Chương 82: The Peanut Gallery.

Alright! Listen up! I'm only going say this once – no repeats for those hard of hearing. Everyone knows the best loot is found in first runs and the floodgates have been opened. We go in hard and we keep going in until we find something good… alright? – Yes Dale? Don't mind that funny feeling. That's the suppression here, you'll get used to it in a bit. Make sure to swallow down any bile you don't want to start vomiting now. Yeah, I'm speaking from experience. Any other questions or are we good to move out?

WAIT, STOP. DON'T STRIKE. Okay, thanks for listening. Give me a second… [visual transcript: a hammer-shaped monster wearing a lab coat cowers before the team. It holds out a strange suspicious-looking ring and points to an identical one on its hammer-shaped neck]. Who feels up to wearing that? It could be a trap? [visual transcript: all party members point at the speaker]. Really? You're going to do me like that? Okay. Fine, give me a moment.

[visual transcript: speaker takes the ring and carefully examines it before placing it carefully on his head. A few seconds later they begin nodding and staring intently at the hammer – occasionally making gestures with their hands as they talk]. Alright everyone! This poor fellow is named Jim. He's been through alot, so please be understanding. Now, Jim is a klaxon from 4000 years ago who was researching immortality with the rest of his companions when a massive… Hissssss …

plop [visual transcript: A party jumps from crumbling building to crumbling building. Below, acid bubbles and boils and the scene extends out into a massive room. A hasty jump is done just as a massive hand exits the caustic liquid and pulls its victim into the acid]. I've got you! I don't got you. Quick you're a water mage right? Get him out! What do you mean that's not water? It's liquid right? See that's why I use a sword. Can always count on my sword to swing can't you. … are they dead? I got distracted....

did anyone like that guy? My ears.. they popped and now I feel dizzy. What is up with the air here? Why does it feel like jelly? My tongue is buzzing too. I feel strange. I feel like I'm falling. Is that just me? My perception is all over the place. How are you guys fine?

"You get used to it?" I don't think I could ever get used to this feeling. This can't be good for my health. I'm going back. Test A is coming back with a red squiggle surounded by a series of greenish dots. We've never gotten that before? I don't even know how to begin translating it. Now one of the green dots is eating other dots and getting bigger? Are we the dots? Whats the squiggle then... Test B is blinking aggressively…

It's as if we are currently in the largest apocalypse to shake the world since it's been created. OH! It stopped... Test C through E are indicating this is a dungeon and test F claims its not. Test G shows spacial… something. I think it's broken. The reading is stating this room is negativly shrunk? Test H claims time has been sped up by a factor of 2%. Test J claims while time has been sped up, its ended up slower than it would otherwise? Test K… … guys? Mike? Liezka? Ralki'ith? What happened? Where did you go?

Please come back. I don't think I can do this alone.... That was a demon was it not? Why did it look so… normal. Mike! I thought you left, where are the others? Mike? Why are you covered in crystals? Are you hurt? Mike? Excerpt obtained as a collection of recordings taken from the scouting equipment of one Colene Q. Abe: How much you want to bet green boots survives? Brutality Queen: I'll bet you 50% of my mana for a week he's dead in an hour. I've seen adventurers like that one. Thinks he's invincible.

Solo adventurers are dumber than slimes. Innearth: Yeah… he's cocky but did you see the way he eviscerated that demon carp? Bare hands too, didn't even see him use any skills. I'll take that bet. Fated Eternal Design: … He came from your dungeon didn't he? Do you know something we don't? Innearth: shhhhh… I'm trying to scam queen. Don't out me like that. The dungeons were currently a day into watching the facility be scouted for the first time.

They had all decided to sit back and appreciate their work – promising to focus a majority of their attention onto their shared floor Because they couldn't just passively experience it, that meant a running commentary was being held in half a dozen separate system channels – each following different groups and talking about different topics simultaneously. They were dungeons after all. ZeMadDoctor: Is it wrong to hope that group fails so I can claim all their monitoring equipment? I want to study it!

Innearth: I wonder what would happen if you gave life to that giant box with runes and dials and lights and a little feed of script running on that spool of… Fated Eternal Design: A monitoring monster! It could live in the server room! And in another channel. Fated Eternal Design: It's just… just so sad. They were lovers. They were a perfect pair. They were adventurers in love. I can't believe that monster just up and ate him. How could it! Her pain is my pain! Slaughter everything in your path! Abe: Bro…

you made that monster. Fated Eternal Design: It doesn't stop me from shipping them. Did you see the moment they kissed a few minutes ago? Magical. Abe: no like bro. Do you not feel responsible? Fated Eternal Design:? How could I? I didn't kill her fiance. I'm all the way over here. Innearth: Upgrading their status huh? It was just one kiss. Probably just light dating. Fated Eternal Design: I hope she makes it out of here alive! Abe: fine.

