The Cabin Is Always Hungry (A Dungeon Core Horror Slasher)

HELLS GRACE

Part 24

Initializing…

Initializing…

Complete.

[ Are you sure you want to end the current scenario?Warning: There are two hours and seventeen minutes remaining. Multiple delvers are still within the area and worthy of reaping. ]

I stared at the small yellow texts hovering inches before me. On the ground below, Melanie lay on her back, smiling up toward the night sky with a gaping slash around her neck, courtesy of Goliath’s swift handiwork. She barely fought him off with the demon still inside her, and Goliath quickly brought the blade against her flesh and pulled. The demon slithered out and hovered next to me, unhurt, reeling with glee from the kill. I guess demons also like to experience dying. Technically, they are near-immortal creatures. It would take more than physical damage to cast out a demon, and I got lucky that none of Hodge’s crew got to do any damaging rituals or any other magic to banish the leering devil.

As for Melanie, well, may she rot in hell with her husband.

[ You have gained 2 essences: Melanie Hodge ]

[ You have gained 300 crystals ]

Leo was far away from the Core Grove, reluctantly leaving his—former—friend behind. Goliath barely gave him a passing glance when Leo walked toward the trail and disappeared into the shadows, hiking back to Tessa and Danny, who was still waiting patiently for him in the van. My monsters wanted to hunt the remaining delvers down since they still had less than three hours left. Something inside them ached for the chase, pain, and suffering that would follow. I reckoned they could sense the potent essence inside them as veteran delvers of my dungeon.

But I held them back. I am Lord of my domain, after all.

My word is the law around here.

“Yes. End the scenario,” I said out loud to the interface.

There was a brief pause of eerie silence that cut through the air. Once I said the words, to my shock, the System took over by grasping my entire form. It was like I got kicked out behind the wheel and forced to sit in the backseat. The cloudy sky lurched and hurtled forward as time advanced rapidly. In the gleaming horizon, the sun climbed over the towering peaks, yanked by an invisible lasso, its light piercing through the forest canopy in seconds and illuminating North Cedar Lake.

Damn…

I didn’t realize how powerful the System was until I witnessed its capability with my own eyes as it warped time around me—around Earth.

The delvers witnessed it, too. Leo stopped walking by the scrapyard and gazed at the advancing blue skies. In the van, Danny stirred soundly asleep. Tessa had her hands over her mouth, eyes like deer in headlights, as she assessed her newly illuminated surroundings. Only the people inside my domain witnessed such a magnificent display of arcane power. To the people outside, they perceived time normally.

If Cores are an extension of the System, does that mean I can move time, too?

Finally, the System relinquished its control over me. Barely twenty seconds passed, but it was the longest I felt like a stranger in my own body. Like I wanted to take a long bath. It felt like someone grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, lifted me up, and then dropped me back to the ground without warning. I didn’t want to experience that again, but I had a nagging feeling I should get used to it.

[ Congratulations! Dawn has arrived over your domain, and you have completed your first official scenario! ]

[ Reward: 5,000 Crystals for completing your first scenario! ]

[ Reward: 1 Environmental Aura ]

[ Reward: 2 Archetype Slots ]

[ Reward: 1 Ability slot for all existing archetypes ]

[ You have unlocked: G-Rank – unshackled Death Core ]

[ Threat Level – Local: Nearby denizens within a twenty-mile radius of your dungeon are aware of your presence, consciously or subconsciously, because of your choices and the events of the previous scenarios. Your Dread effects increase in potency. ]

[ Well done! If you wish to stay anonymous, please avoid drawing attention to yourself by eliminating all the delvers! Or be ambitious and dominate your world! ]

I could feel these changes instantly as the prompts faded from my vision. The fog dissipated, sinking into the earth. The cold wind died down into a gentle breeze. I released the oppressive grip I didn’t know I held over my domain, and it was as if all the trees sighed in relief. As if I had been choking the life out of them since the night began. Leo and Tessa’s aura faded, and they no longer glowed with Resolve.

I was curious that the System considered this night my first official scenario. The first two were more like accidents as the delvers stumbled into my domain, forcing me to scramble and improvise rather than meticulously plan out the game. What I did in Green Hill was more out of necessity and survival. I wondered if it had something to do with an Administrator’s involvement. Perhaps it opened more of the System’s mechanics to me. I looked at my rewards and salivated at the potential of what I could do with them–the things I could buy and improve. I’m sure that my archetypes would be happy for an upgrade on their current abilities–or gain new ones–now that they had four skill slots rather than the three they came with when I made them.

Are these five thousand crystals only for the first scenario? I thought. Do I receive it again after each successful future scenario? Unfortunately, the System didn’t care to elaborate.

I looked at the ranking curiously. I’m unshackled? What a weird word to use.I was also stumped about whether The system considered G-Rank good. I guessed not since I am technically still a juvenile Core and had no reference for their ranking system. I hardly cared. What mattered was that all the cultists were dead—well, most of them. But I did what the Administrators asked by wiping out the ones who killed and created me.

As for me being a threat, well, Death Cores were the most dangerous ones, as I was told, and I couldn’t help it if my Dread seeped into the real world and started affecting the people who lived around me. Staying anonymous was harder to do when I am fucking hungry all the time.

Another prompt appeared.

[ Total Essences Collected: 33/33. Success! You received 3 Dungeon Expansion Points! ]

[ Dungeon Expansion: 3.3/50 - You currently only have 1 dungeon (North Cedar Lake) in your control. Successfully collect 467 essences to create a second dungeon in a location of your choice. ]

[Congratulations, Mark Castle! Your domain is expanding. Continue to feed and grow, and be the best Death Core you’ll ever be! ]

Jesus H. Fucking Christ! Four hundred and sixty-seven essences? I paled at the numbers and the real people behind those numbers. I imagined a hungry Death Core out there in the universe who was willing to kill four hundred and sixty-seven people just for a piece of real estate. Could I kill that many people? I shook those thoughts away for another day.

[ Attention, Mark Castle. Two delvers survived North Cedar Lake. You may now access the Rewards tab. ]

Oh, right. I forgot about that. I was so focused on killing Hodge and the cultists that I had completely forgotten that anyone who survived the dungeon got a reward from the System. From me. I floated in the air for several long seconds, unsure what to give them. I accessed the Rewards tab and scrolled through the crazy long list, which had over a hundred items each, and there were at least three thousand pages and more. I couldn’t physically go and read them thoroughly in a day. It didn’t help that the System clumped all the rewards with potential loot drops found in a normal dungeon. This is gonna be a massive headache.

“I should have planned what rewards I should give them,” I said. I checked on Leo and Tessa with Many-Eyes and saw them reunite beside the van. They’re leaving soon. “Ah, shit, shit, shit,” I spat a curse as I scrolled faster through the list, skimming over the titles.