Connie

  Dragon fire blasted at me, but a well-timed movement skill put me safely out of range of the attack. I rolled my eyes. The two figures hiding nearby couldn't have actually thought they would go unseen, right? Well, this will be interesting, I thought.

  The massive winged lizard I was fighting was getting low on health, but it wasn't dead quite yet. I needed to move before it got to that point.

  As the terrain around me glowed red, I turned and made a run for it. After the dragon's attack landed where it was telegraphed to, it followed. It wouldn't pursue me far, but even moving it a short distance away would be enough to force the pair to play their hand, and as expected, they did.

  Two people, a ranger and a rogue, ran out from behind a pillar, red icons above each of their heads. They were tagged as player killers, people who killed other players in the game I was currently playing to steal their loot.

  I leaned forward in my seat, preparing myself for what I was about to do.

  “Wait for it,” I whispered to myself, “Wait for it. Now!”

  The dragon pulled back ever so slightly, denoting that it was about to make a physical attack with its claws. Just then, I activated my movement skill to place myself on the other side of the two people trying to steal my kill.

  The dragon, entering into its attack animation, rapidly spun around. The two were quick to react, but it didn't matter. As they turned to make their escape, I used another one of my character's abilities, one that shot out a few daggers as projectiles. Within the attack's area of effect, every target hit that didn't have immunity was stunned for a second. That was enough time for the dragon, the field boss I had been in the process of soloing, to hit them.

  The damage it dealt wasn't bad, but it was no one-shot kill. That was fine by me. After all, I wasn't trying to kill them with the damage.

  As the dragon's claws connected, they didn't just hit the players. They also hit the floor, the same floor that was covered with cracks and was considered a destructible object. It shattered, and the pair plummeted downward.

  Sadly, even though it did deal a good amount of fall damage, the hole wasn't an insta-kill mechanic. It just dropped them down to the tower floor beneath me. It wouldn't take them long to make their way back up, but that was fine. The time it bought me was just enough to finish off the field boss.

  After that, I collected my loot and dropped down the same hole my attackers had fallen through. I then ran through the massive structure's floor at a controlled pace, attacking every monster I came across. Once I had gotten as many as I could following me, I turned back around and started for the stairway to the final floor I had fought the dragon on.

  As I came around a corner near it, I saw my targets. I ran straight to them, stopped for a brief moment to activate a wave emote, and, then, I used all three of my movement abilities to get out of there. With me outside of the monsters' range, they attacked the pair. To their credit, the two managed to kill them all, but by that point, I was in a much better position then them and was able to easily finish them off.

  All that was left to do was gather the gear they dropped and find a safe spot to log out. Once that was done, I closed out of the game, leaned back, stretched my arms, and smiled. That smile soon faded as my eyes fell on my desktop background. It was a picture of two young girls happily celebrating their high school graduation, their excitement for the rest of their lives to come was plainly evident on their faces. How I missed being able to look forward.

  What am I doing with my life?

  I let out a deep sigh, melancholy overtaking me as it always seemed to.

  For a moment, my eyes rested on an icon on my desktop. It was a MOBA game that I frequently played. Next, my eyes found their way to my computer's clock. It was two forty-four in the morning. I did consider launching the game to distract myself from the emptiness I felt, but I wasn't feeling it, and I figured sleep would do the same.

  My eyes drifted over the picture one more time.

  “Good night, Mel,” I mumbled before powering down my PC.

  As the light from it turned off, I rubbed my face with my hand and leaned back, trying to clear my mind. One deep breath later, I began rolling my wheelchair toward the bathroom.

  Halfway through my bedroom door, I stopped as I shivered. It was cold, or–wait–no it wasn't. It was mid-July. Why was I shivering, and what was with the sudden migraine I felt coming on? I placed my hand to my head. That wasn't right.

  Why my hand shaking so bad?

  Images of a sterile hospital room raced through my mind.

  No, that was years ago. I haven't had any complications since.

  As I was thinking that, my vision began to blur.

