The Admin leaned back on the couch, sliding headphones over his ears. His eyes closed as Floor 97 band’s latest song played. It was a polka; not his favorite genre, but the musicians obviously enjoyed playing it. The fun they were having showed in the notes.
He dozed off, letting the song play on loop. It was good to relax sometimes. And he’d just finished outlining his plan for the next ten cycles, so he deserved a break.
A ding interrupted the sound of polka. The Admin opened an eye to find his notification icon blinking. Not bothering to sit up, he opened it.
From: The Director To: All Admins Subject: Timeline, Changes
Admins,
Work is progressing much faster than anticipated. Also, your players are advancing much slower than anticipated. Instead of making them go through 100 cycles, freeze everything at the end of Cycle 60 and send your top players to the Master Dungeon then. By now you should have a good enough idea of who they are.
I have decided on one new thing: players won’t be able to choose their race. Each Admin will request a race, and the players will cycle through them five times. Just so we all know it’s the individuals who are winning, and it isn’t the racial advantages.
Also, I believe ten players each would be better than twelve. I apologize for changing my mind yet again, but there are reasons for my indecision.
Please respond to this with the following information:
* Requested race (duplicates will not be allowed)
* Which 10 of your floors you’d like integrated into the Master Dungeon
* Any special non-combat requests for your players
* Which catgirl floor to send over, if you have a preference
Then, start preparing files on your players. Please include this information for each player:
* Name and ID number
* Preferred style of combat
* Preferred weapon
* Group or solo player
When you reach Cycle 60, send the files to me. I’ll pull the players over myself.
Here’s where you all are:
* Admin 1: Cycle 52
* Admin 2: Cycle 54
* Admin 3: Cycle 51
* Admin 4: Cycle 55
* Admin 5: Cycle 51
* Admin 6: Cycle 57
Thank you for your hard work.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
Director
Admin 6 sat up, reading through the message a second time. Advancing the timeline like that was good overall, but he thought he’d have more time.
He hit reply.
From: Admin 6 To: The Director Subject: Re: Timeline, Changes
Hello,
I’d like to request the Neko race for my players.
Please integrate floors
He paused, sighed, and teleported back to his office. He put the reply on one monitor and pulled up a list of floors on another. Out of habit he summoned an iced coffee and took a sip, thinking.
He had to help the catgirls as much as possible. The other Admins would be doing the same for their players, but by sending “easy” floors. He didn’t want to do that. The catgirls got through the dungeon by being friends with everything, so he had to send their best friends to the Master Dungeon.
Please integrate floors 7, 17, 61, 69, 90, 91, 94, 95, 97, 98. And Floor 60, which is a catgirl floor.
For my players, I’d like to request you import them with their food inventories intact. One truly loves cooking, and her food makes her group happy. Happier groups fight better.
Thank you,
Admin 6
A part of him was worried the Director would ban Nikki from cooking when she figured out the catgirl was feeding the entire dungeon. If the catgirls didn’t have access to food, it’d seriously hinder their progress. But he’d cross that bridge when he came to it.
Or rather, they would. Kimi and Y could probably create ingredients from stray atoms, Lily and Samurai could easily charm food out of anyone, and honestly Nikki could manage to make a three-course meal from sand. A part of him would always worry, but another part knew he didn’t have to.
Before any of that, he had to figure out how to explain Avi’s “style of combat” as something reasonable. The others were fine, but Avi’s role in fights was “person who hides in the back with a raptor they stole off an earlier floor while muttering something about being a pacifist”. It was the exact opposite of what a player should act like.
More than that, even. People were put in their roles based on personality type. A player would always act one way, and a catgirl another. There was some overlap, but Avi had originally been a mob, a siren. The others would stand out a bit; Avi might as well have a flashing neon "NOT A PLAYER" sign over his head.
The Admin knew he was going to get caught eventually. That was inevitable. But he needed as many cycles to pass as possible before that happened. With Avi around, getting through even one cycle would be a miracle.
Unless Avi was the one he cut from the group. He had to cut someone, after all…