I was floating in an inky black void. I didn’t let that stop me from tapping my foot, though I admit the main effect was lost. Sometimes, you simply need to tap a foot to express a certain emotion. One like “How very dare you!”

A sexy skeleton emerged from the void. I rolled my eyes so hard, only the terrible magic of this place kept me from hurting myself in the process. She had no hair, wore a little black pillbox hat, and her face bones were decorated like a Días De Los Muertos skull. She was also in high heels, a flapper style beaded dress and, somehow, had enough going on under the robe to suggest either highly persuasive body forms were used, or she had some horrific, yet highly specific, bone deformities.

She swayed her hips. “Hello there.”

“Hey.” I said. Like a not-crazy person.

“Welcome… to your Nightmare.” She grinned. Yes, the bones moved around, like there was an actual fleshy face there. Yes, it was pretty creepy to see.

“Nifty.”

She was about to press on, but seemed to hang up on something.

“Nifty?”

“Yep. Nifty.”

I could see the cogs spinning in that empty skull and the teeth just weren't meshing. The skeleton had more brains than the Gnome at the market, but not a lot more. Three Stars, maybe?

“This will be terrifying.”

“Well. You know. Fear is in the mind of the beholder and all that.”

“Yes.” The skeleton nodded. “I do know that.”

Okay, that made the hairs rise on the back of my neck.

“This is supposed to be a realm of challenges, right?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of challenges?” I was being very patient. Burnt out, but patient.

The skeleton seems to recollect herself, pulling a long cigarette and a cigarette holder out of her purse and lighting it with an ornate silver lighter.

“This is the Nightmare Realm of Trials. Overcome the Trials, and grow mighty. Fail the challenges and there will be… consequences.”

“Ominous. Specify.”

“Rewards can be as simple as a few basic resources, fragments of resonance crystals, or a handful of Runed Bones. Or it can permanently enchant your tower with… strange powers. Powers that would see your enemies crushed and driven before you. It would even allow you to command… unusual forces within your Sky Realm. Some might even say… forbidden.”

“Might they?”

“They might.” She nodded and looked very serious, her non-existent lungs blowing a plume of blue-green smoke out through every hole in her face. Which, in a skeleton, was a lot.

“Gosh. And the consequences?”

“Why, to be trapped in your nightmare, for a time. How long would, of course, depend on how greatly you dared, and dreadfully you failed.”

“Yes, that sounds about right.” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. More game systems. More and more and more, all to drive engagement. All to chum the waters for those few whales to splash about in.

“I don’t suppose this realm has a shop? Or special currency that you earn?”

“Currency? What a banal concept.”

Uhuh.

“However-”

Here we go.

“From out of these twisted nightmares, Fragments of Truth may be gleaned.”

Oh yes, that’s not a currency, that’s a fragment of truth. Totally different thing. Why, currency would be something you can exchange for goods and services.

“And with those Fragments of Truth comes the potential for power. Go to the Stelle of Dark Dreams-”

“No, no sorry, we can’t call it that. Store. Just… go to the store. Store is good.”

“Stelle of Dark Dreams and see just how much power your “Truth” may acquire.”

“So… earn game currency and exchange at the shop. Got it.”

“Fragments of Truth may be condensed by the might of the Stelle of Dark Dreams, yes.”

The skeleton gave me a look. I gave her one back. Do you know how hard it is to win a staring contest with a semi-sentient skeleton? Even abusing my doll-body’s lack of need to blink, I wasn’t going to win this fight. But damned if I would be a quitter!

Eventually I quit. She just kept smoking at me. Her cigarette never burned down or went out. Just endless gusts of green smoke rising out of her. Dispiriting.

“Look, Jackie Skellington, do you have a name?”

That seemed to throw her for a second.

“I am… the guide. Your… guide… to this Nightmare Realm of Trials.”

Oof. Well. That’s unfortunate. Jackie Skellington it is.

“Alright. Just… explain how this works, please.”

She snaps back to it. “You may challenge this realm once per day. Each day you will be presented with a new challenge- a monster to defeat, a puzzle to solve, a test to endure. You will often fail. And you will suffer the consequences. But even in failure, Truth may be found. Also, no damage here is permanent.”

The last sentence sounded tacked on. I glared. She ignored my glare.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“And today’s challenge?”

“A simple run.”

“A… run.”

“Yes. Run, rabbit, run.”

The world shifted and I was running down a dark hallway. It was a hotel, an old fashioned hotel, dark wooden furniture, dark green wallpaper with faded gold threads tracing shapes I couldn’t see too clearly. There were lights, candles? Something burning on the walls and I just had to run as fast as I could because I could hear something breathing loudly behind me.

It was getting closer. I strained every muscle. My breath came raggedly, I could feel my muscles burning. The hallway ended- I risked looking left, then right without breaking stride. They looked the same- I dodged left, and ran. Put my head down and ran.

Was the hallway getting darker? There was a heavy thud behind me, I think it hit the wall when it made the turn. Just how fast was it going? I didn’t bother trying the doors, it was a hotel, all the doors would be locked. All I could do was run like the scared animal I was. The hallway continued straight, but on my right- another junction!

