1/2 Mary 2023/03/07(Tue)11:10 No. 1057779 ID: 08229c
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Today I am meeting with the First Dungeon Master.

I feel horribly overdressed for the occasion. Or maybe she is horrendously underdressed? I can't get a read on her at all.

"-And that's all the feedback I've obtained so far. We're still waiting on reviews but, in general, players seemed to be highly engaged with the nature of the event. There are balancing issues, of course, but I'm certain if we work together we can iron those out, Miss..."

2/2 Mary 2023/03/07(Tue)11:24 No. 1057780 ID: 08229c
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"Dungeon Master." The First Dungeon Master says, "Or just Master. And yeah I am in awe at the event. I watched super close. The thing with the Ghost Slime was amazing."

She takes a bite of her tea flavored sugar before continuing.

"I think maybe we should have like... Games that are more PvP-centric? Like capture the flag and stuff like that. You ever hear of battle royale games?"

"I'm afraid not."

"For real? They're great. So basically you got these people, right? And they're trying to eliminate the other side. Most of the time it's a free for all but like, you can make it whatever you want. I'm thinking like we have the two sides have to complete the same objective as the field gets smaller and smaller and so they're all trying to do things but they keep bumping into each other and you can make it so that like they revive constantly but maybe can revive in quicker for money? That'll keep the action up and eat up resources at the same time and if I know these adventurer types if they have the money they'll pay up. Ah but that might be a bit too pay to win? We also have to determine what the ultimate win con is. I know you had one for yours but I'm thinking in a more general term. The narrative for most dungeons will have to change to fit this all in but I really do think this will be fun. What do you think?"

"Ah, well. I agree with you on a few aspects. I think primarily the story is what matters the most. Players have to feel engaged and have a reason for battle."

"Ehehehe... Nah... If you stick two adventurers in a room and say only one can get the shiny treasure they'll find a reason to fight... Story is fun, though, I guess."

Hmm.

I'm not sure I like her.

I don't think she came to the meeting like this as a power move. I think this is just how she is. Also she smells like she rolled out of bed and then came over here.

And she's drinking the tea wrong.

"I have many reports and everyone praised the story for the dungeon the most. I think it will be important to come up with a reason for all the battle."

She takes another bite and chews slowly before swallowing.

"I approve. If the players are having fun that's the most important part, yeah? What we think should and shouldn't be in a game matters less than that. " She shrugs, "I'm old and I don't really get what people think is fun sometimes. Not this generation. So, if you say narrative is good then I think you might be right. I think a few things can be set up.. Maybe have it obvious from the outset that they want to run PVP or PVE. That way there's no confusion. Hehehe, this is all very fresh and exciting. What do you think? If you could change how your run went, what would you change?"

More obvious challenged for both sides, the order side didn't have much of an issue getting their princesses. Also, there were moments when both sides met up and had no reason not to fight each other outside of the contrivance set up by the dungeon. Better goals for both sides, maybe different goals, instead of just both gunning it for Curi, have the chaos side going after some artifact, the order side hunting down the chaos cult's main base.

We gave both sides outfits by the end of the event, maybe we could START events with outfits so that both sides know which team you're on?

>>1057782
yeah but this event did become a "who dun it", even tho it was... fairly obvious.

>>1057780
Obviously there's lots to do. In PVP, story is mostly a backdrop, a reason why they're fighting. But it can be used for all sorts of experimental things. Like throwing in monster allies, or giant robots, or weird stuff that wouldn't be able to be used normally.
For the testing phase while you're introducing it, I'd suggest creating a "DM Beta Test Package" or something, that gives them a small stock of gold and runes or something that can only be used to produce monsters and rewards for PVP modes, so they can test it out and it doesn't make them use their own limited resources incase it doesn't work. Then have like three or four example modes. So for example: Battle Royale, Team Capture the Flag, Team Base Assault, and Payload. You also don't have to keep it basic game, like CTF can be each side has one flag, or there can be six scattered around the map, constantly changing hands that gives your side points and advantages. You can also throw in PVP quests, that let your side hire special mercenaries, or get special weapons or mechs. Heck, you could even have a base assault variation where both teams are gathering resources to awaken their big Super Mech/Monster and they have to stop and interfere with each other so both awaken around the same time to cancel each other out, or one awakens way earlier to secure a win.
There should also be rewards for the DMs who decide to OP in. Maybe special flairs or something and then give our prizes for the best performing or most innovative approaches. Like special construct accessories or a free sub-dungeon or something.
Also Fanservice. Fanservice everywhere.

>>1057780
Maybe a few more 'scripted' events where the factions are given the opportunity to effect the others progress without directly fighting eachother
And of course
More themed prizes and outfits

>>1057780

The parties have the ability to send a message at the outset of their run to let the dungeon master know why they want in. Certain dungeons could use that for a mode selection. Failing that, the Ruins will include a toggle in the future to start the split party event.

However, not all dungeons could easily fit a theme like this into their existing infrastructure, nor should they really all follow the same template. Glass Spinner comes to mind in the sense that she focuses on puzzles and might have to effectively double her room/puzzle count to enable a PVP event.

Speaking of rooms, that might have been our biggest issue with the dungeon in that we couldn't set up all of our strongest monsters in a way that enabled a truly equivalent fight for both teams across the board. Also, with the limited traversal methods, the teams had a relatively difficult time being tactical with their movements, which could help a weaker party outmaneuver and out-recruit a stronger initial split of the team.

Also, if she wants an example of her PVP idea, you should pitch the Arena to her. If made sufficiently large and given enough terrain plus complex mechanisms to alter the terrain throughout the matches, you could easily have that serve as a proof of concept for her idea. She might even help fund it...

>>1057780
Something to keep in mind is that we’ve focused a lot on Slimecrown, but the Hamlet exists too. That actually turned out fairly well, but only because people weren’t expecting the chaos corruption. Once that becomes more well-known Chaos is going to be at a major disadvantage out there. They start off weaker than Law.

We’ll need a better way to give Chaos a leg up early on that doesn’t rely on Law being clueless about the mechanics. Either disguise Chaos better, or make it so raids “opt-in” to this mode and get randomly assigned at the start. They can express a preference at the start though. Then Chaos can work from the start rather than getting a late entry.

A general question for the First DM, what sort of infrastructure exists for dungeons to cooperate/share instances? Something like the arena could exist in many dungeons, and be instanced so you can compete against players who are running other dungeons or do PvE against enemies from dungeons that are part of the network. A shared currency would exist for all arenas, with secondary dungeon-specific currencies.

This would be the most natural format for something like a battle royale. A interdimensional arena putting itself in the world, demanding dungeons put entrants into the arena or risk being overwhelmed by each other, and overall being a nuisance.

People can ignore it if they want story experiences. If they want to fight, we have window dressing.

>>1057786
Your glass spinner example got my noggin' joggin, and...well, we know how she *reacts* to people solving puzzles, can you IMAGINE her state at watching people figure out a competitive puzzle? Something like that BR Tetris game, where the better you do, the harder you make it on the opponent, who has to compensate on the fly?

>>1057798
Oh. Do it like Tetris Masters, where you doing well interferes with the other players, but also increases the difficulty of your own game.

Revisions to the chaos event, hmm... Well, for the first half of the dungeon we would designate a traitor at the start who could get the other players killed and revive them on the sly or possibly even convert them without having to kill them, but the party would be warned that a fell presence was among them. If the traitor was sussed out early, the party would have an exorcism spell that removes their 'mind control' and the side of chaos would no longer have a double agent. If you want to get really creative with it, the traitorous party member is under no obligation to betray his team and could use his powers to try and aid the party, or go off on a solo tangent. But for now, let's leave those lines of thought to emergent gameplay.
However, for this run, I think the beginning with Cleric coming back as a revenant was perfect. The adventurers' inability to recognize her corruption helped greatly with the eventual reveal. The party surviving up until the reveal was also a chance that fell in our favor, though we really had to bend the rules there after Ronin obliterated herself so thoroughly. Really about the only thing I would have changed is forcing the clash between factions before the final boss so that whichever side won could go in against the final boss at full force, as we intended. Rather than contriving that Curi has to be fought anyway because chaos got her if order wins, which does make winning against the Chaos players feel like a hollow victory, she would have the same reason to fight both sides, being that she is neither on the side of chaos nor order but a secret third thing.
Also, we would have prepared a speech for our introduction that didn't make us seem incompetent at running a kingdom.

>>1057805
The thing forced us to improvise, and go a little bit against the established lore, but hopefully not enough that'd be a problem later on. Forcing the confrontation before they get to Curi will indeed help with that, because either they're chaos invaders and need to be put down, or they revert to a regular raid so the reason is the same as always: The seal will fail sooner rather than later, and Curi is willing to put her life on the line to test if the adventurers are strong enough to kill Jeffrey and end his menace once and for all, before the seal fails and he's unleashed on the rest of the world.

>>1057780
Hmm a way of determining if a run will be PvP or PvE at/before the start would be good. The tricky bit is if some on the run want it and others don't because that means someone will be unhappy whichever way you go.

>>1057807
I’d say if a party can’t agree on which rides they want to go on in an amusement park then it’s the fault of the party, not the park for offering multiple rides. Same principle with dungeon modes.

1/2 Mary 2023/03/07(Tue)19:33 No. 1057820 ID: 08229c
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We're not doing fanservice. We're above such things.
But, we certainly could have done that better. I know the adventurers had fun, but... Well, there's always room for improvement, no?

"I think I would have made it more obvious from the start," Mary says. The First Dungeon Master nods, "This was all improvised so such an opportunity was denied to me. But, for the next time this occurs, I would make it clear what's going on.

I think this could be accomplished by having the players choose what they wish to do prior to entering the dungeon. Is it possible to have two layouts, one for each mode?"

"Mmm... Not currently, no. Raid mode lets you do more stuff to keep it exciting but you're basically talking about making a whole new dungeon."

"What about simply changing monsters and the rules of certain areas depending on the adventurer choice?"

The First Dungeon Master thinks for a long moment before nodding.

"I will allow it. I'll see about patching it in after our meeting. And after I figure everything else out."

"I think I would have also made more scripted events. While there were moments where the players clashed, I think different ways of allowing them to hinder each other would be interesting. Using my own dungeon as a basis, I would have done something akin to... Poisoning the well and giving chaos a buff. Or if they went into the church and recovered some relic they could gain an edge against chaos. Things like that.

Now, mind you, these changes would only really work best for my dungeon and my experience. I have a co-worker, Glass Spinner, who has a puzzle dungeon. I'm not sure if a PVP experience like the one I want would work."

"Maybe a race to solve puzzles?" She says, munching on her tea. Mary shudders. It sounds like chewing sand.

"That could work. Though, it would be denying them a tale."

"Not everyone likes stories."

"That is true. And, for those who simply wish to test their mettle against their friends, why not an arena? I have had a few ideas about that. Going back to your uh.. Battle Royale?"

"Ye."

"Right. Well, perhaps we could use an arena for that. I mean, if possible, we could even have adventurers from other dungeons come in? That way it's not just 5 or however many come normally."

The First Dungeon Master's eyes light up.

