(Curator Pov)

“Helloooo~? Hey! Over here!” And the bloody ghost just phases on... Another failure, nothing gets to these guys! Touch, sight, smell, hearing. Argh, the fourth floor is never gonna get done at this rate!

I’ve left dungeon reconfiguring to exclusively at night. Adventurers can be real sticklers for these types of things, one minute off from the daily schedule and, boom! Conspiracy cult. But, secondly, I wanted to incrementally introduce these changes.

See how people react, how certain things pan out before adjusting accordingly. Although, I am getting ahead of myself here. Let’s backpedal while I figure out what to do with these guys.

The first change I set out on was to the item pool. Probably the most impactful rework of the lot. Before this, we simply handed out renewable resources. Bricks, random props that would get respawned with Dp at stories’ end, things that naturally dropped, and the like.

Put simply. Everything thus far has been us rewarding people with table scrapes. To rectify things, I’ve thrown in various items I had access to via Lore Material Creation, spreading them between floors.

Making the call, I even relinquished the higher-class items, those with higher magical content. Which incidentally scale proportional to their significance in a given story. Can’t hold out on unlocking the basic blueprints forever. And making them from scratch would be too much of a hassle in the time and resource departments.

Especially now, with all the craziness going on recently. Along with this perpetual arms race, I’ve unwittingly found myself in against the adventurers.

They were a pain in the butt to create and didn’t have any real reason to exist yet, so I peppered them around the later floors. Mostly in nooks and off-the-path areas. Using them as prerequisites for when I actually do make the story quests.

Item’s like Paul Bunyan’s ax, being among the more modest amenities, were distributed in greater number alongside Dp ink. Both standard, and low quality being the most common. Even then, if someone wanted high-grade ink, they better be ready to throw down with the stronger actors.

There were also the various feathers I turned into quills to complete the stationery set. Plucked from the little cinder sparrow and its duller cousins.

No doubt, the cinder quill will produce better results. If adventurers can even utilize these materials, that is. But judging by the way Lyra reacted, it’s entirely in the realm of possibility.

Really hope so too. Planning on tossing my abilities out into the world, letting the hivemind make of it what they will. With any luck, they’ll figure out a buncha stuff, and I reap the rewards. Also, if things take off and paper magic(trademark pending) raises to popularity, it’ll create demand, drawing in more people.

Which in turn integrates me into their daily lives, lowering any chance of anyone randomly offing me. Not that Lyra would, I think. But insurance never hurt anyone. Beyond saving my hide, it’ll also incense adventurers to explore deeper.

Thus experiencing more stories, a win, win, in my book.

That’s the major changes to the item pool.

Next would be the dungeon layout. After reviewing the floors, I realized that making any extensive changes would be too jarring. So to counteract that, while keeping the first floor cohesive, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and populate the ponds.

.....

...

..

Blew my fucking mind seeing what’s been going on down there. I was right! It was goddamn right here! The fairies kingdom!

Right under my nose this whole time. I was starting to think they figured out pocket dimensions. But here they were, somehow figuring out submariner life. How!?

As my mind ran itself into the ground, survival instincts hit. And I left that shit alone. For now... Until I’m mentally prepared.

It exists.

Ahem... Moving on. Leaving the first floor’s northernmost pond alone for the sake of my mental health. In the other two, I littered aquatic plant life around. As in, I took the plants absorbed from Bargas and shoved them into the ponds in an attempt to be aesthetically pleasing.

It sorta worked. These plants were native to G’s dungeon, and Bargas modified them for his own combative uses later down the line. Augmented by my Dp, G and I surmised that they were resilient enough to survive underwater.

Sides these lakes are filled with pure drinkable unsalted water. Even now, I can feel them slowly adapting.

Adds a splash of color and life to the lakes. Yep, nothing has been living in these lakes until now.

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Considering I’m living in a paper world, sans anything I absorb, anything I had would disintegrate in no time flat.

Progress on preventing that has been rocky. Though I’m close, I can feel it! Just one last step and I’ll have everything figured out.

Then Water? Fire? Yellowing? Will all be rendered inert! Well, fire hasn’t been a big deal for a while. The A.A has guards posted by the entrance, frisking anyone for bombs or anything remotely flammable.

Fortunately for their health, not long after the ban, people started figuring out non-flammable substitutes.

Everything from weird bugs from G’s place to warmth emitting stones. One group has even been lugging around a ‘portable’ oven. As in meant to be moved by carriage portable through pure strength of will alone.

So yeah, there haven’t been any widespread fire-related incidents since. And the small ones I could get under control in no time flat, dishing out divine punishment on anyone dumb enough to start it.

Any case, that’s the ponds. My own personal goldfish bowl, with plastic chests and all, even if one is currently out of my say, for particular reasons.

