The walls were thick with moss, a pungent odor emanating from them with each step the party of heroes too. They could see bones littering the ground from the slim light granted by the torches along the walls. Soon, they came to a stop; something was in their way. It rose from the ground, shaking and rattling the entire time, as it rose its blade, prepared to do battle!

"Not another fucking skeleton."

Fuyuhiko crossed his arms, glaring down Hajime while the teen merely shrugged. Himself, Souda, Nagito, and the Yakuza were all in the dining room of the hotel, playing a strange game Hajime had actually uncovered in Chiaki's room when he was trying to find her for chores. And now here he was, playing a strange roleplaying game; so of course he found it befitting to invite a few friends to delve into using their imagination to have some fun. Considering the game was called Pathfinder, Hajime had a feeling they'd find anything but the right path.

"How's a skeleton bad?" The mechanic piped in, sipping his soda and reclining in his chair. "Just means free XP right?"

"When ahoge-head here said there'd be epic boss fights and dragons, I expected an actual fight, not the sixth skeleton in a fucking row." Fuyuhiko griped, rubbing his face. "Can ya at least make them…I dunno…lil' less useless. I wanna fight some damn orcs or beat up a demon." Hajime nodded, and…surprisingly Nagito was more silent than usual.

"I'm just reading my character sheet…I think I put too many points into Luck."

…Nagito at his best.

"Aaanyways…" Hajime began, clearing his throat. "The skeleton prepares to fight…you all should roll for initiative…"

The bold Barbarian stood his ground, dual axes raised and prepared to smash into the skeleton. Fuyuhiko looked like himself, though clad in tough leather armor. Souda loaded his Revolver, clad in his own Cloth Armor, as the Gunslinger awaited his time to attack. Nagito, the group's Monk, dressed in White Robes, readied his Quarterstaff.

The skeleton swung, and Fuyuhiko lashed out, ax meeting the bone head and damaging the skeleton severely, yet despite this, it still stood, brandishing its blade and—

"Fuckin' bullshit my hit shoulda killed it."

"Pardon?" Hajime asked, mildly annoyed with all these stops to the game. The Yakuza tapped his character sheet, accenting the 20 points stacked into strength.

"I rolled a damn 19 and I have like all the strength points; why ain't that skeleton dead? I even got a damn perfect six when I rolled that D6 dice to show how much damage I do."

"He's a stronger one; you did ask for stronger enemies." He could feel the glare, though Fuyuhiko soon calmed down and just shook his head, taking a swig of his coffee.

"Fuck it, Souda it's your turn."

"Alright! Lemme show you guys how a Gunslinger does it!" And he rolled the dice, tossing down the D20 while Hajime rolled his own dice behind the cardboard shield; the game master couldn't show his own roll after all.

Souda's revolver popped; the flash illuminating the hall and the sound deafening. The skeleton jerked, and soon fell to the ground. The Monk walked over, checking the body and looting a Health Potion or two.

"Huh, these could help." And with that the three heroes continued down the dark hall; investigating various rooms. Soon, they reached a rather large room…with a sleeping minotaur resting in there. The torches bathed everything in an ominous glow, and—"

"Rolling for perception!"

Every single one of them rolled their dice: Souda got a seven, Fuyuhiko a ten, and Nagito…

…he got a one.

Hajime just looked at that, and grimaced.

"…literally every single trap hits you Nagito. Like…all of them." The pale teen seemed bemused for a moment, but shrugged moments later.

"Oh well, as long as my demise furthers you all's journey, hope will shine through."

"You gotta…roll for Constitution to stabilize yourself. You need to roll higher than your total health to recover at least half that amount." Nagito grabbed the dice and before rolling…he had an idea.

"Kazuichi, how strong is your character."

"Uh…like…so so…?"

"Roll for perception, to search for any additional traps." Confused, the mechanic did so, and after rolling a 19 Hajime spoke up.

"With Souda's keen eyes and searching, your party unearths a spiked pitfall trap a few units away from where Nagito fell."

"Hajime, I'd like for Fuyuhiko to use his turn to move my body over behind the trap."

"Wait what the fuck are you—" And like that it hit him like a ton of bricks. "…using yourself as bait to make the minotaur fall in the trap and die…holy fucking shit Nagito that's genius."

"I have my moments."

Fuyuhiko put all his weight into dragging over the still bleeding Nagito while Souda kept an eye on the minotaur, making sure he didn't accidentally awake the beast and doom their plan. Nagito was set down behind the spot where Souda identified the pitfall trap; the Gunslinger doing his best to make sure things were going well. Once the monk was set down, Souda set things into action, open firing and peppering the minotaur with bullets. The bull awoke in a flash, roaring and brandishing his war ax. He charged for them, running full speed at the party and attempting to slash them to bits.

…the trap triggered, the minotaur falling down and being caught in the trap. Souda open fired while the creature couldn't move and Fuyuhiko wailed on its head, each strike drawing blood and making it splash along the wall; Nagito slowly rising despite his injuries. Soon, combined with the piercing spikes impaling the beast and their attacks, the minotaur finally went still, and all together perished, trapped and stuck.

"Aaand like that the boss died." Hajime concluded, folding his hands and looking at the smirking, joyed faces of his friends, hearing them conversing to one another about the success of their first dungeon run and the future quests they could undertake. Maybe he could do what the instruction manual said and actually write up his own campaign for the others.

It could be fun…and then he heard a bang at the window.

"Oooo! Is that a game!?" Ibuki's face was smushed against the window, the rocker looking absolutely overjoyed, trying desperately to get inside. "Ibuki wants to play! What the heck kinda game is is?! Who cares, it looks fun!" Souda merely shrugged, Fuyuhiko facepalmed, and Nagito grinning. They knew with her shouts and cries she'd attract everyone else…and with that things could get out of hand.

But, on Jabberwock Island, out of hand was something to be expected…

To Be Continued…

(And thus, another DR project from me, this is a prototype so apologies I it's a bit weird. I'm trying to learn how to mash together the intense parts of the ingame action like with Dangan Hunters while also showing brief glimpses of them doing other things like conversing, rolling for initiative, and even planning their next attacks and turns…or in Nagito's case trying to give his character as much luck as physically possible. This one will not be as long or significant as Dangan Hunters; I'm working on that but it's taking time due to me working on a few things at once along with it. I'm also working on a much lengthier and more powerful Truth or Dare story set preluding the darker events of the Despair Arc as it'd allow for me to have all of the 77th class and Hajime involved; the best way to include everyone along with some intense and much more powerful dares like cactus body slamming or streaking. I plan to go all out with those ones and I might even take suggestions for dares before I decide who does what each chapter. So until then, stay safe, and I'll see you all soon.)