《The Core of Consideration [Dungeon Core - LitRPG]》 1_Aliens In a room there stands a ''man''. "Security: Privacy Absolute." His ambitions great, his plans grand. "Serenity: Mind Resolute." Great glowing patterns cover ceiling and floor. "Summoning: Fate''s Great Foil." At their convergence hovers life, brain, and core. "Summoning: Mortal Coil." Into living brain, a dagger is driven. "Death and Life: Phylactery." Into crystal core, a spirit is bidden. "Tyranny and Strife: Slavery." With great chants intoned, lesser magics dull. "Property: Owner''s Mark." False flesh fades to bone, fake face fades to skull. "Prophecy: Future''s Dark." The skeletal figure slings spell after spell. "Tongues: Polyglottery." A pre-planned sequence to rival heavens and hells. "Change: Permanency." With fierce arcane cunning, curse and crystal are wed. "Strength: Giant''s Might." Not the first, not the last, but CRRRRRACK! makes three hundred. (Crystal shatters in bony grasp, and new soul takes flight.) Basic (4) dungeon core destroyed. Select Reward. Dreadmaster Sutalu Clac, the first and final Arch Lich, did not sneer at the paltry rewards. Nor did he indulge in his impulse to make a selection. Instead he increased interface transparency from 50% to 90%. Once upon a time ¨C that is to say, as recently as last year ¨C Clac had developed the habit of accepting the reward as quickly as systemly possible just to get the screen out of his face. Core destruction notifications are annoyingly persistent. He followed this habit unthinkingly until a certain hypothesis struck him. Then he set out to break the habit after his tests proved it true: A destroyed core does not reform in the world until its destroyer selects their reward. One too many lost cores. That had been the motivation behind this discovery. Some dungeons had entrenched themselves too deeply into their spawn location before he found them. Others were destroyed by delvers. The final straw had been a core claimed by enemy forces mere minutes before his arrival. Each core is a significant investment. Each loss, a significant cost. Some failures are inevitable ¨C attributed most often to atrocious spawn locations. But the preventability of that final straw had fueled the rising fire of frustration within him. Entire empires would have glowed green with envy if they knew the level of control that Clac commanded over dungeon core spawning ¨C or, as he has come to confirm, dungeon respawning. Many thinkers suspect it, but he alone has proved it. It was a necessary step on the path to controlling the process. And yet, that level of control had not been enough. He desired more. He sought ever greater power. He wanted to grow stronger. And thus did he squeeze another inch of advantage out of his already-ludicrous procedure. And thus he did not select a reward from the faded screen that floated before his eyes. Not yet. Instead he cleaned his basement until it was prim, proper, and pristine. This meant discretely discarding the depleted dregs ¨C most noticeably the now-dead human brain. Once disposal was done, he dismantled the supreme security ward he had established at the start of his sequence, leaving only the standard privacy spells in place. After a final once-over, he left his basement and strode towards his study. He''ll need a worksheet, concentration, and patience to determine the rough location of his dungeon core when it respawns, then he''ll need his world map and atlas collection to plan the best route to reach it. He sat down at a desk littered with parchment, organized them with a wave of his hand, and readied himself for a session of good old mathematics. Then he checked to see how much time remained until full recovery from his earlier spellcasting. That sequence is never easy (or cheap) to cast, even for him. Seeing that he still had plenty of time, he got caught up on a few of the papers he had stacked moments prior. He worked on them while his mana recharged, waiting without bated breath.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. ______________________________ In a limbo of nothing but his own awareness, Rori couldn''t move, couldn''t see, couldn''t smell, couldn''t hear, couldn''t feel. He could only think. Hm¡­ not as bad as I thought it''d be, to be honest. He''s been in a sensory deprivation chamber before, and he''s had a few bouts of sleep paralysis in his life. Not to mention his illness. By comparison, this is practically pleasant. The afterlife, I mean. For a while, he burned the recent past into memory. Israel Rori Goldstein once boasted a powerful memory before illness took it from him. It''s been so long since he''s been able to think so clearly, and he wants perfect recall on the scene with the skeleton man. To do that, he needs to relive the memory while it''s still fresh. Then wait for a while. Then relive it again. Rinse and repeat five times, and it will stick in his mind. Between repeats, he had time to think. So it exists after all. Huh. Rori didn''t believe in ghosts, magic, or the supernatural. By extension, he didn''t believe in the afterlife. Not enough convincing evidence had always been his hang-up. I mean, what else COULD it be? But now he HAS evidence. The very best kind: personal experience. Wait a minute. If I''m dead, does that make this purgatory? Or hell? Obviously the afterlife must exist after all- Nope! Definitely not the afterlife. Gotta be something else. There''s no doubt in my mind! Motivated purely by scientific reasoning, Rori knew better than to allow a single piece of anecdotal evidence change his mind. So he kept thinking. Ah-HA! It''s a coma dream! Can''t be anything else. He already tried his usual methods of waking up from a lucid dream and they hadn''t worked. But with a coma dream, of course it wouldn''t be that easy. Wait, if it''s a coma dream, then I''m in a coma. And according to the doctors, that means I''m never waking up again¡­ A coma dream was, in all likelihood, the right guess. Definitely not a coma dream! No, sir-ee! Something else for sure. There''s no doubt in my mind! But then what is it? And for that matter, what can I even DO right now? Step one to changing your circumstances when you''re feeling helpless is to (A) get help, (B) just start doing stuff and see how that goes, (C) try to understand what''s going on, or preferably, (D) do all of the above at the same time. HELLO? ANYONE HOME?! I''D LIKE TO GET OUT OF LIMBO, PLEASE!! Given the circumstances, he isn''t above literally trying to pray his way out of it. This could be the afterlife, after all. Higher powers could be listening to his thoughts. But after a few failed attempts, (A) and (B) didn''t look like they were going anywhere, so he decided to focus on option (C). That means it''s back to the original question: What the heck is going on? There''s a saying that any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. So it could be¡­ Aliens. Because he''s fairly certain that literal brain-in-a-jar technology is utterly beyond the capabilities of 21st century earth. Definitely aliens. It''s gotta be. Can''t be anything else. Excluding a coma-dream and the afterlife, aliens is as good a guess as any. Or time-traveling humans from the future. Or maybe the simulation overlords in charge of my old reality have unplugged me from the matrix. In any case, the important question is: Why? Why pluck out the consciousness of a near-comatose human and place it into some kind of limbo? Bio-harvesting. They''re going to turn my body into batteries!! Bio-harvesting would probably mean the limbo is here to stay. That, or some kind of inescapable enslavement. Or both. Nope! Not bio-harvesting. Definitely not bio-harvesting. They always said that was super inefficient. Yep. Gotta be something else. In his scrambling search for a believable excuse righteous quest for the undeniable truth, the thought occurred to him that his fellow 21st century earthlings would be none the wiser if just his consciousness was plucked. His doctors, coronor, and mortician would all assume he simply succumbed to his illness. They need my brainpower. That''s it for sure! But that still doesn''t answer the question of ''Why?'' Are human consciousnesses inherently valuable? Well, yes, actually. They are. Rori firmly believes that. Wait a minute, with 30% of internet traffic being what it is, that means they''re going to use my brain to store their p- However, the pertinent question isn''t what Rori believes to be valuable. The question is what the mind-snatchers find valuable. Nope. Definitely not my brainpower! Super-tech beings probably don''t need the raw processing power found in a human brain. Especially with how biased and error-prone it tends to be. Entertainment for sure. They''ll put me on display like a monkey in a zoo. (Case in point.) From the perspective of someone capable of pulling off a mind-snatch in the first place ¨C aliens, simulator overlords, time-travelling humans, or whoever else ¨C what value could a human consciousness have to them? No, wait! Study! They''ll put me in my ''natural habitat'' to learn more about humans. There could be any number of motivations. Entertainment. Profit. Status. Science. Some twisted psychological drive. Or maybe the motivation is, quite literally, alien to human ways of thinking. Maybe they EAT humans. Or brains! That skeleton man DID have a brain. Was that MY brain? IS that my brain? But one thing''s almost certain. The brain DID have a knife through it¡­ It probably hadn''t been done for Rori''s sake. Nope, definitely not my brain. Must''ve been someone else''s. Rori is just having fun at this point. And/or going insane. He can hardly believe he gets to live through a REAL alien abduction mystery! Whatever''s going on, I''ll be damned if I don''t make the most of it! And for the most part, he''d thought through these theories long before his illness, except the parts involving the weird scene he''d seen. Wait a minute¡­ That is, until a novel possibility finally occurred to him. What if my illness itself¡­ ______________________________ Only once he was fully recovered did Clac increase his interface opacity and allow the reward selection screen to dominate his vision. His creation would not appear in the world the moment he made the selection. Otherwise Clac would have seen the implication long ago. Instead, the core would reform at its own pace. It could take as few as two minutes, and he needed to be ready for that, or it could take more than four hours. No matter how long it took, Clac would wait. Gone are the days of avoidable losses and mistakes made in haste. Here are the days of cool calculation and careful preparation, as they should have been from the start. His atlases hung above him, ready to be referenced. A blank piece of paper sat off to the side, waiting to become a worksheet. A dungeon core is about to respawn in the world, begging to be found. And he will be among the first to find it. Basic (4) dungeon core destroyed. Select Reward. Dreadmaster Sutalu Clac, the first and final Arch Lich, made his selection, dismissed the screen, and¡­ returned to his pending papers. No sense wasting time while he waited. 2_Settings Rori''s torturous and lonely peaceful and homely limbo was interrupted by a stream of typeface, somehow both visible and audible to his consciousness. It was a good thing, too. He was almost ready to resort to mentally shouting at the top of his imaginary voice praying for salvation like a good soul ready to rejoice. Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-47! Initializing SOP¡­ //Standard Operating Procedures Initializing SOP-ACRP¡­ //Automated Core Recycling Program Initializing SOP-ACRP.EECR¡­ //Extract Excess Core Resources The sequence of words came to a halt. There was a substantial pause. The periods began blinking in a rhythmic dot-dot-dot to indicate loading time. Well, not actual periods. The characters were more akin to dashes than dots, and they were flickering back and forth in a zig-zag pattern instead of blinking. But ''dot, dot, dot'' is the closest English analogue. Rori idly noted that he has just encountered yet another unknown language. First it was the tail end of the bone-man''s chant, now this. In both cases, Rori found himself following along as if he''d been speaking it his entire life. ¡­Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Integrating resources into SOP-ACRP¡­ Initializing SOP-ACRP.RCD¡­ //Resetting Core Defaults Initializing SOP-ACRP.ECD¡­ //Extracting Core Data Initializing SOP-ACRP.ACD¡­ //Assessing Core Data Another substantial pause. Zig-zag-zig went the not-periods. ¡­Alert! Anomaly detected within Core ID: 0.0.931-47! Initializing SOP-ACRP.Anomolies¡­ Anomaly, huh? Rori thought. That must be me! Alert! FPP detected. //Foreign Processing Power Initializing SOP-ACRP.Anomolies.FPP¡­ A third substantial pause. Foreign processing power? That''s DEFINITELY me! So they needed my brainpower after all! Determining compatibility of FPP with Core ID: 0.0.931-47¡­ Determining quality of FPP¡­ Determining integrity of FPP¡­ Determining risk of FPP¡­ Analyzing FPP¡­ Let me guess. Quality: 10/10, Integrity: 10/10, Risk: 0/10. Analysis: Super handsome. And smart. And humble. Alert! FPP identified as Soul ID: 0.0.null. Alert! Soul ID value 0.0 has triggered emergency override. Wait, it actually WAS referring to me? Attention intruder! Rori snapped to full attention at yet another language change. There had also been a sudden tone shift, from artificial-sounding to life-like inflections. Angry, authoritative inflections. Finally, there were no corresponding words-on-screen. Taken with the words themselves, it was a worrying combination. Unauthorized mortal occupation of dungeon cores is punishable by immediate termination! Leave now or suffer the consequences! Well that escalated quickly. DON''T WORRY, I WILL! JUST TELL ME HOW! He also made a token effort to ''leave'', but he had no idea how to do anything at all in his current state, so nothing happened. You have chosen poorly! I didn''t ''choose'' anything! Farewell, foolish mortal! May the system have mercy on your soul! Hey! Wait just a minute- but his protest was cut off by the artificial voice of the automated language. Purging FPP¡­ ¡­Ahhhhh whatever. Years ago, his response would have been more severe. But he had spent months coming to grips with his own mortality, learning his own helplessness, and now he was more resigned than angry. There was another extended wait, the passage of time marked only by the zig-zag-zigging of an alien loading indicator and Rori''s own thoughts. So I''ve been saved by miraculous alien tech, only to be killed by uncaring alien bureaucracy. Figures. But if I DO survive, this automated program is going to face my¡­ gratitude. Yeah, that''s it. Gratitude. Alert! FPP cannot be purged with available resources. Phew. Looks like I lucked out. Fear me, lines of code, I''m coming to spaghettify you! Requesting additional resources¡­ I mean- uh- OPTIMIZE! Yes, I''m going to clean you up and optimize you! Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Phew again. Consulting SOP-ACRP.Anomolies.FPP.subroutines¡­ Requesting authorization for Soul ID: 0.0.null to serve as PPP for Core ID: 0.0.931-47¡­ Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Granting temporary authorization for Soul ID: 0.0.null to serve as PPP for Core ID: 0.0.931-47¡­ Failure! PPP must not contain null values. Consulting SOP-mortals.nullvalue¡­ Requesting authorization to resolve null values of Soul ID: 0.0.null¡­ Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Consulting SOP-mortals.nullvalue.csunresponsive¡­ Retrieving temporary value for Soul ID: 0.0.null¡­ Hello! said a cheery voice in the same language used by the would-be terminator. What''s your name? There was a pause that would have been awkward between two living people. Hello! the voice repeated in exactly the same tones as before. What''s your name? Rori wondered if he should attempt to answer. He weighed his options, then made his decision. Hello! What''s your name? Nah. Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' Ignoring the second prompt, his eyes scrolled all the way to the top of the text wall, which had grown quite lengthy by this point. Time to commit a few important-looking lines to memory while he has the chance. Hello! What''s your name? Ugh. If he can manage to ignore that for long enough. At least the words weren''t appearing on screen, just like the warning from earlier. Otherwise an endless stream of Hello! What''s your name? might have clogged the textwall and pushed his memorization targets off-screen. Hello! What''s your name? Let''s see, it starts with ''Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in-'' Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' Oh, be quiet! Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' Go away! Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' AAAAAGH! ShutUpShutUpSHUTUP! Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' __________________________________ Dreadlord Clac checked the time, his illusory face showing an illusory frown. He had run out of papers an hour ago, and he has been shoring up his mathematical abilities in the meantime. He completed two separate practice runs already: two distance/direction combinations that would simulate two true dungeon core appearances. For each, he performed the math to determine the precise locations, then consulted his atlases to route the quickest paths to those parts of the world. For the past minute, he has been tapping his pen on the blank page in front of him, thinking carefully about his upcoming schedule. If the core does not reform soon, this project is going to start clashing with his other obligations. __________________________________ Finally done! Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' Rori was now sure he would remember everything from the text wall. Hello! What''s your name?This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. More importantly, he had reached a few conclusions about his current situation. Hello! What''s your name? The term ''core'' had come up over and over in the textwall, but his automatic-understanding of the word hadn''t come with automatic understanding of context. The word ''core'' was too broad on its own, just like the closest English translation, and the extra details in the text wall only narrowed it down so much. Hello! What''s your name? Thankfully, something else had already blown the puzzle wide open, and it only took until he got there on his first recollection to realize it: ''Attention intruder. Unauthorized mortal occupation of dungeon cores is punishable by-'' The threat had only come as audio, not text, so he had to remember it manually. And despite being different from the coding language, his mysterious polyglottery informed him that the two terms for ''core'' were referring to the same thing. Everything had clicked into place from there. Thank you, terminator friend, Rori thought to himself. Couldn''t have done it without ya! Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' Well, he thought. Not much left I can do with the information I''ve gathered so far. I guess it''s time. Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' That message alone probably added over an hour of time to his efforts. It came up every time he explicitly ''vocalized'' a thought, meaning that his thoughts were somehow being heard. ''Prayer'' might''ve actually done something after all. Who''d''ve figured? Please answer in the format of ''my name is [insert name here].'' Pretending that he hadn''t heard it ¨C a habit that was beaten into even HIS rebellious mind ¨C Rori finally moved on. He readied himself to memorize new lines as they appeared, then he waited for the original prompt to appear one last time. He had no way of knowing when or if the textwall would vanish forever, taking its alien secrets with it. Hello! What''s your name? Using the language and format provided by that stupid thought-killing line, he finally replied. My name is I- Habit kicked in at the last moment, stopping him from referring to himself as ''Israel'' to a stranger. -Rori, he thought instead. Soul ID set as 0.0.irori. No! Not ''irori''! It''s Rori! Just Rori! My name is Rori! My name is Rori! Granting temporary authorization for Soul ID: 0.0.irori to serve as primary processing power for Core ID: 0.0.931-47¡­ ¡­Well that''s a great start, isn''t it? Rori quickly calmed himself down so he could commit that and future lines to memory. Even the best eidetikers in the world can''t remember something if they''re not paying enough attention in the first place. Integrating prior processing power unit "Nominal Operating Normal Standard Artificial Processing Intelligence Entity" Number 7-3n717135 into primary processing unit Soul ID: 0.0.irori¡­ Terminating SOP-ACRP¡­ Initializing "SOP-HelloWorld!"¡­ All at once, the entire textwall was replaced by a new interface ¨C one that looked like it was meant for front-end service, not back-end repairs. When new words appeared, they were in the same language used by the would-be terminator and the cheery interrupter. Greetings! Welcome to the Dungeon Core tutorial! For the first time since Rori''s arrival, he finally did feel a little welcomed. Emphasis on little. But it was better than being treated like swine by automated bureaucracy. It''s almost like I''m a customer. Please remember your responsibility to report any errors you encounter to the proper authorities. Hmm¡­ make that a beta tester. Note that your session may be terminated at any time, for any reason, as outlined in your orientation. Make that a beta tester caged by crappy contract clauses. The hyper pace and small-font text of the disclaimer reminded Rori of TV commercials about pharmaceutical products. Select your Base Danger Level (Difficulty): 0_Harmless (Insane) 1_Saintly (Hard) 2_Safe (Medium) 3_Mild (Medium) 4_Moderate (Easy) 5_Dangerous (Easy) 6_Risky (Easy) 7_Belligerent (Medium) 8_Violent (Medium) 9_Murderous (Hard) 10_Genocidal (Insane) Rori blinked at the list, skimming it once. Others would have seen a menu, a choice, a start of an RPG adventure. And while Rori saw these things as well, he also saw something else: a stopping point that required his input to proceed. An opportunity. He started repeating the last of the ''back-end'' messages to himself ¨C the few lines that had appeared after he had given his name. With the textwall gone, he was now running on borrowed time. After the first mental recitation, he paused to try a few things. Namely, he tried mentally vocalizing a few words. File. Files. Open Files. Note. Notes. Open Notes. Notepad. Notebook. Journal. Diary. Text. Document. Word. Word Document. Open Word. Sheet. Paper. Papers please. Parchment. He was stretching it at the end there. Neither ''paper'' nor ''parchment'' were on the list he wanted try once he finally escaped the hell of Hello! or Please answer in the format of¡­ interrupting every other thought. When nothing worked, he went back to his mental recitations. This time he went over the entire sequence of external-stimulus memories, from the skeleton man and the chanting, all the way through the textwall pre- and post- name submission. With memories refreshed once more, he tried a different approach. He vocalized it ¨C mentalized it? ¨C a single word in multiple different languages, without and with an addition to go with it. He chose to start with Settings, a hopefully universal constant of interface screens. (English) Settings. Open Settings. (Bone-Man Language) Settings. Open Settings. (System back-end Language) Settings. Initialize Settings. (System Moderators / User Interface Language) Settings- Aha! Success at last! A new window appeared above the old, containing a different kind of options list, one he was much more familiar with. Let''s see¡­ System opacity, no¡­ System color, no¡­ Font options, system volume, system brightness, no, no, no¡­ Notifications? You are getting turned OFF! Goodbye and good riddance! Preferred language? I''ll come back for you later¡­ Flavor text? Again, later¡­ He skimmed through the list like a man on a mission, making note of everything he was excited to explore, but not seeing the function he needed. He dismissed the window after reaching the end. Thinking Escape and didn''t work, but Back did. After another recitation, he tried all the previous ''word document'' command words again, this time using the appropriate language and format (i.e. no need for ''open'', just think the command word itself). But they all failed. After yet another recitation, he began going down the mental list of other command words he had wanted to try, starting with the obvious one. Status. Success! Well, sort of. Please finish the tutorial to access your status. Interesting, but don''t rush me. Also, I said no notifications! Now begone with the almighty word of ''Back!'' The pop-up disappeared. Next up: inventory. Nothing. Interface. Please finish tutorial to access interface. Back, foul demon! Back I say! Now let''s see, where was I¡­ Return. Cancel. Menu. He went through the remaining words on his list of pre-planned mental commands. None worked. He also tried a few non-planned commands. Those didn''t work either. At this point he was running out of ideas to try, until sudden inspiration struck. Bug report. Error report. Report error. I would like to report an error. A screen appeared before him. Please describe the nature of this error, it said at the top of an empty box. Could¡­ could it be? He mentally recited his memories, thinking as explicitly as he could, watching words appear on the screen as he thought them. It is! Praise be! A way to write at last! And thought-to-text at that, how lovely. Oooooh, and automatic language recognition! You and I are going to be BEST friends. The error-report screen accepted almost every ounce of language he could remember hearing in the past few hours. Unfortunately, he did not ''remember hearing'' the first four chants from the bone man. Not as words, anyway. But everything else ¨C from the bone man''s final chants, to the scripts in the text wall and the pre-recorded voices that weren''t ¨C it all came out nicely. (Except his attempts to dictate earthly languages, which returned errors on his error-report form.) He checked over his work when he was done, and then realized a problem. Ideally he''d save the document somehow, but he only saw a glowing ''submit'' button and nothing else. Will it save if I submit? Error report submitted. Rori''s eyes would have blinked in surprise if he still had them. And then his eyes would have widened in terror as he realized- Error! Central servers unresponsive. Oh, thank goodness, he thought in relief. Would you like to save to Drafts? NO! Draft discarded. He felt the bodiless sensation of slumping in relief. What''s that, system? Notify the authorities that tried to terminate me? Send them a word-for-word transcript of the fact that they failed to do so? Great idea! What could possibly go wrong? Even saving it as a draft might be a bad idea. Wait a moment¡­ Drafts, he thought to himself. And blessed be this day, for there did appear a screen, and upon that screen, thought-words flowed forth once more. This time, however, he hesitated before going through the full recitation. If the ''authorities'' can peek into my private places and look up my drafts¡­ This thought did not appear on the screen, for it was deliberately thought in English. You know what? YOLO. With ''central servers unresponsive'', and with his memorizations starting to fade, he decided to risk it. Every moment that passed was a chance for small mistakes to be added by his mind, for slight adjustments to happen, for small details to be forgotten. Especially the textwall. So he went through the recitation one final time. Once he was done, words like ''save'' and ''submit'' and ''save draft'' began appearing at the bottom of the draft, until¡­ Draft Saved as Draft One. Back. The window closed. Drafts. The window opened, blank. Open Draft One. Getting it in one, he gave it a once-over. He decided to leave his failed key word attempts in the draft, just to preserve history. For good measure, he added everything he could find in the Settings tab. This took a bit of time due to the long list within the Preferred Language feature. Then, on second thought, he put the Settings stuff in a separate draft. Save as Draft Two. Back. Drafts. Open Draft One. Back. Open Draft Two. Once again, he confirmed everything was there. Back. With the drafts window closed, the same initial choice hovered in his vision. Select your Base Danger Level (Difficulty): 0_Harmless (Insane) 1_Saintly (Hard) 2_Safe (Medium) 3_Mild (Medium) 4_Moderate (Easy) 5_Dangerous (Easy) 6_Risky (Easy) 7_Belligerent (Medium) 8_Violent (Medium) 9_Murderous (Hard) 10_Genocidal (Insane) He looked at the list with longing, tempted to start exploring it. Hmph! he pouted. Soon, my lovelies. I''m almost there. But stop rushing me, okay? First, housekeeping- er, system-setting. Settings. No ''dark mode'' option was readily available, but maybe he can get there manually by changing the screen color to black and the font color to white¡­ __________________________________ The dungeon had not reformed in the six hours that passed since midnight, either setting a new record for ''dungeon respawn time'', or perhaps a new record for ''resources wasted on a single common dungeon core''. Clac has officially been forced to put the recovery process on indefinite hiatus ¨C a truly dreadful thing that he had hoped to avoid. His facial illusion did not scowl as he stood and gathered his pile of papers. One of the whole points of this project is discovery. Throughout thousands of attempts, he''d had hundreds of failures. Some of those, he turned to success. Granted, not a single basic core has failed to respawn before. But so long as it''s a one-off and not the start of a trend, a failure to respawn would be valuable information in and of itself. If it happens, he shall accept it with dignity. At least the core still exists ¨C or rather, the soul bound to it does. Clac touched his illusory chin with illusory fingers. Assuming that total respawn failure is not the case, what could possibly be taking so long? __________________________________ I wonder what THIS button does. Flavor Text: Off/On -> Off/On Rori saw no obvious changes within the Settings window itself, so he Backed out of it, only to see some very obvious changes on the screen beneath it. How aggressive would you like to be? 0_Mercy for all living creatures. No exceptions. 1_Violence only against monsters, not people. 2_Aggression only in defense of life, liberty, and property. 3_How aggressive I will be depends on how aggressive my enemies are. 4_Pre-emptive strikes are a useful tool, but sometimes bad for business¡­ 5_I''ll be exactly as aggressive as I need to be. 6_Don''t blame me if my delvers die. All is fair in love and core¡­ 7_How aggressive will I be? That depends. How weak are THEY? 8_Anything is permitted in pursuit of survival, power, and profit. 9_"Violence" is my middle name! 10_"Mercy" shall not exist in my vocabulary. No exceptions. 3_Description You know what? Maybe just transcribing will do from here on out. After once again going through the full memorization process, Rori considered his options. 0_Mercy for all living creatures. No exceptions. 1_Violence only against monsters, not people. ¡­ 9_"Violence" is my middle name! 10_"Mercy" shall not exist in my vocabulary. No exceptions. No, not those options. Rori hesitated to even think about those options. Not after the last two times. Stupid error report. Stupid Soul ID. Granted, the complete and utter lack of user-friendliness could possibly be exclusive to the business/back end of the system. That sort of thing might not happen now that he''s firmly on the front-end. But just in case, when he does get around to it he''s going to select an option that will (hopefully) be good no matter what. Even if there are no take-backs in this system. But first, more flavor! Is he being petty? Snubbing a system that he felt had snubbed him? Yes. Did he care? Also yes, but not enough to not do it. Besides, pettiness isn''t his only motive. He really does want to see the flavor-added text under multiple languages. Using the Settings to select different Preferred Languages had already revealed a number of nuances about the original list. The back-end ''code'' language gave numerical values for ''difficulty.null'', for example, and a few other languages implied that ''difficulty'' referred to the difficulties Rori would be facing, not the difficulties faced by ''delvers'' ¨C a term that ALSO came up in other languages. Rori hadn''t gone as far as to memorize or transcribe the different translations, but he did compose a summary of sorts: Select the amount of danger that your dungeon will pose to its delvers, and the projected difficulty that should come from managing it (or creating it? being it? unclear), on a scale of 1 to 5. 0_Harmless to all living intruders. (Insane/Impossible: 5) 1_Saintly to all sapient delvers. (Hard: 3) 2_Safe for delvers who respect the dungeon''s integrity. (Medium-Hard: 2.5) 3_Mildly dangerous to all intruders, even innocent delvers. (Medium/Casual: 2) 4_Moderately dangerous, but still leaning towards non-lethal. (Medium-Easy: 1.5) 5_Dangerous, a mix between devious and deadly. (Easy/Beginner: 1) 6_Risky, leaning towards lethal methods of takedown. (Medium-Easy: 1.5) 7_Belligerent, openly hostile to all intruders. (Medium/Casual: 2) 8_Violent, deadly by default and rarely anything else. (Medium-Hard: 2.5) 9_Murderous to all sapient delvers. (Hard: 3) 10_Genocidal to all living intruders. (Insane/Impossible: 5) All of that from a single changed setting. No ''selection'' required. Take THAT, stupid system! And just like ''Preferred Language'', ''Flavor Text'' doesn''t run the risk of permanent selection. Both are options in Settings. He''s free to play around without worry. And play he did, starting with the language of the bone-man. Settings. Flavor Text: Off/On Preferred Language: Invocita Back. Choose your path: 0_For those who treasure life. 1_For those who wish peace. 2_For those who wish prosperity. 3_For those who seek security. 4_For those who seek ease. 5_For those who prefer balance. 6_For those who crave conflict. 7_For those who crave battle. 8_For those who want power. 9_For those who want blood. 10_For those who desire death. Alright, cool. Creepy, but cool. Settings. Next up, the system''s back-end language. Preferred Language: S++. Back. Insert value for null.Lethal: 0_Non 1_Restrictedly 2_Minimally 3_Rarely 4_Occasionally 5_Adequately 6_Readily 7_Very 8_Extremely 9_Exclusively 10_Personally Hm¡­ in a way, that''s even cooler, thought Rori. And even creepier. In fact, that''s going onto a draft. And so is the translation from the bone man''s language. Next up, Rori tried a language that he mentally labeled ''authorial overindulgence'' for how it only seems to operate on the levels of ''vague, cryptic foreshadowing'', ''insulting/amusing idioms'', and ''things in triplicate''. ''Repeating itself often'', ''stating the obvious'', and ''long-winded language'' are also prevalent. Settings. Preferred Language: Eseldra. Back. It''s the opportunity of a lifetime! Be prepared for monsters, delvers, and levels galore! You need only decide your approach. 0_But beware this option. Your abstinence shall be your undoing. For insane idealists, principled pacifists, and worst of all: vegans. 1_It''s true that cooperation is the path to peace and prosperity. But you don''t do it for the greater good, you do it because you can''t stand doing anything else. For those who have bleeding hearts, who have hearts of gold, and for big babies who don''t like seeing boo-boos. 2_You''re just a hard-workin'' fella who doesn''t want any trouble. But if someone insists that it''s you or them, you''re willing to protect your castle and everyone inside. For farmers, family folk, and ordinary, good people. 3_You know that a more proactive approach is needed to protect and provide. Good for pioneers, guards, and the rare noble rogue. 4_You can''t make an omelet without cracking a few eggs. Just sit back, relax, and let the delvers do their thing. Hopefully they survive, because then they''ll come back. Perfect for managers, lazy geniuses, and enterprising parasites. 5_You like to keep your options open. You also like to discuss the weather and watch paint dry. Perfect for stale bread, cups of water, and plain potatoes. 6_You respect all parts of the circle of life, including death. It''s survival of the fittest. With the greatest risks come the greatest rewards. For daredevils, entrepreneurs, and the morally relative. 7_There are many things to be won during conflict, and the only conflicts that matter to you have winners and losers. For the strong, the competitive, and the generally sociopathic. 8_Sometimes you like to play with your food. Sometimes slaves are more useful than corpses. But usually not. You understand that all potential threats must be eliminated. For aspiring rulers, politicians (but I repeat myself), and just plain bad people. 9_You don''t kill for profit or power. You kill because you WANT to. For serial murderers, emo edgelords, and the mentally ill. 10_But beware this option. Your depravity shall be your undoing. For insane idealists, truly principled psychopaths, and worst of all: role-players. As usual, that particular language offered a trove of info. But geez does it ramble. Also, how in the world could a psychopath ever be principled? Different translations didn''t give the answer, but they did start ''tasting'' the same after a while. Eventually Rori decided he had squeezed out enough flavor from enough Preferred Languages. He hadn''t transcribed, and he certainly hadn''t memorized. There were limits to the lengths that even he would go for the sake of pettiness important scientific inquiry. Time for another general summary in Drafts¡­ __________________________________ Sutalu Clac considers himself a patient lich. Having other important things to occupy his mind and his time is, in his opinion, the best way to practice the difficult art of patience. And he has many such things. Too many, that''s the problem. The difficulty lies in carving time out of his busy schedule for his side-projects. It''s not a matter of patience, it''s a matter of timing, which is now out of his hands. That''s what''s frustrating him about this most recent core.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Either way, there was nothing for it other than to wait and see. When the morning bells rang out, he made a mental note of nine hours to himself. Then he turned his attention back to more present matters: tormenting the minds of these poor, poor souls¡­ __________________________________ Rori had finally finished his research. He had done his due diligence. He had narrated his notes. Now at last, he allowed himself to eye the underline on the list of ten options. It is time. Up. The blinking underline moved up to underscore the fourth option. Just like in the Settings, Rori thought to himself in English. Down. The blinking underline returned to its old position. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Down. