The hallway stretched on endlessly—or so it felt. The glow of mushrooms lit the jagged walls just enough to keep me from smashing into them, but every shadow seemed to hide something ready to pounce. I gripped the stick tightly, my only companion besides the constant drip of water and the occasional chitter of distant creatures.

But as I turned a corner, I saw it in the distance, its pink light illuminating the cavve around it. A neon sign. Its pink and green letters spelled out “The Inner Inn”, with a cartoonish key with an eye winking at me from a distance.

As I got closed, in utter disbelief, I noticed that underneath it was a simple wooden door set into the stone wall. I blinked, half-convinced I was imagining it. But the faint hum of the sign and the warm yellow light leaked into the stone floor, calling me in. If it was a trap, it was both stupid and genius at the same time.

I looked around, making sure no other Gregors Samsas had come to pay me a visit while I looked at the sign, and pushed the door open. A wave of warmth hit me, carrying with it the smell of roasted meat, fresh bread, and something sweet I couldn’t quite place. The room inside was cozy, almost homely, like an inn straight out of Skyrim… If it wasn’t for the fact that the tables were clearly 60’s inspired and that there was a flat screen TV hung above a crackling hearth playing reruns of Seinfeld.

Behind a polished wooden counter stood a man. He was middle-aged, with salt-and-pepper hair slicked back and a neat goatee. His rolled-up sleeves revealed muscular forearms, and his vest and bowtie gave him the air of a gentleman who had somehow been misplaced in this hellhole. He was cleaning a glass with a cloth, a gesture so stereotypical it was almost funny.

“Welcome to The Inner Inn, traveler,” he said with a grin that was equal parts charm and mischief. “You look like you’ve had quite the day.”

I looked down at my pajama pants, the reds and greens hidden behind big splotches of black ichor. “Yeah…” I sighed. “You could say that…”

“Well, my friend,” He said, setting a glass full of water on the counter. “You’ve come to the right place. Here at the Inner Inn we have food, supplies and anything you might want to continue exploring the dungeon!”

I got closer and sat on one of the tall stools by the counter. “You wouldn’t happen to have, you know, pants or something like that, right?”

The big man smiled. “Oh, we do sell some equipment as well, although out selection is very limited, you might want to swing by a specialized store if you find one.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’m good with anything, these pants are done for…”

The man turned back and opened a shelf behind him. “Well, you are lucky, I just so happen to have a starter set of clothes for adventurers like you.” He turned back around carrying a folded pair of pants and a black short sleeved-shirt that I could sworn he had taken out of thin air. “There are nothing fancy, they are barely anything better than your pajamas there.” He said. “But they are considered equipment and do grant some basic bonuses.”

I looked at them for a second as he placed them on the counter. “It couldn’t be that you are giving these to me for free, right?” I asked.

He grinned. “Nah, man, sorry, business is business. Those would be 5 Credits each, 7 for the set.”

I sighed. “Man, look, I just woke up here, like, five hours ago. I don’t even know if I have money on me.”

He pointed to the PDA I had placed on the counter as I drank the glass of water. “You can pay with that.” He said. “Each monster you kill will add a certain amount of Credits to your balance.” He pointed to a number next to the clock in the PDA. “See? You have 19 Credits to your name right now, so you should be able to get both items and a real meal, not just those filthy rations they gave you.”

I opened my eyes in surprise. “Cool!” I said. “So killing that roach wasn’t all that useless! Sure, I’ll take the pants and shirt, I feel like its time to change out of these pajamas.”

He brought out a device similar to my PDA but with a physical number pad and typed ‘7’ on it. He instructed me to swipe the PDA over his as some sort of credit card, I heard a ‘Ka-ching’ and the number in my PDA went down from 19 to 12. He slided the clothes towards me. “These are yours now, you should be able to check their stats on your PDA and you can use the restroom to change. If you want, you can leave those dirty clothes there, I’ll dispose of them later.”

I nodded and went into the room he had pointed to. The bathroom inside appeared to have been ripped right off of a modern shopping center. I changed into my new clothes that, although looking a bit small for me fit perfectly, and then looked into the mirror. They were basically just a pair of thick jeans and a black t-shirt, nothing to fancy, but they did have some bonuses.

“Straight Cut Jeans (common) +1 Constitution. Yes, these are jeans.”

“Black T-Shirt of Stealth (common) +1 Constitution. No, this does not make you stealthier, it’s just a black T-shirt with a black logo for a rock band called Stealth… It is black, though, so it might help to blend in better.”

I sighed and looked at my dirty pajamas. Only the pants were beyond fixing, the sweater, though, it was still usable, and with only this t-shirt on it might get colder at some point. I tossed the pants on a nearby trashcan and carried the “Oh, Deer!” sweater back into the main hall with me.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

“Looking good, adventurer.” Said the owner. “Functional, durable, and far less… festive than what you had before.”

I smiled as I sat back down in front of him. “So, mister, what is your name?” I asked.

“Bennett,” He said. “But my friends call me Benny.”

I hesitated. “Can I… call you Benny?”

A grin appeared on his face. “Mate, anyone that gives me money is my friend.”

We laughed as a picture behind him caught my eye. “Is that… a map behind you?”

“Oh, this?” He said, picking it up and placing it in front of me. “Yeah, it’s a map of the surrounding area. The Inner Inn is a safe haven, but the dungeon outside is vast. This one shows your nearby Sector.”

“My sector?” I asked. “You talk as if you have other maps for other sectors.”

He shrugged. “I don’t, these generate as costumers come in.”

