“Uh, sure,” Katia said, getting up and leaving the room.
Donut paused, looking between me and Odette. It was obvious Odette wanted to talk to me alone. I moved my head, indicating for her to leave. She looked as if she was about to object, but then she thought better of it.
“Bye, Odette,” she said as she and Mongo followed Katia.
“I don’t know what the next floor’s theme is,” Odette said, watching them leave. “But based on what I’m hearing, momentum-based crawlers will have a strong advantage, so keep her around if you can. But I called her out of the room because I wanted to warn you.”
“About Katia?” I said. “She seems harmless. And Mordecai really likes her.”
“I don’t think she’s in on it. Not willingly. I’m talking about Hekla. She’s not evil. Or psychotic like Lucia Mar. However, she is very practical. And cunning. She does not have your sense of justice, which makes her dangerous. I’ve watched her some, and she’s becoming obsessed with the idea of getting Donut to join her gang.”
“Hekla seems great, but I don’t think we’d work well together. I can only handle one huge personality at a time, and Donut fits in that slot pretty well.”
“Based on her conversations with her now-former guide, I don’t think she wants you in the party anyway. She thinks you’re unstable. But she knows about Mordecai, thanks to Katia, and since Mordecai is part of Donut’s package deal, she wants Donut in the party so she can have access to a permanent manager.”
“I don’t think Donut would ever leave me,” I said, looking at the door.
“No, I don’t either. Not as long as you’re still alive.”
I felt a chill rush through me.
“But again, I don’t believe Katia is in on it. And she likes you. I can tell.”
“Why are you telling me this, Odette?” I asked.
She chuckled. “I’m glad you’re still following my first piece of advice. I lied earlier when I said I was paying an exorbitant amount to get you two on the show. When I bought your rights, it was very early, and you were very cheap. I paid less for the entire season of interviews than one pays to get you two on right now. If you die and Donut joins Brynhild’s Daughters, my contract is voided. You two are still my highest-rated guests. In fact, I think that top-ten list is bunk. You two should be numbers two and three.”
The top 10 list still floated there in the middle of the room.
“Odette,” I asked, reading the list again. “What are those numbers at the end of each name? That million and 100,000?”
“That’s just the bounty,” she said. “It’s how much other crawlers get if they kill you. Now I must leave. Be careful out there. I’ll see you after the next floor collapse.”
Odette faded away, leaving me alone, bobbing slowly up and down with the waves.
“Fuck,” I said to the empty room.
The End
It’s that time again.
Alas, the book is done. But the story is not over yet!
Book III, The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook is already written and ready to go. It will release in April of 2021. It has fights and intrigue, old friends and new friends. 100% less clowns, unfortunately. But it has 100% more ManOwaR-obsessed mantaurs. Hail and Kill!
This is where I beg of you to please, please do me a solid and leave a review on Amazon. We live and die by our reviews. It is important. Toby eats a lot, and he’ll eat me if I can’t afford to feed him.
I will reiterate my don’t-tell-Amazon-or-my-wife offer from the last book. If you leave a review, I will sire any and all children you wish to have. I am, as of this moment, now the proud father-to-be of over 200 children thanks to book one’s reviews. You know you want in on the action! Who doesn’t want to be part of a giant family? So please leave a review!
See you in April, and Mind the Gap.
About the Author
Matt Dinniman is a writer and artist from Gig Harbor, WA. When he isn’t attending cat shows, wrangling dogs, feeding turtles, playing bass in a punk/metal band, or writing books that make guys named Kyle threaten to kill his family because he called a goblin an incel, he designs cat-themed greeting cards and decorations. If you’ve ever walked into a Target or an IKEA or a Home Goods, looked at the weird wall art they have for sale there, and thought to yourself, who buys this crap? The answer is, “Not nearly as many people as Matt would like.” So please buy all his books. (Or his art!)
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Also by Matt Dinniman
Kaiju: Battlefield Surgeon (Horror LitRPG!)
Dominion of Blades Series (LitRPG!)
The Shivered Sky Series (Angels vs demons!)
The Grinding (A horror novel!)
Trailer Park Fairy Tales (Short stories! One of them even won a fancy award!)
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