Chapter 407

“Well, you did it.” Rue was beaming as James looked at the notification. Skirmishes, were, for all intents and purposes, experience gold mines. While his dungeon had won another skirmish, which wasn’t much of a surprise, all things considered, the experience gain was massive. Add onto that the influx of adventurers heading to his dungeon as more and more players completed skirmishes and rushed to gain the final experience they could before they were forced out of the game for the day, and he’d hit his goal, and then some.

Hell, he still had a couple of hours before players were done for the day, and he had just hit Tier 6. He’d done it. James’s random dungeon continued to hold the top rank, and it was time, for another floor. Even better, this meant he had something to play around with, while waiting for his Safe Zone research to finish. So, not only did he have a new task at hand, but it kept him from blowing some of his dungeon tokens.

Alright…it really didn’t, because he was going to blow them anyways, just so he could open up free research options for whatever was about to unlock at Tier 6. Maybe. Who knew? James figured he should probably stop thinking and get to acting. He started looking through the prompts.

“About time.” A voice said just as he got started. He’d managed to accept the rank up to Tier 6, dismiss the notifications about the gaining of a new research slot, as well as the information on his fifth-floor mobs gaining another level and skill up, and of course, the unlocking of his fifth floor World Boss, before Steve popped into existence.

“What took you so long?” Rue asked with a chuckle. She already had a drink in hand to pass to the developer. Who, judging by his appearance, needed one. He was worn. Whatever he’d been doing, was wearing him out more than usual. James knew BLANK and Steve were hard at work trying to push out content for DCO, but surely, especially in immersion, Steve shouldn’t look this worn out?

“You know, busy day at the office.” Steve commented, accepting the drink gratefully. They were at one of the restaurants on the fifth floor, enjoying a spicy, mad cow fillet. James and Rue had decided to move there when his experience had been nearing the next level up, mainly because a celebration dinner seemed in order.

“You look like shit.” James said simply. Steve winced at the comment but waved away any further questions as he took a long drink.

“Dude, you have no idea. But, that’s not why I’m here. I’m here, for the sixth floor.”

“Why do I feel like you’re just using me to escape from work and relax?” James asked with a chuckle. Granted, Steve wasn’t the only one. Rachel and Mathew swung by occasionally, and even Fel had shown up once or twice to relax, away from the crowded chaos of DCO proper. The latter was a bit concerning, but given her hacking skills, and her connection with Rachel and Matthew, it hadn’t been too much of a surprise. As long as she kept with the rules of the NDA, it was fine. Besides, he owed her, for saving his ass.

“Mainly because I am. But that’s just a bonus, I really do love watching over you and your dungeon buddy.” Steve grinned and tipped his glass towards James. “Additionally, your parents say hi. It wasn’t long, but I got to chat with them briefly. They asked me to remind you their gift should be arriving soon, and that they really wish there was more they could do for you. They have, of course, been filled in with regards to everything regarding the Cyb3Ru5 situation.”

James felt his heart beat a little faster at that. He’d completely forgotten about the protection his parents had planned to send him. Something, they claimed, that would keep him safe. Knowing his parents, it was going to be over the top. That much, he was certain of. But he’d been so busy in DCO, just living life, that he’d almost forgotten there was another, actual world. A world outside of immersion. A world without Rue. He really, disliked that world.

“Well, since you’re here, mind giving me the quick version of everything that I just unlocked at Tier 6? I figure you’re biggest reason for being here, is the mobs I’m boing to unlock for my sixth floor.”

Steve nodded. “Guilty as charged.”

“So, what should I know, before we finish up our meals here, and move on to the main event?” James took another bite of his steak, savoring the flavor. He’d been sampling a variety of foods available to him within DCO, and he’d found the demonic meats, had a natural spice to them, that amplified the flavor profile in an wonderful way. Having had his fair share of different foods, he had quickly understood the booming success of the Dicken Shack. Sure, the buffs were nice for the adventurers, but the food, was actually phenomenal.

