New Quest!
Exit the Dungeon. Fulfill one of the following conditions to complete the quest:
- Find an exit and go back to your world.
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I was woken up to a ding and this message ringing in my ears. To say that I was startled would be an understatement.
I looked around at the dilapidated stone walled room as an anxiety attack reared it’s ugly head. Had I been kidnapped? Last thing I remembered, I was watching a movie at home with my girlfriend. I had gone to the kitchen to get some more popcorn from the kitchen and then… nothing.
As my breath quickened I realized there was, in fact, a bowl with freshly cooked caramel popcorn lying next to me in the floor, the smell barely recognizable over the odor of humidity and stale air.
I looked around the room while throwing a handful of popcorn into my mouth in an attempt to calm myself. The room looked like an old basement in some long forgotten European castle you would see in a movie, except for the fact that the only real source of light didn’t come from some good old torches, but from a thick row of what looked like those bioluminescent mushrooms that lined the walls, giving everything a strange blueish shade.
The only other things in the room with me was a backpack lying next to the wall closest to me and a door in the wall opposite. I stood up and walked to the door. From the grilled window on it I could see that the room on the other side was also illuminated by the same strange mushrooms. I could also see that it was a hallway.
I went to the old styled leather backpack and examined it. Attached to one side was a small oil lamp and a bundle of rope and, inside, I found a couple bundles of what seemed to be food, a pair of worn out shoes that seemed to be my size (which was good given that I was wearing flip-flops) and… what appeared to be a PDA taken straight out of the 80’s.
It didn’t have any logo that I could recognize, but as I turned it on, it’s black and white screen came to life and welcomed me into its system.
“Welcome, Elliot Kane. I'm your very own Personal Dungeon Assistant.” It read on the screen. “I will be your guide through your journey and will assist you in anything I can. In my menus you will find information about yourself, a constantly refreshing inventory of what you are carrying in your person and other applications you will find useful during your exploration of the Dungeon.”
“What the fuck…” I whispered as I pressed continue on the screen.
“Upgrade Chips are available for purchase in designated stores and can be found in some of the randomly generated chests scattered throughout the dungeon. Please be on the lookout for these chips, as these upgrades might give an edge in this dangerous place you find yourself in.” I blinked as text kept on apearing in the screen. “Do you have any questions?” It finished as three options appeared below the question.
1. Where am I?
2. Why is this happening?
3. What is my objective?
I sat down next to the bowl of popcorn and clicked on the first option and the PDA only answered “Dungeon Sector 14, Floor 84, Fungal Fortress Biome.”. “Well that tells me… nothing…” I clicked on the second question and a single paragraph appeared on the screen.
“Someone, somewhere, activated the arcade machine, plunging the world into its next stage of evolution. As per galactic agreement, humans get a tutorial stage for free before fully entering their planet’s second stage. This is said tutorial stage.”
“What?” I asked. I did remember hearing something about a couple of kids in China finding an arcade machine deep in some cave, but I thought it was a hoax, another one of those Internet mysteries or art projects, like that monolith in the desert or that one time everyone kept saying there were aliens in the oceans. Was it talking about that? What kind of stupid ass plot was that!
I pressed the final question. “Your objective here is simple,” it said. “As a step towards the next stage of your planet’s evolution, you will train, improve yourself, and find an exit from this dungeon. Once you leave, you will return to your world with all items and skills you've obtained intact.”
“The next stage of evolution?” I muttered. “Is this some kind of joke?”
The PDA screen flashed again, almost impatiently. “Now, feel free to explore my many systems and prepare to begin your journey. Time waits for no one!”
I set it down and rubbed my temples. Stress was one thing—work had been a nightmare lately—but hallucinating a bioluminescent mushroom dungeon while in my Christmas pajamas? That was a whole new level.
I closed the message and I several icons appear in the screen. I clicked on “Profile” grimaced at the black-and-white 3D model of myself, complete with striped pants and the words “Oh Deer!” emblazoned on my chest. Not exactly armor-worthy.
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Next to my picture a set of stats seemingly taken straight out of a DnD Manual: “Strength”, “Dexterity”, “Intelligence”, “Constitution”, “Wisdom”, “Charisma” and “Luck”. There was also a number next to each one, which, without much frame for reference, didn’t make much sense to me.
Although I did feel some of them were not very… flattering.
