Clara slides her tentacles over the closed door with my logo drawn, the one that leads to the dungeon core.

“Why is a door here? There should be the dungeon core instead of this door… Andreu, did you make changes to your dungeon without telling me?” She crosses her arms and asks me.

“Yes, there’s a whole new area. I just never told you because we were so busy with the training and everything else…”

“Muuu, this isn’t good! I tell you everything I do, so you should do the same!”

That’s a lie, you only tell me what you feel like telling me.

For example, you never explained to me what’s that about the ‘slave’ stuff you sometimes mention. Not like I want to know. In fact, I prefer not knowing. But you didn’t tell me anything about it anyway.

And I’m sure there are a lot more things you never tell me.

“As if I could tell you everything I do.”

“But don’t you feel bad for your cute little sister? Don’t you think it’s normal to tell me everything?”

Well, I don’t. Do you believe you’re my owner or something similar?

“Don’t worry, Clara. If you want, from now on I’ll tell you everything I do! See? Aren’t I a good older sister?”

“...but I don’t need it. I’m just interested in him, not you.”

“W-what!? B-but… haaaa, why is it always like this…?”

I’m sorry, Marta. It seems she hasn’t completely forgiven you yet. Or maybe she’s just joking because she got angry at me. Yeah… the latter is more probable.

After a little bit of fooling around, Marta starts inspecting the door. Meanwhile, Clara sits on the ground, sulking.

There’s my logo on the door, occupying most of the double-sided metal door. Right next to it, there’s one of those devices where you can put a card into. How were they called again? Well, who cares…

“Hmmm, so this is why you asked me how could you put your own drawing into the game. It’s a little bit crude, but the wererat’s head laughing like a deranged and the lighting in the background is quite original. And it fits you perfectly.”

“You’re right! And thanks for the compliment.”

“It wasn’t a compliment.”

“...”

How am I supposed to take it, then? It sounded like a compliment to me, but she says it isn’t…

Marta puts one hand on her chin and starts thinking.

“So… we now need to find the card that opens this door? I wonder where it is… we haven’t found anything like this so far, but Clara said this was the last room… maybe…that area I saw…” She mutters.

This is because you’re missing the new area, the failed experiments area.

Hmm… what to do…? In a standard dungeon invasion, the players would have to avoid the Minitaur Queen while going back and forth between this door, which leads to the dungeon core, and the sealed area.

But it makes no sense now because the boss is dead. It suffered a pathetic death. It wouldn’t make any difference even if I could somehow resurrect it, it would die immediately again.

And, I don’t want them to waste lots of time, nor do I want to see them go back and forth without any fixed objective… It’ll be too boring. So I’ll give them a helping hand.

Ok, ok, you got me. It’s mostly because of the latter. Who likes to be bored? Not I, certainly.

“It’s inside the new area I created. Turn around.” Marta turns around. “Do you see that area on the rightmost wall, where moss grows and there’s a weird brownish substance?”

“Oh, that area… I understand.” Marta nods. “I thought it was suspicious when I flew over the laboratory stuff, so it was the first place I wanted to investigate. But Clara led me here instead…”

This shows her experience. With a single glance, she immediately knew what area was the most suspicious.

I added the moss and sticky goo near the entrance to help guide players. Or to be more specific, so that players knew there was something there when they got near the sealed door. I also made it visible from here so that players would know where to go if they’re lost.

I just never thought somebody would fly over the laboratory equipment, allowing them to see the hints from the entrance.

“Yes, that area is where you need to go. I’ll guide you there through the shortest route to save time.”

“Thanks, I suppose. I don’t really need your help, but if it saves us time, I’ll accept it.”

Couldn’t you leave it at the ‘thanks’? Would it kill you to say ‘thank you’ without adding anything else?

“Come on, Clara. Let’s go.”

Clara continues crossing her arms and turns her head away. “I don’t want to.”

“You don’t? Then you can wait here, I’ll come back once I get the key.” Marta starts to walk. She opens her wings. “Now that I’m alone, I can make this easier by flying.”

Oh, right. Since she’s been playing with Clara, who can’t fly, she was hesitating to use the wings for exploration. But if she goes alone, she can do whatever she wants to.

