"Hello Soul, please take a seat." Blinking, I checked my surroundings to try and understand... WHERE THE FUCK AM I?

"Uh, um. Am I dreaming?" I asked the hooded man in front of me with a hint of nervousness.

Still remaining in his expensive leather chair and behind his black, wooden desk rich with red swirls, he tilted his hooded visage up to me and away from the papers he appeared to be reviewing.

"I hate this part of my job, but I got bad news for yah. You're dead dude." Looking back down, the man kept messing with the documents like it was no big deal.

No big deal that he just, acknonledged my own downfall? All my friends and family... that I can't remember. In fact, now that I think about it, I can't remember much in my memories except for vague ideas like shotguns and beer. The man sighed loudly and then leaned back in his chair, doing one full slow three-sixty spin before speaking again.

"Look, not to be harsh but do you know how many trillions of souls I've seen? Humans are bad enough, but I gotta cater to EVERY soul that just lost their vessel. I'm too busy to hold you and tell you everything's gonna be fine because then my quota will be complete shit! Now how about you take a couple of deep breaths and then we'll move on, okay?"

Nodding my head, I take his advice and take a couple of shaky breaths before he continues, "Alright, see? Not so bad. Yeah you're dead, but only for a short time. We'll get you back on the other side in no time for your new vessel, but before we do that we gotta play a game." Standing up for the first time, the cloaked man walked around his desk to a corner of the room that held a spinner board made out of tacky colors and cheap plastic.

"Sorry for appearances, our department is on a pretty tight budget right now. Come over here and give this thing a good yank, will yah?" Unsure, I step closer to the seven foot man and his comically fragile spinner. With my hand on one of the spokes, I pulled fast and watched the black arrow hanging from the top of it crack against each spoke.

Now slowing to a crawl, the arrow bent against the final spoke, debating whether it could keep going. With no more force behind the wheel, the arrow pushed back and pointed proudly to what my reward was.

"A Dungeon Core? What the hell is that?" In rich, golden letters written in beautiful calligraphy the word 'Dungeon Core' was presented proudly for the whole room to see.

"Ah... no longer a poor soul now are we? Congratulations Soul, you've won the jackpot of an afterlifetime!" The man exclaimed loudly while doing a lot of motions with his arms, like some bad dance.

"Um, thanks? I still don't know what the hell this means though," Shrugging, I looked back at the now still man, imagining his jaw slack open.

"W-well. Hmm, ah that's right. Your world didn't have any Dungeons, how unfortunate. Come, take a seat and we'll discuss your options and your role as a Core." Sitting opposite from the man, I felt much more relaxed once I sat down.

"You like the chair? I had it enchanted by a Lich to help calm the more nervous Souls that we see. So, I hate long and boring details so I'll get to the chase." Pulling out a clear sphere the size of a human skull, he placed it on the table. Still holding it, he pointed with his othe hand, which I noticed for the first time was alabaster white, towards the large glass looking ball.

"This will be your new vessel, body, heart whatever you want to call it. Here in my office, we'll go over some customization options but all you need to know is this." Holding up his index finger, "First, you will make shit." Holding two fingers now, he continued. "Second, you will kill shit. And finally," he held up three fingers, "listen to your fam. That's about it, everything else you do what you feel like. Any questions?"

"When you say fam, do you mean I'll have a family?" I asked hopefully.

"Eh, no. I was referring to your familiar, sorry bucko" he shrugged his shoulders.

Seeing my clearly disappointed stature, he added, "But hey don't sweat it! Once you get your first floor fixed up you'll have access to the D-net where other dungeons message each other and share info." noticing my improved state he leaned back into his chair.

"Now here come the hard part. Choice. Every Dungeon picks out what kind they'll be before they leave one of our offices. It's a safety protocol. We can't have a Dungeon right next to a holy kingdom choose to be an undead one. We've lost too many Cores that way and it's a hard investment to recover from. So look at the info here and tell me what you like."

Accepting the document he handed me, I began looking at my options.

Dungeon Faction Difficulty 1-5 Alignment Celestial Dungeon 1 Light Natural Dungeon 2 Neutral Spirit Dungeon 3 Neutral Infernal Dungeon 4 Dark Techno Dungeon 5 Chaotic

"Hmmm, can you explain what Dungeon Factions, Difficulty and Alignment are for?"

