Bo returns twice more that week, each time ending with yet another death for Veronica. She couldn't help but feel enraged and the dungeon responded in kind. Seraphina was beginning to worry about the issue, but wasn't sure if it was right to step in. The dungeon core was showing no sign of corruption, it was just that things were not faring well for the adventurers who frequented the dungeon.
Every time her anger spiked, the dungeon would start to tremble and it wasn't uncommon for the gargoyles to rampage, attacking adventurers indiscriminately and with far less caution than they typically would. It had already resulted in several people becoming injured and the dungeon traffic had dropped as a result. There were talks of a manhunt for the culprit who upset the Dungeon Master being hunted down, but nothing had been done, as of yet. It was just that no one wanted their livelihoods to be affected just because someone had pissed off the Dungeon Master.
Veronica had been informed by Seraphina of the council questioning the state of things due to the number of letters of concern being sent in about the matter. However, if the elven woman's plan was to embarrass her into calming down, then it wasn't a very good one. It wasn't exactly as if she planned to spend all her time moping around, though. She was already working on a plan of action to put some distance between her and Bo.
She had spent 138 DP to research a 31-Units by 38-Units rectangle room for the new tavern space and another 112 DP to research an 18-Units by 38-Units rectangle room for the kitchen space that went right next to it. For the dungeon side of things she had to spend 74 DP to research an 18-Units by 19-Units room because of the awkward length leftover on the far side of the dungeon. She decided to go with two of these new room sizes as [Monster] fields as well as two of the classic 18-Units by 18-Units sized square [Monster] field rooms for half of the leftover space. Then, finally, another 146 DP was used to research a 38-Units by 35-Units room to use for a boss room.
That set everything up for the first floor so all she would have to do was fill in the empty rooms. Since she always kept the [Monster] field rooms simple, she went ahead and filled them in with a 50 MP spawner and three basic gargoyles each. Veronica still wanted to use some of her [Critters] in her rooms, but she just wasn't sure it was possible without leaving them unattended so they could die out after a single encounter with an adventurer. The gargoyles each cost her 15 MP, ensuring 45 mana points out of a 50 MP limit was already used up. The bullet ants were the ones she wanted to use the most, but a single queen bullet ant cost 10 MP, which meant she simply didn't have enough room on the spawner to protect them.
Veronica didn't really care about protecting her [Critters] out of some nonsensical sense of attachment. They weren't exactly sentient creatures she had befriended, they were just another way to protect her dungeon. However, she didn't love the idea of needing to constantly replace them either, especially since she didn't want to think about it anymore after she finished the first floor. Of course, eventually, she'd have to replace all of her [Monsters] and [Critters], regardless of whether they were assigned to a spawner or not, but that was something she could do every few months to years when the system informed her of the need to do so. It wasn't something that would be a reoccurring daily occurrence, so it wouldn't feel like as much of a chore.
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Veronica, finally, had a menu figured out for her tavern, as well as the prices for it, but she would have to fill the tavern and kitchen with appliances and furniture first. She'd likely leave that for last as she wanted to finish her boss room sooner rather than later. Seraphina had been unwilling, or else unable, to share any information about what sorts of boss [Monsters] other dungeons used. So, she was going to be left to her own devices and creativity to figure out what to do with that.
Since the only [Monster] she had that was worthwhile, currently, was a gargoyle, the boss would, obviously, be a gargoyle. However, she didn't know how to evolve it to improve upon its original design. Making it larger might increase its damage capabilities, but physics would also suggest it would have a harder time moving around. There was also the possibility of giving it some sort of elemental ability, like the ability to breathe fire. That might not be a bad idea, but it also felt a bit boring.
Veronica was well aware of the fact that creativity wasn't exactly her strong suit. Her dungeon was a testament to that. Just look at her [Monster] field rooms, not a single gargoyle had a special ability. The rooms were all identical, pretty much, with very little to differentiate them. They functioned just fine and it wasn't like she had heard the adventurers complaining about her dungeon, but even she could recognize what she was lacking.
If her own lived experiences were anything to go by, it seems that all Dungeon Masters were limited by their own knowledge. There were no computers to research new ideas and Veronica had always preferred to play cozy games rather than fantasy and adventure. The most eccentric game she had ever played had been one where she played as a graveyard keeper, managing dead bodies and a church while exploring the game's world. The rest were all things like life simulators and farming games.
It was a nice way to unwind after standing on her feet cooking and cleaning all day only to have to spend hours studying for college when she returned back to her apartment. However, it wasn't exactly very useful to her current circumstances. Being constantly cut off from the outside world, having stupid dungeon accords banning people from influencing her decisions, it all felt suffocating. If she was free to make her own decisions, she'd want to go out and explore the world, check out other dungeons, and read all the literature this world had on offer. Then she could pick and choose the ideas she liked, change them to fit her own desires, and build a dungeon truly worth visiting. If only everyone would stop standing in her way...