2/2 Mary 2023/03/07(Tue)19:46 No. 1057822 ID: 08229c
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"OH MAN," she shouts, "WE CAN HAVE LIKE... LIKE... EVERYONE PARTICIPATE! AND LIKE... DEPENDING ON THE DUNGEON THAT HOSTS IT IT CAN HAVE DIFFERENT FLAVORS! LIKE IF WE DID IT HERE IT COULD BE THEME'D OVER SLIMES AND THE CHAOS AND THE LAW AND WE CAN LIKE HAVE WEAPONS SPAWN ACROSS THE ARENA AND THEY CAN GRAB THEM AND FIGHT AND-"

The cape(?) behind her shoves aside and the First Demonologist speaks up.

"Dungeon Master," She says, "We can't just... The sheer amount of script changes needed to do it... And nevermind the weapon spawning... We don't have anything in place for such a-"

"We can make magic rune weapons! Artificer, can we make magic rune weapons for the thing?"

"We could," The black orb floating above the First Dungeon Master says.

"See! Artificer agrees with me."

"S-still..." The Demonologist seems a bit flustered, "The sheer amount of spell crafting to get the system in place..."

"Oh come oooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnn. We never do anything new or fun! This is the first time in decades! Mary, you seem like a smart lady. Help me sell it to these nerds."

Her feet are on the table.

But, she seems excited.

Maybe we can get her to fund the entire thing if we play our cards right. Finally, the arena could be ours.

>>1057822
give us to her, I want to speak to her directly

>>1057823
I... don't think we're standard issue. We may be one of the stuff we want to keep hidden.

>>1057823
i feel like we are the WORST POSSIBLE IDEA.

>>1057822
saying that it could also be a good idea. to help sell the idea we could also call in the rest of the Guild and let them have a say.

This is a player-focused arena, not monster themed. Though... there's no reason we can't change the formula. Having monsters of increasing toughness to fight provides resistance to adventurers as they close into the center of the arena, serves as both a loot drop and a PVE challenge, and filters players out too. Hell, you could make Curi the only monster in the arena. Everyone else they fight is just one of Curi's summons. She's strong enough for that, maybe fighting 25 adventurers is enough of a challenge for her. And then uh, Brawndo and other non-slime monsters are wandering rare prizes. Oh man, metal slime is going to love this mode.

>>1057829
also have Lagianna and her siblings just sorta tormenting people. bring on the tidalwave of lagmites

>>1057830
Storm wall of Lagmites.

>>1057822
(brings out sketches and rune configuration of BRAWNDO THE THIRST MUTILATOR)

>>1057836
well damn, if someone's gonna appreciate Brawndo it's the one who came in here with Chilk in hand, innit

>>1057822
Alright, so hear me out.

What we’re really suggesting ultimately is a shared interface space between dungeons. What we do with that space is semantics, the bottleneck and main development point is to link multiple dungeons together.

If their code is anything like most code, it’s an utter mess in places as things have grown, coders got more experience, patches were made etc. etc. but as far as I know every dungeon is running the same the same OS so to speak. Getting them synced shouldn’t be hard.

So, break this down into chunks. The first step is to have an arena shared between 3-5 dungeons. To keep things relatively simple, it can start as either direct PvP pitting teams against each other (each team is a “monster” group to other teams) or PvE against shared dungeon monsters (hero teams merge into each other) based on whichever is easier mechanically. The arena will be a few handcrafted maps representing the first few dungeons in the network. Make sure to build a system to switch out those maps for a new ruleset if possible, but doesn’t feel the need to fill it in yet.

Iron that out, focus on getting the backend right for scaleability across multiple dungeons for team play. Next step after that is to pull in dungeon features systemically. Again, shared base so procedural generation should be relatively easy. They can even offload the “tagging” of features/creatures that can be pulled into the arena to DMs so long as they meet certain safety criteria. Goal here is to make it so something similar to the first several maps (both features and monster matchups) can be built ad-hoc by the system.

After that, everything else is just gravy. Weapons can be rolled by calling the loot table functions directly and passing the results into the arena. Battle royale and team modes are a function of flipping tags. If bigger battles are wanted, they just link more dungeons to the arena and let procedural generation handle the rest. Some testing will be required at various points to ensure it doesn’t get too screwy, and some “event” matches/arenas can be built to override the procedural generation using a similar system to what kept the original “hardcoded” maps in place.

They should have most of the functions in place for what we’re suggesting. But if we ever truly want to be a community, we need to be able to work together. That, unfortunately, is a glaring hole from what we’ve seen. There’s a whole group of DMs who get together and share ideas, but we can’t literally do anything with each other’s dungeons from what we’ve seen. What I’m asking for is a space where all of us can interact. It can be left as-is or expanded for more interactions between dungeons, but one shared space is more than the no shared spaces we currently have. What’s the excuse for siloing us all from each other for so long?

I… also now realize we could use this to form a DM party. Can you imagine 20 DMs versus 20 heroes? A special event match where heroes get to be the creature of a mini version of a real dungeon and a group of DMs have to clear it? God I’m smiling at just thinking of what a unified playing area could bring to the table.

>>1057822

If buy-in with the existing staff is a concern, maybe we can start small. Once we prove the viability with one dungeon, we can work on implementing cross-dungeon tournaments. What we need as a baseline for that testing though is an arena, a roughly circular one, that we can implement terrain onto and selectively close-off as the match continues. Programmatically, that is simply asking that we have a collective of open rooms each outfitted with a "trap", one that makes that particular open room hazardous to remain within.

Note that the current Slimecrown Hamlet configuration serves as a proof of concept that open areas defined as unique rooms can be done and done well, and if they are considered unique rooms, implementing a toggleable trap that allows for the hazard condition should be simple.

Special weapons in each area are just loot, though adding a script that despawns it come the end of the dungeon run could prove difficult. Still, by exploiting the current system that reduces the take that adventurers receive if they do not complete a win condition to create a system where the "win" condition to keep that item is not possible should be sufficient.

For demon placement, Raid mode is more or less sufficient. Configurable terrain would be more difficult, but preferred to add spice and variety to the experience, and could be presumably introduced mechanically as part of a trap mechanism, just one wired to the dungeon master's whims or the whims of a monster in the room who can actuate the appropriate levers.

Again, as a bare minimum, what we need at the end of the day is a series of open "rooms", all of which can be set as part of a single "arena". That arena needs to have at least boss level capacity to allow the strongest monsters to fight at their full capability.

Code implementation wise, treating the rooms as rooms will be the easiest way to make it all work. Since it's raid mode, the monsters can be freely reassigned between rooms, meaning the distinction of separate rooms making up the arena is functionally meaningless.

>>1057829
You could have a representative from other dungeons participate though, like Colt or someone could take part as the Champion of Slimecrown.

Another idea to go along with the battle royale would just be to build a Colosseum and have a tournament there. Outside of tournaments, it would just be another location in Slimecrown. Hell, you could charge admission to the events as well if people want to spectate.

>>1057822
The work should be well worth it even in the short term, there's clearly a market for this kind of thing given the reactions from the most recent run.
Plus there are plenty of adventurer rivalries or resentments (if the silent protagonist run is canon anyway) that would be given a healthy and fun way to be exercised.


If there are concerns about the logistics of making this a sweeping change, it might be a good idea to first implement this pvp/battle royale thing as a special event that gives the host dungeon a temporary extra 'floor' which can be designed into the arena.

Doing something similar to the most recent run seems like it'd be fairly easy; the adventurers are basically unchanged from when they'd do a normal run and just declare factions (law/chaos in this case) beforehand so we can give them scenarios to compete against each other in.


It'd only really get more complicated for the Battle Royale or other forms of relatively 'skill-based' arena fights, Artificer can take care of Arena-only equipment for adventurers to use (so they either start with no or basic provided gear), so part of it is trying to find/fight for gear to use. Levels are gonna be a problem for balance, so either the mode/arena itself would need to be able to regulate participant levels or maybe have equipment power scale to the desired powerlevel (it'd be stronger for low levels and hinder higher levels)

if the event version tests well, maybe make the arena a feature of all dungeons and keep the battle royale as a rotating special event.

>>1057822
Oh, and if they need more coders then just offload some of the work to other copies of Demonologist and the like in various dungeons. I imagine being the First DM and in charge of the overall system gives some privileges for reassigning personnel to different projects. Have her (ab)use it to have the straightforward or tedious parts handled by the crowd while The First Demonologist concerns herself with QA and overall design.

I have faith in her abilities. We handed control of our dungeon to our Demonologist a while ago and she did a damn good job of it when we did. No slight against our girl, but I assume The First Demonologist is even better.

We don't need to do everything new ourselves. Other DMs can can use some ideas that would work better for them.

Additionally, I think we should step back from declaring the citadel as a law faction. Mary is represented by law, but it didn't seem like she was part of the citadel in character.

As for the arena:
I don't think it fits with the current citadel. What I think works better is a semi independent arena that has a rotating story/configuration based on the representative dungeon. For Slimecrown, it would have a noncanon story of finding the strongest contender to fight the monster sealed away.

>>1057822
This suggestion (>>1057853) has a point.

>>1057854
Yeah, suggest our skeletal bro and Glass Spinner and that guy in a diving suit and the slime lady all participate in the suggestion process for this battle royale thing.

But not Red Widow, because she swapped the signage on your dungeon and is a bitch.

>>1057855
brings them up on the screen and Mary says thats the first DM.
They dont believe her
DM presses a button and turns out the lights in thier dungeons.
They believe her

>>1057822
I like the idea of bringing in the DM's guild and pitching BRAWNDO.
Honestly, monsters can be used as interference and to give drops. Maybe they drop special loot weapons and items to be used in arena. Weapons and consumables can be given through chests around the area. Kind of a PvPvE type deal.
Stronger monsters/rarer chests.
Also Mary, adopt the First DM. I want to keep her, she's cute.

>We're not doing fanservice. We're above such things
Above Fanservice is good. Everyone loves Cleavage. But we need some below fanservice too.

ALSO REMEMBER TO PITCH BRAWNDO!

>>1057858
we could also have monsters be like support units like in SMASH

>>1057822
How’s bringing in adventurers from other dungeons supposed to work? Like, who gets their loot when the adventurer dies? The hosting dungeon or the one they initially entered?

>>1057862
>>1057858
Summoning monsters from the dungeon or at least themed for the dungeon the adventurer team is representing that attack enemy squads could be a good reward for completing objectives. Maybe a system where the objectives are worth "points" and you can spend the "points" to summon a Monster of equal rune value to fight at your side, probably to a max of 5 since that seems to be Boss monster territory.

>>1057822
Also don’t forget to ask her to break your curse lol.

possibly, make a central dungeon that all dungeons access, and make it so that each DM gets access to it per basis or such? Would mean not everyone needs to make a dungeon over their own dungeon.

>>1057822
How about a DUNGOEN TOURNAMENT ARC where parties affiliate with their preferred dungeons and do duke it out against other dungeon sponsored parties? Make it like a DUNGEON DOMINANCE DISPUTE, and the dungeon that wins the tournament gets a little star on its profile page or extra advertisement or something. Then they can't participate for a couple of times.

>>1057844

A paid for spectator role and possible corporate sponsorship opportunities for concessions would be a pretty friendly way to make a tidy profit.