Elliot Kane Lv. 1 STR 11 DEX 9 CON 12 INT 6 WIZ 7 CHA 5 LUK 9
Only 6 for intelligence? Sure I wasn’t a rocket scientist, but getting a Phys Ed degree wasn’t a walk in the park either. And a 5 in charisma? Samantha, my lovely, lovely girlfriend, might want to talk with the developer about that one.
I grabbed another handful of popcorn and plopped it into my mouth as I clicked back on the PDA and then went into the Inventory app. I found it to be a simple list that, as of now, contained everything I already knew I had. My “Christmas Ugly Pajamas” were there under “Equipment” and clicking them created a new window with extra information about them. The system made sure I understood that they gave no stats boost at all and that I should probably hurry to get something better to wear.
The worn out shoes I found were also there and had some more info to them. “Running shoes (Common). +1 Dexterity. These shoes will grant you better protection than some lousy flip-flops.” It said on the screen, totally mocking my current footwear. I put them on and placed the flip-flops on my backpack. They weren’t useful right now, but they might come in handy later.
Under “Items” it showed the three rations I already knew I had, the rope bundle (15 meters) and the oil lamp (full). But it also showed something else… “Everlasting Bowl of Popcorn (Legendary)”.
I looked down to the plastic red bowl that laid on my legs as I grabbed another handful and placed it in my mouth. “This bowl of popcorn came into the dungeon with you, how? we are not sure! but it sure is glitchy! It will never run out of popcorn. Eat to your heart’s content!”.
“Huh…” I said as I saw how the popcorn magically… popped back into existence inside the bowl, one by one, until the handful I had taken was replaced completely. I munched on another handful as I watched the bowl magically refill itself. It was oddly comforting, a little slice of absurdity that made the fear crawling up my spine feel more manageable.
I was pretty sure that this would come in pretty handy later on, but for now, I decided to place the bowl at the bottom of the backpack, having eater enough by that point to feel a bit calmer, and kept on checking the PDA.
The other apps were fairly simple, a Leaderboard App, a non functioning Store App, and a map app, but one in particular caught my attention… “The Torchlight”.
I clicked on the icon, and the screen filled with an endless stream of messages. Names, numbers, words flying by faster than I could process.“Filters,” I muttered, tapping a button on the top right corner of the screen. A list of options popped up. I selected English and Biome, hoping to narrow things down. Most of the messages vanished.
Only one remained:
"Anyone out there?" – Samantha
My chest tightened. Sam.
With shaky hands, I typed a response.
"Sam, it’s me! Elliot!"
A few agonizing seconds passed before a reply popped up.
"Oh my God, Elliot, you’re alive!"
"Yeah," I typed, swallowing hard. "Are you okay? Where are you?"
"I’m in some kind of stone room," she wrote back. "It’s dark, and there’s these creepy glowing mushrooms everywhere. What the hell is going on?"
"I don’t know," I replied, glancing at the bioluminescent walls around me. "Something about a dungeon… a tutorial… I don’t know. Are you hurt? Do you have food?"
"I’m fine, just freaked out," she answered. "I’ve got some rations in a backpack that was here when I woke up. What about you?"
"Same," I wrote. "I’ve got supplies. Sam, listen. I’m coming to find you."
The next reply took longer.
"Are you sure? I don’t want you risking yourself for me."
"I’m not risking anything," I typed, hoping my confidence would calm her. "If we both start wandering around, we might miss each other. Let me come to you. Please."
"Elliot…"
I could almost hear her voice, the hesitation in it. Sam hated feeling like a burden, but I knew the dark was eating at her. She’d always been afraid of it, even back home.
"Stay where you are," I added before she could argue. "I’ll find you. I promise."
Finally, her reply came through.
"Okay. Just… be careful, okay? I’ll wait."
I exhaled, the knot in my chest loosening slightly.
"I will," I wrote. "I’ll see you soon."
For a moment, I stared at the screen, waiting for her to say something else. But the message stayed quiet, and I knew she was probably doing the same—sitting in some damp, cold room, scared but holding it together.
I stood up and grabbed my backpack, but my nerves caught up with me. I stopped, reached in, and grabbed another handful of popcorn, shoving it into my mouth. The crunching helped.
"Time to go," I muttered.
I opened the door, the faint blue glow of mushrooms spilling into the hallway beyond.