Zoli floated above a beautiful landscape. On one side rolling hills or low mountains, covered in a lush forest lay before (beneath?) him, on another side there was a largish lake with a few small islands, in the middle a high mountain chain separated the forest and the lake from grasslands. The landscape was large, but nevertheless, Zoli was able to see everything all at once.

The only exception was a clearly defined border around the landscape he could not see or sense behind, a black, smoky wall – no, a dome, covering the fake sky too. No, it was an irregular sphere, reaching beneath the ground.

And then he KNEW.

Cold sweat started running down Zoli’s back. Or at least, if he had a back and glands for sweat still remaining, cold sweat would run down his back. This was all a huge misunderstanding! He was not a Human anymore, but a sentient and sapient LANDSCAPE?!? What he sew beneath him, was not a landscape at all, it was HIM!

He UNDERSTOOD.

This wasn’t the corporate world anymore, this was Arkadia! He was kicked into a deep well, not understanding, how the place worked, and he had made assumptions with his corporate knowledge clouding his judgment. He wanted to go home!

With a blink, he found himself in a nice wooden bungalow on one of the lake’s little islands. He was corporeal now – in the body of a thirty-something woman. In the companies he worked for, there were very strict rules against sexism, homophobia and Integrity was held very high (good rules, he had fired a few people while pointing at some nebulous interpretations of them), but he himself was not too keen on crossdressing and gender change. He had to be a sentient landscape for a hundred years and a day, killing – and NOT terminating – folks, while being stuck in the body of a woman… He curled up in a corner and started crying.

Two days later he was still wallowing in self-pity, still curled up in the corner. He felt no hunger or thirst, and he found out, he couldn’t even cry, just going through the motions. Then something broke inside of him. He was seen as a loyal slave-driver of his masters? So be it! He would be the best little slave-driving minion!

He was seen as an evil shit, ruining the lives of dozens of people? Good! He will bring ruin and death, if that was what it took! If he had no problems in firing – no, terminating – people, than he would gladly terminate every idiot he could. Permanently!

Zoli descended into a hysterical and evil laughing fit. He will become a dungeon, a training ground, a killing field! The best he ever could be!

And when he retired, he will reap all the promised endless perks the Administrator promised, and give him the middle finger! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

He smashed the furniture up, to release the anger.

Another two days later he finally collected himself enough to calm down and start thinking. He already figured out, an Avatar wasn’t another word for a secretary, but the ability to have a corporal form inside his dungeon. Inside himself. Whatever. If the Avatar was a projection of himself, could he modify it? Himself, that is.

As it transpired, it wasn’t even hard. A 3D-model of his body appeared in his mind, and he just knew, he could modify it and how he could do it. He wasn’t interested in giving the female form huge boobs and such, he wanted to get his own body back! The desire was enough, in the blink of an eye, he was back to his Earth-self. Clothing included. He decided to go with business casual: brown leather slippers, a dark green pair of trousers, a striped light green shirt and a brownish-green jacket. That should be enough.

He left the bungalow and looked around in the garden. Or on the island, it was the same. He had to give it to the activist, she chose a nice spot. On one side he was able to see the wooded hills and low mountains, in the other direction the snow-capped peaks of the mountain chain. He somehow knew the first was to the North, the other to the West. However, the bungalow he didn’t like, and was quite sure, when – not if – he opened up the dungeon, a home in this place would be in danger to be raided by those pesky, death-seeking mercenaries.

He needed to get a better place and a better place. His eyes wandered over to the mountains. One of the peaks? Why not? Would be impossible to reach, and his domain would be literary lying before his feet! A grandiose home and view for the biggest and grandest dungeon manager of all times and all the multiverses! HAHAHA!

He toured the peaks, looking for the best one with the most gorgeous view. He ruled out all but three.

The first had the best view in three directions but faced the smoky border on the fourth, the second overlooked a very scenic mountain valley but otherwise, the view was the worst of all, and the third lay in the exact middle of the chain, but was a bit low and offered a somewhat restricted view. He preferred the last one, simply because it was in the center, but wasn’t exactly pleased with the view.