What can I do to prevent this? I don’t want her to be in ‘serious mode’ and freely flying everywhere because I won’t be able to make her cry! And I want to see her go crazy and explode in anger some more!

And talking to her is useless. After falling for my tricks a few times today, she won’t listen to anything I say.

I guess I’ll have to convince Clara to go with her somehow…

“Come on, Clara…” I say, in the gentlest tone I can. “If you go into the new area, you’ll make me very happy.”

Clara doesn’t move or react at all. This won’t do… It looks like I’ll have to bring out the heavy artillery.

“I’ll be so happy I might do whatever you ask me to do. But what a shame you don’t want–”

“Marta, what are you waiting for? Let’s go!”

Clara suddenly appears right next to Marta, who was a few meters in front of her, even before I finish my sentence. She grabs Marta’s hand and starts pulling.

“W-what!? How did you get here without me noticing?” Exclaims Marta.

Yes, my reaction is the same. W-what!? How did she move so fast? Did she get a teleport spell that I didn’t know about…?

Sometimes, she can be very scary… Well, scarier than usual, I mean.

Did she know I wanted to make Marta cry again, and took advantage of the situation? Please, tell me she didn’t do it on purpose. Tell me I didn’t fall for her tricks, that she’s not playing with me like that!

“Let’s go! The sooner we complete this, the sooner I can get him to do what I want. What should I ask him…? Hehehe!”

“Ok, ok. But stop pulling me. I was on my way anyway…”

Marta turns her head away from Clara and makes a nasty smile. She knows. She knows I’m screwed!

I shudder. There’s this… feeling. This sensation of something coming for me. Oh, shit. This’ll come back and bite me. I just hope it isn’t that bad…

Let’s calm down, Andreu. What can she ask? I’m sure it’s going to be something normal. She isn’t going to ask anything stupid, I’m sure of it.

I’m… sure?

----------------------------------------

“Hmm… dark, humid, and creepy. Should I praise you for creating yet another area with a completely different feeling? Nah, it’ll go to your head.”

This is the first thing Marta says after opening the sealed door that leads to the failed experiments area.

I set it so the boards and rusty door can be attacked and destroyed. It is so they can act as a blocker until the area is open, at which point the monsters inside can start pouring into the rest of the dungeon. I don’t call it a ‘sealed area’ only because it sounds cool.

Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

By the way, she only needed a single punch to break her way through.

Marta starts going down the stairs, closely followed by Clara.

“Broken lights… ugh, this sticky goo is disgusting… mold… Maybe you should go easier on the smell, it’s too strong right now.” Marta comments as she descends. “But I thought you were scared of spooky things, Andreu. Why did you create an area like this if you don’t like it?”

“Oh, no. You’re wrong.” I answer. “What I’m afraid of is the Abyss stuff. I’m not scared of normal horror stuff. Not of monsters, not of phantoms, and certainly not of the darkness. I also don’t mind gore and gross things. It’s just the Abyss monsters, just them.”

“Aha, I see…” Marta makes a nasty grin. What are you planning now, Marta?

“Hey, hey! Do you think a monster will come and attack us while we can’t see anything?” Clara interrupts Marta’s thoughts by poking her shoulder.

“This is a dungeon, so yes. I’m more or less sure it will.”

“Then… do you think it’ll be a disgusting monster? Or a dangerous one? Maybe a cute one? I would like it to be a big and scary monster that chases us and we have to run away! Do you think there’s a monster like that?”

I’m sorry, Clara. The monster you’re talking about is still in progress. I didn’t have the time or cp to create it yet.

But I want to add a unit similar to what you’re describing in the future, so don’t worry. You’ll have the chance to enjoy your monstrous chase in the future.

“I don’t know. And why are you asking me, you should ask Anreu instead.”

“Oh, right!” Clara nods a few times before speaking again. “Andreu! Is there an unstoppable monster from which we need to run away?”

“I don’t know what you’ll find,” I answer. “Also, don’t you think it’ll be better if it’s a surprise? I’m sure our older sister, here present, will agree with me. She’s been complaining about knowing too much until now…”

“Yes, you’re right. It’s better if we don’t know what’s coming next.”

“Ok… you don’t need to tell us anything. But I wanted to know…” Clara lowers her head in sorrow.

