Author’s Note | So, here’s the first chapter. It will take a while for the story to become truly interesting, but for the meantime, please bear with me as we follow Dran’s new life. After all, we’re all in the same boat as him in a way.
Not exactly the 2500+ words I said, but this is still the 'explanation' phase. I want to get all the mechanics out of the way before I begin introducing characters and plots.
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Chapter 01 - Awareness
Darkness…
Endless darkness…
All that I see is just an abyss. I feel like I’m paralyzed. But that is to be expected. After all, I have no body to call my own. All that is here in this abyss is “me”.
Utilizing all that random stuff I read, let me make up some philosophical stuff to explain.
The being referred to as Dran Saril is a collection of a Soul, Memories and Body. That being is also an existence that is defined by how it views itself, and how others view it. With no one viewing it, and the loss of the Body for others to view, the being referred to as Dran Saril is incomplete.
Okay, I don’t understand a single thing I said. You too? Great! Now let’s enjoy this floating sensation in this black abyss which I am pretty sure is the void between life and death.
And I still have this habit of talking to myself… Heck, I’m not even sure I have a voice…
In my ethereal form, or probably the spot where my soul is currently floating, I look around. I’m still unsure if I am looking around or not. It has been quite some time since I finished selecting my ｢Traits｣, but nothing has happened.
Though just as I think that, I can feel my ‘self’ being weighted down, as if I suddenly gained mass.
After a few minutes of this falling sensation in the void, I can feel my senses beginning to adjust to my new location. Slowly, I can feel and see again. I move my body. I now have a body. Except looking at myself, I am merely a body with no solidity.
I guess you could say I’m having an out of body experience, aside from the fact that I have no body per sé, since I can see through myself in this void.
But at least I can see something now. I feel like I am looking at a projection. A full color, 3D projection of a miniaturized cave network. As I focus my attention on it, another window pops up in front of me.
Sure took you long enough…
It was a large one this time. Reading through it, there was a lot of information that I had no choice but to read. There was nothing else to do, after all.
To summarize:
I am now the embodiment, the will of the ｢Dungeon｣ that I see before me. The Dungeon is me, and I am the Dungeon. We are one and the same. That said, I represent the consciousness of the Dungeon and thus my soul has become the overseer of it.
What I got out of this is; The Creators trolled me and turned me into a goddamn Dungeon!
Sighing in my own personal ｢Void｣, I continued reading.
It summarizes how the Creators are the ones who summoned me, among others, for the sole purpose of being dungeons to combat the many races living in Aetheria. People from alternate worlds and local residents alike have been dragged into this role, and at the time of my creation, I am the 50th Dungeon to appear.
Supposedly, one dungeon is set to be created each year, and their own personal dungeon is created by utilizing the memory of the soul used. Knowledge they have read, even once, combined with their creativity and imagination is used to generate the monsters and treasures that lay within their dungeon.
It also states that only those who achieve ｢S Rank｣ or higher retain their memories and personalities, whereas those between ｢F Rank｣ and ｢A Rank｣ simply retain their individuality and uniqueness to a lesser or higher degree.
Given that I was told to be of ｢S++ Rank｣, then I must be overpowered! I mean seriously, I’ve gone above S Rank?! Boy, do I feel sorry for whoever steps into me.
… Now I feel like any adventurer that enters me will be ‘violating’ me, so to speak. Oh god, sometimes I wish I was more innocent.
Inspecting my dungeon, I zoomed in on a random area, observing the blue glow indicating a monster under my control. Taking a good look at it, I couldn’t help but sigh. It seriously did look like something I would design if I could.
The upper five floors were infested with pack wolves sporting black fur with red tips, narrow and glowing red eyes with black sclera’s, teeth and claws sharpened to a fine point and a polished white. On top of that, the top five floors were pitch black. And these were just the meat shields!
Wolf of ???
Level 53
For some odd reason, its name is incomplete. Well, that would be obvious. I haven’t been given a ｢Dungeon Name｣ yet. But still, for a level 53 to be the main unit on the upper floors. If it was like that, then I hope no one is brave enough to reach the lower levels.
From what I’ve observed, I consist of 150 floors, and one of the monsters on floor 145 is level 357. Seriously, how overpowered am I?! And not only that, I thought the level limit would be 100!
I’ve also spotted that despite there being a LOT of treasure rooms, there are hidden treasure rooms and even treasure rooms with guards. To top it off, one third of them are traps, mimics or junk! Was I really such a cruel person?