>>1057853
I could see fitting it in the citadel.
>Random portal in a room somewhere
>Slimes admit they have no idea what’s on the other side since none of them go through, they just get second-hand accounts of an arena
>Heroes that go through sometimes return with loot and nothing comes out that didn’t go in so it seems okay to monitor and let exist
>Slimes let heroes know that if they go through and represent Slimecrown to draw in stronger heroes (slimes aren’t really sure it works that way but may as well right?) then they’ll get bonus tokens if they do well (measured by the new swag they come back out with)

I’m envisioning the arena as a semi-alive entity that has anchored itself to various planes of existence that have powerful people, monsters, and equipment (dungeons basically, parasites off their features unobtrusively for itself, and is hosting matches between them to feed off people who participate/spectate.

Completely unrelated, but we could have a Kaiju fight in the arena couldn’t we?

>>1057822
No need to worry about weapon drop chances or scripting for randomly picking locations for weapons to drop. We have the solution to that right here in our very own dungeon. Show them our wonderful archivists first attempt at making a demon, the O.Fence! If memory serves, it can spawn any weapon that it's seen, and wield them. Just make two or three times the maximum amount of players in an arena, show them all the same weapons grouped into varying tier lists based on power, enchantments, etc. And set them loose in the arena to run around. Give them the instructions that any time a player manages to open their cover they will randomly spawn one of the weapons in their collection for the player to use rather than wielding it themselves, and add a drop chance table to their indices so that higher tier weapons have a lower chance of spawning.

This would cut down on the cost of spellcrafting and making runed weapons both, since you would only need to make one set of weapons that all of the books could copy from. Hell, you'd probably be able to recycle the weapons back into being runes after they've gotten a good look at it.

And the fun meta part, since the weapons aren't technically items but instead are part of the monster, you might have some particularly clever players realize that after they get a really good weapon they need to protect the book they got it from. After all, if it dies, one would assume the weapon would vanish with it.

>>1057880
Let's at least make sure our half time show is actually good.

>>1057883
Because let's be honest, what battle Royale wouldn't be made more amusing by the first three minutes being filled with players madly scrambling after a bunch of startled, running chickens to try and claim the question mark covered gun cases strapped to their backs?

>>1057883
Clever! Though maybe they want to check the scripting for our monster so that storing something like 9000 weapons isn’t putting it 1 away from causing a weird overflow error and breaking the arena or something.

Since we have the weapon book they should be able to make similar ones for defensive and accessory equipment. Get the complete kit available for the loot tables.

>>1057885
So we're releasing a lot of loaded up metal slimes into the trap infested maze/arena.

>>1057887
Not a lot, but absolutely one or two every now and then, just to watch the fighting stop while they all go mad chasing it

>>1057883
we could use harpies/other flying monsters to drag the books around, making thier items way more widespread

>>1057864
Make it a loot pool and winner takes all. This would also work well with dungeons sending in a singular champion to take part as well. If a monster wins, their dungeon gets the loot. If an adventurer wins, they get the loot.

>>1057883
Isn't it called D.Fence?

>>1057883
No, sorry, you are referring to The Guide.

Btw Larro, if you have the time, could you make an updated monster roster graphic for the wiki? It would be really handy. No pressure, just a humble request.

Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)14:22 No. 1057922 ID: 08229c
File 167831415251.png - (3.52MB , 2726x5151 , roster 3.png )

>>1057921
It's been on my to-do list. I finished the slimes and the staff drawings.

>>1057922
Looks like “Chaos Slime” is on the list twice. Lucia should be more than a generic after what she achieved in the last raid!

>>1057925
Back when Larro drew that she wasn't named yet. And the basic Chaos Slime is still in there cause Curi can still make more of her.

1/3 Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)16:04 No. 1057932 ID: 08229c
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"I don't think it would be difficult." Mary says, "At least not exceedingly so."

She begins explaining on how to use the already existing systems as makeshifts for what she's thinking of. Or at least temporary things to test things out. There will be bugs, of course, but that's why there's the testing period.

Raid mode can be utilized to allow monsters to be dropped in and out and be used as hazards. To ensure fairness, the level limiting system can be used. Also all players would be given faction specific or generic gear fit for their class.

Weapons can be placed around by using weapon spawning demons. This has the added bonus of making the weapons fade away after the "dungeon" is done. Weapons and armor can have 0 for their stats, allowing the adventurers to use their own skill.

If it's a complete battle royale it can be an extra floor hosted in certain dungeons that connect to others.

The First Demonologist points out that connecting to other dungeons is basically impossible with the way the current system is.

The First Dungeon Master says they'll figure it out.

The back and forth continues for a while until the First Dungeon Master pauses to pull out a pencil and paper and begin writing things down. Architecture is drafted and what Mary sees as spells are formulated.

The First Demonologist points out a few flaws in the spells while noting that the First Builder will have to make sure the structure can withstand being connected to so many instanced areas.

Whenever the First Dungeon Master spills tea on herself the First Artificer cleans it with a cape that seems to not get dirty.

"Oh, also, if I may suggest a monster..."

2/3 Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)16:09 No. 1057933 ID: 08229c
File 167832058244.png - (175.90KB , 800x600 , 7.png )

"Brawn-Do the Thirst Mutilator. I came up with it along with a representative from YUM!. So long as we can get their approval on a design I would love to add them into the place. Perhaps as a bonus boss of sorts."

"Ohmygodyes. I approve."

3/3 Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)16:23 No. 1057936 ID: 08229c
File 167832140684.png - (128.47KB , 800x600 , 8.png )

A few finer points are discussed. Mary also insists that the others of the Dungeon Master Guild be made aware of this new potential game mode so that they may prepare and decide if they want to participate as well. The First Dungeon Master notes that until she's made more progress in it she's gonna keep it a bit hush-hush. Just for now.

The First Dungeon Master notes all that down and then grins wide.

"Well, thanks a bunch DM Mary. This is going to be a fine expansion to the system. Hey, hey, would you be willing to test it for us? Like, I don't really do much dungeon stuff myself these days. Kinda a voyeur in that regard. Would you do it though? I can pay for the whole setup and everything. You don't gotta worry about runes or gold."

"I would love to help you. We can start small for a trial run. I have a few coworkers that I can reach out to about this. If that's alright."

"Yeah, we're gonna need at least SOME people. Give me like... A week?" As she says this the First Demonologist just sighs, "Yeah, a week. Then we can make some real prog. Get things set up."

She folds up the papers she's scribbling on.

"Oh, there's one more thing, Dungeon Master."

"Mm?"

"My curse?"

"Oh, right ye. Uh... I think it's a Sub spell? Like for any system that matters you ping as the man. It's pretty clever. I didn't even notice something was wrong til I got a good look at you. Last I checked Atrociatus wasn't this darn cute. Uuuuuhhhhh.... Shouldn't be hard to break..."

She snaps her fingers. Mary feels lighter as something invisible shatters around her.

"Donezo."

Mary blinks. Was it actually done? Was she truly free? She FEELS more free.

"Wow... Thank you."

"Hey, thank YOU. This is some good stuff you gave me here. I haven't felt this excited in -ages-.

I feel like I should give you something. Something cool. Is there anything you want? If I can make it happen I'll make it happen."

Oh.

Hmm...

Well, I really mostly just wanted the curse lifted?

All my personal needs are taken care of, really.

What would be good for the dungeon?

>>1057936
.... A Free tier upgrade for our constructs?
Mary you've been stuck here for a while, maybe some recommendations for some good food joints to take your adopted daughteru too?
Uhhhhhhh a specialty Dungeon Master class for yourself?
Idk I'm spitballin here

>>1057936
Remember to get a picture with the First DM and her crew. Not sure what to ask for wish wise, I don't want to ask for anything directly for the dungeon.
What about asking to friend her so we can hang our, or to send Isabelle over to her dungeon to hang out? Unless we just tell her about the thing in the basement and go "WUTDO?"

>>1057936
*think*
*think*
*think*
Friend request, and perhaps some lessons from the Original?

>>1057936
You kinda have most of the dungeon-related stuff in hand (y'know beyond asking for a buncha runes or money to splurge on upgrades)

I dunno, maybe some way to communicate with jeffrey (maybe by extension all chaos-distorted entities, since Lucia's speech was causing some discomfort) accurately and remotely?
The dungeon plot of getting a group mighty enough to take our basement beast on is cool, but we might be able to actually do stuff with jeffrey and the basement/treasury if we could communicate without being gibbed


alternatively maybe see if she and her clout can either lean on drachma bank to get their shit together, or scare the unliving daylights out Atrociatus

Getting a readout on the thing in the basement might be helpful. Maybe ask if it's even possible to control the thing and what it would take to kill it.

>>1057937
Maybe not the construct tier upgrade, that'd probably require interacting with them and then she'd see Dungeoneer. Maybe the gold to upgrade all of them?

Also we could always use more runes to experiment with.

If I had to think of anything, maybe something to help Mary with combat, or something to take in runes without becoming a demon? That's really been a sticking point on things for a good long while.

>>1057936
Well, we could do with a nicer bedroom, or maybe nicer bedrooms for our NOT daughters? Other then that, it would be neat to have different runes, or maybe for her to look at the MONSTER IN THE DEPTHS and ask what the fuck is up with that.

>>1057936

Just floating the idea. I'm not exactly committed, but maybe they could do something about Jeffrey. It wouldn't be fair to kill him, but maybe they could "untangle" him a bit, possibly get him back to where we can control him somewhat.

Chaos muffling is a good idea, but i REALLY dont think we should mention Jeffrey *yet*

>>1057936
oh yeah, get the dungeon ownership of slimecrown citadel formalized under Mary’s name, make sure the financial debt is thrown back onto the previous dungeon master’s name, And Ask for Mary’s title to be changed to something new instead of “King of Demons”.

>>1057936
oh yeah, get the dungeon ownership of slimecrown citadel formalized under Mary’s name, make sure the financial debt is thrown back onto the previous dungeon master’s name, And Ask for Mary’s title to be changed to something new instead of “King of Demons”.

>>1057936
don’t forget about the Debt that got thrown onto Slimecrown Citadel because of the previous dungeon master! we need to do something about that atrocious thing!

>>1057936
leave a greetings card for our dungeoneer.

Something good for the dungeon... a kaiju battler. A spell to make our monster grow at the end of a dungeon, and the adventurers get to choose one of their own to kaijufy too! That way, not only do they get an epic battle, but we can use our kaiju fighter abilities on the hero...

I can't remember if Alex was cursed
OH, Jeffory was, in theory, Atrocitous's, and should be ours now... if the abomination was ever ANYONE'S, that is

1/3 Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)18:24 No. 1057956 ID: 08229c
File 167832865521.png - (147.97KB , 800x600 , 9.png )

"Well... That is so kind of you... But, before I ask for anything, may I get some clarification?"

"Sup?"

"So, with the curse broken this dungeon is mine, yes?"

"Mhmm! Truly and utterly. It's all yours. You were originally given just a little bit so it was easy to sign everything else over to you since your hand touched the rest of the dungeon. So, yep. All yours Dungeon Master."

"Even the basement?"

The First Dungeon Master's head tilts

"Basement?" She glances over at the First Demonologist who just shrugs.

"There's a basement floor that I've struggled to get access to. There's also a very powerful demon there that I have no control over."

"Really?" She seems interested now. "Show me."

"It's very powerful."

"So am I."

Mary rises from the table and leads the First Dungeon Master to the entrance to the basement. Her companions try to stop her but she insists on going alone.

She opens the door and steps in.

"Huh."

2/3 Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)18:30 No. 1057957 ID: 08229c
File 167832900093.png - (227.49KB , 800x600 , 10.png )

She is instantly killed.

