Chapter 02: A Dungeon Core? [2]


?

I was mildly intrigued by all this.

As I read the message from Vryssix Vorithion, a weird name by the way, my initial reaction was one of calm surprise—as if I was surprised, but not overly, like it was under control. As I delved deeper into the details, though, my shock grew slightly, and I couldn't help but let out a few chuckles at the absurdity of the situation.

'I mean, can you believe it? Earth has been disconnected from the Mainframe, whatever the fuck that is, for 65 million years, and we didn't even know it until a passing science vessel detected strange signals emanating from our planet... Talk about being out of the loop!'

Although I didn't know what some of this meant at the time, I still wanted to joke about it.

Upon reading the message, I couldn't help but feel both shocked and amazed. I mean, no matter how numb I was, this initial shock was something else.

It was like a conspiracy theory I normally wouldn't believe…

But what really made me doubt a few things was the fact that aliens have been subtly influencing our entertainment industry all this time to prepare us for the reconnection process. I guess all those sci-fi movies and TV shows weren't just for our entertainment after all.

That meant a simple thing, all the fuckery going on in the media was real, somehow, somewhere, and it was a danger that would consume our world.

'I don't give a shit.'

I laughed, talk about finally having something exciting in your life!

Anyways, that aside, 'I wonder what's next? Has the system integrated yet?'

As if on cue, the system started showering me with notifications.

[Initiating System Protocols]

[Commencing Personal History Scan...]

[Biology Scan Initiated...]

[Soul Scan Initiated...]

[Processing Data...]

[System Protocols: Unlocked]

[Mainframe Reconnection in Progress: 55.7% Completion]

[System Activating]

[Mainframe Reconnection Complete: 100%]

[System Implementation Initiated]

[Update File Download Commenced]

[Update File Downloaded]

[Installation in Progress: 01%... 02%... 03%... 04%...]

[Note: Do not terminate vital functions at this time. The process may require a few minutes, and your consciousness may reboot multiple times.]

I blinked a few times, taking all the notifications in.

That was a lot to take in so suddenly.

Despite the overwhelming amount of notifications and the mention of rebooting consciousness, whatever that was, I remained calm. I took a deep breath, or tried to, started to process what was happening.

I knew that integrating with a system like this—which, for now, I believe is quite complicated—was bound to be a complex process, so I had to prepare myself for the possibility of a momentary loss of consciousness.

After a few minutes, the installation progress reached 10%, and I felt a slight jolt of energy coursing through my body. It was a strange sensation, but not unpleasant.

I fell unconscious here, I think… or not. I wasn't too sure.

The next moment I came to my bearing, I noticed that the notifications had stopped coming. The system seemed to be running smoothly now.

[Initialization process complete]

[Established strong connection with Mainframe]

[Local time on hold for individual updates to commence]

[Selection of class required]

[Selection of profession required]

Huh?

[ALERT: As a result of the high population density of [Human] species, it has been deemed necessary to convert seven [Humans] within your world into Dungeon Cores. This action will aid in fulfilling essential roles and mitigating the environmental impact of System integration, as well as facilitating Mainframe reconnection.]

'Eh?' I frowned.

[CONGRATULATIONS!]

[Random selection successful. Host's assigned new identity as Dungeon Core of Lust]

[Race now registered as Dungeon Core]

[Compensation granted for any resulting inconvenience: 1 Greater, 1 Lesser, and 1 Least boon allocated to Host]

'What… what the fuck?'

'I didn't even get to choose if I want to be the fucking core thingy or not? What bullshittery is this?'

I sighed.

'Well, let's not complain… Only 7 people are chosen, and I happen to be one of them, which means that this is somehow special.'

[A Class assigned]

[Nexus]—These dungeons are placed at the nexus of worlds, resulting in an abundance of mana, which typically manifests itself in terms of rare mutations in the creatures and items found within. These dungeons act as a doorway between worlds too.

Note: Due to being a dungeon, your class was modified accordingly. Your class does not limit what skills or abilities you can gain, but does make some choices more efficient than others.

[Please choose your boons now]

Instead of focusing on boons, though, my focus was on something else.

I was a Dungeon Core.

The thought jolted me back to reality. I had come across some novels, and fanfics about dungeon cores in my free time. They were, basically put, sentient rocks that controlled the traps and monsters within a dungeon, and the dungeon itself.

I couldn't believe that I had become one of them for a moment there. How could I ever hope to have a 'normal' life now? By that, what I meant was, how can I fuck around then?

