Ugh what happened? I look around my surroundings, it's an empty gray room, there’s a glowing blue orb floating above a pedestal. I don’t have a body anymore, it's very clear to see, and I somehow instinctively know the dimensions of this dull gray room, which if they’re not wrong is a 5x5 room.
Wait! The burning apartment! It’s obvious that I died, but my sister! Oh god I hope she’s safe and okay. I rushed to her apartment, the fire was devastating, spreading rapidly to nearby units. It happened so fast. First, a panicked call from my sister, and suddenly in the next moment, I found myself coughing heavily, carrying her unconscious body as the smoke and heat escalated. Then I fell unconscious right as firefighters began rushing in.
That's right, I remember now, it happened while I was in the middle of class, my personal phone rang on my desk. Picking it up, I heard the desperate voice from my sister as well as the noticeable crackling of a raging fire occurring in the background. I placed two in two together and rushed out.
No use in worrying over it now, I’ll just hope that she made it out ok, but I shall pray for her safety. Well alrighty then, if I reincarnated then what did I reincarnate as? A ghost maybe?
My musings were interrupted when a blue screen appeared in front of me, which almost made me jump… almost… alright it jumpscared me and I even screamed. Fortunately nobody heard it… I hope so, anyway I read what the blue screen says.
Hello! Starting today, you are starting your life as a Dungeon Core, the purpose of a dungeon depends on what the core wants, as such dungeons vary, some focus on killing, some on not, while others find a balance in between, it's all up to you! But, for now since you’re a relatively young dungeon, all contact with the outside world is blocked until you at least have one floor with one puzzle, one trap, and one creature. The Dungeon System shall assist you in whatever task you need. For starters please say status.
Wow, so I’m a ‘dungeon core’ this is unlike any previous reincarnation stories i’ve read, but at least i’m not slime eh. Ok that was funny when I thought about it, anyways.
Status!
> Name: Amelia Yokakko
>
> Dungeon Name: Undetermined
>
> Exp Req: 0/100
>
> Level 1
>
> Mana: 20/20
>
> Mana Regen: 5 per hour
>
> Floors: 0/5
>
> Titles: None
Most of these are self explanatory such as mana or levels, assuming that I need to get one hundred xp in order to level up, and if I am a dungeon, and if it's anything like in video games then floors are related to how many levels one must go through in a video game dungeon, yep pretty self explanatory. Now the question is how do I make a floor? Let's ask the Dungeon System.
Wait, the blue screen continues on.
Once you're finished checking your stats. Navigate to a tab labeled ‘Floors’, keep in mind that each floor is 10x10x10x10x5* grid dimensions and will cost mana to extend beyond it. Once there you must simply choose a theme. You can decorate, build and add as many features to floors as you’d like, as long as you have the mana to spend, with buildings and decorations that don’t stick to the theme costs twice as much, and to check the floor capacity navigate to the subtabs in the floors tab. Now to summon a creature simply navigate to a tab labeled ‘Creatures’. Once there you can choose from a list of creatures or alternatively you can design one yourself, you can summon as many creatures as you want in a floor, granted you have the mana and the floor capacity to support them.
Wait tabs? What ta-oh I didn’t notice them at first but apparently in the top right corner of my vision the tabs that the system mentioned were there.
I navigated over to the floors tab.
> Select a theme for Floor 1:
>
> Forest
>
> Farmland
>
> Plains
Not many choices huh? I guess I’ll get more as I level up. As for the choices? Well I picked farmland, purely because I want the first thing adventurers to see when they first enter is something cozy and then BAM! They won’t know what’ll hit them. Well farms are cozy right? My grandfather on my dad’s side seems to think so.
Hovering over the farm option the description reads: A Floor dotted with wheat fields, farmhouses and barns, a perfect environment for farmers. This floor has a capacity of 32 creatures.