I ran for it- there were stairs. No point wishing that the monster would slip and fall down the stairs and die, but I could jump myself. Not many- I remembered elementary school where I would hold the railing and jump the last four steps. I did it here. Down and down and down, far too far, the clattering steps of the monster rushing behind me.

I ran for another doorway, off the stairs, burst through the swinging double doors into a ballroom. There was a ballroom full of dancers, full of skeletons in suits and flapper dresses dancing and swaying to a band that died in a club fire, their bones and instruments scorched black. I tried to run through the room, but the dancers got in my way. I tried to shove them to one side, but they were too slow, too heavy-

The monster landed on my back. Its claws dug into my skin. I had the sense of black, rubbery flesh before it bit my face off. I couldn’t see. Mercifully, I couldn’t see what happened next.

I was back in front of the skeleton. “Not a very long run, was it?” She asked.

The cooling energy of the Tower poured in. I had been run down, the monster ate me, it was unpleasant, but I was already forgetting the details. It must not have been that bad.

“Did I earn any currency?”

“No.”

I sighed. “Fragments of Truth?”

“Why yes, you did! You can consolidate them now or save them for later.”

I checked my pouch. I had earned three. Somehow, I suspected that wouldn’t get me much. I checked the Stelle.

“Lost Purse containing twenty rune bones. Costs- five Fragments of Truth.” I read. “Oh boy.”

“Look higher up the stelle.” She had a snigger in her voice. I could hear it. Damndest thing. I looked up.

“Bloody Bramble Patch (Permanent)- This Enchantment will harm any enemy that touches your walls. The harder they strike, the more they are hurt.” My eyes nearly fell out of their sockets. “Costs… ah.”

“Good things are not cheap.

“Ten-K is more than just ‘not cheap.’”

“Very not cheap?”

“Mmm.”

“Keep looking up.”

“Flensing light (Permanent)- Spend Rune Bones to activate an ancient, terrible weapon. Your enemies will be peeled.”

I gulped.

“That is an awful lot of zeroes.”

“Worth it, though. Enough to face your… terrors?”

“You make a compelling case.”

She smiled. I noticed something emerging from the hollow blackness of her eye sockets, Brightly colored flowers, no, the picture of brightly colored flowers, like the painted ornaments you could see in bodegas-

I woke with a start in my bed. Not my bed bed, the one in the Tower. I felt… good? I patted myself down, not feeling anything different. I felt good. Emotionally good. That’s what it was. I didn’t feel the same exhaustion I had felt before. I was suddenly and intensely curious about the loot we won on Hidden Moon Mountain, heck, how the Mountain connected to my Sky Realm, so many things!

Odd as it seemed, I felt alive. I couldn’t figure it out for a long minute, but when I did, I laughed my head off. “Sleep! A nightmare is still sleeping! It might not be the oblivion I was hoping for, but it’s enough.” I laughed all the way back to the Throne Room. It might be a nightmare, but it would be one that I would dream of.

“ALRIGHT! LET'S GET TO IT, PEOPLE!” I yelled, neglecting the fact that there wasn't a group of people just standing around waiting for me to get my head together. Which isn’t fair. I have an entire Tower full of people who literally depend on me, and they don’t hang around pining? Shameful incompetence on their part. Even the most milquetoast Protag-Kun has at least two adorable types pacing and worrying when they go off in low spirits.

I checked the shadows, trying not to make it obvious that I was looking. If Rikka was there, I couldn’t spot her.

Forcing down the stabbing pain of betrayal, I focused on the positive. The loot. Only one chest this time. I kept my expectations low. No Atrocity Mode, no loot multiplier.

Maybe some armor packs? That would be good. Weapons packs? I don’t really see building materials popping up, but who knows? Ooh, maybe some of that Moon-forged Mithril!

I tapped the treasure chest to open it. Then I tried to slam it shut again, but the evil thing evaporated in a blast of golden light, leaving behind a short stack of costumes.

All the… let us say… purely cosmetic costumes from the Hidden Moon Mountain industry collab. We could also call them horrible offenses to good taste. That would be fair. Seeing Yoko in a hoodie the size of a tent with knee high strappy boots wouldn’t be the worst, if it wasn’t for the fact the costume also covered her head with a teddy bear mask. Whole head mask, soft fabric, padding, the whole bit. She looked like a serial killer from an excessively try-hard movie.

I wouldn’t dwell on it. I wouldn’t dwell on it!

I peeked to see if there was anything else. Two grand in runed bones, that’s not nothing. Twenty weapon upgrade kits which was… a lot, actually, those aren’t cheap at the Gnome Market. And that was it. A whole dungeon cleared, and that was it for loot. Of all the absolute fraud.

“SEBASTIAN! Oh wait, I need to ring the bell.” I trailed off in an aggrieved mutter.

I rang the bell. Sebastian turned up reasonably quickly.

“My Lord?”

“Hidden Moon Mountain. Had a chance to check it out yet?”

