“Oh, aren’t you a savvy one?” the alien giggled “Your job would be to get my dungeon in order and be its manager for the future. And, of course, make it the biggest and grandest dungeon in all the multiverses! I haven’t spared any expenses previously, and I won’t do it in the future! I want that dungeon, and time isn’t a concern either. It flows a bit differently for us Administrators, after all. However, if I deem you didn’t make sufficient progression, you will be fired and get a private hell for yourself.”

“So, I will make regular audits to gauge the progression – let’s say once every hundred years and a day. If your work is deemed acceptable, and you wish to retire, you will be able to do so after the first hundred years and a day, and depending on your performance, I will give you very nice benefits. You want to have Skills, Perks, Points or money? You will get as much as you like!”

Zoli thought a bit about the offer. So, he will be a glorified construction worker and a prison warden? He could do that, probably. He was certain, he could do better than an environmental activist any day, so the “acceptable progression” would be taken care of, without needing to fear a private hell.

If the job was not for his liking or too hard, he could retire after a hundred years and reap the benefits. Money as much he wanted, was a very good thing indeed. Perks, like a company car, a nice beachhouse, a boat, travel expenses were welcome too. Skills were a bit more questionable.

What would it entail? Excel, SAP, Best Practice, Six Sigma, Black Belt? Never mind, if he had money and perks, why should he need skills? In one of the companies he had worked for, there was a system for Contribution Points set up, the more one collected, the more benefits – better pay, extra free days – one got. He assumed, the alien had something similar set up, so more points was good too.

The only thing that was a bit problematic was the hundred-years-contract he was to sign. But again, he was dead currently.

“Sir, do you have a New Hire Orientation program, where I can learn about the job’s details? I would be able to decide, if I’m comfortable with the tasks.”

Zoli hedged his bet. The job offer sounded good, probably a bit too good, so he wanted to know exactly, what he had to do.

“New Hire what? Oh, you want to know about the rules beforehand? Good man!” The alien went to a bookshelf and after a bit of searching pulled out an ornately bound thumb-thick book “Ah, this is the right Rulebook for the job. How to Operate Your Dungeon, first edition. Here, read this. There is a buffet set up in the next room, when you are done, let me know, what you decided!”

Zoli was ushered to the next room – an executive-style conference room with extremely comfortable-looking boss-chairs and an opulent buffet set up on the huge wooden table.

Before starting to read, he set his priorities straight: sampling the free food. He half expected to not be able to eat and drink as a ghost or spirit, but that was not the case. Caviar, cheese, small bits of different smoked, marinated, pickled, cooked, fried, baked and aged ham and other meats, vegetables and fruits in every conceivable form, colour, makeup and style. At least, it looked like caviar and ham, so he assumed, it was caviar and ham.

The vegetables and fruits he had more problems to identify, some he had no idea about. And good champagne, nice wine and fresh juices. The whole thing reminded him of the one time when he was at the company headquarters for an executive-level meeting. Not the half-dried out pieces of cheap crap they fed to the underlings at home, to be short. He heaped some food on a tray, poured himself another glass of expensive-looking champagne and took a seat in one of the boss-chairs, looking out of the window at the planet beneath, and started reading.

He could barely make heads or tails of the book’s content.

What he understood, a dungeon was something like a training ground for mercenaries (special forces grunts?) – probably the meaning was muddled up in translation. That could happen, like the one time, the translator managed to mistranslate a manual into meaning some really sexist things. Zoli was able to terminate the contract of said translator and his teamleader within 24 hours! A record!

So, the manager of the training grounds was tasked to provide the mercenaries with targets and rewards, and to set up a challenging environment for them. There was a system set up so the manager could assign new targets or monsters after the previous one was slain. Probably the Recruiting Team handled that part.

If this kind of training was tried on Earth, the press backslash would be horrendous. All the activist, no matter the political side would organise rallies till the responsibles were quartered! Farcebook and the other media would overflow with protests! But, in this world it was possible and even endorsed by the highest authority!

