I've been staring at this stupid button for hours. The system has informed me that I must pay to use the button. It's a flat fee. Fifty percent of the dp I have at the moment of the call. So it can either be the most expensive call you've ever made or the cheapest.

I guess you have to pick your moments for this too huh. I currently have fifteen hundred dp so it won't really be that cheap but considering I'm basically stuck in time till I get a delver, I see it as a necessity but I'm still hesitating.

I bite the bullet and push the button and hold my breath waiting to see what happens. It starts ringing like a cellphone. Are you serious right now. I'm actually calling someone?! I'm really confused but I'm even more confused when the call is answered.

{Annika} "Hello? Who is this?"

A small, timid and confused voice spoke over the other line. I try not to judge but it sounds like a child. I am also very confused but I hold back the urge to ask the loli Goddess? if her mommy or daddy is home. I've seen all the animes. I know you don't insult the person on the other side of the system.

{Lilith} "Hello. I'm Lilith. Who are you?"

{Annika} "I'm Annika. Do you want to be my friend?"

The way she said this twisted my non existent heart. She sounded so lonely.

{Lilith} "Of course I want to be your friend. Can I call you Ani since were friends? You can call me Lili."

{Annika} "Yes! I'd love that. Lili do you want to come over and play with me?"

I really want to say yes but I get this chill coursing through me at the thought of leaving my dungeon.

{Lilith} "I'm sorry Ani, I actually can't leave where I am but I would love it if you came to visit me some time. I could show you all around my dungeon and show you my cute foxes."

{Annika} "Gasp! You're not a person? But you talk so well for not being one. My mom is coming now I'll pass the chat bubble over to her. Talk to you later Lili!"

I'm confused about the chat bubble thing and I feel cheated again. It really was a child! It was amazing to actually talk to someone though so I won't compain. An androgynous voice came over the chat bubble and sounded angry and confused at the same time.

{Niamh} "Who is this and how did you get this chat bubble information?!"

{Lilith} "I'm sorry to disturb you I'm Lilith and I got this chat bubble from my dungeon system."

{Niamh} "Oh is that so? I thought I deleted that button from the system a thousand years ago when I had my daughter so I wouldn't be bothered. I'm sorry. I don't know how it got back there. I can't help you."

It sounded like she didn't have any intention to help me and that just rubbed me the wrong way. I paid for the call with my dp and! And I got stabbed and run down for this stupid button. I will not give up that easily. I have never been and never will be a pushover.

This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

{Lilith} "Ma'am I'm sorry to bother you but if you could just hear me out."

{Niamh} "I don't have time for this leave us alone."

And so I snapped..

{Lilith} "You must be blind to think that Ani wants to be alone. She asked a stranger over a chat bubble to be her friend and have a play date with her! I can feel the loneliness in her soul! How can you let someone live like that!? If you cared at all you would ask her what she wanted. And god dammit I paid for this call with my life and a shit ton of dp so I refuse to be sent off without you doing your job. I've been a dungeon core for over five years and I have never had a sapient visitor, just animals and apparently I'm stuck till someone finds me. Can you please help me?!"

There was a long pause where neither of us even breathed and the person on the other side of the chat bubble weighed my words.

{Niamh} "You have guts to talk to me like that. Let me scan your history real quick and see what I'm working with here."

I'm a little stunned. I've always had a tendency to explode.. My husband is the only person who could keep me from exploding. He was like a calm pond, no matter what you threw at him it never rippled his water. I miss him. But she took it pretty well. In the end she spoke up first.

{Niamh} "Little girl I like you, you are interesting. You came here from the other universe and became a dungeon core and you never questioned it once. You handled it really well compared to some of the others I met in the past. I do have some questions though so lets get started. Tell me about this soul enhancement enchantment you're trying to make. Make it quick. Your dungeon points will only give you so much time."

{Lilith} "Well to be honest I was scared of being enslaved so I was trying to think of a way to avoid it. So my theory is to consider the enslavement spell as a box that contains and controls the soul. If we can empower the soul so it doesn't all fit in the box in theory you couldn't be enslaved or you would be able to break free later if you can break the box. But I haven't been able to figure it out. It's just a theory."

{Niamh} "Is that all?"

I feel like she's staring right into my soul and I feel compelled to tell her the whole truth.

{Lilith} "I also suspect that I'll feel more complete the bigger my soul is. I don't really understand it but maybe if my soul was bigger I might."

{Niamh} "Little one you sure do have some interesting ideas so here's what I'm thinking, you live on a frozen island. People tried to inhabit it but they never managed to so they just abandoned everything and went back to the mainland. You can let me move you to a different location so you can start over and we can go our separate ways or you can let me give you a few tips to better your dungeon and let me send people to your dungeon that need to die or need to become stronger or die in the process. I'm not picky."

I'm a little shocked at her proposal but it doesn't sound like a bad idea. The part about her sending people to my dungeon. I don't want to move and start over. I need to get some visitors and if I have to kill people knowing that they deserve it makes it easier.

{Lilith} "What would you suggest I do to my dungeon? I don't want to start over, I love what I have created so far."

{Niamh} "While I do love your dungeon theme so far it's a little bare. I suggest you add more varieties to all of your floors. All of your floors are pretty scarce for a field dungeon. Go back and buy more monsters with your dungeon points and also add some safe spaces. They don't have to be very big but they must be safe from all monsters."

{Lilith} "Ok I can do that. I don't have many dungeon points but i'll do my best to buy more monsters, and I will make some safe zones for my delvers."

{Niamh} "Good child. I will give you five hundred dungeon points for every floor so that you can pack it up well."

{Lilith} "Thank you so much! Tell Ani to come visit my dungeon some time in the future and we can play with my foxes. I'm going to go fix my dungeon so you can invite some people to my dungeon. I really want to get started on my next floor."

{Niamh} "Ok I will. I'll find some people that need to disappear quickly so you can continue to grow. I will also reimburse you for this chat bubble so you can fill up your floors. Good luck. I hope you don't end up dying."

Just like that she hung up on me and I was in a daze for a while after that because when she hung up on me I received a shit ton of notifications. Apparently I have a patron now and she upgraded my system for me?