Katelyn.

  Abby was in her pixie form again as she flitted about while Katelyn walked.

  The monster woman wore a pair of the other girl's bck tights, refitted for Kate's more—curvy and shorter proportions, a set of simple red fts, and a comfy hoodie, all provided by her friend and ndlord, who had requested, hot or not, that Katelyn actually wear something while she strutted about...

  As it happened, Kate didn't really feel the same sense of—propriety she'd previously held for casual nudity as her body wasn't really meant for the same thing as it had been before, biologically speaking, of course.

  The wide range of emotions that had once existed within her were not gone exactly, but neither were they entirely prevalent at all times.

  Though she had added in all the fun bits for—future application, should the interest arise, of course, the reality of it all was that Kate, as of te, found aspects of her old self slipping.

  All the same, the clothes the dungeon-girl created were of top notch quality and exceedingly comfortable to move in. Honestly, she hadn't realized just how much she missed rge fleece sweaters until she'd been without them.

  It was one of those things like a good foreign meal.

  She might have adored it during, but probably wouldn't have given it a second thought until it had been pushed in front of her again.

  The pair were strolling through Abby's most recent addition to her dungeon, a new room that would appear only once at a time in a rare shard that she was provisionally calling a 'death run.'

  The pn, as it were, was for Katelyn to totally wipe out whatever party encountered her special variant upon an otherwise standard delve, Ensuring that there were no survivors to tell any tales.

  Likewise, should they get unlucky and receive a party that was too powerful for her to safely combat, let alone overcome, then she would simply hide and wait them out using her shapeshifting powers to appear as little interesting as possible.

  However, Abby did note with some malignant glee that Kate's stats were rather—disturbing. In a good way, so far as the dungeon girl was concerned!

  Far exceeding what a monster of her level should possess by an entire order of magnitude. This was, as the dungeon had expined, somewhat in part reted to her mysterious managing of the prerequisite for evolution, as it could be attributed to the yet still secret system fuckery on the end of her spiritual form.

  Her monstrous changes had been a power boost of sorts that was unique to monsters alone and one meant to outright multiply their stats. Not all creatures could evolve, and not all evolutions had linear paths. Monsters were—less a specific thing and more a broad category.

  As an example, a lizard, should it gain enough intelligence, could transform into a kobold. From there, said kobold might turn into a rger lizard, if powerful enough, returning to a more simir form to where it started.

  However, it could turn into dragon-kin and, from there, a drake or wyvern. It was all—connected, though, due to how the system handled it given most monsters weren't smart, also quite confusing.

  With each subsequent evolution upon a rank up, assuming one met the requirements, stats were applied an additional multiplicative modifier. This meant that, while Kate was low level and rank but still powerful, that scenario wasn't wholly unique as many monsters could differ wildly in potential!

  Her own tomfoolery with the system and her glitchy extra stat sheet simply meant she was just that much more dangerous…

  Still, Abby did warn that, if they could, they should leave suppression teams alone as their absence would be much more noteworthy than unseasoned rookie delvers.

  The compromise between them was that Abby would, in her power as a dungeon, wait upon Kate hand and foot for anything she needed, a phrase she admitted sounded much worse than it really was given the servant-like implications.

  However, Abby was apparently akin to some super-processor who had been dumbing herself down to speak with her new and less-enlightened monster friend.

  The slightly disheveled and I'll-put-together young woman who she'd met was, much like Kate, fake.

  Sure, it pyed the part it was meant to all be well and good; however, it was ultimately a means to an end that stood to aid in retaining her humanity more than anything else.

  The real Abby was, again, not the small pixie that she roamed around as because it was easy, but quite literally everything around Kate that could be said to be a permanent fixture.

  It was all a lot like a body, she'd expined, but instead of focusing on exterior stimuli, which she could, the majority of what happened in her purview existed at the cellur level, as it were.

  Thus, in exchange for acting as both apartment, servant, and resurrector should something unfortunate befall her, Katelyn would continue to act as she previously had before, only with a custom setup and the house in her back pocket.

  Though Abby did expin that while any adventurers were inside of her, she couldn't close the shard or alter it, that didn't mean the setup couldn't be rigged from the start, nor was she prevented from wandering around herself in her pixie form to cause shenanigans.

  Which, as it happened, was a big part of their pn. It was, in point of fact, a codependent retionship.

  Abby was not ready to start fighting back on her own quite yet as she built her strength to fully emancipate herself.

  Katelyn needed a safe pce to feed, keep herself sane, and, much like the other girl, a way to grow in strength.

  She wanted to visit the outside world, but after what she'd seen and some of the war stories Abby had shared, Katelyn decided that she'd want to be as strong as she could manage before making an attempt.

