't expect Evelyn to believe him. "I called." Evelyn said. Gar had a look of confusion on his face, "Huh?". "I called the manager. He said you called in sick today. And then I called you but you didn't answer your phone. " Evelyn explained. "And where did you get a change of clothes?"
"I umm... It got ripped, so I bought something new." Gar answered while smiling awkwardly. He bought the new clothes in the system's store, since his was destroyed after his fight with the lizard. "So you went shopping. " Evelyn said. "Well, I wouldn't call it shopping..." Gar justified, but was interrupted, "And you forgot about my dad's birthday."
"Ohh! That was today?" Garfield asked, feeling remorseful. "I'm so sorry." Gar apologized. Evelyn sighed and replied, "It's fine. I gave him the watch and said it was from you, but... He hasn't seen you ever since the accident, just, maybe we can go visit him sometime?". "Ok." Gar said, and they both walked into the house.
The next day, Garfield and Evelyn visited her father at her family's house. When they got in, the house help, Lily, stated that he would join them soon, and she left.
Lily returned, rolling Evelyn's father's wheelchair to the living room. Evelyn walked to her father and hugged him. "Hey, Dad." She greeted. "Good day, sir." Gar greeted. "Garfield, you've been married to my daughter for more than a year, call me Scott." Scott Waverly suggested. "I'm sorry, sir, I just..." Gar bent his head. "It's alright, Garfield. You lost your memory, it's not your fault." Scott comforted. "I'd like to speak to you alone in the garden." He added, and Gar rolled him to the garden.
"So what do you want to talk about?" Gar asked. "Nothing really, I wanted to apologize for Rory's behavior toward you. The old you was used to her being that way, but ever since you lost your memory, I'm sure it's been torture listening to her words." Scott apologized. "It's not a problem. She hasn't been hostile with me recently." Gar said. "That's because you're different, Garfield." Scott cleared his throat and continued, "I was involved in an accident just like you. Unfortunately, I lost my ability to walk. You may have lost your memory, but you're lucky you didn't lose your legs. You can walk, work and earn..." Scott coughed.
"What I'm saying is..." Scott said and Gar interrupted, "It's ok, I understand.". "That's good. " Scott said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out a card. "What's this?" Gar asked and took the card. "It's an invitation to an Art Gala. I used to be an artist before the accident. Ever since then, I quit. An old friend reached out to me and sent me the invite, unfortunately I won't be able to make it there. But you and Evelyn can." Scott explained. "I... Thank you, sir, it's an honor." Gar thanked, and after a load of conversations, he rolled Scott back into the house.
After some quality time, Gar and Evelyn took their leave and headed home. He told Evelyn about the gala, and they prepared for it. Gar had earned a lot from the Instance dungeon, and he even bought a 2020 Ford Mustang GT car at $40,000 and still had enough. And no one could even steal his money since it was inside the system and only accessible with a Synergy Credit Card.
That night, Gar and Evelyn arrived at the gala, dressed to impress. They mingled with the guests, admired the artworks and sipped champagne. On noticing them, Philip Skye approached. "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. The delivery boy and his... companion." Philip chuckled. "Philip. Always a pleasure." Gar said and looked around. "I see your goons didn't tag along this time. Didn't forget about our last encounter, huh?" Garfield joked. "Gar, let's just avoid drama tonight." Evelyn pleaded.
"I see you're trying to move up in the world, Garfield. But let's be real. You're a joke, you don't belong here." Philip said, his eyes narrowing at Gar. "Philip, you do not want to do this, at least not here." Gar advised. Philip laughed and looked at Gar in disgust, "You're an embarrassment. You're going to pay for what you did to me."
"I don't want to repeat what happened the last time." Gar threatened with a bit of rage in his voice. Philip, fueled by anger and humiliation, charged at Garfield, and fists flew. Garfield anticipated the attack, dodged and weaved, he landed precise blows that sent Philip crashing to the floor.
The room fell silent, with guests gasping in shock. Security rushed in and tried to separate the two men.
"Enough!" one of the guards shouted.