I cackle ecstatically at Mama spider’s sneak attack. The stupid jerks somehow didn’t notice a three ton spider struggling to pull herself up the tunnel. After the first one got got, the others booked it. Mama doesn’t seem to be interested in chasing and starts scooting backwards down the tunnel. Sympathy flares in my chest at her struggling, so I look at my life reserves.
Lifeforce: 1111
I’m stunned. A single person is worth a thousand units? That means I hardly need to kill anyone. Something about that doesn’t seem right. Maybe I’m missing something. Anyway, with the new glut of lifeforce Mama gave me, I expand the tunnel around her slightly, just enough to let her turn around. Once the large spider gets turned the right way her speed is much more reasonable. Just as she drops the man’s corpse into her nest, a strange pulse hits me.
The front door of the dungeon slams shut, closing after the other three adventurers flee through the portal. A small trumpet noise plays in my mind.
Congratulations! You’ve repelled your first party of adventurers. Due to your success you’ve unlocked the ability to make an avatar to move around within yourself.
A new window pops open, this time showing a sphere with a bunch of parts off to the side. Immediately I recognize it as a character creator. Instead of picking traits like hair styles and such, I can choose limb shapes and torso size. Glancing through the parts list I see fins and wings and tails. This thing clearly isn’t limited to humans.
In the top right corner of the panel, I notice a small button. The blue square is labeled ‘previous.’ Assuming that does what I think it does, I have no interest in it. I never want to suffer my earth body again.
I could make my new form tall and muscular, to make up for how lame I was last time. Imagining that though, it makes my chest squirm. It’s not like I need muscles, and they look all weird and bulgy. What should I make then? I fiddle with the editor, eventually creating what is basically a pure white mannequin. Unsatisfied by the dull thing, I add a small black crown on its head, with a gem set in the center the same color as my core.
Looking at the spider nest, I imagine the white figure appearing. Everything starts to get tingly and my mind fades out.
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When I come back to, I’m laying on my back on top of something soft. Above me is an intricate pattern of white layered on white. It takes me a moment to realize that I have a field of view again. I’ve gotten used to the omnipresent sight already I guess. I sit up, moving like I haven’t in quite a while. My eyes drift downwards, looking at my pale artificial body. The smooth white material I’m made of is pleasing to look at, but the shape of it is off. I’m not sure how, though.
Shaking my head, I look around the cavern. I immediately scream in fear, as a massive spider’s head is almost touching me. After falling backwards and sitting back up, I look at Mama again. She’s staring down at me, tilting her head every so often. As we look at each other the smaller spiders skitter around, and sometimes over me.
I freeze as the large arachnid lifts one of her front legs. Slowly she moves the claw towards me before gently rubbing my face with the flat of her blade. After patting my face for a minute or so, the large spider turns and goes back to work tending to her egg sacs. Her eyes almost looked like they were… full of affection?
As I sit, shocked, a group of the smaller spiders moves up to me. I say smaller, but they’re still the size of rats. The group quickly moves to my legs, stopping just before touching them. Their puppy dog eyes look up at me, begging for something.
“What do you want?” I flinch at my voice. Where is it even coming from? I have no mouth. Ignoring that, the little spiders seem to have understood me. They tentatively place a leg onto my lap, looking up at me for permission. I nod at the group, and the five of them simultaneously jump onto my lap. Warmth spreads through my legs as the squad of spiders snuggle with each other. Hesitantly I reach down and try to pet them.
My mind wanders off as I sit and pet the translucent spiders.
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By the time my mind meanders back to the present I find my legs buried under a thick layer of silk. With a good push I get onto my feet, the silk strands falling off of me without resistance. Even though the webbing wasn’t holding me in, it did seem to have a purpose. As soon as I stand up a large shape lumbers out of a nearby tunnel. Mama quickly moves close to me, running me over with her eyes. Once she’s confident I’m okay, she puts one of her large forelegs behind me.
