Gamel Kyrr never considered himself as anything other than an elite adventurer. He used his families' influence and money to buy the best gear, and recruit the best team members possible throughout his whole career. He had decided to journey to the Reapers' Dungeon not for the monetary reward; he was rich, and had no need for more money. No he came to the Island for he had been tempted by the Wish. Gamel knew exactly what he would demand of the Core.

"I Wish to have a castle of the best design you can muster built upon my family land. With the decorations and features of the rarest resources and defended by monsters that follow my commands."

Gamel knew about the laws of the Reaper and had been punished several times since coming to the Island. He was almost tempted to wish to break the Core, so as to terminate that blasted Reaper who humiliated him in front of his subjects. He was warned like all the others who enter the Dungeon that they can give up and keep their lives. Gamel spat on that signpost, he forbade his team from surrendering unless he did so first. He wanted the challenge he thought to himself, since he was definitely the strongest adventurer this baby Dungeon will have ever seen. Unknowingly to Gamel however, Thomas had heard him make that comment several times, and admit to heinous acts as a form of boasting to his companions, the night before his entrance to the Dungeon. While he was very drunk. The changes that took place in the wee hours of the morning had roused some of the residents from their slumber, spurring some interest into what might be happening. No, the talk of the town was the new sign at the entrance.

"Dangerous to enter at the request of the Drunk Party of Assholes, no mercy for all who enter today." Followed by the imagery of a skull.

Gamel Kyrr

3rd Prince of the Kingdom of Kyrr

We entered the Dungeon, after we all took a turn pissing on the warning sign. The opening Spiral that was described by the journalists now dark and much less inviting. Just as we stepped beyond the point where the sunlight reached a metal gate shot up from the floor, burying itself into the ceiling of the Dungeon with the sound of metal on metal. Locked inside with no way out other than surrender or death. "Ohhhh it's so scary." I said it sarcastically, like a person would do when trying to provoke another. This Dungeon having more interaction with people than others do, I figured I'd throw another insult at it. We continued on and the music started to play, dark and ominous piano notes.

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Shadows of creatures staying just outside the range of the light from our torchbearers. The notes rising an octave when our group switched to walking sideways. In the place the teleport trap had been described as being, except it wasn't there. We continued on as the music got more complex, but only barely. The Reaper was fancied to be a good pianist, but I'd heard better from mediocre bards in the years I was forced to hold court with my family.

I looked around at the group I call my team, I only know two of them by name, the other four were hired just before my arrival. "Wait a minute, wasn't there eight of us when we came in? Or am I misremembering it? Did one of the contractors shit emself?" The lads all get a laugh at the expense of our missing person and we continue onwards to what should have been the Park. There is a door in place blocking entrance to the area. What looks like a handle recessed into the mouth of the door designed to look like the face of the Reaper. It feels like a trap to me and I command one of our torchbearers to open the door, the trap is confirmed when he screams out in pain as the door bites down into his arm. It held him in place for a moment before letting go and opening inwards to a chamber of sewage and rot.

The smell of this room causes the whole group to lose our stomachs, like an outhouse in the countryside where civil plumbing options aren't important enough to be considered into construction. Followed by the smell of dead animals in the far corner of the room. Maggots crawling around, inside of and across the various bodies. We decide to get through this room as quickly as possible. Everyone holding their nose as we search for the water maze that was described. I find it first, followed by one other call of discovery from the other side of the room. There are now multiple entrances to the underwater maze. I try saying I can't swim. I get a laugh echoed in the room at my obvious falsity, and not from any of my members. It's haunting and deep, it sounds like an old man who has had too much Kana root in his life. It gives me the chills and I decide to taunt it again.

"Sounds like the Dungeon Core has been giving everyone the best nights of their lives for only a gold piece a night eh?" My companions chuckle but it doesn't sound like their hearts are in it. I command our group to split up, two in each path down to see if we can discover the correct one. "Oi, lads?" I count us out again and we're down from eight at the start to only four people. "Knowing this Dungeon, they'll be safely waiting for us at the tavern when we leave 'ere rich!" I get another laugh from the Dungeon, I'm starting to get scared but I don't want my team to see that, so I quickly dive into my side of the underwater maze. The breathing vents are spaced pretty close by, so I'm guessing it isn't out to kill us, but just scare us. The maze isn't even hard to solve. Only two stops for air between the previous room and the basin room, which at least is like it was described in the article that went public a few days ago. After what seems like forever only one of my teammates emerge a different canal. This means two things, the person partnered with me is gone, drowned, lost or otherwise removed from the Dungeon, and that both of the water entrances we're correct.

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"Something got Mark, he was behind me and then he wasn't."

I suppress my anger at the lowly peasant speaking to me like an equal, and pointing out the obvious. So I decide to lie to him and say, "Weird, Mark said the same happened to you, then went on ahead, because we're more skilled than the last group the Dungeon is only letting us through one at a time. Being the person who is in charge I waited here for everyone else to catch up, and you're the last one. Go on ahead and go next and I'll be down right behind you." Once the fool goes down to the fighting platform I'll surrender to the Dungeon and try again with a new group tomorrow, my musing interrupted as the peasant approaches me.

