"Ugh…" I groggily sit up rubbing my eyes. My eyes widen in confusion, "Where am I?"
The room I find myself in is pure white expanse that doesn't look like it ends. Although after walking a bit I find the room to only be about 15 square feet. Upon crashing into the wall I also find my hands are different than I remember.
Thin dainty hands that are a pristine white. Looking over the rest of me I find myself in a pure white dress reaching down to my ankles. Hmm this looks like a tribal priestess outfit… Wait, that's not important!
I'm a guy. At least I was, but I can't remember what happened before. All I can remember was that I was a guy who played a few too many video games, watched anime as a full time job, and read so many light novels I think they ran out. If I try to remember anything else I draw a blank. I can't remember the name of my school, friends, parents, not even my own name.
I quickly check under the dress. Yup I'm a girl now, although these aren't quite impressive, they're on the smaller size. With a sigh I turned my attention to the center of the room which I hadn't addressed yet.
Sitting in the center of the room was a pulsing white ball. It looked like the room was stretched out of the bottom holding it at chest height. After getting closer I put my hand on it and a screen appeared in front of me.
Dungeon:
Dungeon Owner: (Unnamed)
Dungeon type: Grasslands
Monster types available: Basic Slime
DP: 100
(Note: DP can be spent to improve the dungeon or spawn monsters)
I do a double take upon reading the screen in front of me. After taking a moment I feel excitement bubbling up from inside of me. I have no idea what I did in my past life to earn this, but I know this troupe. After a few seconds of fantasising I turn back to the screen and note some interesting things.
First, it appears I don't have a name. Which is fine, I wasn't the best with names in my previous life, and I can't think of anything at the moment. So I move to the next thing.
I check to see if I can expand the list of monster types and find… nothing but slimes. That's fine, they could be incredibly strong like a certain slime protagonist right?
Basic Slime (F-Rank):
A small ball of viscous liquid containing a small core. One of the weakest monsters, weaker than most animals. Will eat anything given enough time.
Race: Basic Slime
Age:---
Level: 1
Health: 20/20
Mana: 5/5
Strength: 3
Endurance: 2
Agility: 5
Magic: 2
Spirit: 2
Resistences: Physical (Lv1)
Skills: Bounce (Lv1)
That's… terrible. There's no easy way to put it. They are the weakest thing a dungeon can have. Even goblins would be better as they have intelligence, but these are just balls of slime that can move. With another sigh I take a look at the last thing on the menu.
Dungeon Points (DP) can be used to spawn monsters or improve the dungeon.
Spawn Slime: 5 DP
Expand floor (1sqft): 10 DP (Currently 15sqft)
Spawn random low-tier treasure: 50 DP (Note: the owner and monsters can not use treasure)
Unlock next tier monster: 200 DP
Add floor: 1,000 DP
Earn DP by eliminating intruders, daily; based on overall dungeon strength, or by offering items to the core.
Great. I can't afford anything good. I can spawn 20 slimes, but they can't do much. I can expand the base floor which shows a large expanse that looks like an open grassland, but based on the current size I assume there are invisible walls not very far away. The last thing I can afford is to spawn treasure, but based on the note next to it that would be useless.
Not to mention the only way to really gain any DP is to rely on my slime spawns to produce some, but they only give at most 1 DP a day. So it would take 5 days to make back my investment. All the other methods are impossible at the moment. My slimes would struggle against a rat, I doubt they could take on anything stronger, and I don't have anything to my name.
Fortunately, the slimes can live off the grass, so for the time being I spend all of my DP on slimes. I feel a little reluctant to see my DP drop to 0, but I promise myself it will be worth it.
When I finished looking at the system, I felt curious about myself. It's a fantasy world right? The dungeon has its own system, so I should too, right?
"System!"
…
"Activate!"
…
"Status?"
Name: (Unamed)
Race: Dungeon Core(?)
Age: 0 years old
Level: —
Health: 200/200
Mana: 500/500
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Agility: 1
Magic: 1
Spirit: 1
Resistences: None
Skills: Creation magic (Lv1)
Titles: Dungeon Master
"There it is! Let's see… What's with these stats?!" I shout in the empty room.
