Before Violet could forget, she went back to check her [Missions] tab one last time.
Missions:
Origin:
Status:
Info:
Reward:
System
Incomplete
Place first [Trap]
Unlock a new [Critter] option
System
Incomplete
Complete the first floor
Unlock a new [Critter] option
System
Incomplete
Unlock the second floor
Unlock a new [Critter] option
System
Complete
Unlock [Critters] from five different phyla.
Unlock a new [Critter] option
System
Incomplete
Unlock ten [Critters]
Unlock a new [Critter] option
System
Incomplete
Earn the favor of a patron god or goddess
Unlock new schematic
Right, she almost forgot! With the last reward she chose, she had completed the quest for unlocking [Critters] from five different phyla. She quickly accepted the [Mission] reward.
Please select one of the following phylum options to be randomly awarded a [Critter] from:
Cnidaria
Echinodermata
Chordata - Aves
Violet didn't need to select something new, but she also didn't need another bird right now. If she didn't end up with a forest biome, she wasn't even sure the birds she did have would have somewhere to nest. So, perhaps it would be better to take a chance on something new? Violet sighed as she selected the [Cnidaria] option, resigned to her fate.
Randomizing options...
New [Critter] option unlocked!
Name:
Mana Cost:
Info:
Crystal Jelly
10 MP
Behaves the same as a normal crystal jelly. Average combat ability, capable of paralyzing prey. Safe to consume.
Violet blinked in surprise at the message before her. She hadn't been expecting a jellyfish. However, its combat ranking also raised other questions. Jellyfish aren't considered to be lethal to human. Even if it could paralyze its prey, it wasn't like a single jellyfish sting would paralyze the entirety of a human's body. Maybe if multiple attacked at the same time and someone was swimming through deep water. Well, it was a dungeon, after all, so perhaps that wasn't too far-fetched of a possibility.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Violet stretched, yawning and feeling sleepy. Adventurers would likely be showing up soon enough, perhaps it was time for another nap? While she was sleeping, Camellia and Avorn stopped by to farm experience and collect resources.
"Hey! Check this out, honey! There is a pond in here, maybe there will be some fish we can catch..."
Camellia excitedly exclaimed. Avorn frowned, this dungeon was strange. He walked into the new room cautiously, but there weren't even any slimes to attack them. There were just some small frogs, that he almost would have missed if he hadn't nearly stepped on one, and some colorful fish swimming through the pond.
"Wow! This room is so breathtaking! I love the willow tree that's in the middle of the pond. I've never seen anything like this before have you?"
Camellia asked. Avorn just shook his head, still feeling shocked by the new room. There was no sign declaring it a room for rest, asking for tribute, or anything else that would suggest the room was a safe space. Yet, no matter how he looked, there wasn't a single [Monster] or [Trap] to be found. Finally sorting out his thoughts, he replied
"It's rather odd for a dungeon to have a room like this on the first floor, especially considering there is already a room for resting further in. Why do you think the Dungeon Master would do something like this?"
Camellia shrugged her shoulders as she replied
"Maybe the Dungeon Master likes things like this? Maybe they want to encourage more people to visit the dungeon. It's really hard to know since I've never talked to a Dungeon Master before. Besides, it isn’t like we've been to that many dungeons. Just a small handful of the ones in this kingdom, so it's hard to say how strange this is."
Avorn pursed his lips, still feeling unsure about this strange dungeon. Well, it wasn't like there was any issue if the dungeon did something like this. At worst, the Dungeon Master might later put [Monsters] or [Traps] in the room. At best, they got a nice fishing spot and could now eat some tasty fish with their meals. Maybe they could even sell some of the fish to the locals who don't normally get to enjoy such a delicacy.
Just like that, Avorn and Camellia adopted a new habit. They would need to buy fishing poles first, but they were excited to be able to fish. It wasn't like they had anything better to do with their free time anyway. Whenever they weren't in the dungeon, they were camping out in the forest. That left little room for entertainment of any kind, so fishing wasn't a bad way to spend their free time.
When Violet awoke, she was disappointed to see that she had only gotten 3 DP from the most recent adventurers. They had left chickweed, watercress, and an apple, but they weren't new [Items] so it didn't help her very much. Today was starting to look like a bust on the dungeon points front. Yet Violet still very much needed to do some research to complete her new puzzle. She sighed, shaking her head as she said
"I'd like to research orange dye and green dye."
Would you like to spend 15 DP to research orange dye using the [Base Resources] red dye and yellow dye?
Yes
No
Would you like to spend 15 DP to research green dye using the [Base Resources] blue dye and yellow dye?
Yes
No
Violet selected the [Yes] option one after another as the system prompts showed up. With an entire 30 DP gone, she now had only 279 DP left. Luckily, she wouldn't need to research any more dyes today, she just needed to build the actual puzzle.
"I'd like to research and build a rainbow sliding ball maze. I want there to be wooden balls that are dyed red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. They should be able to slide along the puzzle from one end to the other with a few places where they can cut through to the other side without moving any of the other balls."
Searching the database for 'sliding ball maze'...
Unable to find 'sliding ball maze' in database. Now searching the host's memory.
Violet wasn't surprised and she quickly braced herself against a nearby wall. Wooden ball mazes weren't super common knowledge even in her old world. There were some versions for toddlers and a few more complicated ones for adults, which was where Violet's idea had come from. Even then, she was trying to adapt it to be more suitable for her purposes with some of her own imagination involved in the process. Even once the next prompt showed up, Violet couldn't help but feel nervous about whether the puzzle would be executed correctly.
Would you like to complete research and build [Rainbow Sliding Ball Maze] for 50 MP and 200 DP?
Yes
No
Violet selected the [Yes] option as she sighed. Of course, one of the only times when she had to spend an insane amount of dungeon points and the mana to dungeon point cost wasn't two to one was when she built puzzles like this. The puzzle was built in the middle of the room in the same way that the slime jigsaw puzzle had been with most of the space taken up by the puzzle.
Violet was relieved to see the puzzle was exactly as she had imagined it. If anything, the system had even perfected the idea so it worked seamlessly. The balls were large and had to be pushed with both hands to push them across the board. There were set paths that the balls could travel along and the balls couldn't be removed from the board. There were about five of each of the six different colors and Violet wanted to make it so they had to be arranged in the correct color order while having the balls randomly arranged beforehand.
There was only 79 DP left after making the puzzle, but Violet still wanted to set the challenge officially before calling it a day.
"I'd like to research chamomile shortbread cookies with both honey and chamomile flowers in the cookies."
Would you like to spend 30 DP to research chamomile shortbread cookies using the [Base Resources] flour, sugar, butter, chamomile, and honey?
Yes
No
Violet happily selected [Yes] before spending another 15 DP to set the challenge. That only left her a mere 34 DP, but she was still happy to see the room be useful. It was likely this challenge would be a lot easier for most to complete as well. It didn't require anyone to jump across platforms, it didn't require guessing the correct answer, and it didn't require you to capture any slimes. Violet still stubbornly refused to think those challenges were problematic, but she didn't exactly want people to stop visiting her dungeon due to the challenges being too difficult either.
Of course, the challenges were mostly just difficult because they weren't what adventurers were used to. Once someone figured out the puzzle and the information on how to complete it spread to others, there would be plenty of people completing the challenge. Even the parkour challenge could be conquered by practicing outside of the dungeon, like Tobias had, or simply continuing to show up and fail the challenge every day, as David had. Conquering difficult challenges in dungeons and defeating difficult [Monsters] was what made adventuring so fulfilling. If everything was easy, it would ruin the best part about dungeons.