Paxton slouched in his chair, his eyes fixed on the flickering screen before him. The soft glow illuminated his unremarkable features as his fingers danced across the keyboard. Outside, the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon, but Paxton was oblivious to the world beyond his game.

"Just... one... more... level," he muttered, stifling a yawn.

The clock on his desk blinked 6:30 AM. Paxton had been up all night, determined to beat the latest video game that had taken the internet by storm. As the final boss fell to his relentless attacks, a triumphant grin spread across his face.

"Nailed it!" he exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

Reality came crashing back as his alarm blared, reminding him that it was Monday morning. School awaited, and Paxton groaned at the thought of facing another week of mediocrity.

Dragging himself out of his gaming chair, Paxton stumbled to the bathroom. The face that greeted him in the mirror was plain and forgettable – brown hair, brown eyes, and a smattering of acne that refused to clear up no matter what he tried. He was neither handsome nor ugly, just perfectly average.

As he got ready for school, Paxton's mind wandered to the day ahead. There was a student council meeting at lunch, and he had volunteered to help with the upcoming school dance. It wasn't that he particularly enjoyed these activities, but he had learned early on that being involved was the key to social survival in high school.

Paxton's outward enthusiasm and seemingly effortless social skills were a carefully crafted facade. In truth, every interaction left him drained, longing for the solace of his video games where he could truly be himself.

The drive to school was a blur of yawns and half-heard radio chatter. Paxton pulled into the parking lot, his eyelids heavy with exhaustion. He trudged towards the main building, his backpack feeling like it was filled with bricks.

As he reached for the handle of his homeroom door, Paxton's sleep-deprived brain barely registered that something was off. The door seemed... different. Hazier, somehow. He blinked hard, trying to clear his vision.

"Must be more tired than I thought," he mumbled, grasping the handle and pulling the door open.

Instead of the familiar sight of desks and sleepy classmates, Paxton found himself face-to-face with a swirling vortex of mist. Colors he couldn't name danced within the fog, twisting and writhing in impossible patterns.

Paxton stood frozen, his mind struggling to process what he was seeing. "What the...?" he whispered, reaching out to touch the strange phenomenon.

The moment his fingers made contact with the mist, Paxton felt a violent tug. The world spun around him as he was yanked forward, tumbling headlong into the swirling chaos. He tried to scream, but no sound escaped his lips as consciousness slipped away.

* * *

Darkness. That was the first thing Paxton became aware of as he slowly regained consciousness. The air around him was thick with the stench of decay and dampness, making him gag. His head pounded, and every part of his body ached as if he'd been hit by a truck.

"Ugh... what happened?" he groaned, his voice sounding strange and hollow in his ears.

Paxton tried to push himself up, but his limbs felt weak and unresponsive. After several attempts, he managed to get to his feet, swaying unsteadily. In the distance, he could make out a faint flickering light. Desperate for any clue about his surroundings, Paxton stumbled towards it.

As he drew closer to the light source – a torch mounted on a stone wall – the details of his environment began to take shape. Paxton found himself in what appeared to be a dungeon straight out of a horror movie. Gothic architecture loomed around him, adorned with grotesque gargoyles and sinister symbols. The walls and floor were stained with dark splatters that looked disturbingly like dried blood.

"This can't be real," Paxton muttered, reaching out to touch the rough stone wall. "I must be dreaming. Yeah, that's it. I fell asleep at my desk and—"

His words died in his throat as he caught sight of his own hand in the torchlight. Where he expected to see flesh and skin, there was only bone – stark white and gleaming in the flickering light.

With growing panic, Paxton looked down at the rest of his body. Gone was his typical teenage frame, replaced by a skeleton barely held together by some unseen force. He patted his skull, feeling the smooth bone where his face should have been.

"No, no, no," Paxton whispered, his mind reeling. "This isn't possible. I'm not... I can't be..."

A skeleton. Somehow, impossibly, Paxton had become a walking, talking skeleton.

As the full weight of his situation crashed down upon him, Paxton did the only thing he could think of – he cursed. Loudly and creatively, using words that would have made his mother wash his mouth out with soap (if he still had a mouth, that is).

"Damn it all to hell!" he shouted, his bony fists clenched in frustration. "What kind of sick joke is this? If this is some elaborate prank, it's not funny anymore!"

Just as Paxton was about to launch into another tirade, a voice echoed in his mind, causing him to jump (quite a feat for a skeleton).

