5 days and 10 hours later
[.....]
'Not a word. I'm fully aware that I jinxed myself with that damn phrase. But even if I died and came to another world as a dungeon core, what were the chances of all the pop culture clichés actually happening!!!!'
[...Well]
'It was a rhetorical question, I'd rather not know, so unless you've found a place to be the dungeon, please don't say anything, please!!'
I now only have a few hours before things get very... complicated.
Honestly, I even found some creatures that would fit the somewhat relaxed requirements of the system, but I kind of have an aversion to them, and I'm not being racist or anything. I found at least 3 creatures that seemed to be sapient and sentient.
But I highly doubt they would have any interest in entering a dungeon, for the simple reason that they (in my view) would have the same level of intelligence as primates. Literally.
One of the groups I consider as candidates seemed to be larger gorillas than they should be; I say seemed because they had 3 eyes (one where the nose would usually be), 3 small horns on their heads, and 5 arms ending in very sharp claws—and no, you didn't read that wrong, they had 5 arms.
Four of the "common" arms were in expected places, the fifth seemed to have developed from a tail. And they seemed to have a slight tendency towards cannibalism, which I don't exactly consider a virtue.
The second group of creatures were similar to cyclopes, but they were generally 4 meters tall, with the smallest (excluding children, or possibly babies) being about 3.6 meters tall. They were a kaleidoscope of colors among themselves, and they had hands that, no joke, looked like spiders.
These creatures thankfully weren't cannibals and had a level of culture slightly above cavemen, but they seemed to have a religion or belief in a rather dark being that demanded they practice sacrifices, both of prey and of themselves, including babies.
Which I consider as repulsive as cannibalism.
And finally, the creature that gave me the most chills of any so far, in fact I didn't even consider it and its species really challenging, but the sight of one left me a little traumatized. While I was flying around looking for a good place to put the dungeon near individuals I would consider acceptable, I found what appeared to be a group of 3 wolves chasing a deer.
This one I'm sure was indeed a deer; these wolves were like gray wolves, but their fur had a more light blue tone with tentacles coming out of their backs. These tentacles had needles that looked like they were made of dark blue crystals; you can imagine what they did with those tentacles, right?
That's right!, they were able to launch jets and balls of water from them to try and hit the deer, which incredibly managed to dodge them all (why do I feel you would have thought something different <(￣︶￣)>).
Anyway, while they were chasing the deer, one of them suddenly disappeared, but the others didn't even notice. Shortly after, a fog appeared in the area around them without explanation, and the deer they were chasing disappeared too.
When they stopped and looked around, they and I heard what sounded like a howl of pain or terror from the wolves that had disappeared, followed soon after by another, but different, probably from the deer, or some other unfortunate creature trapped in that fog.
Looking from above, I could see a shadow slowly creeping towards the wolves; it was a little smaller than the cyclopes but seemed more robust than them. When she was just a few meters away from the remaining wolves, she disappeared, and from where she had been, the severed head of the first wolf appeared.
Usually, when an animal sees members of its family/pack being killed in front of it, they usually become more furious and alert, but these two wolves didn't; I saw that they were afraid.
Not that I blamed them; even being incorporeal, I was still quite apprehensive about what would happen next. I didn't have to wait; the shadow appeared again right in front of the wolves. It looked like a 4.5-meter lizard with a mane similar to a lion's. It was dark brown and black, without hind legs, and instead had a tail, like a tadpole, with its front legs more developed than necessary.
But the worst part was its face. It was a skull. I don't mean it had scales in a skull-like pattern, or some kind of pigmentation, or even that it had a skull under its face. Its face itself was a skull, and instead of saliva, it dripped what looked like a pale blue liquid fire.
What happened next to the wolves and that thing, I prefer not to remember. Not what happened to them, or what was left of them. Nor the fact that I had the distinct feeling that that thing managed to look directly at me.
Urgh, forget about it Kaio, erase it from your memory, let it go, that creature can't get you (or so I want to, and really need to, believe).
At least after that, I followed the direction the wolves came from, to distance myself as much as possible from that thing, and a little later I finally managed to find tracks that looked more like human tracks. Following them for a while longer, I finally managed to find a human settlement, or the closest thing to humans that this place could have.