  Despite the dungeon's promise to return her to as she had been, Katelyn didn't like the idea of dying again, regardless of the girl's assurances that all would theoretically be fine.

  If she was going to leave this pce, then she better well be capable of defending herself… and, as she was, strong or otherwise, she was at the very beginning of her new journey, not its end.

  Honestly, as far as it went, it was a pretty win-win scenario for them both as, with any luck, Abby could gain enough soul stuff in as quiet a manner as she could to achieve her goals while Kate got security and a means to make the most of her talents.

  The only issue was a single problem arising from Abby's end of things, who, in no uncertain terms, let her know that she was now technically a boss monster, as only monsters of the lowest tier could popute the first floor under most circumstances.

  And, creatures of her own status, now tier one or bronze as Abby had confusingly referred to her, had to be cssified as bosses on the current level.

  Abby had a hard limit to the number of creatures and power levels she could incorporate into her current size and yout, which, with Katelyn as she was once ranking up, meant that, in practice, she had to waste her current opportunity to expand, possibly to an entirely new level, and instead enrge her current design to accommodate Katelyn's new boss chamber.

  And, when asked why she had to name it as such and, likewise, apparently, it did matter, the reply was—

  "Else the universe will step in to—tip the scales back towards bance."

  Kate really hadn't liked how that had sounded, and while the other girl had refused to eborate, stating it was less a desire to keep quiet and more a restriction, she'd agreed they needed to keep things just fair enough to avoid any potential conflicts of interest with possible grumpy deities...

  The reality of it all was that Abby was investing quite a lot of her very limited resources into Kate, the other woman not batting an eye in admitting that she was desperate and long since fighting for survival against the ropes.

  She was throwing the world at Katelyn, or what she could manage of it, and, honestly, it was all just a little endearing to her.

  Call it comradery in what was left of their earthling hearts.

  Call it accepting a bribe with willingly greased palms.

  Call it her own selfish desires, wanting a return to a taste of her former life and a living servant to rub her feet, of which she would have the pixie attend to.

  Regardless of her reasons, the monster knew she wanted to help the dungeon, even if they hadn't known each other very long.

  And, though she hadn't said anything yet, the other girl—intrigued Kate…. Just enough so that she wondered to what degree Abby had been, well, embarrassed by her naked glory...

  She even wondered what kind of fun toys that dungeons could pull off when their minds were set toward the perverse...

  Delightful food for thought.

  There had been discussions, of course, to simply open up another floor and send Kate down there. However, Abby thought the appearance of a new level might be such a shocking deviation from the status quo that nobody would actually go down…

  Or, some would go down while others ran away, tail between legs, but with the hopes of selling the information.

  Oddly, she would also be expected to have a loot table, as—concerning as that implication was for her. Moreover, her room would need to be of a unique design, so, no dead-end hallway leading to nothing but a shiny new piece of gear.

  What was more, the yout and theme needed to match with the rest of the dungeon, or else Abby assured her that Adventures would refuse to go near it.

  Suspicious lot that they were...

  While often young and inexperienced, many delvers were academically trained and not at all mentally insufficient. The real issue, however, at least when it came to what Katelyn wanted to do, was the—limitation on monsters.

  Abby had expined that it wasn't just like dropping the little beasties into a cave when she saw people coming but more like a sort of programming.

  She had pre-existing rooms that had a chance of appearing in various states throughout herself, and she was already maxed out on creatures, even with the new room. An issue that the dungeon had assured her was actually Katelyn's doing as she now technically ranked high as Grom.

  However, even if Kate wouldn't be appearing every run, her possible presence still counted against Abby's top end. Thus, annoyingly, anything that went into her little—scenario wouldn't ever appear anywhere else… thus locking those resources down for a very narrow scope of her overall design.

  If Kate's reincarnated life could be said to resemble anything, it was that of a horror movie where she was the big bad chasing terrified teens as they scurried through dark rooms.

  Abby's, by contrast, was decidedly more of a spreadsheet… Closer resembling a city-building game in design…

  Again, not an issue as far as Abby was concerned on paper; however, the problem for it all y from an accounting perspective.

  "They've been farming me for longer than your parents have been alive…" Abby stated, voice dull as she floated through the mockup they'd put together over the past few days. "I know it sounds weird, but time is obviously funny for me, and it seems like it doesn't exactly run linear to what's going on back on earth besides…"

  The pixie paused, taking in a deep and exhausted breath as her little body outright wilted as she spoke, "They have cataloged every goblin, every trap, every piece of loot that I have and know exactly the quantity of valuables and experience delivers should be leaving with based on their level.

