Dungeon Core Online 31 Chapter 31

James got to school with about 20 minutes remaining before classes started. Normally he would simply read a book, or if he had a late night raiding, take a quick nap in his classroom, while the other students trailed in. As such, he made his way quickly to his classroom, doing his best not to stop every time he heard someone mention DCO. It seemed like everyone had something to say about his game, and James wanted to hear it all.

He was grinning by the time he sat down in his classroom, pulling up his keyboard once again. The last group he passed on his way into class, was recounting being ambushed by a flock of dickens while taunted by a scapegoat. James had seen such instances happen multiple times, and it was always funny. He was glad the group recounting the story was smiling as they told the tale, a good sign he felt.

With his keyboard and mouse pulled up, James opened his internet browser, heading over to reddit. While Google was the universal search engine on the internet, reddit was the unofficial hub for any and all information. If you wanted to find a group of people talking about something, anything, there was likely a subreddit for it.

James typed the url in quickly, adding in r/DCO, as he was no stranger to reddit, and was certain that would be the URL. Sure enough, a page pulled up, proclaiming itself to be the main reddit page for Dungeon Core Online. James glanced at the stats on the page, and nearly gasped when he saw the amount of users currently browsing the site. The number was in the millions, and growing. He vaguely recalled the strange man's voice, and the mention of DCO being a social experiment. What could possibly be going on?

Putting his conspiracy theories aside, James navigated his way through the links, narrowing it down from continent to country to state, to city. Someone had been very busy creating this subreddit. Grinning, he finally pulled up his small city, and began browsing through the topics.

Pinned- DCO Hints, Tricks, and Tips

Who are the Knights Who Go Ni?

Demonic Farm Animals?

Looking for a group

Praise the Sun!!!!!!

Looking for a good dicken

James scanned over the pinned, curious to see what the hints, tips, and tricks could be, but first clicked on Demonic Farm Animals? He really wanted to see what the majority thought of his mobs.

Demonic Farm Animals?

*/Kap- Okay, is anybody else wondering what the devs were on? Mad Cows, sheep suicide bombers, and demonic poultry. Seriously WTF!!!

**/masterace6 – Obviously they're insinuating that the fast food industry (looking at you McDonalds!) is ran by the devil, and that every bite is a taste of hell.

***/Smitty79012- You mean like in the Devil's a part timer?

****/LadyStryker- You really think the devs watched that ancient anime?

*****/Smitty79012- they could have….

**/Redikai- The suicide sheep were definitely the worst of them all. Every single time I've died it's always somehow their fault. I barely leveled up because they killed me so many times. Do they target certain people or something?

***/ElKami- Did you try petting them? They look so fluffy

**/Kap- the debuffs these mobs have too. Like seriously, people have probably died more to debuffs than actual combat.

James wanted to respond to them, he really did, but he paused, knowing he wasn't supposed to interact with players. Did that count on the reddit page? Was he able to post as long as he didn't' give away his secret? He figured he would run it by Rue before he did anything, better safe than sorry after all.

He backed out of that topic, and glanced as he saw a new topic. Other towns Mobs! Interested, James pulled it up.

Other Towns' Mobs!

*/Skarface- Alright, I just scrolled through some of the other cities pages, and I want to know, did we just get some bad luck? Freaking someone from /Tokyo reported their dungeon is a fire dungeon, with baby dragons. Baby Dragons! What do we get, dickens, we get dickens. SMH

**/Melman- Don't complain, this is probably the only time you'll get close to a dicken

James had to laugh. No matter what the day and age, dick jokes were still funny, and the internet was still full of trolls. He closed the reddit quickly, knowing that complaining on a thread was the easiest way for people to start flaming somebody. He felt sorry for Skarface, whoever he was.

Before James could open another link, he heard voices nearing the door to his classroom, voices he immediately recognized. Dwight and his group of friends.

"Come on D, I said I was sorry." One of Dwight's cronies was pleading, and Dwight turned to face the poor guy, stopping directly outside James's classroom.

"Sorry doesn't excuse the fact that we died four times because of you. What type of tank-" D's eyes narrowed as he looked past his crony, directly at James.

"Hey, Specks," Dwight made a motion with his hand, signaling for James to come out in the hall, away from the safety of the classroom. The senior couldn't pick on James when he was in a classroom with a teacher present. Though James knew his teacher was currently using his AR glasses for an online poker match, but hey, he wasn't one to judge.

"What's up Dwight?" James called back, making himself comfortable at his desk, and making it evident he wasn't about to leave the classroom. He wasn't dumb.

"You played DCO last night, right?" Dwight had a fake smile across his face, but James could see the bully's eye twitching.

"Yup. Had a lot of fun, even brought down the boss a couple times." James was lying through his teeth, but there was no way Dwight would know that. Besides, James knew more about his dungeon than anyone else. It was his dungeon, after all.

"Oh, so you must be pretty familiar with the floor, huh?" Dwight's expression softened for a moment, and a sinister smile crossed his face.

"You could say that."

"So, you want to be a pal, and share some secrets? I know people are looking for treasure chests for good loot, have you found any?" Dwight was practically licking his lips, and James knew the senior was playing the game simply for the promise of money. James also knew Dwight and his group usually only played FPS and sports games, meaning they likely had no idea what they were doing in the game.

"Well, I know of one." As James spoke, he noticed his teacher's ears perk up, and the instructor was suddenly watching James closely. Of course his teacher was playing DCO as well. Who wasn't? James motioned for Dwight to come into the classroom. He didn't want his teacher to overhear what he was about to tell Dwight. He liked his teacher after all.

Dwight looked around for a second, before shrugging his shoulders and walking into the classroom. He drew closer to James, and set a hand on James's shoulder, smiling. "So what you got man?"

James offered him the best smile he could, while his mind was working overtime. His dungeon currently didn't have any treasure chests, but he did have the ability to make them. He also had the ability to set a bunch of nasty traps with those traps, and was certain he was nearing mimic levels. Now, he could take the high road, and tell Dwight a location that he could put an actual chest in, and help the senior out. That could even get the senior off his back for a little while. However, James had power right now, and he was going to use it. He was tired of Dwight picking on him.

"Alright, so you know where the barn is, right?" James was whispering, and Dwight drew close, nodding his head. "So, if you go to the upper level, and search behind the hay bales, there is actually a secret chest there."

"Did it have good loot?"

"Eh, a single gold coin, but I feel that's definitely worth it right now." James offered Dwight a knowing smile, as the senior stood back, grinning from ear to ear.

"Thanks Specs." Dwight turned to walk away, victory evident on his face. James couldn't help but chuckle darkly, as he made a note to himself. Dwight was in for a surprise when his group got to that chest.

Chapter end