It's hard to thank a being that destroyed your whole world, and whole worldview with it. Even upon learning that it did it because the world was doomed if it did not intervene it is still hard to thank what destroyed your home. Especially with the aftermath having everyone be homeless.

-Excerpt from "Tales From the Survivors of the Shift" by Kamilla

I died, what a way that is to start my tale. My last memory is of stepping, and having some loud noise burst into my brain and something appearing in front of my eyes to block my vision. I remember falling and my mind panicking, trying to spin my arms to catch myself, and then hearing a crack and feeling myself scraped on the ground. My absolute last memory is a little toy truck crashing down, crashing down stairs I think, and rolling to a stop after hitting my nose.

Dammit at least I died by truck-kun, I think normally I’d laugh at that but I just can’t seem to. I hear some shouting and see a pair of feet and that’s the end of it, the end of my life.

Or at least it should be. Instead of dying here I am in some place that was grey, for lack of a better term. The place wasn’t really grey. It wasn’t a white space like in some descriptions of the afterlife or a black void like some describe death, it was kinda both kinda neither but I’ll stick with grey.

I admit that I kinda panicked. Here I am, newly dead and… Okay, not sure what else. I am not sure there is anything else. I still have a sort of veil over my mind, like I had when trying to think or act when I was dying. I feel like I should be panicking but all I feel is the pressure of panicking at the back of my mind.

I don’t like it.

Even beyond the fact that I can’t seem to feel frightened I don’t like the situation. I can’t see anything in the grey. I can’t see a horizon or any corners. I can’t tell what this place is, though my first guess would be purgatory. I wasn’t even religious before I died, I just can’t think of a valid explanation.

I look down to see what I’m standing on and it’s more of the same grey. There is literally no changes regardless of where I look, I lift up my foot and don’t even see a shadow. I put my foot back down and I hear no noise. I stomp and still no noise. I squat to feel what I am standing on and my hand goes under where my shoes are. I can feel the bottom of my shoes, I am not standing on anything.

This would definitely freak me out before.

I take a deep breath, somehow the motion still calming. I put my foot forward and my foot touches more of the nothing. I put weight on it and it supports me. Yeah, this is weird. I start running, trying to get to the end of the grey, or at the very least see something besides the grey.

A benefit of already having died and having my sense of existential terror suppressed is that I have almost no fear of falling through whatever isn’t there but is holding me up.

The running is relaxing. I don’t need to breathe, I don’t get cramps, I don’t sweat or feel hungry, I just can run. I can’t recall if I liked running before, but this is great.

After what seemed like an hour of running, I heard a voice directly broadcasted into my brain. I didn’t like the voice but couldn’t specify as to why it irritated me.

Anyways, the douche voice spoke in my head.

Hello. You have been chosen to become one of the dungeon chosen. Your worlds or populace were on the verge of destruction within the next 50 years. The gods thus decided to take your worlds and remake them into our universe.

I looked around, but I couldn’t see the voice or whoever else the voice was supposed to be talking to.

The reason that you were picked out of your entire populace is based on a variety of factors, the main part is that you were beings that most wanted to create. The gods also examined some possible iterations of the future and you were the most interesting. Though you have been affected slightly so you don’t panic or favor a race. Your personality and many memories are still intact.

As the planets are being molded into a singular world and prepared for the races. There will be a period of time, up to a month, that the planet will be unavailable to the current sentient races. As indeed the races are new to magic the gods let there be an acclimation period where beings can learn the basics without destroying themselves or being killed.

The dungeon chosen will similarly be given that period, but they will be given that period of time on the new world. This will present the unique opportunity to be able to grow without interference. Most dungeons don’t get the opportunity for near as long.

The world will have some aspects that are vastly different from the worlds before, the most notable is that there will be magic. Part of the reason that a dungeon starts on the new world is so that they can start releasing mana into the world right from the start. This serves the dual purposes of letting the races learn and access magic slowly as well as not, quite literally, blowing their minds with a sudden large influx of mana.