"Ahem. Is this thing on? Can you hear me, Paxton?"

Paxton whirled around, searching for the source of the voice. "Who's there? Show yourself!"

"Oh, right. Sorry about that. I'm not actually 'there' in the physical sense. I'm communicating directly with your... well, I suppose it's not really a brain anymore, is it? Let's call it your consciousness."

The voice sounded apologetic and a bit flustered, like a customer service representative who had just spilled coffee on an important document.

"Who are you?" Paxton demanded. "And what the hell is going on?"

"Ah, yes. Introductions. How rude of me. I'm a representative from the Fate Management Bureau. And, well... there's been a bit of a mix-up."

Paxton waited for more, but the voice fell silent. "A mix-up?" he finally prompted, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "You don't say. And here I thought randomly turning into a skeleton in some creepy dungeon was just a normal Monday."

"Yes, well, about that," the voice continued, sounding increasingly uncomfortable. "You see, there was a clerical error in our office. Somehow, your fate got swapped with that of a low-level skeleton minion from this world – the Mist World, as it's called. We're terribly sorry for the inconvenience."

Paxton's jaw would have dropped if it wasn't already permanently fixed in a skeletal grin. "Inconvenience? INCONVENIENCE? You call this an inconvenience?!"

"Now, now, there's no need to shout," the voice chided. "We're prepared to offer compensation for our mistake. How does a quest system sound? You can complete tasks or defeat powerful creatures to strengthen your soul energy and upgrade your physical form. It's quite popular in other realms, I hear."

Before Paxton could formulate a response, he felt a strange tingling sensation in what used to be his head. Suddenly, he could see a translucent interface hovering before his eye sockets, displaying various stats and a list of available quests.

"There you go!" the voice said cheerfully. "All set up and ready to go. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of paperwork to file about this incident. Good luck, and please don't file a formal complaint!"

With that, the presence in Paxton's mind vanished, leaving him alone once more in the dank dungeon.

Paxton stood motionless for several long moments, trying to process everything that had just happened. Part of him still hoped this was all some vivid, twisted dream brought on by too many hours of gaming. But the chill of the dungeon air and the unfamiliar sensation of existing as a skeleton felt far too real to be a figment of his imagination.

Finally, with a sigh that sounded more like a rattle, Paxton decided to examine the quest system he'd been given. The first task on the list caught his eye:

"Defeat a slime and collect its soul essence. Reward: 10 Soul Energy points."

"A slime, huh?" Paxton mused aloud. "Classic RPG starter monster. Typical."

He was about to make another snarky comment about the unoriginality of his situation when a bone-chilling roar echoed through the dungeon. The ground trembled beneath Paxton's bony feet as something massive approached from the depths of the underground labyrinth.

Rounding the corner came a creature that made Paxton's non-existent heart skip a beat. It was a slime, alright – but not the cute, bouncy blob he was expecting. This monstrosity was easily the size of a grizzly bear, with acidic ooze dripping from its form and leaving sizzling puddles on the stone floor. Rows of razor-sharp teeth lined a maw that could swallow Paxton whole, and baleful red eyes glowed with malevolent hunger.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," Paxton groaned, backing away from the approaching horror. "That's not a slime, that's a freaking kaiju!"

The slime beast let out another ear-splitting roar, shaking loose debris from the dungeon ceiling. Any thoughts of completing his first quest evaporated from Paxton's mind, replaced by a single, overwhelming imperative:

Run.

Paxton's skeletal legs carried him through the twisting corridors of the dungeon at a speed he never thought possible. The slime monster crashed after him, its gelatinous body squeezing through passages that should have been too narrow for its bulk.

As he fled, dodging fallen stones and leaping over chasms, Paxton's mind raced. How was he going to survive in this world? How could he possibly hope to grow strong enough to face creatures like that slime behemoth?

One thing was certain – his journey in the Mist World was off to a less than auspicious start. But as the sounds of pursuit faded behind him, Paxton realized that he had no choice but to adapt and overcome if he ever wanted to return home.

Little did he know, this was just the beginning of an adventure that would challenge everything he thought he knew about himself and the nature of reality itself.

The underground labyrinth echoed with the thunderous impacts of the slime monster's pursuit and its bone-chilling roars. Paxton, now a skeleton on the run, dodged falling debris and clouds of dust as he fled through the twisting corridors. Between gasps (more out of habit than necessity, given his current bonely state), he cursed the so-called "competent" employee of the Fate Management Bureau who had landed him in this mess.

