Kaio POV
And with that we finally finish another day.
Haaahhh why could it be that today I feel more tired than usual, was it just the hype of seeing Connor again now with new friends who looked like a classic RPG lineup? Was it my constant consideration on how to plan a Stampede in 2 months?
Or was it Sys's taciturn confirmation that I could very well get screwed by the Stampede if I end up absorbing some evil-looking soul inhabiting the body of a goblin that ends up getting out of my control and spreading chaos and destruction throughout the world?
It's a big mystery why I'm more inclined towards the latter (￣ヘ￣;)
[Worrying about something out of reach is unnecessary, as you often repeat.]
'I know, but that doesn't stop me from worrying, it's the same logic as a storm. She can ruin everything or just leave things in a mess and you can't do anything except worry and hope for the best.'
[Indeed, and as I said before regarding monster behavior, this still qualifies as a possibility. Possibility which it is my job to ensure does not happen.]
'Right, right, super mental/spiritual parasite. But what should I do to distract myself from this possibility even more now?'
[Suggestion: check if there is anything you wanted to change on the first or second floors.]
Hmm, fair enough.
But I don't want to change anything in the first one for now. Well, I even want to change some things, but for now I want to leave things like this to my newbies. Like the initial generations of video games that depended on patterns that the gamers could memorize.
Of course, there is a lot of unpredictability since it is reality, especially in relation to Grumpy and Poh, but they are cases in their own right.
The second floor...
Well, it doesn't hurt to give it a fresh look before going to "sleep".
That said, I opened the panel and took a look at things so far.
[Name: Kaio
Race: dungeon (development)
Level: 2
MasP: 410
EnBP: 280
Floors: 2
Unique Monsters: 2
Total Influence Area: 50 Acres (1 Floor), 100 Acres (2 Floor)
Exp: 821.5\2,500]
My gains were a little uneven (as always) but overall it was still a good day.
Now what I wanted to do with what I have is the question.
Well, let's take a look at the second floor first.
That said, I only thought about the second floor and already appeared there.
Hmm, hmm.
I'm always struck by how oppressive the atmosphere has become here, dark, freezing cold and a constant fog with the smell of the swamp with occasional flashes of lights, some are natural lights because of the methane from the swamp while others are small will-o'-the-wisps. They are just here for atmosphere not to be monsters, although they are listed as monsters in this specific environment.
[Cursed Enchanted Swamp: An ancient swamp with abundant Energy being used as a place for gatherings and communing with nature by the First Peoples. However, due to greed and disregard for the land, it is now a cursed place that hates and repudiates the living, always generating creatures to be eliminated and trying to regain a semblance of what it once was.]
I know, I know, you must be wondering why the environment of this place has a description but the forest and savannah on the first floor did not.
Simple on the first floor were common biomes and this is a special biome that I got using a good part of the souls of the expedition members. Remembering that I can get MasP and EnBP both passively and actively when people are fighting "inside me".
That's why I didn't just get a good amount of kills, I also got them during the fight, a part of which I used during the fight itself, changing the terrain and spawning more and more monsters to fight while the other part I saved for when needed- if.
And the chance to use these surpluses came soon after, in fact, as congratulations on the victory, my dear system ran a special promotion that allowed me to get this special land.
Not only does it come fully equipped, it also comes with 2 important features, one is that it sporadically spawns undead monsters like will-o'-the-wisps, and it is also a cursed place that constantly drains the people who come here, but not vital energy. or soul or something like that, what it drains would be more calm, being more precise it makes it easier for people to become terrified.
What for the concept of the 2nd floor is great.
With what I've already said, I think it's obvious that the idea of the 2nd floor is to be a floor of living must that will make a grown man shit his pants. And I made sure I really did that just with looks.
Is a closed, fog-covered swamp a great place to terrorize people on a day covered by black clouds that create a false blue-white light? With lights that appear out of nowhere, can move of their own accord and even whisper things you don't understand?
I think this would make a good basic horror movie scenario, but I didn't limit myself to that, the way you get here is also interesting.
You know, when a challenger or group defeats the goblin tribe, some of the goblins flee to a certain cave not far away taking some of the tribe's treasures, this whole is a portal to the 2nd floor, but obviously they don't know that for them it's just a cave, my idea was that the challengers would follow the goblins to the cave but as soon as they entered the portal would be activated and they wouldn't even realize they went to the 2nd floor.
They would just be walking deeper into the cave looking for the goblins, who would still be on the 1st floor since unless it is a Stampede, no monster is allowed to leave their floor.
Once they left the cave they would walk through the swamp until they reached a cemetery that couldn't be bypassed, I made it lengthwise so that it would cover the entire beginning of the middle floor, just with different entrances, a hole in the wall, a tree fallen over the wall, a gate, etc.
And in this cemetery it is obvious that they would have to face the classic zombies that come out of graves, tombs and mausoleums, with the mausoleums being something like mini-dungeons with prizes after 3 levels, but don't think that they would only have to deal with the zombies.
Before even arriving at the cemetery, they would have some ghosts that they would have to deal with before arriving, not to mention the predators of the swamp itself such as snakes, alligators, very large insects and other poisonous animals in the swamp such as frogs and toads, which yes it also spawned occasionally but to help I also placed spawners there too, fortunately at a reduced cost.
Ha but things don't end when they reach the end of the cemetery, from there they enter an abandoned city full of the living dead, to match the tone this city would have a baroque colonial style.
Why?
Because I would say that the style matches the idea of a city in a swamp, like a New Orleans taken by abandonment, claimed by the swamp and full of dangers, or like Recife, but instead of having a sea it would have a swamp that invaded the city and sank part of it.
Only when they arrive in the center of the city, which would be about 20 kilometers from the exit of the cemetery, could they see a way out, that being by facing the boss here who "lives" in an abandoned mansion on top of a hill.
Who or what would this boss be?
I'm not going to give away that much of a spoiler either, but I can say that although facing it is the right way out, it's not the only one.
In the city there is a monster that does not attack any challenger and any attack against it of any kind is useless, this monster would act more like a special NCP in games, that if you passed its test it would give you a reward, and it could tell you where there would be another exit, a place where the challengers could temporarily strengthen themselves before the fight, a tip on how to defeat the boss or a direct buff for the fight.
Who would this "NPC" be and what would his test be?
I'm not going to say that either, but let's say that if you're the type who likes pranks or just trolling other people every now and then, you'll love his style.
(~͜ʖ~)