KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
This is really bad. But it might be fine? My friend Alan is at the door, but as long as he doesn’t come in, everything will be totally fine! How is he planning to get through the door anyway?
“Jeff!! Jeff!! Can you hear me!?!”
Yep. I can hear you! You just stay outside the door, and everything will be fine! You know, for once I’m glad I had the door locked with no spare key left outside. Sure, there were the few times I locked myself outside with no way in, and then had to call a locksmith, but it’s all worth it since Alan is safe outside! After all, we’ve been friends since we were kids. Sure, he moved on to become a prosthetics engineer, while I moved on to being an accountant, but we’ve maintained our friendship throughout the years, and it’s definitely something I’ve cherished. The fact that my negligence is actually helping for once is great!
KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK!
“Jeff! If you don't answer soon, I'm going to assume you aren't fine and call the police to make sure you're okay in there! Jeff! Answer me! Hello? Alright! Please don't be angry at me! I'm getting help!"
What in the actual hell are you doing Alan! Avatar! Whatever happens, do not, I repeat, DO NOT attack any humans that come in here!
I CANNOT COMPLY WITH THAT ORDER JEFF. AS A DUNGEON AVATAR, I MUST TAKE ANY ACTION NECESSARY TO PROTECT THE DUNGEON CORE. ELIMINATION OF THREATS TAKES PRECEDENCE OVER THE WILL OF THE DUNGEON!
What the hell do you mean you can't comply with that order!?! GUIDE! What's going on! Why won't my own dungeon avatar listen to me!?!
ANALYZING AVAILABLE DATA. PLEASE STAND BY.
Do you think I have time for you to analyze the data?!?! The police station is literally 10 minutes away from me!!!!
ANALYSIS COMPLETE. IT APPEARS THAT DUNGEON AVATARS DO NOT TAKE RELATIONSHIPS OR ALLIANCES INTO ACCOUNT IN REGARD TO DEFENDING THE CORE, SINCE THE ASSUMED REASON FOR USE OF THE AVATAR IS TO PROTECT THE CORE FROM IMMINENT THREAT. THIS WAS IMPLEMENTED AS A FEATURE TO PREVENT A DUNGEON FROM BEING… SEARCHING FOR APPROPRIATE TERM… CHEESED(?) WITH MAGIC THAT COULD CONVINCE A DUNGEON TO TREAT INVADERS AS ALLIES.
RECOMMENDATION. FIND A TERM DIFFERENT THAN CHEESED TO DESCRIBE THE ABOVE SITUATION.
Great! Just great! Any solutions to this. Can I turn the avatar off for instance? What do I do Guide! How do I fix this!
DEFINE FIX. ANALYSIS SHOWS AVATAR WORKING WITHIN ACCEPTABLE PARAMETERS.
Guide! Can I turn off the Avatar!
THE AVATAR CANNOT BE TURNED OFF MANUALLY WITHOUT A HIGHER LEVEL IN THE DUNGEON AVATAR SKILL. THE ONLY WAY OF TURNING OFF THE DUNGEON AVATAR CURRENTLY IS TO DRAIN YOUR MANA POOL TO ZERO.
I heard the sound I'd been dreading. Footsteps... Stopping at the front door... And then...
SMASH!
Alan! You fool! You've doomed us all!
“Jeff! Where are you!?! I’m coming in Jeff! The Police are right behind me! Don't worry Jeff! We'll find you! Jeff?”
STATUS! Come on status screen! Tell me my mana is almost gone!
CURRENT STATS:
LEVEL: 1
Mana: 6 / ???
XP: 0/100
VITALITY: ~1-14
DURABILITY: ~7-21
STRENGTH: ~6-20
DEXTERITY: ~0-14
WISDOM: ~1-15
INTELLIGENCE: ~ -6-8
What?!? Guide! Why is my stored mana going up!
“Jeff! You two search upstairs! I'll check the first floor and the basement! If you can hear me don't panic! We'll find you! You're going to be okay!”
THE MANA COST TO MAINTAIN DUNGEON AVATAR FORM IS 1 MANA/HR. AS IT CURRENTLY STANDS, YOUR MANA REGEN RATE IS 1.5 MANA/HR WITH 1 MANA FROM THE MANA REGENERATION SKILL, AND ANOTHER 0.5 MANA FROM NATURALLY ABSORBING IT WITHIN YOUR DUNGEON BOUNDARIES.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
This literally couldn’t be any worse.
“Hey! I found him! Jeff! He's down the stairs to the basement! He looks hurt!"
You know what! I WAS WRONG! It just got WAY WORSE!
Alan came tumbling down the stairs in his rush to help me. After all, my dead body was just lying there at the bottom! AVATAR! STOP!
Miraculously, Alan managed to not get hit by my Avatar's fist, which embedded itself in the wall right where his head had been. STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP! It’s not listening to me. I’m just a stick in the mud to this thing.
My friend was now stuck… in the basement… with a murderous avatar that won’t listen to me... and said Avatar is now between Alan and the exit.
“YOU WILL NOT AVOID MY NEXT ATTACK… YOU WERE A FOOL TO ENTER HERE!”
To my horror, my avatar manifested an obsidian sword in his hands.
Alan backed up against the wall, clearly terrified.