"No, I don't think that is the case."

*Splosh* his wrapped feet slapping onto the stone work, still damp from his swim.

"I think you emerged on your own, and were too afraid to continue onwards."

*Splosh splish*

"That once there were no more survivors you planned on giving up."

His neck contorts in an unnatural way and his eyes aren't the same, he's closer now and it looks like he is already dead. The light of recognition gone from his eyes, a noticeable red line on his neck from where he was probably decapitated.

"You wanted a challenge, you can't bow out of a challenge. You can only get out if you complete the Dungeon, and Masssssstteeerrr issssnt holdddiiinng baaaack anyymoorre!!""

The shambling corpse ran at me but I had prepared for that. Swinging my sword to put him back to rest, I'm surprised when his head pops off his neck, growing several legs and scurrying down the basin. I try to surrender to the Dungeon but just get the laughter in response again. I try bargaining, that since I'm the prince of the whole kingdom, that the Dungeon will just have war declared on it again if I die. The same laughing response. Over and over. Every threat I make goes nowhere, and I've been here in this room for at least a day. I refuse to progress on to the fight section of the Dungeon without a team to protect my flank.

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Eventually after running out of rations and spending two days here, yelling, screaming, making threats. All to that maddening laughter, the Dungeon makes a change. It is enough to get me moving and I jump down into the basin and onto the platform. I refuse to die by being drowned in shit. The platform descends, at first it's one spider that meets the end by my blade, then two, then a bigger spider, then three bigger spiders. As I'm about to beat the final spider in this group I get hit from behind. It feels like a boulder was thrown at me. I roll over to get a good look at the monster holding me down on the ground, it's a blue, teal spider, probably the size of an adolescent cow. It weighs as much as one at least. My sword arm is broken and my right eye is swelling shut. My body feels on fire from all the bites I have accrued in combat from the smaller spiders. I wait for the release of death.

It doesn't come. Opening the eye that isn't swollen shut I see the spider has cocooned me to the platform. Which has started descending rapidly. A woman's voice can be heard over the sound of the wind rushing past the platform.

"The Reaper would like to congratulate you Mortal. He hasn't had such hatred for a human being since his previous life. Not even Ricard drew the ire of Thomas as much as you did. His message is simple, "Ricard has been well behaved in his new life and deserves a mate for the strides he's taken. Perhaps at the cost of one gold per night you can find your fortune in that line of work yourself." Ex- Prince Gamel Kyrr, you are to be summarily executed and resurrected in the body of a paralyzed female rat, until you eventually die and are resurrected again and again with your memories intact until you've had a life for every insult to the Reaper himself, and another life for each violation of the Laws of the Island.

I try to yell out, but the silk binding my body binds my mouth shut as well. I try to stand up to face the voice that decided to insult me so, but my bindings are too tight, and I'm too weak. I finally accept my fate, as a spike of stone shoots through my chest. It hurts, it hurts so much. Father, Mother, avenge me please. Destroy this Dungeon Core. Lay waste to all the peasants that call this backwater society home. I feel cold, darkness encroaches upon what little vision I have that still works and the pain begins to fade...

I'm alive, I can't feel the bottom half of my body, but I gaze through what appears to be bars on the side of the cell I find myself in. I'm looking at a beastkin woman, the tail indicates she is upset. That's fine with me, servants don't deserve happiness, that is reserved for only the nobility. Beyond where she crouches on the dungeon brickwork is a copy of me. It's a bad copy, injured and beaten like it is. Impaled on a spike and.... I scream, letting out a squeak instead of words. Memories returning of my defeat and the mockery that took place. My front hands are covered in black fur and my face is longer. I try to crawl over to the bars of my cage only to feel pain in my back. I turn around only to find that I have been mounted and held in place by a bigger rat. I turn back towards the bars as the purple burning eye of the Reaper, my killer, appears in front of me. It fills me with anger. I can hear him in my head.

"Now you get to experience the other side of that encounter you bragged of the other night. A maid whom you removed the tongue of and thrust yourself on with no way for her to fight back, only to end her life when you had finished using her. What a great story to tell in the City of the Dead fool. You'll be here for a long long time- and Ricards already enjoying the company. How nice."

As the Reaper finishes speaking my human corpse begins to fade away, being absorbed by the dungeon. I scream out again, only to be rewarded with another squeak.

"Be happy Gamel, once this incarnation of yourself dies the first time, you'll get to feel the actions performed on you too, after I remove your back legs, claws and fangs of course. Can't have you fighting back.... What was it you told the maid in the story you bragged of..... Oh. Yesss... Be a good slut and accept it.

The words of the Reaper icy and full of more disdain towards me than any sentence I've thrown out at the various peasants I've spoken to. I stare out of my cage at the duo of the Reaper and the peasant turned noble for a while, the Reaper gives the beastkin an awkward hug, then she disappears in a blinding flash of light and the Dungeon starts to return to normal.

I was Gamel Kyrr. I was a fool.