"Some compensation this turned out to be!" Paxton grumbled, narrowly avoiding a glob of acidic slime that splattered against the wall where he'd been moments before. "Next time I get an interdimensional job offer, I'm asking for dental!"

As he ran, Paxton's gamer instincts kicked in. He'd faced seemingly impossible challenges in countless virtual worlds before. There had to be a solution here, too. The quest system wouldn't give him a task that was truly unsolvable... right?

Paxton's mind raced as he analyzed his opponent. The slime behemoth was incredibly strong, but it wasn't exactly a tactical genius. It simply barreled forward, smashing through obstacles in its single-minded pursuit. Paxton, on the other hand, had no weapon capable of damaging the creature directly. He'd have to use his environment to his advantage.

"Think, Paxton, think!" he muttered to himself. "What would work against a giant blob of goo?"

His eye sockets landed on a wall-mounted torch, its flames casting flickering shadows in the gloom. A lightbulb moment struck (metaphorically, of course – he didn't actually have a head for lightbulbs anymore).

"Fire!" Paxton exclaimed. "Classic monster weakness. Let's see how you like a little heat, you overgrown Jell-O shot!"

As he sprinted down the corridor, Paxton snatched torch after torch from the walls, gathering an armful of blazing implements. When he'd collected enough, he skidded to a halt and turned to face his pursuer.

The slime monster bore down on him, its maw gaping wide enough to swallow a small car. Paxton took a deep breath (again, out of habit) and hurled his collected torches directly at the creature.

The effect was immediate and spectacular. Flames erupted across the slime's gelatinous body, quickly engulfing the monster in a blazing inferno. An unearthly shriek filled the air as the creature thrashed about, its form distorting in the heat.

"Ha! Take that, you big booger!" Paxton crowed, allowing himself a moment of triumph. "Who's the noob now?"

But his victory dance was short-lived. A notification popped up in his mental interface:

[Slime has completed elemental transformation. Upgraded to Fire Slime.]

"Oh, come on!" Paxton groaned, watching in horror as the burning mass before him began to take on a new, even more terrifying form. "Since when do slimes get power-ups?!"

The Fire Slime let out a roar that shook loose stones from the ceiling, its body now a churning mass of magma and flame. Paxton didn't need to be told twice – he turned tail and ran faster than he ever had in his life (or afterlife, as the case may be).

As he fled, Paxton's mind whirred with possibilities. The slime was stronger now, but it had also become more specialized. Fire Slime meant a new weakness...

"Water!" Paxton realized. "I just need to find some water in this godforsaken dungeon, and I'm golden!"

But as he raced through corridor after corridor, dodging gouts of flame and pools of molten slime, Paxton's hopes began to dim. This was a dungeon, not a spa resort. The chances of finding a convenient pool or water fountain seemed slim to none.

Just as despair began to set in, Paxton's foot slipped on something slick. He went down hard, his skeletal form clattering against the stone floor. As he scrambled to get up, his hand touched the substance he'd slipped in.

"Please be water, please be water," Paxton muttered, examining the dark liquid coating his bony digits. It was thick, with a coppery smell that hit his non-existent nostrils. "Not water. Definitely not water. That's... oh god, that's blood."

Fighting back a wave of nausea (impressive, considering his lack of a stomach), Paxton looked up to find the source of the macabre puddle. His gaze landed on a massive stone altar, its surface stained dark and glistening. A steady trickle of blood oozed from its edges, forming the pool he'd slipped in.

As the heat of the approaching Fire Slime grew more intense, Paxton's mind kicked into high gear. "Blood... blood is mostly water, right? Plasma, cells, all that good stuff from biology class. It's gotta be at least half water!"

The Fire Slime rounded the corner, its blazing form illuminating the chamber with an infernal glow. Paxton scrambled to his feet, positioning himself between the monster and the blood-soaked altar.

"Alright, you flaming booger," Paxton taunted, waving his arms. "Come and get me!"

The Fire Slime charged, its maw opening wide to engulf its bony prey. At the last possible second, Paxton dove to the side with all the grace his skeletal form could muster. The monster, unable to halt its momentum, plunged headlong into the pool of blood surrounding the altar.

The effect was instantaneous and spectacular. Steam erupted in great billowing clouds as the blood doused the creature's flames. The Fire Slime let out one final, gurgling shriek before its form collapsed into a soggy, lifeless mass.

