Dungeon Core Online 53 Chapter 53

"Seems no one was able to hit Tier 3 this immersion." James said, looking over the Dungeon Core chat briefly.

"Well," Rue said, "did you really expect them to?"

"Not really."

It was the last hour of the final day immersion for adventurers, while James knew he still had a whole day to tweak his dungeon without adventurers present, before he too would be logged out. He glanced at his character screen, sighing.

Glyax Tier 2 Rank 4 Dungeon

Mob Type: Random

176,378 xp

3,622 xp to next rank

123,622 xp to next Tier

Resources: 119 of 2500

Currency: 0 copper 0 silver 5 gold 0 platinum

Dungeon Tokens: 6

He was just short of hitting Rank 5, a fact that did not sit well with him. The gamer in him loved competition, and more than anything, he loved being on the top. From what he could tell on the forums, he was definitely in the top rankings for dungeon cores, but he wasn't the best.

The best dungeon core, run by someone with the username Blank, was a Tier 2 Rank 7 dungeon. The next highest was a Tier 2 Rank 5 dungeon, and then James, sitting at Tier 2 Rank 4. He was hoping a group would wipe and push him to the next rank within the next hour, so he could at least be tied for second.

James had no idea how Blank had managed to climb so much higher than everyone else, especially given the fact their dungeon mob type appeared to be….candy. Like, was it really that dangerous of a mob?

"Anyone look like they might wipe?" He really wanted that next Rank.

Even as he spoke, his eyes were drawn to a flashing instance. He knew the alert wasn't for the Knights or Skar's group. Both had finished their dives less than an hour ago, and James knew from listening on their conversations, that they were going to call it for this immersion session.

Each member of the Knight's had managed to reach level 24, though they had failed to defeat the Terminus. This was because following their fight, James had not only applied his upgrade points to his boss and mini boss, giving them nasty new surprises, he had also gained Rank 3, putting his boss at level 27, and his miniboss at level 22.

That wasn't to say the Knight's hadn't had a few successes. They had managed to slay B.L.U. multiple times, gaining them not only a nice chunk of experience and an achievement, titled Raptor Tamer, but Oak had gotten one of B.L.U.'s rare drops. This drop was a smaller version of B.L.U.'s chainsaw tail, turned into a longsword. James had to admit, Oak had begun looking quite formidable with his Tricercog shield and Chainsword, though the Demonic Farmer gear the group still wore definitely detracted from their cool factors.

Skar's group, on the other hand, managed to reach level 21, gaining the group their first access to their subclasses. James had to admit, he enjoyed watching both teams grow immensely, and was really looking forward to not only their battles with the Terminus, but also their growth on his later floors. He was also looking forward to when the groups replaced their ridiculous looking demonic farm gear, as Skar's team was now also sporting a full set of it. Seriously, that gear just looked silly in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

"Is that-"

"-yes." The group that had set James's alert off was none other than Dwight's group.

The ill equipped, poorly planned team of bullies had made frequent ventures into James's dungeon, but rarely made groundbreaking success. James found great satisfaction in watching them struggle, and on more than one occasion, at least two of their party fell in combat, earning him some extra experience.

It was this tendency of theirs, that had James excited now. The clock was ticking down, and he couldn't help but watch as the group made their way through his first floor, heading directly towards his second floor.

"Oh, this will be good." He had to give the group credit, for all their blundering, they had all managed to reach level 13, doubling their levels since their run in with the mimic. In fact, they fell right in the middle of the pack of adventurers, with most players averaging level 10-15 from what James could see. These players still kept to his first floor, while the more hardcore groups, averaging level 19-21, were spending a good amount of time on his second floor.

Instead of slaying mobs on the first floor though, Dwight's group seemed to be on a mission. Led by their designated tank, KingSlayr, they made their way directly towards the barn and the portal to the second floor.

"Hey look, he's got a new title." James said. "Tasty."

Rue eyed James as she focused on the tank, and he knew she was pulling up the tank's information. Grinning she let out a small laugh. "Tasty."

Sure enough, KingSlayr had a title called Tasty.

"I know, you want to know what it does." Rue really knew how James thought. "Let's see. Tasty, be eaten by a mimic five times. This title means mimics find the adventurer to be especially tasty. As such, they will take more time to consume their prey. Adventurers with this title will take 15% less damage from mimics. Mimics will break their camouflage to attack a Tasty Adventurer if the adventurer passes within 2 meters of the mimic."

"So, you're telling me. He essentially got a buff against mimics, because of how many times he has been killed by them?"

"Crazy, right?" Rue replied.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised. I swear the developers must have been challenging each other for the craziest things they could add into this game."

James really couldn't help but chuckle the more he thought about it. This title was just the latest in a string of crazy shenanigans the developers had put into the game. Even the last few achievements James had earned over the past few days, which helped him reach Rank 4, had all been ridiculous. At this point, he had to wonder if they had gotten bored creating 'real' dungeon types and achievements in the game. James could bet dungeon cores who rerolled for actual mob types were missing out on the humor factor he found himself enjoying.

"Are you sure about this?" KingSlayr stood in front of the portal as he spoke, eyeing Dwight's Orc, D-Man, questioningly.

"Of course," Dwight said, "everyone says the Breakers exist on the outskirts of the town, away from any other mobs. Plus, we gain extra experience because the mob will be higher level than us."

Rue had explained to James that players gained extra experience, up to 100% more, if they were lower level than the mobs they were facing. It explained why the Knight's and Skar's group had been able to climb their levels as quickly as they did, before they out leveled his second-floor mobs.

Conversely, Rue had added that adventurers would gain 50% less experience from mobs they were 10 levels higher than, a penalty Rue claimed the developers had put in to keep high ranked players from stealing mobs from lower players. Having done just what she implied the developers were trying to stop on more than one occasion, usually when rare drop hunting or trying to rapid farm easy experience, James had to admit it was a good idea.

"Yeah, but we could always try to fight Old Man Jenkins." The tank glanced out of the barn, where James could make out the form of his boss. He was pretty sure Dwight's group still hadn't brought down the Demonic Farmer.

"No." Dwight said. "I will not be one of the only people at school to not have killed one of the second-floor mobs."

"Besides," Dwight continued, "you can bet that nerd Specs has made it to the second floor. We cannot let him do better than us."

"Don't be a girl about this man." Rick-Roll'd, aka Rick, said, drawing his lute from his back. "It's one mob, all you gotta do is keep it distracted, and we will do the rest."

"These guys are such tools." Rue shot James a look, before they both broke into laughter.

It was impossible not to, given that Rick's orc character had drawn his lute, and was holding it down like an old Rockstar would, strumming furiously on the instrument. The action was not only ridiculous to watch, but the sounds he was producing were anything but pleasant.

"I'm pretty sure he's going to give them a debuff if he actually plays like that." James said, eliciting more laughter from Rue.

"We can only hope."

With that, and with the orc group's conversation seeming to have ended, James found himself smiling. Not a smile from humor, but a smile of satisfaction. He had wanted to reach Rank 5 before the adventurers were logged out. The five orcs, walking through the portal, under leveled and unprepared for his second floor, had all but guaranteed he would hit his goal.

"I can't believe Dwight might actually help me out." James said as the last orc passed through the portal. Who would have thought the bully would actually prove useful to James? Maybe he shouldn't' try to troll the bully's group so much they quit. They were, after all, free experience.

Chapter end