as simple as it is, perhaps one of the greatest games is the whack-a-mole.

it's not very complicated in function, just a simple test of reaction speed. but the competitiveness it brings out in people is insane.

there's nothing more frustrating than almost winning, only for that last mole to duck back down right before you hit it. there is nothing more irritating that your friends jeering at you, telling you to 'git gud'. there's nothing more embarrassing than watching some kid half your age smoke the moles like nobody's business. 

but that feeling when you finally hit all of them? when you smash that little animatronic demon on its stupid animatronic head?

that is what I call heaven.

of course, Fanny couldn't understand the genius behind bring whack-a-mole to this world.

"We nearly died to a Rabbihorn," she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air. "That's a monster rookie adventurers take on to get their feet wet!"

she flung her finger at my core. "You're not taking this seriously at all," she snarled accusingly.

if I could shrug, I would. if Brick, who was lying on top of my core, could shrug, I'd make it shrug. alas, I could only picture it mentally.

'I told you this wasn't going to be a serious dungeon. it's supposed to be a relaxation plaza, not a death trap.'

"Core," she said.

'Cooper.'

"Cooper. Look, it doesn't matter what you want the dungeon to be." she flew closer to my core and hovered at eye-level. her tiny bare feet just barely touched the floor.

I should make a taller pedestal one of these days...hmm, maybe once I get some better material. I wonder if I'll find marble digging around. that'll probably have to come later once I've finished-

Fanny's finger snapped in front of me. Face flushing dark blue, she snapped, "Pay attention!"

'I'm listening, geez.' me being so bloated had me distracted. I probably should've built that room before I let her lecture me...

she blew out a breath, flicking her sparkly brown hair out of her eyes. "As I was saying," she growled, "it doesn't matter what you want the dungeon to be if you don't survive to see your 'relaxation plaza' come into fruition."

the fairy crossed her legs in midair. thinking about this, I really didn't know how her wings could support her body. they're really thin and small. is it like bees? was that thing about bees being supposedly too heavy to fly true or just something from the Bee Film? oh, she's still talking...

"-I get that you want to be a lazy bunny and not doing anything all day," she said, staring intently at me. "But-"

'that seems rather insensitive when we just got through dealing with a four-eyed murder rabbit.'

she blinked. her mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. a shrill yet guttural noise erupted from her throat. it cut off abruptly after a second, like she'd caught herself doing something, no, saying something she shouldn't have.

taking a deep breath, Fanny continued through gritted teeth. "Just can you take care of what you need to before you doom us all to death?"

I thought about it. her words made sense. we were rather weak at the moment. my bloated mana stores really just wanted to get the new room done and ready but...I was rushing some things and going too slow in other places.

but I was also tired of working on the Lobby! I wanted something new and improved! ugh, having responsibilities was annoying.

'let's compromise,' I said. 'I build the new room and maybe make it a bit more deadly or whatever than what I was originally planning and you, uh, come up with something for the Lobby that'll make us less likely to die immediately.'

she clapped her hands together and shot up into the air. her wings beat furiously as she giggled. "Yay! I am an amazing trap-maker! Really, if I could show you what I did during my cousin's wedding with my ex-"

I tuned her out and began construction of the new room.

my goals were two-fold. design a super awesome room to play whack-a-mole—or rather, whack-a-rabbihorn—in and create the perfect mob for people to smash but also defend the dungeon if need be.

I dove into the rabbihorns first because while it was really uncomfortable being so bloated, I needed to know what I was working with before I could start building. the mobs were the key to this whole operation, anyway.

[Template: Rabbihorn

The Rabbihorn is the large and incredibly vicious cousin of the wild rabbit. These lagomorphs range in size from house cats to large dogs, gaining size with each evolution. Their hind legs are their main weapon; they pack a serious punch! This is not to say that the horn on their crowns is any less dangerous. They spear and gut their prey by launching themselves silently through the underbrush.

They also have a minor affinity to holy magic, specifically divination, and wind magic. This allows them to track prey, scout potential dangers, and boost their speed enough to flee or attack. With each evolution, they grow a new eye that strengthens their control over their magic.

As they age, the blood of their prey stains their normally light brown coats. The deeper the red, the more mana they've extracted, and the closer they are to evolving to their next form.

Strength: D | Speed: D | Stamina: D
Toughness: D | Dexterity: C | Control: E

HP: 50 | Stamina: 55 | Mana: 25

Affinity: Holy (Minor), Wind (Minor)

Skills:
Kick - Strike a target with your legs, dealing light damage and knocking the target off balance. - 4 SP
Hop - Leap from the ground and reach heights of up to 10 feet. - 3 SP

Spells:
Aura Tracking - Sense the aura of a creature in a 5 mile radius. - 3 MP per second
Danger Sense - Passively blanket the surrounding area with your aura to sense for danger. Active use allows for minor precognition. 5 MP per second.

