Singer looked up from the gash on his arm in surprise at the voice that echoed through the cave. It didn't take long to find the source of the voice as a purple light further down pulsed with every swearword and bit of profanity thrown his way.
"Uhhhh, hello?" Singer poked his head around the corner carefully keeping the hastily retrieved skinning knife ready but hidden. He swiped away the notifications that were building up for later viewing, but more importantly to free up his view as much as possible.
"You!!! You're the jerk who killed Kevin." Singer could now see the light came off a giant purple gem hovering in the middle of the room. It was shaped like a D20 dice and rotated slowly as he watched it. He smirked as he came out into full view of the gem.
"Don't you mean killed Kenny?"
"What? No! His name was Kevin! Who the hell is Kenny?" The gem seemed to get brighter as its voice got louder with each word.
"Sorry, old joke from my homeland." Singer looked around the room as he spoke noticing the cavern was slowly getting bigger by the second. It would seem he had encountered a very sensitive dungeon core. Not only that but likely a new born core. He had read about it in the developer letters. Dungeon cores were one of the many AI systems developed to keep the game world running. As they got older they were supposed to get both more powerful and indifferent to death. Based on its reaction regarding Kevin the Moss Crab this dungeon had to be really young. Singer smiled the friendliest smile he could as he asked his next question. "Are you a dungeon core?"
"Of course I'm a bloody dungeon core! Well, maybe not bloody, I'm still a basic core so I don't have a designation yet. Oh! I know how I can be a blood dungeon! Okay, wait right there while I create a boss to violently kill you so I can bathe my beautiful gem in your blood!" Somehow Singer managed to hold back an irritated sigh. Luckily this wasn't the first time he had dealt with child like behavior in someone with more power than himself. He had spent four years in the military after all.
"I'm hardly about to stand still and let you kill me." Singer growled. Case in point as he had already been looking for an angle to change this unique encounter to his advantage. "You know, most dungeons can respawn special mobs when they die. Seeing as you named him Kevin that would classify him as a named mob and thus a special mob." Honestly he was laying a lot on this hope as his other plan was to threaten to bash the core with a rock. It wasn't a completely unfounded plan on either front. While he had never gotten too far into dungeon builders, they still had a strong following. Two factors came up frequently: first named mobs could be re-spawned by the dungeon, and second if it was a core system the core could generally be destroyed.
The core remained silent for longer than could be considered comfortable. After some further silence Singer smiled holding in a sigh of relief as a moss crab slowly materialized before him. Using his inspect ability Singer could now see it was in fact a named enemy as the name Kevin appeared above its description. The dungeon core's joy was palpable, practically beating on the air. The core finally made it through its burst of excitement and followed it up with a loud sigh. Singer could feel its attention shift to him as it spoke up again.
"Well, perhaps you may be useful after all. Hmm, as he was my only monster you have beaten my dungeon and earned a reward. Your treasure is in that chest by the wall." The exasperation was practically dripping off the dungeon core as Singer looked around for the chest quickly finding it nestled in the corner. Naturally he was rather nervous. The core had just said it was going to spawn a boss to kill him. But, in the end treasure won out and he hurried over and flung the lid open. Singer froze briefly as it suddenly occurred to him it could be trapped. But no spells went off and no goblins flung out at him from inside. Nor did the chest turn into a giant mimic and eat his face off like a scene from Aliens.
With more trepidation than before Singer carefully reached in the dark recesses of the rugged looking chest and grasped something smooth yet soft. Pulling his hand out he found he had grabbed a coat of some sort. As he examined it Singer hardly noticed the dungeon core's excitement through his own.
Trench Coat of Shadows
Rank 2
Soul-bound On Equip
Ranks Up With Player
Provides scale or chain-mail protection with cloth like flexibility and maneuverability. Does not reduce agility or movement speed as protection increases.
Singer did his best to hold back visible excitement as he quickly put it on. Despite flowing like a trench coat it still managed to fit like a glove. It had just enough weight to it to remind him it was there without reducing his movement. The coloring looked great too! It was a slightly worn dark brown color with enough ruggedness to look used but also well taken care of. The design itself was any nerds wet dream. It had a great mix of steampunk and anime aesthetics. The high china cut collar had two buckle straps to tighten it against the wind. Various other buckles, straps, cords and clasps were laid out around it aesthetically. He particularly liked the two straps resting over his left arm providing balance for the pauldron over his right shoulder. The bottom half of the trench coat was partially separated at the waist and split to allow for easier movement in combat. It was truly the kind of design tailored specifically to gamers. No pun intended, okay maybe it was a little intended he thought.