By the way, I’m not lying. Which monsters are released from the sealed rooms and which ones aren’t isn’t up to me. It’s up to the Blips.

Of course, this is only true if I don’t manually open the doors from here, but this and that are two different things.

Also, I don’t want to do it because I want their feedback. I need them to experience a ‘normal’ dungeon invasion. And with ‘normal’ I mean a dungeon invasion where I don’t personally intervene at all.

I’ve been tempted a few times to activate a trap right on top of Marta, to make her angry, followed by an ‘Ups!’ exclamation so she knew it was on purpose. It was really hard to stop myself from doing it… but I didn’t do it in the end.

Aren’t I a good person?

So I’m not going to intervene, nor am I going to tell them what’s next. No help and no obstructions seem fair to me.

As soon as they reach the end of the stairs, my sisters start looking around. They’re searching for clues of what this area is, or what kind of enemies they’ll encounter.

“Hey, look here, Marta!” Shouts Clara. “There’s an empty prison cell here! And next to it, there’s a wall with a glass… There are monsters inside!”

“*Sigh!* How many times do I have to tell you to not shout? The monsters might come after us if they hear you...”

“If they come, you’ll instantly defeat them all! So I don’t have to worry!”

“This isn’t the issue here… And don’t touch random stuff! Why are you always like this… Hey, Andreu, do you want to switch places?”

No thanks. You can take care of Clara’s behavior, I don’t need that ‘honor’.

But it’s best if I don’t say anything in this situation, so I don’t. I don’t want to bring more trouble upon myself.

“Ugh, they look like monsters! It’s disgusting.”

“Of course they do, they’re monsters. And what did I tell you, Clara?”

“I-I’m not touching! I’m just looking, I swear!” Clara hides her hand behind her back. “But that’s not what I meant! They’re humans, but there’s something growing out of them. It’s disgusting.”

Right before Marta stopped her, Clara was about to press the button that opens the sealed room’s door. I saw it, Marta saw it, and Clara knows we saw it. I’m not sure what’s she trying to achieve by lying here.

“Then… what are we going to do? Are we leaving them here?”

“No, I’m going to fight them now. I just don’t want you to randomly touch things. If you want to get into the top rankings, you must stop doing it.”

“But I don’t care about the rankings... And you’ll solve everything anyway, I don’t have to worry.”

Marta makes a pained face and turns around. She starts speaking to herself in a low voice so that Clara doesn’t hear.

“Ugh… I like that she relies on me, and I want her to keep doing it. But my pride as a pro player forces me to train her the best I can. This includes fixing her obsession to poke everything she sees. I want her to rely on me, but I also want her to improve… What should I do…? Ugh…” Marta furiously scratches her head while thinking about what to do.

I can hear it clearly thanks to how the screens and audio works in the game, but Clara can’t.

It seems you’re having trouble with Clara too, huh, sister? Well… I understand how you feel. It’s usually me who’s in your position, and the decision I took was to embrace chaos.

The thing is, can you actually do it? Because if I remember properly, you hate chaos because it reminds you of your matches against me… Fufufu! Hahaha!

Do I feel bad for Marta? Hell, no! I enjoy her suffering!

*Blip!*

As Marta struggles with her decision, the sound of one door opening echoes throughout the passage.

“What did I tell you, Clara!?”

“I didn’t press it! It wasn’t me! Look, the door is still closed!”

True to her words, the door to the cell containing the vine-infected humans is closed. It must have been a Blip, randomly opening another room.

“Let’s see… what monsters were liberated…” I scan the screens, looking for the cell that was opened. “Oh, here they are. Ooooh, this is interesting. Very interesting. Let’s see do my sisters react… This is going to be very funny! Hahaha!”

“If it wasn’t you, then it means another door was opened. Andreu, do you have anything to do with this?” Marta asks me.

“I swear it wasn’t me.”

“Then there must be something that’s capable of opening the doors. Stay alert, we don’t know what we’ll face, or how many there’ll be.”

Ooh, you guessed it right. There’s something that can open the doors in this place.

“Sir, yes sir!” Clara makes a military salute in response.

She’s still fooling around…

“We’re leaving this place alone for now, we must understand what’s going on first. Follow me, and stay quiet.”