  I'm, quite honestly, and without even joking, their entire fucking economy! Or at least its backbone. And if that changes by any considerable degree, then they're going to want to know why. So, I'm getting rid of all the—useless stuff...

  The low-chance rooms, the extra pathways, the area's people don't usually bother with… old traps… that never worked, but I never got the chance to deal with… all of it to make room for your idea… That's why I can't give you as many goblins as you want or make Grog show up here…

  We're going to have to make do with what I can spare… At least," The girl continued, sounding as despondent as she was clearly frustrated by her situation, "for the time being…"

  "Think ten goblins is enough, though?" Kate asked curiously, looking up at the rge stairwell carved into the stone itself and leading to a dark cage that loomed above the monstrous encampment. The upper sub-level of the room being just barely visible in the dim light once one got closer.

  Abby breathed through her tiny teeth, clicking her tongue in thought and without much certainty… "I don't know, honestly… and, truth be told, it might already be too much…

  The average party size is like, four people and, with ten goblins… they might just look at it and talk themselves into doing the—morally wrong thing…"

  "Even with four of them standing on the ptforms?"

  "Mmm, maybe?" Abby asked, shrugging. "It's not like we can't tweak things going forwards, but it costs me more power than I'm willing to spend to keep fucking around with stuff after it's locked in, so I'd really rather not until… you know, we start seeing some results!"

  "I'm honestly not sold on certain parts either…" Kate admitted sourly, looking at the cage with concern. "I know visibility is a whole—thing, given I need a chance to hide, but… what's the point if they can't see me up there?"

  "You know, I should really ask how you're pnning on acting before—you know, pulling the trigger on all of this…"

  Katelyn looked at the other girl, sniffled, and then adjusted her vocal cords while forcing fluids from her eyes. "Help me! Please! I-I don't want to die!"

  Though the effect was partially muted by the fact she was wearing casual attire, standing with both hands in her pockets and grinning, Kate had to say the voice was pitch-perfect for misery and desperation.

  "I like the tears." Abby nodded, tilting her head as she regarded Kate with a degree of rather intense scrutiny. "Think you can throw in some eyeliner and messy smears for the cheeks?"

  "Yeah, I was going to go that route anyway." Katelyn agreed the flow from her still-watering eyes subsided as they continued their inspection. "Going to need tattered clothes from you, rags I guess, or torn underclothes and the like… probably going to have to make myself look pretty filthy as well… the smell might be an issue, but I figure it might be overlooked… I would—honestly prefer not stinking like shit, but…"

  "Well, you're in luck! Elves have a tendency to smell—flowery even with the body odor, so don't go for outright smelly with those ears…"

  "Even better."

  "But also, also, don't go overboard either… It's not like perfume exactly; there's still a bit of ugh... naturalness to it…"

  "I've got a decent idea…" Katelyn murmured. Though not mentally present, her memories still remained, and she had more than enough first-hand experience to sort of get the idea once she actually knew to go looking for it. All that needed to happen now was to—test her pn.

  Katelyn yawned as she sat in her room. Silently reading a book that Abby had duplicated for her from the girl's own and rather rge supply. Evidently, adventures left all sorts of things inside of her, and they didn't even need to die either; just—lose, abandon, or forget about it.

  As it happened, Kate now had a rather significant collection of books, already having made a sort of mental list regarding the order in which she wanted to burn through them.

  Sadly, sometimes, expectation and reality weren't exactly—aligned.

  Back home, authors had many tools at their disposal to aid in their literary endeavors. Proofreaders and Editors come to mind for the comparison. And while she had read her fair share of stories that cked much in the way of polish, even with all these boons, this world had evidently not reached the same societal peak as her own.

  If she had to read how simir Chadwick's jaw was to polished marble one more time on the current page, she might just consider dropping the book altogether, entertaining romance or otherwise…

  Something about seeing the same phrase used over and over and over and over again without deviation—really ruined the fantasy and immersion of it all…

  Maybe it was just her; maybe she was being too hard on those poor authors out there who were all just doing their best to keep the rabid dogs known as 'online readers' at bay...

  But either way, that was the joy of freedom of choice.

  Nothing was forcing her to sit here and push through to save her own interest in the story.

  Still, Katelyn felt it might just be a little time for a break all the same.

  Stretching herself and appreciating the process for what it was in her current form, she rose from her cushioned seat and—sighed.

  "You know…" She spoke aloud, head tilted slightly to the ceiling. "I sort of thought that someone would be sent to this shard—sooner or ter, but… this feels… decidedly ter…"

  There wasn't much of a reply for several moments, but then, a piece of paper sort of just—appeared on her desk, Katelyn gncing at the words before offering them a shrug.

