Dungeon Core

At the headquarters of the Devastators in the Western Kingdom right at the palace of the golden city Icathia. Warlord, the leader of the Devastators and the leading player in the highest-level board was sitting around a giant round table with twelve other players. Ten of them were the Guild Masters of the ten sub guilds of the Devastators. And the eleventh was Valentine, Warlord's right-hand man.

"What is this about Valentine?" said Warlord.

"Yeah, I ended up finding new info about the event. Here you should all check it out"

Mr. Valentine then displayed the video as it turned holographic for everyone to see

It showcased Dave in his Draugr form fighting No Tits No Life. At first, there was nothing going on, but then the moment they saw the scene of Dave's combo and the control over the monsters, Warlord's eyebrows knitted.

Indeed, he never saw any undead controlling others so 'Perfectly' it was not a big deal to deal with this level of control if it was at his level the players would usually move accordingly and change their spots to deal with the situation. But that Monster was just a level 30 something. And considering that it was just an elite ranked Monster. What would happen if it was a higher tier? If it was a captain ranked monster, facing several level 100 players with that ability to micromanage the units, the fight would become much harder.

The undead would usually throw themselves into the fray and fight until the last breath. But the undead under the control of this strange entity would not do things randomly, they would move according to a certain pattern as if they are guided by a player.

Warlord instantly removed the idea from his head. This was probably the work of the AI, even if the developers had said that a player had pioneer rights in the Undead world, though he didn't know what rights he had, it will mostly be related to quests. But, is it possible that that player is this Draugr?

"What do you guys think?"

"Isn't that obvious…" said one of the sub-guilds Guild Master.

"That is a player…" he said

"Indeed, that is what I think too." Said another affirming

And it was the case for everyone. These guys were not fools, they played the game for a long time and they knew the way how monsters react, and this was clearly not a monster. His macro calls and his decision making were rather astonishing, it was not something that a computer would do. No, a computer would 'perfect' his moves. This one had some flaws that were apparent, for example, some of his undead were badly positioned and they didn't manage to deal enough damage. But to fight many against one they still were useful. An Ai would probably change the fighting system and would engage the player in a different manner.

The bearded Draugr was indeed a player. And depending on the developer's statement there was only one player that had access to the undead world. And that was obviously Dave.

"So, what is the verdict?" asked Mr. Valentine.

"Isn't our guild about to have a first clear of the Pits of Despair dungeon?" asked Warlord.

"Yes, we are in the final round, it should be in one week at most the last boss has very strange attack patterns and it is hampering our advance," said Mr. Valentine

"Alright, once we defeat it, I want you to make use of the server announcement and make it known to the world that the Draugr is indeed the player."

"What? Wouldn't that ruin our chances? We should just contact him?" asked Mr. Valentine

"How are you going to do that? Rumors will spread and people will know soon enough, if we use this, we might be the first to get an audience with this rouge player. He does not belong to any guild, and even after having posted a huge bounty on his head he had yet to fall. We could make an announcement where we will offer the player a huge sum of money and be a part of our guild. Even more, we could support him in his quest if he was to agree to let us take control the undead army. We need that army to expand our guild. It should be tempting enough to such a player, especially due to his low level" said Warlord.

Indeed, what he said made perfect sense, offering the player a huge amount of money then adding the right to join the Devastator's main guild was a tempting offer to any player. The player would only need to give them the army and they will support him in the game.

"Indeed, that is a very good decision Guild Master" said one of the ten sub-guild masters.

"Yes, that player sure is lucky to have ended up with the pioneer rights. Now we need to hush every rumor, make sure that the Arkadia Guild Master shuts up. He and the two other members that discovered the bearded Draugr need to be goaded in keeping their mouths shut" said Warlord.

By doing this, they would stop any information leak until the dungeon's boss is defeated. Once that is done they could then start by making a general announcement and even offering a good sum of money for the pioneer. Everything that anyone would wish for was given to a sole player. Wouldn't anyone feel envious of him?

…

Dave was back in the undead world. His heart was beating, thankfully he had the ability to abandon his current task and come back whenever he wished. However, what if that player appeared before he finished his first mission?

