The next week or so was spent cleaning and expanding the dungeon. I needed to summon one more cleaner to give cleaner number 1 a break. I also summoned another miner, a surveillance spider, and two more poison spiders. While the dungeon didn't expand a whole lot, the new forested area gave us a plane goal in mind and I set the miners to work. At the same time, I had one miner build an area directly off the main hall that acted as a bedroom and rest area for all of the spiders. It was very simple, a large room with nooks cut out where the spiders could sleep. While the miners and tanks preferred to sleep on the ground, and the trap spider liked to sleep in the ground, the others preferred areas that were off the ground and made nests of webs where they slept. After giving everyone their instructions I took another long nap that lasted about 3 weeks according to the voice in my head.
“Task complete. Tunnels have been created to the newly added forested area.” The voice woke me as instructed when the miners managed to reach the tree area. I hurriedly got up and scurried to the long tunnel. With the new additions, we had three new rooms added onto the room where the portal was. Each one was similar, and I could see the areas where the trapdoors and other traps had been set. I nodded at the work as I made my way to the final room.
The dark cave opened into an area of trees and light. It was less dense than the area where the goblins lived but all in all, it was rather nice. I looked up, shading my eyes from the bright sunlight…. Sunlight?
“Hold up. Why can I see the sun? Where is the light even coming from?”
“The light is an artificial light created by the dungeon.” The voice said it so matter of factly, that I almost just took it as fact.
“But that doesn't make sense. Who created it that way? Why does it know that the trees need light? Wait, are these even trees? Do they need water? Also, why is the rest of the area all caves? Also what the hell is this?” I said pointing at the end of the dungeon. According to the map, it was the end of the space the dungeon had, but now that I was standing at it, it looked like a wall of shimmering glass.
“This is the edge of the dimensional space that makes up the dungeon.”
“Not going to answer any of the other questions are you?” I said coldly looking at the nothingness to my left that I pretended was the voice's location. Nothing. “Fine. So tell me what is beyond this point.”
“Nothing”
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“Like nothingness?”
“Yes.”
“Just void. Darkness. Endlessness.” I got no answer from that. “Okay, can I break it?”
“Impossible” I hesitated before turning my back to it walking away. I wanted to test that statement out, but at the same time I didn't want to open a void to the abyss in my own home now did I? I was just going to take the voice's word on it.
I walked around the wooded area and inspected the trees. They looked and felt perfectly normal and real. I bent down and felt the soil which was real and dry. Even though this was all a recent addition, it felt like it had been here for years. I shook my head, giving up on how crazy it all was.
It honestly didn’t matter. This was my life now. I was a monster, stuck running a dungeon in an interdimensional space that now had trees. So all in all I would say my life since I died has been pretty good so far.
“So I honestly never got to ask you, but do you have a name?” I asked the voice as I headed back inside the caves.
“I am you.”
“Not what I was asking. Do you have something I can call you?”
“I am you.” I signed and shook my head slightly. As far as I could tell, this voice was like the AI for the dungeon that was implanted in my head. Through it, I could see the condition, map, and location of everything within the dungeon. Also, the AI has been nothing but helpful so far. While it seems to have a deep understanding of how dungeons are run and what the best course of action for a new dungeon is, it seems that is the extent of its knowledge.
“Fine. I'll just give you a name.” I said as I made my way to the throne, stepping over cleaner 2 as it scurried around picking up loose dust. Let's think. It is a dungeon AI. Dungeon AI. DAI. “How do you feel about Daisy?”
“Daisy?”
“Yes, from now on, you are Daisy.”
“I am Daisy.” I smiled at the voice. Even though it was monotoned still, it felt like I heard the smallest amount of gratitude in the voice.
“Alright Daisy, So what do you think we should do next?” We had already built new tunnels, expanded our forces, and fortified the area.
“Prepare for dungeon merge.”
“Okay, but how? And how can we tell when it's going to happen? Like will one happen soon?”
“Unclear”
“So, I'm supposed to just sit around and wait?”
“Prepare”
“Okay, but how?” There was no response. I sighed and closed my eyes. I now understood why it seemed like I could regularly take month-long naps. “Hey, Daisy. Wake me up if there is an issue.”
The sleep of a dungeon master was a deep dark pit of nothingness. There was no sound, no dreams, no thoughts. It was like closing my eyes and slipping into the void.