When I got up this morning I didn't ever consider that I would end up bleeding in the middle of the road after having the worst morning ever.

I woke up late because my phone didn't charge, even though I had plugged it in before bed. Then I ended up being chased by some insane homeless guy; who stabbed me in the side and ran off laughing crazily.

Even though it hurt and I was convinced I was going to die before I could pick myself up off the ground, I started to slowly drag myself across the road, before I slowly found the strength to stand and timidly walked towards the opposite side of the road so I could get some help.

My stupid phone was dead and I didn't know what else to do. After I finally made it there, as I was calling to the man across the street Mr truck came out of nowhere and ran me down, stabbing the knife even deeper into me.

Everything burned but was cold at the same time. I was struggling to keep my thoughts clear. I was so focused on me that I barely noticed a crowd had formed around me. Where were all these stupid people five minutes ago? And then it just kinda hit me: did I just get double isekai'd?! Then it all went black.

And it felt like I floated for a long time in the middle of nowhere and nothing. I'm not even sure I was still. Who was I? Ok lets start simple. I'm Lillith Scott. I'm thirty years old and I live in Florida. I'm not quite a homebody but I'm still pretty anti social. I'm married. That led to a big pause. I was married. I'm pretty sure I died, but still! My poor husband...

And then suddenly all those feelings just disappeared and something changed. No. It was me that changed. I was no longer floating in the void, I was apparently alive again. But it felt different. Things were missing. And I don't just mean body parts; I feel less than I did before and everything feels muted.

I kind of felt like I was suffocating and I just needed to take in a breath but I wasn't sure how to. I was starting to feel something akin to panic but yet again it was muted and it didn't feel urgent.

Focusing on myself again I tried to calm my brain? I'm not sure what else to call it but I just sit, taking imaginary breaths in and out and something clicked and I had a bunch of info dumped into my head.

Well that's cool. I guess I'm a dungeon core.

I read all kind of those stories before I died, those and the ones where people get sucked into the game or novel. Lots of tropes I can use to extend my life as a dungeon core. I start to take stock of where I am.

I can kind of see but not really, it's all very fuzzy like when you open your eyes under water at the beach. I think I can see the opening to my cave like area. It seems pretty bright for a cave at least. I feel pretty safe, nothing was waiting to smash me at least. I feel instincts but I also feel like I can ignore them.

They want me to expand but I refuse to be reckless; I need knowledge to do this the best way available to me. According to the novels I can do this various ways; I can be a murder death box and kill everything that enters my domain or I can make then spend lots of time in my dungeon killing my creatures.

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

In my past life I'd never really seriously considered murdering anyone other than my abusive sperm donor but now the idea of murder kind of makes my core tingle. So maybe it was there but the common sense part of my brain held it back. But I also don't like the idea of just killing everyone, I want people to come back to my dungeon time and time again.

Customers that leave happy always tell their friends. Of course I have my principles; I will not allow some cocky asshole prince to conquer me and become king. Work for it man. I will try to kill you. Nothing comes for free.

I have been gathering mana into myself and I feel like I'm close to bursting but I think I can keep going. And then all of a sudden I hear a ding and someone start talking to me.

"[Welcome to the dungeon system, you have completed the first phase of gathering mana so that you may disperse it and make your dungeon. Please expel mana and claim the cave as your starting dungeon.]"

Well that was pretty straight forward; I guess now I figure out how to expel my mana. It should be the opposite of taking it in right? I took a deep breath and started to exhale. I blew as hard as I could and I could feel my mana sinking into the stone walls around me and then all at once I felt bigger but empty. Ding.

"[Congratulations on claiming your first room. Scanning nearby conditions of core, core is on Eternal Ice Mountain. First floor monsters selection is narrowed down to ice types. Please choose your first monster. Hint. All monsters choices or evolved forms will be there later if not chosen now. ]"

[Snowy Owl. A large flying predator that blends in seamlessly with the snow. Preys on small animals. Can be great scouts. Can use a little wind magic to fly faster than the snow storms]

[Snow fox. A medium sized predator that doesn't feel cold. When they swarm in packs they can take down predators twice their size. Use ice magic to help take down their prey.]

[Snowy wolf. Large predator that feels no fear. They are the pack kings. Together they can take down a solitary Polar Ice Bear. Use wind magic to run longer distances.]

[Horned Ice Hare. Small omnivore that is brave beyond it's size. They have adapted to live in packs and hunt together. Anything that come near should beware. Ice magic user.]

I actually really like all of my starter choices. All of them are cute and fluffy. In my past life I had a cat that always reminded me of a fox so I'm pretty sure I've already made up my mind. But I really should give some thought to what kind of dungeon I want to be when it's all said and done.

Hmmmm... Apparently I'm on a frozen mountain so I bet people would be pretty surprised if I don't keep with that theme.. So I guess that's my goal, I'll start out with what people expect and then blow their minds. Muahaha. Before I choose my starter monster though, I'll feel better if I couldn't see the mouth of my cave from my core so I'll start digging my cave deeper. Deeper and deeper I dug into the cave.

Thankfully my mana refills quickly and it doesn't take me long to reach the limit of what the system let me dig. I can barely see the light coming in to the cave anymore, I feel much more secure. Now that is taken care of I'll choose my first monster.

I selected the snow fox and held my non existant breath waiting to see what would happen. Nothing. It was a pretty big let down but at the same time I don't know why I was expecting so much. Ding.

[Congratulations on choosing your first monster. Now please choose your ecosystem to build your floor. Hint. Each floor can only be used again after all floors have been used.]

[Grassland, wetlands, desert, forest, coral reef, tundra, terrestrial, savanna, rainforest, freshwater, lake, taiga boreal, mangrove, swamp, volcanic, mountain.]

Woah. Those are a lot of choices. I'm pretty sure I know them all and the ones I don't the system explains to me. But I had already decided to do the expected and then do the unexpected. It sounded like so much fun.