Nodding, he responded, "Dungeon Factions are like Umbrella categories. By choosing one, you align yourself to a certain faction and you'll have to choose a realm from which you draw your base monsters from. You will represent your faction in annual Dungeon War games and the winning Faction gets several rewards. Difficulty represents how hard it will be for you to survive as some people might see your Dungeon as a huge threat or a asset from the gods, hence another reason why we make you pick here first. That way we can pick the ideal location for you to survive your first year. Lastly, Alignment isn't something you'll really have to worry about. It's more like a compatibility thing than anything else.

Taking a break, he held the back of one hand to where he imagine his mouth would be and yawned. "Anyways, have you made your choice yet? Don't even ask about the individual Faction information, that's classified info."

Mouth closed, I looked back at the paper frowning.

"I'll pick Infernal Dungeon!" I said loudly with my back straight and chin held high.

Rubbing his hands together while leaning forward, the man chuckled, "Excellent choice! Now let's go over realms. Each Faction can pick at least one realm so pick carefully. Now, here you go, same thing as before."

Excited, I snatched the paper from his hands and poured over it.

Realms Description Land of the Dead Contrary to belief, the land of the Dead is more aptly described as the land of the Undead. A realm filled to the brim with Death and Dark mana, creatures ranging from skeletons to Ghoul Kings, truly a realm filled with grotesque unlife. Of Mist and Madness Here the belief is that the Fog Hunters are so adept at stalking their prey through the never-ending greyscape that they won't see them even if they were five feet in front of them. The disorientation warps and chips away at the mind. The Abyss Devoid of light, only the wails of abominable horrors and tortured souls echo through this bleak plane of existence that even starlight can't penetrate. Beware the Void. Hellscape Filled with fire and brimstone, constant war has forged some of the most fearsome beasts carved from earth, fire and Ice. The most diverse of all the factions, the starting choices from this realm are the weakest out of all others. Red Seas Filled with aquatic terrors and fauna, everything feeds on the same thing. Blood. In fact, the oceans that take up 99% of this plane are 100% blood. Those with weak stomachs beware.

Gulping, I looked up, "Jeez, these all sound fucking terrifying! Will I be safe from my own monsters?" I asked nervously.

Nodding slowly, he folded his hands on his desk. "I can guarantee you that whichever realm you choose will be completely safe from. You won't be summoning anything from your patron realm, only base forms and ideas. In the end, your monsters will be forged from your own energy and they will see you as their god."

"A...God? Isn't that, you know...blasphemous or something?" I checked behind my shoulder before turning back around to his laughing.

"Well you see, for all intents and purposes you WILL be a god. Your Dungeon will be your realm where you will be able to manipulate, create and destroy with as little effort of will as it takes to think it. Granted, there are some exceptions, but for the most part, you belong to a race of Gods now."

A God... Godhood didn't sound that appealing, but having my own domain where I could do almost anything sounded kinda nice. Images of giant women with outrageously large breasts filled my vision, distracting me before I snapped out of it and refocused on my options. Now, what to pick...

Thinking over my choices, I sat their lost in my own world.

"I want the Hellscape." I said slowly.

"Hm, interesting. It's been centuries since we've had a good Hellscape Dungeon, well let see... Lava, lava lava, where's my java... Ah ha! There we go! Turoid is where we're going to put you. Lots of volcanoes, deserts and drylands in the southern continents with several other dungeons sprinkled around the more bountiful areas."

Standing up, he held his hand out to me which I responded in kind. "Thank you sir! I don't remember my name, but do you mind telling me yours? I don't recall if you said it or not."

Laughing, he released my astral hand and said, "I thought it was obvious but I suppose I don't mind spelling it out for you.

He leaned forward and I could finally see his eyes. They were eyes that no man could have, a color no one could describe and their depths were deeper than the universe. His skin was made from marble and immaculate, not a single blemish. His hair was wavy mithril that draped to his shoulders, flowing majesticly as if a fan was blowing it away. He was beautiful and I instantly wanted to punch him.

"My dear boy, I'm Daniel."