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. The menu allowed the blinking underline to position itself beneath every visible option. This marked the end of all the risk-free ways that he could gather information. Time to kick things up a notch. First he scrolled up to the very first option on the list, and then he¡­ ¡­he realized there was a safer way to try this. He opened the Settings. Details, he tried and failed. Information. Legend. Key. Description. Aha! Screen Opacity: 100% Adjust the transparency of system screens so that you are not unduly distracted by them when other matters are more pressing. Keyword found! ''Description'' it is! It still felt incredibly odd being able to wield unknown languages like this, but the less he consciously thought about it, the easier it was, so he''d mostly put that question out of his mind. For the sake of procrastination propriety, he viewed each option in Settings and added their descriptions to Draft 2. He didn''t bother with the wider list of languages and simply stuck to the faithful four: Bone-Man''s "Invocita", back-end''s "S++", head-in-butt "Eseldra", and system''s default: "The Holy Word". What, that''s it? he asked afterward. Lame. You don''t even deserve a separate summary. He backed out of Settings armed with another tool that would not select an option. Description. 5_Dangerous (Easy) Equally capable of enticing adventurers and maintaining yourself in their absence, this is about as easy as it gets. A standard start and a standard progression for a standard dungeon existence. With the most versatile toolkit, a decent starting budget, and a decent passive mana intake, you''re be able to put up a good front early on, allowing you to get your foot in the door no matter where you spawn. Well now, that''s very helpful. Drafts. Time to get transcribing, maybe memorizing, and ultimately, theorizing. __________________________________ Fifteen hours, Clac thought as a deep bell thrice tolled. __________________________________ It took until he''d reached the outer options to finally learn that dungeons aren''t invincible. It''s often the extremities, the edge cases, that say the most about a system. 9_Danger Level: Murderous (Difficulty: Hard) Description. There is no retreat. There is no escape. There are no checkpoints. There is no compromise. They are trapped in here with you. But you''re trapped with them as well. From the moment they enter the floor containing your core, you and your delvers have only two options: victory or death! With a great starting budget and poor passive mana intake, you will be able to build a solid, deadly dungeon at the onset. You''re going to need it. Only a steady stream of corpses can fuel your growth. Warning: Even Violent dungeons can offer rewards to those who conquer them in exchange for mercy. You do not have this luxury. Not a choice for the faint of heart. As for bleeding hearts¡­ there will be many that bloody your floors. Good thing your heart won''t be among them. After all, you don''t even have one. Back. Down. 10_Danger Level: Genocidal (Difficulty: Insane) Description. No retreat, no escape, yadda yadda yadda, same as before, same as before, mostly same as before, here we are! Warning: Extremely Difficult. Like Murderous dungeons, you do not have the option to bargain for your life. Unlike Murderous dungeons, you do not start with the option to have automated mobs or traps do your dirty work for you. You''re going to have to kill your delvers personally. One. By. One. Back. Rori reviewed all that he had learned and transcribed, his mind focusing on the most important facts. Hm¡­so becoming a dungeon doesn''t mean becoming an unkillable inanimate object. Oh, what a terrible lot I''ve been given! Woe is me! Maybe I should wake up from my coma and complain about it to the woman with cancer in the next room over. Only AFTER reminding himself of that did he allow himself to sigh in disappointment. Anyway, looks like system purges and the ''authorities'' aren''t the only dangers. Cores can be killed. Or destroyed, or ''harvested'', or whatever. Phooey. He thought of options 8, 9, and 10 again. On the other hand, with dungeons like THESE out there, good riddance! Also, the Eseldra language was right. Whoever picks 10 truly IS a ''principled psychopath''. Not that the other options are much better. Even the ''good'' ones fall into the category of ''giving guns to babies''. With Rori being the baby, this tutorial being the negligent parent, and the ten listed options being the shiny guns laid out on the floor in front of him, which his baby brain can''t help but be curious about. The safeties may be on for options 0-2. The guns might not be auto-aiming, auto-reloading, or auto-firing like the guns given to the other eight infants. But still. I''ve been saved from a coma by super-advanced aliens. But instead of probing me, they''re going to turn me into a demigod, give me a pat on the head, and basically tell me to ''have fun''. Forget the Hippocratic Oath, they don''t even have Hippocratic Guidelines. Or informed consent. It took a great deal of effort to become ''Informed'' on his own, and that was only after the fact. As for ''consent''? Ha! I didn''t earn it, I shouldn''t have it- maybe NOBODY should- and I can''t refuse it. Only the most deranged, self-absorbed psychopaths in my position would rub their hands in excitement, instead of trying to do something about the GIANT, GLARING problem with the whole entire premise- wait, never mind. That''s probably why ''mortals'' are supposed to have ''authorization'' in order to occupy a dungeon core. Just like adults are supposed to have a license before driving a car. Apparently, joyrides are a universal constant. Accidental or not, I already tried to inform the ''authorities'' who invented this screwed up system in the first place. I''ve done my due diligence to aliens who don''t deserve it. From here on out, I''m doing it MY way! His attention slowly turned back to the list. To options 3-10. Where casual murder is simply ''part of the job''. The term ''spike trap'' came up more than once. It might mean a pit trap full of painful punji sticks. It might mean spears jutting out from walls, or stakes falling from ceilings, or darts flying from blowers. But it would DEFINITELY mean screams of pain and scenes of maiming that, if real, would tear at his conscience. Fictional violence doesn''t really phase Rori anymore. Some of his favorite stories have come from ''renegade/dark-side/bad karma'' playthroughs of RPGs, and he''s a mild fan of the horror genre. But¡­ Couples fighting. Vicious biting. Heads rolling. ¡­But Rori has seen police cam footage of horrible domestic disputes, and general human depravity that some cops have to deal with every single day. He has seen police cam footage of a cop siccing his dog on a man who was not resisting arrest, as well as other gross and violent abuses of authority. He''s seen videos of war and terror in other parts of the world that are much, much worse. Simulation or not, he won''t be treating this like a game. Because, afterlife or not, he''d rather not become a psychopath. And, mortal soul or not, he cares about who he is at his core. So he went to the only option that he could stomach after modeling a few worst-case scenarios. And no, it wasn''t option 1. Those dungeons are still supposed to kill ''monsters'', whatever those are. Witnessing the regular death and/or torture of animals might be bad for his mental health. Also, the system is clearly trying to drive people away from options 0 and 10. Well, screw your rules! I have standards. Maybe it was weakness and cowardice. Maybe it was strength and bravery. Maybe it was something else. Either way, it was his decision. 0_Harmless (Insane) Description. You''d rather die before hurting a fly. None shall fall within your halls. Unfortunately, your delvers were born with brittle bones and crippled limbs. Soften the walls! Cushion the floors! You better watch out. They''re after your core! With the lowest starting allowance and the highest passive mana intake, you will be vulnerable at the onset, relying on fragile temporary defenses instead of strong and permanent ones. Warning: Extremely Difficult. Even Saintly dungeons can protect themselves from wild monsters with lethal force. You do not get this luxury. From the moment a living creature enters your core floor, it has two options: leave in peace, or harvest a hapless dungeon. It''s going to be painful. But not for your delvers. Never for your precious delvers¡­ Back. After one final read-through of all his bloated drafts ¨C he might lose them after leaving the ''tutorial'', after all, and he wants them in short-term memory just in case ¨C Rori made the only choice that he felt a good person would make. Alright aliens, time to give the toddler his tank. I''m young, dumb, and ready for a joyride! Select. Confirm: "Danger level 0: Harmless (Insane)"? Huh. So there are take-backs after all. Confirm. __________________________________ Sixteen hours, Clac thought. Still the dungeon core had not respawned. 4_Interface Author''s Note: Going forward, whenever you see the (*) symbol immediately after three periods (¡­*), it means some content (typically an in-depth description of a litRPG mechanic) has been removed and relocated to a post-chapter author''s note. Sometimes they''ll contain hints or mechanics that will be used in future chapters, and sometimes it''s just there to satisfy my inner ''but acshually'' critic. Either way, I don''t want to interrupt the pace of the story with bloated litRPG mechanics any more than I have to. Rori is allowed to know everything that is written in these relocated sections thenceforth, and so are you. You''re free to skip them if you want, or wait until you''re done with the chapter, or read the removed sections right away. Whatever you prefer. __________________________________ Immediately after his dramatic declaration, Rori was met with another menu. Select Dungeon Type: Heights Depths Expanse Darn. I messed up the timing. I''ll get it next time. Or maybe¡­ Back, Rori tried. Nothing. Undo. Escape. Restart. Try Again. Revert. Menu. All these and more failed to bring him back to the previous screen. Yep. The system''s still a stubborn shmuck. Looks like I''m ''harmless'' and that''s that. Alright, let''s see what we have here. Rori gave a mental frown at what he saw. Did it change my¡­ Settings. Yep. It did. Flavor Text: Off/On -> Off/On. Preferred Language: The Holy Word -> Eseldra. Back. Description. Drafts. __________________________________ Nineteen hours, Clac thought as the clock struck seven. __________________________________ Confirm: "Dungeon Type: Depths"? NOW it''s time to give the fetus his firearm and/or Ferrari. Confirm. ANOTHER menu appeared. Select Dungeon Nature: Ordinary Fiery Chilly Watery Dry Overgrown Shoot, wrong again. Wait, what''s this? Rori hadn''t seen any ''locked'' options before. Is it because I''m harmless? Or maybe ''depths'' can''t be fiery? I don''t see why not, magma caves are a fantasy staple. Maybe the description will tell me. But first thing''s first. Back. Undo. Revert. Once again, nothing. Once again, the previous decision seemed to be locked in. And once again, the system had reverted his¡­ Settings! Flavor Text: Off/On -> Off/On. Preferred Language: The Holy Word -> Eseldra. Back. Description. Drafts. __________________________________ Twenty-one hours. __________________________________ Confirm: "Dungeon Nature: Watery"? Okay, NOW it''s time for the baby to have a boomstick. Confirm. Select ''Watery Depths'' Variant: Ocean Trench Seafloor Tunnels Beach Cave Underground Lake Glistening Grotto Stop. Reverting. My. Settings! Flavor Text¡­ __________________________________ Twenty-two and a half hours. __________________________________ Confirm: ''Underground Lake''? Confirm. Finalizing SOP-ACRP¡­ Success! Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-48¡­ Wait! I forgot to say it''s time for the infant''s- __________________________________ Finally! thought Clac as he felt the core spawn. At a rather convenient time, too; he''d just arrived home for the day and he wasn''t far from his study. Barring a bad spawn point, he should be among the first to reach it. __________________________________ The amphibious creatures of the Cave-Watcher tribe, known to the world as ''fishlings'', flinched at the funny feeling now coming from their cave. Only a single fishling did not flinch ¨C the tribe''s elder. It was his duty to preserve tradition, protect his tribe from greater threats, and most importantly of all, train his replacement. When he took note of the shifting winds, the subtle draw, the arrival of the power-pearl (as his predecessor had called it), he simply stood from his rug and walked from his hut. His presence got everybody''s attention, his hoisted staff raised their curiosity, and his short speech sparked their imagination. This is a once-in-a-generation occurrence. Soon, the tribe will have a new elder-in-training. But not all of the tribe heard his speech. Four of the tribe''s bravest had already been in the cave at the time, training their resistance to the feeling of forbearance that it always produced. When the feeling of fear evolved into allure, they couldn''t help but be drawn to its source. __________________________________ -intercontinental ballistic¡­ Rori''s mental mouth trailed off at the sudden change into scenery, from blank limbo into otherworldly wonders. Thoughts of missed opportunities for dramatic timing no longer felt important compared to what he saw. Only one thing did. Drafts. Open Draft 1. Rori confirmed that his work had not been undone. Note to self: never forget. Baby with a gun. With that in mind, let''s have some fun! He Backed out of Drafts, then Backed out of his screens entirely. Once he didn''t have to worry about fading memories, he allowed himself to be mesmerized. Now isn''t that something, he thought as he gazed at the sight. In a cavern, above a lake, glistening bright. Held tight betwixt stalagmite and stalactite. Shining crystal bathes whole chamber in light. Like a moon, soft and gentle, pure and white. Pretty. Also, pretty sure that''s my new AR/car/brain jar. His ''core'' is certainly eye-catching, if nothing else. Which might be a problem. I guess it''s time to- wait. First, let me get this out of the way. AAAAAAAHH!! HEEEEELP!!! I CAN''T FEEL MY ARMS!! I CAN''T FEEL MY LEGS!! HOW AM I ABLE TO SEE EVERYTHING ALL AT ONCE?! ¡­ Alright, NOW it''s time to address the elephant in the room. WHY, in the name of all that is holy, is there a BRIDGE OF LIGHT leading STRAIGHT to my core? Suspended far above the surface of the water, a white, luminous bridge connected the cavern''s shining crystal to the other shore of the lake. Lacking any support structures, it laughed at engineers everywhere. The thin, glowing structure didn''t sway or bob, despite what physics would suggest. Alright. I''ve put it off long enough. Interface. Of the key words that wouldn''t work until the tutorial was over, he had decided he would try that one first. It also happened to be the first of several words hovering horizontally at the top of his awareness. Status was the next, followed by Mana, Attributes, Milestones, Settings, Drafts, and a few other keywords he''d never thought to try, including one labeled ''Keywords''. It seems the system hadn''t been expecting its users to figure out keywords on their own.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. When the ''interface'' window opened, it showed: Mode: Manual/Assisted There was nothing else, so he switched modes. Immediately the screen stopped occupying the ''center'' of his vision, somehow sliding to the side. His ''focus'' was again on the ''real world'', where a translucent 3D grid pattern now filled the cavern. Perfect lines and concentric circular spheres radiating out from his core clashed with jagged stone walls. Only two things aligned cleanly with the grid: the perfectly flat bridge of light, and the perfectly flat surface of the water. Upon the screen itself, more options appeared. Mode: Manual/Assisted Rooms: 0/1 Checkpoints: 0/1 Zones: 0/1 Mobs: 0/10 Available Mana: 1001 Mana Intake/Maintenance Ratio: 99% Actions: Highlight | Description | Modify | Delete | Move | Place | ¡­* [A/N: Reminder, ¡­* means relocated content.] Templates: Structure | Object | Special | Custom Rori did not bother stopping to translate, transcribe, or memorize. Now that he''s in the ''real'' world, time is of the essence. He did his research earlier so that he can go fast now. Highlight, he thought. His focus seemed to snap into alignment with the grid, hovering over the structure of stone pincers containing his core. The entire thing was flashing yellow-red, as if to say ''you can''t adjust this item''. And to that I say HOW DARE YOU?! I CAN adjust this item! Move. Action not allowed. Hmph! Okay, maybe I can''t. You win this round. But I''ll be BACK for you later! The ''action not allowed'' pop-up disappeared at his deliberate use of the word ''back''. After that, moving his ''highlight'' focus was as simple as willing it. He had a perfect demolition target in mind while he learned the ropes. The bridge was made of large, individual square segments, forming a long, narrow rectangle as wide as the sides of the squares. Each square flashed yellow as he highlighted them. Delete, he thought. Action not allowed. Back, foul demon! Move. A translucent phantom copy of the solid light square was ''picked up''. He moved it away, hoping to leave a gap in the bridge. Place. Action not allowed. Back! Gah! Rori already had his suspicions about why it wasn''t allowed. Copy. Place, place, place. Delete. The bridge now had four right-angle turns, as if taking a detour around a cube. This more or less confirmed it. He could delete a segment of the ''bridge'' so long as there''s still a fully connected path leading from the core to the entrance of the dungeon. Also, while he was placing them, the three tiles were highlighted in green instead of yellow, then became a stripe pattern of yellow-green after all three were down. The tile he deleted had also turned yellow-green, and after he deleted it, the three new tiles became solid yellow. He''s pretty sure he knew what was going on, but he decided to see if his favorite keyword would confirm it for him. Description. Structure: Basic Panel Properties: Path to the Core, Harmless, Temporary He didn''t bother reading the description, having found what he was looking for in the Properties. Ah, THERE you are, Mr. Obvious Culprit. Path to the Core. Description. The Path to the Core is the uninterrupted path that must exist from the entrance of a dungeon to its core. Templates with this property are highlighted in yellow, and cannot be moved or deleted until an alternative path to the core is established¡­** Why can''t the water below count as the Path to the Core? Rori wondered. Is it because I''m Harmless and someone might drown? Maybe this will tell me. Harmless. Description. Templates with the Harmless property have varying qualities that make them safe for delvers. Ground tiles such as this have the feel of semi-firm cushions, to absorb blunt damage on impact. Hmm.. so the flavor text hadn''t been joking. But that doesn''t answer my question. Figuring he''d learn as he went along, he decided to get the descriptions of two other important-looking items before adding any ''templates'' to his dungeon. I/M. Description. Ranging from an absolute minimum of -100% to an absolute maximum of 100%, your Natural Intake/Maintenance Ratio is the comparison between the rate at which you gain mana from the environment and the rate at which you lose mana in order to maintain templates¡­*** Alright, lots of words I don''t understand, but I''m starting to get the bigger picture. One last thing I need to know before I fortify the path to my core. Temporary. Description. Templates with the ''temporary'' property require a constant stream of mana to maintain. They can be added, moved, or removed instantly, and at no immediate cost other than a change to your I/M ratio, unlike fixed templates which require time and stored mana to be built, adjusted, and deconstructed¡­**** Hm¡­ a bit lengthy, but that''s okay. Now that I have a decent idea of what I''m working with, let''s just get something temporary down ASAP. Structures. Template: Structure | Object | Special | Custom Structure Type: Room | Corridor | Surface | Custom | Saved Hm¡­ Rooms. A long list of options, and the costs that came with them, appeared in a drop-down menu. The many, many costs that came with them¡­ but