  This isn't good. What's happening? Ah, my heart feels like it's beating a mile a minute. Phone. Where's my phone? Where did I leave my phone?

  Shaking my head, I looked back to my desk. There it was. I just needed go back and grab it, or maybe just yell. I didn't live alone, so yelling could work. I just needed to yell loud enough to wake my parents up. Why couldn't I yell? Why was it so hard to breathe?

  Phone it is, I thought as I made to back my wheelchair up, Ow!

  I gasped for air as I tried my hardest. It suddenly felt like my whole body was on fire. Then, every last sensation I had slowly began to fade away.

  So, this is it. I'm dying, just like that.

  An all-consuming darkness soon encompassed me, but my thoughts continued as I just kind of existed, or maybe I didn't. I didn't feel any kind of sensation after all. I just was, and nothing else was. It was just me and nothingness.

  I didn't do anything with my life.

  The thought was more of a statement then anything else, and that is what hurt the worst about it. I knew I had been wasting away, but this was it. I always thought I would get my act together, that I would actually do something, but I never did, and now, it was too late.

  I could feel myself give in to the sadness and regret that thought brought me. I wanted to scream. I wanted to cry. I wanted to do anything to let those feelings out, but I couldn't. I had no body to express myself with.

  Then, another thought crossed my mind, Melanie!

  If I was dead, could I see her again? Considering all that I was actively experiencing was nothingness, I didn't feel like my chances were great. With that realization, just as quickly as it had appeared, that slight trace of hope slipped through my nonexistent fingers.

  [Integrating Undefined User into System.]

  It was a blue box with simple white text. It looked like a popup message you might get when using a computer, phone, or just about any other electronic device with a screen. It made no sense.

  What does that even mean? Am I dead, am I hallucinating in a coma, or did I just completely lose it?

  I focused on the blue box, the seemingly only thing that I could perceive in the world. It had to hold the answers I desperately needed or, at least, some kind of a clue. So, I stared at it and waited. And, I waited. And, I kept waiting as the anticipation I felt turned to irritation.

  Nothing happened, and nothing continued to happen. I couldn't keep track of how long passed like that. I wasn't even sure time was passing in whatever dark nothingness I resided in. In that state, I fluctuated between sorrow, fury, and acceptance. I went through the seven stages of grief, and I came to the conclusion I had to be dead and in purgatory because, had I still somehow been alive, I surely would have died of boredom by the time the screen eventually changed.

  [Error, integration failed!]

  Can I go back to having a mental breakdown in this peaceful oblivion, please?

  That was my first thought upon reading the ominous message. My next thought was, What the actual fuck?

  What did it mean? I didn't know. I had zero context. What I did know was that there was no way that could be good.

  [Correcting errors.]

  Still ominous, but that's an improvement, I hope.

  [Integration complete!]

  And?

  And nothing, apparently. I would have just been left sitting there patiently had I anything left to sit with. Lacking a physical body, I would have been forced to just exist there patiently. The only problems with that were that I wasn't sure if I even existed anymore and that I was flat out of patience.

  Okay, and? Integration complete, cool. What does that mean?

  The message disappeared, leaving me alone once more.

  Argh! I silently raged to myself without the ability to rage aloud.

  Eventually, I just found myself willing for the text box to come back. I didn't exactly like it or the ominous things it told me, but it was better than literally nothing.

  [Name: Connie Aldman

  Race: Dungeon Core

  Level: 0

  Title: Summoned Hero

  Status: Unavailable]

  I still had no clue what I was looking at, but it wasn't nothing, so I considered it an improvement.

  Having realized I was able to pull that last screen up somehow, I tried interacting with it. Focusing on my name didn't do anything, and neither did focusing on the clearly incorrect designation of, “Dungeon Core.” When both of those attempts failed, I focused on my nonexistent level and found myself more confused.

  [Experience to next level: N/A]

  I wanted to scream. Since I was unable to, I moved on. Focusing on the title of, “Summoned Hero,” had marginally better results, not that I understood them.

