"So I died."

<Yeah.>

"Like, for real."

<Correct.>

"And...And now I'm alive again."

<You've been reanimated, yes.>

Kevin sat up and stared at the orb sitting on a few feet away on the stone grey floor. Jeffrey. That was its-no, his name.

The orb was a guy and had brought him back to life in this...apparently not a dream.

"So I'm not in a dream, I'm the Manager of this totally real Tower, and I can die."

The orb pulsed purple and said, <As long as I have the points to keep you here, you won't ever really die.>

He jumped to his feet and threw his hands in the air. "That is so crazy, bro! So, like, if I jump from the top of the Tower, you could revive me?"

<You wouldn't die from falling off the Tower unless you landed on your head. And even then, you might just be crippled for life. It's not that tall.>

"Right, right, but you could still revive me, right?"

Jeffrey sighed loudly. <I don't think that's what we should be worried about right now.>

"Why not, bro? I'm practically unkillable!"

<Don't get that mindset,> Jeffrey warned. <You are very much killable. Need I remind you that you have a crafting class, not a fighting one?>

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I still wanna test if I'd die from jumping..."

<Please! Can we focus on the task at hand? You can jump later!>

Kevin agreed and sat back down. "I'm totally holding you to that, bro."

Another sigh. <Fine. Let's just...make the floor, okay?>

"Yeah, about that, what happened to all my stuff?"

The orb pulsed a muted green color. <I had to sell it to buy enough Tower Points to revive you.>

"Bro! That's my stuff, bro! You can't just sell my stuff! I own that, man!"

<It would've have mattered whether or not I sold it if you stayed dead! We can always get it back!>

"Oh, yeah, you're right. You have that floor plan saved, don't you? Why don't you go and get Rupert to revert what you did?"

<I can't! I-we hardly have any points to spend.>

"Man, that sucks...So what are we gonna do? We can't, like, scare adventurers and stuff like this."

<You're right. We can't. That's why I need you to look at these->

"Hey, do you get hungry?"

<...What?>

"I said, do you get hungry?"

<N-no, well, yes, but not in the way that you'd expect->

"We should do something with food."

<I...what?>

"Yeah. We should make this a food floor. Something with cake..."

<I really don't think that's a good->

"Hey, tell your system to designate this as the cake floor or something."

<Oh-Searching for available floor themes...Cake theme found! Designating the first floor as the Cake Floor...The first floor has been designated!>

Kevin nodded sagely. "Yeah, that's right. Cake. So, uh, you get to work getting points and stuff. I'll think of cakes."

<You..ugh! Just confirm these mob summons and I'll see what I can do.>

Kevin barely glanced at the mobs before accepting the summons and closing his eyes to sleep.

---

<I hate him,> Jeffrey muttered. <Of all the people in the world, I had to get him as my Manager. Life is so unfair!>

He sighed. <Whatever. There's nothing I can do now. Rupert, send out the Scouter Gobs and tell them to find me more stuff. It doesn't matter what, I just need something new.>

{Of course, sir. The Scouter Gobs have been sent!}

<Good. Open up the Tower Store and tell me how much gnomes cost.>

{Towers are unable to buy sapient beings, sir.}

<I just need something short and skinny like one!>

{Affirmative. I have located similar monster species to the gnome: knockers (2 TP), brownies (2 TP), and leprechauns (10TP).}

<Give me the Knockers and the Brownies, please.>

{Affirmative. Knockers and Brownies added to your mob list.}

Jeffrey pulled them both up on his screen and sighed. <Rupert...How am I gonna make a cake floor with these things?>

{A Tower Core can make anything within the limits of their points and imagination, sir. I'm sure you'll come up with something!}

<Right, right...Gah, okay, fine. Let's...let's see where this goes.>

First, he picked up the Knocker. It was an ugly little thing, with its long nose, pointed ears, and beady eyes. Not to mention feet: large, hairy, and only four toes.

But he could work with this. If Kevin was going to ruin his dreams of making a respectable Tower, he would ruin his dreams for a bakery.

The first thing he did was reform its buttocks into a shirt cannon, but instead of spitting out shirts, the dry ingredients, such as flour, would shoot out. Then he added a faucet inside of its mouth that would pour out either milk or water, depending on what was needed at the time. To finish it off, he made the Knocker sweat oil instead of saltwater.

He called the finished piece the One-Stop-Shop.

Satisfied with his creation, Jeffrey brought a Brownie to the Mob Designer. The only changes he made were stretching its nose up to three feet and make it vacuum up stuff as well as make its feet super absorbent, like a mop. After a second thought, he gave it the ability to stretch its arms out and let the stretched out limbs stick to things. He didn't know what they'd be useful for, though, but he felt like they were necessary. With that, he called his new creations the Picker Uppers.

Now for his last mob addition. More goblins!

The first step was to make its skin fire-resistant and hard to pierce, turning it steel-colored. He also strengthened its vocal cords, making them capable of actual speech. He upped their smell sensitivity as well. With that, he named his creations Baker Gobs and was done with them.

With that, all he had left to do was wait for his Scouter Gobs to return and reap those sweet, sweet Tower Points.