"Well? How is it?" There was a strange hesitation to the dungeon core's voice. Which Singer supposed was to be expected, as he was the first player to receive loot from this dungeon so far as he could tell. He smiled happily as he shifted about feeling how it fit on his body.
"A little tight in the shoulders but I'm sure it will loosen up in no time. And it feels a little.... moist?" Singer wasn't completely sure how to word it. It wasn't wet or sticky but almost gummy feeling. That aside he also rather enjoyed the reaction some people had to the word moist. He never did understand the aversion to that word, but it had always led to good laughs when the right people were around. The dungeon core however didn't seem to care. Strangest of all as he came back from his musings Singer noticed the gummy sensation was gone and the shoulder area had already loosened up. This magic gear was more impressive than he had first suspected. "Never mind, it seems to have fixed itself already."
"Eh? Ah, well no matter." The dungeon core's tone changed drastically signaling that something was about to happen. Singer put his guard back up berating himself for forgetting a dungeons job was to defeat adventurers.
"I actually was rather hoping you could do a small favor for me?" Singer's ears perked up at what very much sounded like his first quest in the game.
"If it involves bathing in my blood I think I'd rather not." He had to cover his bases at least. The core had seemed way too excited about the idea before. Except now the dungeon core seemed almost appalled at the idea. How Singer knew that without a face was beyond him.
"Hardly, I have much better uses for you now. Of course should you die in the process I suppose I could still try bathing my core in your blood." Singer could hear him snickering in the undertone. He shifted his new coat uneasily shaking his head in mock amusement.
"Okay, so I'm going to need some guarantee you're not going to try to kill me once I've finished this task for you." Singer had little experience with the dungeon core genre but had enough experience with the fantasy genre as a whole to know a few of the more important points. First make sure any deals with a creature that normally wishes to eat you leaves you with protection after the deal is done. And secondly make sure any deals with a sentient magical creature is in writing. Oh, yes almost forgot the third rule: if at all possible get the being's name! "Also, I was hoping we could exchange names if we are going to be working together. My Name is Singer." It wasn't his true name. Or at least Singer hoped the game didn't take it as such.
"NUBIS. It's short for Neural Unit Builder Infrastructure." Singer held back a chuckle as it very much sounded like the core had just said his name was Noob. While he could tell that wasn't the case from the added description the core gave he knew that was going to make him laugh eventually.
"Mind if I just call you BIS then?"
"Sure, fine, whatever. Now onto my favor. See there's an area I've encountered in the tunnels going up that I cant access. It's blocked off from my senses preventing me from expanding my dungeon zone. If you can find what's blocking me and remove it I will guarantee you the greatest safety I can offer within my dungeon zone, and you may keep any treasures you find in the process."
Quest
You have been offered a quest. Find whatever is blocking the dungeon core's expansion and remove it.
Reward
Highest level of safety within the dungeon core's zone of influence.
Possible Treasure
Accept Decline
Singer mentally clicked accept on the pop up that appeared in front of him. He felt a sense of excitement and trepidation simultaneously as the quest was accepted. On the one hand he looked forward to his first quest, but on the other hand he really didn't trust BIS. At this point it suddenly occurred to Singer that he was beginning to treat this more like he did real life than he did a game. He was letting his general mistrust of others bleed into the game world. After a bit of heavy thought Singer decided to push away his trepidation and take the chance anyways. After all he did have it in writing that he would be safe from the dungeon after. Or at least Singer hoped it was bound by the writing in the quest by some code in the background or some sort of dungeon core laws. If not at least it was just a game so it wasn't like he would be losing much.
"So, where do I start?" Singer asked as he finally looked back up from his quest log. The core was still floating in the same place as when he had entered glowing a soft purple as it slowly rotated in place.