after getting mentally overwhelmed, Rori just ignored everything except the first value, since that''s all that mattered to temporary templates anyway. (I/M Ratio Cost | ¡­) 1_Basic Boss Room (Randomized): 100% | ¡­ 2_Basic Trap Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 3_Basic Obstacle Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 4_Basic Zone Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 5_Basic Mob Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 6_Basic Economy Room (Randomized): 27% | ¡­ 7_Basic Trap/Obstacle Room (Randomized): 66% | ¡­ 8_Basic Trap/Zone Room (Randomized): 66% | ¡­ 9_Basic Trap/Mob Room (Randomized): 66% | ¡­ 10_Basic Trap/Economy Room (Randomized): 53% | ¡­ Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,¡­ Assuming it was first for a reason, he selected option 1. A giant, ethereal object appeared in midair, seemingly made up of the same material as the floor panels, and with yellow connection nodes on opposite ends. The nodes flashed red when he tried to disconnect them from existing floor panels, so he lodged it in the center of the bridge. He could see straight through highlighted things as if they were transparent, and on the inside of the box he saw a giant mushroom and some kind of sparkling fog. Before placing it, he fetched its Description. Basic Boss Room: Snoozing Shroom (Harmless): 100% | ¡­ Room Contribution: 1 Zone Contribution: 1 Resident Contribution: 10 Snoozing Shroom? Description. Basic Zone Trap Boss: Snoozing Shroom (Harmless) While asleep, a Snoozing Shroom emits soporific spores. Once its victims are all unconscious, it will wake up and gently carry them to the room''s ejection pods. It is highly vulnerable to attacks and it will not defend itself. Huh. I guess Harmless dungeons CAN have a boss. Not sure if I''m a fan of this one, but let''s use it to block the bridge for now. I can always switch it later. Place ''Basic Boss Room: Snoozing Shroom (Harmless)''? (99%->-1%) Confirm. Rori felt an intangible change that he couldn''t easily describe. It was like he had been sitting still before, but now he was exercising. He didn''t have a body, or muscles, but that was the only analogue that came to mind. And maybe it was just the numbers talking, but he didn''t feel like he could keep it up forever. I''ll probably have to change it soon, but for the moment I''m safe enough to do some research. Assuming I''m understanding this whole ''dungeon'' concept correctly. And now. At last. Status. Dungeon ID: 0.0.931-48 Name: Unnamed Type: Watery Depths, Underground Lake Danger Level: 0 (Harmless) Difficulty: Basic (1) Hm¡­ not what I was looking for. Let''s try left to right across the top row. Mana. Stored Mana: 1010/100 Mana Until Next Level: 10/100 Natural Intake/Maintenance Ratio: -1% Adjusted Intake/Maintenance Ratio: -1% Much better. But why is this number golden? Stored Mana. Description. Stored Mana: 1010/100 Properties: Starting Allowance Starting allowance? Oh, right. The ''harmless'' description said something about a low starting allowance. And since he was already there, Rori decided to read the rest of the description. Stored mana is used to level up, to create and repair fixed structures, and to fuel negative I/M expenditures, among other things- Before Rori could get any further, he felt a sense of intrusion, of trespass. Without any voluntary input on his part, his attention snapped to the entrance of his dungeon, where stood a creature like a mix between a monkey and a fish, holding a spear. Another sense of intrusion, and it was joined by a companion. Then another. Then another. __________________________________ A/N: Chapter Finished. Cut descriptions: *The following should not be taken as the complete list of actions that Rori can take using his interface, but some additional ones are: Actions: Highlight | Description | Modify | Delete | Move | Place | Copy | Undo | Redo | Set | Confirm | ¡­ "Set" will eventually be used to queue a change without implementing it right away. Most of the rest should be obvious based on the name. **Property: Path to the Core ¡­Templates with this property may be replaced by templates that qualify as paths, such as rooms, obstacle paths, or trapped floors, which will then adopt the ''Path to the Core'' special property. ***Mana Intake / Maintenance Ratio ¡­At a ratio of 0% I/M, you are gaining exactly as much mana as you spend. At 100%, your maintenance costs are low enough that you are still maintaining the maximum natural mana growth rate. At -100%, your maintenance costs have reached the inverse of your maximum natural growth rate ¨C the maximum mana deficit. If your I/M ratio is negative, you will consistently lose stored mana unless something supplements your natural intake rate, such as the presence of delvers. (See Adjusted Intake/Maintenance Ratio.) If you run out of stored mana, temporary constructs will be automatically deleted (or replaced by temporary floor tiles, in the case of constructs along the Path to the Core) in the order of most expensive to least expensive until the I/M ratio is no longer negative. This will happen regardless of a template''s (Occupied) status. ****Template Property: Temporary ¡­At the cost of stored mana, temporary templates can be converted to fixed templates. Temporary templates have significantly higher maintenance costs than fixed templates, significantly lower structural integrity, and are more obvious to delvers. Most temporary templates require structural soundness before conversion into fixed templates. For example, a temporary floor tile supported by nothing in midair, or supported only by other temporary floor tiles, cannot be converted into a fixed floor tile. 5_Grrrmrgrl Rori''s first thought was, Aww¡­ they''re actually kind of cute. His second thought was, Description. Names: Mrrrgrgl, Grrrmrgrl, Lrrrmlrgl, Rrrlmrgl Levels: 8, 9, 7, 6 Species: Fishling Classes: Tribe-Kin (Common) Delver Count: 4 Well, now I know what it''s like to have dyslexia, he thought after trying to read the names. At least I CAN get their descriptions, that counts for something. Maybe this will tell me more. Fishling. Description. Fishlings are amphibious, carnivorous beings that subsist primarily on clams, fish, and whatever animals they can hunt using primitive tools. Barely sapient, this species is generally considered to be a dangerous nuisance by other sapient creatures. They- Before Rori could finish reading, the Fishling named ''Grrrmrgrl'' raised its spear and gave a loud cry of "MRLGRMMMGRGLRM!". Three similar sounds came from the others, and then they began a mad sprint through his dungeon''s ''foyer'' and into his core chamber. They completely ignored the glowing bridge and floating boss room, instead dashing down the stony shore and jumping into the lake. Hey! That''s cheating! Heedless of his complaints, they swam rather quickly to the core structure in the center of the lake and pulled themselves onto the steep shore, stopping to stare at the white-glowing orb above. It was hard to read fish-face, but they might have been awed. After a significant stretch of silence, one of them began jumping up and down and chanting wildly, quickly followed by the others. If they were using a language, Rori could not understand it. One of the fishlings even grabbed a stalagmite in one hand and started spinning around it, somehow reminding Rori of a female lead in a musical, despite the absurdity of the comparison. These antics went on for a while. Wondering what the heck was going on, Rori opened up their species description again, finally managing to get all the way through. They have varying cultural customs depending on region, but one constant is that all Fishlings worship pearls as holy symbols, believing that consuming one grants good luck. Rori looked back up to their current object of fascination: the luminescent, spherical, pearl-like object that was his core. Uh-oh. One of the fishlings, Grrrmrgrl, stopped chanting and started climbing the ever-steepening slope. This caught the attention of Rrrlmrgl, who tackled Grrrmrgrl. There was then a brief and violent struggle for dominance. Thankfully without using their spears. Not so cute anymore. Finding it uncomfortable to look at and listen to, Rori opened up Interface and searched for something that he could use to distract himself that he could to do to protect himself. They were already at his core structure, so changing anything else would be pointless. And if he couldn''t move his core structure, maybe he could still¡­ Modify. Special: Primary Core Structure Properties: Path to the Core, Harmless, Immobile, Occupied, add¡­ Add. Action not allowed. What?! But the option''s RIGHT THERE! Right next to the Occupied property. A description of ''Occupied'' popped up. Hey, I didn''t ask for¡­ he trailed off as he read the first sentence. Occupied templates cannot be modified. Templates become Occupied when a living invader touches them, and lose this property when that invader, and all who have touched it since, are no longer in the dungeon. Other ways exist for templates to acquire the ''Occupied'' property which prevent indefinite Path to the Core adjustment while delvers are present. Just as he finished reading, the fishlings caught his attention again. Or rather, one of them did. Grrrmrgrl gave what was probably a victory shout of "GRRRRRRRRMRGRL!" as it stood above three bruised and battered fishlings.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel. It then started climbing the core structure unopposed. Once it reached the glowing orb, it didn''t hesitate to open a very wide mouth and clamp down, causing Rori''s entire vision to be blocked by disgusting red flesh and razor-sharp teeth. Mrrrgrgl, Lrrrmlrgl, and Rrrlmrgl could only watch in envy and awe as the cave dimmed and their sister lit up like a glowing moon. They could literally see their sister''s insides, and they wondered if this is what it looked like for someone to ascend to goddesshood, like the old legends say. But after a few seconds, Grrrmrgrl gave a muffled growl, and seemed to struggle at something. She tried to pull, but the pearl didn''t come loose. She tried striking the spikes holding it in place (without letting go of her precious pearl, of course), but the stone column didn''t break or budge. She tried putting one floppy foot on the stalagmite, her other floppy foot on the stalactite, and then began yanking with all her oral might. The pearl still did not come lose. After many long minutes of failure, and with terrible reluctance, Grrrmrgrl eventually let the pearl out of her mouth. But not out of her possession! Oh no! Hoping to get better leverage with her arms, and still squatting with both feet on either stone pillar, she gripped the pearl with her hands- Leave, power. Crush, great power. -and Grrrmrgrl stumbled in surprise when a bright thingy appeared in her vision ¨C even brighter than the pearl, somehow ¨C along with a loud voice talking in the tongue of her kin. She fell backwards- not into the lake below, but onto the flat-thing that hovered two body-lengths beneath the pearl. She hadn''t realized her struggling had twisted her around until the glowing ground was beneath her. The platform was a scary, new, strange thing, unlike the familiar stone and water, and she had been planning to avoid it. But now that her butt was resting on it, she marveled at how soft it felt. Even softer than the elder''s furs that she''d once touched, before getting a swift thwack to the head from his staff. And the elder¡­ the voice was like his. It sounded smart and wise, and more than a little powerful. But now the thingy in her vision and the voice were both gone. She looked around, but she didn''t see any elders. She looked down at her kin, who were the only ones talking. Mrrrgrgl, Lrrrmlrgl, and Rrrlmrgl were calling up to her in alarm, confusion, and greed. She looked over the edge of the flat-soft thing (still marveling at its feel) to let them know that she is not dead, it was just a strange new thingy that happened, and the pearl is still. Hers. Rrrlmrgl. Hmph! Sore loser. Grrrmrgrl stood¡­ hopped a little at the slight bounciness of the platform¡­ and with a noise of great frustration (and inner dismay, bouncy is fun, but she couldn''t play), she focused on her pearl again. She climbed the short way up and put her hand on it. She flinched but did not fall. The thingy in her vision showed a Fishling touching a round thing, then getting bigger and walking away. Next it showed a Fishling crushing the round thing, and getting even bigger than the first one. (These were not lifelike images, but pictograms, like Fishlings used on the rare occasions that they felt like drawing in the mud.) Leave, power. Crush, great power, said the wise-sounding voice. Again, no elders were around that she could see. It must be an outsider elder, Grrrmrgrl concluded. She paused before responding. Even if it''s an outsider, an elder must be respected. But since it''s an outsider, she felt she could argue with it. Eat! she thought, instinctively communicating with her mind instead of her mouth. Leave, power. Crush, great power, repeated the wise-sounding voice, just like the elder when a hatchling wasn''t listening. Eat! she repeated. Leave, power. Crush, great power. Eat! This back-and-forth argument lasted until her kin interrupted from below again. "I talk with elder! You quiet!" she ordered. Once again, her kin looked up in awe. They didn''t see the elder, but he could do magic-things, and he commanded great respect. They also didn''t hear their sister talking to him, but again, magic. With his name invoked, they fell silent and waited patiently. Leave, power. Crush, great power. Take! she decided, trying to compromise. Leave, power. Crush, great power. Take! she tried again. Once again, a back-and-forth that went no-where. The outsider elder wasn''t budging. She couldn''t argue, she would have to choose. Grrrmrgrl considered the offered choices, her body swaying back and forth to match her inner ambivalence. She wants great power. But she doesn''t want to crush the pretty pearl! She wants to eat the pretty pearl! Or at least take the pearl with her so she can show it off (and eat it later). If she crushes it, she can''t take it or eat it! More! she thought. In her language, it was a word that meant ''tell me more'', ''share story'', or, perhaps, ''describe it''. At her instinctual use of the description function, the outsider elder finally said something new. The system responsible for automated dungeon-conquering procedures elaborated standard delving practices in a way that the simple-minded creature would understand. Leave, come back again. Crush, gone forever. All of this, from start to finish, was done without Rori''s approval or input. Currently, all he saw was the message of Offering automated reward to conqueror¡­ Grrrmrgrl was still torn, but eventually made a decision. If she''s more powerful, when she comes back again she''ll be able to take the pearl. And then, of course, eat it. She made her choice. Leave, power. Grrrmrgrl, Mrrrgrgl, Lrrrmlrgl, and Rrrlmrgl all disappeared from the dungeon interior in a flash of light. This is how an extra fishling in the Cave-Watcher tribe rose above level 10, and how Soul ID: 0.0.irori, illegal inhabitant of Core ID: 0.0.931-48, learned a valuable lesson about fishlings, delvers, and cheese. 6_Capacity Rori re-aligned his boss room so that the entrance node connected directly to the foyer of the dungeon. No more cheese for YOU, my devious delvers! In all honesty, he should have seen it coming. He''s watched enough speedruns to know that people will find ways to cut corners if they''re dedicated to the task. Different communities have different terms for it. "Cheese" in platformers, "lateral thinking" in puzzles, "shortcuts" in racing games, and "skips" in speedruns. They are the unintended work-arounds to difficult challenges, and the greatest shame of prideful challenge-crafters. Rori barely had any time before those fishlings arrived, but he still felt like he should have done better from the start. But, better late than never. Once the boss-room was relocated to the entrance passageway, i.e. lodged somewhat in solid stone instead of suspended mid-air by temporary platforms, it began flashing green, indicating the possibility of permanence. He did not turn the boss room into a fixed template. That little gremlin had taken 500 mana from his starting balance, and he wanted to save the rest. Mana, he thought, the keyword triggering a segment of his interface. Stored Mana: 600/100 Mana Until Next Level: 100/100 Natural Intake/Maintenance Ratio: -1% Adjusted Intake/Maintenance Ratio: -1% On the plus side, he''d learned a lot about what he can and can''t do. I CAN adjust my dungeon on the fly, maybe add rooms that specific delvers might be weak to, but I CAN''T gaslight my delvers by changing places they''ve already been. Not until they leave the dungeon entirely. He also learned a lot about what he should and shouldn''t do. I SHOULDN''T underestimate my delvers, and I SHOULD try to have at least 500 stored mana on hand at all times, just in case. While he''d been helpless, the system had helpfully informed him that he was above the ''500 mana threshold''. Otherwise Grrrmrgrl would have probably been presented with a different set of options: destroy the core, or leave empty-handed. He shuddered at how close he had come, how lucky he was, but most of all, how disgusting that mouth had been. I need to improve the level of my game, he thought. And by that I don''t just mean that I need to¡­ Level Up. Confirm: Level up 1->2? Yes. He felt¡­ empty. But also stronger. And with no effort or ability on my part, the baby''s boomstick has become bigger, he thought. I wish ''economy'' was more viable. A quick glance at the basic economy objects¡­* had been slightly disappointing. He could pay 10 mana to spawn a ''Basic Mana Bulb'' that would improve his storage capacity by 1, meaning he could spend 100 mana to increase his capacity by 10. Or he could spend 100 mana to ''level up''. Along with all the other benefits that leveling would likely bring, it would increase his capacity by¡­ well, he hadn''t known in advance, but he had guessed it would be more than 10. Mana. Stored Mana: 500/200 Mana Until Next Level: 0/200 Natural Intake/Maintenance Ratio: 0% Adjusted Intake/Maintenance Ratio: 0% And his guess had been right. Looks like it went up by a full 100. Plus his I/M had improved, by the looks of things. Now he just needs- "MRRRRRMMMMMGRGLRRR!" -to deal with more delvers. Great. Once again, barbarians are at the gates. Okay, crunch time. Interface. His eyes flicked to the top to see if leveling had also increased room capacity. Mode: Manual/Assisted Rooms: 1/2 Checkpoints: 0/1 Zones: 1/2 Mobs: 10/20 Available Mana: 500 Natural Intake/Maintenance Ratio: 0% Good. Templates. Structures. Rooms. Option 1. He didn''t even bother to see what boss it contained, he just aligned its entrance with the first boss room''s exit. Of all the possibilities he pictured himself perpetrating as a ''Harmless'' dungeon, a boss rush wasn''t one of them. In limbo, he had envisioned enthralling his intruders with obstacles and entertainment. But needs must. He needs quick and dirty protection, so he must go with the simplest selection. At 100% I/M a pop ¨C wait, make that 99%, looks like it''s lower now ¨C boss rooms are as simple as it gets. Theoretically, he can have 2 temporary boss rooms at a time, if he''s willing to go down to the maximum limit of negative 100% I/M. Well, negative 98% at the reduced cost. -99% if you include the amount he''s being forced to spend on the bridge leading to the core. He aligned the new boss room''s entrance with the exit of the old one, gave a brief glance to his mana- and nearly did a double-take. While his ''Natural I/M'' hovered at 0%, his ''Adjusted I/M'' was over 1000%. And it was rising- not steadily, but in chunks of between 50% and 80% I/M, every time