  [Title: Summoned Hero

  Description: You are an otherworldly hero summoned to aid the world of Reflia.

  Effects: While this title is equipped, the holder benefits from a +20% to all experience gains. Upon receiving this title, its holder also receives fluency in the Reflian language, a Heroic class, a unique Heroic ability that suits them, and a Heroic mana signature.]

  It was an answer. It used video game terms that I could somewhat understand. It still wasn't making sense.

  From the sound of it, the reason I presumably died a painful death was because I was being summoned to another world as a hero. If it was just that, as unbelievable as it might sound, I would have just gone along with it. Waiting around in an abyss of nothingness for an undefined amount of time was enough to make me suspend my sense of disbelief enough for that.

  What I couldn't understand was why that would have caused me to die a painful death, why my race displayed as, “Dungeon Core,” of all things, what those errors were about, if the so-called Reflia that it mentioned was the nothingness I found myself within, and, if it wasn't, where I was. Still at a loss in regards to the situation, I desperately tried focusing on my unavailable status. It didn't land me much additional information.

  [Your status is currently unavailable.]

  I tried reaching for additional blue boxes. I tried focusing on each individual term. I tried everything. The only other thing I found was an options menu that let me change the appearance of the boxes, their displayed language, a few other cosmetic things, and settings related to the appearance of the notifications. I changed the strange boxes to a more aesthetically pleasing black lettering on a beige background framed by wood textures. I figured if the boxes were the only thing I had to keep me company, I might as well make them look nice.

  After that, it was back to waiting, and the new wait was much longer. I had plenty of time to consider my situation and come up with a few dozen theories as to what was going on. I had time to reflect on my life that was almost certainly lost. I had time to analyze every mistake I ever made and every point where my life went wrong. I had time to do all of that, and I was still left with more time.

  The wait felt endless. I could have been in that nothingness for months for all I knew, or it could have only been a day. Either way it stretched on and on until I had just about given up hope. Then, all at once, the nothingness fell away around me. In its place, there was a small, dank cave and a large insect flying around. I still had no body.

  [Your area of influence has been established. Dungeon features have been enabled for you within the System.]

  This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

  In that moment, I would have leaped for joy if I could have. Instead, I brought up my profile again.

  [Name: Connie Aldman

  Race: Dungeon Core

  Dungeon: Unnamed

  Level: 1

  DP: 20/20

  Mana: 20/20

  Class: N/A

  Title: Summoned Hero

  Achievements: None

  Skills: None

  Abilities: (Unique) Heroic Adaptability

  Focus: None

  Primary Monster Type: None

  Secondary Monster Type: None

  Specialization: None

  Traits: None

  Perks: None

  Available Monsters: None

  Available Traps: None]

  Despite saying, “None,” a lot, it was a lot more than I had to go off of until that point. A smile formed on my nonexistent face, and I went to check out the rest of what was now available to me.

  “Hey, you there?” the sound of a nasally voice completely derailed my train of thought.

  A person, an actual person!

  My vision scanned the small cave for the speaker, but I saw no one. Whoever the voice belonged to might have been able to tell me what was going on. I needed to find them, but how?

  “I'm right here,” the voice came again in a gentle tone, “It's all right. I'm right here.”

  It sounded like it was coming from right next to me, but I couldn't see anyone. I also realized the voice wasn't speak English, but I could somehow understand it. Confused, I took a mental step back, and noticed something I hadn't until that point. In the center of the cave room sat a translucent crystal orb of a size that would barely fit comfortably in the palm of a person's hand. It was faintly glowing with a warm white light, and on top of it sat the bug I had seen flying around.

  “I'm not a bug,” the voice came again, this time with a hint of audible annoyance.

  I startled momentarily, but quickly got a hold of myself. I mentally leaned forward, shifting my view to be right above what I had initially assumed to be a large bug. Its wings were buglike, yes, but they were connected to a tiny dark skinned man with black hair and green robes.