“Ok...” Clara looks at the button that opens the door with regret before following after Marta.

----------------------------------------

“Fufufu! Hahaha!”

It doesn’t take long for them to find the first escapee. How will they react?

“Is that you, Andreu? What the hell are you doing here? Didn’t we agree you would leave us alone?”

“Andreu! You came after all! Hehehe!”

Their reactions couldn’t be more different. One crosses her arms, furrows her brows, and asks for an explanation. The other jumps in glee and rushes at ‘me’.

Of course, that’s not me, it’s one of the failed clones. But I’m not going to say anything... I want to see their reactions first.

“No, watch it properly. It’s not him.” Says Marta. “The arms are different. Which means this is a monster…”

Clara stops in her tracks after hearing the truth. “Oh, you’re right! They aren’t black, nor do they release black smoke.”

They got me. Then, there’s no need to stay quiet anymore. “Yes, you’re right! That’s not me, it’s one of my failed clones.”

The failed clone finally notices the intruders and prepares for combat.

And the first thing it does is… laughing like a maniac with foam on its mouth. Then, it prepares to cast Chain Lightning but, before it can, it slips and falls on its ass.

No… no way… Why did you have to fail so miserably? Why!?

“Pfftt! Hahaha!” Marta bursts into laughter. “I see now! It’s truly your clone! It’s as stupid as you are, after all! Hahaha!”

“It’s true! It even laughs like you do when playing the Mad Rat, Andreu!”

No, no, no, no. I’m not as stupid as the clone. And it shouldn’t be acting like a fool either. What’s going on?

Then, another failed clone appears from the corner at rushes at Marta, who’s the closest invader. At the same time, the first clone finally manages to cast Chain Lighting. But right at this moment, the newcomer makes a jump, putting itself in the middle and receiving the first hit from the lightning.

Sure, after hitting him the lightning then jumps at Marta and some of her closest minions, but the failed clone takes the most damage because it takes the first hit.

What the hell!? I programmed them to behave like deranged maniacs, but I didn’t expect them to do something like this!

“Hahaha! What’s this? Is this a show? Pffft! I can’t stop laughing! Why are they behaving like this? Why are they attacking each other?”

I want to ask the same question too.

Oh my god, this is bad… I can accept it if I messed up with their AI and they’re doing this shit because of me. But why did it have to be now!? Why did it have to be against my sisters!? I wouldn’t have minded if it happened against another player instead!

But it’s so different from what I’ve seen so far…

My clones, why are they so stupid and useless!? All the players I’ve seen so far were scared of them, you know!? They’re supposed to be scary, not funny, so why are they hitting each other now!?

“P-put a, shield, and stay p-p-put. D-don’t kill them.” Marta orders her minions. “I-I want, to, see what they do next. Pffft! This is, s-so stupid! Hahaha! Oh, here comes a t-t-third! Pffft!”

Marta rolls on the floor as she laughs. An almost transparent film appears in the passage, separating the failed clones from my sisters and their mobs.

Now that the failed clones have lost their targets – or more accurately, they can’t reach them – they start doing even more stupid stuff. Like licking the shield, or climbing on top of another to try and jump over the ‘invisible wall’.

“This i-is, getting, better! Hahaha!”

Meanwhile, Clara is watching everything with a dangerous gleam in her non-existant eyes. How do I know it, if she doesn’t have eyes? I know her better than herself. What she’s saying also helps me know it.

“After this ends, maybe I can… Hehehe.” Mutters Clara while intently staring at one of the failed clones and tightly holding the corpses of the Octocat and the rabbit.

Wait a moment! Is she… She’s going to do it, isn’t she!?

Those are the last words I hear before my mind breaks into tiny, minuscule fragments. It was supposed to be fun for me, and not the other way around!

[https://i.imgur.com/ZGSK4Pl.png]

“I couldn’t focus on the end of the dungeon invasion. I was too ashamed. It didn’t help that Clara was dragging one of my failed clones’ corpses around, hugging it from time to time and murmuring very scary and perturbing things. Things I won’t repeat so your mind stays pure...

But it was a good thing Marta took the feedback part seriously and I could fix all the mistakes and improve the dungeon.”