*Yaaawn*, I overdid it last night...

Downing that gigantic catalog for Dungeon Facilities in just one night might have been overkill. But the more I looked into it, the more interested I became. It's sort of like when you get a new game and you just have to clear it on the day of purchase.

The list was gigantic, with options and facilities ranging from incredible to joke items. From the looks of it, I'd say nobody ever thought of making a proper system out of what items could be placed in this Dungeon catalog and just slapped in whatever they found funny. It must be Chaos or a kindred soul of his.

To summarize, we can divide the facilities into 4 different groups:

The first one is the "upgrade" group. Adding one of these facilities will boost the power and/or spawn rate for some of the monsters living on that floor. There is also the option of enhancing the traps. Examples include respectively the "Goblin Burrow (Ruins)" or the "Ancient Security System" facilities.

The second group would be for "construct" facilities. These produce items in one way or another like the "Ruined Weapons' Shop" that spawns weapon-type items (I still don't get why rusty iron swords are produced when this thing's supposed to be from a ruined modern civilization. Or was the setting for the shop that it was one for roleplaying goods in the past?). The "Forgotten Water Reservoir" series will be crucial for my oasis plans.

The third one seems to be a "flavor" group. Better said, a set of facilities aimed to improve the atmosphere of the Dungeon..., I think? There seem to be a lot of options to renovate the stores, add more lights, and you can even add a false sky to the ceiling, so calling it "flavor facilities" doesn't seem wrong.

And for the last group, they are something I like to call "safety facilities". I mean, their only function is to make it easier for the invaders to break my Core!! Including the old Dungeon classic, the Treasure Chest (adds a certain amount of Chests to that floor), there's also the Safety Area that prevents Dungeon monsters and traps from harming the people inside, the Fountain of Recovery that recovers only the invaders' HP and MP, and lots of other stuff that gives those rude jerks an advantage to their Dungeon dive.

Why are these things in the Dungeon's catalog, you ask? Because all of these "hospitality facilities" increase the Dungeon's natural DP recovery capacity.

Sure, it is nice being able to increase one's allowance for upgrading and purchasing facilities, not to mention that it becomes easier to refill your troops when they're defeated, but is it truly worth the risk of giving the invaders a fighting chance?

The answer to that question is a gigantic and bolded: YES!!

I discovered yesterday that the Dungeon Stats, as in Strength, Magic, and all the others, can only increase their values if you reduce the natural DP recovery capacity. And that's even AFTER you pay those 500 DP to initiate the change!! So much for your studies, Bloom!

*Cough*, anyway, going from [E] to [D] reduces the DP cap by 100 points. And to go from [D] to [C], it will be reduced by 300 while also having to pay 1.000 DP!! Alf hypothesized the reduced DP cap must be from the Dungeon trying to keep up with the cost from the increased stats, which makes sense when you stop comparing the Dungeon Stats with the status page that living creatures have, but it's still annoying...

Oh, but the bonus level-up from the Demon Lord's Starting Pack seems to be an exception. Once again, that thing was an unexpected, yet gladly accepted blessing.

There doesn't seem to be any other methods for having the DP cap reduced, at least not at the moment. Obtaining a new Monster Line requires paying 500 DP, though I suspect the price will go up after the first one.

Right now, I need every DP available. I've only outfitted the Dungeon with a hotel-type facility (worth 500 DP, high-quality luxury hotel) that we placed on the 1st floor. It would be a pain to travel down to the 3rd floor every time we wanted to sleep. The hotel also works as a Safety Area, giving the Dungeon 50 extra to its DP cap. These types of facilities seem to give 10% of their purchase price as a bonus to the DP cap.

Though, I'm not sure what to add to the Dungeon right now. The hotel is fine since it's on the 1st floor and all, so invaders won't get too much pleasure out of it. Well, outside being a damn luxury hotel...

That's right. I could try to upgrade that facility. It had an "I" behind its name, so shouldn't it be possible to make it into a "II"? Let me see...

"Damn it!" - Garami

"Hmm? What is wrong now, Master?" - Bloom

"The hotel! I have to pay more DP to upgrade it compared to when I bought it!" - Garami

"Oh? Even if the creation of a house normally costs more than if you want to renovate it?" - Bloom

"Tch. Guess assuming that Dungeons follow the overall same prices as the rest of the world was too naive of me." - Garami

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Not to forget that there seem to be some sort of material requirements too. Do I have to add this stuff to the hotel, or is it enough to convert them into DP? I have to test this out too later...

"GAH!! There's too much stuff here that I need to do!" - Garami

"Why are you stressing, Master? Did you not choose the desert because the odds of people appearing here before we are ready is close to zero?" - Bloom

"...Tch. I must be really out of it if you're becoming the more reliable one of us." - Garami

"And what does that mean!?" - Bloom

"Nothing. But you still haven't made up for the blunder of not noticing the Dungeon Stats decreasing the DP cap." - Garami

"Ugh..., then how about this? This brilliant consultant, Bloom, suggests that Master starts arming up this unnamed cave with more and more traps!" - Bloom

"Your reasoning?" - Garami

"Master has already enhanced the Dungeon's Luck stat. Developing the Dungeon in a different direction, at least now at the start, would be detrimental to the Dungeon's security. We can go wild with monsters and the other status values once we have some leeway." - Bloom

"Tch. The same as mine. Then what trap are you suggesting here?" - Garami

"That...is a work still in process..." - Bloom

"Once again, the same reasoning as mine." - Garami

"Hmm?" - Bloom

"Come on, did you think I'm just traveling through these butchered-up streets just for pleasure? Oh, and speak of the devil." - Garami

I stopped right in front of a crossroad in the road. [Detect Trap] is noticing something in the middle of the street. It's a trap, but from this response, I guess it won't trigger against me. Mira and the others should be in the same boat, seeing as their names are on that "free to pass" list that stops the monsters from attacking them.

