Northeast S'ker 2 Dungeon System Dungeon cleared! P-System Log

Well, that's the dungeon done and dusted. Now that the immediate threats are gone and everything's cooled down, I'm starting to realize what I just did.

I just spent an entire ten thousand fucking W Inertia. Hoooooly shit.

Honestly, I'm not nearly as broken up about it as I thought it would be. It does feel like I'm coming off a night of drinking and realizing what I did the morning after, but it's... not entirely bad? It's not like I've lost my control over Jerome. If anything, I think he might be easier to work with now.

The main concern is that I lost a bunch of W Inertia, but we can just earn that back, right? It'll be a fucking cakewalk now. Two [Unique] skills, a [Legendary] one, and more mana and health than half this city put together. Honestly, with this much slapped onto him, the Eternal King should be a cakewalk.

...I shouldn't say that. There's nothing saying that the Eternal King doesn't have something that hard counters stats as ridiculous as Jerome's. Also, if I was able to do this, what's stopping the Eternal King from having something similar? No guarantee that that fucker doesn't have similarly insanely boosted stats.

Well, that's an issue for me when we actually go and fight it. For now, we're just picking up drops.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: Y'all can pick up the items. I don't think I need them.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Fair's fair. You were the one who ended the fight.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: It is over, right? Do we still need to fight this boss?

[Aster K'lon]: Seeing as its activity has stopped and the rewards for this dungeon have dropped, I believe not.

[Arcs S'tar]: Let's just collect this and get the fuck out of here.

[Jerome Smith]: Yeah, go for it. Seriously, I don't need the items. Have you seen how powerful I got?

[Greater Assess] cast! Party Chat

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: Gods above.

[Jerome Smith]: Yeah.

Private Message [K]

[K]: Come to think of it, how did you contact me? I thought that was only supposed to be for parties.

[P-System]: I dunno. I just focused, is all. I got some cool powers, y'know?

[K]: ...alright. I feel more focused now, too. Like I just woke up from a bad dream.

[P-System]: Interesting. The dungeon may have lost its grasp on you.

[K]: Is that it? Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure this is the place that killed me.

[P-System]: You seem pretty chill with the fact that you're undead.

[K]: Bro, I was reborn here as a semi-incorporeal freak of nature. Being an undead semi-incorporeal freak of nature isn't much different.

[P-System]: Point taken.

[K]: Anyway, I can definitely think more clearly now. Can you clarify what the hell you are?

[P-System]: Are you a reincarnator?

[K]: No shit I am. Been here for... a year? Two, maybe? Are you?

[P-System]: I am the Personal System of a powerful reincarnator. When did you leave Earth?

[K]: I got hit by a truck in... 2017, I think. Don't remember the date anymore. Things got fuzzy. Coming back now.

[P-System]: Interesting. I do believe that Jerome left Earth more than two years afterward, and yet we are still here at the same time. Time runs differently in the two places, perhaps.

[K]: Maybe so. I don't really care.

[K]: Hey, you've got that really powerful guy, right? The guy who suddenly did something midfight and had his stats shoot to the fuckin' moon?

[P-System]: That was me facilitating it, but yes, we do indeed have the "really powerful guy" in our party.

[K]: Can I join?

[P-System]: Why?

[K]: Well, it's either this or the Guild. I don't think the dungeon wants me anymore--maybe it can't have me anymore, I dunno. The invaders were doing some weird shit with the dungeon, everything was off.

[P-System]: I suppose you could join us. You'll have to ask the actual people, though. I don't really have the power to do that.

P-System Log

Well, actually, I do. But it's a little easier to deflect responsibility for these issues onto people who are a little more equipped to deal with social stuff. I already took a big step forward during that fight, revealing that I actually had a personality and all, and I don't think I want to run before I've fully finished learning how to crawl.

Damn, look at me getting all philosophical and shit for something this stupid.

Party Chat

[Jerome Smith]: I'm fine with adding it to the party.

[Arcs S'tar]: It nearly killed you.

[Jerome Smith]: Honestly, it looks like that thing nearly killing me was the trigger for me to... I dunno, get all these powerups. Not sure what you'd call that.

[Aster K'lon]: I concur. It also appears that it was unbound from the dungeon system.

[Aster K'lon]: It is good that you acquired that increase in power. With a [Legendary]-class R Beast, I would have been unsurprised to see an instance of [Corruption] come out. You may have saved our lives.

[Jerome Smith]: Wasn't just me.

[P-System]: What Jerome said.

[Arcs S'tar]: Aster, you act like this is normal? Why can his System use Party Chat?

[Aster K'lon]: It is a very unique case.

[Aster K'lon]: I can perform the party spell, by the way.

[Arcs S'tar]: Great. Let's do it.

Party Chat

[K]: Hello.

[Jerome Smith]: Hi. I saw it say you were also a reincarnator?

[K]: I was. I died again in this dungeon... I don't know when. My memory is foggy after a point.

[Arcs S'tar]: K?

[K]: Arcs?

[Arcs S'tar]: So that's why you never showed up again. Glad you're still alive. In some sense.

[Thron of the Fallen Skies]: I was wondering why the skills seemed familiar. Good to see you, buddy. Did your death make you stronger?

[K]: I think it's a dungeon monster thing.

[Jerome Smith]: This is nice and all, but can we save the reunion for later and just finish looting the dungeon?

[Arcs S'tar]: Right. Let's.

P-System Log

It didn't take too long to get that dungeon looted, all things considered, mostly because the brand new fifth member of the party already knew where the good stuff was.

I'm still kind of confused with what happened to our new guy. Did Jerome's powerup go so well that the Dungeon Core just gave up on doing whatever it was doing? Or maybe it was the R Beasts, destabilizing the control that the Core had over its own mobs?

Whatever the case, it looks like we've gained a member, which is sure to be interesting. To be honest, Jerome doesn't need a party anymore. He's orders of magnitude stronger than all of them combined thanks to me, but just leaving them feels... wrong.

Hero's Personal Log 091

Hey, System. I know you've done a lot for me, and that last powerup really saved my ass. And I know that you probably want me to just go off alone and get the job done, but...

I dunno. I kind of like these guys, even if they were a little assholish at first. Plus, Aster's been nothing but nice to me. I don't want to leave them behind.

P-System Log

Damn, Jerome is the last person I'd expect to not go mad with power. Good on him, I guess.

Well, the battle's done, and we're back at an inn. Technically, we could do another dungeon--there's certainly enough time for it--but Thron and Arcs are talking with K, who might be an old adventuring partner of theirs (kind of disconcerting to think about, not gonna lie, given the fact that apparently an adventurer ended up as a dungeon boss) and Jerome and Aster seem to have that same feeling of wanting to take it easy. I don't blame them.

As for me, there's not much I can do at this point. Jerome recovered some of the W Inertia I spent by killing those three R Beasts and clearing the dungeon, but it's not nearly enough to recoup it. It's fine. That'll come later.

At the end of everything, that [Legendary] observation skill went off again. Looks like I have the Eternal King's attention now, if I interpreted it right. Fine. That just means I'll have to work harder and faster. Now that I've opened up the floodgates, I think it's perfectly reasonable to keep going. Jerome is proving to be increasingly easy to deal with, and despite the weirdness of the situation, nobody reacted poorly to me being able to communicate with them. I have Aster to thank for that.

For now, I guess it's time to just chill out. There's no immediate problems that need to be solved.

Private Message [Aster] [Aster K'lon]: Please teach me how to be strong. P-System Log

...oh dear.

Guess I spoke too soon.