I'm rooting for her to marry a particularly deadly explosion sooner rather than later. Fated Eternal Design: Take that back. Jessica is beautiful while broken. Amy: I can get behind that. Team Jessica? Innearth: You can't just name adventurers whatever you want. Fated Eternal Design: Ohoho. Okay there Mr "Craig". And in yet another channel. Amy: Oh hey look! A group got infected by the crystal hive! Mwahaha. Fated Eternal Design: Look! One is still uninfected. Abe: Not for long. His buddy came back for him! Look.

Dumb guy hasn't realized yet. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. Innearth: Practically a zombie and he hasn't figured it out yet. See. That's the sort of thing that makes me glaze over. Just figure it out already or get infected! I can't stand dumb characters. It's like the adventurer is weaponizing incompetence. Abe: Harsh. I kind of like the dumb ones. They are funny.

The most important channel however was the one dedicated to the high levelled scouting group centered around an electric baton-wielding warrior. ZeMadDoctor: I hope they find nothing wrong with it. I'm scared of the gold adventurer coming back. Innearth: You don't think you could defend against her now? ZeMadDoctor: … I don't know if I could. Besides the goal isn't to defend against her. It's to make something she has no reason to show up for. Innearth: You know… I saw her performance.

I bet roach knight could take her. Abe: Shh… look they are getting close to Doc's section. Why did we let him put that many demons in it again? OH NO! HE HAS A WINDOW TO THE VOID. Innearth: … I mean they are going find out eventually where this place is located? We can't hide it right? Amy: I think it will be fine. They seem understanding and friendly. Brutality Queen: Am I the only one sitting here hoping one of them gets wrecked? It can't be just me. Abe: Nah its not just you.

I think it has something to do with the media we're consuming. We've come to expect the action. Its just so much more entertaining to watch them struggle than it is to watch them breeze through everything y/k? Abe: Personally. I'm hoping one of those gun weilding girls gets merked. Theres two of them you know? Thin the herd! No need for redundancy! Innearth: Who made this spring board puzzle? ZeMadDoctor: … we are in my area. It's obviously me. Innearth: …

I know that I was trying to give you an opportunity to say "I did" so I could congratulate you more naturally. Its really well done! I like it a lot… ZeMadDoctor: Oh. Thank you. The room the adventurers were in now was full of kinetic mana springboards that shot both adventurers and various shaped projectiles alike.

Several bouncing cubes needed to be grabbed mid-flight and brought to designated "buttons" and – to make everything more fun – there were several locations that upgraded turrets shot dangerous projectiles from. The team was being extra careful. Their researcher had analyzed the room and given an optimal route. The bear had launched themselves off several out-of-the-way locations that popped through a secret hidden portal right above three of the cubes.

Roaring, the bear had grabbed all of the cubes – arms briefly appearing to duplicate they moved so fast – before landing loudly by their team. The group had then carefully gone a long way about the room – despite potentially being able to tank the turrets. Abe: Booo. Innearth: Safety is an admirable trait. Knowing how to Brutality Queen: I mean… theoretically. In this case I'm bored however. Its too clean. Would have been more exciting if they messed up in my humble opinon.

Abe: They are getting close to the window! … Abe: I'm sorry… what kind of reaction is that. Innearth: They just ignored it! They just looked out nodded and moved on! Abe: After all that build up! Amy: See. I told you I think they are quite reasonable. They liked snookems. That's a good sign. They good people. ZeMadDoctor: I think… I think we overestimated how much they can see through the window. Innearth: what do you mean? ZeMadDoctor: I mean. It's kind of dark out in the void no? The atmosphere eats light? Abe: …

so they just saw a room into pitch blackness? Its kind of purplish isn't it? Shouldn't they see purplish misty stuff? Innearth: I think I understand what doc is meaning. You're looking at the matter… and mana… and whatever the void atmopshere is. Try just looking at the light? That's how most sapients see. Abe: … theres nothing there. They just stared straight into a pitch black wall. LOL. SAFE. Still don't know they are in the void. Innearth: And that I believe was the sound of you jinxing it.

In front of the windows into the void, the researcher of the group stood frowning slightly. He twiddled dials and sent out spells that progressed further and further into the outer void and steadily seemed to lose his cool. Finally, after several minutes of this repeated testing, the researcher finally stopped. It was as if they had already figured out where they were several minutes before, but hadn't believed it.

The researcher stumbled over to the rest of his group who had been studying a fleshy sculpture – one Doc had made to hide a chest. An animated series of arm movements and panicked dialogue later and the group seemed to be split on the concept. On one side the bear, two gun-wielding girls, and shock trooper seemed to not see what the big deal was. They seemed relaxed and kept trying to return to studying the sculpture.

On the other side the two members that seemed tacked on for the duration of their monitoring job – the researcher and "wizard" – were panicking. The wizard had surrounded themselves in close to a thousand alternating pink and blue barriers squished together while the researcher kept loudly trying to get the group to leave. All that could be seen of the wizard, was an egg-shaped dome that occasionally flashed with harsh light – as if the sapient within was attempting to cleanse himself.