  A fairy? I thought to myself in disbelief.

  It, or he by the looks of it, looked just like a fairy straight from a picturebook or animated film. I didn't know what to expect after my brief, or not so brief since I couldn't tell how long it had lasted, imprisonment in a black void, but it wasn't a fairy.

  “Yes, I am a Dungeon Fairy. I know things might be a bit jarring for you, but I am here to answer any questions you might have and to help you moving forward.”

  Did he just read my mind?

  “In a way, yes. Since I am touching you, you are able to send your thoughts and emotions to me. Once we form a bond, the physical contact won't be necessary anymore.”

  The idea of someone defiling the sanctity of my mind by reading my thoughts was uncomfortable, to say the least. Pushing those thoughts out of my mind, I asked, Is there a way to not send you my thoughts? Also, what do you mean you are touching me? As far as I can tell, I don't even have a body anymore.

  “Ah, right. You can, but it takes practice. It's kind of a combination of actively holding your thoughts back and not focusing on them too heavily. You'll get the hang of it after a while. As for your second question, you do. You have a body, I mean. It's this crystal here. It's your body now.”

  Just then, it clicked to me. Oh, so I really am a Dungeon Core now, whatever that is.

  “You know about that already?”

  Yes, or at least the text boxes say as much.

  “Right. The System would have prompted you with some notifications.”

  The next moment passed in an awkward silence as I tried to compose myself.

  “So, how do I explain this to someone who has no idea what's going on?”

  You could start by telling me why I randomly died a painful death for no apparent reason and got trapped in a void of nothingness for I don't know how long.

  As I thought those words, I felt a surge of emotions. There was shock, horror, and a hint of remorse. The emotions felt completely alien, as if they weren't my own. Then, as quickly as they came, they were gone.

  Hmm, so the emotion sharing goes both ways.

  “Uh, er, you were conscious for all of that?”

  Yes.

  “I'm sorry. The elders said it should be like you blinked and were here. You shouldn't have experienced any time in the two weeks between your summoning and now.”

  I finally had a time to put to my experience with that nothingness. It was two weeks. That seemed like far less than it felt. I also practically had confirmation that the fairy standing on top of the crystal that was supposedly my body played a role in what happened to me.

  “So, did you do anything with the System menus already?”

  As I thought back, Yes, I could feel the fairy wince, but it was relief that flooded out of him as I continued, I read through my status and changed some things in the options.

  “You haven't made any Dungeon choices, then, right?”

  What Dungeon choices?

  “Good. I'll still be able to help you with them.”

  You never answered my question.

  “Oh, those are the choices you need to make to determine how your Dungeon will operate.”

  I meant my other question, the why of the situation.

  “Sorry, right, the summoning. Yeah, about that, The Fairy Council, my bosses, decided they needed to summon a few Heroes to save the world from a catastrophe that is currently threatening it.”

  If that's the case, why am I a Dungeon Core, and what is a Dungeon Core?

  “Dungeon Cores are the hearts of Dungeons. They keep the world from collapsing in on itself. I don't know the specifics of that, but they gain power as adventurers delve their Dungeons, and the more power they have, the more they stabilize the world and keep it intact.”

  These Dungeons, I'm assuming they're more of the monsters and traps everywhere kind and not the jail variety?

  “Yes, exactly. If you know that much, this will be a lot easier. As a Dungeon Core, it is your job to design and control the Dungeon. You will need to make it generally survivable so adventurers will actively want to enter it for experience and material gain, but there is also an alchemical renaissance going on, so a lot of adventurers would rather destroy you outright and collect your remains for their material value. You need to make the Dungeon strong enough to kill that kind of invader.”

  You want me to kill people?

  “Yes. I mean no? Kind of? I need you to kill people, so the world doesn't end. You need to kill people, so you don't die. Whether or not either us wants you to kill people is irrelevant.”

  Let me get this strait. You and your Fairy Council kidnap people from other worlds, stuff them in crystals, and force them to kill people with game-like dungeon mechanics. Is that right?

