Chapter 4 – Disappointment.

Question #2

Why do monsters invade the dungeons?

Well, there can be many reasons.

Maybe they are curios.

Maybe they are looking for the food.

Or maybe they are territory or see the dungeon as hinderance, resulting in the monster trying to destroy the dungeon.

There are many reasons why would the random monsters wonder into the dungeon.

However, this time it was just curiosity.

The rabbit monster at first stumbled into the dungeon entrance by just pure chance, but they were also wary of the unknown dungeon that had just appeared in their territory, with had made them alert.

[Current number of intruders – 4]

Thanks to the dungeon master curiosity, it was somehow able to learn one of the dungeon functions – [Monitoring].

Simple put, the dungeon master can use this function to see what is going on inside the system, in nutshell – Camera and monitor.

"?"

(Different….) – the dungeon master stared and realized that the beings that had invaded his dungeon.

The creatures looked around and sniffed around while the dungeon master watched their every move with curiosity.

The rabbits wandered around while making their way into the deeper parts of the dungeon…. And before long, they encountered them.

The wooden mannequin.

[Monster VS Monster]

The mannequin spotted the rabbit at the frond and swinged around its arm like an club.

But the rabbit monster easily dodged to the side, before then charging forward and then stabbing the wooden creature with the rabbit horn, digging into wooden puppet stomach and knocking down the puppet.

However, the wooden puppet wasn't bothered by the damage and instead started attacking the rabbit that was stuck on its belly, while the rabbit trashed around, trying to remove itself.

But then, the second and third rabbit leaped at the wooden mannequin, turning the battle into one sided victory for the rabbits.

"…"

Dungeon saw as one of his creatures was overpowered and destroyed by the rabbits quiet easily, but it wasn't the end as several wooden mannequins appeared.

And so, the battle resumed.

The rabbit used their kicks to deal blunt damage, while also repeating the headbutt charge and also using their teeth's to bite into the wood.

While on the other hand, the mannequins only did single move – Swing around their arms like clubs.

The wooden mannequins attacks were extremely predicable and easy to dodge for the rabbits.

However, sometimes the wall blocked the rabbit movement or sometimes other rabbits got in each other way, while also sometimes two mannequins did an accidental pincer attack.

The puppet attacks worked and they were dealing damage…. But not nearly enough at all.

The rabbits attacks were doing far more damage than puppets were doing, with was obviously noticed by the dungeon master who was observing the entire fight.

The fight went on and 2 rabbit monster had died, while another one had its eye bashed in.

But on the other side, the mannequins were getting destroyed.

The damage sustained by the dungeon monster had even caused some of these monsters to die.

However, the rabbit then turned around and run away.

The rabbit knew that they could win, but they were both injured and exhausted, resulting in their survival instincts kicking and causing them to retreat.

The wooden mannequins obviously couldn't catch up to the rabbits with their woobly movement, resulting in the extremely easy escape of the rabbits that didn't even needed to run at full speed to get away.

And the dungeon master watched it all…. And though one thing.

(Stupid.)

It was just disappointed at its.

It observed each fight and spot out differences as well as problems.

The first obvious problem were the puppets patterns.

Swing.

That is, it.

These puppets weren't living being.

They didn't had brains or instincts.

They were machines that couldn't develop like the dungeon master who was also an puppet, but had both mind and consciousness.

Not only that, but these puppets attacks were far too weak.

These rabbits were weak, but the puppets were even far weaker and lost when they had number advantage.

(Useless.)

These wooden mannequins were indeed the weakest possible monsters that the dungeon can produce and the dungeon master was fully aware of that.

But after witnessing how "weak" monster beat them like that, it understood that its wooden mannequins are even far weaker than I had originally though.

"…"

(Stronger?)

Dungeon master thoughts were this time simple.

Can he make these monsters stronger or replace them with something else?

The answer was complicated.

Dungeons can produce various type of monsters as they develop and learn.

Simple put an "Monster research".

This functions allows the dungeon to research and other monster variants.

They can also sometimes "influence" or "mix" something in it, depending on multiple circumstances.

Or sometimes they can run an simulation that research the specific monster type and allows the dungeon to discover an new species of monsters.

For example, an evolved version of an monster.

[Weed Slime -> Green Slime]

Or for example an branch evolutions.

[Goblin -> Hobgoblin /OR/ Goblin Warrior]

Or it may result in the discovery of similar species.