Thankfully Dave had obtained 135 contribution points from killing the two players. 100 for the mission and 20 for killing the players. He lost some contributions for having two of his ghouls die. But due to having leveled up one of his minions, he gained a bit of contribution to compensate for it. Thankfully the death of his minions against monsters did not deduct his contribution, only against players will he lose them for good.

And when he came back to the undead world, he discovered that the two Ghouls that died are back. And his group was back to how it was.

Dave was now trying to think of a solution to his problem. So far, the system never sent him to fight against stronger foes. Every time he would be sent, he would have to fight against similar level enemies. And that was the same case this time, only when he decided to remain would he be risking himself to die against strong and powerful foes.

Dave went back to the item shop to see what he could buy. Naturally, he could not afford anything at the moment. As the cheapest item was the EXP potion that cost 100 points.

Other than that, normal tier equipment that has at least 400 contribution points in value.

Dave looked through every available object until he discovered an interesting item.

It was not that expensive, but it still caught Dave's attention.

Low tier Dungeon core.

Cost 1000 Contribution points

Mutates a dungeon's core. Making it change the race of the spawning monsters.

Can generate a constant amount of contribution points if players die within the dungeon.

There was another item that caught Dave's attention.

Core Resonance amplifier.

Can force close dungeons who have been tampered with by using a corrupt dungeon core and force a dungeon break

Cost 10 000 contribution point.

Dave knew what would be the use of a dungeon break. So far, there was only one case of a dungeon break in this game. A dungeon break is a really terrible outcome for players. Hordes of monsters will constantly spawn from nearby dungeons creating chaos. It would usually last for a few days or until most monsters have been defeated.

Once a dungeon break was over, the dungeon would be exhausted and the bosses won't spawn until a long period of time. This might trouble high-level guilds, but for Dave, taking into consideration the price of this item. He would probably get a lot of contribution points if he was to instigate a dungeon break.

The idea planted itself in Dave's head and he began to seriously think about it.

He needed contribution points, and if he manages to make a dungeon break, it will create chaos and force several players to come and fight the hoards. Then, he would find some time to level up without being bothered.

However, the price of such item is rather expensive, and he can't afford it at the moment.

Another mission started and Dave checked out the location. Thankfully it was not on the same mountain and was back at the old graveyard where his first mission started.

Dave and his party spawned in the same graveyard and began a mass massacre.

Players were unable to stop the bearded Skeleton as he struck too hard and his minions would move strategically and hold them off.

Their priests and healer classes would always be focused first. The tanks would be hindered by the ghouls, and their DPS class would not be able to move away from Dave's constant and sustained damage.

Dave began gaining contribution points at a leisurely pace without finding any problems.

He would always try to accomplish his mission in destroying the first 'invaders' then think about what to do next.

Once Dave managed to kill the tenth player. He found out that he had moved quite a bit from his original location.

"Hmm… there is a dungeon here…" said Dave.

Indeed, it was a low-level dungeon, there were some giant rats, and blood Bats inside the dungeon. It was nothing that level 20 players cannot defeat with a good team of players.

Normally it would have some players near its gates, but due to Dave's small party. Most of the players that were headed towards the dungeon ended up dead…

In front of the dungeon, there was an NPC Dwarf above its head was a small flag of a golden giant with a golden shield and sword. That was the emblem of The Devastators' Guild.

This NPC was something that the game added to handle the entrance fees for the players.

Normally a player would usually pay a small sum of money to enter a conquered dungeon. And the guild that originally owned the dungeon would take in that amount of cash automatically.

The NPC cannot be killed and no one can enter the dungeon without paying.

Dave got closer to the dungeon and the moment he tried to speak with the NPC. The small Dwarf's face turned pale and screamed!

"U-undead!! Kyaaaa!!!"

Dave's eyebrows squinted. He just wanted to pay the NPC to see if he could access the dungeon, and the NPC just fell on the floor scared shitless.

Dave ignored him and went towards the dungeon. He pressed his hand forward and found out that the barrier that would stop non-paying players was not present… he was considered a monster for the moment… so he was not needed to pay anything.

Dave smiled and stroked his beard. This was becoming a bit of Dave once he began pondering over things.

If he was to not pay anything to enter a dungeon, wouldn't that mean that he could Exp for free?

Once Dave entered his party of monsters followed…