Gently shoving me with her claw, she shepherds me into an adjoining tunnel. I’m pretty sure there was only one entrance into the nest and one exit that led deeper, but there’s clearly dozens of small tunnels leading off of the central nest. The tunnel I’m being pushed down is the largest of these newborn tunnels. Tall enough for Mama to move through we easily make our way to what she wanted to show me.
A horrible stench washes over me, somehow making me wince even without a nose. The source of the terrible stench is a dark, massive pile of carcasses. Hundreds of desiccated corpses are piled together, slowly rotting away. The majority of the bodies are the dried remains of the dusties. Somehow the plastic shells of the small robots are rotting as if they’re organic, maybe they are?
Mama gestures with her front claw, waving over the pile. She’s asking me to get rid of this, isn’t she? I’m not sure what to make of her obvious intelligence, it's a bit off putting. Ignoring the idea of a sentient spider I focus on the problem at hand. Waste. I need to make a system to remove waste. And I just so happen to already have one ready. I try to open my dungeon system, but nothing happens.
Maybe I need to be in my dungeon body? Let’s try that. I try to mentally step out of my current shell, and after a moment I feel my mind fade away. By the time I fade back into reality, Mama has already gone back to her nest. My white mannequin body is no longer in the waste chamber, it’s actually not anywhere. I guess it vanishes, then? Ignoring that I turn to my resource tab.
Something stands out to me on the list, besides my current lifeforce that is.
Family: 1
Where… Where did I gain a family member? I haven’t even talked to a person since I was reborn. Wait… does it mean Mama? But I don’t think of her as family, despite the name. Unless she considers me family? A small thrill of joy flickers inside of me before I quash it. I will not be happy about being adopted by a monster spider.
I focus back on what I’m supposed to be doing.
Lifeforce: 992
It’s gone down quite a bit, but not enough to be worrying. Now that I’ve made sure I can afford to make some monsters I turn towards the small, relatively, cave full of refuse. Imagining a small black rodent, I look over the disgusting pile. Almost instantly a rat pops into existence, somewhat dazed and unsure of itself. As it drunkenly wanders off, I check how much the little sucker cost me.
Lifeforce: 986
Five, a rat costs five units? The dusties only cost one! What a rip off! Whatever, I don’t have a choice. If I don’t get rid of this garbage I’m sure Mama will drag me back to this cave whenever I show my face. I quickly pop around a dozen more rats down. Hopefully that’ll be enough for them to make their own population.
Within seconds the small group of fuzzy rodents start ravenously chewing into the trash. I watch in awe as they consume everything, plastic, bone, chitin. Their sharp teeth just shred all of it. Each second that passes means even more of the trash vanishes. It’s a bit hypnotic to watch actually.
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I’m shaken out of watching the small rodents scampering and scarfing by an uncomfortable pulse. The feeling is accompanied by a loud crashing sound. With a quick pivot my view focuses on the dungeon entrance. A group of around eighty people stomp through the swirling blue wormhole. Each person is carrying a tool of some kind, some holding massive picks, while others hold gleaming weapons. Several of them are even carrying construction equipment, small hammers and the like.
Suddenly having eighty people inside me makes something deep inside me squirm in discomfort. Like having an aunt who won’t take a hint on Thanksgiving. An instinct flares in my mind, urging me to expel the intruders, but I quash it. Let’s see how this goes.
The group of people are mostly humans, but I’m surprised to see several other races. I’m not sure why that’s surprising, seeing that I’m a magic dungeon, but it is! Two of the builders are large creatures that look like hunched over pangolins walking on their back legs. Several others look like humanoid crows with brightly colored plumage. A heavily armored person has branches sticking out from beneath their helmet.
I’m pulled from my people watching by a horrible sensation that runs through me. It felt like someone walked on my grave. A few seconds later it happens again, pushing anxiety into me. What the hell is touching me? Oh, wait, my core?! I panic and push my view deep within, to where the large orange gem is.