[Rat -> New species discovered: Bunny]

But obviously it's not all free.

The research needs DP points as an fuel in order to make it work.

There are also some other ways of conducting research or possible gaining other ways getting "data" to create the monster, but that will be discussed when the times comes.

But for now, the dungeon master current situation.

[Do you wish to invest 100 DP points into the {Research - Monster: Wooden Mannequin}? The used DP points will be permanently lost.]

[You have used 100 DP points had been used.]

[Incinerating research process.]

"…"

[Process completed: Effect: No results.]

"…"

(Not enough… Use more?)

(But defenses?)

Another sign of the development of the monster mind.

Hesitation.

It wanted both things.

It wanted to have an ability to create stronger monster, but it also wanted to booster the dungeon defenses.

And this next problem caused the monster to develop even more.

It was trying to think ahead, trying to understood what would happened if it would go with option A or with option B.

The monster "thinked" about what would happened and in the end it went with the research option.

Reason?

Why make something so weak that it cannot do anything on its own?

An very simple answer that anybody can came up on its own, even an child could easily come up with this answer.

But even so, this small "hesitation" and "thinking about the future" had cause the creature to develop even more in more than one way.

Anyway, the research results.

[You are now able to create [Mannequin Human].]

An simple monster, an very similar to the wooden mannequin, but their body build was somewhat different, more "human" like.

The dungeon master though that this brand new monster would work.

It was noticeable stronger and faster.

It even had fingers and could do something "more".

…

But then disappointment came.

 It died.

The dungeon master ordered its creation to fight it until death…. It wanted to see how good it was.

But results were disappointing yet again.

It was sloppy.

It fighting style was pretty much the same as the wooden mannequin.

(It won't do.)

(This creature is disappointing as well.)

Anger and frustration.

Those were the obvious feelings that the creature had felt at the moment.

But the thing that the creature DIDN'T understand was "why"?

(Why is it the same?)

The dungeon master didn't understood what was wrong.

Why the mannequin human was so pathetic like the wooden mannequin.

(WHY?)

(WHY?!)

(It hit harder.)

(It can take more blows.)

(But, isn't working properly?)

(Why?)

(Research? More?)

(But…. What if next…. Same problem?)

Worring.

The creature was worried about the current situation.

Another form of development of a mind.

If the creature was more "mindless", it would definitely though about doing research again and again… But the dungeon master understood that it maybe not fix the problem.

It was curios and wanted to know WHY it wouldn't work?

"…"

(Not same?)

One simple answer came to the dungeon master head easily.

They are stupid.

They don't have mind.

Yet again simple answer that even child can come up with.

But now came the second question to fallow up with this.

(How change?)

Instead of thinking how to change the monster wondering in the dungeon, it instead wondered how it can possibly change the monsters.

But it was also thinking about the dungeon and how to defend it.

It was thinking, asking questions, wondering, hesitating and most of all, getting curios, with had caused the creature mind to develop with each passing moment without creature realizing it.

…

The first subject that the creature wanted to deal with was obviously the defense.

It couldn't leave the dungeon unprotected, so as much as it annoyed it, it decided to created human mannequins to defend the dungeon while also having these monsters generate miasma for the dungeon.

Next, it created the wooden mannequin and the human mannequin.

Reason?

Experiment.

It wanted to see what they can do.

What it can possibly learn that it doesn't know.

But it didn't learned much.

Simple commands worked, but only when dungeon master gave an direct order. They couldn't do that order on their own or do the order later or anything complicated.

An disappointing result with no development.

(Damage?)

(Negative. No reaction when wild monsters destroyed it.)

(…)

"!"

The dungeon master realized that the human mannequin had fingers, the exactly same fingers as the first invaders.

It gave the mannequin the sword…. But problem arrived.

It didn't knew how to use it.

It swinged it around it around while it was doing it normal attack.

Disappointing result yet again.

…

(Maybe other way around?)

The dungeon master realized that there is no way these creatures will learn, so instead he went and looked though the information it was provided with when it was born.

It was looking around, something about that can provide the dungeon master with informations about its monster or anything that can change them.

"!"

And it found it.

[Monster - Appraisal]

An special function of the dungeon that allows the dungeon master to gather information about their monster.

From their special abilities, to the biological type data.

And there was something.

The monsters that were created neither posse any form of abilities, but there was something that had catched the dungeon monster attention.

The something it was searching for and could possible "evolve" these useless puppets.