“Right, well, obviously, you’re going to want to start your new research right away.” Steve took a bite from a plate of food that appeared in front of him. “At Tier 6, you only gained a single type of research. It’s actually not even related to the sixth floor specifically, but instead unlocks a new feature for dungeons in general.”

“I’m listening.” James said, mentally pulling up the window as he ate. Given all the time he’d spent in DCO as a Dungeon Core, the action was a simple as breathing.

“It’s called Difficulty Research.” Steve explained as James read the name. “I opted for Git Gud, but was outvoted sadly.” Steve chuckled. “But, essentially the research unlocks the option for you to create special instances of your previous floors, that players are able to activate.”

James’s eyes perked up. That was intriguing to say the least.

“Go on.” James prompted.

“So, for each level in the research, you can toggle the difficulty for a different floor. It’s like a new game plus of sorts and was meant to allow adventurers the options to go back to previous floors of a dungeon, and grind against variations and such that they normally wouldn’t be able to. Levels start at 50 for the first floor, and incrementally increase. The second-floor base mobs will be level 70, third level 100, and so on.”

“Are they just higher leveled in stats? Or is there something else?” Sure, higher levels would mean their base stats would be greater, but that wasn’t enough to really constitute a major development.

“I was getting there.” Steve said food still in his mouth. He washed down what he’d been eating with a gulp of liquor and continued. “The biggest draw of this, is it not only resets their skill upgrades for you, but you get twice as many skill upgrades for the mobs. So instead of ten, in your case, you will get 20. Of course, it’s even more powerful for other dungeons that aren’t random, but, ya know, it’s still pretty spiffy.”

James sat back at that, his mind already racing. He knew as a random dungeon he was a disadvantage when it came to mobs normally. Since he had a brand-new set of mobs each floor, he was limited to just 10 skill points, bar those unlocked via achievements, for his mobs. Sure, he had still done some crazy things with it, but he’d been longing for a way to further improve them. After watching a few different skirmish streams, and ‘visiting’ other dungeons by watching his players pass through the gates, he knew the other dungeons, who could carry over their mobs from floor to floor, were able to do so much more with their creatures.

With this upgrade though, he’d be able to do something, to a similar degree, with his mobs. He was already brainstorming how crazy his Dickens could become, with 10 extra skill ups. Already he could imagine giving them the fire breathing upgrades, and a few others…which may or may not turn them into miniature Godzilla type chickens. James had spent more time than he cared to admit, brainstorming possible combinations. And now, it was going to be a reality.

“What else?” James asked, his enthusiasm rising.

“Well,” Steve paused for dramatic effect, “you’ll also have the ability to create higher tiered variations of the loot those floors drop, for the hard mood instances, and ya know, select a unique, hard mode floor boss, on top of your current boss.”

James’s draw dropped, audibly, at that.

“I can what?”

“Yeah. They won’t be available for Dungeon Wars, mind you. But the special instances created through the difficulty research, have the ability to implement ‘final bosses’. These bosses are unique, and can only be unlocked in these special instances. They’ve got their own loot tables as well, and can start dropping special, legendary items and gear your players won’t be able to find anywhere else.”

If he didn’t know any better, James would have assumed he was drooling. “I, what…this is awesome.” There were so many possibilities. James instantly completed the research with a dungeon token, and started up another set of it.

“Before you get too caught up in that.” Steve said, likely knowing exactly what he was doing. “You’ve still got a sixth floor to create, and I know you’re nearing completion for your Siege events as well.” He laughed, as a large cake appeared on the table before them. “Probably best to focus on those first, before you get sucked into the rabbit whole of Git Gud mode.”

James closed his mouth, doing the best he could to lower his heart rate. He nodded, and reached towards the cake, which, promptly disappeared. Causing Steve, and Rue, to break out into laughter. Apparently, the cake was a lie.

“No time for cake.” Steve said, motioning at the empty table. “Hurry up and make your sixth floor.”