Paxton stood there, his skeletal jaw hanging open in disbelief. "I can't believe that actually worked," he muttered, staring at the defeated monster. "Take that, high school chemistry! Who says you'll never use this stuff in real life?"

As the adrenaline (or whatever the skeletal equivalent was) began to fade, Paxton remembered the quest he'd been given. Steeling himself against the revulsion, he reached into the gooey remains of the slime monster, feeling around for anything that might be considered a "soul essence."

His bony fingers closed around something solid – a small, pulsing orb that seemed to glow with an inner light. The moment he touched it, Paxton felt a strange tingling sensation in his mind. The orb vanished from his hand, apparently submitted to the quest system automatically.

A notification appeared in Paxton's vision:

[Quest Complete! Defeat a slime and collect its soul essence.]

[Reward: 10 Soul Energy points]

"Sweet!" Paxton exclaimed, feeling a surge of accomplishment. "Now we're talking! Bring on the level-ups and sick loot!"

But before he could claim his reward, another option appeared beside it:

[Watch an advertisement for double rewards!]

Paxton blinked his non-existent eyes, sure he must be hallucinating. "You've got to be kidding me," he groaned, rubbing his eye sockets. "I finally escape microtransactions by getting isekai'd to a fantasy world, and they STILL follow me here? What's next, loot boxes?"

He stared at the floating options, torn between his gamer's instinct to maximize rewards and his long-standing hatred of intrusive ads. After a moment's hesitation, Paxton sighed.

"Well, when in Rome... or whatever hellish dimension this is," he muttered, reaching out to select the ad option. "Might as well see what kind of commercials they run in the afterlife."

To Paxton's surprise, the advertisement that began playing wasn't for some mystical potion or enchanted sword. Instead, he found himself watching a painfully familiar commercial for a popular soft drink back in his own world.

As CGI polar bears frolicked across a wintry landscape, extolling the virtues of ice-cold cola, Paxton felt a sudden, overwhelming wave of homesickness. He watched, transfixed, drinking in every detail of the mundane commercial he would have skipped without a second thought just days ago.

When the ad finally ended, Paxton found himself blinking back tears he couldn't actually shed. "Never thought I'd miss commercials," he murmured, his voice thick with emotion.

A new notification appeared:

[Double reward claimed! 20 Soul Energy points awarded.]

The number pulsed and glowed, and as Paxton accepted the reward, he felt a rush of energy course through his skeletal form. He examined himself closely, looking for any visible changes, but found none. Still, he could sense a new strength within him, a potential waiting to be tapped.

A grin spread across Paxton's skull as the implications of what had just happened sank in. "Double rewards for every quest?" he mused, his mind racing with possibilities. "Oh, this changes everything. I might not be just another skeleton soldier after all!"

Paxton sat on the edge of the blood-soaked altar, heedless of the gore, and let out a laugh that echoed through the dungeon chambers. He raised his bony middle finger to the unseen forces of fate that had landed him in this mess.

"You hear that, Fate Management Bureau?" he called out to the empty air. "You might have screwed up my life, but I'm going to game this system so hard you won't know what hit you! Get ready for Paxton: Skeleton Warrior Extraordinaire!"

"Alright, Mist World," Paxton declared, pushing himself to his bone feet. "Let's see what other quests you've got for me. I've got double rewards to claim and a whole lot of leveling up to do!"

Days blended into an endless cycle of monotony as Paxton roamed the labyrinthine corridors of the dungeon. Guided by the quest system's prompts, he dispatched an array of low-level monsters – slimes of varying sizes, venomous insects, and batlike creatures that seemed more of a nuisance than a genuine threat. The rewards for these mundane tasks were paltry, barely moving the needle on his progression.

Even the novelty of doubling his rewards through advertisement viewing had begun to wear thin. Paxton found himself mindlessly tapping through commercials, the incremental gains feeling less and less significant with each passing day.

"Is this all there is?" Paxton muttered to himself, his skeletal fingers tracing idle patterns on a damp stone wall. "An eternity of darkness and uninspired mobs? I didn't sign up for some never-ending tutorial level."

But the pride of a seasoned gamer burned within his hollow chest, refusing to let him give up so easily. With each new area he explored, Paxton meticulously observed his surroundings, using his bony fingers to etch makeshift markers on the walls. It was a time-honored tradition from his dungeon-crawling days, a safeguard against getting hopelessly lost in the maze-like environment.

