The lich left in a blaze as the space around us began to rapidly dissolve. The other people standing around gathered together before one in the center raised her hand and called out, “Relocate: Maintenance tunnels.” The group all seemed to collapse in on themselves before popping. I immediately began to panic as I was left alone in the rapidly diminishing space.
What the hells? I didn’t get any instructions, orientations or explanations. While knowing what I was supposed to be doing would have been great, I was more concerned about how I avoid getting turned into ethereal dust like the furniture. Latching onto what the so named Maintenance group had done, I raised my arm in the air and squeaked out, “Relocate: Dungeon Shop?”
Something resonated within my core. At first it felt like getting called to supper after a day in the fields. Then it felt like my internal organs and bones were getting sucked into a black hole centered in my pancreas. I’m pretty sure I experienced what it was like to become ground beef. After a few moments I found myself in a bare room roughly twenty feet long and ten feet deep. The walls were polished to a mirror sheen and made of a light gray stone flecked with bits of gold.
The wall in front of me was split in half with a solid pane of glass that extended from the ceiling down to a stone countertop which ran the length of the room. I spotted a setup at the end of the counter which looked like it would be my service area. There was a cutout where the glass met the stone that dipped down just enough only small items or coins would be able to be passed through. Embedded in the wall below were three metal drawers of varying sizes that would push out into the customer’s leg space. I guess that would be how items were exchanged?
The counter was about the right height for me to use if I was sitting down. However there was a rather glaring issue with this. There was no chair. I would have to slouch over or kneel down. I also realized I had no idea if people would even be able to hear me through the thick glass or if I would have to talk right next to the cutout. No, surely such a design flaw would have been anticipated and accounted for. Then again, there was no chair.
The opposite end of the room held a door made of the same stone and with handle of gold. I desperately hoped that whatever was behind the door held some answers and a bit more space. Two hundred square feet become a lot smaller when you realize you’re going to be trapped there for who knows how many years.
I quickly hurried over to the door holding onto the hope of salvation. You’d think I had learned my lesson by now. What stared back at me from within was a room about half the size of the other one. It had a low stone shelf on one side that was likely meant for a bed, but sans mattress or blankets. The other side had a stone desk(also missing a chair) topped with a rather luxurious quill, a few inkpots and a concerningly high stack of papers.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Above the desk was a square crystal about two feet to a side embedded in the wall. The surface reflected nothing and the depths of it swirled with a dull light. I immediately perked up. Crystals were magic, and given how it was situated it was clearly meant to be used as more than just a mirror.
I stood in front of it and hesitated. I was not a mage. I never had a chance to use the fancy magitech from the big cities. Our village had one hedge wizard that gave lessons to the villagers every few months to see if any held the spark. I now regretted how little I had paid attention. I never expected to actually use mana formulae in my everyday life. Wizard Pythag, I guess you weren’t lying when you said that it would come in handy.
I tentatively placed a hand against the cool surface. Nothing happened. Oh boy. Well, time to experiment. I am proud to say it only took about two hours to figure out the commands to activate it. The formerly dull shine pushed forward from the depths of the crystal to coat the inner surface. The whole thing brightened to the strength of a table full of candles. Words began to appear.
Storefront Interface v0.1
Stock
Bookkeeping
Upgrades
Appearance
User Manual
TBD
Well it was straightforward. I touched each option and they were about what I expected. Stock was how I managed the inventory, Bookkeeping would be for balancing the books, Upgrades would let me improve the space and services, Appearance let me change how everything looked, the User Manual was the answer to all of my prayers I hope. I didn’t immediately jump into it as the last option wasn’t something that I recognised and I wanted to know what each one did before I did anything else. I tried selecting it but the letters just flashed a couple times before doing nothing. Hmm, I guess that TBD might be something that opens up later.
With that I selected the User Manual to see what it had in store for me. To my surprise it was actually rather well laid out. If I had to guess, whoever designed it was expecting a regular adventurer to be in this position. The manual had quite a lot to say about how customer service works and how to talk to people. The amount of times it mentioned that you can’t punch people for annoying you was concerning though.
I moved through the manual, devouring what little information it had as quickly as I could. I found more than a few topics that were blank or had notes to update before installation. When I discovered that the section labeled Orientation just said to follow the Dungeon Master’s previous instructions I decided that it was a good time to give my new stone bed a try. I laid down, curled up into a ball, and cried for an hour.