>>1057957
OH SHIT

3/3 Mary 2023/03/08(Wed)18:51 No. 1057961 ID: 08229c
File 167833031621.png - (246.14KB , 800x600 , 11.png )

The First Dungeon Master walks down the stairs to the basement and picks up her own severed head.

"Wow, it's been a while since I've been killed like that." She says, examining her own face.

"Dungeon Master, please..." The First Demonologist sounds exasperated.

"What? You know we can't stay dead."

"Yes, yes we can. You're lucky that wasn't one of the few things that CAN permanently kill you."

"Mm... I had a good idea what it was. Now I know for sure. You have what we call a Primordial Demon." She says, with the Demonologist nodding in agreement.

"A what?" Mary asks.

"Demo?"

The First Demonologist clears her throat. It's a shockingly similar gesture to what Mary is used to seeing.

"Primordial Demons are basically avatars of a true demon. The source of the runes. They usually come about when a large mass of the same rune congeals into a single creature. Such demons are extremely powerful."

She glances into the basement.

"If I had to guess," She says, "That is a Primordial Demon of Chaos and Power. However, because it's not pure its power is actually diminished. But... The dungeons should not possibly be able to contain something like that."

"Correct." The First Dungeon Master says. She holds her head up in one hand. "We have a pretty hard cap for our system. Cause something that big could easily cause untold damage if it breaks out. Not good for business."

"I see," Mary says, "So... What do we do?"

"Uhh.... Normally I'd say nothing. Cause it's kinda... OP? Like... I can't fight it... But, it's residing in your dungeon so..." She pulls up a blue screen and plinks away at it, "Okay, the room is registered as part of the dungeon, fully. You are free to banish the creature or whatever. If you demolish the room while it's in there that should kill it."

"Oh. Is it illegal to have it there or..?"

"Hahahaha nah. Honestly I think it's hilarious that you have one of the apex demons in your dungeon. I bet you could come up with some fun way to use it."

"I've mostly just been sending adventurers there as a bonus boss and part of the lore."

"Snrk. That's great. Yeah I think I read something about that on your reviews. Uh... There's always a chance it could break out and like... Destroy this entire shard and explode? But... Whatever. I'm not your boss.

... I mean I am but... Look, you're a grown woman you do what you want with it. So long as the room remains in one piece it's not going anywhere."

"I will make sure it doesn't leave."

"Coolio. Like I said, the room and its contents are fully yours now so do whatever you want with it."

"Thank you."

"Oh, also, you never asked me for a thing."

"Oh. Uhm... Runes? Or some upgrades for my constructs?"

"I don't give runes away as a rule buuuut...." She produces two tokens and tosses them to Mary, "That's two free upgrades to any of your constructs."

Mary catches the tokens and nods.

"Thank you."

"Ye." She drops her head and kicks it back into the basement. "Alright, I think you and I both got a lotta work to do. So, catch you later friendo."

Hm.

Is there anything else we want to ask before she departs?

>>1057961
Ask what the counter to overwhelming Power is. Is there a Pure Condensed Comfy you can pour down the stairs or something if Jeffrey starts acting up? If you stick the Infinity rune on Jeffrey, can you force it to ditch some of the power and chaos runes?

>>1057962
If he escapes we might be able to delete him by adding a Nothing rune, maybe.

>>1057961

Ask her if she wants to do lunch at some point? You need more friends.

At least one of those tokens is going to Dungeoneer.
Ask what her fighting style as a DM is.

>>1057966
Huh? No, Dungeoneer's next level is cheap, only 5k, and also we don't need 7-rune monsters yet (seriously, we had to literally change the boss fight for them to win). Compare that to Archiver's 20k. And, I'm pretty sure, some of the prices are gonna start being unreasonable pretty soon. I think we best save them for a while.

>>1057961

Oh, right. Speaking of runes, maybe offer her or her demonologist the undyne rune that technically isn't from this reality. It'd be a nice present for all the overtime she's about to put in.

>>1057968
u mean the otherworld aqua andits inversion, the aero rune right>

>>1057961
Ask her for a photo with her and her constructs so we can frame it. Also, ask her if she'll be friends with you on Dungeonbook.

>>1057961
Mary, I had an idea. Ask for her head, then rune it.

>>1057972
See >>1057961
>"Ye." She drops her head and kicks it back into the basement. "Alright, I think you and I both got a lotta work to do. So, catch you later friendo."

>>1057961
Oh, Mary. You're still human, so you're mortal. Can you ask for some kind of death protection? Or maybe that's something you can buy from town now that you can leave...

>primordial demon spawns from a bunch of the same runes in one place
Hmm, probably shouldn't stockpile too many water runes then.

>>1057975
>Mary asks for that
>OGDM puts a rune in her
that's what she did to herself, after all

The smart thing to do would probably be to banish Jeffery right now and replace him with something we can control.

But we're not going to do that, are we?


Now, we've developed our canon quite a bit. It's gonna get a little harder to do more crazy fun stuff and have it make sense.

We shouldn't be afraid to let some events be non-canon. It gives us more possibilities and scenarios without it having to make sense.

>>1057961
Two photos:
One group photo of The OG DM gang by themselves.
Another photo is the OG DM gang plus Mary.
Won't hurt to take multiple photos.

Ask if we were to delete the room would we get all the runes used to make the demon?

>>1057961
OH
DID SHE WANT TO SEE THE REVIEWS FOR THE RECENT RUN!

>>1057961
Yeah, backing the questions about death protection since you’re not a demon and if we run the risk of summoning another demon just from stockpiling runes. How many is too many runes? We can split them into different types freely but we don’t want any accidents from, say, Dungeoneer trying to see what happens if she converts our whole stockpile into Cute runes or something.

>>1057961
Alex is free too now, right? It’s been a minute but I think I remember her accidentally getting caught up in our curse, right?

>>1057955
>>1058001
Nope, we just hired her against her will and that got her fired from her job at the bank. No curse involved, just dickery. Also, she's a demon now.

Free upgrades for any 2 constructs? That's cool! Who should we upgrade?

>>1058003
These are our current available upgrades:

Dungeoneer III: Allows for the creation of 7 rune monsters. Can alter the runes in a demon once, only. Allows Final Boss rooms to contain 6 rune monsters. Allows Extra Boss runes to contain 7 rune monsters. G-5000
Carpenter III: Allows for the creation of a mini dungeon. These dungeons are fully automated and run on their own. The Dungeon Master needs to only add demons in it. It can be either a Puzzle Dungeon, Adventure Dungeon, or Gimmick Dungeon. G-15,000
Archiver III: Hidden runes can be drawn from items. If an item has two runes, both runes can be obtained from the item. Cost G-20,000. Price drops by 1000 for every 5 rune or higher monster.
Demonologist IV: The price to create demons is dropped by 2. However, this does not affect demons that are 8 runes. G-8,000
Artificer II: Allows the creation of stronger Dungeon Master Gear. The Dungeon Master can fight as a 5 rune demon. Costs G-10,000. Price drops by 1000 for each Fundamental Rune unlocked.

I'd recommend banking them both until stuff starts getting more expensive. But if people really wanna use one of them now, I'd say Archiver.

>>1058004
We're good on our Monster level curve for now, what we currently lack in terms of player feedback and challenges is the variety in terms of Dungeon Architecture. Story focused yes, but there's something to be said about our Dungeon Architecture about the lack of environmental interaction.

Builder would be a good investment from the get-go and would be worth the Investment and free-upgrade.

Archiver would help break down that book for both of those runes. and also make Rune-discovery from adventurer loot much easier to find and fill out for our library.

Artificer isn't worth it given that it's cost discount is tied to Fundamental runes in our library, but it would help keep Mary safe. Given that we have All but Almighty, the cost of upgrading Artificer is stuck at 5,000.

Dungeoneer isn't tied to any discounts but the ability to allow a 6 rune-Curi to fully function in the final boss rune has a point, but again, not what we need in terms of enhancing our dungeon run experience.

Demonologist would be a big cost-saver in term of rune-costs for creating new demons. 2-runed demons and lower are practically free now if we give the upgrade.

>>1058006
Curi's already fully operational cause she's in an Extra Boss room, but you're missing the point: it's not which upgrade is more useful to us, it's how much are the tokens worth. Anything under 10k we can just upgrade by using money, and we can get that kind of money easily enough. So that just leaves us with Builder and Archiver, and honestly I'd rather pay for this upgrade for Builder so we can use the free upgrade for his next upgrade, which could be a lot more expensive.
I really think it's in our best interests to bank these tokens for now.

>>1058004

I personally recommend that we upgrade Archiver and then see what her next upgrade costs before picking a second. She seems to be the leader when it comes to expensive upgrades and if we could get two on her (which I'm not convinced will work), it could allow us to make 3 rune monsters for free and maybe get even more runes from items (like the items we're about to get from the run).

After we see what her next upgrade will do for us, I'd say it comes down to between her and the Carpenter. The thing about his and her synergy is that we can populate a mini-dungeon with three rune slimes easily enough, set aside a unit as a boss, and then use it to generate a lot of passive income.

Speaking of income, we should get YUM on the line and inquire about how much they'll pay us to make a mascot for their organization a front runner at a program being personally sponsored by the OGDM.

>>1058008
Yeah I agree. I think it's smarter to save the tokens and buy the next upgrades out of pocket. I say the Carpenter. We can use the tokens later down the line



Anyways, the DM is a total gremlin. I love it!
Glad we know what the thing in our basement is. Now we can tell our adventurers that the secret boss is a demon. But maybe keep quiet on the part about it being "threat to our shard".

More importantly, if we have access to the basement, does that mean we have access to a new level in our dungeon? Can we build rooms down there?

>>1058006
I wonder if we could contract some adventurers to help us test and revise our dungeon. Sort of like playtesters.

>>1058011
these dungeon runs are already considered the playtest sessions.

1/2 Mary 2023/03/09(Thu)13:37 No. 1058014 ID: 08229c
File 167839782108.png - (205.93KB , 800x600 , 12.png )

"Ah, a moment. It's so rare I can speak to someone with such intimate knowledge of how things run. Can I ask a few more questions."

"Mm? Shoot."

"Thank you. Is there a specific limit to how many runes can be added before something becomes like what the uh... Primordial Demon is? Should I avoid keeping too many runes in one area?"

"Uh... Demo?"

The First Demonologist takes over the answering.

"Runes themselves are inert. They don't react to anything on their own and you can keep a lot around with nothing happening. If you're asking how many runes you can put into a demon before it becomes primal... I would say anything higher than 100 would show the most changes. Right now our system does not support demon crafting that high so you should be safe."

"Then how was that monster made?"

"Honestly I have not a single fucking idea. That thing is weird and if you want my personal opinion it should be destroyed."

"BORING." The First DM interjects.

"Boring but safe. Primordial Demons are beings of raw runic might. Whatever is in there, the exact nature of its being, it is wholly unique and truly dangerous."

"You mean fun."

"It..." She sighs, "It is yours to do with as you wish. Just take my advice to heart."

"Of course," Mary says, "If I were to delete the room would I get back the runes in the demon?"

"If it were utterly destroyed you would gain nothing but peace of mind."

"Understood. One more question, is there a way to avoid death without becoming a demon?"

"Uh..." The First Dungeon Master speaks, "Yeah, plenty. Going demon is just the easiest. I'd ask adventurers. There's a lotta them who get pretty old. Older than me."