Phew, finally I found a good place, a small village, just like the starting village in games. I can tell right away that despite being a small place, it has a good number of people, and the residents (at least externally) seemed to be human.
Great, I'll put my dungeon nearby.
'Hmm, I think there must be a clearing further up the river.'
I flew just a little further and I found exactly the perfect place near a hill, it must be about 5 kilometers from the village.
'System, I want to set this place as my dungeon.'
[The user is certain of this location; once established, the dungeon cannot be moved again.]
Hmm, there's a risk, but I'm facing a more imminent risk right now, so since I'm already somewhat desperate, yes, I'm certain.
[Understood, confirming location. Initiating core deployment, releasing dungeon.]
As soon as the system started "creating" the dungeon, my core appeared in the middle of the clearing and began to glow. A glow as strong as the room where I was reborn.
A few moments later, a small cave appeared with a completely dark entrance, followed by notifications.
[Tutorial Mission (final): completed
Rewards: 20 experience, 500 MasP, 300 EnBP, Customization Kit]
[Initial stages completed. Congratulations to the user for fully integrating into the Dungeon Core System. The auxiliary function will be terminated shortly; any final inquiries before the function ends.]
'Wow, that was fast, but not unexpected. Very good, 2 quick explanations: what is the title section for and where is it, how and why to use the customization kit?'
[Understood, titles are unlocked randomly and they offer advantages when activated. Titles can only be viewed and activated when the user or challengers earn them; until then, like Authority, they are considered an obscure status for the user.]
[The customization kit, as the name suggests, is an item exclusively for dungeon use. It allows the addition of extra components that would otherwise be incompatible with the floor in question. For example, if the user wanted to create an oasis in a desert, they could replace the water with magma and still have plants growing and developing normally.]
[If used in floor creation, it can offer the addition of special nodes, differentiated traps, special and unique rewards, secret wings, and special monsters.]
'Understood, thank you for all the help so far, system. Once I have the necessary MasP and EnBP, I will definitely activate the help function again, and it's best to be prepared because I will certainly have several questions.'
[I only fulfilled my obligation to provide assistance, but I wish the user good luck until then. And if the user allows, it would be advisable to use the customization kit to have a differentiated dungeon entrance.]
'But from what you said, wouldn't it be better to use it when I do the first floor?'
[The customization kit is also available for purchase in the Shop, so if the user wants to, they can do so later, although the system warns against it. This way, the first floor might become saturated and scare off newcomers.]
'Well, that makes sense, you can use the kit, system.'
[Understood.]
Soon after, the customization kit disappeared from the items tab and a choices tab appeared. It had various types of entrances: an abandoned mansion, a mountain with a waterfall, a lone door in the middle of nowhere, a stone ruin similar to Stonehenge, a Gothic cathedral, etc.
As a way to honor my origins in my old world, I chose to place the entrance as a Mayan temple partially buried in the plain, with the transport circle placed at the very end of the entrance chamber, near an altar and the entrance to two other chambers.
Near the staircase leading down, and in the open area before reaching the circle, I created murals depicting battles and monsters that I will hopefully be able to place on the lower floors.
With everything finished, I was ready to start creating the first floor of the dungeon when I saw that the kit would also let me assign a name to the dungeon.
'Hey system, is giving a name to the dungeon mandatory?'
[No, but considering that the dungeon would essentially be you, what name would you like to be known by?]
Hmm, that's a somewhat complicated question. Calling the dungeon Kaio doesn't make any sense; it's not threatening, grand, or even remotely interesting, but I also wouldn't want to be seen only as a dungeon.
This is considering that this world has the concept of dungeons as a place where you fight monsters… Ah, I've never been good with names anyway, so for now let's leave it open until I get an idea of how the people of this world will react to me and I to them. Yes, that seems like a good solution.
[Understood user, the help function has ended, good luck.]
And with that, the feeling I had in my head when the system spoke disappeared, and with that I was practically alone, in a strange world with a new body and a somewhat ambiguous objective, but whether I like it or not I'll have to get used to it and try to make the best of it.
Let's go survive, and discover more about this place!!!!