Probably.
Glancing back to the message supplying information, it seems I haven’t been told anything important. Mostly just stuff you would find in a prologue (which I probably did, considering I talk to myself a lot).
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
Sighing, I finish the information and then close the message, wondering how I open new things. First off, Traits.
Let’s see… Open Traits.
Announcing it in my mind, a window suddenly pops up.
TRAITS???
---LOCKED---
You do have not met the pre-requisites.Monster Wisdom
Monsters within your dungeon are unique in the fact that they have the same amount of mental capacity and potential as a human. Provides them with reasoning skills, knowledge of languages and the ability to learn. As such, they can grow with each encounter and learn tactics.Rare Monsters
By sacrificing the ability to have hierarchical monsters within your dungeon, you have Rare monsters that will spawn throughout your dungeon. They quite often will guard hidden treasure or infrequently be present on floors, even possibly migrate between floors.
Rare Monsters are typically around 15-30 levels stronger than their indicated level.Monster Loyalty
Monsters in your dungeon have a high amount of loyalty in carrying out your wishes, as well as in the dungeon itself. Weakened monsters that spawn outside of the dungeon will remain nearby without spreading out too far, protecting the entrance and acting territorial. Monsters within the dungeon cannot be affected by fear or mind altering skills/spells. They will also do their best to repel intruders.
I had already reviewed these beforehand, so I’m fine with those. Though it seems skills are different from the traits. Opening them up, I could only see the ｢Dungeon Craft｣ skill, but it was locked, alongside all of the other skills that branched from the locked trait.
No matter. I’ll learn how to use them eventually. Thinking of one more thing, I called out one more phrase in this void. ”Status”.
In response, there were over a hundred windows that popped up. Now I understand why there was so much void around me. It was for this reason. Sighing, I took a glance at one of them and compared it to the rest. Seems my guess was correct.
All of the windows contain information about all of the floors, including the entrance. Floor Layout, Monster Count, Monster Roster consisting of the Monster name, level and HP in percentage, Treasure Count and Info, Traps and percentage claimed. The claimed must be for how much has been explored by an adventurer.
Aside from those details on every window, there were some other windows. Rare Monsters, Dungeon Resources, Safe Zone List and Info, and Explorer Info which I guess would display info, similar to monsters, on anyone that enters.
There was a lot to take in. And no one to explain anything.
For starters…
I just realized I am a Dungeon in an RPG type setting. And I’m even playing the role of a Moderator. This is just too surreal.
Perhaps because I’ve read so many stories with this kind of setting, that I adapted so quick and am not panicking.
I have almost no knowledge of anything that didn’t concern the dungeon itself.
I at least have vision of the outside of the dungeon, but only because there are several monsters out there which have spawned from me. They seem to provide me information from outside. In fact, even inside the dungeon, I can only see what they see. Like a massive sonar network being relayed to my 3D Projection here in the abyss.
Glancing at the windows around me, there is one more curious one. A Spawn Counter.
It listed the spawn count of each monster type, and also the maximum spawn count and spawn timer, detailing how many I can have and how long it takes for one more to spawn. Though apparently, even if the timer says one minute, that is for a single floor. I could spawn another on a different floor.
After playing around for a while, I also found that while I can spawn multiple monsters at the same time for each type, they can only spawn on certain floors. From there, I can migrate them between floors thanks to the Monster Wisdom trait. Apparently, it allows me to give more specific commands to them, giving them more freedom of movement.
For example, a standard wolf would remain on its own floor nearby where it spawned, but with Wisdom, their instincts can be suppressed so they follow the order to migrate to a different location, a different territory. That said, I could fully be unfair and migrate all monsters to the entrance that are allowed on those floors, but I want to be a fair Dungeon Master.
It’s not often you get to be a real Dungeon Master, but you need players in the end. I also feel a bit conflicted over the fact I have to take lives.
However, there is a sort of instinct, or desire, implanted within me. Protect the Dungeon. Protect yourself. In other words, if I don’t fight, my monsters will be destroyed, and I will be imprisoned and controlled by others.
That would be akin to having a body, but paralyzed without any means to fight back as wolves continuously rip you apart.
And so, I set about memorizing the information ahead of me. After all, there is nothing else to do until someone discovers me. That said, I probably need a temporary name…
Oh well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. It’s funny seeing these question marks all over everything.
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