"I will ask around, thank you."

"Ye, no problem. Hey, this was fun. You got a Calam?"

"A... What?"

"It's a chat program. Here, hold on." She writes down a username on a piece of paper, "Get it and add me on that. We can speak with the DM screens but then I can't show you my sweet emote collection."

"I... See.... Uh... Thank you."

"Peace, peace~"

Her and her group just blip out of existence.

. . .

2/2 Mary 2023/03/09(Thu)13:40 No. 1058015 ID: 08229c
File 167839800584.png - (103.04KB , 800x600 , 13.png )

...

Yeah I...

Have mixed feelings on her, certainly.

Mary pulls up the DM screen to confirm something. The basement exists AND she can build off of it.

Might be risky to tamper with that area so let's leave it be fore now.

And let's also save our tokens, yes? I know things will get more expensive.

... I think I have to find out what a Calam is?

...

I have no idea what to do now that I'm actually free.

>>1058015
Yes you do, but I guess you're not ready to go talk to your parents yet. I suppose you can go get your stuff from your apartment, if they're still there?

>>1058015

There's personal matters that you'd certainly like to take care of, I'm sure. For now, business wise, you still have those reviews to go through and you should probably make sure Dungeoneer and/or Ruth haven't caused an incident. Izzy has not been mentioned, because she is an angel.

You know, two birds, one stone, maybe you could get out and stretch your legs while looking for the three, treat them to a nice meal.

>>1058015
Time to get some sweet runes for yourself and start working on accruing phenomenal cosmic power

>>1058015
Your task is simple, you must find a means of turning the primordial demon Jeff into a cute girl dungeon construct.

It's an app on your crystal ball or something? Ask Dungeoneer, she might know.
I suppose it's wiser to save these upgrade tokens until the cost of new constructs really spirals out of control... in that case you'd better make sure dungeoneer doesn't touch them without permission.
Now that you're really free, surprise her by picking her up from the ball game!

>>1058015
Summon the Chef and make plans for throwing a rager to celebrate your freedom.
Hire a DJ
Get some good Booze
Invite your Dungeon Master buddies
.... Invite some of the regular adventures?
Regardless, ha e some fun and unwind

>>1058015
well good to know Jeffrey isn't *technically* illegal, just that he shouldnt even exist.

with your new found freedom-- well actually got to do the party with everyone first, THEN you can out out into town.

...And make sure you bring your evidence to use against Drachma Bank in court.

Can we pull up the stats on Jeff? It'd be nice to at long last have some idea of what we're really working with down there.

As for freedom, just, take a step outside. Bask in the sunshine and enjoy being able to get some fresh air after so long. Or moonlight. That's nice too.

>>1058015
That's a wise choice. Still, I would suggest looking into whether you can build stuff in the basement without connecting anything to Jeffrey's room. There might be a way to have multiple entrances to a floor that do not connect to each other.

But that's a question for later. Now it's time to read reviews and celebrate with your friends. Since you don't have any, we'll have to settle for your employees and coworkers.

Congratulations Mary! You're free!

>>1058015
Tell your family you're free, draft up some defenses for Drachma bank when they try to shaft you. Also have a countersuit ready, because FUCK THEM. In fact, now that you can, document all this shit and leave it at a reporter's so you can nuke Drachma's PR to shit.

>>1058015
Oh, also might want to set a Limiter on Curi, because holy shit she is STRONG now and breaks the curve on dungeon encounters unless it's RAID mode nad even then.

>>1058028
I'm gonna say Phase 1 should be enough for non-raids, and for raids we still don't want her to be this powerful either unless they're really high level. My recommendation is: no having more than 1 summon per enemy alive at the same time, no fusion, and no Metal Slime. And probably no Ms Bloops either, just in case.

>>1058015
didn’t you send Dungeoneer, Izabelle, and Ruth to go see a baseball game? Now that you’re free to leave the Dungeon, why not join them on the fun?

>>1058029
if you kill bloops at the start of the run, she then joins

Something to note, that should Jeffrey get clear, if we don't have a hard counter rune combo?

Stuff Curi with all the Water runes, do the same with Ms. Bloops, then have them fuse. Pure water Runes would make a pure water demon, thought it would come at a HIGH cost.

When we do the party and stuff, we should analyze some people and figure out their stats and skills. we never scanned Izzy after she became a member of staff

>>1058015
>I have no idea what to do now that I'm actually free.
That's easy: Just step outside. Breathe in some fresh air and soak up some sunlight for a bit.

>I have no idea what to do now that I'm actually free.

Call ahead to some of the other dungeons and ask if they'd have time for you to visit so you can see how their dungeons are set up/network a bit more/catch up and actually hang out with friends who are outside of our dungeon?

>>1058015
This voice >>1058040 has the right of it. Just go outside. Enjoy the fresh air. Work can wait a few minutes.

>>1058040
>>1058042
Yeah, go outside for a bit.

>>1058015
Feel the sun on your face.

>>1058015
Plot your dickhead boss's assassination.

Failing that, shut the place down for the day and play some laser tag with your coworkers, maybe go bowling. Then call up a lawyer regarding your boss.

....she didn't wait to see the reviews : (

>>1058062
Mary can send them via Calam

>>1058012
I meant more like repeated, structured sessions with the same people specifically for them to critique the dungeon.

>>1058015
Go touch grass.

>>1058015
You should get a Calam. Also, send your parents a message! You just got kidnapped for months by an asshole client and fired by your shitty boss, so you need to warn them not to use that HORRIBLE bank ever again... or protect it from rampaging kaiju.

Go outside

>>1057961
What would happen if somebody, maybe a construct, eats all of the fundamental runes. Theoretically.

Go outside and touch grass

>>1058098
Considering one of those is the Nothing rune? They'd vanish.

Touch grass.
Cloudwatch.
Roll down a hill.

>>1058015
Let's go wrestle a kaiju

>>1058125
Bruh, that is super not pc. You can't just mug a kaiju.

>>1058125
Jeffrey technically counts as a kaiju

>>1058142
So what you're saying is, Mary and her parents could fight Jeffrey

Maybe visit your friends and relatives? I'm sure they've missed you.
Otherwise? Go to a fancy restaurant, treat yourself.

1/3 Mary 2023/03/10(Fri)18:39 No. 1058154 ID: 08229c
File 167850234081.png - (144.00KB , 1000x750 , 14.png )

I'm not not checking the reviews cause I don't want to. I'm not checking them cause they're not IN yet. When they are, I'll check them.

For the party I guess I can invite the Dungeon Masters over? Maybe some adventurers...

But, first...

Mary adjusts her tie and goes outside of the dungeon.

2/3 Mary 2023/03/10(Fri)18:39 No. 1058155 ID: 08229c
File 167850237870.png - (34.97KB , 1000x750 , 15.png )

Hm.

This shard is really pretty come starfall.

>>1058155
...the FUCK?!

3/3 Mary 2023/03/10(Fri)18:47 No. 1058157 ID: 08229c
File 167850283842.png - (177.30KB , 800x600 , 16.png )

...

I think I'll call mom.

Mary pulls out the phone and dials her mother's number in it. There is a brief pause before a voice is on the other end.

"Hello?" A slightly out of breath person responds.

"Mom? It's me, Mary."

"Oh my goodness, my daughter lives!"

"Y-yeah..."

"Well how ARE you? Did something bad happen? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Mom. Are you uh... Working?"

"Oh, nothing serious! Just dealing with a few Cycloptipus. I can talk."

"Oh. Uh... Good."

"This isn't your number. Did you lose your phone?"

"Sorta. It's... It's a long story..."

"Well, I have time dear."

"..."


Mary tells her everything that's happened in the past few months.

"Wow... And that's why you couldn't call me?"

"Y-yeah. Sorry about that, mother. I've just been so busy and it was hard to get a phone and I was stuck there."

"I'm so sorry you had to do that, honey. But, everything's good now?"

"Yeah, mom. I'm fine now. More than fine. I think I found my true calling in life, you know?"

"I can't believe my little Mary is a Dungeon Master. I will have to tell your father once he breaks free from this stupid kaiju's stomach."

"Ah. Y-yeah, if you could tell him. That'd be great."

"Hey, listen! I wanna come by and see your dungeon!"

"Uuuh..."


OKAY GUYS HOW DO I CONVINCE HER TO NOT COME HELP.

>>1058157

Unfortunately, I highly doubt you're gonna succeed in that regard.

>>1058157
Oh boy! Its bring your Mom to work day! Lets get the cake and streamers out. Look. We can't go easy on her just cause she is family. Think about all the times your were taught a board game? Did she go easy on you? Of course not. School of hard knocks. Didn't let you even win once. Ha haha.

You can't give your own parents a balanced run of the dungeon! You'd have to hand off the run to someone again, like Dungeoneer, or Alex.
A tour on the other hand would be fine. Curi and Lucia would love to meet their grandparents!

Tell her about the kids you are dealing with, and all of your not-children slimes. Parents are terrified of grandkids, so that'll chase her right off!

>>1058157
Sorry, can’t help. Moms are too strong.

>>1058157
"convince her to not come over"
thats the neat part, you dont

>>1058157
Tell her you adopted an Orphan and that you're super busy raising her and it's just so much hassle and you don't want to bother her with it.
It'll scare her right off.

>>1058157
I mean, maybe we could help... but we won't. We want them to visit.

>>1058157
This is when your friendly crown enacts their sudden but inevitable betrayal and says 'no, we're not helping you this time'.

Let them come!

>>1058157
That's not really possible, shye's going to come eventually. but tell her there's no Kaiju, she'd need insurance, and we might still have Drachma bank after us for a debt that isn't ours.

>>1058168

People can just visit us when the dungeon isn't on. I mean, they might accidentally fall into the comfy slime pit and be lost for a while, but as kaiju fighters, they probably have their own health benefits.

>>1058157

Also, look at it this way, you can always just drop them in the spa for a few hours. That'll wind them down enough to where you don't have to worry too much about being overwhelmed.

>>1058157
Mary, I know it's hard to accept this fact, but sooner or later, your parents will visit. You can't really escape it.

But what you can do is ensure that they visit you on YOUR terms, on YOUR timetable.

So, as a first measure. You can tell her that your dungeon's currently closed for the day, and that your schedule's fully booked for the week/month. Tell them that you're involved with a Major project with the OGDM and stress that it's very important that you can't afford distractions/delays. They may be your parents but they sure as hell can understand their baby girl has a full work schedule.

It'll delay them for a while, likely enough to get that PVP beta-testing event out of the way. But it's a stalling measure.
Another delaying measure you can enact is to ask them to do their research and homework on Slimecrown Citadel and other adventurer dungeon runs. Have them go through those Adventuring Magazines and Dungeon Master Weeklies and find those articles detailing your dungeon.

And if they're really REALLY itching to give your dungeon a run, tell them that you will treat them like any other customer. If you really don't want them to go to the basement, give them fair warning about what's in the basement. That way you'll minimize the chances of them walking into the basement.

Finally, you can always strike a deal. They're free to visit but only at the entrance and only to drop off lunch. Letting them see you in person will usually be enough for parents.

>>1058155
Mary.....I was not expecting the outside world to look like ....that.

Why is the world like that? I'm used to the world being one planet-sized intact sphere. Not...floating Islands and empty...*shudders*....empty "Void".

Hold me Mary. Hold me tight on your noggin. Please? I'm scared.

