Aumo continued digging to try to figure out what they had just found. Eventually, she managed to dig out the entire thing, which turned out to be a metallic metal box with buttons on the top of it. As soon as she took it out of the ground, the entire ground immediately restored itself and looked as if nothing had disrupted the ground this entire time. 

 

“What the…” Aumo watched it happen in front of her eyes. Out of curiosity, she immediately scanned the area that had immediately restored itself and found out that it had become a thin layer of ground similar to the ground around it. There was nothingness underneath, not even a cavity for the item that was once there.

 

“Yea, that happens. Don’t think about it too much,” said Ria, assuring Aumo that everything was normal. 

 

Of course, neither Aumo nor LisiA could accept that was normal. Nothing about this situation was normal at all: invisible barriers that stop you from going out, ground that is so thin it’s a wonder how it supports anything on top of it, monsters that pop out of nowhere and flop around then turn into materials when they die, and the regenerating terrain that happens so suddenly and seamlessly.

 

Overthinking it right now wouldn’t do them any good anyway, so the both of them tried to move their attention to the metal box that they had just dug up.

 

“Is this some sort of puzzle?” asked Aumo as she looked at the box that was now in her hand. There were weird symbols on the buttons, and there didn’t seem to be any seams on the box. It looked quite out of place on this island, especially as there was no sign of civilization anywhere, not even ruins.

 

“According to my database, that box is called a genre-adder. The symbols on it represent different genres, and you can choose any one of them. These boxes will be found at the end of every section,” explained Ria, “That also means that these dungeons are generated based on your choices.”

 

There were five buttons on the box, with 4 arranged in a square shape, and one in the center between all of them. Each one had a different symbol, but neither Aumo nor LisiA could understand what these symbols meant. Since they don’t understand what the symbols mean, they really don’t really have a choice since they could only pick a random one.

 

“Wait, don’t hit any of the buttons yet. I’ll try to find what the symbols mean!” LisiA was about to reach for a button before Ria suddenly called out to stop her. 

 

Ria rushed into its database and quickly found a chart of symbols. It started frantically matching the symbols on the buttons with the chart and quickly put together the genres on the buttons. 

 

“Okay, I’m going to start listing out the genres. The top left one is Tower Defense. In that genre, you build towers to defend against enemies. If you add it, you would have to deal with waves of enemies with towers and with your own weapons. The top right button is Beat ‘em Up. This button will overwrite the current genre, and you will be restricted to only unarmed combat against many enemies. No anti-magic measures are in place, so magic is still usable, which is a loophole. The middle button is Puzzle, if you select this one, you will have to solve puzzles to progress, while enemies show up to distract you. The bottom left button is stealth, where you have to try to move around undetected to reach the end. In the case that you get found, you would have to fight your way to the end. The bottom right button is platformer. If you select this one, you would have to fight enemies while making your way through many obstacles,” Ria listed out all of the genres and their results.

 

Aumo and LisiA started thinking about the consequences of every genre that was listed out. Having to fend off waves of enemies while also having to construct towers sounded like a lot of work, so did having to solve puzzles while having enemies to distract you. As for the stealth genre, neither of the two were sure that they were sneaky enough to reach the end without alerting anyone. Fighting enemies while having to avoid obstacles also sounded really bothersome.

 

“I think we should choose the Beat ‘em Up button. It overwrites the current one and still sounds kinda bothersome, but it sounds easier than most of the other ones,” said Aumo as she considered every combination that has just been listed.

 

“I agree,” agreed LisiA.

 

Aumo hit the top right button, and the ground beneath them completely disappeared. The scenery around them completely disappeared and they realized that they were falling from the sky. 

 

Just as they were about to hit the ground, they suddenly stopped, and then softly plopped to the ground. 

 

“I wasn’t going to deal with falling for a second time,” said LisiA, as she remembered the time that she and Aumo jumped over Yuhsar’s walls. It was not a good experience, and she didn’t want to experience it ever again.

 

Aumo agreed with a slight nod, and slowly stood up. She then looked around and found that they were now in a valley, surrounded by very tall hills. There was a barrier behind her, meaning that they couldn’t go back.

 

LisiA also looked around and found out that they could go up the hills slightly before a barrier blocked them off there as well. A stream of water flowed beside them, and everything seemed peaceful… Until they saw some figures pop up on top of the hills around them.

 

They had humanoid shapes, but they had no face. Their entire bodies were a light gray-ish color, and all of them looked nearly identical, with the only difference being their heights.

 

“Your goal is to reach the end of this valley,” said Ria, “GO!”

 

What seemed like thousands of those humanoid creatures then started rushing down the hills towards Aumo and LisiA.

 

“We better go!” said Aumo, and she immediately started running along the stream. LisiA quickly followed after her, and the humanoid creatures slowly closed in on them.

 

What had to be one of the most awkward things, however, was that these humanoid creatures couldn’t swim. The moment these creatures fall into the water, they flop for a bit and just disappear.

 

LisiA decided that there were too many enemies, and beating them all didn’t sound that practical at all.

 

“There aren’t supposed to be this many enemies, this isn’t right,” says Ria, “And all the more reason to not relax, well good luck.”

 

Just as the creatures were about to pounce onto Aumo and LisiA, they were all suddenly sent flying away from them. All of the creatures seemed to be blocked by something and couldn’t approach the two. 

 

“I put up a barrier, but I can’t hold it for long, let’s go before it breaks,” said LisiA.

 

The two ran along the stream, and any of the humanoid creatures that came from the front just got pushed away. This wasn’t how this dungeon was supposed to go, nor was it supposed to have this many enemies. 

 

“This method was definitely not what the creator had in mind, but what works, works I guess,” Ria said as it watched the humanoid creatures struggle with the barrier.

 

It just works.

 

Status:

 

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Name: Aumo

Core Level:8

XP: 171/300

Status: Normal

HP: 2138/2200

MP: 1093/1200 

MP Stored: 0

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Skills: Mana Manipulation, Mana Sight, Mana Sense, Mana Analysis, Mana Item Storage, Levitation, Mana Vibration, Small Fireball, Ice Throw, Air Slash, Body Reinforcement, Body Strengthening

 

Upgrades: Map, Gate Detector

 

Stored: Heater, Giant Breadstick

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