How to Cook a Dungeon

The introduction of the book was a little weird, wording it like a recipe.

◘How to Cook a Dungeon◘

⚫ One powerful monster

⚫ One location dense with energy, or a leyline

⚫ Affirmation from the local God of Monsters/Staff in Charge

⚫ Acknowledgment of the Rules for Dungeonkeeping

◘Gather your ingredients, and you can own your very own dungeon!◘

... Okay? I mean, I guess it makes sense, but why word it this way?

Cain read on, and the 'cookbook' introduced dungeons and how they came to be. In almost every world, the dungeons are made either by the good gods to challenge and strengthen the sentient races or by evil gods aiming for monster waves to break out from the dungeons to cause chaos. Both sides have to follow the rules though, and there must be rewards for defeating monsters, monsters always have a chance of breaking out from the dungeon, and so forth. In small writing under the rules, it is noted that monsters bearing a uniqueness, i.e. a monster that evolved and got lucky, or reincarnations like him, are exempt from certain rules to make things interesting.

The book lists various standard monster designs, trap formulas, design suggestions, and how to manage a Dungeon Core, along with recipes on how to make related things should the reader become a Dungeon Master. Cain wasn't really interested in being the Master, but he figured it didn't hurt to read through. He couldn't say for certain he would never take the position. He was also interested in reading up on golems; he needed to figure out his strengths and weaknesses. Unfortunately, the book actually wasn't too clear on the matter. There was a single page with a general 'break the core to destroy' and 'be careful of high-grade golems,' and that was basically it. The golems in the illustrations looked malformed and clumsy, and their weak spot was clearly visible, though the higher-grade ones at least concealed it.

The index at the back didn't have any useful information either, so Cain moved on and returned the books to grab a new handful. Most of them skimmed over general topics, the state of the land, economy, and other bothersome things. Since he was going to be a monster, he didn't bother with all of that and focused more on the books about mining and the state of the underground. There were locations of mines controlled by the humanoids, but that wasn't really helpful. He'd probably be attacked on sight unless he could find someone to pretend to be his controller. Another book went and listed the different magical metals and crystals that interested Cain; if he could upgrade his body with high-grade materials, he might be able to wander outside the dungeons without too much worry.

Cain sighed; most of the books were useless to him, and there weren't even that many to begin with. Once he was done with all of them, he went to the section beside it out of boredom, labelled Phi Centura II. There were about twice as many books as there were for Phi Raptura XVI, and the quality was slightly higher. Even the starter introduction book was thicker. Cain frowned and shook his head; Twilight probably has some reason to send him to what was determined to be a backwater planet.

With a stretch and a sigh, Cain went back to the elevator and left through the courtyard. He could feel the guard's eyes on him again, but the feeling went away as soon as he crossed the threshold of the entrance. The self-titled 'cookbook' got him thinking about food, so he went to the closest place to him, they served something like French food, and the smell of garlic was pungent. He didn't get hungry, but he took Somer's advice and ordered more than he usually ate; golems don't eat after all, at least the ones he envisioned. Thankfully all services are free in the Vacation Zone, even the food.

As he ate he overheard two rowdy teenagers talking at another table complaining about the quality of the food. Cain could only scoff, how could they complain about free food? And even then the food is much better than he used to eat, dry noodles, hardtack, and other cheap things. He just watched with slight amusement as he ate, the teenagers continued to make a scene until it escalated to one of them hitting a waiter trying to calm them down. Shortly after a pair of guards similar to those guarding the library showed up and subdued the troublemakers with force, latched some bracelets onto their arms, and the teenagers went limp even though their faces showed anger. The restaurant was peaceful after that and Cain eventually went back to the administration building, Somer was the only person he knew and he didn't like to loiter around doing anything.

There was actually a new group of arrivals asking a few rounds of questions with him but unlike Cain's group, he looked quite peeved. "No, you cannot go back, you died, end of story!" He stated with a low yell. A few of the younger ones looked fairly upset and one was crying, the older ones remained silent with a look of pity for those who died young. Cain once again remained by the side until Somer shooed the crowd away. Somer stood and ambled out the door, saying, "Kid, let's go, I need a drink," to which Cain nodded and followed along.

"I tell you, it's rare to get groups like yours where everyone can accept their deaths, they usually always yell and sob at me, expecting me to do something about it. If they want to make a fuss they should've yelled at their receiver!" Somer complains as he picks up his pace.

Cain shrugs, "People are complicated, don't you have co-workers you can switch with or something?"

"Feh! I wish, every time I do get someone to share the workload they quit after a week because they can't handle the verbal abuse and crying. ... But I don't blame them," Somer explains and mumbles the last part, but not so quiet as for Cain not to hear it.

Cain hums, "Why don't I give it a try? A job is a job, I've got plenty of experience with things like that."

"Hmm, I've read your resume, are you sure you want to thrust yourself back in like that?"

"I'm not used to receiving things for free, I'll feel better if I have work, ah, is this the place?" Cain asks as they arrive at the first run-down building Cain has seen in the Vacation Zone.