Chapter 43

The next few days in immersion passed in a blur. Part of that was because James literally opted to force sleep when he couldn’t take it anymore. His mind was restless, and his stress threatened to overwhelm him more than once. Anxiety was constantly lingering over his shoulder, and while forced sleep could move time forward, as they waited for their plan to come to fruition, sleep in immersion gave him no escape, no reprieve. After all, a day worth of time disappearing in the blink of an eye didn’t offer any sense of actual escape from his mind and problems.

Still, by the second to last day of immersion before he’d be returned to the real world, for a short while at least, before the big event took off, it finally happened. The Knight’s Who Go Ni had done the impossible. They’d helped take his dungeon from Tier 6 to Tier 7, in an impressively short span of time. Not only had they managed to spread the word to the players in his own instance, spreading tales of a secret special event if they could sacrifice enough experience to the dungeon, but they drew in players from all around by sharing information about James’s Git Gud floor, the epic loot potential there, and various tales, both factual and not, about unique events and encounters that could be found only in the Random Dungeon.

Add on to that a few dungeon skirmishes, which his players were able to win handily thanks to their levels, tactics, and, the inclusion of some terrifying combos of mobs and exploits that only the random dungeon could truly offer to the Fields of Battle, and the experience had rolled in.

James had hardly noticed any of it. He should have enjoyed it. Should have reveled in battle, but it all felt… superficial. He couldn’t be the Mad Mage. He couldn’t embody that chaotic, fun filled passion. No matter how hard he tried, the weight of what was coming, pushed him down, and kept him there. Luckily, he’d only been summoned once. Every other time, Rue, ever the fan favorite, had been called forth. And while James knew she was worried about the upcoming end of the world, she, at the very least, didn’t have skin in the game. Not in the same way James or any of the others did. Rue was already trapped, permanently, within the virtual world. If anything, James had a feeling she’d prefer if he didn’t put himself in danger. Though, she’d never say it.

Any time he felt darkness creeping over him, any time he felt despair and fear and worry, she was there to encourage him, to support him, and to keep reassuring him that his choice was the correct one. Without her, James would have broke. He knew that full well. He’d wanted to force sleep till the end of immersion. Just wanted to get it all over with, wanted to rush forward, because the waiting, the sitting around, the feeling of helpless inactivity, was killing him. But she kept him from doing so. Even when he force slept, she didn’t let him do it for more than 12 hours of in game time. The rest of the time, she did what she could to keep him engaged, and distracted. Her presence, her love, her affection, got James to this point.

And now, thankfully, finally, there was something he could do. His waiting was over. His feeling of helplessness, as everyone else worked behind the scenes, was done. Now, he got to be an active participant in this portion of the plan. Becoming a Tier 7 dungeon meant a brand-new floor. It also put massive weight on the importance of his dungeon. The other Dungeon Cores could see his ranking, and on the leaderboards, he shone supreme. Below him, drawing ever closer to Tier 7 as well, was BLANKs dungeon. If they could hit that goal, then everything would work out. He trusted that the duo would do it. Hitting Tier 7 would ensure, when it came to the Dungeon Wars, that James’s dungeon, and BLANKs, would face off. It also meant the clash that would happen between the two, would be like nothing seen before.

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A revenge match, with stronger mobs on BLANKs side, and an even larger range of mobs and themes on James’s side. The last time they’d clashed, they’d only been Tier 3 dungeons, with nowhere near the range of bosses, mini bosses, mobs, or Avatar Upgrades. A clash between Tier 7 dungeons was bound to make such a battle, which was still talked about on the reddit threads, look like child’s play.

James looked at Rue, who was smiling gently at him. Her normal mischief and excitement had dulled slightly, as her concern for him, and his mood, had taken the forefront. And even still, he could sense it, like a flickering flame. Making new floors, creating new mobs, was one of their greatest joys within DCO. No matter what was to come, this moment was theirs. It could very well be the last chance they got, to design a floor together.

A sobering thought, that James pushed away with a growl. Not here. Not now. This wasn’t a sad moment. It was a moment he was going to embrace, enjoy, and remember fondly. It was time to create a new dungeon floor. And he was going to put his all into it. This floor would give him what his mind needed right now. A task to work on, an escape, a distraction.

“Are you ready for this?” James asked Rue, as he took her hand. Then, mentally, second nature now given how much time he’d spent immersed within DCO; James teleported the two of them to his sixth floor in the main instance of his dungeon. The ‘master’ copy, essentially, of his dungeon. Making changes here, and completing them, would make them go live for the instances of the dungeon that spawned for the players.

He’d taken them to the front of the labyrinth. Originally, when he’d created the sixth floor, his future plan had been to place the entrance to the seventh floor at the end of the massive maze. It made sense, after all, and would force players to brave the dangers of the floor, and race against the Jormun-Grander, to climb to the next floor.

Now though, he was going with a different route. Necessity dictated this change. And while not ideal, he doubted it would be something the players hated. Besides, even if the portal to the seventh floor wasn’t located at the end of the labyrinth, there were plenty of other incentives he could add to the six floors, to ensure the players explored it in full. If, that is, DCO survived. If not, well, this would at least give the players a chance to experience the seventh floor, before Dungeon Core Online ended.

“Here goes nothing,” James said aloud, offering Rue a smile, as he mentally created the portal to seventh floor. It shimmered to life in the room players would appear in when they traversed from the fifth floor to the sixth. It was a glowing, swirling patch of light, that flickered and beckoned. He had no idea what type of mobs his seventh floor would have. And he didn’t really care. No matter what happened, the Seventh Floor was going to be one that was remembered.