“This way,” she said quietly, guiding me down the corridor.
We moved through the floor together. Now that Rusk was gone, the whole place felt… emptier.
Almost hollow.
Like killing the boss automatically despawned every remaining enemy.
We passed the rooms I’d already explored—the kitchen, the torture room, the office. The princess pointed out a few more as we continued.
“That one is storage,” she said.
The door was unlocked, so I peeked inside.
Shelves of mundane junk lined the walls: rope, nails, broken crates, sacks of grain, a few dusty weapons. I grabbed anything that wasn’t absolute garbage—mostly common mats and minor trinkets.
“Probably the System just giving me stuff to sell later,” I muttered, tossing it all into my inventory.
We kept going.
Two more rooms were unlocked. Both were small—furniture half-rotten, walls damp with mold. I found a couple more common items, nothing remarkable.
The whole place felt like a maze the System had already sifted through for me.
A curated experience.
Like I was being railroaded into only entering rooms that had predetermined loot.
Eventually, we reached a spiraling stairwell. The princess took the lead.
“The exit is ahead,” she said, her voice trembling with a mixture of relief and exhaustion.
“Can we hit the captain’s quarters first?” I asked. Because rule number one in gaming: boss rooms always have loot.
She gave a small nod and led me to a reinforced door on the next floor. We pushed it open.
It was like the manager’s office downstairs had been upgraded to CEO level. Polished wood desk. Padded chair. A sofa with a miniature bar behind it. Why did a jellyfish need a miniature bar? Or a chair?
I pushed my thoughts aside. I searched the desk, papers, quills, maps… nothing useful. Until I found a button. Hidden under the lip of the desk. I pressed it.
A soft click echoed behind us, and a portion of the wall slid open, revealing a narrow alcove and a single treasure chest.
I grinned.
“Jackpot.”
I opened the chest.
Loot Acquired:
- 100 Credits
- Class Upgrade Stone ×1 (Epic)
- Weapon Upgrade Stone ×1 (Epic)
First time seeing an epic rarity item. Put everything on my inventory and closed the chest.
We exited the captain’s quarters and continued through a long hallway, then another, until we finally reached a large wooden door reinforced with iron.
“This is it,” the princess whispered. “Beyond this door is the exit.”
I tightened my grip on the club, took a steady breath.
“Alright,” I said. “Let’s get out of here.”
She pushed the door open.
Blinding white light flooded in—swallowing the corridor, the walls, the ceiling… even her silhouette. My vision dissolved into pure white, and when it faded—
…I was sitting again.
In that familiar metal chair.
In that same dim, cramped room.
Facing the blank humanoid with no face, no features—just waiting.
Exactly where it all started.
The Dream Dungeon had reset.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
“Congratulations on clearing the First Floor and defeating the Floor Boss,” the humanoid said in its flat, artificial voice. “Most participants rushed through this one without even fighting once. You are… quite different.”
“Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly have a choice. Crabs started attacking me without asking first.”
“Now, now,” it replied, its tone unchanged. “No reason to be upset. You performed exceptionally well. You completed the floor at Level 4, defeated the Floor Boss, and cleared the Secret Objective. That qualifies you for additional rewards.”
A string of notifications flooded my vision.
Congratulations! You have Cleared Floor 1
Experience Awarded
Abilities Unlocked
Congratulations! You have completed the Secret Objective of Floor 1
Experience Awarded
Unique Loot Awarded
Congratulations! You finished the floor with more than 12 hours remaining
Experience Awarded
Congratulations! You are now Level 5
+15 Free Stat Points
Unique Loot Gained:
Baseball Bat (Growth Item) — Epic
Growth Item: Weapon grows stronger as the user levels up.
Type: Blunt Weapon
Strength: +10
Strength Requirement: 20
Level Requirement: 5
I dismissed those notifications but before I could move, I got a second string of notifications.
Ability Unlocked:
Inspect: Allows the user to view basic information about any target they focus on.
“Nice. That one will be useful.” I said.
I dismissed that notification and focused on the next one.
That one was interesting.
Choose one of the Abilities below to Unlock.
- Adrenaline Rush (Common)
Type: Active Ability
Theme: Brawler instinct, pain-powered surge
Effect:
For 20 seconds, every time you take damage, gain:
- +5% Strength (stacks up to +25%)
- +5% Movement Speed
- +10% Pain Resistance
Cooldown: 1 hour
After the duration, suffer minor fatigue: –5% Strength for 10 minutes.
- Skull Cracker (Uncommon)
Type: Active Ability
Effect:
Your next blunt weapon attack becomes a Crushing Blow, dealing:
- 200% damage
- +50% Sweet Spot bonus
- Stun target for 2 seconds (if they are not immune)
Cooldown: 30 seconds
- Density Breaker (Rare)
Type: Passive Ability
Effect:
Whenever you strike an enemy with a blunt weapon, their body is forcibly stabilized into the least resistant density for the duration of the hit making the target vulnerable to blunt damage.
- The target is treated as weak to blunt damage
- Any adaptive defenses (hardening, softening, shifting density, shell layering, elastic absorption, etc.) are ignored
- Blunt attacks deal an extra +20% damage against affected targets
This effect applies automatically and does not require activation.
I dismissed the options for now having decided to make that decision at a later time, and stared at the epic rarity bat materializing in my hands.
“You guys aren’t subtle about the baseball theme, huh?”
“We attempted to locate other motivational anchors in your life,” the humanoid said. “Unfortunately, baseball seemed to be the only consistent activity of significance.”
“Ouch,” I muttered. “Okay. Fair. Anyway, now that I’m done with the floor—can you answer a few questions?”
“I’m sorry,” the humanoid replied. “Your time in the Dream Dungeon has ended for today.”
A mechanical hum filled the room.
“We will see you tomorrow,” it continued, “exactly at 10 p.m.”
“Wait, hold on—”
“Goodbye.”
The room flickered. Then everything went dark.
A few moments later, my eyes snapped open. I sat up so fast I nearly fell out of bed. My hands flew to my face, my chest, my arms—checking, confirming, hoping. I looked around my room. Posters on the wall. Clothes on the floor. The faint morning light sneaking past the blinds. I turned to my nightstand.
7:00 a.m.
“Okay… so it was a dream after all.”
I let out a breath I didn’t even realize I'd been holding. My shoulders loosened. My heartbeat slowed. I rubbed my eyes, and then I froze. My palms. The symbols. The same strange markings the Dream Dungeon had burned into me were still there—faint, glowing slightly, undeniably real.
“It’s real…” I whispered. “It’s really real.”
My legs gave out and I sat back on the edge of my bed, head hanging, hands pressed to my face in disbelief. Then something else caught my eye.My arms. They looked… different.
Not huge. Not bodybuilder-level, but toned. Lean. Sharper, somehow. I stood and rushed to the bathroom. Flipped on the lights.
My reflection stared back—familiar but noticeably improved. My shoulders broader. My torso tighter. Even my posture felt straighter. Then the humanoid’s words came back to me:
Whatever happens to you in the dungeon happens to your real body. Damage carries over. So why not…
I flexed experimentally.
“…gains,” I said, half laughing, half stunned.
The smile didn’t last long. Because the next thought hit me like a freight train:
If the gains were real. If the injuries were real. If the dungeon was real.
Then the stakes were real too.The Dream Dungeon. The rankings. The place Earth would take once inducted into the multiverse. My smile faded completely.
“Shit…”