Dungeon Core Online 128 Chapter 128

"Well, now they're really screwed." The group had managed to finally defeat the snuggle-woofs, though it had cost them not only most of their cool downs, but also a few consumables. On top of that, only two of the Knight's had actually survived the encounter, allowing them to level up, while everyone else had fallen. James, of course, was fine with that, as they, combined with the deaths from Skar's party, had given him the experience he had been waiting on. Grinning, he glanced for a moment at his character information. He was halfway there.

Glyax Tier 3 Rank 5 Dungeon

Mob Type: Random

420,069 xp

29,931xp to next Rank

179,931 to next Tier

Resources: 1386 of 4,900

Currency: 89 copper 17 silver 11 gold 0 platinum

Dungeon Tokens: 20

Of course, the player deaths and his subsequent level up, meant that his mobs had once again leveled as well. This meant all of his base mobs on his third floor were now level 34. The worst part of that though, was that the boss mob, whom they still intended to face, had leveled as well. A quick glance confirmed James's fears, as Grandma Jenkins was now level 44, and her pets, were each level 39. If before it had been impossible for the raid party to defeat the boss, now, it was just laughable. All James could hope, out of the fight, was that everyone at least survived a single round, so he could see some of Grandma Jenkins's mechanics. After all, he was extremely excited to see what his third-floor boss was capable of.

Currently, all of the Boss Slayer's were level 30, though four of them had fallen in the fight against the snuggle-woofs, meaning they had lost all the experience they had gained since coming to the third floor. Of the Knights, only Elm and Oak had survived the snuggle woofs, which had allowed both of those members to level up to level 33, while Z, Faust, and Med Ic now had to start their experience gain over towards that level. It was a slight blow, but still one that James knew they parties would be able to overcome. After all, they still had at least three more dives into the dungeon for the day, before the dungeon wars would start.

With the rate at which they were able to farm floors, and the fact they could not only easily handle this second floor, meaning they could farm it for full experience, but also now knew all the tricks of his third floor, James was sure they would be able to all level at least one or two more times, before the next day. This setback then, wasn't too much of a drawback for anyone, and the experience gain had been important for James. Now, he had four skill points to apply to his mobs once they drew closer to the start of the war. James was also pretty sure he would be hitting Rank 6 before the war started, considering how hard the players seemed to be going at his dungeon that day. Already he had hit max instances, and players seemed to be lining up to eagerly dive into his dungeon. It seemed they were all doing the best they could to prepare themselves for the dungeon war.

"I mean, they didn't even have a thread of hope before that fight." Rue raised an eyebrow towards James and grinned. All he could do was groan in response. Of course, she would choose now to break out a cheesy pun.

"That's not the…point." Alright, so he wasn't above cheesy puns either. Besides, they had a few minutes to spare, as the raid party was making their way extremely slowly towards Grandma Jenkins's location. James knew they were biding their time, to allow for their cooldowns to at least refresh. Considering the outcome of the snuggle-woof fight, and the amount of lost experience, they really had nothing to lose challenging her now. Which meant they were going to go all for it.

"You reap what you sew." Rue stuck her tongue out at him and motioned towards the party. There had been one other additional outcome to the fight, that at least had Z in good spirits. The Beastmaster had gotten a unique drop from the Alpha Snuggle-woof, one which James hadn't even known was an option. He really needed to get back to his loot research.

At Z's side, a miniature Alpha Snuggle-woof trotted alongside him. That made two of the 10 members now with third floor pets, though the Alpha Snuggle-woof was without a doubt the better of the two. He was practically the size of an actual dog, maybe standing about three feet high if you held your hand to his ears. Z had promptly given him the name Dagr, and then started talking to him in a cutesy manner, bragging about how good of a boy his doggo was. It was obvious, that a few of the other members of the raid party were jealous of his mob drop. James could already foresee what the favorite pet drop was going to be for his third floor.

"That one, really doesn't work." Like, James got the reference Rue was trying to use, but it didn't quite fit. At least, in his mind it didn't. The pixie just stuck her tongue out at him and turned back to the party. They had made their way to the single clearing that was Grandma Jenkins's home.

