1 - Awakening

" .... Where the fuck am I ? "

When he first opened his eyes, the sight that welcomed him was one of a clear blue sky and a sun that would reach it's zenith, something unusual for someone who never slept outside even once.

But as soon as he got up and started checking his surroundings, did those words left his mouth, as he realized that he was stranded on top of a small island that had nothing to it but sand.

" .. Did I drank too much ? What kind of prank is that ? "

Staring at the horizon, he tried to find the sight of a boat or even the main land if he could, but as if it was a divine entity who put such a prank on him and not his friends, there was nothing but the vast sea, or the ocean, that his gaze alone could reach.

" .... "

With an audible gulp, he swallowed down his saliva as he couldn't take the situation he was in, making a few turns around the small island, he kept on searching for a long time, but no matter how much he squinted his eyes or made binoculars with his hands, the result didn't changed at all, his efforts proving themselves to be useless.

" ... Am I.. just going to die here ? "

With nothing but sand to eat and sea water to drink, his death was predetermined from the start, but as he thought about that, suddenly, a voice raised itself from nowhere but inside of his head.

[ The Dungeon Manager cannot die if the Dungeon is still existing. ]

That singular voice was one of a female, but as if an AI was speaking, the voice itself was monotone and it's pitch didn't changed despite the various words spoken, sending a weird shiver running down his spine as he heard something like that for the first time.

" ... Who.. No, what are you ? "

[ I am the Dungeon System. ]

Receiving an answer to his question, however, it wasn't one that helped him much at the moment, as the response was too short to get something out of it, so instead, he decided to ask more of it as it seemed inclined to give him the informations he wished to get.

" Dungeon Manager and Dungeon System, what is it all about ? "

[ The Dungeon Manager is the one in charge of the Dungeon. If the Dungeon was to be destroyed, then the Dungeon Manager would die along with it. ]

[ The Dungeon System is a tool created to help the Dungeon Manager to develop his own Dungeon. ]

" .... "

The voice inside of his head, kindly providing him with more intel, though still not sufficient to properly link the two points together, forced him to ask even more about what it knew that he didn't.

" Then, what is the dungeon ? "

[ This island. ]

With two words that was left resounding inside of his head, his straight head was lowered to look down at the sand below his feet, before he asked in hesitation.

" .. You mean that the island is the dungeon ? Aren't dungeons supposed to be inside of caves or big towers reaching the sky ? "

[ There exists more than one type of Dungeon. This Dungeon is an island at the moment, but the Dungeon Manager can develop it to his liking. ]

" Wait, I can ? How ? "

Of course, when he first learned about developing a Dungeon from the voice, he immediately thought about digging rooms in the ground to fit in monsters inside, but since it was said that he could develop it however he'd like, he then got more curious about it.

[ By using the Dungeon's Shop, it is possible to buy land, buildings, monsters and even extern objects that the Dungeon Manager can use to build and modify his own Dungeon. ]

" A shop.. What about the money ? "

But once he heard the system mention such a thing as a shop, he cautiously looked around before sighing, as there was nothing around him in the first place that he could see, which meant no ways of making any kind of currency.

[ The Dungeon Manager will automatically start with a small amount of points. ]

[ Points can be gained in small amounts when monster reside or die inside the Dungeon. In medium amount when adventurers stay inside the Dungeon. In large amounts when an adventurer dies inside the Dungeon. ]

Listening properly to the explanation as it was basically his lifeline if he wished to survive from now on, he was glad that he got to receive points from the get go, but it also meant that he would have to use them to spawn monsters around to live with him until he could get back a certain amount.

" I think I get it. Can you open the shop for me then ? "

[ - Shop - ]

- Land

- Buildings

- Monsters

- Other

And with a small window opening in front of his eyes, like the one of a game, contained only four options for him to chose from, as the system explained them earlier, but among them, only one managed to grab his attention.

Tapping on the Monsters option, he expected to see a lot of them, especially with how it was sold to him, being a grand thing that would help him develop, however, there was only one of them, with a simple message below saying that the rest was locked and that first, he would need to develop his island to the next level.

Yet, staring at the window, he wasn't that bothered by the fact that there was only one monster, and in fact, he was actually shocked by something else, being it's name.

[ Slime Woman - 10 points ( 90% reduction ) ]

It's not like he couldn't read what was written in front of him, nor the fact that he couldn't see the picture of a naked slime girl next to it, or even the price that shocked him, but the fact that it was that kind of dungeon in the first place.

" System, not that I'm complaining, but is it what I think it is ? "

[ The Dungeon System cannot read the thoughts of the Dungeon Manager. But the monster in front of you is a Slime Woman, a monster that will trap adventurers using her body and drain their vitality. ]

With a gulp, he stared at the blue yet transparent girl that wasn't wearing a single piece of clothes, exposing the charm of a woman despite the fact that she was probably made out of nothing but liquid, and with hesitation along anticipation, he approached his finger to the icon and bought the monster.

[ Thank you for your purchase ! Please select where you want the monster to appear. ]

However, before he could see the result of his shopping, that used all of his points by the way, a new message popped in front of the shop window, asking for him to choose somewhere appropriate, but with nothing around him, he didn't thought much about it as he pointed in front of him.

" Here ? "

And the next moment, with a single " pop " sound, out of nowhere, appeared a small and round slime, that wiggled around slightly like jello.

" ... Fuck, were my expectations betrayed.. ? "

Looking at it, it looked nowhere similar to the picture he saw, despite for the fact that the both of them were slime, this one wasn't even moving around, without talking about the fact that it could catch an adventurer alive, it wouldn't even catch a fly if there was one.

" ... System, why isn't the monster like the one in the picture ? Did you mocked me ? Was the shop a scam from the start ?? "

[ The Dungeon System does not possess the ability to mock the Dungeon Manager. The monster is currently going through the maturity process. ]

Receiving an answer, it was about something that he wished to know beforehand, no, before he would even get expectations towards it, those being easily shown by a tent on top of his pants.

" Is there anything I need to know about the maturity process ? "

[ Monsters that didn't reach maturity will not be able to attack adventurers. Monsters that didn't reach maturity won't give points to the Dungeon Manager until they grow up. Time remaining before reaching maturity of the Slime Woman : 7 hours and 59 minutes. ]

In other words, he was stuck with a slimy ball, on top of an island with nothing else to do at the moment as he had used all of his points, and needed to wait eight hours before being able to do something else.

" ... System, can the monster going through the maturity process die ? "

[ It can. If a monster that didn't reached the maturity state was to die, it would only give the Dungeon Manager a tenth of the points that the adult version would give at it's death. ]

To put it simply, he couldn't even use the small slime as a pillow for a nap.