''And now we go to our proposition. Do you remember what we said about interference in mortal life?''

  ''Yes.'' Naomi answers.

  ''And like you know for yourself, life is not so easy even for us gods.'' The Lady sighed. ''We can't leave you completely alone. We need something that will challenge you and push you forward.''

  ''Especially because of twisted gods. For now, everything is fine. They probably do even more damage to cultists and each other than us. But that can change, and everyone must be ready.''

  ''Ok. I don't mind creating for you or someone else. It sounds very tempting. But I'm bad with people and don't know anything about weapons and fighting.''

  ''And that's the best part. You don’t need to. With help from some wandering souls like you, we create places called dungeons.''

  ''Let me guess. Are they full of monsters, traps, and chests with gold to tempt adventurers?'' Naomi sighed.

  ''So you know.'' The Smith nodded. ''That simplifies things. We need some changes and simple rules to ensure everything works as planned. But they work quite well.''

  ''You will be responsible only for creating new floors and challenges if you can include some of your knowledge, no matter how superficial it is, in those challenges, that's even better. But they can't be obvious. And they definitely can't include an answer.''

  ''Question: How does seawater taste like? And you write salty or sweet? That's no challenge at all.''

  ''First floors usually are quite simple, some traps and some predatory animals like wolves.''

  ''Riddles are good to.'' Added The Smith.

  Naomi starts thinking intensely. It was a tempting offer, but she had doubts. The main one was she never managed anything. Hell, she failed to manage her life, and now she will be responsible for teaching and training adventurers. Local kids probably know more about this than she does. The second one was killing. She may be able to accept the death of some people. Humans do stupid things all the time, and attacking a tiger or pack of wolves is one of them. Maybe. But the death of all of those animals was unacceptable.

  ''Is killing necessary?'' Asked Naomi.

  ''Yes, my dear. You can try to build a maze full of traps, riddles, and non-lethal challenges. But you must remember that real evil people exist. You will need someone to fight for you. And that means that people and animals will be dying in your halls.''

  ''Well, there are also some stupid people.'' Added god with a wide grin. ''And I see you agree with me.''

  ''Sorry-Naomi answered. '"I imagined some spoiled hero who opened the door and had a bucket of paint fall on his head.''

  ''Ha, ha ha.'' God started laughing. ''Good one, probably even worse than some deadly one. They hate when their reputation is tarnished.''

  ''You said about traps. What kind of traps are available?"

  "Whatever you can imagine. Usually, they are tripwires, pitfalls, falling rocks, and older dungeon masters' experiments with magic. You said you build and design machines. Find a way to use it.''

  ''We will grant you a small library with scrolls about all animals, plants, magic, and general knowledge. It should help you to choose the most appropriate animals and traps.''

  ''So I have a free hand?''

  ''Almost." Said The Lady. "On every fifth level, you must include a safe room where adventurers can rest and prepare to fight one of your champions. Also, after reaching it, they can bypass earlier floors if they wish. In one of the scrolls will be described magical methods of doing it. You will need to choose one, and it will work. My wish is that you don't change animals too much. Bigger bodies, sharper claws, venom from different animals, maybe a delicate mix of two species, but please be gentle with them. They are not real, everything within your dungeon, like your body, is temporary and built from energy. But even then, twisting their body and creating some unimaginable monstrosity will be painful for me to watch.''

  ''And from a more practical point of view, if you do something like this, people will think that you sided with twisted gods and try to kill you, no question asked.'' Add god.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "I will not." Naomi strongly said. "Animals are innocent. Some animals, like wolves, are dangerous, but if they attack you, it's because of hunger or protecting young. Not because it’s evil.''

  "I'm so happy to hear that." The goddess gives her a gentle hug.

  "You said my body isn't real?"

  "Oh. Yes. That one. It's like those stories from wandering souls. Your soul will be encapsulated in precious stone on the lowest floor. However, to not allow you to wander through the halls of your dungeon will be cruel.''

  "Sorry, my dear."

  "It’s ok. I don't think I will interact with anyone too much. And I'm fine being hidden in some library or workshop. Oh, can I have a workshop?"