  “No, you're an exception, not the rule. Also, there is nothing game-like about this. It's a matter of life and death for the entire world.”

  Right … Why am I an exception exactly?

  “Dungeons are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate. We needed smarter, stronger dungeons. You having been a person gives you an edge most dungeons don't have. You can think like a person and reason better. Also, the summoning process should have infused you with the excess magic. That should make you inherently stronger than a normal Dungeon, but other than the enhanced growth rate, I'm not sure by how much.”

  Okay, and what happens if I refuse?

  “No, you can't refuse!”

  Why not?

  “The adventurers, they'd kill you!”

  I take it the thought of me preferring to die than kill people because my kidnapper told me the world would end if I didn't never crossed your mind?

  The fairy made a pained expression as I felt a complicated mess of emotions I couldn't parse flow from him.

  “Would you really doom an entire world out of spite?”

  I don't even know if anything you've told me is true.

  “Here, feel my emotions. Everything I have told you is true. If you don't do this, everyone you refuse to kill could likely die as a result, and an uncountable number of others could too. No one comes into a Dungeon without knowing that they are risking their lives by doing so. I'm not saying to slaughter them in mass. Give them a fighting chance, and if they die, it's because of their own greed and inability. You just need to kill those who want to kill you and enough of those risking their own lives to be strong enough to do so. What do you say?”

  I wanted to say no. I could feel conviction and desperation from the fairy, but that didn't change the fact I wanted to go home. I didn't want anything to do with the situation I was being forced into.

  “Please, I can't handle losing another Core, not again.”

  It wasn't his words that got to me. It was his emotions. The pain, sorrow, and guilt radiating from him was immense and familiar. A face came to mind. It was the face of my best friend, and every time it came to mind, I felt the same things I could feel rolling off the fairy clinging to me, close to tears.

  Fine, I thought, I'll do it.

  What did I have back home anyway? I had the fictional worlds of games that I drowned myself in. I pushed everything else I once had away, long ago, and even if I wanted to go back, that didn't seem possible in the first place. I had once wanted to be something, to do good. I squandered every opportunity I had to do so, but maybe, like it or not, this was my chance. That is why, in that moment, I resolved myself to do what I had to do regardless of how I felt about it, but that didn't mean I would be reckless or just do as I was told. If I was going to do this, I would do it right.

  “Thank you,” he said as he wiped away a tear that was forming in his eye, “My name is Fabian Dahlia, by the way. Who do I have the honor of working with?”

  Co– I had started to respond before old legends about fairies slammed into the forefront of my mind. I wasn't the best versed in them, but I had heard enough to realize a large portion of those legends directly warned about giving your name to any type of fey. I had decided to work with Fabian, but that didn't mean I fully trusted him.

  “Caw?” the Dungeon Fairy that was supposed to act as my advisor and assistant echoed back dumbly.

  Cameron. My name is Cameron Baker. It's, well, I wouldn't say nice to meet you, but nice to meet you.

  I panicked slightly and used the first name that came to mind that started with the same letter as my own and, with memories still too fresh from thinking about, borrowed Melanie's last name. If I were to actually use that name going forward, I would either be glad I had chosen one that served as a keepsake of sorts from my best friend or hate myself for the constant reminder.

  “Whether this meeting is nice for you or not, it is for me. I hope we can build something great together.”

  If I had eyes still, I would have rolled them, but it seemed like he hadn't caught my slip.

  “Now, if we can get the pact between you and the Fairy Council taken care of and form our bond, I'll help you get started and explain the important things along the way.”

  What pact?

  “It's a contract of sorts that all Dungeon Cores have to agree to. It's nothing major. It just insures you don't do anything insane enough to put all Dungeon Cores as a whole at risk or start an apocalyptic level war. They became mandatory after the Dungeon War that claimed millions of lives and endangered the entire world.”

  Just out of curiosity, what would happen if I refused or acted against that contract?