"Follow the glowing trail and try not to kill any more moss crabs, I just spawned them. Fred and George are gathering moss down there still." Singer's mouth twitched slightly as he held back a laugh and multiple jokes about them being twins. Looking around he noticed an abundance of glowing moss and fungi as he walked up the new tunnel, but not so much as far as animals or monsters. Well, minus Fred and George who were true to word busy gathering moss into glowing piles. It made him wonder about the age of the dungeon again as it seemed all it had were some minor flora and the moss crabs.
"Hey, so uh I was wondering. Are the moss crabs the only monsters you have here?"
"I had another monster. Regrettably it proved to be useless." Singer nodded at the dungeon's response with understanding as he scratched at some sudden itches on his arms. Lower level dungeons tended to have rather useless monsters. At first glance even the moss crabs seemed useless. They were hard workers tho, which reminded Singer of harvester drones from StarCraft. As it appeared that indeed was the purpose they served he wondered if they also built things as well.
"Right, so how do you get better monsters then?" Different games tended to have different formulas in that regard. If BIS was lucky then he would have a flexible system.
"Actually, I have multiple options. It was my dungeon boon." BIS said it matter of factually as if Singer knew exactly what he was talking about. Whether BIS somehow saw his expression or noticed the uncomfortable silence, he was quick to continue with an explanation. "Every dungeon receives a random boon upon awakening. This allows for more variety and varied difficulty levels even within the same region. For example blood dungeons commonly have boons that give experience bonuses for absorbed blood. While mine on the other hand allows me to receive new upgrades through any source rather than the usual one or two dungeons normally are allowed. I'm able to receive new monsters as rank up rewards, corpse absorption, facility obtainment and even from monsters migrating to my dungeon. I'm sure there's more but those are the only ones I'm aware of as of yet. Downside was I only got to start with moss crabs." Singer didn't miss the fact that the random boon system seemed very similar to his random trait system. On a side note he wondered at what method BIS had obtained his other monster, and then remembered the frost stinger he had killed earlier.
"I don't suppose a frost stinger would be better than your current monsters would it?" Singer prodded lightly not expecting much. After all he had only needed to step on it to kill it.
"Is this a joke? Please tell me this isn't your idea of a joke." Singer half considered messing with the excited dungeon core for a moment. However, its desperation was a bit too much. Admittedly tho he was slightly surprised by the level of its excitement as his experience with the frost stinger had shown it to be around the same level of difficulty as the moss crab.
"No joke." Singer responded. "I killed one at the entrance of the tunnel I entered your dungeon from." The moment of silence from the dungeon lasted long enough to make him slightly worried as he turned another corner down the tunnel. It did however give him time to admire the subtle changes in the environment as he got further from the dungeon core. As the moss and mushrooms began to fade the once crisp, cool air got warm and humid. Singer almost didn't notice the temperature rise as the dungeon had come out of its silence with excited mutterings and surprised giggles. If it hadn't been for the sweat now trickling down his back he would have continued wondering how such a measly monster could excite the dungeon so much. The important thing Singer mused was that a distracted dungeon hopefully wouldn't be trying to kill him.
Singer's jaw dropped so hard it hurt as he entered a massive cavern. The sweat that had been dripping down his back suddenly made sense as he eyed the lava streams pooling about the cavern entrance. As impressive as that was on its own however, the cavern didn't stop there with its beauty. Above Singer a massive silver tree stretched out across the massive cavern. Below where its twisted roots reached about the floor and into the lower caverns a natural spring welled up creating waterfalls that fell across its glistening roots and across the ledges and cliffs about the cavern. In the places where the rivers of lava met with the waterfalls, thick clouds of steam rose up freezing on the air as they reached the top of the cavern. The freezing steam glistening drew his eyes to the opening above into the the night sky. Singer caught his breath as two of the three moons of this world and a portion of the ring that surrounded the world stretched across the night sky. The stars were like rainbows clustering thickly as if a thousand milky ways had taken residence. Singer realized night must have fallen while he was exploring the caves.
"Incredible..." His single whispered word seemed loud above the natural sounds of the cavern as he was slowly drawn further in by the caverns' beauty. The roots felt soft and velvety against his fingertips as he lightly brushed them in passing. He marveled at how the heat from the lava pools was perfectly balanced with the cold from the outside air in the cavern proper. The attention to detail spoke wonders about the capabilities of the programmers and the AI that had worked on this game. Honestly, the longer Singer spent playing the easier it was to forget it wasn't real. That fact alone was both scary and thrilling all at once. This game was going to make billions.