The moment I exit the tab the room changes, well the floor, if I’m being technical, is gone. The gray room was replaced with flat lands dotted with wheat fields with occasional farmhouses and barns, as well as light forests. I could still feel my core and its room having been moved back to the far end. Now as for how big? Well I estimate that it would take about 23 minutes for a party of four to walk from the entrance to what I have dubbed as the Core room.
Pretty good so far, now onto creatures. Navigating to the tab I’m greeted with a perplexing list.
> Creatures:
>
> Farmer: 5 Mana
>
> Armed Farmer: 10 Mana
>
> Guard Donkey: 10 Mana
>
> Herd Dog: 5 Mana
>
> Militia
>
> Prussian Landwehr: 15 Mana
>
> Austrian Landwehr: 15 Mana
>
> British Fencibles: 15 Mana
>
> Russian Opolcheniye: 15 Mana
>
> French National Guard: 15 Mana
>
> (Non Hostile, passive, or domesticated creatures such as pigs, sheep, and chickens are free of charge and won’t count for the creature capacity, however they won’t attack outsiders)
Ok the first four make sense, but hold up, wait a minute, back up something is not right with the last five, if I’m in a fantasy land then there’s no way I’m able to summon creatures from the period of history that I’ve been interested in, enough for me to be a history professor, right? There's only one way to find out. At least the militia regiments are labeled as such, so I’m guessing that line infantry will be separated into their section. Which I’m honestly thankful for, since there were so many regiments between these five major nations, not to mention the various minor nations that participated.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Hovering over the French National Guard it’s description reads: The National Guard are armed militias, but more like an armed police force, intended to maintain public order, as such against an armed military the National Guard will not be expected hold out, however as dungeon creatures they shall fight till the last. Formed in 1789 as a result of “la Grande Peur” or the “Great Fear”. Failed harvests led to unrest and the National Assembly needed a police force.
To be honest, I already knew most of this information, except the added part about dungeons. Wait! Do people actually die? And also how do I earn xp? System please answer!
People do not die inside of dungeons, instead they are barred from entry for one week, however while all wounds heal they will still feel the injuries for this duration. Certain outsiders may wish for more challenge when venturing inside dungeons as such they’ll request Permadeath. In Permadeath mode all creatures are twice their level, additionally non-hostile creatures will become hostile, puzzles are harder, and some traps become unavoidable.
If an outsider dies during Permadeath then they are barred from entry permanently, however the loot is ten times better. The only exception to this are outsiders who wish to harm the Dungeon Core in any way possible, upon entry the dungeon enters Permadeath mode regardless if Permadeath mode has been unlocked, and these outsiders are killed then they’re dead permanently. Dungeons unlock Permadeath mode after they’ve placed their first boss floor at floor ten. All outsiders get to keep any loot collected at the time of death.
To earn xp outsiders must die and or beat the dungeon, with bonus xp rewarded if outsiders complete a puzzle regardless if it's successful or not, and fall for a trap.
Huh, that's good to know, but enough dallying, time to summon some National Guard, after spending fifteen mana (oof), I watch as a set of twelve National Guardsmen appear before me.
Huh? Wait, why are they all girls! I mean I knew they’d be human b-wait a minute why am I complaining about it? Ok moving on, their uniforms consist of a blue jacket adorned with red lapels and cuffs, paired with white trousers. A distinctive touch on the bicornes is the placement of a red, white, and blue cockade on the right side, and a red and white plume that protrudes from the top of their bicornes, above the cockade. To top it all off, on their backs are rucksacks, with a bedroll on top. Their bayoneted muskets, which sit holstered on their left shoulder.
In the distance, next to the entrance of my core room sits a military encampment complete with support staff such as cooks and doctors, who are all girls.
I spotted the officer, approached me, kneeled and stood back before staring at me.
“Madame, we are at your command.” I heard her say. I do not want to keep referring to her as her. She needs a name!