>>1058157
Yeah… she’s going to come eventually. And you know most of us have actively cheered that on. Or maybe you didn’t? Hard to tell if you actually catch everything we’re saying or if you tune some things out for your own sanity.

But you can delay if you so choose, even without breaking her heart! The secret is aggressively signing them up for something they’d enjoy doing.

Along those lines, send Isabelle over to them for some babysitting. You can mention the big project with OG DM as an excuse to keep her clear of the dungeon for a bit. They can’t say no to looking after a crippled orphan you’re taking care of.

Eventually they’ll come with her in tow. But it’ll probably buy you a couple weeks minimum. Then you can do things the others mentioned like hand the dungeon over to someone else so you don’t have a heart attack watching them or sending them over to the spa area.

As long as they meet Dungeoneer after some of the others you won’t get any wacky misunderstanding where they think you’re bullying your employees. If Curi sees you mom harassing you without context the. she’s likely to call in the army and smash your parents. Which would be bad!

>>1058157
I don't see a problem with this? Are you worried she's too high level? It's ok, she'll understand.

>>1058157
Mary, if I knew how to do that, I'dve written a book on how I do that and have sold it on the internet already.

If she's coming over at least tell her to bring a gift for her adopted grandaughter(s).
don't forget to tell her about the girl you decided to foster.

you think we have the power to stop parents?
the only thing I can think of is to point out that your dungeon can't handle really high level people yet

>>1058157
Mary, ok, listen
What you need to do is test the dungeon fiest hand....
With your parents
As a team
That will let you show them your worknfirat han AND catch up all at the same time. Bamn two family events done at once!

>>1058157
>OKAY GUYS HOW DO I CONVINCE HER TO NOT COME HELP.
That's the funny part, you don't.
Just make sure the path to Jeff doesn't have anything indicating that there's something dangerous down there, 'cause they seem like they'll want to check that out.

>>1058157
Ask her if she has a spare kaiju fighter outfit for Isabelle!

Isabelle would love to learn about fighting kaiju with grandma and grandpa. You could even teach her something yourself

>>1058157
There is literally no way to convince her not to come. Refusal will make her think something is wrong and make her want to come harder. Making it seem boring will make her want to come out of pity.

You are done for. Prepare for the hellish experience of Dungeoneer trying to sell dakimakuras of you to your own mother.

We'll have to make sure we get adventurer insurance for mom and dad and make sure Curi's boss room can accommodate her growing up to at least 65 feet tall.

Don't forget to have them get your costume.

>>1058181
>worknfirat han
That some sort of Kaijutsu?

Mary 2023/03/11(Sat)11:19 No. 1058222 ID: 08229c
File 167856237397.png - (151.22KB , 800x600 , 17.png )

"W-well, mother, I'm really busy with the dungeon right now. Fixing it up and stuff. I'm working with the Original Dungeon Master, actually."

"Oh, we don't have to run it, dear. I just want to see what you've been up to all this time you haven't called me. Or wrote. Or sent a text."

"Urk... I uh... W-well, you see I'm uh... I'm also busy uh... Fostering... A child... So..."

"You have a child!?"

"I mean, technically I have several but-"

"SEVERAL!?"

"Y-yes?"

"I'm coming over tomorrow."

"What!?"

YOU GUYS LIED.

"I'm coming over tomorrow and I'm bringing gifts."

"Hurh...."

"Love you, dear, bye~"

-click-

...

Well

That is something I will have to

Prepare for...

>Hold me Mary. Hold me tight on your noggin. Please? I'm scared.

Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot not all of you are from here.

Mary holds the crown close to herself.

Don't worry, you won't go floating off to the void. If you got dropped off you'd just go down to the demonic surface area.

Not sure if that's -better- but... Well, you'd be on land.

>You are done for. Prepare for the hellish experience of Dungeoneer trying to sell dakimakuras of you to your own mother.

I'm going to make sure she's on her best behavior.

Actually, I should check in on her..

Mary doesn't use her phone to call Dungeoneer, just the usual interface that allows her to contact her Constructs.

Dungeoneer answers immediately.

"Hey, boss! How's it going? Dungeon run go well?"

"It did. The Original Dungeon Master has left. How are things over there?"

"Oh things are just peachy! Yeah the kids are having so much fun. Got Izzy some cotton candy. You ever have that stuff? Delicious."

"I have. It's already starfall, they should be coming back now."

"Is it? It's so hard to tell! The stadium is just so brightly lit. I'll be back in uh... Yeah, not too long."

"Sounds good. You sound out of breath. Is something wrong?"

"I said everything's fine. There's just... There's just so many stairs and stuff, you know?"

Hm.
I'm not sure if she's being entirely honest.

>>1058222
Offer her a platonic work date with her if she comes clean.

where is she? If she's in a dungeon, we're sending RSP back in to get her.

>>1058222
>YOU GUYS LIED
no, you have to get better at recognizing facetious voices when you're flustered

>I'm not sure if she's being entirely honest.
I'm sure she's being entirely dishonest. Can you connect us directly to her, somehow?

She looks like she's doing something inappropriate for the presence of children. Send us through. Time for a perspective switch.

>>1058222

You know we won't be upset regardless of what's happening, so long as you are honest with us. You're either running toward something or away from something else. Either way, we can help, just let us know.

99 copper Ruth wanted to join in on the game.

>>1058222
Hey, not my fault you didn’t opt to force Isabelle on your mother like I suggested. You could have deflected her for a bit at least!

Pretty sure Dungeoneer is trying to find the kids. Just ask if she can put Isabelle on so you can say hi, and when she deflects just ask her upfront if she wants help finding them. You’re free to go help her and take in the sights of the shard.

Sending one adult (with the general maturity of a teenager) alone with two kids was probably asking for trouble all along. I didn’t think about it enough when I backed the baseball game idea.

>>1058222
If she took the children to a strip club, there will be hell to raise

>>1058222

If this winds up being too serious a matter, I put forth the plan that Mary put us on Metal Slime and send us out into the field.

>>1058222
Tell her stop flirting with the hotdog vendor and bring the kiddos home

>>1058222
She is most likely in a panic state over having accidentally lost track of Isabelle and Ruth.

REMAIN CALM. panicking will not help.

Talk through with this slowly with Dungeoneer. Remember your customer service skills.

Keep in mind that the fact that Dungeoneer is actually putting effort into trying to find them is to be applauded.

>>1058223
This would be good, lol.

Dungeoneer 2023/03/11(Sat)14:23 No. 1058250 ID: 08229c
File 167857341740.png - (117.21KB , 800x600 , 18.png )

. . .

"Dungeoneer... Did you lose the children?"

"N-no! I... Mary I'm so sorry!"

"It's... Okay. Keep calm. I'm going to send you the crown. I need you to tell me what shard you're on."

"Shard?"

Fuck.

"Just... Find the details of what shard you're on if you can and message me with it. I'll be there shortly."

I'm trusting you guys.
If I send a message and put you as an attachment it s

==================================================================

-bloop-

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

It's you guys!

Okay, so! Ruth went mad! She's in the arena and she hit a buncha people with balls and knocked some people out!

And I was talking with this really cute cotton candy vendor and I just freaking

Lost track of the child


EVERYTHING HAS GONE WRONG.

HELP

First, put it on. Feel the power of the double crown. Now, with that empowerment, get people to stop throwing balls at Ruth for her to hit!

>>1058250
Calm down you disaster lesbian, everything is going to be fine! Ruth is a nightmare and a half and you just have to find the other child. Also get that vendors number if she's super cute.

>>1058250
Did you at least get the girls number?

>>1058250
Step one: Get the vendors number for later
Step two: ?????
Step three: profit
Step four: Show profit to Marry in exchange for buttpats and more responsibilities

>>1058250
Tell them to stop throwing balls at Ruth. No balls, no problem. Then go to the announcers booth and call for lost child. Get as many lost children as you can. Maybe hit up an orphanage on the way back for extras. Mary's mom is coming and we need more fosters.

>>1058250
Ruth is a known variable. She won’t leave the arena as long as people keep throwing baseballs at her. It’s Isabelle that’s the priority.

Tell the staff that They can calm her down by telling them that she wants to play baseball.including her in the baseball game should wear her down and makes things easier for everyone involved rather than attempting to wrangle her. It’s isabelle that our priority in finding.

>Okay, so! Ruth went mad! She's in the arena and she hit a buncha people with balls and knocked some people out!

hmmm, from my experiences if she had a few drinks and was holding a beer in a red solo cup before she started clubbing people than this is actually fairly normal for a ball game. If this game was big enough it will probably make this weeks sports highlights.

As for finding the lost child. Where was the last place you saw her? Also can you remember the name of the stadium and the name of the two teams that ruth is making sure suffer from the playoff bug? Getting those and giving marry a quick call again would let her figure out where you're at and could let her send back up to try and assist you.

>>1058250

Prioritize and delegate.
> Ask cotton candy man to spread the word that Ruth just really loves baseball. No baseballs, no problem. Also, he's an employee. So, he knows his way around and people will listen to him.
> Try to think of the last place you saw Izzy. Start tracking her from there.

>>1058264
>Ask cotton candy man
>candy man
>man
we're talking about Dungeoneer here

>>1058265

Mistakes were made.

>>1058234
I don’t know about Ruth, but as for the child, you should ask any employee to “take you to the security desk” because that’s the internal center of operations for things like lost children. You should also be able to find out what shard you’re on there.

>>1058250
Yeeeah, send us back, Mary really needs to come over and help at this point. There really is no getting around it.

Authorities need called to help find Isabelle. Also to help explain away things so Ruth doesn't get subjugated. We kinda need someone who is savvy with laws and has some good common sense.

>>1058250
Dungeoneer I need you to calm down and listen to the mostly-sensible voices in your head. First we need to know what shard you are on so we can get Mary to bring in the cavalry. Next, calm down Ruth and stop her from getting you in more trouble. Then we can worry about Izzy. Izzy is a big girl and knows how to ask adults for help, so I'm less concerned in that regard. But first we focus on DAMAGE CONTROL.

Do you understand?

Where is this, again? Is this an area we have control over? Can't we control and message monsters? Send Ruth a message or order or something.

>>1058276
Messaging Ruth is actually a good idea.

>>1058250
>>1058275
Ignore the sensible ones Dungeoneer. Listen to me, possibly trustworthy voice.

Ruth will be occupied as long as people keep throwing baseballs at her. Sure you could go to the security desk, have us message Ruth, and notify Mary, or you can take the less sensible but way more fun route. Break into the announcers booth and use the voice thingy to notify the stadium. Tell them you're looking for a lost child. It would definitely spread the message quickly. Also, don't forget to ask for that cute cotton candy vendor's number. The crowd will search for Isabelle.

I know now is not the time for fun shenanigans but think of it this way, Mary is going to be extremely disappointed in you when you get back anyway. She may even ground you for a while. So you might as well go for it. Trust me. You will possibly not regret it.

>>1058250
If you don't want to take responsibility, Look at the surroundings and find landmarks! Signs, postage boards.

If you're in a stadium, there should be a stadium name! A stadium would be attached to a Shard. Find the Stadium Name, then Call Mary and tell her the Stadium name. That should help get her to this place faster.

In the meantime after you get Mary our current location, engage in damage control.

>>1058250
Okay, it’s like we thought.

Looking at the scoreboard to get the name of the teams to send to Mary is a good idea.

