A large ship travelsto a nearby planet at high speeds.

Awoman made of metal and flesh struts into the room and stands before the newbies. Glynda Wildstar. She is in charge of their orientation.

Glynda is an organic robotic female that appears middle-aged.She has neon green hair tied back in a bun, and a singlewisp of hair hangs down the right side of her forehead.Glynda wears thin glasses with oval-shaped lenses. Her dangling teal earrings match the hanging, tear-shaped pendant that caresses her collarbone.

"Attention... Attention".

The group doesn't listen and keeps on talking.

Her white, long-sleeved, pleated top with a broad keyhole neckline shifts as Glynda frowns and smacks the table with her crop.

BANG!

A prominent dent forms where the table used to be.

Everyone stops talking and pays attention to the dominatrix.

"Good." Her robotic self seems pleased by the fear in the air, and her cold glare makes everyone gulp.

"Adventurers and Legends, Welcome to the Outlands! This massive deathtrap of a Pangaea continent is connected to similar-sized islandsby big black chains made by an unknown race.Each of those islands is filled with treasures! This lost paradise was said to be lost to time; they say that— Until the Humans found it! Since then, the two major factions, the Exiles and the Empire have been killing each other for this planet! And now, each one of you has chosen a path that will take you to the Outlands."

Glynda walks over to the mana-hologram, her black, high-waisted pencil skirt hiking up a bit higher, exposing more of her right thigh as she steps up onto the platform.She scans the roomwith her bright, artificially green eyes.

"Most of you will not survive your first week here.” The edge of Glynda’s mouth curls into a small smile.“Those of you who do survive will face grueling challengesin the Outlands. It is wild and unsettled, with an endless variety of treacherous frontiers just waiting to be explored. Crumbling Magic-Techno ruins lie hidden within majestic forests, towering mountains, and murky swamps containing arcane magic and ancient technology of unimaginable power. The rusting husks of giant robots lie half-buried in shifting desert sands, and strange and deadly monsters prowl in the shadows of extraordinary monolithic machines." Glynda shows them various pictures of the Outlands.

The newbies are amazed and horrified at the beautiful pictures. Each one contains a legend or adventurer meeting a brutal demise.

"Let us proceed. Soldiers! 'Legendary' heroes in the making!. Your mission will be to conquer the deadly creatures, hostile natives, and the militaristic demon overlords." The crowd watches a warrior on the video screen take on legions of monsters and fighting a demon in a dungeon.

"Will there be glory in this class? Yes! But only...”Beatle-type monstersrip the on-screen heroto shreds and fight over what’s left of his carcass... to the few."

"Techo Mages! For you, knowledge and magic spells are everything!" Glynda coos the word.

Most of the guys and some girls blush at the sexy robotic woman’s innuendo.

"As you dwell in the strange world of the Outlands,you will systematically analyze and discover the dungeon cores of this planet, along with flora and fauna in these strange and high deadly places... But, unfortunately, most of them will be trying to eat you."

The mages who are watching consider leaving when a female mage scans a plant in a forest dungeon, and they see a Techno Mage get eaten by a giant monster buried within the earth.

"At least your deaths will be for a noble cause," Glynda sayswith a callouspride.

The screen shows the following path.

"Pathfinders. Ah,these bold and courageous groups are fun! Your job will be to explore and map the Outlands,home to the planet’s harshest environments and climates.Its extreme weatherfluctuates suddenly and randomly and can differ greatly within a second—"

The pathfinders see a man falling to his death after climbing a mountain with its own set of teeth! Fangs flash in the light when it grins wide, and the movement shakes the area enough to create an avalanche on the next mountaintop.

“—so be sure you’ve written your next of kin into your will."

Pathfinders always have adrenaline boners. So Glynda thinks as she watches the wide-eyed men and women who have fear mixed with excitement.

"Now, this is the safest path:the nobles. You subs and bottoms are the pillar of the community. Bring civilization to this newly discovered planet by constructing outposts in dangerous areas and upgrading existing towns. Work with others to improve the world with banks, transportation networks, vendors, and other helpful structures to aid your allies and friends."

The nobles aren’t convinced that safe is an accurate term, considering their view of people with pitchforks defending a small town against a sea of black robotic insects prominently displayed on the screen.

"Understandably, your enemies..." Glynda says matter-of-factly,"... Will not like your advancements."

The nobles cry out when another noble launches a Jericho missile at multiple towns.

"Oh, that was unfortunate." Glynda's concern was plastic. "So, as you can see, the paths and classes you pick will bring many challenges. Fortunately, for those of you that are looking for a way out—. I have an alternative option..."

Glynda brings her out a pistol and clocks her gun.

Click.

"Now, for the safety...” She feigns surprise, bringing her hand to her mouth with a gasp.“Wait. I never actually installed a safety feature.Oops."

She giggles softly.

The crowd looks at the MILF with a mixture of fear and arousal.

"So, any takers?" The female Mechanoid asks the crowd. “What's that? Shoot us now?”

The Arc Witch shoots her gun.

"RUN!”Someone yells.

That one word is all it takes to set the crowd in motion. After that, they run like the devil himself is after them.

"Class dismissed!" Glynda laughs with pure enjoyment because it is something worse than the devil.

They all knew it was about to get much worse.

***

I thought that my parents kicking me out of the house was the worst thing that could ever happen to me.

I was wrong. Dead fucking wrong.

I sat in the darkness, frustrated and annoyed. The only thing that could make me feel a little better was probably to smack the crap out of someone—, anyone.

If only I had arms. Or legs... or even a goddamned body!

Do you see that glowing rock that looks like some lonely wretch went chalk happy on it?

That's me. I became a dungeon core. But, honestly, It took a while to figure that out,so I stayed sitting around in the tunnel for another few years.

How’d it happen, you ask? Simple. I just woke up here. Aka, I have no bloody idea.

I remember everything, even if I was just sleeping.

How does a core sleep? I don't know. But I don't fucking care, either.

For the past 200 years, my black and purple-lined ass has been doing absolutely nothing! All I see is blackness.

Man, I wish I had a window or something.

Evolution Complete: Basic Dungeon Core (Demon/Dragon) [Accept] [Decline]

I didn't know it at the time, but this thing waited 100 years for my slow ass to accept it.

Hell yeah, I picked accept! So youthink that wallowing in eternal darkness is an acceptable pastime for 100 fucking years? No way, man!

So now this is the story of me—a Demon Overlord fused with a Dragon.

Yeah, you got that right—two of the most feared creatures in existence fused into a new, awe-inspiring, badass me.

Take that,Mom!Take that,dumbass teachers!

Video games don't help anything!? Ha! You can kiss the fattest part of my scalydragon ass.

Ok, ok... I suppose I should let you in on how I got to be a badass demon overlord dragon motherfucker.

Well then, let’s start with the first time I summoned monsters.