Sure, fucking some puss with tentacles sounded nice and all, but shoving my cock down some girl's backdoor personally would be much more desirable.

I sighed and focused on the boons instead, maybe they'd make me feel better.

I wondered if any of these 'boons' could be of use to me, or at the very least, provide a welcome distraction from my current situation. I scrolled through the options for a while before narrowing down what I wanted using System's help, and there were certainly some intriguing ones, particularly among the greater boons. But one caught my eye—it felt like it was designed specifically for me.

[Avatar – Greater Boon]

Description: As a sentient Dungeon, you have the power to create a powerful avatar that can be customized according to your needs and desires. This avatar can not only attack and defend against intruders within the Dungeon but also has the unique ability to venture beyond the boundaries of your Dungeon and explore the outside world. However, the avatar cannot stay outside of the Dungeon for an extended period, and it needs to return to its source of power regularly. In addition, the Avatar's powers get lower and lower the further away from the Dungeon it is. If destroyed, the avatar will take time to regenerate, preventing you from using this boon until it is ready again.

A smirk stretched across my face as I gingerly plucked it from the options. To be honest, the prospect of being stuck in a mind-boggling virtual reality-like, limited to mere game-like manipulations where I'd play God and do whatever I wanted, was far from appealing. I wanted a body, I couldn't spend all my life as a sentient dungeon spread out God knows how long. I needed a way out of that trap. And what better way than to have my very own "Avatar" — a vessel that would serve as my physical manifestation?

For the Lesser and Least boons, I selected these:

[Slave Master – Lesser Boon (Profession)]

Slave Master is a powerful profession that grants you the ability to enslave and bind creatures to your will, establishing a master-servant relationship between you and your captives. With this skill, you become a formidable Slave Master, able to exert control over a variety of creatures, from lesser beings to formidable adversaries.

Slave Brand – Gain the ability to enslave creatures, binding them to your dungeon (basically yourself).

Skill Details:

Slave Brand: Through the use of a specialized mark or branding, you gain the ability to permanently enslave creatures, binding them to your dungeon and ultimately yourself. Once a creature is branded, they become completely subservient to your will, obeying your every command without question. The branding process requires physical contact with the target, typically on a visible area of their body.

Note: You can forcefully make someone weaker than you a slave, but know that they will lose their mind and will be nothing but a robotic puppet that can't even take a shit without your command.

Limitations: Although powerful, it has some limitations. The skill cannot be used on sentient beings with strong willpower stronger than you or magical resistance unless weakened or willingly submitting. The brand's effectiveness may also weaken over time, requiring periodic reinforcement or renewal to maintain control over the enslaved creatures.

Note: The conditions for enslaving vary from creature to creature. It depends on them individually. You will be given said conditions, and if you do not fulfill them, you won't be able to enslave them.

[Second Tree – Least Boon]

By possessing this extraordinary boon, you acquire the ability to access an additional evolution tree exclusively for monster spawns within your dungeon. Remarkably, creatures within these evolution trees can be obtained without the need for any purchase, enabling you to experiment freely with them. This experimentation may lead to the creation of novel evolutions or intriguing hybrid combinations. However, it is essential to bear in mind that certain evolutions may ultimately reach a dead end, despite initial potential.

These two skills were relatively simple, especially [Second Tree] but it could also be very powerful given how I use it. It could be powerful considering I am a Dungeon Core now.

[Slave Master], though...

Oh boy, oh boy, that was a hoot! I mean, seriously, I couldn't stop giggling, metaphorically. I could practically see those brave "women" walking right into my dungeon, thinking they were all clever and whatnot. Little did they know, they were walking straight into my mischievous plans! Man, I was ready to have a blast with this new gig. Just picturing their faces when they realized they were caught in my web of tricks had me grinning from ear to ear.

I could technically enslave anyone.

And that would be really convenient when it comes to getting my hands on some "loyal" bitches I could fuck around with, with no regard to whatever the fuck they want.

I mean, I wouldn't make slaves of everyone, obviously, but it'd be so damn handy to have some of those around just in case I find myself lacking something to do.

That isn't to say I wouldn't make slaves at all. Any woman I fuck, would be my slave. Any subordinate would be a slave. I couldn't afford to get backstabbed by anyone. I would make anyone a slave as long as it was what I needed to do in order to achieve whatever I wanted.

I chuckled darkly at my thoughts and continued reading through stuff on this 'system' of mine.