Asking someone where you can call for a lost child (Isabelle) is a good idea. Have them ping through the intercom that her grandmother is on the way to her home and she’s to show up at (some landmark in the stadium) to head home.

Just shout at Ruth that Mary’s mom is coming and all of you are going to be grounded forever if you’re late. That means no baseball bat for Ruth. It’s a lie, but it should get her to follow you.

>>1058284

You do know Izzy had a family before they all died, right? Telling her that her grandmother is coming to see her in a universe where magical revival is possible might lead to some really terrible consequences.

Dungeoneer 2023/03/13(Mon)17:27 No. 1058472 ID: 08229c
File 167875364321.png - (161.80KB , 800x600 , 19.png )

>Did you at least get the girls number?

I didn't! I thinks he was really into me!

Or was really into selling me cotton candy.

GUH.

Okay, these are good ideas, guys. Let's see...

Dungeoneer looks about and finds that the place is called Fell Air Stadium. She relays this information to Mary. While she waits for the dungeon master she goes over to an information desk. Or at least what looks like one.

She quickly explains her dilemma to the person working the booth.

They nod and say they will be right back.

>Where is this, again? Is this an area we have control over? Can't we control and message monsters? Send Ruth a message or order or something.

Oh! We don't have any control over the area but with the dungeon master title I can tell Ruth what to do.

She gives Ruth a command to stop attacking balls and to meet with her. She no longer hears the crack of bats against balls.

A man approaches Dungeoneer from behind the booth. He's wearing a much fancier attire than the normal employees do.

"Hey. You lost a child, right?"

"Yes! She has a robot arm and leg and eye and her name is Izzy!"

"We found her wandering around and she's in the snack bar right now. You want us to bring her here?"

"Please and thank you so much." Dungeoneer breathes a sigh of relief.

"Hey, is that your slime in the field?"

"What? Oh, no that's the boss's. I'm so sorry about that.."

"Oh, no no it's fine. We'd love to speak to your boss about having her play on our Underball team. She seems to be a natural."

"Wait, really? Ruth?"

"If that's her name, yes."

"Well, she was built for the dungeon, I'm not really sure ho-"

"I'll discuss it with your owner when they get here."

. . .

>>1058472
>I thinks he was really into me!
>he
huh. Alright then.

>I'll discuss it with your owner when they get here."

well fuck you too pal

>>1058472
>"I'll discuss it with your owner when they get here."

Owner and slave is some pretty highteir bdsm play this man is accusing you and Marry of here!

>>1058472
...he knew you were a Dungeoneer, that is NOT a good sign.

>>1058472
>"I'll discuss it with your owner when they get here."
I suppose some people are used to treating dungeon construct like they're not real people. Then again, I suppose in your case it'd be better to play along, wouldn't it? Wouldn't wanna give away just how autonomous you really are, would you?

Reminder that most Dungeoneers he talks to are not capable of having nuanced opinions on baseball teams or children, especially without DM input.
Explain that you will inform her of Ruth's promising career in hitball when you return, but for now your owner has given you instructions to collect both child and slime and wait for her by the entrance.

>>1058472
>your owner
Dungeoneer, could you open up a line, please and thank you.
"...WE'LL discuss this with our BOSS, thanks."

>>1058472
At least they don't seem too angry. Hopefully we have some gold left. Dungeoneer, collect Izzy and Ruth and wait for Mary. Keep everyone out of trouble and hopefully Izzy didn't laser eye too many people while she was out of sight.

>>1058473

>thinks he
>think she
probably just a typo

>>1058476

And probably Dungeoneer is just recognizable because there are thousands of her out in the world, like most dungeon constructs.

>>1058472

As for this guy, kind of fucking rude, but Mary's habit of treating her dungeon constructs like actual people is apparently a bit rare. I'd say feel free to correct him, but maybe don't get too angry. He's not worth it, and you need to get Izzy out of here without creating even more of a scene.

>>1058472
I’d like to suggest some things you could order Ruth to do right now, but there’s probably some clause where Mary would have to pay for various medical bills if Ruth hurt anyone or cover damaged property and I have no context for how much or little Mary makes in relation to that.

Just… ask her if she owns you when she gets here. Don’t hand us back so we can’t coach her, get what she thinks free of our influence. I don’t know if she’ll say the right thing up front since, y’know, kinda a weird question, but I’m certain she won’t say she owns you. And then you can take that answer and put what the man said behind you.

>>1058500
Or at the absolute worst, "Technically yes, but I don't want to think of it that way." I can't imagine her honest opinion being any worse than that - she ain't like the other Dungeon Masters.

>>1058500
>>1058530
What are y'all going on about? We already know what Mary's honest opinion is, we can see into her mind, remember? She considers Dungeoneer and the other constructs employees.

>>1058472
Explain that you are not a slave, you're a construct in a moral grey zone and have emotions and self-esteem and ask politely for an apology.

Please do not tell Ruth to destroy this man, it would deprive Mary and Ruth of opportunities and also make it harder to retrieve Izzy.

>>1058531
We know that. But we lie about a lot of things too. If Dungeoneer is actually hurt by what he said, hearing it from Mary would mean more. Especially since their relationship can be pretty rocky.

Though if Dungeoneer is more angry than hurts she can chuck all this out the window. I’m guessing at her reaction here, she didn’t share her thoughts before we piped up.

>>1058535
That feels like jumping the gun a bit, Dungeoneer hasn't shown any doubts as to what Mary thinks of her. Or our trustworthiness, for that matter.

If they don't treat dungeoneer as a person, then I doubt they'll treat Ruth like one either.

>>1058538
Fortunately, Ruth has something they don't: a baseball bat and the lack of critical thought to use it as a proper weapon, rather than a physics object.

>>1058472
Hey, don't overreact. Remember, most constructs ARE "owned". Also you have to keep a low profile...

I'm still confused about this whole situation. I thought monsters couldn't leave the dungeon.

>>1058548
They can if they're Dungeoneer.

>>1058548
They can leave any time they want, just can't stay away for a long time without fading away unless they have plenty of runes, if memory serves. Talked about way early on, and used when Curi and some gals went to Glass Spinner's dungeon during Christmas, I believe.

1/3 Dungeoneer 2023/03/14(Tue)19:08 No. 1058581 ID: 08229c
File 167884612484.png - (190.89KB , 800x600 , 20.png )

"Ah. Well. Can I know this shard's name? So my BOSS can get here faster."

"Sure, N-Shard 12, 16-492."

Dungeoneer texts that to Mary. It's utterly gibberish to here but it seems to help Mary tremendously as the Dungeon Master is there in just a few moments.

She rushes over to the booth just in time to see Izzy and Ruth. The game is already going back to its normal routine. Apparently demon attacks aren't even uncommon here. They just haven't had one with a bat.

"Are you two okay? What happened?"

"A lady was giving out free samples so I got some and then followed her and got more."

"Blep."

"Geeze... You worried the hell out of me... Don't wander off from Dungeoneer again, okay?"

"Okay." Izzy says, "Are you mad?"

"No, just... I'm not mad. You have to be careful."

Izzy nods again.

Should I... Should I ask? I mean I know Mary doesn't think of me like that but...

It really is bugging me now.

>>1058581
Should probably ask away from the guy, but sure, go for it. If you trust, us, tho? You don't have anything to worry about from her.

2/4 Dungeoneer 2023/03/14(Tue)19:16 No. 1058586 ID: 08229c
File 167884659599.png - (139.85KB , 800x600 , 21.png )

Dungeoneer approaches Mary, her crown in hand. Her mind is swirling with so many thoughts. How she failed, what the man said, her horrendous luck in getting cute girls numbers.

It has been a hard day for her. She can barely look Mary in the eye.

"Hey... I'm so so so sorry about this... I just... Things spiraled out of control.."

"People make mistakes. I should have considered what could happen by sending Ruth to a baseball game. As for Isabelle... Well, I'm glad that nothing bad happened. I'm sure if I hadn't sent the crown you would have solved the problem on your own."

"I was trying but I freaked out and when I freak out it's hard for me to think normally."

"It's fine, truly. Just be more considerate of where she is in the future."

In the future. That means she still trusts me, right? Frick... I really don't want to ask...

I'm not sure what I'd do if she told me...

"Hey, boss?"

"Mm?" Mary turns her attention briefly from trying to herd the children to look at Dungeoneer.

"Do you uh... Do you think I'm property? Like, do you own me..?"

"What? No. You're a valuable member of my group and my friend. Have I not expressed that enough?"

"Ah, n-no no it's uh... The dude said something that just got into my head is all. It's no big deal. Oh, also he wants to hire Ruth to be part of the team?"

"What did he say?"

"It wasn't anything crazy. Just something stupid and dumb. I'm just overthinking things."

"Tell me."

"Well, I was... Going to give my opinion on Ruth joining the team and he said to wait til my... Owner came here. Like I didn't know what I'm talking about. I mean he's not wrong cause Demonologist is better at knowing the ins and outs of demons but I have some-"

"Which man?"

"Eh? Oh. Uh. That one." Dungeoneer says as she points.

Mary turns to see the same man waving at them and gesturing for Mary to come over.

3/4 Dungeoneer 2023/03/14(Tue)19:36 No. 1058587 ID: 08229c
File 167884776049.png - (119.00KB , 800x600 , 22.png )

Mary marches over to the man. Dungeoneer keeps hold of the crown and moves closer to hear what she's saying.

"Excuse me, sir?"

"Hey! Are you the owner of that slime and Dungeoneer. I was wondering-"

"The slime and Dungeoneer are my employees. They are their own people and I do not own them anymore than you do a member of your own staff."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean t-"

"Now, I hear you wish to hire Ruth to be on your team. What are your policies on pure demons and their rights?"

"Well, it's actually a simple transfer of ownership t-"

"No, rights like people rights. She is a sentient creature and if I were to allow you to hire her what are the benefits? Her salary? How can I know she is being treated well and is happy?"

"That's not quite how it works here, ma'am."

"Then I'm afraid I have to decline. Thank you for keeping my ward safe. Farewell."

"Well, ma'am, there's still the matter of damages to the stadium and people injuries."

"How much?"

"At least 100 gold. Maybe more if we uncover more damages from inspection. I'd be happy to cover the fee myself if you could sign over the slime to my team."

"No. I'll cover it. Also I want a third party unaffiliated with this league and its workers to do the inspections."

"We can do that. But there's also the matter of how long we had to pause the game while your demon went on a rampage. The amount of lost profits while things were disrupted-"

"I -saw- what happened before I came here. Your people kept feeding Ruth balls. If you ask me it's clear you were just testing her. Why would you keep throwing the balls otherwise?"

"Well-"

"Also I couldn't help but notice that I was never contacted in regards to my ward? She knows where the dungeon is. She has my number. She can contact me at any point. Did anyone even try to get in touch with me? Or were you more interested in testing Ruth's abilities?"

"It was just to stop her-"

"By giving her more ammo? Most of the damage inflicted could have been prevented. She's a single rune slime. This is a park is a space that's open to the public. You have demon wranglers, right?"

"Of course."

"Then why didn't you use any of them?"

"I-"

"I am taking my ward and my workers. I am going to send you G100 to cover any damages, even if most were caused by your own hand. You will not be recruiting my exmployee. And that is all."

"But-"

"Or I can summon lawyers and we can go down THAT route. Which would you prefer?"