How and what the mercenaries paid for the possibility for such a training opportunity, Zoli couldn’t figure out (and wasn’t really interested in the matter), that was what the Accounting, Billing, and Finances Departments were for, after all!

How to acquire materials for the rewards, Zoli also didn’t understand in detail. There were tables and rates and whatnot he couldn’t get a clear answer from, so he needed an Acquisition Department, and probably some Manufacturing Department too. Not a problem, he would be promoted to CEO, no need to understand what the company did at all!

It looked like a VERY cushy job the more he read (and the more champagne he drank). Yeah, clean up the mess from the activist, make it look like acceptable progression, and retire after a hundred of years and enjoy all the perks and stuff he collected! That was a good plan!

He returned to the office of the Administrator. There was only one question to be answered though.

“Sir, I think this will be an amazing opportunity for me to envision front-end experience, seize interactive schemes and grow one-to-one synergies.” A bit of corporate bullshit never hurt anyone yet “Though I would like to ask about the monetary benefits.”

The alien seemed to gauge Zoli for a moment, then smiled, showing his needle-sharp teeth.

“Oh, you won’t have to deal with that. You won’t have to worry about personal needs as long as the contract is valid!”

That was amazing! Full expenses coverage! That was better, than the Branch Director got back on Earth. He got only housing, the bills for electricity, water and stuff, transportation and food covered by the company, but still had to pay for personal stuff. Zoli was to live as a king! No, as an emperor! No, as a CEO of the biggest companies! His future was set! He felt a slight buzzing in his head and attributed it to the excitement for such a glorious opportunity.

And not three bottles of expensive and fine and fermented grapes.

“Where can I sign?”

The alien put a comparatively short contract on his desk. Despite being four pages long, Zoli only checked the few important points: benefits, clauses of resignment and termination. Everything was like they discussed, so he signed without further delay.

“Before I transport you to the dungeon, I will give you some advise. The dungeon has animals and monsters and plants as its main speciality, but as a minor one it has some barely intelligent species too. That cretin of predecessor of you did a good job in creating the scenery and the inhabitants, I would recommend not to start from scratch. You won’t have enough time for that, and I like the basic idea for the dungeon. Remember, you only have a hundred years and a day to make progress. If you are not able to open a grand dungeon till that time, prepare for hell.”

“As for Perks, you will have to run with those that the bitch choose. They are hard-coded to the dungeon, and even I can not change them easily. That is, you will get an Avatar, a comfortable home – yes, you can modify it as you like – a huge bonus for environmental modifications and creation, getting and modifying animals, monsters and plants, and the cost for respawning them is also significantly lower. You will also get a Monster Dictionary with every animal, monster and plant I have ever created or at least imported. Before you ask, THAT would give you basically endless possibilities! Unfortunately, loot will be more expensive for you to create, but with such a huge dungeon the bitch already created and a bit of ingenuity, I’m sure, you will manage.”

Zoli tried to translate the ramblings into corporate terms he could understand. First, an Avatar was probably a face he could show before others so they didn’t bother him overly much, so a secretary. That was no surprise, every CEO needed a few of them, the prettier the better.

Company sponsored housing was also a very good perk to have, and here it was made clear, the company would pay for restructuring and furnishing. Oh, and he will get a bonus for making his underlings modifying and creating the playing field of the training grounds! A HUGE Bonus!

He started to scheme immediately. Would it be enough to dig a ditch to get the bonus, or would he need to do more? Clear a forest and re-plant the trees? Aaand, it will be easier to hire new underlings, and would be able to cut the monthly wages. Probably. That’s why the big corporations did the outsourcing to poor countries, after all.

The Monster Dictionary was a bit of unknown. Maybe it’s some kind of hireing platform? But, it gave endless possibilities, so it had to be a good thing. He didn’t care much about more expensive “loot” (probably the extra benefits for the work force or the vending machines for the mercenaries. In either case, he could cut back on these, order some low-grade substitution and make them more expensive himself), after all, the Administrator was confident in Zoli’s potential to manage a huge company in this regard.

“If you need some other Perk, you can contact me, and if it is important for the dungeon, I will provide you with it. Now, BEGONE!”