I’d breathe out in relief if I could. A small translucent spider skitters across my smooth glowing surface, dragging small bits of web as it goes. It’s not alone, around thirty of the small nest tending spiders are gathered around me, with another ten larger spiders I haven’t seen before behind them. Sitting far in the back is Mama, who is watching over their work intently. Are they staging a coup?
My worries ease as they continue their weaving. They obviously are not making an egg sac, so they aren’t trying to eat me at least. Over time my gleaming body is covered up more and more until eventually I’m no longer visible. Once I’m totally buried under the webbing the wall looks a bit odd, being a lone patch of silk and all. Shockingly the spiders seem to have thought about that, as the larger spiders move forward with large flat pieces of wall. The green chunks are carefully placed onto the web covering. Eventually the entire wall is colored green again. It won’t hold up to any scrutiny, but from a distance it looks the same as any other patch of tunnel. Mama stands up, seemingly satisfied, and moves to leave the large inner chamber. Her entourage of spiders scurry after her.
With… whatever that was over with, I turn my attention back to the entrance. The people haven’t made much progress, only just having the tents set up. Wait, what happens if they make a fire? Where does the smoke go? Is the entrance the only source of air? Let’s not think about that for now, these kind folks will find out for me.
The pangolins and a few other builders have been left behind with a duo of knights for protection. All of the people with picks have headed down the tunnels, the combatants leading the way. I’m not actually sure if these people are more competent than that first group, or if it’s just their numbers making them seem coordinated. Whichever’s the case, I keep watching.
A group finally makes it to the red ore, and the armed part of the squad blocks off the tunnel on either side, making sure the miners are sufficiently defended. They may be working together, but as I watch I see some of them being careless. Obviously they don’t feel like I’m a threat. How… irritating. I really want to prove them wrong now. But how to do it? A group like this would eviscerate any spiders that came up the tunnel, even before considering mages. Kobolds and dusties aren’t fighters, so that leaves me with one option…
I drift down the tunnel, back the way the people came, and plan an ambush. Unfortunately I’ll have to use the freaky creature I’ve been avoiding. In a few seconds a short, pale creature begins to materialize. For some reason the process is much slower this time, so I get to enjoy as each of the creature’s organs appear. After the bones and organs, the muscle fibers begin to weave over everything. Why is this so slow? It’s felt like an hour, which means it’s probably been at least two weeks. I check the play time stat.
Play Time: 6 Months
That’s… The same? Last I checked was when this new group appeared, and it said it was six months then. It’s felt like an hour since then and it’s still the same? Something changed. Is it the door? Time was moving at the faster speed before then, I check the time every so often. I’ll have to keep an eye on it.
After successfully distracting myself from the creature’s skin coming into existence, I see my completed monster. The thing is… awful. Just awful, really. What exactly in my room did this get modeled off of? I really hope this isn’t just an insult towards my previous appearance, not that I’d disagree.
The thing sniffs the air with the hole where its nose should be. After a few seconds of that it bounds down the tunnel towards the humanoids. It sprints until it gets to a certain distance from the humans, where it starts to lay low to the ground. Moving with its long arms it slowly crawls towards the group of people.
I’ve decided that the light levels in the dungeon are not what I see, because from my view the stupid creature is plainly in view of the guards. I’ll just assume it’s actually too dark to see it, or that the armored men are just that unobservant. Freako picks up a stone with one of its long fingered hands and throws it back behind itself. One of the guards, a crow man with leather armor and pink feathers, jumps at the sound. He murmurs something to his nearest comrade before moving forward into the assumed darkness.
Are you kidding me? You’re just going to walk off into the dark after some unknown noise? No backup, no lights, just wander out there. This guy deserves death. He’s too stupid. Apparently Freako agrees with me, because it positions itself for attack. The frail looking creature is almost shaking with tension, poised to explode like a compressed spring. It holds its long arms out to the sides, keeping its body low. Reminds me of a ‘set’ huntsman spider.
The birdman wanders closer and closer to the pale critter, eventually walking right past him. Shockingly the creature doesn’t jump. Birdman walks a bit further before deciding it was nothing. Just as he turns around to head back, Freako springs. The pale form is little more than a blur for a moment before it has its jaws around the bird’s neck.
