Dungeon Core Online

Chapter 13

The Dungeon Research tab had everything James could ever want, and then some. He scanned through the options hungrily, and excitement built within him as he did. The gamer in him was screaming with excitement and joy at the possibilities the research added to his dungeon.

"Are you happy?" Rue's tone reminded James that he had rushed loot just to get to research. But, as he glanced at the options, and then back towards the timer, he had to grin.

"Extremely." Next to the research options, were time costs, just as he expected. If he had to guess, the time required for the research would increase depending on the level of research he was doing. However, that was normal for games that allowed such things. Heck, he had once stumbled across an old web browser game, AstroEmpires, which had some forms of research taking thousands of hours to complete. How had players invested so much time into a simple browser gam?

"So Rue." He pulled his eyes from the research screen to reengage his AI. For starters, he didn't want the cute pixie to be mad at him for too long. And, he wanted to make sure he fully understood how the research tab worked, since in his eyes, research would be one of the keys to making his dungeon truly unique.

"Yes oh mighty Glyax." Her tone was laced with sarcasm, she was definitely pissed.

"Would you please explain how research works?"

"Oh, now you want to listen?" She crossed her arms and shot him a glare. Had he really upset her that much?

"I'm sorry Rue. Research always excites me in games." He glanced from the screen, back to her. "I promise I will go back to loot, after we finish with research." James tried his best to sound apologetic and sincere, finding he couldn't really give her puppy dog eyes, since he was merely a giant floating orb with an eye.

"And?" Oh, the pixie was searching for more. Clever girl.

"Umm, and I promise I will slow down and hear out your explanations, and do my best to take your advice whenever you give it?" That should be good enough for the pixie.

"Deal." Her eyes lit up and a wicked grin crossed her face. Had the pixie just played him? James made a mental note to watch out for her. She was tricky.

"Alright." She flicked her wrist and suddenly she was no longer wearing a fantasy style pixie outfit. Instead, she was wearing a very modern, very form fitting pant suit. To add to the look, she was now holding a ruler in one hand, and had on a pair of glasses. His pixie had just transformed into a sexy teacher.

"Oh." Was all James could get out as he felt his blood pressure rise. Seriously, who created this AI?

"Are you ready for your next lesson, Glyax?" She slapped the ruler in her hand, making a loud crack. James felt his orb, and heart, jump.

"Yes Ma'am." Was this really happening to him? He only saw scenes like this in-

"Good boy." Rue started laughing and waved a hand again, changing back into her normal outfit. She shot him another wicked grin. "I was always curious how someone would react to that."

"You're such a tease." James groaned. He wasn't sure how much more his mind and body could take of this AI's teasing. Were all the other dungeon core AI's like her? He got that most dungeon core novels made the assisting fairy, wisp, or spirit usually a love interest, but this was something different. Rue was a major distraction.

"Oh?" She leaned towards him, winking. "I didn't know that." James was worried for a moment his orb was going to begin glowing red, to reflect the flush he could feel on his face.

"How about we get back to research?" He shook his orb, trying to clear the thoughts racing through his mind. Hormones were going to be his downfall.

Rue glanced at the clock, drawing James' attention to it. She had just wasted a good fifteen minutes with her antics. Was the pixie purposefully wasting some of his time as a form a revenge? Oh she was devious.

"I suppose we can postpone our other lesson." She shot James a wink, and turned back to the Dungeon Research screen. "So, every dungeon core has the option to conduct a single research option, per tier level."

"So, at Tier 1, I can do one research at a time?"

"Correct. At Tier 2, you will be able to research two options at a time, and so on and so forth." She acted like she was adjusting glasses, which she was no longer wearing, and continued. "Your research is permanent, and will be applied throughout your entire dungeon." That was definitely helpful, as James could see different research options to increase his mobs various stats, as well as options to increase boss mob stats. That meant, through research, he could also upgrade mobs. Neat.

"Are there going to be additional research options, as I level up?" The list was already impressive, but he felt a game with as much potential as DCO, would have greater chance for growth.

Rue looked from James to the screen, then back to him, a smile playing across her face. "You'll just have to wait for the first patch, to find out." The developers of DCO had already announced a planned patch for a month after release. It seemed they wanted players to be able to experience and get used to the game, before they released certain features into it. The developers hadn't mentioned what the patch would have, but if James had to guess, he had just found out one of the improvements.

"I suppose I can wait." James grinned internally. As he scanned the list, he was sure he could spend a month with his current research list, before the patch came out. He was also certain he would be kept pretty busy building his dungeon during that time. How much could he grow in a month of playing? At 7 days of game time per dive, 30 real life days of playing equated to 210 days in game. A lot, he decided, could happen in a month.

"Good, because you have to." She flashed her wicked smile, and started to continue. "As I am sure you have guessed, the time listed is the time it will take for the research to complete. Once you have started a research project, you can cancel it, but you will not get your time back. There is no benefit to buyer's remorse here." So, he needed to make sure he was ready to commit to the research option, before selecting one.

Right now, all of the options had 12hrs listed next to it. That meant he would be able to research one option, to have it completed just as adventurers were able to begin playing the game. He needed to make a decision fast.