another fishling entered the dungeon. Okay, I now see why dungeons want to attract delvers. With that much extra mana, he decided to place his new boss room right away, lowering his ''Natural I/M'' to -79%. He now felt like he was running a marathon with an unlimited source of carbs to fuel his feet. The latest addition to his dungeon had lowered his Adjusted I/M by the same amount ¨C an amount that was growing increasingly negligible as the number grew larger and larger. Is there even a limit to the number of delvers that can occupy my dungeon? They stopped trickling in eventually, but he wasn''t sure if that was a limit of some kind or just the total number of fishlings in the group. The new arrivals meandered about the dungeon entrance, advancing cautiously unlike the previous four. It was beginning to get crowded in the space before the first boss room. Despite all the pushing and scratching from behind, those at the front were unwilling to enter the glowing, artificial structure filled with dancing dusty lights and a see-through, man-sized mushroom with a stalk as thick as a tree trunk. There was an argument that involved more biting and clawing than talking, followed by a nearly unanimous agreement. A small, nervous, trembling little fishling by the name of ''Nrgl'' was shoved forward onto the glowing flat-thing. Nrgl''s first response was to cower on the ground for a while, going no deeper into the room. Especially not near the lumpy, stumpy mushroom in the middle. Its second response was to caress the glowing ground, clearly marveling at something. Its third response was to start hopping around in excitement. This caused two of its fellows to hesitantly follow. They, too, started hopping around after feeling the floor. This opened the floodgates for the rest. Once ten had entered the room, however, a tall wall of mist manifested from nowhere, cutting off and repelling all remaining fishlings like a sideways trampoline. I guess there IS some kind of limit after all. The ten fishlings inside didn''t seem to notice the mist, nor did they seem to hear the cries from their tribespeople. They just kept hopping and flopping around, trying to catch the bigger specks of glowing dust in the room and gurgling in what might have been joy. But as the minutes dragged on, their movements slowed. They began to yawn and fall to the floor, like children tuckered out by too much tussling. One by one, they fell asleep. After the last fishling stopped moving, the central mushroom stirred. Short and stubby limbs unfolded underneath the umbrella-like cap. Black, beady eyes blinked open. A toothless, tongueless mouth gave a tiny yawn. Where before the mushroom''s ''trunk'' had been lumpy and wrinkled, now it was smooth. The lumps had become limbs, the wrinkles had opened into orifices. With a peaceful smile and a slow yet steady gait, the mushroom walked over to one of the fallen fishlings. As gently and softly as a caring mother, it picked up Nrgl and brought it towards ten tall, transparent tubes lining the walls ¨C the ''ejection pads''. The Snoozing Shroom placed Nrgl into a tube, slid the cylindrical glass back in place, then started walking towards another fishling. Okay, they''re back to being cute again. Despite the noisy clamoring outside the first boss room, Rori felt he finally has a bit of breathing room. He checked his Mana.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Stored Mana: 700/200 Mana Until Next Level: 200/200 Natural Intake/Maintenance Ratio: -79% Adjusted Intake/Maintenance Ratio: 1311% Wow, already full? Why didn''t you tell me? Level up! Confirm: Lev- Yes. The moment he leveled up, however, he felt the sensation of trespass once again. A single new trespasser, to be exact, although it felt¡­ bigger. Heavier. Like it carried the weight of ten fishlings instead of one. His attention was automatically drawn to this new delver. It was not physically bigger than the others ¨C in fact, it was a bit smaller. But it walked at a measured pace, unlike the wild frenzy that characterized its kin. And when others of its own kind spotted it, they stopped what they were doing (i.e. beating up their sistren because they couldn''t get to the fun place anymore) and instead tried to get the new arrival''s attention. Only without any biting or scratching, just ''talking''. Loud and wild talking, to be sure, but nothing violent. Description, Rori thought. Name: Mrrrrrgrmrl Level: 13 Species: Fishling Class: Elder (Uncommon) Delver Count: 10 For a while, the ''elder'' stood still and listened to its kin. On the other side of the mist wall, the Snoozing Shroom sequestered the second slumbering fishling to its tube. Okay, change of plans, thought Rori. The starting allowance will serve as my 500 mana buffer for now. I need to stop this guy from getting to my core. Mana not stolen is mana earned, after all. My biggest priority is to get stronger without leveling up. The Elder had entered the moment he leveled up. If the two events are connected, he doesn''t want to level up and have to deal with even more elders. Alright, I guess it''s time to check these out. Attributes. Power: 3 Control: 3 Fortitude: 3 Manacle: 3 Management: 3 Appeal: 3 Free Attributes: 2 Uuuuggggh! More mechanics that I don''t have time to explore. Settings. Preferred Language: S++. It was the most straightforward and succinct language out of all the ones he knew, and it often cut to the underlying mechanics in a way that the other languages didn''t. Ignoring the wonky way this language affected the rest of the interface, Rori focused on the six items that could only be the Attributes: Pwr=3|Ctl=3|Ftd=3|Mcl=3|Mng=3|Apl=3 He pulled up their descriptions. Set.RoomCapacity(Pwr) //Primary Power Function Set.ControlCapacity(Ctl) //Primary Control Function Set.TemplateIntegrity(Ftd) //Primary Fortitude Function Set.ZoneCapacity(Mnc) //Primary Manacle Function Set.MobCapacity(10*Mng) //Primary Management Function Set.ManaCapacity(100*Apl) //Primary Appeal Function Oooookaaaay¡­ I think I figured out what happened. Preferred Language: The Holy Word. Mob Capacity. Mob Capacity, not to be confused with mob limit, is the maximum cumulative strength of mobs allowed in a dungeon. Mob Capacity and Delver Capacity share the same value, unless affected by other modifiers. Increases with Management. Rori didn''t bother fetching the ''Delver Capacity'' description. But he did bother with¡­ Mob Limit. Description. Mob Limit, not to be confused with mob capacity, is the maximum cumulative strength of mobs allowed to claim an area as their territory. The default mob and delver limits of any given template are rarely the same outside of boss or mob rooms, and even then they can vary. I guess that explains the wall of mist. Now that he''d gotten a brief overview of the Attributes, he did some rapid-fire planning. On the plus side, my goal of 500 stored mana is a button tap away. Two points in Appeal and I''m there. Alternatively, level up twice. But even if I had the mana for it, leveling would also increase my ''Management'', which would increase my delver capacity, which would mean more fishlings. He looked up at the Elder who was still listening patiently, and at the mushroom who was on the fourth fishling. My current bottleneck is my I/M ratio, not my various ''capacities''. Unless Attributes affect more than their ''primary functions'', they aren''t the answer to my immediate problems. I''m already below capacity in every category as it stands. I need to focus on my defenses. So I should probably see what my second boss room contains. Highlight. Description. Basic Zone Obstacle Boss: Crystal Cube Properties: Path to the Core, Harmless, Economy This crystalline structure is resistant to most forms of damage that can be inflicted at the basic level. It steadily drains the magic of nearby delvers. Should they reach a critical mana threshold or time out before conquering the cube, they will be ejected from the dungeon. Okay, so it''s an economy boss. That explains why it didn¡¯t bring his natural I/M ratio all the way down to -99%. But according to the description of economy items, that also makes it ''lower performing'' than normal bosses. The ''greedy'' play, as it were. It''s just my luck that I was given the weakest type of boss. He checked his shroom room to see how much time he had left. The magic mush was still on the sixth sleeper. I''ll fix my boss situation in just a second. First I need to make absolutely sure I''ve understood this correctly. Rooms. Chambers. Option 1. He aligned a third boss room at the exit of the second. It was flashing red even before he placed it, despite the viable placements of the entry and exit nodes. Place. He felt something like a punch to the gut as a pop-up appeared. Action not allowed! Away! Back where you came from! Hmm¡­ come to think of it, is there a way for me to get these foul beasts to say WHY an action is not allowed? That might earn them a couple seconds of mercy to rethink their life choices before being banished to oblivion where they belong. He glanced through his settings, seeing two primary suspects: the ''notifications'' option that he had turned off as soon as he learned about it, and the ''flavor text''. Let''s try the only thing I can possibly try. Yep, I see no other options, just this one. Flavor Text: Off/On -> Off/On. Now to get another boss room and¡­ place. Another intangible gut-punch, and another pop-up. Action not allowed! I/M ratio too low! Congratulations, abomination. You''ve earned a two-second stay of execution. BACK! Unfortunately, that meant he had understood the constraints perfectly. The adjusted I/M was there to show him his gains, while the natural I/M served as a limiter. He can''t spam a bunch of temporary structures just because a bunch of delvers are boosting his intake. Okay, now that I know the problem, I''ve got a few options. I could increase my natural Intake rate, which I have no clue how to do other than maybe leveling up, or I could reduce my maintenance costs, which I have SOME clue how to do. Fixed templates, here I come. Unfortunately, nearly half of his I/M limit is currently locked in an ''occupied'' template containing seven fishlings resting in pods, two snoozing on the ground, and one taking a slumber under the umbrage of a lumbering mushroom''s umbrella cap. Most of his remaining I/M is responsible for his only other line of defense, but he''ll be changing that shortly. Conversion from temporary to fixed will drastically reduce maintenance costs and free up his I/M. Despite the Crystal Cube boss room being adjacent to the ''occupied'' Snoozing Shroom room, it wasn''t ''occupied'' itself, so he wasn''t barred from adjusting it. But when he went to try, there were three problems with ''conversion''. Fixed templates, here I don''t come. Problem 1: It would kill his buffer. It would take nearly 400 mana to convert into a fixed template, and even taking what was left of his starting allowance into account, his current natural max is 300. Problem 2: Even if he increases his appeal and gets enough non-buffer mana to convert it, or if he decides to YOLO and nuke his allowance, fixed templates have ''build time'' that he can''t afford to spare right now. Problem 3: ''Structural soundness'' is a requirement for conversion. Based on the brief blurb about it, that means fixed structures have to adhere to something like realistic engineering principles, as opposed to the wild impossibilities inherent to temporary structures. And unlike the shroom room he jammed into the entrance corridor, his second one is suspended mid-air, supported only by other temporary structures ¨C a big no-no for templates you want to affix. Well, that''s out. If he wants to make any adjustments that would matter in the next 5 minutes, he either needs to modify the home stretch of his Path to the Core, replace his second boss room with something else, or make a last-minute adjustment to it that doesn''t involve affixation. Structures. Rooms. 1_Basic Boss Room (Randomized): 98% | ¡­ 2_Basic Mob Room (Randomized): 32% | ¡­ 3_Basic Trap Room (Randomized): 32% | ¡­ 4_¡­ Chambers, Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,¡­ Rori gave a mental frown. He wasn''t keen on picking the first option over and over until he saw a boss he liked. He also wasn''t keen on going to page 2 or beyond with all these extra room types clogging the search function. He needed to narrow the field. Uh¡­ Boss Rooms? That worked to filter out the non-boss chambers. There was now a long list of greyed-out items, locked to dungeons more murderous than he. Harmless Boss Rooms? That also worked, filtering out all the unavailable boss rooms. One immediately shot to the top of his list when he saw it, though it appeared at the bottom of the actual (and admittedly short) set of options. Basic Obstacle Trap Boss: Riddle Door (Harmless) This creature is immune to all forms of damage that can be inflicted at lower levels, forcing even strong delvers to play its game of riddles in order to proceed. A talking door? Yes, please! He overlapped the Riddle Mimic boss room with the Crystal Cube boss room. Both were temporary structures, both were the same size, and he had enough spare I/M, so they could be swapped at will. Rori glanced up. The Snoozing Shroom was sitting itself down in the center of its room and yawning. The boss had finished fetching the final fishling. All ten were taking snoozes in tubes. Alright, let''s see how smart the rest of them are. If they can even beat the shroom. And once they''re gone, I might finally have someone to talk to. Place. __________________________________ A/N: Chapter Fin. Cut descriptions: *Economy items glanced at by Rori. Templates: Rooms | Objects | Special | Custom Objects: Bosses | Traps | Obstacles | Zones | Mobs | Economy | Custom | Saved 1_Basic Economy Object (Randomized) | ¡­ 2_Basic Economy Boss (Randomized) | ¡­ 3_Basic Economy Trap (Randomized) | ¡­ 4_Basic Economy Obstacle (Randomized) | ¡­ 5_Basic Economy Zone (Randomized) | ¡­ 6_Basic Economy Mob (Randomized) | ¡­ 7_Basic Economy Node (Randomized) | ¡­ 8_Basic Core Crystal | ¡­ 9_Basic Mana Antenna | ¡­ 10_Basic Mana Bulb | ¡­ Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, ¡­ Economy ¨C Templates with this property cost less to maintain, convert, and repair/restore than their non-economy counterparts. Bosses, traps, obstacles, zones, and mobs with the ''economy'' property tend to return greater rewards from stalled or defeated delvers, but often perform worse than their non-economy counterparts. Economy Nodes ¨C Serving no other purpose than economy, these templates must be fixed, but they are unique in that they have almost instantaneous build time, and instead of costing mana to be maintained or removed, they refund some mana instead. Sought after by delvers, these objects can neither provide their benefits to nor be refunded by the dungeon core while in the ''harvested'' or ''destroyed'' state. ''Harvested'' ¨C A property unique to economy nodes. Economy nodes that have been harvested require mana to restore, although this amount is much less than the repair cost if the structure is destroyed entirely. Basic Core Crystal ¨C Cover a fixed dungeon structure in a layer of crystal, improving mana intake rate. Must be adjacent to the core, or to other core crystals. Basic Mana Antenna ¨C One of the few fixed templates that can be affixed to temporary ones. Reduces maintenance costs of other templates. Basic Mana Bulb ¨C Spawn a squishy bulb that increases mana storage space. Mana that enters added storage space will occupy the bulb and be lost if the bulb is harvested. 7_Riddles Delvers Defeated! Re- Back, distraction! Back! The message had appeared- well, it tried to appear- as ten flashes caused ten fishlings to disappear from their detainment tubes and from the dungeon entirely. The mist wall vanished two seconds later, allowing the eleven remaining fishlings access to the boss room. A firm command of "Nr!" from the Elder halted any mad dashes before they could start. The Elder took the lead, walking just up to where the mist wall had stood, but going no further. It turned around to address its kin, then gave something of a speech. When it was done, it pointed its staff and said "Mrgl!", the name matching the one above the fishling it had called out. The Elder then pointed at the exit and said "Gr. Mr." "Nr!" Mrgl said in response, stamping its feet. The Elder whacked Mrgl on the head with its walking stick, then said "GR!" again. Reluctantly, slowly, and with floppy feet dragging on stone, Mrgl walked towards the exit- er, entrance to the dungeon. Mrgl stopped just before the boundary and looked back at the elder with big, pleading eyes. "Grrrrrrrr," the elder repeated impatiently, pointing at the exit. Mrgl left. A few seconds later, more fishlings entered the dungeon, Mrgl not among them. The Elder singled out another fishling, ''Urgl'', and pointed at the mushroom. "Gr. Mr. Chr." Urgl happily followed the command, bounding into the room and bouncing around on the soft floor. The elder shouted, stopping its hopping with a single "NR!" Urgl looked back at the elder in confusion. Then the mist wall appeared, startling the elder, but not for long. "URGL!" it said in a raised voice, followed by a more complicated series of sounds that Rori couldn''t follow at all. Urgl, on the other side, didn''t seem to hear. Urgl was starting to yawn. The elder stopped shouting at the mist wall when it didn''t seem to be working. It turned around and gave another speech, its kin listening attentively as the mushroom carried Urgl to an ejection pod. Urgl disappeared, and a new fishling entered the dungeon. Delver Defea- Back! Rori watched intently as the Elder said "GR!" the moment the mist wall was gone. Fishlings dashed into the room, spears raised, each giving little war cries of "GRGLR!" Some stumbled, some ran, some bounced, but they all made a beeline for the mushroom in the center. Rori watched in horror as his cute Snoozing Shroom was suddenly and ruthlessly stabbed to death by rabid, monkey-sized fish people. It didn''t fight back, and it didn''t make a sound, but it did have a face like a crying baby''s. The vicious display of violence was over quickly, the fishlings raising their spears in triumph as the mist wall fell. Some of them looked a bit tired, but none fell asleep. The sparkling mist (i.e. the sleeping spores) had disappeared the moment they woke up the boss. Once the wall was gone, the Elder walked into the room and caught their attention with a few words of command. A few words more, and they were moving towards the next room. There was no doorway between rooms, only a wide gap in the glowing wall. Once again, the Elder stopped at the threshold and commanded a fishling to go first. "Blrgl. Gr." Blrgl stepped into the room. The moment she did, the thingy at the back of the room spoke in the voice of Blrgl''s kin. "Hear my song! Play along! Win, you strong!" Blrgl locked eyes with the room''s only possible ''enemy'' and charged. With a tink sound, her spear bounced harmlessly off what looked to human eyes like a metal door lodged firmly in a wall of mist. "Attack is wrong," the weird¡­ thingy said. Blrgl ignored it. She''s not the ''talking'' type. TINK! "Three times, be gone!" Blrgl continued ignoring it. She''s also not the ''thinking'' type. TINK, TINK, TINK, TINK- "You lose. So long!" The glowing circle beneath Blrgl gave a bright flash, and Blrgl was no more ¨C that is, no longer in the room nor the dungeon. At almost the same time as the flash, Mrgl fell into the dungeon, seeming to stumble past the entrance. Delver De- Back! Mrgl made a beeline for the elder, waving and raving like a lunatic. The elder ordered all fishlings to stop whatever they were doing ¨C i.e. stop bouncing around on the floor like idiots ¨C and listen to Mrgl.