"What do you think the boss is going to be?" Olivia asked as the group paused, their eyes scanning the location. James had actually been really surprised by her during the last fight. The Boss Slayer's cleric had managed to get an extremely quick resurrection off on Med Ic and managed to then launch a cleanse on Oak and Skar, allowing the two to return to tanking without worrying about the 30% defense debuff. By her quick thinking, she had managed to prevent what James had been certain was going to be a party wipe.

"Please tell me it isn't her." Faust pointed towards the front of the house, where Grandma Jenkins sat, quietly knitting what appeared to be a scarf, as she rocked gently in a large wooden rocking chair. Of course, that was exactly who the boss was.

"I'm pretty sure this is the right location." Z made the motions indicating he was once again checking his map, before looking at the shack. "The boss was definitely listed as being here."

"So, we have to fight an old, innocent grandma?" Troll'd looked like he wasn't sure if he was going to laugh, or cry. "Like, what's she going to do? Kill us with kindness? Bake us poisonous cookies and pies? Because honestly, I'd gladly die from eating too many sweets." He licked his tusked mouth to further prove his point, drawing a small amount of laughter from his party members.

That was the other thing that made these two groups stand out from most. Even though they had just nearly party wiped, and a few of them had lost good chunks of experience, they were still having fun. No matter what challenge got thrown at them, they always came back laughing, wanting more. It was parties like these two, that really made James's life as a Dungeon Core extremely enjoyable. Well, them and the groups that stumbled across his mimics. His video of Dwight getting eaten by a mimic had been viewed by over 100,000 dungeon cores. He only wished there was a way for him to share it to players as well.

"Maybe she's not the actual boss." Z looked back at Troll'd. "Maybe she has a hidden dog named Courage, that actually comes out to defend her when we move to the house." Z's comment got chuckles from his party members, and Rue, but Skar's party, and James, just stared at him blankly. Guess that was another reference from way before James's time. Though he was starting to wonder just how much old school pop culture Rue had been exposed to. She definitely seemed to act similar to his age, but she had knowledge that seemed to be from an older generation.

"What's he referencing?" James's comment caused the pixie to let out a sigh, as she shook her head.

"You've got so much to learn." She flicked her wrist, pulling up a small screen in front of the two of them, just above the screen they were watching the dungeon dive on. "It's a television show that was popular with kids and teens in the 90s and early 2000s." She played a quick trailer for him, as the raid party debated how they were going to go about inspecting the property. They were definitely hesitant of the old lady on the porch but weren't certain if she was actually the boss or not.

James was sure they would quickly realize that fact, once they got a little closer to her. After all, the moment they saw her name, he was sure it would click in their heads. After all, there was no way it could be a coincidence.

"Right, well, might as well go see what all of this is about." Z motioned towards Oak, indicating for the Indra to take the lead. The party fanned out and took up their positions, preparing for any and all outcomes. As they neared the house, Grandma Jenkins looked up from the porch, and offered the group a sweet, smile.

"Oh, look at all of you." She let out in a kind, elderly voice. "Are you all lost? Do you need help?" She stopped rocking and stood up shakily from her rocking chair. As she did, she set down the project she had been working on, resting her knitting needles atop the table by her chair.

"Er," Oak paused and glanced back at the party. This was the first time a boss had spoken to them the very first time they had encountered it. Their proximity to her, also meant they could finally read her name. A fact that their reactions were betraying. Sure enough, they were connecting the dots.

Normally, James knew his boss's AI wouldn't be extremely advanced. However, as his research levels had increased, and as they progressed on the floors, Rue had informed him that the mobs on the floors, especially the bosses, would become intelligent and sentient much quicker. After all, Old Man Jenkins had finally grown enough sentience that he actually was a.s.signing a quest to players, asking them to help him get his farm back in line. Doing so, got them a unique item from him, and eliminated the need for them to kill him. Of course, so far, most players still killed him after they completed the quest. After all, they were eager to gain as much experience as they could.
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The Terminus, obviously, had enhanced intellect courtesy of the Like a Sir upgrade James had applied to it. When James had summoned Grandma Jenkins, she had been a.s.signed a basic AI, which was quite simple. She could hold an alright conversation but wasn't much for complicated matters. James had needed that to change. Mainly because, if he was going to make the Jenkins a thing, he wanted Grandma Jenkins to really be the start of it. Besides, they were already coaching Old Man Jenkins on the story they were building but had just decided they could play his ignorance off as amnesia. A story he was starting to take to and tell adventurers already.