Now best of luck to all you dungeon chosen. Think creatively in your endeavors. Live and die gloriously. Do these and there will be rewards.

The random irritating voice sure gave a lot to process.

I blinked, noticing that I wasn’t in the grey anymore. Instead I was in space, or at least it looked like space. I could see stars far away in the distance. I could also see a star very close. I’d call it the sun but it was a bit brighter and paler. Though I guess it technically is the sun for this planet.

Other than those stars and the sun I could also see loads of different colored lights making up a sphere. I was in that sphere and upon turning around realized that I was only barely inside that sphere. Directly behind me was a violet gem or maybe marble might be a better term as it had no facets.

I saw some movement inside of the gem and peered closely, a being with four limbs and a head was taking form inside, growing bigger until it stretched its arms out of the gem and pulled itself out.

Hello

Great, another voice in my head. This one at least had some faint emotion in it, and no connotation of douche, if the other voice was grey to match the previous plane I was on, this one seemed to match the color of the gem.

Well, I couldn’t be rude, and there didn’t seem to be many other options for conversation.

Hi

Okay, I may have to be a bit less judgy. I am not speaking and I am probably also talking telepathically.

Who are you? I asked the voice in my while not feeling at all crazy.

I guess I should feel happy that the voice responded.

I am the dungeon fairy of this dungeon core. I will be your connection between the dungeon core and you, helping make your ideas into reality. I also will be trying to keep the dungeon operating as smoothly as possible.

Okay, that is very convenient. Like oddly or suspiciously convenient. I mentioned as much.

Not that I don’t appreciate the help that you are offering, but that seems a little too perfect.

Her response did clarify the reasoning for having a bridge, I pitied those who were the guinea pigs to figure it out though.

Dungeon fairies were created to act as a bridge between a dungeon core’s capabilities and a dungeon chosen’s unique path. Unless a being is born into being a dungeon it can be nigh impossible to fulfill a dungeon’s role. It is like suddenly given infinite eyes and hands. It can cause beings to go insane. Dungeon cores need dungeon chosen as otherwise dungeons would be almost exact copies of each other, with only differences for the environment.

Well, I do enjoy not going insane. Sorry, second question are you, uh, human for lack of a better word? No, sentient, are you sentient or more like an AI?

I am sentient, She responded, but I was also just born. I can be considered the representation of the dungeon core. Similar to dungeon cores without a dungeon chosen I change from outside intervention, like you.

Wait, so was I just given a kid? I am way too young to be a parent and they are way too mature to be a kid.

You don’t seem like you were just born, what’s up with that?

I was born with innate knowledge, similar to how people know how to breathe. I was just born knowing a lot more. If it helps think of me as an AI with the potential for emotional growth to the point of becoming real and with real emotions.

That is oddly helpful, thanks. Hey, do you have a name? Not trying to to rude, but I think it polite if we’re gonna be working together.

No, I do not have a name. Often the dungeon chosen will give the dungeon fairies names.

Oh, well I am not the best with names, the best I can think of currently is Violet, after the color of the dungeon core you were born from. I can try and think of some different options if you give me a second.

VIolet is fine. Responded the newly named fairy, it suits me. What is your name?

I sighed, I was kinda hoping that you might know that Violet. I guess that was something that was suppressed. I think it was J-something, I think I’m gonna go with Jack. It feels like a name with lots of stories behind it, lots of adventure. If I am gonna start a new life and build a dungeon, I want to start off with a readiness for adventure as a base. So, Violet, how do we get started?

Well, Jack, to start we will open a hole into the plane of the new planet. Dungeon cores are known to base the dungeon off what the outside world contains, which is good for accepting fauna but it can be limiting and there will already be dungeon cores who have done that in several biomes. Look at the other lights in the sphere. There are already some that are dimmer, showing that they are releasing mana and thus started building a dungeon.

I looked out into the void sphere and noticed that there were indeed several lights that were noticeably brighter. It wasn’t insane, but similar to the difference between the north star and other stars in the constellation. We were falling behind, I turned to her. Well let’s take a peek at what we have to work with.

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