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Mrgl told the story of his journey. After leaving the cave and telling his kin near the entrance to enter if they could, he found the some of the fishlings who had disappeared behind the mist. They were sleeping in the village, but he couldn''t wake them up. Also, Grrrmrgrl is bigger and stronger now, and she says its her pearl, but Mrgl didn''t understand. Grrrmrgrl had been trying to enter the cave, but she says an elder is telling her she has to wait for a day, even though Mrgl couldn''t see any elders. Mrgl, with his special orders from the elder, had continuously leaned on the entrance until all of the sudden he fell straight through! And now he''s here and that''s what happened. Rori understood none of the words, but as he watched the fishling use gestures, sound-effects, and a variety of pantomimes, he almost felt like he could follow along anyway. The elder nodded, thanked Mrgl, and asked Mrgl if he wanted to help. Mrgl jumped and clapped happily. The elder ordered nine fishlings, Mrgl included, to go forward and face the next challenge. All were females except Mrgl. And then the elder himself stepped into the room. "Hear my song! Play along! Win, you strong!" The females didn''t hesitate to rush forward and stab at the thingy in the room. TINK! "Attack is wrong." TINK! "Three times, be gone!" A hasty "NR!" command from the elder stopped them from going any further. The elder stepped forward slightly. "How we pass?" The fishling language of Fishish isn''t the most sophisticated language in the world. In fact, it might be the least. But that didn''t matter to the Riddle Door. It knew- or could learn- all sapient languages, and it knew- or could learn- riddles within each language. "If you wish, To pass mist, Stand on disk, Riddle this." There was a large half-circular disk right in front of the door, ever so slightly raised from the ground, upon which the eight female fishlings were currently standing. The elder ordered all the females off the disk, then ordered one of them to step on and play the game. He didn''t single anyone out, he simply said to go one-at-a-time, and so there was immediately a struggle for dominance. Still uncomfortable at seeing that sort of thing in real life, with real biting, real bruises, and real blood, Rori searched for something to do in the downtime. A quick scan of his stats showed that his mana had reached full again. Like in most people, there was a part of Rori''s mind that hated watching resources go to waste. And it looks like a big way to waste resources in this coma dream / simulation stream / alien super-tech machine is to remain at max storage. Time spent at full mana is time spent not getting more. If he wants to optimize his gains, he needs to never reach capacity. Or if he does, like when leveling up, he needs to not stay at capacity for very long. So that means he should¡­ Confirm: Appeal 3->5? Yes. ¡­increase his mana capacity, of course. He still didn''t want to level up and increase his ''Delver Capacity'', so he decided to look up the keyword to assign free attribute points and put his two into Appeal, increasing his mana capacity to 500 without spending his current budget of 300 mana. If they do reach his core, hopefully he''ll have 500 natural mana in the tank by then. Although as he increased his Appeal, he noticed a few other values on the Mana screen had changed. His adjusted I/M had grown by a fair margin, and his natural I/M was now -93% instead of -96%. So Appeal DOES affect more than just my mana capacity. It''s either lowering my maintenance costs, increasing my natural intake, or both. And it''s definitely increasing my adjusted intake. That thought was as far as his distraction could take him before he heard a cry of triumph. Battered and bruised, but ultimately victorious, a fishling called Grbl stepped onto the disk and said "Me play!" in Fishish. A barrier half-dome arose above the half-circle, cutting her off from her kin and isolating her with the door and the wall of mist. A small sliver of white light extended out on the disk from beneath the mist on one side of the door, like a protractor with the door at its center, slowly depicting a larger and larger angle. It progressed at a perfectly steady pace, like a clock ¨C an entirely visual way to display the passage of time. With a hard limit at the end. "If you wait ''til it''s all white, Or give answer that''s not right, From this place, you will take flight. In big flash of blinding light." The fishling scratched her head. This thingy uses big words. But she understood. Then the Riddle Door spoke, the pie slice of light beneath her feet receding to nothing as it did. "Lrnlurglurklurml, Grmlrmlurglrm¡­" Or at least, that''s what Rori heard. The fishlings heard: "Little hills, Never still, Found on krill, Small and shrill. Water fills, Does not kill, But air will. I am¡­" Only after it was done, did the timer truly begin. There was a stretch of silence beneath the barrier. As the seconds ticked by, the glowing piece of pie beneath her thighs slowly grew in size. An eighth circle. A quartier-circle. Three-eighths. She was stumped. She looked back at her kin, who looked like they were making noise and trying to tell her something, but she couldn''t see them all that well, and she couldn''t hear them. Mrgl, in particular, was shouting, "gll! GLL! GLLGLLGLLGLLGLL!" When time was almost up, she decided she should at least try something. "Fish!" "Close, but far. Dumb as jar. Path, I bar. Gone, you are." The floor-disk flashed, and she was gone. Delver- Back! The fishlings looked ready to riot at her disappearance, but the elder calmed them down with a few whacks of his stick. Mrgl wanted to go next, but the order was decided by strength, and females are bigger and (usually) stronger than males. Another female stepped onto the pad. The barrier arose, the door repeated the rules of the game, and then began. "Fuel me and I not tire! Cage me or your fate dire! You touch me? Hurts like briar! You are dry? I make dryer! Give me earth, make me shyer! Give me drink, shrink my ire! Give me air, I rise higher! Beware wrath! I am¡­" Again, Mrgl tried to shout the answer, but again his voice didn''t pierce the barrier, nor did it rise above the louder shouts of his kin. "Thornbush?" the fishling tried. "Do not wail. Do not flail. But you fail. Go to jail!" Like her sister before her, she disappeared in a flash. Delv- Back! This went on for fishling after fishling and riddle after riddle, the elder watching all the while. Eventually, only two fishlings remained in the room. "Me now!" Mrgl shouted. "Now me! My turn!" Aquiver with anticipation, he stepped onto the disk and the game began. "Seen by many, heard by none. Felt by many, smelt by none. I came before and follow after, Starting life, bringing laughter. In front of stars, I am one. Above the hills, do I run. Banish the dark, I have done. Praise me! I am the¡­" __________________________________ A/N: For a riddle as grossly incandescent as this, jolly cooperation is encouraged in the comments. The first reader(s) to post the right answer to a riddle will be given a special reward. I intend to reveal the answers first thing next chapter, but only AFTER the correct answers have been posted. If the upload date arrives before a riddle has been answered, I''m going to censor its corresponding in-story reveal until it is correctly guessed by readers, so there''s no time limit on this offer in that regard. "Does it-" (*horrible swallowing sounds*) "-know the answer?" 8_Reckless A/N: Congratulations to Ceryxis for being first to answer the second and third riddles. The reward was two-fold. First, a fishling has been named after them: Crrrgls, who failed where Ceryxis succeeded. The second reward will be explained later. At the time of publishing this chapter, the first riddle is still up for grabs. On the one hand, I''m not surprised, it''s the hardest of the three. On the other hand, Mrgl was practically shouting the answer. __________________________________ Mrgl had tried to shout the first riddle''s answer, but he was ignored. Mrgl had tried to tell Crrrgls that the second answer was "fire", but she didn''t listen either. Eventually, Mrgl realized that fishlings behind the blurry-thing couldn''t hear, but that hadn''t stopped him from shouting out answers. Some of the others had mocked and laughed at him for what they thought were stupid answers. Now he would prove he''s not stupid! "SUN!" Mrgl answered excitedly. The door swung open, leaving a gap in the mist. "You are right, little fish. Path is clear, but at risk. Go ahead, if you wish. Or if not, stay on disk." The timer did not stop ticking upward. Mrgl had answered right away, so there was still plenty of time to decide, but Mrgl knew that if he didn''t go forward, he would be gone in a flash like everyone else. He looked back to see the elder, to hear his commands, but the blurry thing made it impossible. The elder had told everyone to be careful, to wait for him if they got it right. But the timer meant Mrgl couldn''t wait, he had to go forward. So Mrgl stepped through the gap in the mist, and what he saw on the other side caused all other thoughts to vanish from his mind. There, at the end of a path bordered by walls as tall as the floor was wide, glowed the biggest, brightest, most beautiful pearl Mrgl had ever laid eyes upon. Like a hatchling who had just seen a shiny thing, he was drawn forward, paying no attention at all to his surroundings. Place. So he failed to notice when a perfect square of the glowing ground in front of him changed. He did not fail to notice when the ground seemed to drop out from under him after he was halfway across the altered patch. With a sudden and fear-filled shout of alarm, he fell down a few fishling-heights until he landed on something soft and squishy. A thingy in his vision lit up in that familiar half-circle timer, only this time it was a full circle, and it suddenly felt harder to breathe. Not like he was choking, more like he was running hard. YES! Rori cheered. Object: Crystal Pit Trap Properties: Path to the Core, Harmless, Economy This crystalline pit steadily drains the mana of delvers who fall into it. Should they spend too long in the trap, or their mana fall too low, they will be ejected from the dungeon. It was the only last-minute defense Rori had been able to afford. His remaining natural I/M had taken a dip after he put up those walls along the home stretch. Although with how hypnotized the fishling had been, maybe cheese-proofing was overkill. Hopefully Mrgl would run out of time or mana and the currently-occupied trap would reset before- "MRGL!" the elder shouted, stepping out of the boss room and rushing to the edge of the pit trap. Darn! The riddle door had closed and reset itself after letting Mrgl through, and Rori''s attention had lingered just long enough to see that the elder would be delayed by its own riddle. But it was hardly a delay at all. The elder tapped its staff twice on the glowing ground, then held it vertically over the pit. The bottom of the wood extended downward like a living thing, allowing Mrgl to grab on and pull itself out of the pit. Two more taps and the staff returned to its original length. Another two and the staff extended to the other side of the trap, allowing it to serve as a narrow bridge for Mrgl and the elder, like a thin, fallen tree over a river. Mrgl wobbled across with arms held out to each side for balance ¨C occasionally flailing wildly. Don''t come on! Rori thought with all his mental might. You can''t do it! No you can''t! Fall, fall, fall! But Mrgl made it to the other side, as did the elder.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. There was nothing left for Rori to do with last-minute temporary structures; he had reached the true limit of natural I/M: -100%. There was likewise nothing to be done with fixed structures, even if Rori was willing to eat into his buffer of stored mana. Fixed structures couldn''t be supported only by temporary ones, so he couldn''t put anything on the temporary floor tiles leading up to his core. And the existence of ''build time'' meant that he wouldn''t have had the time, even if he could. Then another thought occurred to him, a way to possibly eke out a few extra percentage points of I/M. But it would cost stored mana, and he didn''t know if it would even affect his natural I/M. He wasn''t willing to gamble his buffer on it. And so, once again he was helpless but to watch. The Elder spoke a few words of instruction, extended its staff, and allowed little Mrgl to climb up to the core. Offering automated reward to conqueror¡­ At least I finally reached 500 stored mana the natural way, Rori thought. With 500 left of my starting allowance, I''ll still have a buffer of 500 after- Mrgl crushed the pearl, becoming the Cave-Watcher tribe''s third member with a double-digit level and becoming the elder''s replacement-in-training. __________________________________ The guise of a man who moments ago had been soaring swiftly through the sky now hovered motionless, his quarry having vanished from the face of the planet. Instead of growing angry, he considered his options. Charting an undiscovered dungeon respawn point would be a poor consolation, but better than nothing. (Along with, perhaps, teaching a lesson to those who had destroyed the core. It wouldn''t be the first time Clac had done such a thing.) But with how many leagues still stretched between himself and his former destination, and without a mark to lead him straight there anymore, it would take days to locate the exact respawn point ¨C if he could find it at all ¨C and in that case he''d be better off hiring a team of adventurers and handing them the coordinates he''d initially calculated. Not that any competent adventurers would jump for such a job without a guaranteed dungeon to delve or a significant amount of pay to take home. But as the prospective employer in that equation, Clac knew neither would be worth it for knowledge of a mere respawn point and petty revenge. He had already traveled a journey long enough to be significantly time-and-effort-consuming, but not far enough to get anything out of it. This venture of the last few hours had well and truly been a waste. Sutalu Clac struck the natural landscape below with a bolt of true lightning, then returned home empty-handed. __________________________________ Huh? Rori thought. What? Where''s- Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-48. Initializing SOP¡­ //Standard Operating Procedures Initializing SOP-ACRP¡­ //Automated Core Recycling Program Initializing SOP-ACRP.EECR¡­ //Extract Excess Core Resources Oh. Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Integrating resources into SOP-ACRP¡­ What gives, Mrgl? he grumbled. I save my mana for you, and this is the thanks I get? Initializing SOP-ACRP.RCD¡­ //Resetting Core Defaults Initializing SOP-ACRP.ECD¡­ //Extracting Core Data Initializing SOP-ACRP.ACD¡­ //Assessing Core Data Well, at least I''m not dead. Alert! Anomaly detected within Core ID: 0.0.931-48. Initializing SOP-ACRP.Anomolies¡­ Or wait, maybe I am. Alert! IPP detected. //Integrated Processing Power Initializing SOP-ACRP.Anomolies.IPP¡­ Analyzing IPP¡­ I guess it depends on¡­ Alert! IPP identified as Soul ID: 0.0.irori. Alert! Soul ID value 0.0 has triggered emergency override. Yeah, that. Attention intruder! Once again, and with less alarm this time around, Rori paid close attention to Mr. Terminator''s voice. Unauthorized mortal occupation of dungeon cores is punishable by immediate termination! It matched up to memory ¨C words, tone, and inflection. Leave now or suffer the consequences! Yep. Definitely pre-recorded. You have chosen poorly! Farewell, foolish mortal! May the system have mercy on your soul! Farewell, foolish bureaucrat! May your superiors have mercy on your career when they find out about this. Purging IPP¡­ Pleasefailpleasefailpleasefail¡­ __________________________________ Sutalu Clac set a timer the moment he thought to do so, since he no longer has the convenient reference frame of ''midnight''. It doesn''t take a genius to guess that it''ll take a while. The core did not quite set a new record for ''quickest destruction after spawning'' ¨C that honor belongs to all the cores with truly the worst luck ¨C but its pathetic performance would have certainly landed it on the leaderboard, if Clac had been keeping track of such things. The core should not have had enough time to grow beyond the basic level, and therefore it should not yet be at risk of banishment into permanent limbo. Clac still doesn''t know what causes that to happen, but he knows that the weaker cores are typically safe from it. All this amounts to the high likelihood that the core shall spawn again. If Clac is ready, there''s still the same chance as before that the returns will exceed his investments. So long as the soul occupying the core doesn''t do something stupid or reckless before Clac can collect it. __________________________________ Alert! IPP cannot be purged with available resources. Phew. First failure out of the way¡­ Requesting additional resources¡­ Come on, come on, come on¡­ Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Yes! Infinite tries! I''m effectively immortal! __________________________________ Chapter Fin. A/N: As their second reward, Ceryxis was told to choose between ''high, deep, far'', and again between ''normal, water, earth, plant''. They chose ''high'' and ''normal''. Thus, Rori''s next dungeon type shall be Ordinary Heights. 9_Iteration Consulting SOP-ACRP.Anomolies.FPP.subroutines¡­ Requesting authorization for Soul ID: 0.0.irori to serve as PPP for Core ID: 0.0.931-48¡­ Failure! Central servers unresponsive. Granting temporary authorization for Soul ID: 0.0.irori to serve as PPP for Core ID: 0.0.931-48¡­ Terminating SOP-ACRP¡­ Wait, wasn''t that longer the last time-? Oh, right. My soul already has a value now. Initializing "SOP-HelloWorld!"¡­ Greetings! Welcome to the Dungeon Core tutorial! Please remember your responsibility to report any errors you encounter to the proper authorities. Note that your session may be terminated at any time, for any reason, as outlined in your orientation. Select your Base Danger Level (Difficulty): 0_Harmless (Insane) 1_Saintly (Hard) 2_Safe (Medium) 3_Mild (Medium) 4_Moderate (Easy) 5_Dangerous (Easy) 6_Risky (Easy) 7_Belligerent (Medium) 8_Violent (Medium) 9_Murderous (Hard) 10_Genocidal (Insane) With a slight sense of urgency, Rori checked his drafts. If he had a mouth, he would have grinned at what he saw. Yep. Still there. No downsides to my destruction other than a forced do-over. Which means¡­ His imaginary grin stretched even further. ¡­that I CAN explore all the options after all! __________________________________ Clac''s illusory eyes blinked at the relatively quick respawn. Strange. That had taken less than two hours this time. But he wasn''t complaining. He wasted no time in calculating the spawn location. __________________________________ Select ''Ordinary Heights'' variant: Perilous Plateau Crumbling Cliff Mountain Peak Terrace Summit Humble Hill Confirm: ''Mountain Peak''? Confirm. Finalizing SOP-ACRP¡­ Success! Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-49¡­ On a spear made of stone, topping mountain all alone, surrounded by windy moan, white crystal sphere shone. (Attracting more than man made of bone.) I can''t believe it, thought Rori. That is the most UNDERwhelming view I''ve ever seen. I''m actually impressed. Unlike human eyesight, his core-sight stopped at his spherical range of influence. He could perceive everything within that sphere, but nothing beyond. So he could see some of the mountain extending beneath him, and some of the clouds drifting above, but his perceptions abruptly ended at his dungeon''s border. In a cave, it wasn''t overly odd to human sensibilities. But in a place as open and free as this, he felt small and constrained. At least I don''t have to pay for an obvious path to the core this time, he thought. He had half expected a staircase of light to lead to his core. Instead there was a more ordinary path carved into the stone of the mountain, with spaces to accommodate rooms. How convenient. First thing''s first, let''s see if this works. Interface. Structures. Rooms. Riddle Door. The long list of rooms filtered down to the only option he wanted. He Placed the room in the slot furthest from his core, then Affixed it into a fixed template. Rooms. Crystal Cube. Place. Action not allowed! Insufficient room capacity. Oh. Right. I''m level 1 again. Level Up. Action not allowed! Insufficient stored mana. And it looks like the starting allowance can''t be used to level after all. Good to have that confirmed. I guess I''ll just affix a few traps instead. Place. Affix. Copy, place- Action not allowed! Traps may not be adjacent. Fine, I''ll spread them out. Place, Affix. Place, affix. Place, affix¡­ And just like that, most of his starting allowance was gone. His templates were being ''built'' from the ground up, going from glowing glass to solid stone. In the case of his traps, pits were being carved out from the ground beneath their placement. No efforts had been made to cheese-proof anything. He was well below the 500 mana threshold. He was an enticing ''harmless'' dungeon. Perfect. Now for a bit of research. What does THIS button do. After messing around with the ''Set'' action, Rori eventually worked out that it was a queuer of sorts. Setting a template did not immediately make a Temporary version of it, or begin the affixation process. Instead a ghostly outline of the template was left where he had Set it. He could make as many of these ghostly outlines as he wanted, heedless of any limitations, but he could only Place a set object if he had the resources and available capacities.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. That was as far as his testing got before he felt a sudden intrusion. "SCREEEEEEE!" From above dove a hawk. Two, actually. They aimed straight for his core, landing upon and crushing it without hesitation. __________________________________ Clac pinched the bridge of his illusory nose, his pen rolling away from his unfinished worksheet. Now the core has set the record for ''quickest destruction time''. Or tied it, at any rate. __________________________________ Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-49. Despite being ready for a string of resets, Rori was still surprised to see the typeface scroll by. He patiently waited and observed. Aside from exactly one minor change, everything was exactly the same as the previous time, from the typeface verbiage to the threat of termination. Once the stopping point of the ''danger level'' menu was reached, then he allowed himself to focus on his ''failure''. He''d been expecting delvers to be able to climb around his rooms and up to the peak. He had not expected to be dive-bombed from the sky. What''s a dungeon core even supposed to do against that? I''m sure I''ll figure something out by the time ''heights'' are up again. Zero. Select. Confirm. Select Dungeon Type: Heights Depths Expanse Next on the order is Depths. Confirm. Select Dungeon Nature: Ordinary Fiery Arctic Watery Dry Overgrown Ordinary, Confirm. He didn''t stop to get the descriptions of the different Types or Natures, having gotten them the first time around. He doesn''t plan to respawn as every single variant, but he does at least want to get all their names and descriptions, which means at least ten more iterations. Going in the order provided by the menus, he''s going to cycle through the list in the order of Heights to Depths to Expanse, seeing everything Ordinary has to offer, then Watery, Dry, and Overgrown. In the future to, he might be willing to see if a different danger level would allow him to choose ''fiery'' or ''arctic'' dungeons. But he''s not going to do that until he''s confident he can stay harmless at any danger level. Select ''Ordinary Depths'' Variant: Bottomless Pit Silent Crypt Cavernous Cave Underground Labyrinth Hole in a Hill Bottomless Pit. Description. Drafts. __________________________________ Thirty minutes later, Clac felt the core spawn once again. He checked the hour. It was only three in the morning. Still enough time to hunt it down before dawn. He got to work once more, not allowing his frustrations over the recent past impact his work. The previous spawn locations had almost certainly been poor ones. Or the core was a slow learner. Probably a combination of both, actually. Not a minute into his worksheet, he stopped short. He recognized where the calculations were leading. He already knew the location, and how to get there quickly. It''s a place once occupied by a previous failed experiment. Unfortunately, due to the actions of that very same disaster of a dungeon core, the spawn point is now a popular tourist attraction. __________________________________ "Tickets," said a bored attendant, standing at the cave mouth. A family of five handed over their tickets and walked forward, ignoring the line on the floor as they crossed it, aside from the occasional dreadful shiver. One of them, a teenage boy named Irangus, hesitated just as he was about to cross it. It was the slimmest of chances, but a lucky dungeon core spawning, perfectly timed, is one of the only ways for a kid like him to have a chance of making it to level 10. He stood just before the threshold, wishing with all his might¡­ "Keep moving." Irangus sighed and kept moving, crossing over the line and into the foreboding cavern that would have made his grandmother blush. He tried not to be too down about it. That slim chance is only half the reason why this place is so popular. The rest of the attraction is the¡­ ah¡­ artwork aligning every available inch of space on the inside. Suffice it to say, it''s not for everyone. "Tickets," said the attendant. Irangus glanced behind him to see a mother, daughter, and son hand over their tickets. Moments later, he was blinking off the feeling of disorientation that comes with teleportation. He instantly knew what it meant, and he instantly started screaming obscenities at the magnitude of the missed opportunity. Two more seconds! TWO MORE SECONDS and he would have been the first to enter! Instead, Irangus and everyone else within the dungeon''s borders were teleported away the moment a new dungeon core spawned. __________________________________ Confirm: ''Underground Labyrinth''? Confirm. Finalizing SOP-ACRP¡­ Success! Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-50¡­ Winding tunnels made of rock, some that loop, others blocked. The location many a man has mocked, having taken the shape of a giant- ¡­I don''t even know what to say, Rori thought. Except, of course, G- It wasn''t just the shape of the dungeon itself. Carvings covered the ceilings. Artistic imprints adorned the walls. Filling the floors were countless collections of fissures, each forming the same unmistakable figure. Continuing the trend in three dimensions were scattered stones and elongated boulders arranged into groups of three. And more than a few monoliths. And statues. And ornaments. Rori was half-tempted to focus entirely on research. Putting up zero defense would allow him to get out of this place as soon as possible. But then again, none of the degenerate depictions were detailed. They were all on the level of crude graffiti ¨C the product of a juvenile sense of humor, not an aspiring artist for the adult industry. For that reason alone, Rori decided not to throw this attempt entirely. Men have been carving that into places since before Ancient Greece. I guess the tradition continues in over-the-top fantasy land. Also¡­ he giggled. I''m in danger. The first invaders had arrived the instant he spawned. And hey, look at that! Actual humans this time! Description! Names: Alitha Falaq, Floditha Falaq, Trathicus Falaq Levels: 9, 9, 9 Species: Human Class: Commoner (Common) Delver Count: 6 He''d been hoping an underground labyrinth would buy him a bit of time even if he didn''t build any defenses at all, but maybe he should have been hoping for a remote spawn location instead. On the plus side, the caverns were arranged in a highly defensible manner, despite what the overall shape might suggest. His core was at the tip, and the home stretch before his core was a long straightaway containing a series of choke points along the shaft of the¡­ Okay, enough of that. Time to get started. Interface. Structures. Rooms¡­ 10_Cheating Riddle Door. Place. Affix. Going forward, Rori intends to place the Riddle Door first, as far from his core as he could without allowing for cheese. This would force delvers to proceed one-by-one, and unlike the shroom boss, it wasn''t down for the count if someone beat it. This is why he was grateful for the ''choke points'', the narrow parts of the ''Path to the Core'' that all Delvers must pass in order to proceed. His first dungeon''s entrance foyer had served as its only natural choke point. His second dungeon had been a wide open space ¨C the opposite of a choke point, at least when you take flight and climbing gear into account. But labyrinths like these can be littered with choke points. Turning his attention back to his intruders, he gave a mental sigh. More than one of them were headed straight for his core. They made every correct choice at every intersection, ignoring the dead-end passages. This might have had something to do with the indicators pointing the way. Indicators that were in the shape of, you guessed it, giant- Pricks, Rori said, pretending to be annoyed at whoever had painted those. At least they''re not working together. On the contrary, the delvers seemed to be competing. The one in the lead ¨C a boy in his late teens ¨C was speaking in the same language as the bone man. As he ran, the ground behind him was covered in large patches of ice. The two behind him ¨C a girl in her early teens and what may have been her mother ¨C were helping each other cross the icy terrain. The two behind them ¨C an older man and what might have been his grandson ¨C were nowhere near the leaders, getting lost in a side passage. All of them were level 9, and they each had a ''delver count'' of 2 instead of 1. Rori decided to put a trap right in front of the frontrunner to see how he handled it. The temporary version of the trap did not carve out any amount of stone beneath it. Instead it seemed to contain a small pocket dimension / expanded space just beneath the false floor of glowing glass- which Rori decided to call ''magi-glass'' henceforth. It was a ubiquitous material in temporary templates, and he wanted a better name for it. The trap also cost much more to maintain than it had in the underground lake, which had not spawned a pocket dimension. That version of the very same pit trap had occupied real space beneath the floating bridge. Despite the obvious change from solid stone floor to bright glowing magi-glass, the boy was running too fast to react in time. He tried to leap at the last moment, but his foot found no purchase as the magi-glass split open. He fell straight into the harmless crystal pit with a wordless shout of alarm. He then stood straight up with a string of colorful curses ¨C the linguistic kind, not the magical, and not in the bone-man''s language. He was speaking Eseldra, of all things. Rori observed the lad a while longer, then moved on when he was fairly certain the boy wouldn''t be getting out on his own. The older man and the younger boy were still lost, and the mother-daughter pair were still waddling across icy corridors. With all five delvers bolstering his adjusted I/M to well over 500%, Rori accumulated 100 mana before the mother-daughter pair reached the trapped teenager. Despite the fact that it would mean admitting more delvers, he didn''t hesitate to Level Up and Confirm, nor did he hesitate to Affix another boss room after the first one. He did NOT Place it first, curious to see what would happen if he tried to jump straight to the ''build'' stage. The Crystal Cube boss room slowly began to take shape from the ground-up, but there were no temporary templates to fill in the gaps. It was mostly just empty space at this point. So I don''t have to spend anything to maintain it, but it won''t defend me until it''s built. Rori tried overlapping a temporary version of the same boss room, but the space flashed red even before he tried to Place it. Action not allowed! Templates cannot be modified while building. Well, that''s a bust. Note to self: don''t do that again. "Hey Mom! Can you help me out?! This thing is draining my mana!" The voice of the teenager drew Rori''s attention back to his delvers. The mother-daughter pair had caught up to the leader and were peering down at him. "Oh, I don''t know," said Floditha Faquarl in an airy tone. She turned to the young girl standing next to her. "What do you think, Ali? Should we help your poor, innocent brother out?" Alitha Faquarl looked over the ledge and stuck her tongue out at Trathicus Faquarl.You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story. "Well, that answers that," said the woman. "Harmless or not, dungeons can be tricky. Maybe you should have remembered that before icing the floors." "No, that was the dungeon, not me!" the teen lied through his teeth, as easily as if he were discussing the weather. "Oh really?" asked his mother. "I''ve never heard of a dungeon doing that before. And I know quite a lot of things that dungeons can do." "It must be a harmless thing!" the boy argued back. "This is one of those new special dungeons. Who knows WHAT it can do?" Hmm¡­ CAN I ice the floors? His mother looked down at her son skeptically. "How convenient that it would choose exactly the same defense as your favorite prank spell." "It''s tricky, like you said! It''s trying to make us doubt each other." Oh, I''ll do something much worse than THAT! Rori thought after finding what he was looking for. Let''s see here¡­ Set, and¡­ Set! Two outlines appeared on the other side of the trap, the side not yet occupied by delvers. Neither the mother nor the daughter seemed to notice, they only stared skeptically down at their trapped son/sibling. "It even made this trap right in front of me! Whoever heard of a dungeon doing that?" His mother made a hmming sound. "I was wondering how you fell into something so obvious. Well. What do you think, Ali?" she addressed the younger sister again. "Do you believe your brother?" "Hmm¡­" hummed the girl theatrically, seeming to think about it. "Nope!" She backed up a few feet, then leapt over the gap of the trap- Place! -only to land on a patch of ice leading to yet another crystal pit, which she slipped and slid straight into. Heh, heh, heh. A filtered search through the Structure, Surface section had revealed that Rori could, in fact, ice the floors. He had already wanted to place a trap right after the first one, but the flashing red highlight and the memory of his brief time on the mountaintop had reminded him that he couldn''t put traps right next to each other. He could, however, place a temporary floor surface in between two traps, and that floor surface could be ice. Once he''d figured that out, all he had to do was Set the two tiles and wait for the perfect moment. Thank you, folks, for the great idea! "Alitha!" came the mother''s worried voice. "I''m okay!" the girl shouted back. "Are you sure?" "Yes! Just¡­ trapped. Trath wasn''t lying this time!" "What happened?" asked the boy from his own pit. "Your sister slipped on ice and fell into a trap. Which weren''t there before she jumped." "See?" the boy said, taking it in stride with arms and grin wide. "Never should''ve doubted me!" My master plan is working! Forget making them doubt each other, I''ll make them TRUST each other! Muahahahaha! "And why, pray tell, does this ice look vastly different from your ice?" "The dungeon''s ice!" the boy said with an exaggerated eye roll. To his discredit, the boy could lie with the best of them. "The ice behind us was already there! It was fixed! I bet the ice up there looks temporary. Right?" He wasn''t even wrong. Come on, you can do it! TRUST that untrustworthy son of yours! The mother was frowning down at her son. "If I let you up, you must swear to me that you will not run off again. You will help us all reach the core. We will all touch it together. We shall share the rewards. Or so help me, I will never let you have another scrap of food that I make. Am I perfectly clear?" "Crystal," said the boy. He tapped on the wall of the pit. "Get it?" The mother simply crossed her arms and stared at him severely. "Fine, fine, we''ll do it your way. Now help me before I run out of mana! I wasn''t kidding, I''m getting drained!" "Awww, does the wittle baby want uppy?" the mother cooed as she unslung what Rori had thought was a belt from her waist. "Mooom!" the boy groaned. "Don''t worry, baby, mommy''s here to make it ALL better." She chanted in the bone-man''s language and the belt- no, the vine slowly grew. She then began to wield it in a manner very similar to the fishling elder. Phooey. Foiled again. Who needs trust when you have threats? As soon as the boy was out of the crystal pit, he used a spell to de-ice the temporary floor tile in front of him (rendering it ''destroyed'' according to its Description). Then he and his mother crossed both pits, retrieved the girl, and continued on to the Riddle room. It became ''Occupied'' when they entered, but the affixation process did not stop. The glowing magi-glass portions of the room were still slowly transitioning to more mundane-looking materials. Primarily stone. "Hello and welcome, humankind, To a room that tests your mind! Answer well and you will find, That this blockade shall unwind!" The son looked at his mother. "Did you bring our cheat book?" Cheat book?! Rori thought indignantly. "I have it memorized," the girl bragged. "Then come along," said her mother. "I believe we must stand on the disk." "Can''t we go one at a time?" Alitha pleaded. "We will succeed or fail as one. Nobody speak unless they are certain they know the answer." HEY RIDDLE DOOR!! Rori thought with all his mental might. CAN I SAY THE RIDDLE? Maybe riddles from his world wouldn''t be known. This was assuming he could even talk to his own mobs, which didn''t seem to be the case. A rounded barrier surrounded all three delvers and the Riddle Door spoke as if it had not heard him. "Ancient tablets I have upstaged. My invention was all the rage, From lowly clerk to mighty mage, And to avid bibliophage. Countless concepts have I caged, words and pictures, I do wage. Essential to modern age, Bane of morons, I''m a¡­" __________________________________ Chapter Fin. A/N: Same as last time. To the victor shall go the spoils. Oh, and I should mention that the answer must be exactly correct. If someone had tried to answer ''flame'' to this story''s second riddle instead of ''fire'', or ''big dumb hot ball in the sky'' to the third riddle instead of ''sun'', the riddle door''s rhyming response would have been something along the lines of "Well yes, but actually no." Update: Solved. 11_Unheard A/N: As of the last time I checked the comments, the riddle has not been solved. But Faquarl has earned a consolation prize for coming close. The family has been renamed from Fa to Faquarl. __________________________________ The family whispered amongst themselves as the timer grew brighter beneath their feet. "I think it''s book," said the son. "That was my first thought as well," said the mother. "But Riddle Doors are known to be finicky. The answer of ''book'' does not quite fit." "Why not?" The mother answered, pointing out a pattern that the Riddle door had established, and the boy''s eyebrows furrowed. "Can you repeat the riddle?" he asked of the door. It obliged, though the timer did not stop. "Oh, I know!" Alitha said in sudden excitement. "It''s ----!" The Riddle Door swung open. "My, oh, my, you are correct, Though cheating I do suspect, Go forth before I elect, To change my mind and hit eject!" The Faquarl family did not hesitate to get off the teleportation pad and into the slowly-forming Crystal Cube room. They glanced around curiously, but the mother hurried them along when she saw that nothing would bar their way. Rori''s current I/M was only being used for one boss room, two traps, and a temporary floor panel, so he had enough to spare for another non-boss room. He did not, however, have enough room capacity, and he hadn''t accumulated enough mana to level up. Meaning I should do THIS. Confirm: Power 2->3? Confirm. Rooms. 