I soon found myself alone within the darkest and emptiest of voids, thrown here by the system itself. There was no light, no temperature, and no matter. It was boring. Dull. Uninspiring.

Quite literally nothing.

It was a place that most would absolutely dislike if I am to be perfectly honest.

But, for some very strange, and incredibly odd reason. It comforted me.

Scratch that. It was me.

The nothingness embraced me, hugged me, swirled around me, it became me.

I was the void and the void was me, and everything was absolutely perfect in my life.

Do you know that absolutely amazing feeling you get when you realize you literally have nothing else that you have to do for an entire day? Yea that was my life now apparently, and I was ready to live it!

Screw that dungeon core stuff this was it !!!

But then, as usual, Mr. blue screen had to come and bother me, once again. Unsurprisingly ruining a perfectly good moment. Although this time only part of it was blue. There was of course the usual robotic introduction, but following this was something a little different. Something a little more... Purple ??

Ding !

-- The place you are in has many names. A throne world, a God Realm, a Micro-Dimension, a tear-off of the Ascendant plane. You may call it whatever you like for it does not matter. This strange and vast place that surrounds you will soon become your dungeon. Used by gods, spirits, and demons alike places like this are the backbone of the universe. Welcome to the Ascendant plane young dungeon, prepare to shape a portion of it into your own image. --

Odd. Very odd. Concerningly odd. Was that, a tinge of mysteriousness that I was picking up?

It was strange. The blue box was different here. No longer so robotic and firm, here in this so-called Ascendant plane, it had personality. It had prose. It lacked stiffness. It even had a smoky French accent.

And most importantly,

It. felt. alive.

That, and a DEEP purple tint.

Whether that was to be a good thing was still up in the air, but I was most appreciative of the added spice. The old Times New Roman accent was a bit too boring for my tastes.

This was not Mr. Blue. No it was something else... It was .... Mrs. Purple ???

Where did Mr. Blue go? Has his job been taken over by Mrs. Purple?

Alas, my questions were not to be answered for it seemed that Mrs. Purple was quite determined to shove questionable information into my head. Questionable information that was probably vital to my future survival if my instincts told me correctly.

Ding !

-- Every dungeon is made out of sectors. Like the petals of a succulent and flavorful flower, these sectors protect the core and must be peeled back one by one before the center is reached.

Remember little dungeon, you want to protect your core, it's your very soul after all. These sectors will be the things that prevent you from dying. But not every sector is the same. They are all divided up into tiers.

In human terms think of your dungeon as a little building with many floors. A building that defies the laws of physics with your soul at the very top of it; but a building all the same.

Think of sectors as staircases and the tiers as floors in this little paradox of a building. Yes, you may build as many staircases as you want on every single floor of this building, but someone only has to walk up one to get to the next floor. If someone does manage to walk up and make it to the top floor they reach your very soul. A thing that most creatures in the physical universe will find quite delicious.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

So.... broken spirit, are you ready to form your first line of defense between you and the inhabitants of that cold cold universe just outside our door? Because you see, those horrible things living outside of this realm have a tendency to wither away and die, something they can put off for eternity if they just happen to, I don't know, gobble up a poor, little, helpless, dungeon core.

---

If I could sigh after reading the information delivered to me by Mrs. Purple I would. Tragically, I was lacking a physical body. Something that is incredibly important to the action of sighing.

The universe was most definitely laughing at me. Ripping me out and away from my comfortable garden home and placing me in some sort of death game. Yes, I did slowly lose my mind while I became subservient to a bunch of garden plants, but at least my soul wasn't a juicy snack in the eyes of most.

Now, I was the prime ingredient in a dish that provided immortality !!! The literal dream of everything that lived !!! Something that most wouldn't hesitate to kill for !!! Forget ethics, not even a saint would hesitate before shoving my soul in a blender and chugging it down for breakfast.

Couldn't I, I don't know, just keep the comfortable void, forgo the furnishings, and just not invite any of these hungry hungry hippos for a feast in which I am the main course ?? Do I even need these sectors If I could just rely on the void for protection ?? I know the lack of drapes might eventually bother me, but to be honest the current accommodations are quite enjoyable. On my right I have nothing, on my left I have nothing, all around I have nothing, in the end, there's nothing to get upset about and nothing to eventually come to terms with.

And if that's not good enough how about getting thrown back to where I started? Ignorance and mild insanity are quite a bit easier to deal with than eternal stress. Though the end of the world may have spelled out the end of my physical flesh, I doubt that it threatened the sanctity of my very soul.

" Hey, Mrs. Purple !!! I-.. "

Ding !

-- Refusal to actually do anything, my dear, will eventually lead to you eventually becoming a fine snack for one of the many horrors that revel in nothingness. The Ascendant plain isn't as empty as it looks darling, sometimes the void itself can get a little nippy. But I implore you to try it anyway, I wonder what will come out for a light snack this time ? .

And as for keeping the door closed ?? Well, let's just say the harder you push against it to keep it shut the harder those fleshy meatbags try to get in.

But if you do want to give yourself a fleeing chance of actually becoming something I'll leave your choices behind. You do have some pretty interesting choices, as your modifiers really are something. Lets see, - Corrupted- , - Star Gazer -, - Gardener-, - Flowering-, -Earthborn-, -Cosmic Insight -, Insanity -. You even have so many unique and fragmented memories to work with! You might really be something!

Anyway doll, here are your options. All taken straight from pieces of what's left of your long-term memory. If you do want to survive just firmly decide on your pick and we can move on.

Oh and by the way, since this is your first sector, I'd avoid anything labeled -minor- unless those tend to be add ons. Structural supports if we are still using that building analogy; best for augmenting and adding onto other sectors of the same tier.

Now peel your eyes and pay attention to your options. You only have two to really consider, the decision shouldn't be that hard.-------------

Tier 1 - A Twisting Hedge Maze -

Tier 1 - The Awoken Statue Museum - Minor -

Tier 1 - The Hallways of a Derelict House

Tier 1 - A garden from outer space - Minor -

-------------------------

Oh, okay. Mrs. Purple can read my mind.

Well, that's neat I guess ?? Makes things a bit easier. Not too much, but I guess it removes the pain of getting misunderstood. Though a minor breach of my privacy I found myself apathetic to the whole ordeal. This whole mind-reading thing felt familiar... slightly comforting even ??? It wasn't as if the purple box could really do anything against me with the information my very scattered thoughts probably provided.

A remaining fault that is most definitely a lasting result of getting mind-controlled by eldritch plants. Something that I'd rather put behind me, even if the experience, in hindsight, wasn't that horrible. After all, I could have been mind-controlled by some weird tentacled squid-like monstrosity that demanded sacrifices of my own flesh and blood.

Now, I guess that makes it about time for me to make a decision, doesn't it? I don't really fancy getting gobbled up by some sort of void monster.