Dear Diary,

I've come up with a new idea for interacting with those from outside the dungeon. Previously, I've tried socializing with people, but there has never really been a reason for them to want me around. I don't have anything to offer them and I just seem like a helicopter parent who won't let them just enjoy their experience in my dungeon without being supervised. Sure, I have the excuse of wanting to keep them away from the dungeon core room when I run into them there, but that isn't always what has been happening.

Things are different, though if I play the role of a merchant. My mana doesn't just have to be spent purely on things for the dungeon, I can create perfect copies of anything I have unlocked through my research. I can offer them potions, tastier food than the rations they will have likely brought, and even equipment they may be in need of. I wouldn't exactly be charging them copper, silver, and gold coins for things either. I mostly need items from outside the dungeon so I can acquire enough resources to continue building a better dungeon. Plus, I'm hopeful that this will be a good way to build goodwill between us.

I know I want to make more friends, but simply forcing the issue isn't likely to get me any results. I was lucky with Elivyre as she is just so laid back and willing to befriend anyone and anything that is willing to show her the same courtesy. Most adventurers and locals are starting from a completely different mindset, it seems. Even David is still distrustful and passive-aggressive after all of this time. I don't start with the benefit of the doubt like other non-dungeon entities would, instead I get treated like something dangerous, something to be cautious of, just like my monsters.

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It won't be easy to change peoples' minds, but I'm willing to try. What other choice do I have? Theodore told me that most dungeon masters who start out trying to be more peaceful, like myself, tend to become jaded over time. They stop being as kind and thinking about the adventurers so much as prioritizing their own needs and ensuring their dungeon has strong defenses. I don't want that for myself, but I certainly spend a good bit of time worrying that it could just as easily happen to me. With how the dungeon regulates my emotions and the way I'm constantly shunned by everyone who enters my dungeon, I'm not sure what I'll do in a few decades if my efforts now don't work out.

Let's not think about that so much. I recently unlocked some new critters after completing some more system missions. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with jellyfish, maybe I'll try to do a water-based floor one day just so I can utilize some of the more aquatic critters I've been unlocking. The jade tree frogs and koi fish seem happy in their pond, but I doubt the same would be true for something like a jellyfish. I don't know if I'll unlock any aquatic monsters, though, so whose to say what the future will hold.

The adventurers who were just here are gone now. I should get back to work. There are more challenges that need built and only a limited amount of time until more people will show up.

-Violet