My three boons decided and chosen, I stared at the [Second Tree] to see what I had available right now.

Available Second Trees:

Goblin

Demon

Plant

Undead

Beast

Slime

That done, I decided to check out my 'status.'

Name: None

Race: Dungeon Core

Class: Nexus

Profession: Slave Master

Level: 01 (Evolving...)

Lust Points (LP): 0/100 (Note: LP is used to level up. Through a Level-up, you gain Attribute Points, which you can spend on your Attributes. There are other ways of gaining LP. LP is used in the Dungeon Shop also, further details are available in the shop itself.)

Mana Points (MP): 2200/2200 - MP Regen: 2 per hour

Titles: None

Attributes

Mind: 10

Body: 10

Soul: 10

Attribute Points (AP): 02

Boons:

[Avatar – Greater Boon]

[Slave Master – Lesser Boon]

[Second Tree – Least Boon]

Abilities:

(Abilities are innate to a race, and/or your Class and Profession alone.)

Racial Abilities: [Dungeon Mind] - [Found Dungeon] - [Dungeon Management (Locked until dungeon founded)] - [Spawn Monsters (Locked until dungeon founded)]

Skills:

(Skills are something you can learn/inherit/learn, they can be unique to you, or other people could learn them too if they meet requirements. Skills also include your Profession's skills)

[Racial Skills]

None

[Class Skills]

None

[Profession Skills]

None

[General Skills]

None

[SHOP] (Locked)

[INVENTORY]

Ok, so, I had all of these things.

Not bad, not bad.

Though I was a bit confused on the Body stat.

I mean, wasn't I a rock/crystal now, technically? So, what use would Body State have? strength for my [Avatar] maybe? Or was it just defense? It could be defense since that would mean that it made me not-easily-breakable the more I put points into it. If that was the case, then I'd experiment with this a bit, and see if I can get more points in.

Alright, so after all my reading and whatnot, I decided to start playing around with my avatar. The avatar was actually pretty cool. It came with a lot of customization options, including body shape, skin color, hairstyle, and even eye color.

I took some time experimenting with different options and found a few things I liked. I picked one with white hair, amethyst eyes, and a humanish-looking body. Why human-ish and not human? well, that was because I was planning on having some monster parts. Like, not right now since I don't know how to but later down the line. For now, my body would be fairly human.

After I was done with that, it just hit me that I've been super chill about this whole 'turning into a rock' gig. Hold up, what was that funky [Dungeon Mind] thingy in my racial abilities again?

[Found Dungeon] should be founding the dungeon, [Dungeon Management (Locked until dungeon founded)] should be related to managing said dungeon, and [Spawn Monsters (Locked until dungeon founded)] should be spawning monsters, they were self-explanatory enough, but what the fuck was [Dungeon Mind]? What did it do?

[Dungeon Mind]

Dungeons rarely, if ever, freak out emotionally. Only true threats to their core, or other significant events, can cause a Dungeon Core to lose its composure. Finding out that they have suddenly been turned into a dungeon core does not count as a significant event. Extreme resistance to mental effects.

'Ah, so that's what it is...'

I suddenly realized why I had been so chill about this situation. Aside from the shock I felt when reading about the situation of Earth and how 'aliens' manipulated the entertainment industry, I didn't react much. My human side was still 'emulating' emotions, I still knew what I would normally feel and what my reaction would be, but I was more rational than anything.

It was like I was detached from this situation, almost like I was watching it happen to someone else.

I was more worried- no, more curious about what kind of effects this would have on me in the long term. Would it make me less human, a more robotic shell? Or would it make me even better at dealing with stressful situations?

Either way, I was interested in seeing how it worked out and how it would affect me.

Actually, was this already affecting me more than I realized?

Anywho, all of that aside, I decided to go ahead and be done with all this.

I was still in the void thingy, I wondered when I'd be able to 'see'.

I missed it, kind of.

As I was wondering all that, what I was waiting for finally happened.

[Initial Setup complete]

[Teleport to your body for the time being?]

(Note: your body will be used to create your Avatar when you 'found' your dungeon. So it is adviced that you deal with everything you have to do in your life as quickly as possible. After all, there is a time limit too.)

[Yes/No]

I ginned, fuck yes I wanted to go back for the last time!

I was frustrated at not being able to fill that young little thing up! I was just about to fill her up when I was plucked from my body. And besides, there might or might not be a few other things I do!

[Commencing Teleportation...]

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