  "Everything you want." Said The Smith. "On your last floor beside your core room, there is always room with your final champion who protects your soul. You can design and decorate any other room the way you want.''

  Naomi's eyes light up for the moment. She took a deep breath and said.

  "I think that I'll try being your dungeon master. I think I will try this last time to do things right. I never did anything similar in my past life, but if my work is mostly planning and designing, I probably can do it."

  "Wonderful!" Goddess smiled.

  "And who is a failure? You have more courage than half of all adventures," Said god.

  "So what's next?" Naomi asked, embarrassed.

  "Let's start with the place where we want your dungeon." The Lady pointed to the Globus. "Like you saw, in the heart of the largest continent is the great Ul-hiram Desert. There are a lot of cities and towns on its borders, but nothing in there."

  "And that is a problem, young one. The desert is like a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it's protection because no invading army can cross it, but any allied army can’t either."

  "Oh, I get it!" Naomi said. "And if armies of evil gods somehow manage to get control of the eastern or western coast, northern kingdoms will fall, and all those people…" Naomi's eyes went wide as she imagined all those people, mostly mothers with kids, trying to cross the desert and dying in scorching heat.

  "Yes. Luckily, it's the worst-case scenario. Northern and coastal kingdoms are well aware and prepared for it."

  "What about commerce?" Naomi asked. "If everything goes east or west, central northern kingdoms can lack some supplies or are expensive."

  "Oh, you even know about commerce?" Ask god. "That’s great."

  "And you are right," Said The Lady. "Because of that, I take care of On-Taram Oasis." Goddess pointed to the center of the desert. "There are other smaller oases, but this is the biggest and most important because most caravans travel through the oasis."

  "And it has your shrine." Add The Smith.

  "Well. I'm taking care of it, so It's natural." Goddess answers, a little embarrassed.

  "Ok. Everything makes sense besides what I am doing there. It's a great place for me, far away from people, but dungeons need people, at least some."

  "You see, we want to create a real trade route there. People try this a few times, but the desert is harsh, and they failed."

  "Oh. But dungeons are not affected by the scorching sun. Especially if they are hidden underground. And you are the goddess of life, so I have special access to all living things, and some are edible."

  "Full mark from me." The Smith smiles like a proud teacher.

  "Yes. There is a sort of custom or tradition, dungeon master gets one free floor and dedicates it to his patron god."

  "And I’m your patron god, too, so you get two floors."

  "Yes. Our wish is that the first floor will be dedicated to me. Thanks to that, travelers will have relatively easy access to food."

  "And on the second floor, you can go wild and create any traps you can imagine."

  Naomi, for a few moments, closed her eyes and started thinking.

  "I have a question. Is it allowed to build a dungeon aboveground?"

  "Like a tower?" Ask god. "Yeh. A few dungeon masters even tried that. But they didn't manage to build it too high. Thirty floors was the highest one."

  "And its tower fell after the earthquake, and he died." Sight goddess.

  "You thinking about towers? It's risky, but on the other hand, it will be seen from afar like a lighthouse, so maybe it’s worth considering."

  "I'm fairly confident I can build higher than 30 floors and not fall to earthquakes. But tall buildings need to be elastic because of winds. And that means living on the top floor will be like being on a ship, and I like steady ground when I build something. I think I'm ready."

  "There's no need to rush. We have time. I'm sure you have a lot of questions," Goddess said.

  "Thank you. But even if I'm scared, I'm probably a little excited too. I can try creating things for real, and there is a chance that I can help someone. Maybe you are right that I’m not a failure, not the real one, and I was just too scared, so I want to try again."

  "I’m so happy for you," said Goddess.

  "And don’t think about the result. Just do what you can and like."

  "Thank you," Naomi said seriously and determinedly.

  "So now we send you there. Time will stop for you, so you will have time to create everything. When you are ready, you loudly say that you are finished and time will start flowing normally, and you can wait for the first visitors."

  "I understand, and once again thank you."

  "You're welcome. We will visit you when you get ready." Goddess hugs her.

  "Go wild." The Smith laughed.