[Charlene] Chapter 3: Dungeon Core 532

[Throndir]

《Chapter 2: An Audience with God

《Chapter 3: Dungeon Core 532》

《Summary》
Charlene is summoned to a new world by a Dungeon Core named Dungeon Core 532. Charlene is apparently a Dungeon Master who has control over the dungeon itself. She also shortly found out that she has access to some sort of Cash Shop. There were two men that DC 532 wanted her Dungeon Master to kill, so Charlene tried. Eventually she managed to kill one of the men in cold blood. The other one escaped.

Characters Met
Dungeon Core 532
Man #1
Man #2

Returning Characters
None

Information
How Dungeon Master works.
How Cash Shop works.

Developments
Charlene kills a man, then heads out into the world armed with a dagger.

When the bright light finally faded, you found that you were no longer in that warm room with the table full of chocolates and treats. In fact, you found yourself in something more closer to a dark room. There was hardly any light, but there was enough to get an idea of how the place looked. There were various crystals embedded into the walls that gave off a faint light, but most noticeably, on one of the walls itself was something that looked like glass, or a mirror. Except instead of reflecting what was around you, seemed to depict some sort of small cavern.

You were lying down, on your back, and above you looked to be a girl, dressed in blue, with crystals in her dress and outfit that were similar to the ones embedded into the walls.

"Welcome Dungeon Master!~ ☆"

At the same time, you see a translucent green window appearing your vision, with notifications scrolling through it.

You have gained a new title『Summoned Hero』
You have gained『Quick Learner』
You have gained『Mana Sensitivity』
You have gained『Translate All』
You have gained『Personal Status』
You have gained『Summoned as a Dungeon Master』
You have gained a new title『Dungeon Master』
You have gained『Cash Shop』
You have gained a new title『Paid-To-Win』
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You leveled up.
You are now level 15. Spend your unallocated points.

[akicheeto]

Charlie groans as she sits up. She pats the pocket with the bag for her chocolate supply and takes a weary glance at the green window. She frowns with confusion before looking at the crystal girl.

"Where am I?" She takes a second to look over the girls outfit "Is that even comfortable?"

Charlie's eyes catch the mosaic glass cavern? She's not entirely sure. It certainly is a weird place to...wake back up in.

[Throndir]

"You are in my dungeon! Please kill those people for me!" She said happily, as she pointed to the mirror-like section of the wall, that showed the smaller cavern beyond it. There were people in there, two men who wore leather clothing, and both looked pretty rough.

She frowned when you asked if her clothing was comfortable.

"I never thought about it... It just looks pretty!" She exclaimed. "Can you kill them for me, please Dungeon Master?"

[akicheeto]

Charlie stares and then blinks. She blinks slowly a couple more times before raising an eyebrow.

"You... want me to do what now?"

She looks at the two men then back at the crystal girl.

"I'd, well rather not kill anyone just yet. And I don't have anything on me to use as a weapon to even defend myself."

I want to get a feel for this crystal girl and possible motives.

Sense Motive 1d20 : 5, total 5

Perception 1d20+5 : 10 + 5, total 15

[Throndir]

She narrowed her eyes.

"You know, I found it weird that you asked me some questions when I first summoned you here... Are you.... disobeying? That's is kinda weird... Let's see..."

"You are a Dungeon Master, you should be able to create all sorts of weird things! I command you to kill them for me, please! ☆" She announced again, this time a bit more forcefully.

Sense Motive: 5
You could not get a sense of her at all. She talked very bright and bubbly, yet she wants you to kill someone, as if it meant nothing at all.

Perception: 15
Her crystal dress looked uncomfortable. It was as if she prioritized making it look nice, rather than functional. Her eyes were bright and cheery, and her tone of voice was relaxed and cheerful.

[akicheeto]

"You say that as if I should totally know how to do that..." Charlie mumbles. She definitely doesn't quite trust this girl but she's thrown in a new world and asked to kill on command. Her options feel sort of limited.

Charlie looks at her hands, willing for something to appear. She wasn't much of a fighter to begin with and only knew how to make really pretty things out of chocolate.

She thinks of the most recent show she watched, which was the Great British Baking show. No, too wholesome, they weren't violent there and there were no weapons or magic she could draw from.

Then she thought of a more recent movie she watched where Thor became the literal God of Thunder, she always thought he looked cool.

Charlie closes her eyes and tries to focus some form of lightning to appear.

[Throndir]

When you began to close your eyes and concentrate, instead, something appeared in your vision. In big flashing words, complete with a banner background, the words flashed across your vision:

Flash Sale! 96% Off on Helper Companion Gachapon!
Expires in 36 seconds.
Conditions apply.
See Terms and Agreements.
Open Cash Shop for details.

You noticed an entry saying the deal expires in 36 seconds, and already as time ticked, the count down moved to 35 seconds, then 34...