Base - 5 MP
Three-Eyed Evolution - 7 MP

Upgrades available!]

awesome. once again, my lack of MP halts my progress. in an attempt to soothe my growing frustrations with my new dungeon life, I checked the available upgrades.

[Upgrade Page for: Rabbihorn

Physical Upgrades

Vigor I - Applies the "Vigor I" trait. Strengthens the Rabbihorn's muscles and lungs, improving Strength and Stamina by one grade. - 10 MP

Tough Fur I - Applies the "Tough Fur I" trait. Thickens the Rabbihorn's fur coat and improves Toughness by one grade. - 5 MP

Sharp Horn I - Applies the "Sharp Horn I" trait. Sharpens the Rabbihorn's horn, improving its penetration abilities. - 5 MP

Great Hop - 25% chance to apply the [Great Hop] skill. Skill activation improves jumping distance and dexterity. - 10 MP

Swift Kick - 25% chance to apply the [Swift Kick] skill. Skill activation improves dexterity when kicking and improves damage dealt slightly. - 10 MP

Magical Upgrades

Bullet Horn - 25% chance to apply the [Bullet Horn] spell. Spell casting allows caster to fire magical pellets from their horn. - 10 MP]

this was impressive stuff! and the [Bullet Horn] spell? that would work perfectly. I purchased the spell, leaving me with 10 mana to work with.

[Bullet Horn spell purchased! Rabbihorns now cost +1 MP to summon!]

I forgot about the increased MP cost. that makes things a little more difficult...

with my self-imposed restriction of leaving at least 2 mana in my core at all times, that wasn't much at all. I could suck the blocks out myself, or have Brick do it, but it took ages just for 3 e-wisps to crack 1, so edit mode it was.

I could cheat a little. using the corner of the tunnel that led from the lobby to my office, I created another 3 by 3 room. 225 square feet wasn't a lot to work with but whack-a-mole didn't need a ton of room.

now that I wasn't so bloated, I took a step back to really think things through...and then went to Fanny cuz that made me tired.

I couldn't take this anymore.

'Fanny! how long are the days on this planet?'

the fairy jerked up, jumping away from the desk she'd been slumbering on moments before. her shiny brown hair sparkled messily all over her face. (seriously, does she have glitter in it or something?)

"Huh?" she muttered, eyes blinking groggily. "What'd ya say?"

'how can you sleep at a time like this?'

Fanny pursed her lips. "You do it all the time."

'never mind that! how long are the days here?'

"20 hours," she answered, scratching her head. "10 basked in Sun, 8 laying in Moon, and 2 hidden in Twilight."

'great, so,' I checked the dungeon overview, '7 more hours until I get only 5 mana back!'

the fairy picked up Wispy and placed it on her lap. bouncing the tear-dropped shaped creature, she looked up to the ceiling and addressed me: "You haven't made the new room yet?"

'kinda hard when I don't have much mana in the first place.'

"Make the rooms smaller then," she suggested. "We don't need such wide space just yet."

'what about when adventurers come?'

"All life we've seen so far is that frog you killed and the Rabbihorns Brick lured here," the fairy pointed out. rising out of her chair, she floated over to the hole in the ceiling. "If it wasn't for them, I'd think this place was devoid of life."

'do other dungeons normally get more animals coming into them?'

Fanny rolled her eyes. "Do you think how slowly you're growing is normal?"

she saw the f-wisps rearing up in their sconces and yelped, diving behind her desk before they could attack her. "Stop being so aggressive when someone tells you common sense!" the fairy yelled. "If you had followed the tutorial and taken my advice, we wouldn't be in this situation right now!"

ugh. she was probably right. I didn't like that. honestly, the tutorial was super annoying and I didn't want to listen to it more than I needed to...but I was frustrated with the lack of progress. I also didn't want to risk sending Brick out to find more Rabbihorns to kill in case he chanced upon one of the stronger ones...I could probably tell him to avoid ones that had more than 2 eyes though...

"You're too quiet," Fanny said suddenly. her head popped up from behind the desk. eyes set in a firm glare at the ceiling, she said, "Stop thinking whatever you're thinking because it's probably not a good idea. Go through the tutorial properly!"

I groaned. 'I've already done so much stuff, though.'

"But you can do it better," she countered. "And once it's better, once we're more prepared, going forward will be a breeze! I won't-I mean, we won't have to worry about some rabbit monster destroying your mobs and killing your core!"

well...when she put it like that...

sigh. fine. tutorial? I'm ready to do this properly.