“Why yes, My Lord.” His voice had an added dash of pep in its usual cultured baritone. “I’m happy to say that, while it doesn’t solve all our problems, it solves many of them. The Industries of Gradden March are slowly returning to life.”

“And people aren’t going to starve or die of illness?” I said, hopefully.

“Not all of our problems, My Lord.”

I nodded glumly. It was pretty obvious that Hidden Moon Mountain, with its hunger theme, wouldn’t be long on food.

“Tell me the really good news, then work your way down to the bad. Start with the Purified Moon-Forged Mithril. What’s the deal there?”

“We aren’t entirely sure, My Lord. We are still experimenting. It is certainly Mithril, and of exceedingly high purity. Which would tend to support the first and last words of its name. We are not sure, however, about what “moon forged” means.”

“Get the Enchanters to work on… actually I don’t know how they do their thing. I want to try to turn some of that Mithril into weapons upgrade packs. I betcha they do bonus damage against evil or demonic creatures, something like that. If we can forge special weapons for our Awakened or our soldiers, so much the better.

“I can certainly investigate that, my Lord. We were currently looking at impregnating threads with it, testing its ability to withstand and transmit magic.”

“Excellent. How much of it can we mine?”

“With ordinary laborers? Up to a hundred pounds a day.”

That triggered a memory- “Ore or final, usable amounts of metal?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Ore, my Lord. Though the purity is so high, we are expecting significant yields.”

Yikes. Ore measured in hundreds of pounds a day was nothing. That was a trash bag full of rocks. You might get a teaspoon of usable metal out it. Maybe.

“Can we up that production number?”

“By investing in developing a proper mine, yes indeed. Also, assigning a worker to oversee the dig site would also speed things up, though it would limit their availability to work on other orders.”

“Alright, alright. We can work with this. How much is a mine?”

“More than we currently have, My Lord.”

I bit back several unkind comments. Sebastian pressed on, acting like he didn’t know exactly what I was thinking.

“Fortunately, we should soon have ample income. I have found a replacement Economic Councilor, My Lord.”

“Oh? Who?” I sat up straight in my chair.

“The Innkeeper, My Lord. A most curious fellow, with greatly hidden depths.”

I knew it. I GOD DAMN knew it. I completely blew this Relic site. Too much accumulated stress, too much desire to rush, too focused on gaming the system without really understanding what the system of that place was.

“We’ll bring him in shortly. What’s his scheme for bringing in coin?”

“Foreign trade, My Lord, in addition to the tax revenue from the restarted industries. In addition to Mithril, Hidden Moon Mountain produces a great deal of charcoal, coal, fresh water, pine, bamboo, incense, carved figurines, and granite. Also, and this is perhaps the most interesting thing, Hidden Moon Mountain allows us to recruit demons for various tasks. Not very strong demons, and we can only recruit a very few of them at high prices. But the fact that they are available at all is… quite surprising.”

“Do what now?”

“Recruit demons, yes, My Lord. From the Inn, apparently. The Innkeeper is a person of some standing amongst them.”

“Just… mentally drawing a line from The Innkeeper to Crusher Jim here…”

“Yes, it does seem that the hospitality industry does attract monsters of all sorts.” He smiled helplessly. “For what it is worth, the Innkeeper is a most cheerful and accommodating fellow.”

“That was my impression of him too. Alright, what else should I know about?”

“The sudden reduction in sewage is having a happy, if unintended consequence of lowering disease and increasing happiness, My Lord, as is the happy increase in clean water supplied by the mountain. No, don’t ask me how the water is reaching the Floating Quarter, I have no idea. There are no aqueducts, no new wells, nothing. But the water is visibly cleaner and more plentiful.”

“Yes, that sounds correct. Alright. Looks like I’m going to have to build that rear gatehouse I have been putting off. At least I have some new summons to call in to help. Ah… Have you met Othai?

“Yes, my Lord. A very capable defender.”

Interesting tone there. The phrase “Damning with faint praise” comes to mind. Something to investigate later.

“And Mrs. Hungry?”

“Yes, not one for administration, though quite pleasant company.”

Complete change of tone. Was he trying to score himself a date with a hottie? First of all, no. Second of all, Bro, you know she was a cannibal, right? He must have read my expression because he hastily explained.

“Ah, not that I have the slightest designs on your servants, my Lord, none at all. It’s just- do you know how long it’s been since I had something decent to eat? If time even has any meaning when considering that question.”

“Valid point.” I don’t believe that one tiny bit, but let’s press on. “You mentioned foreign trade?”

“Yes, my Lord. It seems that peddlers often come to the foot of Hidden Moon Mountain, and will trade for a variety of things. Small, light things, mostly, things that can fit in their packs.”

“Doesn’t sound hugely promising?”

“Yes, my Lord, but another way to describe “a place where wandering peddlers regularly turn up” is “we are on a trade route.” And where there are peddlers on foot, there can be wagon trains. There can be paved roads. There can be foreign commerce.”

I nodded and my smile started to grow. “We can build roads. We can build lots and lots of roads. You know what? All of a sudden, I’m looking forward to tonight’s wave. We are going to make so much money!”