Dungeon Resex: Chapter 6

[Tada! Hello everyone! Welcome one and all. Welcome to the "Dungeon". Are you ready to play a game?]

Another game with another batch of players.

A new group of people were milling about in confusion at the starting area. Today, the bunny-guide was dressed in a magician's outfit, complete with a tophat and a cape.

The bunny produced a pink flower from his hat in poof of smoke, taking a big sniff before continuing his introductions.

[The game you'll be playing is a 'Survival Game'! Isn't it exciting! Doesn't it sound like oodles of FUN?!]

The confused crowd of humans eying him with suspicion and fear always amused the rabbit guide. He lived for these first day introductions, bot literally and figuratively. They generally tended to be pretty predictable, a quality the bunny found himself appreciating more come of late.

"What is this, some kind of fucking joke? Fucking midget in a rabbit suit, you think this is some kind of game?"

[Huh, that's a new one. I haven't heard that one before.]

A burly middle aged man was barreling towards him, hands poised to snatch him out of the air. He looked angry. Not that it mattered. Just meant that he would be used as exhibit A for the next part of his well-practiced speech.

There was always one.

[Welp, thank you anyway, Dummy-man.]

The bunny clipped his head off of his body.

The spurt of blood that resulted as the body crumpled to the floor immediately after had the desired effect.

The gathered crowd started screaming and scattered, yet unaware that they couldn't get far, the invisible barrier holding them in place until the guide was done with his speech.

This was the monthly routine. One dies in the beginning to set the tone and act as an example to the rest. The remaining 100 survivors learn that the Guide means business and it pays to listen to anything he says. A sacrifice to faciliate a smooth progression and gameplay for the remaining players.

The bunny guide did a little pirouette in the air for the benefit for the players and announced the commencement of the game. If only if removing the 'error' would be this simple.

The guide sighed to himself as he rose in the air to get a better view of the players as they scattered in groups to start exploring their immediate surroundings.

It wasn't something that was known to the players, but the guide couldn't kill them at will. In truth, the bunny-guide was allowed a single kill each round, the lifeforce of the remaining players were promised to the Dungeon system. Once the **** was chosen, the remaining 100 players were safe from harm. At least from the guide.

Since **** had already been chosen as one of the 100, there was no way for the bunny to kill him personally.

[He should be dead by now... right?]

It annoyed the bunny that a mere first stage player was proving to be a nuisance. From his point of view, **** was little more than a passing irritation, a mosquito buzzing in his ear. A passing annoyance that should resolve itself with time.

But no matter how many times he told himself that, the very idea that an error of his own creation still existed somewhere in the dungeon bothered the bunny guide. The Dungeon system was a precise, well oiled machine. Such an error shouldn't exist in the perfection that was the Dungeon system.

[I need to find time to go check that trap again...]

The bunny guide found himself wishing that the problem would just, go away, for once and for all.

***

Of course, **** had no intention of doing anything of the sort.

He still had plenty of food and water, and his renewed determination gave him the focus he needed to work. Now that he didn't need to worry about a reset, he no longer dug tunnels in an unplanned haphazard fashion.

He worked with a plan and a purpose. Marking the central cavern as his base of operations, he dug four holes in each wall of the cavern, marking the cardinal directions.

Since he wasn't sure exactly how he was oriented, he planned on marking each tunnel with a number and digging as far as he could go. If his attempts were blocked, he would return to another tunnel and head in a different direction.

The work progressed quickly and in an orderly fashion.

Truth be told, digging tunnels underground was dangerous work. Even with the threat of cave-ins largely removed, there was always a chance of hitting underground gas or water pockets, which could suffocate or drown him before he noticed. His purification spell would help with the former, but for the latter there was little he could do but make periodic spaces in the tunnels to slow the flow of water if necessary.

Thankfully, as his skill level increased in his <Dirt Packing> skill, the remaining surface of the tunnel walls became harder and sturdier, making it easier and easier for him to work as time went on.

'Doesn't hurt to be careful though. Only got the one life.'

As the days passed, he could feel his resolve wearing down. It didn't help that he was usually working in complete darkness to save the torches where he could. In order to recuperate, **** took to redecorating the spaces along the tunnels into proper living spaces. And as he started becoming more comfortable with his skills, his attempts started getting more and more elaborate.

In the beginning he had a simple idea. He wanted a bathroom.

'I'm a human being. I don't shit where I eat. I need to make a bathroom.'

It started with a small secondary room he connected to the bigger living space in the tunnels. A bathroom needed a toilet, so that was the next step.

He formed the dirt into the shape of a modern toilet. A deep hole under the seat where he took care of his business. When he was done, he could purify his waste and crumble some dirt over the top.