So, as he had done with the Terminus, James had used a boss mob upgrade point on Grandma Jenkins, enhancing her intellect. The upgrade for her had been labeled Respect Your Elders, and had given her a fancy pair of gla.s.ses, that really seemed to enhance her aura. As with his second-floor boss, her AI had immediately developed from that. After that, Rue had begun discussing their plan with their upcoming bosses with her, and the story they were going to slowly build over the floors.

So far, James and Rue had decided, dependent obviously on him winning the Dungeon Wars, to make every odd leveled boss a humanoid boss. They would then give the boss a name, but always put in the name Jenkins somewhere in there. From there, they would tell the story of a family that had become trapped within the dungeon, flung across all the floors. Some would have more tragic backstories than others, but it would all link back to the final member of the Jenkins family. The sole reason why they had all become trapped in the dungeon in the first place. A member of the family by the name of Leeroy.

Of course, Leeroy's actual introduction into the game would likely be a long ways away, as James wasn't aware of a level cap on dungeons or players yet, meaning he had many floors to go. Currently, they were going to play that Old Man Jenkins was married to Grandma Jenkins, and yet he had amnesia from being attacked when he was first sucked into the dungeon.

Grandma Jenkins, on the other hand, had found herself in the swamp, armed only with her skills as a seamstress, and magical knitting and sewing needles. With those, she created the monsters of the floor. The Teddy Knights helped her build her humble abode, and the others kept her safe, and secure, in this strange new world. Which, obviously meant, she wouldn't take kindly to any adventurers who made their way to her, as that meant they murdered her creations on their way there.

"Tell me children." Grandma Jenkins looked sweetly down at all of the adventurers, who were looking extremely uncertain about the entire situation. James knew, if he was in their shoes, he would be too. This was definitely one of the weirdest things that had to be going on in DCO right now. "Have any of you come across my husband?" She glanced from player to player, eying them up and down.

It was lucky, for their party, that they were no longer wearing their demonic farm gear. That had been one of the joke triggers they had agreed upon with the boss. Once again, the boss AI's for DCO seemed to give off quite malicious aura's when it came to the adventurers. Of course, James figured that had to mainly be part of the fact that their existence, after all, was to continually fight, and be killed, by adventurers. That would be enough to make anyone dislike the given situation.

"Uhhhh," The party, still had no way to respond. At least, most of them didn't.

"What's he look like?" Skar had advanced from his place with the party, to move closer to Grandma Jenkins. He eyed her warily, and kept his shield up, but at least had the sense to respond to her. In return, she smiled sweetly down at him.

"Oh, well, you would know him if you saw him. An unfortunate magical accident years ago caused him to get sucked into a demonic realm. Before he completely disappeared, I saw him even growing horns." She let out a sigh, shaking her head. "That man of mine. I swear, he's the reason our grandson Leeroy turned out like he did."

Skar looked back at the party, and then towards Grandma Jenkins. Judging by the way his hand tightened on his shield and sword, he, like the others, had confirmed she was, indeed, going to be the boss they had to face.

Grandma Jenkins's smile turned from sweet, to evil, as she looked at their reactions. "Ah, I see you must have run into him." Behind her, the knitting needles she had set down began to glow.

"Maybe once or twice." Skar responded, and as he did, the party launched their attacks. They had sensed her obvious change in att.i.tude, and they weren't about to let her get the first strike. Of course, it was a solid plan in theory, and they executed it nicely. Magic and arrows and two glowing needles all flew towards Grandma Jenkins. That action though, initiated combat with her, and activated the first of her Unique pa.s.sives.

Even as the attacks. .h.i.t her, taking the tiniest about of health from her, given the fact her defense was currently too high for much of their damage to even seep through, her form began to fade away. At the same time, the knitting needles flew high into the sky, and a dome of thread erupted around the party, trapping them within. The Puppet Show had been activated, meaning they now had no chance but to fight for their lives.

"Well, that's just unfortunate." James whispered as Grandma Jenkins's form completely disappeared. In its place, an adorable rabbit, wearing a bow tie, with a top hat. The party stared at the strange bunny for a split second, starring hard at it as it took off its hat, and offered them a bow. The moment it reached its hand into its hat, the boss fight truly began.