Dungeon Core Online 99 Chapter 99

"You don't think this might, oh, I don't know. Be a bit too on the nose?" James was starring at the entry for the name for the third-floor boss. He and Rue had been discussing it for almost an hour now, and what she had finally convinced him to use, still had him a bit hesitant. After all, he wasn't supposed to give the players any hints that he himself was a player. And well…he felt this could tip them off.

"Nope, it should be totally fine." She stuck her tongue out at him. "After all, didn't an AI come up with the name? What makes you think this name would be a hint that you're a player? It doesn't scream 'HEY LOOK I AM PEOPLE', it says 'hey look, the dungeon is connected somehow and not completely random!"

The name, that he was starring at, that had caused so much debate, was Grandma Jenkins.

"I suppose." James hovered over the icon to accept the choice. From what he understood of the situation, bosses could and would develop their own AI over time, based on the floor they were on, the amount of engagements they had, his research levels, and of course any skills James might unlock for them. From what he could tell, Old Man Jenkins was nearly complete with his AI development, with Rue assuring him the first-floor mob would become fully sentient next immersion. The Terminus, obviously, was already fully sentient, to an advanced degree. His third-floor boss, according to Rue, would start with a basic AI already, and develop further over the next immersion or two.

All that was fine and dandy, and James was all for sentient bosses. What he was uncertain of, was how the hell his first-floor boss, and third floor boss, were supposed to be linked. Because obviously, by naming his third-floor boss Grandma Jenkins, everyone, every single player, was likely to draw an instant connection to the two. And well, call James unimaginative, but he wasn't making that connection just yet. Of course, to be fair, he had been through a lot this immersion, and his hunger pangs were still rather intense.

"Trust me." The pixie leaned in and pushed the accept button for him. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"You know-" James started, before a pixie finger was held up towards his invisible mouth, shushing him. "It'll be fine Glyax."

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"It better be." He grumbled. He was sure it would…he just really wanted to know how the hell everything was going to work out. Of course, James had different things to worry about than just the connection between his first floor and third floor bosses. But because he was committed to this lifestyle now, it meant he needed to figure out that connection. Because now, he was locked into trying to make further connections on his other floors.

Maybe he could make every odd numbered floor be connected to the Jenkins family? Oh, and maybe he could… James shook his orb, clearing his thoughts. Okay, maybe Rue had a point. Maybe this was a good idea. However, right now, he had a different priority.

"So, shall we give Grandma Jenkins a home, and then move on to preparing for BLANK some more?" James was already hovering towards the chosen location. Based on the entry point into his swamp like level, a single portal that opened onto an old looking dock, as if players just took a boat into the bayou, James figured gamer logic would put the boss deep into his swamp. And so, because James was only a slight dick, he decided he would set up Grandma Jenkin's home at the very back of his floor.

"You've got just under 2 hours to go until you can pop another token to finish your lvl 2 research for Dungeon Wars. Why not set her up with a cozy little cottage, and then do some more decorating." Rue waived her hand and a couch appeared near her. She plopped herself across it, spreading out like a cat almost, and flicked her wrist again. A TV showed up in front of her.

"Alright, fine. What are you going to be doing?" Even as he asked, the pixie shot him one of her famous grins.

"I'm going to start on Supernatural."

"But we were going to watch that together!" Seriously, he had mentioned it to Rue along with Firefly, and had hoped the two of them could watch it together in their spare time. It was no fair if she-

"Fiiiinnneeee." The pixie flicked her wrist again, and a new show appeared on the screen. "You've already seen this right?" The image on the screen showed a teddy bear dressed in a white tank top and torn jeans, with an explosion of stuffing behind him. The first Bear Truths movie

"Of course, I have." All the Bear Truths movies were so good. But the first one, was still his favorite of the series. In it, McStuffin finds himself faced off against a group of evil, stuffed squirrels, who try and take over a hotel in order to steal a secret stash of nuts held at the top. McStuffin, who happened to be heading there to meet with his ex-wife, ends up having to save everyone, and thwart the squirrels. It was apparently inspired by an even older movie, though James hadn't gotten around to see that one. All he knew, is the masses loved it, and the people behind the Censorship movement, hated it.

"I figured, you know, given the theme of the floor, I could watch this while you went to work." Rue had a bowl of popcorn in her hands, making James's nonexistent stomach growl. "So, go on, get to work." As she hit play, Christmas music started playing on the screen. He chuckled as he floated away from the pixie, heading to the very back of his floor.

Once he arrived, he starred hard for a moment, debating on how he would go about this. Did he want to make the house for Grandma Jenkins like a witch's shack, hidden, dark, and desolate? Or inviting, warm, and welcoming? A place you would want to visit after…

Who was he kidding? Only one of those options really seemed appropriate in this moment.

He opened his customization screen and cursed. Building all of the infrastructure on the floor, even though it had all been cheap, decrepit and run-down buildings, had utilized nearly all of his 4900 resources. Of course, that was also because James was thorough, and when he had been working on that task…he may have been watching his resources and calculating everything down, so that he could make the floor fit his horror movie theme, within his given resource constraints.

What that meant, was that he now had only about 200 resources of his 4900 remaining. Which wasn't going to be enough for what he wanted. Damnit. Sighing, James dumped one of his dungeon tokens into his resources, fully filling it up, and leaving him back at 20. At least the token he had received from They See Me Slitheryn, They Snaken, was going to good use.

With full resources, and about 2 hours to work with, James knew exactly what he was going to do. First, he cleared out a lot of the trees around the area, creating a hole in the massive canopy, which allowed a glorious, nearly blinding beam of light to filter through. Once James's eyeball adjusted itself to the bright, outside light, he grinned. It was almost like a giant spotlight, illuminating the very area where his boss's home would be.

He raised a chunk of ground from the swampland, making it the size of the illuminated area fully, and began to build. The house he was building, was going to be a well-lit, colorful, inviting home for Grandma Jenkins, complete with wrap around porch, and a rocking chair for the boss. Of course, because the boss was about 8 foot in height, the house was, well, built to scale for her.

Once he had the house built, burning through about 1500 resources in order to fully furnish it, and add in details all around it, including flower beds, and even a pretty little fountain, he attached the land the boss's home was on, to one of the many rickety walkways that existed in the floor. Adventurers, likely weary and worn from their time in the swamp, would find Grandma Jenkin's home, a literally light in the darkness, and probably feel relieved, thinking this were some safe spot for them. James rubbed his tentacles excitedly at the thought, oh he was sure more than a few would meet their fate before even realizing what was going on. Good.

Grinning to himself, James checked his timers and status screen. Apparently, he had only spent about an hour completely creating the home for Grandma Jenkins, which put his research levels at 12hr 54min 28s remaining. He still had 54 minutes before he could pop his tokens and see what level 2 Dungeon Wars research was all about.

He rubbed his tentacles together, and summoned Grandma Jenkins at her new house. The old boss shot James a toothy, warm smile, and headed directly towards the rocking chair. The moment she sat down, she pulled out a piece of cloth, and began sewing something into it. Well, even with a basic AI, she played the part of the old grandma.

"Guess that about wraps it up here." James grinned to himself and turned back to where he had left Rue. "Maybe if I hurry, I can watch the machine gun scene." Just as he began floating towards Rue, a sound, like someone clearing their throat, came from behind him.

"Aren't you forgetting a little something, James?"

Chapter end