There was little in the way of entertainment in the tunnels, so he distracted himself in the act of creating little knicknacks for himself.

'Need a table, two chairs look better than one.'

It didn't matter that there wasn't anyone to sit in the second chair, he wanted it to feel like home. A home didn't feel right without a sofa, so that came next. It wasn't as soft as a sofa should be, but the fact that there was one made a difference in how the room looked and felt.

'Maybe I could polish the plates a little?'

**** wet his fingers and ran it along the edges of his dirt plates, smoothing the edges to a mirror finish. He wasn't sure how, but it worked. **** had **** but to admit that he just might have a gift for this sort of thing, and his new ability wasn't just some fluke.

Who knew that 'this' was what he was meant for all along? Everyone has a natural talent. Even if it's not something that's terribly useful. That didn't mean that in the right situation anyone could shine, as unlikely as that may be.

And this was one of those times. **** was gifted. With an ability to 'pack dirt' well.

His new skill complemented his natural ability well. The dirt balls produced by his skill gained a claylike quality. They molded into whatever shape **** desired and held their shape well, hardening into a claylike quality that didn't break or crumble easily.

It was a perfect material to play with.

• Ching!

[<Dirt Pack> skill evolved to level 5.]

"Huh, I leveled up again."

The dirt felt different in his hands. Digging the tunnels and manipulating the dirt every waking moment of every day had given **** an almost preternatural sense when it came to handling the earth, he was now able to sense the minute changes that affected his skill in real time.

"Open skill screen."

<Skills>

Skills : Purification (Beginner: Level 7)

Purification (Beginner: Level 7)

-Purify the unclean.

Dirt Packing (Level 5)

• You can pack dirt, quickly & efficiently. Your packed dirt will be bigger, denser and of a higher quality as your skill level increases.

Nothing had changed in the skill description. But he could feel the increased density.

'Bigger, and denser.'

Compressing dirt required a certain amount of pressure. The increase in his skill level meant that that **** would have been increased.

'Pressure, huh?'

His mind went to the brick pressing videos he used to watch on Youtube. With enough pressure, he likely would be able to achieve similar results.

It was time to test the new hypothesis. He stepped away from the wall and activated his ability.

"Dirt Pack. Dirt Pack."

Two spherical mounds of dirt came off in his hands. Their base form was now a perfect sphere, the pressure applied evenly across the entire surface of the earth.

**** manipulated the ability in his mind, applying the pressure in different ways, envisioning a rectangular form pressing the earth into a brick-like shape.

"...!"

It hda worked. Instead of a claylike dirtball, he had a brick in his hands. He had gained new insight into his skill. Dirt packing didn't necessarily mean that he could only pack it into a ball. If that were the case, the skill would have been named, <Create Dirtball>. No, he could form the earth into any shape he desired, with enough practice.

He continued practicing his newfound ability, shaping each chunk he pulled from the wall into a brick shape until it started becoming second nature to do so. He started stacking the bricks next to his bed and he had an end table in no time, making his bedroom look even more like... well, a bedroom.

He added a dirt lamp for good measure and placed a lit torch in the lamp stand.

Now he had a proper bedroom.

'There's a reason lego blocks are all rectangular. It's so much easier to build with these.'

The small realization brought **** a spark of joy and he continued adjusting his living space, it reminded him of the sims games that he enjoyed so much when he was younger.

A second bedroom appeared next to the first. The rooms were carved to be spacious. Hallways appeared connecting the rooms. Partitions separated different living spaces, making it feel more like home.

He eyed his makeshift bed and started rebuilding it, forming the clay into elaborate designs until he managed to build something akin to a raised canopy bed, with a backdrop faux brick wall that brought a touch of elegance to the room that he truly appreciated.

It looked like a honeymoon suite.

"Ooh, pretty. Haha."

**** was surprised to find a smile creeping onto his face despite his rather dire situation weighing on the back of his mind. The elaborate bed was completely out of place in his surroundings, but it was something familiar from his former life. And it brought him much needed comfort.

[Oh goddamn it. It's bigger now?]

And some guests arrived, as if on que. The bunny guide had returned.

[Why, oh why aren't you dead yet? Are you trying to piss me off?]

"Oh hi."

**** emerged from tunnel #1 where he had been working, dusting himself off before greeting the irate guide.

[How much goddamn food did you have?!? It's been TWO MONTHS!! How are you still alive?]

"Sorry. I still have a good bit left?"

[Eat. Faster!]

Just then, **** heard something behind him. The sound of earth crumbling followed by a dull roar. Water. He could hear the water bursting through the tunnel he just emerged from. His worst fears realized, he had hit an underground lake that was threatening to submerge his entire tunnel network.

[Whee! That's what I'm talking about! Please, just die already, you goddamn reject!]

***