  "The methodology can do that." It read the flowing script upon its sheet continuing after what Katelyn assumed was meant to sort of be an—attempt at a sighing emoji. "Sometimes, it might feel like days or hours for some shards to be poputed; others just have people swarm them back to back. It is evening outside as well, which, obviously, means things are quiet."

  "I get that." The monster nodded, a hand reaching down so she could brush her fingers along the wood's surface. "But, I guess I'm just not used to being—stuck in a bedroom with, not your fault, but so little to—do…"

  "Meditation helps." Another note replied, the dungeon's answer making her scoff as she turned away.

  "It's not like I can even ask you to replicate Netflix or anything… I mean, sure, I've got to imagine a computer isn't impossible, but the content?"

  Several moments passed in silence as Kate expected to hear the soft shift of another page nd upon the others. Yet, when none readily arrived, she figured that the other girl had bigger things on her mind.

  She wasn't sure what running a multi-dimensional and monster-filled cave structure was like, but she figured that if it was easy, then Abby would have more to show for her supposed hundreds of years.

  Bored, she once more moved to her mirror, looking at the figure within and eyeing it with a critical eye.

  Everything from the smeared makeup of her face to the dirt, bruises, minor abrasions, and the semi-wild sweep of her hair had been carefully designed to project an image.

  She looked every part of the naked, wounded, and filthy captive that she had intended herself to be, with just enough—Hollywood pizazz to keep herself attractive.

  Aiming for the, 'Sure, I've been surviving in a post-apocalyptic and waterless downtown New York for a few years, but damn, let's have filthy sweaty oral sex anyway!' Tinseltown nonsense that everyone always seemed to eat up, even if they called it corny.

  Sex sold, after all, and given how the majority of adventurers she'd seen had been dudes… Well, one did have to py to their audience to get what they wanted.

  They had gone over the idea of restraining her as well, using ropes or chains while brainstorming and throwing darts at the board of ideas, but… In practice, it was simply too hard to really manage.

  After all, she didn't want to be sitting around waiting while bound and gagged. Well, not her bound and gagged anyway... but who knew, maybe Abby was willing to match her freak and consent to some light BDSM...

  Katelyn had always liked it when she broke out the riding crop and leathers when she wanted to give Brandon a reward.

  "Hey… no rush or anything. But could you throw it together like—a chessboard or something when you get the chance? I'm not good at it, but I figure it can't hurt to break up the monotony in my free time…"

  Again, nothing was forthcoming.

  Part of her sort of just assumed that Abby was ignoring her, again, simply far too busy with something else… However, another part of Katelyn, a far more suspicious and apprehensive sort, wondered if there wasn't some—other reason she wasn't responding.

  Their whole process was sort of like texting one of your friends.

  Sure, sometimes you wanted an answer sooner than ter, but spamming them with messages was just genuinely annoying behavior… It wasn't like she didn't think the other girl hadn't heard her, but… Slowly, Kate found herself inching closer to her room's false door.

  Pcing a small hand upon the stony surface and pressed home as it silently shifted in a revolving manner, revealing the test boss room to Abby's dungeon and a pixie that was waiting on the other side, hand raised as though having been about to push it herself.

  “Oh… hey…”

  "Shhh! There's no time! A group is already heading towards you, and fast!"

  Katelyn paused, then sprang into action, turning to reset the hidden door before she took up her chosen station while the dungeon girl moved to whisper in her ear. "I sort of lost track of the fact they were here for a few minutes, so they're sort of—just in the next room…"

  "How the hell do you lose track?" She hissed back, less annoyed and more amused than anything else!

  "Ask me again after you've tried running a dungeon! Shit just—slips my mind sometimes!"

  "Okay, well, we're going to have to work out an early warning system that doesn't involve you coming to wake me up 'cause this is fight number one, girl! The literal first one!"

  "Yeah, I know; please just focus for me. I've got a lot riding on this."

  "Dude, I've got this, just—go hide in a corner or something and chill out, you're way too anxious…"

  So saying, the pixie nodded her head with almost jittering anticipation, Kate wondering if she might squeal from the excitement of it all as she flitted away on her tiny wings. Disappearing into the inky gloom that was the high ceiling.

  It felt—strange to be talking again so casually with someone, her brain fuzzing for a moment as she made the strange connection interposed over her overarching situation.

  Somehow, acting with a sembnce of how she might have been back home while visually still stuck in a dungeon filled with goblins and adventurers was—weird… almost Twilight zoney… Still, she reined in her thoughts and returned her focus.

  Shifting her features to appear just a little more despondent, the monster readied herself as she saw torchlight illuminate the distant tunnel, her posture slipping to an exhausted lean as she pressed herself against the bars, eyes closed as if asleep...