DUNGEON CRAWLER DAVE

  A DUNGEON CRAWLER CARL FANFIC

  PROLOGUE

  So, you’ve found your way to me and my story, have you? It’s not like the other one I’ll have you know. I’m no hero. I’m nobody, really.

  You know what’s crazy? I sold my company the day of the collapse. I sold it for millions. I was set to line my pockets for life from having built a shitty fitness app for handbag sized dogs.

  I didn’t even do any of the heavy lifting honestly, I was the ideas guy. My roommate Dexter, was the coder, and we outsourced our art elsewhere. I was lucky enough to tag myself in as a ‘producer’, and we went from there.

  For me, the collapse happened on January 3rd, at about 10:23 in the morning. Dex and the suits were still wrapping up the finer details in our final meeting, and I had stepped outside to call our accountant due to there being no signal in the office.

  That was it. No heroic actions, no daring escape. I was staring dumbly at my phone in the middle of Central London, when everything around me squished with a loud SLAM into the floor.

  I was alive out of pure blind luck.

  I suppose I should introduce myself. My name’s Dave. I’ve always kind of hated it for sounding so generic, but only my mother called me David and she’s long gone.

  I’m 36 and have spent the majority of my life hopping in and out of different jobs. It was pure luck that I moved in with Dex, who was highly ambitious and already had the groundwork for what would eventually become our app ‘Cutie Heart’.

  I don’t have kids, I don’t have a wife or partner, I don’t even really have any family, and I’m kind of ok with that. I don’t mind being a loner. If nothing else, I like the quiet.

  So, as the world around me collapsed, with everything I had ever known disappearing in a flash, there was a brief moment of silence. The purest silence.

  Then… chaos.

  Anyone who was outside and not under any kind of roof or cover, suddenly began to scream and run wildly. I would have too if I hadn't been rooted to the spot in utter fear. I turned back toward the office I had just left. It had literally just disappeared. Where there was a tall office building moments ago, was now a two dimensional square shape on the ground with blood splatters around it. Kind of like if you had just made a sandwich and pressed it down until the sauce came out.

  Except the sauce used to be Colin from accounting.

  I spun round as someone crashed into me. Amidst all the people suddenly running in every direction, I realised I could see so, so far now. With no buildings or… anything blocking my view, I could see for what seemed like miles in every direction.

  I stood there motionless, staring at the flattened city like I’d just walked into a modern art exhibit titled Oops, All Pancake as people continued to scream around me.

  Suddenly, I heard a voice. It wasn’t out loud but… in my head. Words written in symbols I had never seen - and yet somehow could understand perfectly - appeared in front of me, moving with my vision and changing in accordance with the voice talking.

  I assumed it was happening for everyone else around me as most people stood still with a look of horror on their face.

  I looked back at the words floating at eye level and started to listen.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  “Surviving humans take note.

  Per Syndicate rules, subsection 543 of the Precious Elemental Reserves Code, having failed to file a proper appeal for mineral and elemental rights within 50 Solars of first contact, your planet has been successfully seized and is currently being mined of all requested elemental deposits by the assigned planetary regent.

  Every interior of your world has been crushed and all raw materials—organic and inanimate—are in the process of being mined for the requested elements.

  Per the Mined Material Reclamation Act along with subsection 35 of the Indigenous Planetary Species Protection Act, any surviving humans will be given the opportunity to reclaim their lost matter. The Borant Corporation, having been assigned regency over this solar system, is allowed to choose the manner of this reclamation, and they have chosen option 3, also known as the 18-Level World Dungeon. The Borant Corporation retains all rights to broadcast, exploit, and otherwise control all aspects of the World Dungeon and will remain in control as long as they adhere to Syndicate regulations regarding world resource reclamation.

  Upon successful completion of level 18 of the World Dungeon, regency of this planet will revert to the successor.

  A Syndicate neutral observer AI - myself - has been created and dispatched to this planet to supervise the creation of the World Dungeon and to ensure all the rules and regulations are properly followed.

  Please pay careful attention to the following information as it will not be repeated.

  Per the Indigenous Planetary Species Protection Act, all remaining materials - estimated to be 99.999999% of the sifted matter - is currently being repurposed for the subterranean World Dungeon. The first level of this dungeon will open approximately 18 seconds after the end of this announcement. The first-level entrances will be open for exactly one human hour and one hour only. Once the entrances are closed, you may no longer enter. If you enter, you may not leave until you have either completed all 18 levels of the World Dungeon or if you meet certain other requirements.

  If you choose not to enter the World Dungeon, you will have to sustain yourself upon the surface of your planet, and this may be the last communication you receive during your lifetime. All previously-processed matter and elements are forfeit. However, you are free to mine and utilize any remaining and naturally-occurring resources for your own benefit. The Borant Corporation wishes you luck and thanks you for the opportunity.

  For those who wish to exercise their right of resource reclamation, please take note.

  There will be 150,000 level-one entrances added to the world. These entrances will be marked and easy to spot. If you so choose to enter the first level of the dungeon, you will have five rotations of your planet to find the next level down. There will be 75,000 entrances to level two. There will be 37,500 entrances to level three. 18,750 to level four. 9,375 entrances to level five and 4,688 entrances to level six. The number of available entrances to the next lower level will continue to decrease by half, rounding up until the 18th level, which will only have two entrances and a single exit.

  Crawlers who choose to enter the World Dungeon must find a staircase and descend to the next level down before the allotted time is up for that level. Once the time has passed, the level will be reclaimed and all remaining matter in the level, organic and inanimate, will be forfeit. Generated loot and other matter that is not gathered and claimed may be placed in the Syndicate market.

  Each lower level will have a longer period of reclamation. Additional rules come into play once any crawlers descend to the tenth floor. These rules will be explained when and if any crawlers reach this level.

  If you so choose to enter the World Dungeon, it is highly recommended you immediately find and utilize a tutorial guild. Multiple tutorial guilds will be seeded throughout the dungeon on levels 1 through 3.

  If you have any additional questions, or you wish to file an appeal, such requests must be submitted in writing directly to the closest Syndicate office.

  Thank you for being a part of the Syndicate. Have a great day.”

  What… the… fuck…?

  The chaos returned after a brief pause whilst people listened to the announcement. I had already forgotten most of the message, it was too much to take in. Something about a dungeon, and an AI will open a door, maybe?

  Fuck it, I thought, leaning into a run. I had no direction to go, and didn’t know what I was looking for, but something had to be safe. Something had to make sense.

  The sound of a loud horn pierced through the panic, silencing everyone like a teacher clapping to quiet a room of young children.

  Several intensely bright spotlights started to appear out of nowhere, scattered around what was once London, and clearly visible even in the light of day. They were pointing straight up in the sky like some kind of beacon and people were starting to hurry toward them, assuming they were safe spaces, or at least, that’s what I did.

  A few minutes later, people began to slow and jostle each other as they tried to get to the light. As I got closer to the light I saw that it was nothing more than a hole in the ground with an elaborate stairway leading down, that could probably accommodate two dozen people at a time. It looked like an old tube station entrance, with tiled walls and stone steps that led down until they were swallowed by the light.

  I stopped for a moment at the top of the steps, suddenly hesitant.

  This doesn’t feel right, I thought to myself, staring down at the light. But, that didn’t matter as I was forcefully pushed down the stairs followed by a, “get out the fucking way”, as the light enveloped me.