Upon waking up my eye instantly open. Or rather my eyes never open it's more like my conscience was turned on. In my vision I can make out a dark room with a small, white rock in the middle. For some reason I understand that this small, white, perfectly round rock is me. A dungeon core. And this dark room that I am floating in is my dungeon. The fact that my point of view is not from my body would be giving me headache if I hadn’t played so many 3rd person shooters. Not that that is all I played. I played my fair share of fantasy adventure games and have enjoyed the classics like D & D and Dragon Quest. I am fully equipped to deal with this shitty situation.

Or wait now that I think of it is this even in the fantasy genre? This could be some futuristic world where my goblins will just be pelted with laser beams. I’ll need to figure that out but first I need to figure out how being a dungeon core works. I have read an extensive amount of isekais and am capable of figuring out this situation. Now, I am going to try the classic.

‘Appraisal!’

...Nothing. Actually there are multiple issues here. One would be that nothing happened. This is a major blow to my pride as a useless member of society. The other issue would be that my voice didn’t come out. This isn’t that surprising when I consider that fact that I am now a rock. Yah no, having a voice as a rock would just be plain weird when I think about it. So… How do I do this whole dungeon thing?

Oh wait, I used appraisal maybe it’s not working because appraisal is used on others. I definitely felt something when I used it. Like something clicked in my head. I think I probably have the ability to appraise things. I guess I’ll try it on something other than my new majestic form. I’ll try appraising the walls around me.

‘Appraisal!’

Dungeon Wall

A sturdy wall made of stone found in dungeons.

Ok so this screen popped up so I can definitely use appraisal. I guess then maybe status is what you use on yourself?

‘Status!’

Dungeon Core lvl 1 Name: Core #293 Stats: Mp: 5/5 Dp: 0 Mp Regeneration: 1 Mp/day Durability 50/50 Skills: Appraisal lvl 1 Titles: Reincarnated

Core #293, huh. I guess I do remember something like that while I was dying. But really, only 5 mana? I find it unlikely that a goblin can be afforded with 5 mana. How am I supposed to make an unbeatable dungeon with a 5 mana cap!? And I don’t have any DP either. 1M/day is kinda slow recharge and there is no cap on the DP and there is no generation rate section for DP so I probably don’t get it without doing something. Maybe there is a quest log to get more.

‘Quest Log!’

Yah no there is no quest log. I probably get in a more dungeon like way. Like killing adventurers. Or maybe killing adventurers. I think I get it by killing adventurers. Yah how else would I get it. It would be weird if a rock had a quest log. Then again it is weird that a rock can think and see.

Now onto building the impenetrable fortress. Yes, I can already see my future dungeon. I will have a massive black castle with a pitch black cloud always hanging over it in the sky with omonis crows flying around it. I’ll have my 4 strongest monsters fight the brave heros one at a time like a complete moron starting from the weakest instead of using all 4 at once. Then after my crushing defeat I will let them have an audience with me only to be crushed into tiny rocks under their feet.

Nope, don’t think I will do that. For now there doesn’t seem to be a way inside my dungeon unless people teleport in. I’m not too sure how being a dungeon works but I seem to be able to see anything that is part of my dungeon and I am not aware of any teleport pad outside of my dungeon so I don’t think that is how people enter a dungeon. At least for now I’m confident that people won’t come barging into my new house.

So, thinking about other ways that this works in fantasy novels there is always this one.

‘Dungeon Menu!’

Add Room Choose Starting Species Evolve Creatures Expand Room Purchase Items Research Summon Creatures

OOOOOOH.

It works. And it is amazing! NOT! What is up with these option. Like 'Expand room' are you kidding me these are my abilities?

This is lame! I have so few options! Where is magic missiles? Or fire ball? For now I suppose choosing my starting species is definitely my first priority. I focus on the words and a new screen appears in front of the one I was just looking at.

Banshee R Dark Wolf R Fire Serpent R Earth Golem R Triton C Imp C Kobold C Slime C Sprite C

I can only assume that R and C stand for rare and common so a rare choice seems better I wonder if I can get a description of these monsters though. This is appraisal’s time to shine!

‘Appraisal!’

Banshee

A species made up of only females. They use their horrifying screams to paralyze enemies.

Dark Wolf

A wolf with dark fur with a good affinity with the dark element. This creature perfers to fight with sneak attacks and is generally stronger than other monsters at early levels.

Fire Serpent

A small snake with a good affinity with the fire element. This creature has a large potential through evolution and is rumored to even evolve into a dragon.

Earth Golem

A strong humanoid golems made of rock and earth. This creature has a good affinity with the earth element and fights with its vast strength and toughness.

Triton

A species of fierce warriors and shamans who can control the water. These creatures live in the water and can gain classes like humans do.

Imp

A small humanoid with black skin that likes to fight in packs. It is individually very weak.

Kobold

A dog like humanoid that stands on its hind legs that fight in swarms. Known for their good sence of smell and the ability to gain a class.

Slime

A small resilient creature that dies if its core is damaged. Slimes grow bigger to survive and protect their cores.