Finally, the glowing silver chest was extracted from the sculpture and the group seemed ready to continue. They moved in a roundabout arc hugging the wall of Doc's dome and after a few minutes, it became clear they were heading towards Innearth's zone. Brutality Queen: Some toys for your boss! Innearth: Do you think this group is high enough of a level? Amy: Oh! That's a fun game. I think they might be able to handle it all together? Two members are panicking… so depending on their reactions things might go south.

What do you think. Will they be okay? Abe: This is only fun if we can't tell how it will go y/k? The transition to Innearth's area was not a massive leap in average strength all things considered… but it was significant enough to set warnings up. All the hallways that entered CISC's domain were filled with bright yellow and red coloured symbols – along with doors that were hard to open. The group noted the warnings, then confidently bypassed them.

They pushed through a literal airlock and pushed through past the point of no return. Immediately on the other side was a trio of soldiers who shambled and then ran forwards. The two in the front had a weapon and set of skills centered around an axe and a spear enhancing their speed and damage. The soldier in the back had a skill that manipulated a long metal rod like a whip. A quick-fire of barriers from the wizard were shattered with ease, before the soldiers were among them.

The shock trooper seemed surprised by the amount of force behind the axe he blocked – his expression morphing from relaxed to excited as he was flung backwards into the wall. Immediately the air was full of bullets and fired bolts and the crack of an incredibly solid whip. The melee was chaotic and boxed in. To the side the bear stood – hair bristling outwards, a hole in its side dripping black blood.

A flash of electricity so strong it ignited the air accompanied each strike of the trooper while a literal hail of bullets chipped away at the monsters in front of them. Two full minutes of mayhem later and the last of the soldiers fell, but not before leaving the bear and trooper beaten and bruised. To be fair to the adventurers they had been ambushed nearly outside of the entrance to the zone, but this initial exchange summed up quite a bit of the following ones as well.

They won – repeatedly even – but only due to outnumbering each group they came across nearly 2: 1 and not without being damaged. Instead of magical-looking potions, minor healing was performed through sticky green "patches" and major healing (the one time one of the gungirls lost an arm) was done with a syringe-like injection that rapidly regrew the lost limb. Individually, the members of this group weren't the strongest adventurers any of the dungeons had had…

but as a larger group that all had levels above 100, they were one of the strongest combined forces that regularly patrolled any of their dungeons. There was something incredibly cathartic about them becoming steadily more and more dishevelled as they progressed deeper into the realm of CISC. They became jumpy and paranoid after repeatedly nearly losing someone and at one point after wandering through the "laser pyramid" room and nearly being vaporized by the massive beam, the researcher broke down.

He rocked and shook as the idea that he was truly in danger sunk in. All his previous actions had been done from a position of detachment. His mindset had been analytical for he was confident in being safe. He wasn't an adventurer. Not truly. He was a sapient that was brought on to study and better scout Doc's portals – but with the major caveat that he was protected at all times – and this zone broke him into a twitching shivering mess. He wanted out.

The researcher continued to scout the area – devices passively scanning and storing information but… he was done. His nerves were shot and he was no longer actively helping them out. The group decided they had had enough and began the process of retreating. Light engagement with several soldiers kept them moving slow, but, with the knowledge, they were leaving. The researcher pulled himself together enough to direct them towards the exit. Abe: … I mean. They never reached my zone.

I feel kind of left out to be honest. Where my vault raid at! Innearth: There's a group heading towards your zone right now! Just because this one didn't reach it doesn't mean you aren't getting action. Abe: Yeah yeah, This one felt more important though… you know? Brutality Queen: My disappointment they all survived is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Amy: I quite like this outcome! Fated Eternal Design: I can't see them finding any problems. Can you?

I'm going to need to tweak the difficulty of some of my areas I feel like they bypassed them too easily. ZeMadDoctor: I got plenty of data from them. Will iterate testing from there. Abe: Hey, come check this group out! They found the trapped treasure room. You know the one? Where we set up bombs attached to every case set to go off upon any of the crystal containers being broken? Abe: If you're quick you can catch the explosion! Rushing over the dungeons moved on. And then moved on again.

There were days of content available to watch. Weeks, Months. A literal backlog of new areas and scenarios. Two days later, a chance interaction between panels lead FED to show everyone this zone was tagged differently. It showed up as a separate dungeon – the system didn't seem to have an existing plan for how to define the shared dungeon. So, when adventurers began to interact and analyze and attempt to describe it… the system decided to go with what the adventurers thought it was.

They called the facility "The Void Crossroads" and as news spread the number of high-levelled adventurers delving them began to steadily climb. The shock troopers group didn't remain the highest levelled regulars for long. Within a month there were a dozen similarly levelled groups wandering around the shared hallways and the overall difficulty steadily rose to meet the new foes. Time passed once more.