“You’ve had other costumers? I thought there wasn’t anyone else in this sector other than me an Sam…”

“Oh,” He said. “No, sorry, I didn’t mean that. You see, the Inner Inn is in many places at the same time. That door you came in by just so happened to have spawned on Sector 14. A short while before you entered I was just finishing helping another lost costumer from Sector 23.”

“I see…” I said, clearly not understanding everything. “So these places, these inns are like… a hub of some sort? I could meet other adventurers if all of us came to the same Inn at the same time?”

He nodded. “Yeah, although it is not common for different adventurers to come at the same time.” He slided the map towards me. “This is yours. Once you place it in your backpack the PDA’s map will update to show what’s on the map. And I would try to upgrade the Map Module as soon as possible if I were you, Version 1 doesn’t show as much information as further updates.”

I squinted at the labels on the map: “Fungal Fortress,” “To The Crystal Veins,” “To Slagfang’s Ravine,” and a few others. Each was marked with little notes in the margins, like “Avoid after dark” or “High-level enemies—bring friends.”

“This is very useful.” I said. “Thank you, are you sure you don’t want to charge me for it?”

“Nah, man.” He said. “An adventurer with more information is more probable to survive and come back again, so by giving you this map I am basically paying for at least one more visit later on.”

I cringed at the mention of survivability. “Consider it a gift for staying here,” he continued, smiling faintly. “The dungeon may be trying to kill you, but I’m not.”

I raised an eyebrow. “And why are you here, exactly?”

His grin widened. “Let’s just say I’ve been here a long time. Long enough to know how to make a living off new arrivals like you.”

I grinned at his dark humor and asked for the Menu. I decided to ask for something called “Dungeon Styled-Stew” for 3 more credits. The PDA described it as “A hearty stew made with a mysterious mix of local mushrooms, roots, and some kind of meat. (Probably safe.)”, but Benny assured me it was safe to eat.

“So… would you happen to know where the other spawn points in this sector are?” I asked as I placed a large chunk of tender meat and potatoes in my mouth. “I am looking for another adventurer I know, my girlfriend. She is in a room like the one I appeared in waiting for me to come get her.”

He grinned. “And you are here engorging yourself on food while she waits?” He said.

I cringed. “What can I say, when I am nervous, I eat, and information is the thing I need the most to find her, otherwise it would be like walking blindly.”

He nodded. “You are right.” He said. “I cannot tell you exactly where she is, but at this point you should have already run into stairs going up and down, right?”

“Yes.” I said. “They were in a small cavern right before the inn.”

“Well, each spawning floor is arranged in the same manner. There are several spiraling arms that coalesce in the middle into a large cave. In the way, adventurers usually have either an Inn or a Basic Store, a set of stairs moving to the other levels and exiting the spawning floor and, at the end, a large cave where the floor boss awaits.”

“I’m guessing that it’s not a good idea to move to another floor when you come to the starts…”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well… they were before coming to the Inn, a safe space. I am guessing stores are also safe spaces and I’m also guessing the floors right above and bellow this one are a bit harder than this one, and without equipment or anything to deal with stronger threats, you might just die quickly.”

Benny smiled. “You are not as dumb as your stats would suggest, boy.” He said, his voice a tinge darker.

“I know…” I said. “I may look like an idiot, but I’m not that… wait, you can see my stats?”

“Sure can, Elliot.” He answered, as if it was the most normal thing in the world. “Sure can.”

I looked at the mysterious man as he cleaned another glass and placed it in the counter to dry. “As I was saying, you are right. Once you enter the first cave in a different floor from your spawning point, you can’t go back, blocking you from early experience gain and cheaper items.” He slided a glass with water towards me. “Your best bet would be to get to the boss chamber and check the paths that are still open. The only paths that are still open are the ones where Adventurers haven’t either exited their level or died, so your girl might be in one of those.”

“It can’t be that easy…” I whispered.

“It never is.” Answered Benny. “If this Sam you talk about is still on this floor, she has to be somewhere along another arm of the spiral. That meant finding the boss, clearing it, and hoping the path to her room wasn’t already sealed, and as you are right now, I find it difficult to believe you will be able to kill the boss.” He grinned.

I gulped. I would need to work hard to prepare… and quickly, too. Sam didn’t have that many rations, she couldn’t wait forever. “Is there anything else you can tell me?” I asked, pushing the empty dish back towards him and standing up. “Like, about the monsters or the dungeon itself.”

“Stay in safe zones when you can. Rest, resupply, gather information. And if you find a dungeon shop, don’t ignore it. The items may seem trivial, but they can save your life.” He said, looking at the TV as the Friends theme song began to play. “And about the monsters, learn their patterns. Every creature has a weakness, and the more you fight, the more you’ll understand them. But don’t get cocky—this place has a way of humbling even the best.” He finished, pointing at a scar beneath his left eye… which I hadn’t noticed until now was milky white in color.

I breathed in to calm my speeding heart. “Thank you.” I said. “Your help has been invaluable.”

The door to the dungeon loomed ahead, a stark contrast to the warmth and safety behind me. For a moment, I stood frozen, gripping my stick so tightly my knuckles turned white. The air outside felt colder, heavier, as if the dungeon was waiting for me.

“Sam’s waiting,” I whispered, forcing my feet to move.

Behind me, Benny’s voice rang out, calm and almost playful. “I’ll be waiting for your return, dear customer. I wholeheartedly wish you safe travels.”

The door creaked shut, and the warmth of the inn was gone. The faint glow of mushrooms barely lit the hallway ahead, their light swallowed by the darkness beyond. Somewhere in that gloom, Sam was waiting—and so was everything else.