"Uh. You know. It's fine. We can cover the damages."

"No. I insist. Expect the funds sent to your financial department soon."

4/4 Dungeoneer 2023/03/14(Tue)19:42 No. 1058588 ID: 08229c
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Is it bad that I found that kinda hot?

Forceful Mary is a very good look on her.

Hey, you're on her head all the time. Do you think she's into constructs?

>>1058588
>Is it bad that I found that kinda hot?
No. No it's not.

>Do you think she's into constructs?
Sorry to tell you she doesn't believe in dating employees.

>>1058588
Oh god she went full Lawyer mode, that was terrifyingly awesome.

She doesnt believe its right to date employees.

>>1058588
Only the really cute ones. So you should probably give up and let Demonologist have her.

>>1058588
She doesn't seem to want to date employees. But I think you and I both know that she's just romantically blind. Though there was that time she got drunk...

>>1058588
Maybe if you weren't an employee.

>>1058588
Well, pretty sure she's into chicks, but she seems kind of a stickler for the rules about employee relationships, so you might have to wait 'till your rune thing you're doing is finished and you're able to make your own decisions. That said, she does seem to put you in rather revealing outfits a lot...

Mary 2023/03/14(Tue)20:04 No. 1058600 ID: 08229c
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>Only the really cute ones. So you should probably give up and let Demonologist have her.

I'm cute! I'm super cute! I got white hair, my belly is exposed, I'm freaking cuteness personified!

>Not employees.

Ah. Yeah that's... Actually very accurate for the type of person Mary is.

>She doesn't seem to want to date employees. But I think you and I both know that she's just romantically blind. Though there was that time she got drunk...

The memory of her flirting with Glass Spinner is a precious memory of mine. I will never forget where she tried to kiss her.

>Well, pretty sure she's into chicks, but she seems kind of a stickler for the rules about employee relationships, so you might have to wait 'till your rune thing you're doing is finished and you're able to make your own decisions. That said, she does seem to put you in rather revealing outfits a lot...

... Do you think she likes how I look? Ia ljfhsdlfjdlskfdsklfdsf
I CAN'T HANDLE THIS INFORMATION FORGET I ASKED ANYTHING.

Guh. Accidentally almost gave myself a heart attack. I don't wanna think about Mary thinking about me...

Ah, well. I guess I'm just cursed to never find love.
It's fine. Mary needs someone less wicked than me anyway. Maybe someone who likes math. And I can admire her work from afar.

Thanks for the help.

Dungeoneer returns the crown to Mary. Mary accepts it, sighs, and puts it back on.

I am...
Drained.

I appreciate the handling of the situation. I knew sending you guys was the right idea.

This has been a VERY tiring day. And yet there's still so much to do..

I have a party to assemble, reviews to go over, preparations to make for my parents.

What should I focus on first?

>>1058588
Are you wrong? No, having someone willing to defend you is an acceptable turn-on. That said, as your boss she would fire herself for dating you since she takes her job seriously and unequal power dynamics are a big no-no. Especially when one side can make the other stop existing if they get angry enough. Then you’d either go back into the ether or get stuck with the bag of bones she replaced and never see her again.

If it sounds like a boring answer, that’s Mary for you. If you’d like to date her you’d need to show you’re more than a horny teenager and prove you can literally exist independent of her. That COULD come with more runes… but you also shouldn’t need to change yourself so much just to get into someone’s pants. Keep being horny, there’s a match out there that would love to date a cute thing like you!

Though now that I think about it, the whole “construct” thing really does mean more than I thought over on your side, huh? That’s… upsetting. You deserve to be happy too, Dungeoneer.

You need to get Mary hooked up with another cute DM that has a greater variety of cute monsters. Then Mary can educate her on bringing out the best in her employees and you get a larger dating pool. We know about Glass Spinner, Cleric might be someone who we could talk into DM’ing, and having her hook up with Slime Matron seems… possible(?) but our knowledge is limited.

Mary’s mom is coming over. Do some research on single girl DMs, see if you can plot with her mom afterward. Mary’s got Isabelle and several slimes calling her “mom” so getting her mom on board to hook Mary up so she doesn’t work herself to death juggling everything seems reasonable. You’d probably get some support from the other rank-and-file like Curi or Mirelle.

>>1058600

Reviews are important, but they will keep longer than your other obligations. If you are going to party, you really need to inform the prospective guests ASAP.

As for supplies for the party and for greeting your parents, you can make the necessary items appear magically, correct? While it's tempting to go to a store, I'd use the convenience of magical conjuration to eliminate your headaches.

If you must go out for anything yourself, maybe a small apology gift or a letter to your mom. Mom's love handwritten letters, Dad's too.

>>1058600
Hello Mary! Apologies for the late response to Dungeoneer. Feel free to pass my message onto her.

Reviews seem like the easiest thing to handle. If you’re really that drained then the rest can wait until sleep/nap first.

>>1058600
How i think it should go:Reviews, make a note to remind yourself/employees about parent visitation incase you get drunk, party, then prep for parents

>>1058600
Reviews should be quick enough to do first. Second thing should be making things look nice for your parents visit. After that, you can invite them to the party and invite your DM pals and Adventurer friends. Might want to also look into ways to keep your parents from dying without Adventurer Insurance, because there's a decent chance that if they find out about Jeffrey they're going to want to fight him. Just in case, y'know.

Also, just a heads up, but Dungeoneer really appreciated you standing up for her. She was a bit bummed about earlier with that guy, and you giving him the business helped get her in a better mood.

>>1058600
Party preparations are going to really just be delegations. Get those going first so chef and whoever can get started on them while you get ready for your parents. Reading reviews can happen anytime you end up having to wait for something else.

I’d say start with the reviews since you’re going to be helping the head DM spearhead the PvP idea and getting some actual feedback might help you puzzle out a more solid idea in the future while your ticking away on the other things n your todo list.

>>1058600
Well you're already out of the dungeon
You know that means right?
FUCKING SHOPPING TIME!!!
Awwww yeah gotta get that booze in person my fine lady friend!

>>1058602
oh man, timing...

Party first, parents last.

>>1058600
Give the girl a nice pat on the shoulder for the discriminatory remarks against her person, and promise something nice for her? Other then that, it would be nice to see the reviews since you can get that out of the way decently quickly.

>>1058602
Mary we aren't giving love advice to the girl, I promise.

>>1058600
I'd say send the invites first so you know who is coming. It might help you prepare. Aqua steve would enjoy a water stuff, Bone guy might enjoy bone stuff, etc. If you want you can invite the gremlin. Sorry, I meant the first DM. Though they might be busy.


P.S: It is VERY important that you invite Glass Spinner

>>1058639
And don't worry about why it's important to invite her. Seriously. Don't worry about it. Just trust us

BE NOT ALARMED, BUT DUNGEONEER HAS FOUND SOMEBODY CUTE AND ATTRACTIVE. WE WILL WATCH HER WITH GLEE.

>>1058615
>>1058600

Reminder that you still have Izzy in tow. So, liquor shopping in person is no. You could dispatch Dungeoneer with her for a second time while you do that to maybe get her something nice to wear, or go with her yourself. Your mom is probably going to fuss over her regardless, but showing she is at least well-provided for will go a long way.

>>1058645
I don't understand, I went liquor shopping with my parents as a kid, it was never an issue.
It's not like we are making the youngling buy booze herself.

Crush that Sportsball team, see their league driven before you, and hear the lamentation of the fans!

I bet that an interdungeon sports league could garner a following, and these new dungeon-interaction facilities that are presumably being worked on ought to help.

Te better fit with a dungeon theme, replace the goal with a boss monster, and keep the players region-locked. With dramatically stronger goals than the players fighting them, most of the gameplay would probably be about allowing the bosses to influence the rest of the field, like attacks that can be carried to the other end, or demons that can retransmit buffs they receive on to the next region. Player substitutions would be encouraged to keep things variable, and there could be an exchange rate to replace runes worth of demons for traps, quick respawns and incapacitation limits to stop one team just dumping all of the other players into a pile with a comfy slime, have a couple of wandering minibosses free to interfere in whichever region they like to add some more strategy...

1/2 Mary 2023/03/15(Wed)20:25 No. 1058672 ID: 08229c
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>You need to get Mary hooked up with another cute DM that has a greater variety of cute monsters. Then Mary can-

. . .

Are you guys trying to

Hook me up?

I have no time for relationships. My dungeon is at a critical juncture and we are at the cusp of breaking new ground in the system as a whole.

Dating can wait.

2/2 Mary 2023/03/15(Wed)20:42 No. 1058674 ID: 08229c
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What can't wait, however, are these reviews. I see you are all as eager as I to see what they think of the dungeon.

Hmm. We're missing one, I think. Well, let's see what they have to say.

-Bulk Mage-

"Slimecrown 2.0"

When I had first entered this dungeon, I was surprised. The quality was far above what it had been previously ranked and the challenges were far greater than anticipated.

When I went again, I was once more shocked by how much it had grown and deepened.

Going today, I think I can declare this dungeon as one of my favorites. It has continued to grow and expand and change in ways that the average Adventurer may not have seen before. If I had but one complaint it is that it takes a while to grind the tokens for some of the prizes.

The event that happened today was especially surprising. I won't spoil it, in case it occurs again, but it was a challenging and fun run.

4.5/5

-Psion-

"A Special Event Brings Great Fun"

It's really hard to say exactly what happened this run without spoiling some of the key mechanics... But, I'll say that if you see something like Chaos VS Something then GO. Go go go go go. You will NOT regret it. It is the most fun I've had in a dungeon in a long time.

I've been going to Slimecrown for a while now and I will definitely be going again.

5/5

-Marauder-

"Growth and Change"

As my title says, the key words for my experience are growth and change. I've gone here a few times and every time I return something has changed. The dungeon has grown.

And with it, I feel I have as well. I've learned lesson that will hopefully make me a better leader and a better person. As usual, I highly suggest all go. This is especially so if there are any special events running.

5/5

-Ronin-

"Yooooooooooo"

THIS RUN WAS AMAZING. I GOT TO BLOW UP STUFF AND WOW. I'm trying REALLY REALLY hard to not spoil anything but damn this was great. If I had any complaints? It REALLY drained my wallet hahaha. But that's the hobby, I guess!

I got some cool stuff but I'm gonna wait like... Two weeks before posting pics of it. So, follow me and check my Calam Blog if you wanna see!

Remember, this is a hard dungeon! Definitely bring a friend if you wanna get through it!

EX++++++++

5/5

All fives... We've done well, guys.

However, Cleric hasn't responded. I am somewhat troubled by that. Did she not enjoy it? Should I reach out to her? I don't want to come off as weird.

>>1058674
Nah just leave it. She probably just doesnt want to vent about her shitty team

>>1058674
She seemed to actually be having fun for the first time in a loooong time, I doubt the reason she didn't post a review is disappointment. That said, I still wanna encourage you to form social ties with non-employees, so do reach out. Maybe something happened, who knows?

>>1058674
She's probably busy making sockpuppet accounts that're all giving 5/5s to boost the SEO of our dungeon.

Nah, don’t worry about it she’s probably just respecing her build since she said she wanted to add chaos cultist to her class and you’d probably have a better idea than us about how long that takes. Could have also already done so and is testing it out in another dungeon (since yours is getting a reputation of being challenging) to either grind some levels in her new class or just giving her new build a test run.