“Well first, I shall call you Emile, as for what you can do, well not much right now. So for now at least until the entrance opens, just sit tight and do whatever. Also feel free to give everyone names.” I instructed Emile.
At first upon hearing her name, she saluted and marched back towards her unit and began reiterating my instructions.
Status!
> Name: Amelia Yokakko
>
> Dungeon Name: Undetermined
>
> Exp Req: 0/100
>
> Level 1
>
> Mana: 5/20
>
> Mana Regen: 5 per hour
>
> Floors: 1/5
>
> Titles: None
Welp, I’m going to be hemorrhaging mana aren’t I? Well guess I’ll summon a farmer and some cattle, I spotted a farmhouse with animal pens. Spending my remaining mana, I summoned a farmer, as well as two of every farm animal. I told her that I’ll summon additional support, oh and I named her Jane.
As for Jane’s appearance, she’s wearing brown trousers with suspenders, and a white shirt, finishing off with a straw hat.
Let's see the floor capacity.
> Floors->Floor 1
>
> Theme Farm
>
> Capacity: 13/32
Huh, neato!
——————————————————————
It’s been roughly 9 hours since I’ve reincarnated, and since then I’ve added a dirt road that connects the entrance and my Core room, and a day-night cycle, my creatures don’t need sleep, but do need to eat as evidenced by the National Guardswomen gathered around the cooks tent enjoying a hearty meal. I also added a generic pitfall trap at the midpoint of the road. Finishing it off with summoning two more farmers to help Jane out. Bringing floor one’s capacity to 15 out of 32
Now I just need to make a puzzle. Now this puzzle is very simple actually, help the poor farmer fix her carriage wheel as it’s fallen off, the reward will be a key, and five shillings. If the farmer is ignored or killed then the key will be found at the military encampment. This key is one of two keys required to enter the Core room.
Now if I’m being honest, this isn’t even a puzzle, but the System considers it a puzzle so I’m not complaining.
Status check.
> Name: Amelia Yokakko
>
> Dungeon Name: Undetermined
>
> Exp Req: 0/100
>
> Level 1
>
> Mana: 17/20
>
> Mana Regen: 5 per hour
>
> Floors: 1/5
>
> Traps: 1
>
> Puzzles: 1
>
> Titles: None
Oh it’s added a trap and puzzle counter, neat. I also see that I have enough for another set of militia. I’ll do that before opening the entrance.
Creatures!
> Creatures:
>
> Farmer: 5 Mana
>
> Armed Farmer: 10 Mana
>
> Guard Donkey: 10 Mana
>
> Herd Dog: 5 Mana
>
> Militia
>
> Prussian Landwehr: 15 Mana
>
> Austrian Landwehr: 15 Mana
>
> British Fencibles: 15 Mana
>
> Russian Opolcheniye: 15 Mana
>
> French National Guard: 15 Mana
>
> (Non Hostile, passive or domesticated creatures such pigs, sheep, and chickens are free of charge and won’t count for the creature capacity, however they won’t attack outsiders)
I think I’ll choose the Prussian Landwehr. Their description reads: Landwehr are soldiers, quite capable at defending their homes. They also serve to quell troublesome civilians, however due to their lack of training they shouldn’t be expected to fight as well.
Like before a set of twelve creatures appeared, I say creatures but it’s twelve human girls. Ahem, anyways unlike the National Guard their uniforms consist of a dark blue coat with red collar and cuffs, white trousers, on their backs are a rucksack with a bedroll on top, finishing off with a dark blue shako hat with a red band, an iron cross sits at top front the hat. Though if you ask me their hats look more like a peaked cap than a shako, but I digress.
And like before the officer approached, asked for instructions, relayed it back to her unit. I named her Ellen, who unlike the other Landwehr wore a shako with an iron cross at the front.
I changed the first key placement so that the key would be randomly placed between the French and Prussian officers.
Now the moment of truth.
Would you like to open the entrance?
Yes.
Entrance is now open.
Welp, no going back now.