The day after we got the Dire Wolf, Orai and I woke up from our slumber. Luckily, the dungeon control room had a King-Sized bed already installed, albeit uncomfortable. As Orai and I cracked each other’s backs, we looked at each other with drowsy eyes. We silently agreed that we needed to get ourselves a new mattress. As we drowsily got up, we saw that the dungeon control screen was showing us our daily report:
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[Dungeon Master Jordan] X [Dungeon Core Orai]DM: 1
DL: 10
300 DP/day
DP: 500
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I yawned, looking at the screen of information. “Look, Orai. Our dungeon is lvl 10 now. How come our DM hasn’t increased yet?”
Orai rubbed her eyes, with her gradient right eye turning purple. “Oh yeah…DM is your rank. Every 100 levels that you increase the dungeon, your DM will increase by 1. The max rank you can have is DM 10. Also, DL is the average strength of the dungeon. If we didn’t have the Dire Wolf, we would probably be DL 4”. Orai began to yawn as she walked to the screen. She was wearing dungeon themed pajamas, which featured a chibi illustration of her dungeon core with a crown.
“Interesting Pajamas but where did you get it from? Doesn’t that core look a lot like you?”, I said.
As I smiled at the dungeon core’s cute pajamas, Orai’s face began to turn red with embarrassment.
“If you laugh, I will literally dropkick you right now”, Orai cutely pouted.
Orai began to type into the Control screen, her right eye turning redder in the process.
“I forgot to mention that this world works on the Letter Rank system. Any mobs, humans, friendlies, hostiles, etc. that you encounter will appear as a letter grade in your HUD. This is a skill that only dungeon masters and Gods can utilize, as the inhabitants of Orune don’t follow the concept of levels. They just gauge each others’ strengths and go from there. However, adventurers are easier to tell based on the guild’s ranking system”, Orai said typing.
When Orai pressed enter, the following screen appeared:
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S | 3200 DP
A | 800 DP
B | 200 DP
C | 50 DP
D | 0 DP
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“These are the values that the dungeon gives for any beast that you kill or keep in the dungeon. For example, those 4 dire wolves that we killed yesterday were C-ranks. That gave us 200 DP points in total. The Dark Dire Wolf we domesticated is currently giving us an extra 200 DP per day. If we were to kill it, we would get a one-time amount of 200 DP and some materials. Whenever the letter grade has a + next to it, like B+, that means that we have the potential to upgrade it to the next rank. Usually, that entails engaging in combat when it comes to mobs”, Orai said stretching.
“Enough about the dungeon though! I’m hungry!”, Orai said. She was rubbing her stomach while her eyes sparkling.
I didn’t realize that Dungeon Masters still had to eat so I deployed the Dire Wolf in the main room. After Orai and I teleported there, I rubbed the 10-foot beast’s back and told him to hunt us some breakfast.
As I opened the doors, the Dire Wolf began to sprint out of the dungeon at full speed. As a surprise to Orai and me, hundreds of animals and mobs were scattered around the grassland of the dungeon! It seemed that when we scared the threatening mobs away from the grassland, we made a temporary safe area for us and mobs alike. Most of the passive mobs were D-ranked but there were a few that were C-rank.
Orai and I walked out of the dungeon, taking in the amazing sight.
“This is pretty incredible, Orai. Even if it’s temporary, it’s nice to look at”, I said cheerfully.
Before walking through the grasslands, I ordered the Golems, elementals, and slimes to watch the dungeon. After that was done, I walked through the vibrant, green grasslands that surrounded our dungeon. By the looks of it, the God Of War recently cleared the area when the dungeon was placed here. I could tell this by the behavior of the animals, who seemed to be new to the landscape. As Orai picked from a bouquet of blue flowers, she placed one of the flower heads to the side of her long hair. Upon seeing this cute side of her, I had to accept that I was developing feelings for her. When Orai turned around and saw me, she started to blush.
“Ahem! Anyway, we need to get a new mattress! We could get one from the DP marketplace but it would be better to go to D2 and get a deal. Unlike the DP marketplace, we can get items that are currently lvl locked for us! As long as we have the required DM rank, we should be able to find a lvl 20 mattress instead of having to settle for a lvl 5!”, Orai said.
As the Dire Wolf walked towards us with multiple birds and pigs on its back, Orai told me she would handle the preparation of breakfast. We took the animals to the dungeon and teleported to the Dungeon Control room. For the price of 20 DP, we got ourselves a basic kitchen. We also bought a basic general-purpose table for 10 DP that came with 2 chairs. As Orai was cooking, she expanded upon what was available in D2.
“The DP Marketplace is a convenient way to buy things but you can also purchase from the vendors in D2. However, compared to the marketplace, you can usually get better deals there. D2 is a big city so it’s only a good idea to visit when you have time to spare. As I stated before, it’s a dimensional city that’s made for Dungeon Masters so it should prove fruitful to visit. I’m looking forward to the food and the books!”, Orai said.
Orai handed me and the Dire Wolf our breakfast. Orai and I sat down at our new table, eager to finish breakfast and get a new mattress. As we were eating, I told Orai about my homeworld of earth, with the recent advancements in AI catching her full attention. Actually, it wasn’t surprising that she only wanted to talk about A.I. Even if I wanted to talk about earth’s culture and society. The Dire Wolf quickly finished his breakfast and was seeking his next command so we told him to go to the main room to guard the dungeon. After I got up to give him a congratulatory head rub, I sent him down to the main room. He sat in front of the hallway that leads to the core room and slept, ready to defend at any time.
“This food isn’t bad, Orai! These eggs and bacon are pretty good! Well done, Well done!”, I said happily.
“Of course they are! A foodie like me has to keep reaching a new horizon of taste!”. Her eyes began to sparkle as she struck a victory pose. “If I’m not conquering dungeons, I’m conquering the menu!”, she said jokingly.
As I began to uncontrollably laugh at her poses, Orai began to make her now-signature pouting face. However, I could tell that she was trying to stop herself from laughing at her poses. As we both laughed together, we had smiles beaming on our faces.
It seems that our trip to D2 would prove to be an interesting one.
