Name: Jeremy Wilkins

  Race: Human

  Sex: Boy

  Age: 10

  Character Class: Child-Rogue

  Level: 14

  Health: 11

  Mana: 9

  Attributes:

  Strength: 12

  Endurance: 5

  Vitality: 6

  Dexterity: 18

  Agility: 19

  Perception: 25

  Intelligence: 9

  Wisdom: 6 (+1 ring of wisdom)

  Will Power: 5

  Charisma: 4 (+1 clown nose)

  Extra point: 1

  Active Skills:

  Identify: 5

  Sneak: 8 (+2 magic shoes) (+1 camouflage ring)

  Detect Traps: 7

  Charmed Object Activation: 3

  Passive Skills:

  Enhanced Physical: 2

  Poison Resistance: 7

  Mental Fortitude: 4

  Pain Tolerance: 5

  Skills:

  Melee Weapons: 5

  Archery: 2

  Knife Throwing: 2

  Spells:

  None

  Dungeon Account:

  9467.86dc

  Titles:

  Big Slayer

  Gifts and Blessings:

  Blessing of the Spider Queen.

  In addition to gaining a level, the dungeon school had improved Jeremy's mental stats, and he noticed the max next to his mental fortitude skill had vanished.

  He pulled out his notebook and a pencil.

  Day ????

  I'm starting a journal. I'm alive. Scared. Always scared. I'm Level 14 now. Orcs exist. They're mean. Bad enough, I'm trapped in a dungeon trying to kill me, but so are the other adventurers.

  I'm sorry Urg. I ran away while you were dying because I was too weak to help you. I'm getting stronger, but I have a long way to go.

  I'm exploring the dungeon school that can't spell. I've raised my mental stats. Tomorrow I will find out what's behind the double doors at the end of the hall.

  ***

  After getting up the next morning and breakfasting on dungeon rations, Jeremy exited the classroom and approached the double door at the end of the hall. He did the same thing he'd done with the classrooms. Opening one of the twin doors a tiny amount, he ran to the other end of the hall and waited. For a long time, nothing happened. He was about to Sneak back to the doorway and take another look when a rumble shook the hallway. The twin doors burst open, and something slowly oozed into the hallway. As close as he could tell, it was a worm with a wide, circular mouth containing row after row of large, sharp teeth. The worm was so big that it had to squeeze its body to enter the hallway. Jeremy fired an arrow at the advancing worm. The first arrow bounced off one of its many teeth; the next bounced off its thick hide.

  That wasn't going to work. Not seeing what else to do, he pushed open the door to the dungeon labyrinth, then ran into the first classroom he'd cleared and slammed the door. The worm caused the hallway walls to bulge outward and destroyed his door as it rumbled past. He could see thousands, maybe millions of foot-long feeler tendrils pushing it forward, out of the dungeon school and into the dungeon.

  As soon as the worm left the dungeon school for the rest of the dungeon, Jeremy ran over and closed the door. An orc invasion was the last thing he wanted. There were heavy scratches worn into the stone door from the worm that hadn't been there before, but fortunately, the thick stone door still worked.

  Jeremy supposed the orcs would have to handle the thing. Considering they were trying to kill him, he couldn't be too sympathetic.

  He felt 1,150 dc appear in his account.

  That was embarrassing. The seven orcs killed his unkillable monster in, what, 5 seconds?

  Good grief. Bet it dropped plenty of experience and monster loot, too, he thought with a groan. So unfair.

  Hope they don't figure out how to get in here.

  “Well, Jeremy,” Flint said, “I'm sure I could have handled that monster in a much more capable manner, but you are still alive, and that's the important thing. You thought quickly and weren't a complete idiot. Good work, Jeremy.”

  “Shut up. I think that was a boss monster. Clown Lord said I need to kill all the boss monsters to be strong.”

  “First,” Flint responded, “I don't think that was a boss. It had no name, and if it was a boss, using a group of psychotic orcs to kill it might not have been ideal. But you did kill it, and that's what counts.”

  “That's a relief.”

  With that monster out of the way, Jeremy walked down the badly damaged hallway. The now-broken double doors led to what had been a vast library. Books were everywhere, but none were readable, either because of extensive damage or because they were in unknown languages that the dungeon's translating system wasn't translating.

  After barricading the library doors to warn him if the orcs got inside, Jeremy wandered through the library for hours, wading through ruined books, looking for anything of value. He wasn't big on reading, but he couldn't help marveling at the incredible waste this was.

  A picture of a book on a scratched-up wall looked suspicious. After some experimenting, he got the two-dimensional book to open, revealing an actual book the size and shape of a children's picture book titled “A Child's Guide to the Dungeon.”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

  He stuffed the book in his pack and kept looking. On the ceiling, there were twenty small movable dots that, through much experimentation and climbing on broken bookshelves, he could combine. Once combined, they formed an eye inside a pyramid, and a ceiling panel appeared. When opened, the panel revealed a small compartment, and a small but thick book fell out. The book was titled “Mysteries of the Dungeon.” Underneath the title in smaller letters was:

  Read the other book first.

  That was it. He'd helped slay an enormous monster coming out of a vast dungeon library next to a dungeon school, and all he had to show for it was two lousy books. He sighed. Also, the only exit he'd been able to find was the double door leading back to the classrooms and the labyrinth. And he didn't dare enter the labyrinth until he was sure the orcs had left.