  The fairy gave me a stern look as he plainly stated, “The Fairy Council will personally have you killed if you don't agree to it, and once you do, it will be impossible for you to defy it.”

  Right. Guaranteed death, or agree not to do anything that could bring about the end of the world that I am trying to make sure doesn't end. When you put it that way, the choice seems pretty obvious. Get on with it.

  He nodded. Then he spoke, “I Fabian Dahlia, on behalf of the Fairy Council, offer a pact to the Dungeon Core, Cameron Baker. These are the terms of the pact. The Dungeon Core may not do anything to reveal its sentience to any member of the mortal races. The Dungeon Core may not have its monsters attack settlements belonging to the mortal races. The Dungeon Core may not take any hostile action toward another Dungeon Core, anything belonging to another Dungeon Core, or any Dungeon Fairy. With the exception of situations where the Dungeon Core has reason to believe its life is in significant and immediate danger, the Dungeon Core may not actively and intentionally cause the deaths of more than one-third of the mortal races that enter it. The Dungeon Core must provide rewards to all members of the mortal races that delve its dungeon for the challenges they overcome.

  “The Fairy Council must provide the Dungeon Core with a Dungeon Fairy that is fully trained and knowledgeable in Dungeon affairs to assist them with the growth of their Dungeon. The Fairy Council must grant the Dungeon Fairy assisting the Dungeon Core access to the Fairy Council's Library of Records. The Fairy Council must act in the Dungeon Core's best interest unless that interest opposes that of the wold's, another Dungeon Core's, or the Fairy Council's. This pact is magically binding. Do you accept?”

  As Fabian finished reciting his lines, a message from the System appeared in front of me.

  [Do you want to accept the proposed pact with the entity, Fairy Council?

  Yes / No]

  The message then repeated what Fabian had said verbatim, including the fake name I used. That worried me.

  “Select, yes,” came the fairy's voice.

  Let me just clarify. I, Cameron Baker, must do everything the contract states the, “Dungeon Core,” must do, and in return, the Fairy Council will do everything the contract states it has to do for the Dungeon Core for me, and it will be impossible to break the contract?

  “Yes,” Fabian responded aloud, and I saw the contract update in real time to replace all mentions of the, “the Dungeon Core,” in the first half of it with, “Cameron Baker, the Dungeon Core.”

  It changed.

  “Yes, pacts can be negotiated as they are being made, but the Fairy Council requires that the pact offered to Dungeons is accepted as is, so select, “yes,” before you accidentally change it in a way that makes a difference.”

  With as much mental calm as I could fake, I accepted. I had no clue if I just did something smart or incredibly stupid, but I had done it, and I decided right then and there that I needed to make sure no one ever found out.

  “Good,” the fairy said with a big smile on his face, “now accept this. It will let us communicate without the need for physical contact and give me the ability to view your status.”

  [Do you want to establish a soul bond with the individual Fabian Dahlia? You may only have one such bond, and one established, the bond can't be broken except through death.

  Yes / No]

  If I still had a heart, it would have stopped. Fabian being able to see my status meant he would know that I lied about my name.

  “What's wrong?”

  The contract is one thing, I quickly made to fumble together an excuse, but I'm not comfortable with this, at least not right now. You can talk to me still, and I can read my status to you, but I'm not comfortable binding my soul to a person who kidnapped me and forced me into this situation for life. If I were to do this, I would at least like to build up trust between us first.

  I expected to feel anger, maybe hurt, or even indignation from the fairy as I cobbled together the excuse. What I said was true, but what I told him obviously wasn't the main reason for my reluctance. What I didn't expect to feel from him was relief.

  “Okay, that's fine. We can build trust first. Also, you don't need to read me your screens. You can still show them to me, I just won't be able to check them on my own.”

  Okay, sounds good.

  I figured I had to have either quickly picked up on how to hide my emotions from him or my emotions were already such a roller coaster that my mental gymnastics weren't phasing him. Either way, I was grateful for it.

  “Now that we're done with the boring stuff, let's get started on the Dungeon.”