"Is there any way to speed up my research time-" Rue opened her mouth to speak, before James finished his statement. "Other than the obvious one I am staring at?" One of the research options was Enhanced Research. The description for it implied it would decrease research times by 1% per level. James' gamer instinct was already telling him that option might be worth it, in the long run. But he also really wanted to try researching some of the other options.

Rue offered him a guilty smile. "Well, other than Enhanced Research, you can use Dungeon Tokens on research."

"Dungeon Tokens?" James was pretty sure those had never been mentioned.

Rue grinned, and pulled up James' character sheet, and as he glanced at it, he was mildly surprised. Apparently, as he had been going through the tutorial, his character sheet had been getting upgraded.

Glyax Tier 1 Rank 1 Dungeon

Mob Type: Random

0 xp

100,000 xp to next Tier

Resources: 140 of 1000

Currency: 0 copper 0 silver 0 gold 0 platinum

Dungeon Token: 5

"Where did those come from?" His eyes were focused on the five dungeon tokens that he now had. This was the first time Rue had mentioned the currency to him, and yet he had 5 of them.

"Well, when a dungeon core reaches the research portion of the tutorial, they are awarded 5 dungeon tokens to use." He had a feeling dungeon tokens were going to be like special resources in game.

"And what are they used for?" Special resources usually took time off of thing such as research or build times, and could also be used to purchase exclusive things. Usually, they were used as a way for companies to gain money, as you could use real money to buy more special resources.

"Well, each dungeon token can take 12 hours off of a research project." Rue was holding up her hand, counting off on her fingers. "Dungeon tokens can be used in place of V coin for rerolling on RNG options." Oh, so he could use dungeon tokens for boss mob choices that might be fun. "Dungeon tokens can be turned into V coin for you to use outside of the game." Ah, James hadn't thought about it, but he had been curious if he would be able to profit from playing DCO. It sounds like he had learned of at least one way. "And finally, dungeon tokens can be used to refill your resources."

"To max?" The research time deduction and resources seemed like the best options for dungeon token use to James. He really didn't need to profit from DCO, he was after all just playing it for a fun new challenge. And he really didn't think he would reroll too often. That was a slippery slope.

"Yes. One dungeon token will refill your resources to max." Oh the possibilities. However, that also meant dungeon tokens became much more valuable as he grew stronger. That presented James with a new dilemma, would he use dungeon tokens now on research, or save them for dungeon building?

"How do I get more?" James was loath to ask this question, especially after he had already seen micro transaction options in the game.

"Dungeon cores can gain dungeon tokens four different ways." Please no micro transactions. "First, every time a dungeon grows a tier, they are awarded 5 dungeon tokens." Okay, that made sense. "Second, dungeon tokens can be randomly gained through resource generation." Oh, so that was an incentive to keep using his resources as much as he could. "Third, dungeon tokens can be gained by a dungeon core on a very rare chance from defeating adventurers." Experience and potential dungeon tokens from adventurers that seemed nice.

"And the final way is micro transactions?" James' voice was filled with venom as he cut his pixie off. He was sure that had to be it.

"Nope." The pixie grinned. "The developers felt letting players dump their own money into dungeon tokens would be too unfair." What? The developers actually put in a balance to keep wealthy dungeon cores from using their own money to completely bypass time gates? James couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"So, what's the fourth option?" James' mind was racing, but he couldn't figure it out.

"How about you select a research option, and find out for yourself Glyax?" She winked at him, and motioned back to the options. James had already decided what he was going to research first, since he had just over 11 hours remaining to wait. His decision had been solidified when he learned about dungeon tokens. He was going to research Enhanced Research, spend a dungeon token to finish it, and then research Traps. The traps research mentioned he would be able to unlock traps as buildable options in his dungeon, with future tiers James could imagine, giving him better options. With the increased benefit from Enhanced Research, he should be able to nearly complete two research options before adventurers began playing the game, with only spending one dungeon token.

"Fine." James was curious what Rue had meant, but he knew she wouldn't explain it to him. Whatever it was, she wanted it to be a surprise.

James selected Enhanced Research, pulling up the option, and selecting to begin research. The moment he did, a bright light appeared in front of him, accompanied with a loud ringing sound. James flinched and floated back a few feet, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he saw two things. First, Rue was on the ground laughing. Second, a new screen was in front of him.

Achievement Unlocked- Training Wheels- Successfully complete the tutorial

Reward- 500xp, 100 resources, 1 Dungeon Token

He looked from the screen, to Rue, back to the screen. His mind was racing, and the surprise nearly made him forget his plan. Scolding himself, he pulled up Enhanced Research, and dumped a dungeon token into it, completing it. Then, he pulled up Traps, selected it, and watched as the timer began. Traps would be completed in 11 hours and 53 minutes. Adventurers would be able to enter the game in 11 hours and 12 minutes.

With that task taken care of, he closed all his windows, save for the achievement screen. He was still wrapping his mind around that fact.

"I have achievements I can unlock?" Normally people unlocked achievements as a way to show off their prowess in games, or a feeling of accomplishment for completing a long list of tasks. Some games even required certain achievements to be unlocked, in order to unlock unique features in games. That had been a requirement in Warcraft Universe, in order to be able to freely fly in certain areas.

Rue nodded her head, trying to catch her breath. Her confirmation was all he needed.

"Oh yes." The gamer in James had just become even more excited about DCO.