  With nothing else to do, he opened “Mysteries of the Dungeon.”

  The first page was blank, and so were the rest. Words formed on the paper.

  Read the other book first.

  Great. He put away the book and opened the kid's book, “A Child's Guide to the Dungeon.”

  The first page had a picture of a child holding a sword, standing over what looked like the dungeon worm, if the dungeon worm had been the size of a ten-foot boa constrictor.

  Next to the picture, words formed as he watched.

  Greetings, young adventurer.

  You have......

  You have... contributed... slightly... to the killing of the horrible bookworm! Yay.

  Your reward is a book!

  How about some stat increases, you stupid dungeon? Jeremy thought. Not seeing what else he could do right now, he kept reading.

  Young adventurer, you have killed a few low-level monsters! You may have even gained a level! Your journey on the path of adventure begins! This book was created to guide you down this path.

  By now, you know that there are three types of characters. Spellcaster, Fighter, and Rogue. What you may not know is that each type complements the other two.

  The rogue watches for traps, monsters, and ambushes. Spellcasters protect the fighter and rogue, as the fighter protects the group from monsters.

  There was a picture of a sneaky-looking rogue with a large armored fighter and a staff-wielding spellcaster.

  It is a very foolish adventurer who goes off on their own. A lone adventurer's chances of survival are many, many, many, many times lower than those of a team. In fact, the first rule of adventuring is: never, never, never, never venture into a dungeon alone.

  Jeremy lost his temper and threw the book at a wall. “I didn't want to come to this stupid dungeon! I was pushed! I want to go home! And I can't join a team because other adventurers get killed or keep trying to kill me!”

  “You are not completely alone, Jeremy,” Flint said. “You have me.”

  “Don't remind me,” Jeremy grumbled. The book lay on the ground, oddly limp. Not seeing what else he could do, he picked it up again. The book was as limp as a piece of fabric. As it hung in his hands, a droplet of liquid came out of one corner, leaving a small spot on the dungeon floor.

  “Is that book crying?” Flint asked. “I believe you hurt the book's feelings.”

  “A book has feelings?” Jeremy asked, glaring at the now limp book. “I don't care. This book is stupid.”

  “If a book has faulty information, Jeremy, who's responsible?”

  “The book's author,” Jeremy answered. “Which, in this case, is the dungeon.” Jeremy felt terrible. The poor book was in the same situation they were. “I'm sorry, Book. You're stuck in this stupid dungeon, too.” He patted the book gently, waiting until it seemed mollified enough for him to open it again.

  Young adventurer, you have killed a few low-level monsters and you... contributed... slightly... to killing the evil bookworm. Yay. You might even be looking forward to your first quest! Quests are an excellent way to gain valuable items and experience. This book has a few easy sample quests that the dungeon offers to teach you about quests and how they work. Though these quests are low risk, it's strongly advised that you do them as a group.

  Sometimes, adventurers have body odor or are overly rude and mean, which prevents them from making friends. Taking a bath, being nice to your fellow adventurers, or, if all else fails, adding stat points to Charisma can rectify this.

  With a sigh, Jeremy closed the book, practiced throwing knives for a while, then curled up in his cloak and went to sleep.

  When he awoke, he ate a dungeon ration breakfast.

  “Well, Jeremy,” Flint said, appearing next to him. “You spent an entire day without being a complete idiot. I'm impressed.”

  Jeremy threw a dungeon ration at Flint, which went through the being's body and hit the wall behind him. “You're going to take over my body before we leave this dungeon, aren't you?”

  “I would if I could,” Flint responded. “But if we can focus, Jeremy, quests are an excellent way to gain valuable experience and loot. Why don't you look at the quests the book is offering?”

  “I can't leave this part of the dungeon until I'm sure the orcs are gone,” Jeremy said, picking up the book. “Book, could you tell me about the quests?”

  Book vibrated in his hands, bursting with excitement.

  With a sigh, Jeremy opened the book.

  When you leave the dungeon as a successful young adventurer, your community, wherever that may be, will sometimes require your assistance. To help you better understand what this will be like, the dungeon offers three easy quests.

  Quest 1:

  You have returned to town after completing a dungeon to find the town's police station overrun by monsters! Help Officer Bobo by killing the monsters infesting his police station so he can go back to enforcing law and order.

  The reward for completing this quest is:

  The satisfaction of helping your community. Experience. Monster loot... and a gun!

  Do you accept this quest?

  Yes/No

  A gun? That sounded useful. He'd never fired one before, but it couldn't be harder to use than a bow and arrow. Could it? He imagined what the orcs would do if he pulled a gun on them. Probably kill him instantly. Oh well.

  He selected Yes.

  QUEST ACCEPTED

  You have accepted your... fourth quest... Yay.

  To begin your quest, you and your... hopefully balanced, well-chosen team of at least three and no more than ten adventurers must exit the library.

  In the back of the library, behind a broken-down bookshelf and a bunch of damaged books, Jeremy saw a faint glow. Once he'd cleared the books away, the glow outlined a doorway.

  Jeremy opened the door a tiny crack and backed away. When nothing happened, he returned and opened the door just enough for him to look through. The source of the glow surrounding the door turned out to be a bright morning sun shining over what looked like a peaceful small town. He stepped out the door, leaving the Dunjun Skule behind him.