My name is empty like it showed on the dungeon menu, but my race is Dungeon Core? And what's with the (?)? I click on the question mark.
Dungeon Core:
The core of a dungeon. %&#*$& #$&#*@ ^#&&$#@*^& ^#$
Traits: &#&, #%&*#, #&$#, gains strength and evolves based on dungeon strength and environment.
Well that's very helpful. I can't wait to #&$#. I can feel all the hope I had for this life draining away. Weak monsters, weak stats. I mean at least my HP and Mana are high right? But everything else is weaker than my slimes! It's all 1! Even the slimes have 2 in their lowest stat!
I glance at my skills, seeing one that sounds strong, but it's probably weak like everything else. Without expectation I click on the skill expanding it.
Creation Magic (Rank-S):
Create any object from imagination. Costs vary depending on quality and rank. Requires strong imagination, and high amounts of mana. A skill unheard of, and representative of &#^$&#*@'s powers.
My eyes almost pop out of their sockets. What's with this cheat skill? It's nothing like a crazy legendary bloodline, or one of those absorption cheats. With those they have to be bound to the world, and even what you're directly fighting. This… this is so broken.
I was so excited I tried immediately to spawn in the legendary sword excalibur, picturing it in the hands of a popular waifu. My skill reacts to my will, and…
…Where am I? Oh right I got reincarnated, and then I tried my magic! I look around and don't see it. Swinging my head back and forth I scan the room. Check the Dungeon Core, and look at my status before figuring out what happened.
Mana: 0/500
It failed. That's to be expected. Not only is it a legendary weapon capable of leveling cities, but my skill level is low and my stats are rock bottom. Unfortunately, I'll have to wait awhile since it appears my mana comes back at one point per minute, so over 8 hours? Yeah, not happening by a long shot.
I finally turned my attention to my title Dungeon Master.
Dungeon Master:
The ruler of a dungeon. They have the ability to access the dungeon core, and use it to modify the dungeon in any way they wish. All monsters spawned by the core are completely loyal to them.
I'm the core, right? So I guess I'm different from most cores? Maybe they aren't their masters, or maybe some dungeons control themselves? Well it doesn't matter to me, so I can focus on what's next.
I guess I should figure out where my dungeon is. How do I get out of here though? Oh, it teleported me into the grassland space I saw on the Dungeon screen. I can get a better view of the floor.
Breeze flows by, making the grass dance as the slimes, barely large enough to require two hands to hold, bounce around letting the breeze push them back and forth. The space seems to expand infinitely aside from an obvious open doorway on one wall that has a jarring stone staircase.
It's pitiful to see the slimes blown around by the wind, but I ignore that and head to the stairs leading outside. I need to see what the outside is like. If I'm lucky I won't have to worry about anyone coming to my dungeon. Otherwise I would be in trouble.
As I climb the steps my terrible constitution rears its head. Those bottom of the barrel stats are showing, as by the tenth step I'm already heaving. I have to take a seat for an entire minute before my breathing calms down again.
"There's no way I'm this weak! I'm not even sure exercise can fix this."
I resume my journey up the staircase which continues for another ten steps causing me to almost fall onto the open ground once I reach the top. I stabilized myself before anything could actually happen and scanned my surroundings.
Immediately, there was nothing but a grassland, just like inside my dungeon. Unlike my dungeon I could see trees in the distance, surrounding the open field. In the field I could see rabbits, groundhogs, slimes, and more all around. Nothing too strong, but that forest feels ominous.
Taking note of my surroundings, I approach one of the slimes.
"Hi, would you like to join my up and coming-"
It interrupted me by launching itself at me slamming into my side and knocked me to the ground.
-3
What's with this slime! It's like it couldn't care less what I had to say. Well I'll teach you! I wrench back my arm and send it forwards towards the slime. It bounced out of my way and I sent myself into the ground
-1
Really? I'm that weak? Ugh. Fine when the slime tries to hit me again I'll-
-3
Alright this is getting irritating. Not only did I miss, but this is starting to hurt. I watch the slime as I rub my side that has now taken multiple blows. Just as it's about to leap again I put my hands in front of me ready to strike it as soon as it gets close.