“Help! There's something down here! Help!”
Avatar! I order you to stop! Stop!! Just put down the sword and stop! Don't do this!
I CANNOT OBEY THAT ORDER… I MUST PROTECT THE CORE!
No! Stop!
To my relief, at that moment, the two police officers got down the stairs and opened fire.
BANG BANG BANG!
Unfortunately, the bullets didn't do anything but provide a distraction. My avatar quickly turned to engage the new threat. Both police officers had opened fire on my avatar. My avatar quickly closed the distance, cutting down the first police officer in a single swing.
ONE DUNGEON INVADER SLAIN. 50 EXPERIENCE GAINED.
I… I… I just…. I’m responsible for…
“WE NEED BACKUP! CODE 12! I REPEAT! CODE...”
ONE DUNGEON INVADER SLAIN. 50 EXPERIENCE GAINED.
LEVEL 2 ACHIEVED!
The 2nd officer couldn’t even finish his comm, as my avatar cut him down. This… this isn’t… this can’t be…
"NOW FOR THE LAST INVADER…"
No! Stop! I told you to stop!
“YOUR KIND WOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO ELIMINATE THE DUNGEON. NOT WHILE I STAND TO PROTECT IT…”
“Please! Don't kill me! I don't even know what this dungeon thing is. I wasn't trying to hurt it or anything!”
I need something! Anything! How the hell do I prevent this overprotective…
I try the only option I can think of to save my friend's life.
If you kill the man in front of us, I will die, and the dungeon will be destroyed!
My avatar paused. His sword raised. Paused. Thankfully paused.
EXPLAIN.
Alan, I mean the invader! He's woven a spell... that will... that will instantly destroy me if he dies!
ANALYZING...
NO SUCH SPELL DETECTED. PROCEEDING TO ELIMINATE THREAT.
Nope! You're wrong! The spell is… the spell is hidden… with measures… WITH MEASURES THAT PREVENT IT FROM BEING DETECTED! I swear! Your duty is to protect me and eliminating that invader will destroy me! You can't kill him!
PROCESSING…
Seconds ticked by. Seconds that felt like an eternity. I waited. Hoping, praying that my Avatar wouldn’t kill my friend.
UNABLE TO CONFIRM WITH 100% CERTAINTY THAT CORE WILL NOT BE DESTROYED WHEN TARGET INVADER DIES…
Please! Please don't kill Alan!
TAKING ALTERNATIVE MEASURES TO ELIMINATE THREAT.
No!
“AHH!” Alan screamed in pain as my avatar sliced both his hands off.
INVADER THREAT LEVEL LOWERED. ANALYZING TO FULLY ELIMINATE THREAT.
NO! This can’t be happening! Not again! NO MORE! Avatar! We need to leave! This location is no longer safe!
EXPLAIN REASONING…
The Officer called for backup! More humans, more heavily armed than before will arrive, and if we stay here, eventually I’ll be destroyed as more and more humans show up to eliminate me. If we stay here, eventually we won’t even be able to run away!
PERFORMING ASSESSMENT OF DEFENSIVE POTENTIAL OF CURRENT LOCATION… RESULT: POOR DEFENSIVE POTENTIAL. CORE ANALYSIS OF SITUATION DEEMED VALID. COMMENCING RELOCATION OF DUNGEON CORE.
Without another word, my avatar sprinted out from my basement, past my dead body, the two dead police officers, and out the busted down front door of my house. From there, it went directly into the wood line with me in tow. As we fled into the woods, I saw the police car and my friends car pulled up to the house. And then we were gone.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Alan’s POV)
Several hours later in the hospital…
“AHHHH!” I woke up screaming! This had to have been a nightmare. My friend… lying dead at the bottom of the stairs… and… and that… that thing! What was that thing!?!
A nurse rushed into the room. “The patient is awake!” she shouted to another nurse in the hallway. She came over to my bedside. “Sir. You’re in the hospital. Do you remember what happened?”
“Remember? Remember? How could I forget…My friend… dead… and… and that thing! And…” I suddenly remembered… the pain… “my hands….”
I held up my arms, with the bandaged stumps at the end of them…. “My hands are gone…”
The nurse looked at me. “Sir. We want to let you rest for now. Frankly, it was amazing that you managed to call emergency services with the state you were in. The police… The police have some questions for you once you've recovered.”
The nurse's words sounded hollow in my ears. With tears going down my face, I did my best to respond. “That’s… That’s fine. I’ll answer any questions they have.”
As the nurse left, I suddenly noticed something.
CONGRATULATIONS ON SURVIVING YOUR ENCOUNTER WITH PLANET EARTH’S FIRST DUNGEON! SYSTEM ACCESS GRANTED! ASSESSING FOR BEST FIT CLASS….
ANALYSIS COMPLETE! ARTIFICER CLASS GRANTED!
With a bit of shock, I felt some vigor return to my body. And with that transformation in my physical health, I also started to feel my sadness transform as well… That Thing… That… That dungeon…. This won’t be the end. My friend and those officers died… BECAUSE OF YOU….
“HAHAHAHAHA! THIS ISN’T OVER! YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!”
Alan fell asleep, dreaming of nightmares, but also sweet, sweet vengeance.