Singer was quickly reminded of the one factor that told him this wasn't real as he spotted a small cluster of monsters within a cluster of roots. The lack of true pain from his wounds came to the front of his memory as he carefully made his way closer. The frost damage and even the claw damage hadn't really hurt so much as been excruciatingly annoying and irritating. That had been a decision of the programmers as they wanted children to be able to play as well. There had to be some form of repellent for the human minds natural aversion to pain but it couldn't be anything that would cause children trauma. While the game was intended to have an adult rating due to the realism, they knew they couldn't stop children from logging on both with or without parental approval. As such they had taken the current stance regarding pain in game to avoid potential lawsuits on that front.
Singer scrunched up his nose as he got closer to the cluster of roots and monsters. While up to this point the cavern had smelled like fresh rainfall mixed with wet stone, and burning metal it now suddenly changed to that of the sweet smell of rotting cabbage and potatoes mixed with the smell of decomposing diapers. Having lived in more than a few less than reputable places in his real life he was saddened to admit he could give a name to such horrible smells. While he was impressed by the programmed smells realism he recognized it as the smell of something rotting. It wasn't the healthy smell of a compost heap however, but something foul and sickly. What he had first taken to be a cluster of monsters rather appeared to be a singular pulsating mass of sickly parasites. Singer considered the fact that this could be the cause of blockage that BIS had told him about. Just looking at it gave him a headache but he focused on it anyways as he crouched down and approached carefully until the notification he had been waiting for popped up.
Chaos Parasite
Rank ???
Singer gulped sharply attempting to wet his suddenly dry throat. The name was a dark purple, but the triple question marks told him it had to be higher than just three combat ranks above him. This however didn't necessarily mean he couldn't beat it. The combat ranking system was based on a complex myriad of factors. While stats, class level and gear did effect this number strongly, there were other factors that had an equal effect on combat ranking. Current health and injuries, as well as environmental factors could supposedly effect combat ranking. But even more importantly the combat AI system would use an individuals combat accomplishments as well as their skills, struggles and ease of success and failure as a determining factor. Over time this system was promised to become more accurate, but there would still be anomalies from time to time even years down the road.
Singer examined the parasite as he continued thinking. Noting the roots it appeared that the tree was somehow attempting to isolate the parasite. While similar root balls about the cavern had shown it was capable of this feat, he had a quest to complete. Singer stood up from where he had been crouching and decided to examine his surroundings for anything that might be useful.
Singer spent the next few in game hours searching the cavern. Due to a combination of adjusted brain impulses and sped up digital time, what had felt like hours thankfully only amounted to seconds in real life. While this didn't reduce the tedium of finding nothing the first few hours Singer could imagine people spending millions on long term immersion systems. The idea of artificially extended life spans or college degrees earned in days rather than years would eventually mean a complete shift in the world should mega corporations or the rich elite ever get their hands on the formulas for this technology. For now however, the author had come to an agreement with the owner of FIVR Corp preventing that. His idea was that imagination and the sense of wonder lost to the mechanization's of the rich elite and corrupt mega corps deserved a chance to be re-sparked in humanity first. Looking about the city sized cavern again and back at the night sky through the opening framed by the branches of the silver tree Singer had to admit, he felt both of those right now. This was something he had spent years searching for in every game, movie and book he had plowed through over the years. He stared longingly at the colorful night sky wishing he could spend the rest of his life here. He dreaded the idea of returning to his mundane life after his game session timer ran out.
He sighed heavily as he glanced back down. His frustrated noises caught in his throat suddenly as his eyes caught a doorway in one of the cavern tunnels midway up the cavern. He considered walking back to the cavern entrance to update BIS on what he had found. But, the last few times he had tried had resulted in continued giggling on the dungeon cores part followed by soft muttering that sounded much like someone pet talking at a new puppy. He had already found that his proximity to the parasite cut off his connection to the dungeon core's communication. Whether that was due to the blocking effects of the parasite or the fact he was no longer directly in the dungeon's tunnels he wasn't sure. Whichever was the case he hoped to resolve it swiftly with the demise of the parasite and complete his first quest before he was logged out.