I see its body wiggle a little just before it launches into the air. This time I'm prepared and extend my hand to hit it.
-3
My fist misses the slime and it hits me directly in the gut, sending me to the ground again.
"Come on! It's just a slime, why is this so hard!"
I glance at my stats again, and sigh. Not only am I losing to a slime, but I'm getting one sidedly beat. Despite this I stand up again and prepare myself again.
"I will beat you!"
This time when the slime jumped towards me I finally hit him.
Slime:
Health: 19/20
"This is going to take awhile."
This back and forth continues until the slime reaches 5 hp over the course of an hour, when my status screen pops up.
Name: (Unamed)
Race: Dungeon Core(?)
Age: 0 years old
Level: —
Health: 113/200
Mana: 63/500
Strength: 1
Endurance: 1
Agility: 1
Magic: 1
Spirit: 1
Resistences: None
Skills: Creation magic (Lv1), Hand combat(Lv1) (New!)
Titles: Dungeon Master
Add monster(s) to your dungeon?
Basic Slime 1x
(Yes/No)
Upon seeing this I click yes without hesitation and see the slime disappear. Causing my legs to collapse underneath me. I could feel my body screaming in pain from all the hits I took, and I could also feel the soreness of my muscles from the constant abuse. My legs were screaming at me to just lay there forever.
Although the area was relatively safe, that was not actually the case for me. With my awful stats I could die to a random slime. I did not want anything to do with that, so I pushed myself to my feet and stumbled back to the dungeon.
Fortunately, once I entered through the surface entrance I could return to my white space. Which I did immediately, allowing my body to finally rest. What I didn't expect was how tired I actually felt, as I fell asleep in record time.
"I've never felt so stiff in my life." I stretch my limbs as I feel pain from my epic battle with the slime. I open my status in front of me to check out that skill I received the previous day.
Hand combat (Rank-F):
Basic combat using your hands. You have just begun your journey in unarmed combat.
I guess fighting that slime wasn't completely pointless. Although I don't think I can keep training like this if it takes me out immediately afterwards.
"Let's take a look at my gains from yesterday."
Dungeon:
Dungeon Owner: (Unnamed)
Dungeon type: Grasslands
Monster types available: Basic Slime
DP: 171
(Note: DP can be spent to improve the dungeon or spawn monsters)
"Wait, what?"
I glanced back at the number. It was well over the expected 21DP I had anticipated. If 21DP came from the slimes where did the other 150DP come from?
Looking at the list of items for the dungeon I inspect each one before finding the cause.
Dungeon size: 15sqft (Daily DP: 150)
I want to slap myself in the face. What was the point in buying monsters at 5 times the return? I could have just gained so much more from expanding the dungeon. Immediately I press on the option to expand floor size.
Expand floor (1sqft): 20 DP (Currently 16sqft)
I see. The price increases with each purchase, while still better it will become worse after reaching 20sqft. That's fine, I'll just upgrade it to 20 for now.
Expand floor (1sqft): 60 DP (Currently 20sqft)
DP: 21
That took quite a bit of DP, but now the dungeon is a little more spacious! Not that I can tell, with the whole endless field look. But now I should get at least 221 tomorrow.
Another good thing is that my mana has finally recovered.
Mana: 500/500
Last time I passed out from trying something out of my league, but this time I'm just going to summon a basic steel sword. Maybe I can even use it against those slimes, and 'convince' more slimes to join my dungeon.
Taking a seat on the grass beside all my slime friends, I start activating my skill. Imagining the cold steel and the sharpness to slice through skin. I see a steel longsword appear in front of me and thump into the dirt.
"I did it!"
Basic Steel Longsword (Rank-E):
A simple weapon for a soldier. A basic starting weapon for anyone trying to make a name for themselves.