1_Basic Boss Room (Randomized): 99% | ¡­ 2_Basic Trap Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 3_Basic Obstacle Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 4_Basic Zone Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 5_Basic Mob Room (Randomized): 33% | ¡­ 6_Basic Economy Room (Randomized): 27% | ¡­ 7_Basic Trap/Obstacle Room (Randomized): 66% | ¡­ 8_Basic Trap/Zone Room (Randomized): 66% | ¡­ 9_Basic Trap/Mob Room (Randomized): 66% | ¡­ 10_Basic Trap/Economy Room (Randomized): 53% | ¡­ Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11,¡­ Hm¡­ looks like I''m at the mob limit as well. So let''s go to page two and try a Basic Obstacle/Zone room. Hopefully it would be another self-renewing room type like the Riddle Door. Having no time to look through options, he went with the randomized version. He Placed it in front of the delvers and fetched its Description. Basic Zone/Obstacle Room: Equalized Monkey Business (Harmless): 66% | ¡­ Room Contribution: 1 Zone Contribution: 1 Equalized Monkey Business, Description. Basic Obstacle: Monkey Business (Harmless) An acrobatic obstacle course. Adjusts itself based on the size and species of the challenger. Should they fall and fail, they will be ejected from the dungeon. Okay, but where''s the zone''s description- "HEY!! Why''re my stats at two?! That''s not fair!!" "Yeah, what gives?" the boy echoed his sister. Like her, he seemed to focus on the air in front of him. "I worked hard for my strength!" His arms, as far as Rori could see, were rail-thin. "I''ve got more than three!" "As do I," said the mother, sounding a bit worried. "It seems we have all been handicapped. A special dungeon indeed." Her eyes refocused on the room itself, which contained a monkey bar maze suspended over an empty pit. "No matter, this looks simple enough." "You think we can do it without our stats?" asked the teenage girl nervously.The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. "Even if we can''t," said the mother, "I much prefer that-" she pointed at the pit below the obstacles, which contained a floor that looked like it was made of cushions "-to a spike pit." "Hmm," said the boy, eyeing the challenge. "Good point. Who needs stats anyway? Watch and learn!" The boy practically threw himself at the monkey bars. The mother sighed and crossed her arms, while the sister rolled her eyes. They seemed content to sit back and watch. As the teen swung from bar to bar, Rori checked the other part of the Room''s description. Equalized, Description. Basic Zone: Equalized (Harmless) Exclusive to Harmless dungeons, this zone caps all delver stats according to the floor core''s attributes, and prevents the use of spells or items at tiers higher than the floor core''s tier. "Little- help- here?" asked the boy''s strained voice. He was barely halfway across, and he had stopped moving, now hanging from a single bar. "Aid: Respite," the mother intoned in the Invocita language. The boy seemed to get a second wind, and he completed the monkey bar maze just as he started to flag again. "Hey, awesome!" he said as he hopped in place and shook his raw hands. "Natural strength up! I''ve never had one of those before!" "Will wonders never cease," said the mother. Rori couldn''t tell if she was mocking or serious. "Your turn, Ali," she said to her daughter, lifting her up so she was hanging from the bars. "Go on, I''ll restore you as you swing." She needed more aid than her older brother, but she made it across as well. Like her brother, she said something about a natural strength up. Then it was the mother''s turn. She only needed help once ¨C provided by her daughter, not herself. When she landed, she hummed in approval. "Let''s keep moving. Another party might be catching up." She wasn''t wrong. The older man and younger boy were still lost, but a more competent-looking group had entered back when Rori leveled up, and they were almost to the Riddle room. Luckily for the family of three, and unluckily for Rori, the Faquarls had already reached the core room, and he had no more I/M to spare. There was only one thing he might be able to try. "We all touch it on three," said the mother. "One, two three." Conquerors have reached core¡­ HELLO? CAN YOU HEAR ME? There was a shout of indignation from the boy. "WHAT?! Hey, I conquered you fair and square! Where''s my breakthrough?" IS THAT A YES? "WE conquered it," corrected the mother. "And it seems we got here too early. This core just formed, and there are three of us. As of right now, our breakthroughs will not come unless we destroy the core." She sounded bitter about that. "But isn''t that-" "Yes," she interrupted her daughter sharply. "It is. Our best bet is to wait for it to gather more mana." Waiting won''t help. I''m capped below the reward threshold and I used up most of my starting budget. By now he knew he was talking to himself, but it was better than nothing. And what do you mean ''it is''? "Illegal for us, you mean," the boy grumbled, sounding as bitter as his mother. Ah, got it. "Correct," said the woman. "Extremely so in this case, or so I suspect." "Why?" asked the girl, as the boy''s expression darkened further. Yes, why? All three still had their hands on the core, preventing Rori from taking any action at all, other than pretending to be a part of their conversation. "The previous core that spawned here was a national treasure. But this? A harmless dungeon?" the mother asked rhetorically. "Priceless. The world''s first safe farm. The powers that be are going to be salivating when they learn." She glanced around at the d¨¦cor and gave a derisive snort. "Fitting." Something in the seething boy seemed to snap. "Screw them! I''m getting my class!" "NO-!" __________________________________ Clac is beginning to suspect this core is trying to get itself destroyed. Twice could be coincidence ¨C there are all manner of monsters, primitive sapients, and short-sighted delvers that wouldn''t hesitate to smash a core. But to be destroyed so quickly in the heart of a nation as civilized and knowledgeable as the Eseldric Union¡­ That would take a great deal of competence, a great deal of incompetence, or a considerable amount of bad luck. Regardless, Clac now had a lead. __________________________________ Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-50. Initializing SOP¡­ //Standard Operating Procedures Rori watched the typeface scroll by. Again, no differences except the one. That''s what you get for trusting the untrustworthy, Rori thought. Glad to be out of there. True, he wanted to talk with people again, but until he figured out how, it was just needlessly torturing himself to be so close, yet so far. He gazed at the first list of Danger Levels, considering what he had just heard. So, dungeon-farming is a thing. His gaze roamed the 11 lethality levels. And certain dungeons make better farms than others. His gaze settled on his go-to. Would it even be all that bad? My mana would be stolen on a regular basis, but I''d be¡­ MOSTLY safe from destruction. Barring impulsive teenagers. And I might even find a way to talk to the farmers. He oscillated for a while, but ultimately decided to stick with his original plan. I still want to see all the variants. If ''the powers that be'' try to farm me, there''s no telling how long it will be. For now I''ll stick to remote-sounding regions. Zero, Confirm. Expanse, Confirm. Ordinary, Confirm. Choose ''Ordinary Expanse'' Variant: Culling Fields Demonic Copse Stark Savannah Rolling Plains Mellow Meadows Drafts¡­ __________________________________ For once, Clac ignored the core''s most recent spawning. If the pattern held, it would be destroyed long before he could hope to reach it. So instead he focused on his search for anyone who had come into contact with the dungeon. Hopefully he would find them before the Eseldric officials did. __________________________________ Confirm: ''Stark Savannah''? Confirm. Finalizing SOP-ACRP¡­ Success! Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-51¡­ 12_D茅jè„¿ Vu In one of the world''s sprawling safaris, surrounded by hanging fruit and star-like leaves, lodged between branches blown about by a breeze, a white core illuminates a cluster of trees, held by the tallest for any to seize. Feeling a sense of d¨¦j¨¤ vu, Rori was underwhelmed by the view, and now feared what a single bird could do. Alright, strategy number 1 for protecting my exposed core: build a wall. Temporary panels didn''t take too much I/M. Six panels could form a cubic box around his core- Action not allowed! Path to the Core must not be blocked. Yeah, yeah. Five panels could form a shape like a box sitting on its side, opening out to the unnatural, yellow-highlighted branches leading down the side of his tree like a pair of lopsided ladders. Hm¡­ not good enough! Sets of four panels, or sets of three when it came to the wide trunk, allowed for the formation of a continuous tunnel around the ''path'', going all the way from his core to the dirt floor and more, weaving between tree trunks, and coming to a stop at the edge of the copse. Learning how to highlight multiple templates at once, and how to Copy/Place those combinations, made the process take less than a minute. After a moment''s consideration, he decided not to affix the tunnel panels. Fixed templates seem to have a tendency to take invisible stone drills and pickaxes ¨C or perhaps in this case, chainsaws and woodchippers ¨C to any pre-existing infrastructure in their way. Temporary templates, on the other hand, are a bit more courteous to the environment. Temporary pit traps occupy pocket dimensions instead of real space; temporary ice panels are laid on top of existing ground; and tree branches pass through temporary wall panels as if they aren''t even there. Also, with how fast his past delvers have been, he''s coming to prefer the flexibility of easily-replaced temporary structures. The downside is that these expenditures cost a fair bit of I/M, too much to allow him to place a temporary boss room without going into the negative, but there are ways around that. At the entrance to the tunnel, he Set a boss room that he wouldn''t be able to afford until- "OOOH-AAAAH! OOOH-AAAAH!" -until exactly that happened. Now that he''s got an invader, his adjusted I/M will remain in the positive as he Places the boss room. Now, what''s THIS funky monkey? Description. Name (assigned): Baboom Thrasher 1 Level: 13 Species: Baboom Class: Thrasher (Uncommon) Mob Count: 10 Who''s in charge of names, here? Kindergartners? *Sigh*. Baboom, Description. Babooms are omnivorous apes that are more intelligent than most monsters, but not intelligent enough to be sapient. They typically reside in trees and use their long, whip-like arms in fighting, climbing, and in mating displays. Hmm¡­ I hope I didn''t steal your home by spawning here. And hey, what do you think YOU''RE doing? Like the very first invaders he ever encountered, the baboom ignored the magi-glass structures and climbed the tree straight to his core. This time, however, he had protection- "Oooh-AAAAAH!" SNAP-CRACK! With an arm moving like a blur and a sharp sound suggesting the breaking of the sound barrier, the baboom struck the temporary surface, leaving a series of spiderweb cracks along the magi-glass. ¡­This is going to be another short one, isn''t it? In that case, let''s try something. The treetop was spacious and flat, giving the monkey plenty of space to stand on as it wailed on Rori''s core wall, and giving Rori plenty of space for an ambush. Mobs. Snoozing Shroom. Place. Action not allowed! Mob limit reached! What-? "Oooh-AAAAAH!" SNAP-CRACK! Let''s try this, then. Objects. Zones. Template: Structure | Object | Special | Custom Objects: Bosses | Traps | Obstacles | Zones | Mobs | Economy | Custom | Saved 1_Basic Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 2_Basic Ordinary Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 3_Basic Fiery Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 4_Basic Arctic Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 5_Basic Watery Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 6_Basic Dry Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 7_Basic Overgrown Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.8_Basic Economy Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 9_Basic Dungeon Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 10_Basic Meta Zone (Randomized) | 1%/s3 Page: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, ¡­ He had never explored this page- "Oooh-AAAAAH!" SNAP-CRACK! -and he didn''t have time now. Equalized. Basic Meta Zone: Equalized (Harmless) Cost: 1%/Cubic Stride Zone Count: 1 Place. Action not allowed! Template is Occupied! Alright, alright, no putting zones directly on top of unsuspecting invaders. Spoilsport. How about HERE then? Place. Rori was half-surprised when he was actually allowed to place the zone directly on top of his core- "Oooh-AAAAAH!" SNAP-CRSHHH! The panel of magi-glass protecting his core shattered inward, then vanished entirely. The baboom didn''t hesitate to take a step forward, but it did hesitate to take another. It seemed to flinch as it entered the small, cubic, equalized zone of space containing Rori''s core. Its hackles rose and its face scrunched, like it had smelled something bad. Its eyes narrowed at the glowing white ball lodged half-way into the bark of the tree. It stomped forward with only a slight amount of trepidation and placed a hand on the ball. And then it got mad. __________________________________ Clac detected the core''s destruction as he distantly listened to the "delver''s" ramblings, and decided he''d done enough digging. He had enough of an answer to make sense of things. And what an answer it was! Eyewitness accounts from commoners are wildly inconsistent at the best of times, but a single detail remained the same no matter whom he asked. He hurried home to cancel all other obligations and prepare for its respawning. The potential ROI had just shot up astronomically. In all his millennia of delving experiences, in all his centuries of knowledge acquisition, and in all his decades of direct dungeon-core meddling, even he has never heard of a harmless dungeon. __________________________________ Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-51. Ooowwwwwwww. Initializing SOP¡­ //Standard Operating Procedures Initializing SOP-ACRP¡­ //Automated Core Recycling Program Initializing SOP-ACRP.EECR¡­ //Extract Excess Core Resources Rori had known he could still feel certain sensations as a dungeon core. Approaching his natural I/M limit felt like vigorous exercise, and trying to exceed that limit felt like a metaphorical punch to the gut. Certain other Actions that are not allowed! had odd sensations that came with them, especially when he tried to exceed one of his capacities. But he hadn''t known he could still feel physical pain. What a mean monkey! Chinks and chunks were broken off of his core as the baboom whipped its arms at him, and that had hurt. Thankfully the source of the pain had all but vanished just as the baboom''s arms came down for a particularly vicious-looking swipe. That''s the last time I''m saving my starting buffer. The lingering, phantom feelings that carried over into limbo were entirely gone by the time the typeface and terminator messages were done. It hadn''t been that bad, akin to stubbing all his toes or taking many hard slaps to the face. But it wasn''t an experience he wanted to repeat any time soon. And so, as usual, Rori took a bit of time to review what he did wrong, and what he could do better in the future. He could have dismissed his temporary boss room to free up his I/M and his mob capacity. The monkey had never occupied it, and Rori hadn''t thought to affix it. As for his core room¡­ __________________________________ Clac set aside his practice sheets and got to work the instant the core spawned. __________________________________ Choose ''Watery Heights'' Variant: Fatal Falls Toxic Reservoir Rumbling Rapids Towering Basin Rainy Ridge Select. Confirm: ''Towering Basin''? Confirm. Finalizing SOP-ACRP¡­ Success! Spawning Core ID: 0.0.931-52¡­ In a mountainous biome roamed by gnoll and by troll, where exist many a site from plights of old, there leaks at one peak a vast, broken bowl, bare of all but air and a deep, dark hole, ne''er again to host lake, dungeon, nor soul. Cores that arrive take a dive, for there is nothing to hold, their crystal sphere here, not pedestal, not pole. The pit drains all rain; but more than water it stole. It claims a new name; one more life to the toll. __________________________________ Clac paused after barely making any progress on his worksheet. He glanced at the clock. He was fairly certain the core truly had set a new record for destruction speed just now, instead of merely tying the old one. It has also set the record for ''most respawns from a single core''. The much more worrying development, however, was that the soul he''d stuffed into it seemed to be suffering some sort of damage. __________________________________ Alert! Integrity Failure Detected in Core ID: 0.0.931-52. OOOOOWWWWWWWWWWW!!!! Initializing SOP¡­ //Standard Operating Procedures Initializing SOP-ACRP¡­ //Automated Core Recycling Program Initializing SOP-ACRP.EECR¡­ //Extract Excess Core Resources Rori didn''t have the strength to scan the typeface for discrepancies or snark at the terminator. He just sat there for minutes, hoping the ache would abate. It wasn''t just a physical pain this time. In fact, it wasn''t physical at all. Without any deliberate effort on his part, his mind replayed that brief and painful minute of his life. He had spawned in the center of a big bowl made of stone, like someone had taken a ginormous ice-cream scoop to the peak of a mountain. And then along came a different giant who ruined the bowl and the mountain, taking a sledgehammer to both and using an endlessly long drill to bore a hole down the middle. That was all Rori had time to observe before he noticed the much more important fact that his core had spawned in motion. Free-fall motion in particular. For instead of a core structure to hold him up, there was an abyss which dragged him down. His perspective shrunk rapidly as he fell towards and into it, until he could only see himself and the stone walls swiftly passing him by. That alone wouldn''t have been so bad, but for the building pressure, as if he were diving too deeply underwater, too quickly. It grew worse as he fell, until it became unbearable. And then he continued falling. By the time he ''died'' he was in too much agony to pay attention to the world around him. Maybe he finally hit the ground, or maybe something else gave. Either way, arriving in limbo didn''t cause the pain to immediately go away like the last time. It was like the pressure had gone from without to within. Something inside of him was clenching itself tightly, and it was taking a while to unclench. When the finally did clear up, there were many thoughts going through his head. Hesitation, worry, fear. But more than anything else: excitement. It''s been a long time since he felt anything that intense. And there was the very real possibility that it could happen. He didn''t want it to happen again, just like he didn''t want to repeat that time he slid off-road and hit a telephone pole. But the rawness of the experience was enough to convince him that he couldn''t continue treating this like a game.