On what felt like the thousandth identical corridor, Paxton's vigilance finally paid off. His keen eye caught a slight irregularity in an otherwise unremarkable corner – a single loose brick that seemed just a hair out of alignment with its neighbors.

"Well, well," Paxton murmured, a grin spreading across his skeletal features. "What have we here? Secret passage 101, coming right up."

With a firm press of his bony hand, the brick sank into the wall with a satisfying click. The entire section of wall pivoted smoothly, revealing a hidden passageway shrouded in inky darkness.

"Jackpot," Paxton whispered, his excitement building. "Let's see where this rabbit hole leads."

The passage was narrow and winding, forcing Paxton to contort his skeletal form into increasingly awkward positions as he navigated its twists and turns. The air grew thick and damp, carrying with it the musty scent of long-forgotten secrets.

After what felt like hours of claustrophobic crawling, Paxton's skull bumped against something solid. Feeling around in the darkness, his fingers found the edges of what seemed to be some kind of hatch or trapdoor.

"Only one way to find out," Paxton muttered, bracing himself. With a mighty heave, he pushed upward, feeling the resistance give way as the hatch swung open.

Blinking in the sudden influx of light, Paxton hauled himself out of the passage and into... a cluttered alleyway? Discarded crates and barrels littered the narrow space, but it was what lay beyond that truly captured his attention.

As Paxton's vision adjusted, he found himself staring out at a vista that took his nonexistent breath away. Before him stretched a vast underground metropolis, a city hewn from the very bedrock of the earth itself.

At the heart of this subterranean wonder stood a colossal stalactite, its crystalline surface pulsing with an otherworldly radiance. The massive formation pierced through both ceiling and floor, as if it were the very axis upon which this hidden world turned. Surrounding the stalactite, an intricate array of magical wards shimmered and danced, their arcane geometries a testament to the power they contained.

Radiating outward from this mystical core, the city unfurled like a flower blooming in the depths. Streets paved with luminous stones wound their way between buildings of impossible architecture – spires that defied gravity, arches that seemed to bend reality itself, and domes that reflected the ethereal light in mesmerizing patterns.

The air hummed with life and energy as denizens of all shapes and sizes went about their daily routines. Skeletal figures not unlike Paxton himself mingled freely with lithe dark elves, their pointed ears twitching at every sound. Hulking orcs shouldered their way through the crowds, while diminutive goblins darted nimbly between legs and around corners.

Shops and stalls of every description lined the broad avenues, their wares spilling out onto the streets in vibrant displays. Weapons of gleaming metal and pulsing magic caught the light, while bottles of mysterious potions bubbled and fizzed. Tomes of arcane knowledge lay open on tables, their pages seeming to whisper secrets to those who dared listen.

The cacophony of a thousand voices filled the air, a symphony of commerce and community that spoke to the vitality of this hidden realm. Laughter and heated bargaining, the clang of forges and the sizzle of exotic cuisines – it all blended into a tapestry of sound that was at once foreign and strangely familiar to Paxton's ears.

For a moment, Paxton stood frozen, his mind struggling to process the sheer scale and wonder of what lay before him. It was as if every fantasy RPG he had ever played had suddenly sprung to life, but with a depth and richness that no game could ever truly capture.

"Holy shit," Paxton whispered, his skeletal jaw hanging slack. "Now this is what I call a proper dungeon city."

Taking a deep, steadying breath (more out of habit than necessity), Paxton steeled himself and stepped out into the throng. As he moved through the crowd, he was struck by two immediate revelations.

First, despite the babel of languages surrounding him, he found he could understand every word. It was as if some unseen force was translating directly into his mind, rendering even the most exotic tongues into familiar English.

Second, and somewhat more embarrassingly, Paxton realized he stood out like a sore thumb – or rather, like a naked skeleton in a sea of well-equipped adventurers. Every other skeletal figure he saw was decked out in full armor or flowing robes, their empty eye sockets gleaming with magical enhancements. In contrast, Paxton's bare bones drew sidelong glances and barely concealed sneers from passersby.

"Great," Paxton muttered, hunching his shoulders in a futile attempt to appear less conspicuous. "I've gone from tutorial mob to dungeon flasher. Maybe I should have kept that loincloth from the starter area."