However, as you finished concentrating, nothing happened. No lightning spear was created.

"The others said Dungeon Masters are super useful... I used so many points to summon you too! Menu!" She said outloud, then her eyes adjusted to something in front of her, and she was scratching her head.

"Weird the option isn't there anymore..."

[akicheeto]

Charlie can't help it. She laughs out loud.

"W-What even is this? What kind of world uses magic in forms of internet advertising?" Charlie wipes her tears as she double's over with her hands on her knees laughing.

Though seeing the timer count down.

"Phew okay, uh how do I exchange for a Helper Companion? What even is a gotcha-pond? Pon?" Charlie hears the girl shout 'menu' and she also thinks that isn't a bad idea. She did see a screen that showed her leveling up so she also yells, "Menu!"

She has no idea what to expect and is trying to stifle her laughter.

[Throndir]

The girl was absolutely confused.

"In.. tern... net? What is that?" The girl mouthed the words you spoke, tilting her head in confusion. "Helper companion...?" She looked even more confused.

The moment you said 'Menu', the same translucent green screen appeared in front of you.

Menu:
> Dungeon Status
> Dungeon Upgrades
> Monsters
> Dungeon Point Catalog

However, there was no reference of any sort of 'Sale', or 'Helper Companion' on the list.

"Wait, you just said 'Menu', so you are actually a Dungeon Master? They're supposed to be completely obedient... But, you're kinda... broken?"

[akicheeto]

"I hate to break it to you but the Goddess that sent me here didn't seem the most...organized so this could all be a mistake and you got someone utterly useless."

Charlie then ignores the girl for a moment and crosses the arms over her chest as she focuses on the menu.

She...mentally....clicks through each item to see what else there is.

"This is some really odd literal virtual game that goddess sent me to..." Charlie mutters. She should've expected something like this from a goddess that accidentally killed her.

[akicheeto]

Intelligence Check 1d20-1 : 3 - 1, total 2

[Throndir]

Clicking through the menu
It seemed like each section of the menu opened up other menus as well. It was trivial to go back to a previous menu too with a huge Back button at the top whenever you drilled down into one of them.

Under Dungeon Status
Dungeon Core 532

Core HP: 50
DP: 30
Core Location: Room 1
Territory: 60 ft. x 60 ft.
Rooms: 3
Paths: 0
Traps: 0
Monsters: 0
Intruders: 2

Under Dungeon Upgrades
Dungeon Rooms
A few rooms are listed here
Master Room
Most of the upgrades here list increasing size
Paths
These seem to list size and distance of a 'path'
Traps
Listings include trapdoors, arrows, pressure plates, etc.

Monsters
There were entries that said 'Monster Gacha', prefixed by either Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced, etc. There were also individual listings for monsters themselves. A goblin being 20 DP.

Dungeon Point Catalog
Multiple categories, each one including some entries.
Dungeon Items
Basic Items
Food
Adventuring Gear
Books, Paper, and Writing Supplies
Clothing and Containers
Furniture
Locks, Keys, Tools, and Kits
Weapons
Spells
Material
Treasure
Magical Items

The notice for the 'Flash Sale' was still in your view, however, the time on it now said 16 seconds.

[akicheeto]

Charlie holds her pose as she reads through the menu options.

"Huh...I have absolutely no idea what any of this means," She says very matter-of-factly. "Except for the Intruders: 2, that seems straight forward."

Looking directly at the flashing sign, she takes a look at the small print.

'Open Cash Shop for details'

Shrugging, Charlie tries for it and says, "Open Cash Shop?"

[Throndir]

《Open Cash Shop》
The moment you said 'Open Cash Shop', a semi translucent window appeared in front of you. This time, it was much larger than before, and covered a large chunk of your vision. Unlike the earlier notification screens however, whenever your eyes hovered to things over it, the opaqueness would become more solid and less transparent.

The first thing you noticed was a pop-up like notification that simply said:

First time user! You have been given 100 gems as a complimentary gift!
『OK』

Once you 'clicked' on the OK, the rest of the cash shop was more visible. The same deal from before was flashing as a huge banner across the cash shop itself, this time it had 14 seconds remaining, and steadily went down. But you also noticed a variety of other tabs. Currency Exchange, Mini Pets, Cosmetics, Companions, Quality of Life, and Weapons and Armor. There was also a tab that simply said 'Coming Soon!'.

At the top left said: Gems: 100

[akicheeto]

"Oh, that's kind of cool..." Charlie murmurs.

Her eyes hover the menu, weirdly thrilled by the fact it worked like any other kind of menu she was used to back on her world.

Glancing at the Flash Sale banner again, she feels like 96% off is a fairly decent deal and she hoped it didn't cost a ridiculous amount.

Can I click the Flash Sale banner to see if there is any more info about what exactly it is and how much it costs?