"This is...a pitfall trap?" - Bloom

"Yup. Just as monsters can pop out without requiring any fancy shit, I figured that traps will also be placed across the Dungeon even if we haven't added any trap-related facilities yet." - Garami

"Oho. Though...it seems pretty...simple?" - Bloom

"This is pretty much the beginner-type trap. Even if Luck lets us increase the number of traps we can have on each floor, without a facility or Dungeon stats to enhance them, they're gonna stay in their most basic baby forms." - Garami

"Now I see. So this is what Master wanted to look at." - Bloom

"Nothing beats seeing things in person. Plus there's something and someone else I need to see." - Garami

"Something AND someone?" - Bloom

"Let's just say it's tiring having to work both as a Dungeon Master and a Guild Master." - Garami

I walked past the trap (which didn't have the punchline of reacting to me after all, just in case someone was asking) and headed deeper, err, "higher"(?) into the Dungeon until I reached its exit. Or should I say "entry"? Anyway, after leaving the calming dark, half-urban caverns, I was greeted by that dreadful, scorching sun's rays of doom and disaster. I've said it many times over this last month, but I hate this new "Pale Beauty" trait...

"Iron, are you there?" - Garami

Toughing it up, I walked through the sand and arrived at where the Marauder was anchored. Last night, Iron, the one of us who technically doesn't need sleep, volunteered to stay guard over the Marauder until we found a way to store it safely, whether it would be inside the Dungeon or somewhere else nearby. I can't use my Gloom Skeletons to keep a watch on the ship all the time. I need to be somewhat conscious about them for those undead to stay active, so if I go to sleep, so do they, so to say.

Not a long while after I called, Iron jumped off the ship's deck with the nimbleness of a cat. Man, being a ghost animating a set of armor does have its perks. Full-plate armor such as the one making up Iron's body may seem heavy at first, but it's actually quite lightweight when compared to a person of the same size. The inside is hollow after all.

"Guild Master Garami, good morning." - Iron

"It's almost noon though. How're you faring?" - Garami

"Well. The sun is nice today." - Iron

An undead enjoys the sun better than me... Or maybe it's because the desert is a "dead land" that he favors it?

"That's good for you and all. How's the mission of keeping the Marauder safe going?" - Garami

"Nothing to report. No hostiles ever came close to the cave last night." - Iron

That lines up well with our previous experience in this desert. There's been more than a few monster attacks during the day, but the night's been peaceful.

"However, a method of keeping the Marauder protected from the weather is yet to be found." - Iron

"That's the main problem, I knew it. There's not exactly a lot of wood nearby that we can use to make a garage. Or should we look for cement instead?" - Garami

"Not possible. The ground is not solid enough to withstand any large constructs." - Iron

Right, it would sink into the sand. Bummer. ...Hey, I guess that makes the cave behind us one of the rare solid spots in the desert. Maybe it used to be a mountain before the desert appeared. Psych~.

"Could we try to make a floating garage? ...Or would that be trying to store a ship within a ship?" - Garami

"......" - Iron

"Helloooo~? Can you hear me? Stop with the silent treatment already! It hurts more than you think!" - Garami

"No, it's nothing. I thought the Marauder moved just now." - Iron

"Moved? This big guy? No, that can't..." - Garami

I paused my words as I looked at the floatship. Nothing had visually changed with the ship. The ship itself. However, are those trail marks? Have someone tried pulling the ship away from the Dungeon? Those marks weren't there before when I first arrived..., were they?

No, it really is moving! Someone is trying to steal our ship!!

"Don't you even dare!!" - Garami

I threw a web line at the ship, and Iron, seeing what I was doing, decided to grab on. Right as I was trying to tell him to go back inside and warn the others, the ship suddenly acceleraaaaaaateeeeed-!?

"O-OW, OW, OOOOW!!" - Garami

"Guild Master, reel us in. [Thread Control]." - Iron

"R-right!" - Garami

Enduring the pains in my arm of having us dragged across the desert, I got the two of us onboard the Marauder. While I was busy trying to regain any feeling in my poor dominant hand, Iron investigated the ship for me.

"Nothing is on here, nor is there anyone on board except for us." - Iron

"In that case..." - Garami

I looked over the starboard side and found...a giant golden claw sticking out from the desert sand. Something HUGE is grabbing onto the ship to kidnap it...

"GIVE ME A BREAK ALREADY!! This is just the goddamn ****ing first day since I set up shop in this giant sandbox, for Pete's sake!!" - Garami

"Master, pause your mental breakdown for a second and look at this! A System Message appeared!" - Bloom

What message? One that tells me that I'm cursed with the worst bad luck in Terra Sol's history? ..."Extra Quest"? If my experiences with the word "Extra" have told me anything, then this is going to be one damn ****ing ride.