Sprite

A creature that fights with mind attacks and magic. Sprites lack a physical body and can only be hurt with magic.

So starting from the top. Banshees scream and are loud so I don’t want them in my house! That is assuming I can hear but since I have no way of checking I won’t risk it. Next is dark wolves. These could be pretty good since my dungeon is very dark they would be able to sneak around and they have high base stats. I’ll keep that as an option for now. Next up, fire serpents. These sound pretty good since they are small at the start and my dungeon is rather small and they have a large potential. Maybe they could evolve into a dragon! I don’t really know how strong they are to start which is concerning but they could also be a good choice. The next option is earth golems which are kinda lame. Every dungeon normally has golems. if I use them too how would I be the strongest? I have to be unique! A big no on the golems. Next are tritons. There is a major issue with picking tritons. I don’t care about how fierce of a warrior they are if they can’t breath! Triton’s live in the water! There is no water in this room! A definite no on tritons. Imps and kobolds both have the same issue. They are common trash mobs used to overwhelm with numbers and right now I don’t have much Mp or Dp to summon things with so I will pass on them. No Zerg rush today. Slimes make me think of ecchi stuff so maybe when I have a better dungeon I can use them in a trap but for now I think I will pass since slimes are known for being weak. Next are sprites. Honestly I want to summon sprites just because I am curious what they look like since they have no physical body. But I must not be tempted. My first monster not having a physical body would be an issue since it could not really stop somebody from killing me.

My narrowed down options seem to be dark wolves or fire serpents. With the goal of making the strongest dungeon ever to keep people from bothering me in mind I have made my decision. I’ll pick the fire serpent since it has a high potential. And dragons! If it can become a dragon all the more reason to choose it.

‘Fire Serpent I choose you!’

I guess that isn’t how this works. Maybe I just have to focus on the fire serpent option.

'Fire Serpent' chosen as starting species.

50% reduced mana cost to summon 'Fire Serpents'.

Increased evolution rate for 'Fire Serpent' species and future evolutions of 'Fire Serpent'.

Because you have a subordinate the title 'Leader' has been gained.

OOOH I get a discount on summoning fire serpents and they will naturally evolve faster?! If it has a high potential and evolves faster this is a great choice. Good job me. I’m proud of me. Now I will try summoning one.

‘Dungeon Menu!’

The same menu appears but now it is missing the option to choose a starting species. This kinda makes sense. I already did that. Ah I got off track. Right, now focus on the ‘Summon Creatures’ option.

Fire Serpent 10Mp(-5Mp) R Goblin 2Mp C

This new menu is way to simple. My only options are goblin and fire serpent. I guess I probably have to use the research area in the menu in order to unlock new species. Or maybe more is available once I level up. Either way for now I only have two choices and one is obviously better. Goblins. With lots of goblins I can Zerg rush my enemy with numbers! NOT! I think I will just summon the one that has all the bonuses for now. I focus on the ‘Fire Serpent’ option in the menu and the screen in front of me suddenly disappears and there is a small snake on the ground.

It has a mainly red body with the occasional black ring around its body. It looks like is about 75 cm long if it fully extended. Now the big question. I know it has a big potential but how strong is my first minion?

‘Appraisal!’

Fire Serpent lvl 1 Name: Hp: 9/9 Mp: 0/0 Stats: Str: 4(+2) Int: 0 Dex: 6 Spd: 9 Vit: 2 Wis: 0 Luk: 3 End: 5

I can tell it is mainly focused on speed and dexterity but now that I think about it I don’t know if these stats are good. I don’t seem to have any stats since I’m not a living creature so I don’t really have anything to compare it to. For that matter I don’t even know what each of these stats mean for sure. I guess I’ll try focusing on the key words here.

‘Appraisal!’

Hp

A creature dies upon reaching 0 hp.

Mp

Increases the number of spells a creature can cast.

Str

Increases a creature's physical damage.

Int

Increases a creature's magical damage.

Dex

Increases a creature's fine motor controls and makes them better at using their hands.

Spd

Increases a creature's overall movement speed.

Vit

Increases a creature's Hp regeneration rate.

Wis

Increases a creature's Mp regeneration rate.

Luk

Increases a creature's luck. This stat can not be raised after brith unless the creature is blessed.

End

Increases a creature's overall endurance.

Ok so this means that it has a fast speed and is flexible and good with its hands. Oh wait it doesn’t have those! It’s like a bad game! I wonder if summoning monster is linked to gaining DP? I still have no clue how to gain DP after all.

‘Status!’

Dungeon Core lvl 1 Name: Core #293 Stats: Mp: 0/5 Dp: 0 Mp Regeneration: 1 Mp/day Durability 50/50 Skills: Appraisal lvl 1 Dungeon Menu Titles: Reincarnated Leader

Although I didn’t get any DP I have a new title. I guess I will have to appraise the title and see if it is any good.

‘Appraisal!’

Leader

Increases all monster subordinates strength by +2.

This is very good effect for swarm type monsters. I might have to summon some of those goblins I saw in the menu earlier. Zerg rush here I come!