Freako catches the man’s body, lowering it to the floor so it doesn’t make a noise. It’s pointless, however, one of the other guards heard the man’s dying gurgles. Pale boy starts doing… something. A pale white fog rises out of the body before shooting into the creature’s maw. It quickly swallows it down before scampering away from the corpse.
The monster’s moves were smart, because as soon as the light from the fog appeared the suspicious guard started to run towards the creature. Freako jumps behind an upturned desk silently, easily evading the human knight. The man lets out a gasp when he finds the corpse. He calls back to the others, and I see fear appear in the miner’s eyes. That’s more like it! Don’t underestima- Wait… That’s not right.
You should all be more careful, so that I can’t kill you. That’s what I meant. Anyways the miners quickly fill their packs with the extracted ore and follow the knights up the tunnel. Two of the knights hang back, guarding the rear. Better! Freako slowly creeps behind them, just out of sight.
I shift my view back to the entrance cavern, and am surprised to see the beginnings of a minecart setup. These guys are really planning for the long haul. Not that I really mind. They also have several basic shacks set up for equipment. Instead of a central fireplace, what looks similar to a large furnace sits in the center of the tents. A large glowing purple crystal rests in a metal scaffolding, with chambers not unlike washing machines or ovens on each side. One of the pangolins is cooking something on top of one of the chambers, I guess it has a stovetop? Weird.
The tents are made of black leather, and seem to be oiled. I guess that makes sense, they don’t know if it rains in here. The attacked mining group stumbles into camp, exhausted by the tension that plagued them on their way back up. With my perfect vision, I see Freako close behind them. It quietly slips its way into the large chamber before scooting around the edge. A few times it tries to move in further, but it is blocked by an invisible force.
I watch the pale thing’s attempts for a while, and eventually figure out that the purple crystal is projecting a force field, or at least something similar. How annoying. I guess Freako won’t be sneaking into people's beds at night… not that I’d want it to! Just thinking hypothetically. Bored with watching people do chores, I push my viewpoint back to the nest.
With my sight centered on the nest chamber, I get to see a troop of spiders moving up one of their smaller, self made tunnels. I noticed earlier that some of the spiders have large, shovel shaped claws on their forelegs. They’re likely the ones responsible for their personal paths. The group of four large spiders use the tunnel to cut off one of the mining groups. They don’t immediately assault the squad, instead they lie in wait. All four spiders look almost identical to a normal wolf spider, just much larger. It makes it difficult to see them as a source of danger, even though I’ve seen Mama eat a guy.
Around the same time, all the remaining mining groups finish filling their bags to the brim with ore, and begin to head back. The group that the spiders are waiting for is the smallest, with only four combatants. Other than them, the people consist of six miners. My money’s on the spiders for this one.
Unsurprisingly, my prediction is accurate. The four arachnids wait until the adventurers get into range before pouncing on the four armed ones. After the four men are stiffened from venom the spiders turn and chase down the miners. The whole thing takes less than three minutes. Victoriously the wolfies drag the people into the smaller tunnel and begin to drag back a person each. I notice that some of the small nest tenders are already heading up the tunnel, probably to pick up the remaining humans. I’m almost certain that the spiders are using pheromones to communicate, otherwise how would the little ones know to head out like that? A question for another day.
I turn my attention back to the people near the entrance. By now most of the mining groups have come back, bar a few stragglers. All of the folks are near the large purple crystal, sitting in wooden chairs the builders made from my desks. They’re all talking quite loudly, but I can’t really understand them. On the outskirts of the camp I notice Freako skulking around, watching the humanoids with unseeing milky eyes.
Something occurs to me. What if I go talk to them? Maybe the avatar I can make can speak their language, like a universal translator or something. I doubt they could kill it, and even if they do, it’s not my core. The weight of isolation that I’ve been ignoring up until now finally pushes my decision.
I imagine the white mannequin and feel my mind fade out.