Durability: 200/200
+10 damage
"Plus 10!? Hahaha! Now no slimes will stand in my way!"
I lean over and pick up the sword with both hands, and immediately have to stabilize myself, dropping the sword in the process. My arms felt like they might fall off by its weight.
"There's no way right? I'm so weak I can't even hold onto the sword? Hah…"
A slime bonded next to me as if in response to my despair, and nuzzled against me as I sat onto the ground.
"Awe, aren't you cute." I pick up the little slime as it rubs itself into my hand. Even though they lack any discernible appearance I can imagine a smiling face on the slime.
"Hmm. Do you think you could use the sword?"
I place the slime next to the sword, but it just sits on top of the sword.
"Right, you need opposable thumbs to wield a sword, or at least a hand."
I peek at my status seeing my Mana now 50 less.
"Fifty? For a simple weapon? Well I guess I can't become King Arthur wielding Excalibur."
Putting my fantasies aside, I try something a little different. It's a fantasy world, no? And I can create whatever I want, so…
Fireball Staff (Rank-D):
A simple staff that allows the owner to cast the spell fireball.
Cost: 20MP
I feel much more energy drain from me than before. Looking at my mana I see why.
Mana: 200/500
That's to be expected. It's a D ranked item, an entire tier above the sword. More importantly it is a way for me to defeat those slimes!
Taking my newly acquired staff, I march up through the steps, and out of breath again once I hit the 10th step.
"I should… really… add an elevator."
After resting a moment at the exit, I scan my surroundings in search of my first prey. Only a few feet away I found my first target. Another slime, but this time I will be fighting with magic.
"Fireball!"
At my command the staff glows and a small ball large enough to fit in my hand appears above the tip of the staff. Directing the staff, the ball of flame flies at the unsuspecting target.
"!!!"
The slime is knocked back and it is obviously much smaller than before. As it flies back I check its stats.
Slime:
Health: 10/20
"Alright!"
Just that one hit did 10 whole points of damage! Although another hit like that would probably kill the slime, so in order to bring it down like the previous slime I close in ready to throw down again, albeit reluctantly. However, there was no need.
Add monster(s) to your dungeon?
Basic Slime 1x
(Yes/No)
"Huh? But it was 15 damage last time?" Still confused, I hit yes and watch the slime disappear like the first one.
"Maybe it was so scared it immediately submitted?"
Moving on from that encounter I find my next victims. A group of 5 slimes bouncing amongst each other frolicking without a care. I see the little balls dancing about with dollar signs in my eyes.
"Fireball."
"Fireball."
"Fireball."
"Fireball."
"Fireball."
I shoot fireball after fireball at each of them slamming into them and knocking them away from each other. Their little bodies sapped of strength lay defeated on the ground.
Add monster(s) to your dungeon?
Basic Slime 5x
(Yes/No)
Clicking yes I see the group disappear, and can already feel my money growing.
After depleting all of my mana defeating slimes, I return to check my spoils.
Monsters:
Basic Slime 31x
"This is great! Now I can do this every day until I can afford better monsters!"
"Not! There's no way I'm going to spend my second life battling slimes everyday! I want to be a strong sorcerer, or a great swordsman. Not some witch who fights slimes for 300 years!"
Isn't there a better way to get monsters to join my dungeon? Battling every day and waiting on my mana to recover to fight them, is annoying. Not to mention that the dungeon is looking more cramped with slimes bouncing everywhere, even with the expansions.
As I ponder this I notice a group of slimes covering a spot on the floor. Usually the slimes bounce around randomly across the floor. Why are they gathered around?
I exit my white room and approach the slimes seeing what they've done.
"My sword!" I exclaim, but it's already too late. The only thing left of my sword is a shriveled up piece of steel, with holes dotted across it. I glance at the slimes description again.
Basic Slime (F-Rank):
A small ball of viscous liquid containing a small core. One of the weakest monsters, weaker than most animals. Will eat anything given enough time.
"Enjoy it I guess. Not like I could use it anyway."
Waving off the slimes I settle back down in my room staring at my screen in boredom until I fall asleep.