Straight forward, reasonable, and an overall improvement. The second floor, on the other hand.

Sayonara, my weeping orchid of nightmares, Transformed into a muscle head’s paradise. I can feel the vigor of youth radiating even now.

The Dokkaebi bros just possess an uncanny knack for drawing in hot-blooded individuals. Even the golden girls stop by from time to time for the festivities.

It’s basically the Olympics here every month. And a training ground any other time. Grudgingly this draws in the most traffic!

In the end, I can only give in to the hype. The floor was growing in ways I never expected but have to deal with.

So, in the name of keeping cultural growth organic, I simply provided the dokkaebi bros’ with basic supplies. Some handmade or claw made in this case, items. While others were conjured up using Dp. Rudimentary archery targets, blunted arrows, bows, and belts.

Yep, that’s about it. This floor doesn’t require much to run. Almost like the original Olympics, funnily enough. All ssireum requires is a dirt ring, and as for Ol’ one eye it’s basically iron chef, and I have no idea how to accommodate that while staying on theme.

Though, I guess, that’s the appeal of it. I’m not one ruin fantasy now, am I?

Same goes for the races. All we need is a boggart transformed into something colorful to outline the track. Anything stationery would be inefficient, seeing how often the course changes.

At this point, the second floor is entirely out of my hand, *Cough* same as the pool *Un-coughs*. Totally self-sufficient.

Now, back to this mess. The ghosts...

Here goes nothing. If nothing on this plane can interact with them, maybe something immaterial can.

Creating a stick of Dp elicited an immediate response. Bingo, they were staring at it like cavemen to fire. Then again, so would I if a stick of light appeared out of nowhere.

Now, communication. Uhm, communication. How do I do that?

Great, now I have a group of them staring. Uhmmm.

Shit. They’re starting to get antsy. Direct, yes. I motion to one side like a traffic cop on a caffeine drip. All to the judging eyes of the crowd. I’m doing my best, guys!

But a miracle! After deliberating with what seemed to be the highest-ranking officer, they shuffled over to one side. Though looking just as confused now. Positive reinforcement! People don’t just do anything without motivation, right? If I throw them a carrot, they’ll be more inclined to listen to the sky stick.

This should work. Dropping a sword of woven Dp, it stabs the ground as the group reverentially approaches. After some inspection, debate broke throughout the group.

Now that I have their undivided attention. Left, back, forward~ Good boys. Here, weapons.

Hehehe~ Nope, don’t like this direction. Moving on!

New developments. These guys can only perceive objects made of solid Dp. Waving loose strands of Dp, no denser than the ambient in front of them. Sure enough, elicited no reaction. That cements my theories even further. From the moment they materialized, I instinctively knew they were foreign entities.

Kinda gives off the same feeling adventurers do but stronger.

Now, full up on swords, the platoon departed. Hopefully, to spread news about the sky stick. Now that I know I can communicate with them, no matter how limited. Building the fourth floor should be loads easier.

And they can even add to my original design.

After the castle comes the castle town, does it not? It may take a while to accumulate the necessary brick and manpower. But finally, I can have my Victorian-era city!

Yep, I’m not abandoning my horror floor. Oh, by cruel twist of fate lost in a sea of sweat, camaraderie, and passion. You shall be rebuilt greater. More horrifying than ever!

These ghosts will light the fire OF YOUR ASHES AND BE REBORN IN A INFERNO THE LIKES NO ONE HAS SEEN!

Ahem, yep. These ghosts will act as the basis of the fourth floor. The actors, if you so will. Even if I have to tweak the setting a bit. Lingering souls of departed warriors fighting over the decrepit ruins of a lost civilization.

Where the sins of ages past lie, teeth shining, feet thundering. Yes! It’s all coming together! “Alice! The bricks, get the bricks!”

(Ghostly murmurs)

“Lieutenant? What in blazes is this?” Holding one of the vaunted sky swords, the lieutenant marches up to his commanding officer, a man wielding the title of sword saint.

“Sir, Haku, sir. T-This sword.” It gave off an unearthly glow like it was life itself caged into the form of a blade. “I-It’s the work of god! The Sun Goddess is- It’s a message to purge those Dutchy heretics!”

Haku looked upon his men, all of them enamored with the shards of life in their possession. Something was off, he thought. He had witnessed the Sun Goddess miracles before, what felt like lifetimes ago.

But this, these shards were purer than that still. Ages of endless fighting, only recently in this haze of life, has his mind become unclouded. He suspected that this might be the world beyond, he and his men may finally rest.

But it couldn’t be. The heretics were also here.

Gift from the Sun Goddess or not, this was a chance to break the stalemate. “Perhaps with this, we will find rest.”