Had he to settle for anything but the best? He debated a bit, if he should build his house – no! Mansion! – in a less than ideal place, when he realised who and what he was now. He was the dungeon and could modify it! Thanks to his… what was it called? Perks! Modifying was even cheap! He giggled.

“Let’s see… I can change my point of view, so let’s fly up! Hehehe… All right, at this elevation I can see everything, so I need to increase the height up to here… That’s another 218 meters. Hmmm… Make it 220. Good. The walls should be unclimbable, so let’s make it steep. Steeper! An overhang here. And there. Make it out of ice! And coat the rest with ice too! HAH! This is fun! Oh, look, I can make boulders fall down randomly! HAHAHA! Have fun climbing this mountain, idiots!”

Zoli may have lost it.

“Next my mansion! No pedestrian little home, but a mansion fit for the biggest and grandest CEO of all the multiverses! HAHAHA! I do need an open-air swimming pool, with enough room around it to have a party. And a sundeck for lazing around! I mean, to work in Home Office! HAHAHA! I will put the pool there… the sundeck right next to it, with a nice stone parapet around it! Good! Now the house! Of course, glass walls, so I can always see my lands! The bedroom goes on the top, with a terrace around it. Below goes the office, and the living room. And a kitchen! WAIT! I need toilets and bathrooms! Hmmm… Do I need them? Sniff, sniff… I don’t think, I need them, but I can have them! So I will have them! Let’s add a library and a smoking room on the ground floor too! And a wine cellar in the basement! Hmmm… Now I have a lot of room for the upstairs terrace. I will add a jacuzzi here. But why stop?!? A Jacuzzi in all cardinal directions! HAHAHA!

Zoli probably lost it.

“Furniture! A double bed for the bedroom… No! Make it a double-double bed! A überboss-chair for the office! A huge office table! Oak! No!!!! Mahogany! Leather couches! This! That! HAHAHA! This is the way of living!!! HAHAHA!!! Oh, look, the pool has frozen over! Too cold? Can I change the climate? Of course I can! Climate Change: tropical! Huh, no make it so, that only the mountain top has it… Ah… And DONE! Let’s shall fly around a bit and see how grandiose it is! No, this won’t do! Now every plebeian will see my gorgeous mansion from everywhere! That can not stand! No plebeian should lay eyes on the glorious CEO’S adobe! Can I hide it? Hmmm… Ah, One Way Illusion Field. Good! Hmmm… It looks like it consumes some energy, but who cares! My comfort is worth it!”

Zoli almost certainly lost it.

He was shouting his inner discussion with an insane grin on his face. He probably should have paid more attention and not start a spending spree without knowing how things worked and how much stuff cost. He managed to blow his daily income in Mana for useless luxuries in a few hours.

What he haven’t figure out yet, that although modifying the environment (like enlarging a mountain or putting another climate on top) was cheap – but not for free – conjuring up high-class materials just for his own pleasure out of thin air was definitely not. If he made it as loot, it would have been marginally cheaper, but the way he did it, it bankrupted him for the rest of the day. And it wasn’t even noon.

“WHAT THE HELL?!?! Why can’t I make the parapet out of marble too?!?! Normal stone clashes with my pool and sundeck an party-space!!! I can’t even stock my wine cellar! Hmmm? Out of Mana? What the hell is Mana? Oh…”

He got it.

He dejectedly returned to his office, sat down into his (extremely expensive and overdone) executive chair, and started thinking. But only after raging for a few hours.

He may have read the Rulebook, but paid little attention to the contents, mostly because he had no gaming or RPG background and so could not understand most of the terms and mechanics. Even the most basic thing, opening his Dungeon Management System was out of his reach – he stumbled upon it only by accident, late in the night.

He wanted to find out how much his income in that Mana-thing was, how much the luxury items he wanted cost and how he could increase the revenue. He needed a secretary fast! And then, the DMS just popped up. Tabs and charts in an endless row.

Yes, he needed a secretary immediately! Or at least a display to show the different charts and graphs! At the very least he figured out his daily passive income. Not counting the upkeep cost for his Monster Order of Battle (he decided to shorten in to MOB, upkeep was something like salary? Why not paying it only each month like every normal company?) the few fields and special rules he had, he could work with only a thousand Mana Points.

The building of his mansion cost him more than a week’s stockpiled Mana! He needed more income!