As he wandered the streets, taking in the sights and sounds of this subterranean metropolis, Paxton's attention was drawn to a weapons merchant's stall. There, prominently displayed, was a massive two-handed battleaxe. Its blade gleamed with an inner fire, runes of power etched along its length. It was exactly the kind of epic loot Paxton had always dreamed of wielding in his favorite games.

His excitement quickly turned to dismay, however, when he saw the price tag. The axe cost 3500 soul energy – far more than the paltry sum he had accumulated from his low-level questing.

"Should have known," Paxton sighed, his bony fingers tracing the air just above the axe's haft. "The good stuff always comes with a hefty price tag. If only I'd known soul energy was the currency here, I wouldn't have been so quick to absorb it all."

Just as Paxton was resigning himself to a future of window shopping, a commotion erupted in the street behind him. A clear, feminine voice cut through the general hubbub:

"Heavens above! Someone's stolen Master Claudia's Shadow Bridal Gown!"

Paxton's quest interface sprang to life, a new entry appearing at the top of his list:

[Hidden Quest Activated: "Master Claudia's Shadow Bridal Gown"]

[Objective: Help the boutique owner Emily recover Master Claudia's legendary creation – the Shadow Bridal Gown]

[Reward: 1800 Soul Energy]

Paxton's mind raced. 1800 soul energy, doubled with his ad-watching perk, would net him 3600 – just enough to afford that battleaxe with some change to spare.

Turning towards the source of the commotion, Paxton spotted a figure he assumed must be Emily. She was a dark elf, her delicate features twisted with worry as she wrung her hands. Despite her plain attire and disheveled appearance, there was an undeniable beauty about her that made Paxton's nonexistent heart skip a beat.

"Well, well," Paxton mused, a plan forming in his mind. "Looks like it's time for this skeleton to play hero. Who knows? Maybe I'll even score some brownie points with the lovely lady in distress."

Straightening his posture (as much as a skeleton could) and attempting to project an air of confidence he didn't entirely feel, Paxton approached the distraught elf. He cleared his throat (another unnecessary habit) and spoke in what he hoped was a suave, heroic tone:

"Ahem. Excuse me, beautiful miss. I couldn't help but overhear your plight. Perhaps I could be of assistance in recovering your stolen item?"

Emily turned at the sound of his voice, her luminous eyes widening as she took in Paxton's appearance. For a brief moment, hope flickered across her features – only to be quickly replaced by a look of barely concealed disdain as she fully registered the sight of the naked skeleton before her.

"Oh," Emily said, her tone a mixture of disappointment and faint disgust. "I... appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure how much help you could be in your current... state."

Paxton felt a sting of embarrassment, acutely aware of his lack of equipment. But he pressed on, determined to secure this quest and the tantalizing reward it promised.

"I assure you, my lady," Paxton said, trying to infuse his words with charm and confidence, "appearances can be deceiving. I may not look like much, but I have skills and determination that could prove invaluable in your search."

Emily arched an elegant eyebrow, skepticism evident in her expression. "Is that so? And what exactly makes you qualified to take on such a delicate task? The Shadow Bridal Gown is no ordinary garment – it's a masterpiece of magical craftsmanship, coveted by collectors and thieves alike."

Paxton hesitated for a moment, realizing he had no real credentials to speak of. But then, drawing on years of bluffing his way through online game chats, he decided to lean into his unique situation.

"Well, you see," Paxton began, gesturing to his skeletal form, "my lack of... conventional attire is actually an advantage. I can blend into the shadows, slip through tight spaces unnoticed. And let's be honest – who would suspect a naked skeleton of being on a high-stakes recovery mission?"

A flicker of amusement crossed Emily's face, and Paxton felt a surge of hope. He pressed his advantage:

"Plus, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain. I'll work tirelessly to recover your gown, no matter the obstacles. After all, a skeleton doesn't need sleep, food, or bathroom breaks. I'm the perfect candidate for a non-stop investigation."

Emily regarded him for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Finally, she let out a small sigh.

"I suppose beggars can't be choosers," she said, a hint of resignation in her voice. "Very well, Mr...?"

"Paxton," he supplied quickly. "Just Paxton."

"Well, 'Just Paxton,'" Emily said, a ghost of a smile playing at her lips, "I hope your confidence is not misplaced. The Shadow Bridal Gown means everything to my business. If you can truly recover it, you'll have my eternal gratitude – and a handsome reward, of course."

Paxton's skeletal grin widened. "That's all I need to hear. Now, why don't you tell me everything you know about this theft? Every detail could be crucial in tracking down your precious gown."