DCO- Dungeon Core Online

Chapter 47

Whereas the Jaeger Bomb had been actual, well, mobs, the LMFAO Shot seemed to be every bit a joke. It was, quite literally, a shot glass, albeit elongated to human proportions, with weird and wacky limbs that stretched and bent unnaturally. Atop the shot glass, which was filled with a swirling liquid, liquor of some sort James figured, was a… tie dyed afro.

“Okay,” Steve was trying, and failing, not to laugh, “before you get too mad at me, look at its skill.” He looked at James’s face and proceeded to laugh even harder. James wasn’t even trying to hide his disappointment in the creature. The Jaeger Bomb had given him false hope. The LMFAO Shot, well, had brough hope crashing back down.

Still, having a little faith in Steve, James did as he’d been asked. He mentally pulled up the information on the mob, which was currently doing… jumping jacks, the liquid within sloshing too and fro, yet somehow, not spilling a single drop.

LMFAO Shot

Type: Party Starter

Lvl 115

HP: 50,000 + 2500 per level

MP: 50,000 + 2500 per level

ATK: 5000 + 500 per level

DEF: 1000 + 100 per level

Special Abilities:

Life of the Party- On death, split apart, creating two versions of the original that have half the stats of the previous version. This skill triggers until there are a total of sixteen LMFAO Shots within a (lvl*0.1 foot) radius

Party Popper- When there are sixteen LMFAO shots, all shots will detonate, each one doing (lvl*1.5) damage to all enemies within a (lvl*1.5 foot) radius. This damage is classified as true damage, ignores all elemental resistances, and penetrates 25percent of all armor.

Unique Passive:

Buzzed: Melee attacks against LMFAO Shot’s has a chance to cause the ‘buzzed’ debuff to apply to the attacker. Players who are buzzed have a 25% decrease to their accuracy and chance to dodge. Additionally, while buzzed, player vision will be affected, as will their ability to read their stats. This debuff will last for 30 seconds, or until cleansed.

“So, it’s a swarm mob?” James said aloud as he closed out its info. “Like multiplying slimes?”

“Pretty much.” Steve said with a nod, “though, obviously, with a booze inspired theme.” He looked down at the creature. “For a well oiled party, crowd control obviously can make them more manageable. But for others, well,” he chuckled, “anyone that ends up taking sixteen shots in that short amount of time, well, they’re bound to be dead.”

He looked back at James, “If I may, I’d recommend you apply the Hangover effect to it in the skill tree.”

James pulled the mob’s info up once again, figuring why the hell not. Normally he’d wait to upgrade his mobs until he knew more about them, the floor, and obviously, until players had explored them. But as things stood, with the impending end to everything lingering over them, he figured he’d make an exception. Besides, Steve’s advice, while questionable in some ways, almost always worked out. And Steve deserved it. After all, Steve had been a big part in James’s success as Dungeon Core so far, and was putting his life on the line, literally, to try and save the world with him.

James upgraded the skill, using his free skill point that he’d earned for all dungeon mobs long ago from his Highlander title, and then reread the stat block, noting the change. It was, devious, to say the least. And, totally on theme from the floor. He couldn’t help but grin at the addendum added to the last line of the skill.

If cleansed, has a 10percent chance to cause the ‘Hangover’ debuff.*

*Hangover- Players take 10 points of damage as psychic damage for every point of mana or stamina spent on skills, for the next minute. While under the hangover effect, players are 100percent more susceptible to blind and stun effects.

The original skill already intrigued him with regards to how it impacted vision, and the ability to read player information. Would it obscure the information completely, make it fuzzy, or perhaps just cause it to flicker and change, becoming less precise? He’d seen a variety of such effects in other games, though usually such mechanics were frowned upon. Would players be annoyed at the skill? Would it really matter? It could be cleansed, after all, and wasn’t as damning as say, the radiation debuff that caused players to mutate into zombies and other such terrible things upon death.

Either way, a part of him longed for the chance to experience the floor from a player’s perspective. At level 115 though, the mobs were way outside of his and Rue’s range. Hopefully before everything kicked off, Z and the others could experience the floor. That way, James could at least experience it vicariously through them, as he had most things in the dungeon in the past. Watching his favorite adventurers challenge the floor, perhaps for their final dungeon run within DCO, could surely be a treat.

Besides, now that he’d hit Tier 7, the players, including the Knights, no longer needed to sacrifice their experience to James’s dungeon. On the contrary, they could go back to farming all the experience they wanted, in preparation of the upcoming Dungeon Wars. He’d need them as strong as possible, to hold their own against BLANK’s dungeon. The Candy Dungeon had pulled back on its Soulslike difficulty ever since the siblings had stepped aside from running it, but still, it’s players were a force to be reckoned with. Especially Soul Demon. James wondered if he’d see that player, before the end of everything.

Last he’d seen of that notorious player, who seemed to thrive on PvP and talking down on others, Soul Demon had been cursing their very existence because they’d ‘stolen’ his prey from him, in their efforts to keep the Siege War from getting out of hand, and killing everyone. He was the epitome of selfish narcissist, and James wondered just what he’d do, what he’d say, how he’d act, if he knew what was coming. If he were in their shoes, would he work to stop the Government from mass murder? Or would he welcome their fate, welcome being sealed within immersion for the infinite future, where he could kill, murder, maim, and grind to his hearts content within the world of DCO.

James shivered at the thought and pushed it aside. Soul Demon was a problem for another time. Hopefully, actually, he would never be a problem for them to deal with. For now, he had three more mobs to summon for his seventh floor, as well as a new boss to create.

“Onto the next,” James said as he rubbed his hands together eagerly. He mentally selected the next mob, called a Dirty Shirley, and summoned it, just as he unsummoned the LMFAO Shot.

A sigh of relief came out as a cough of surprise, as his mind tried to process the logic behind this one.

Before them, a woman, dressed in a torn and tattered pink robe, complete with pink slippers, appeared before them. Her frayed grey hair was tied back, unsuccessfully in a bund, and secured with a dark olive. Atop her head, she wore a crystal tiara that held a cracked gemstone.

Her pink slippers, James noted, had fluffy, white cat heads atop them. The cat heads themselves also wore tiaras. In her hand, she petted a stuffed animal, while she looked around with a crazed look in her eyes. James shot a glance at Steve.

“She’s dirty,” Steve said before James could ask his question, “and her name’s Shirley.”

James doubted that was it. But he didn’t press the man, who was wearing a shit eating grin. Steve had a joke for everything, and James figured it was best to just ignore the developer this time around. Otherwise, he’d go mad trying to question what exactly a crazy old cat lady had to do with a Dirty Shirley Cocktail? He skimmed its information, checking over its skills, and unsummoned the mob. Clearly there was more to it than he knew, but whatever it was, at the very least, it was a usable mob.

Three mobs down, two more to go.