The Mad Rat’s Lab

As Ricard warned, as soon as we get close to one of those sponges, it starts glowing. In a chain effect, the closest ones start glowing too. The light propagates further and further, as far as I can see…

“Stop gawking and run. We’re in danger here.”

Startled at his warning, I look around. We’re in danger… What danger? I don’t see any…? It’s then that I see the giant shadow approaching at a ridiculous speed.

Oh, yeah! The giant whale! “Baldy! Don’t leave me behind!”

We run towards the closest mound-like pillar of rock. I’d love to stop and watch the scenery but I’m too busy running. The only thing I can see right now is the approaching colossal shadow.

In the middle, I realize the whale hasn’t spotted us yet, as it isn’t coming straight towards us. Instead, it swims further ahead, where the majority of the luminous sponges are located, attracted by them. This is good because we’re safe for now, but it’ll be a problem later when we inevitably have to go near it.

The rock pillar, which looked grey from a distance, turned out to be indeed gray. Gray rock, smooth as if polished, but rough to the touch.

How can it be both rough and smooth? Aren’t they opposites? Well… if it has no protrusions and the surface is perfectly flat, you call it smooth. If it has a coarse texture that hurts your hand when you press on it, you say it’s rough. So yes, it’s both rough and smooth. Like cement, don’t you agree?

I thought it would be dark inside, but there’s a tenue white ambient light illuminating the interior. I know it makes no sense in real life, but it’s indispensable for the game. Players don’t enjoy darkness unless it’s part of the intended experience. This light is why we could perfectly see the holes in the pillar from outside the algae forest. Otherwise, it’d have been impossible to distinguish them from the dark gray rock surface.

There’s also light coming from the shining sponges, which helps quite a bit too. But that light didn’t exist when I first looked at them.

“Is this supposed to be created by a sea creature?” I ask. “It doesn’t look natural.”

“Hmm…”

Ricard struggles to answer for a while. I’m sure he’s looking for the perfect answer, to show off his (self-proclaimed) ‘amazing knowledge that surpasses the heavens’... but he can’t find any. 

In the end, he lowers his head in shame, admitting defeat. “It must be… I’m sure it is… Ugh… I, I don’t know.”

“Hahaha. Didn’t you take into account that they might be part of the setting? That there might not be any reason behind them? That they’re here just for aesthetic purposes?”

“That’s true… but I’m sure there was something behind them…”

After our brief conversation, we start climbing to get to a better viewing point.

The tower, not more than ten meters wide, is filled with tunnels from one to two meters wide. They connect, creating easy paths to each hole that leads to the exterior. It reminds me of those places for kids to play.

It takes us about two minutes to reach the top.

“Wow,” I exclaim, taking in the surroundings. “I never expected it to look like this. Are you sure we’re in a Deep Seas dungeon?”

Ricard stands proudly next to me, puffing his chest, but says nothing. He’s acting as if he were the one who designed this dungeon.

Like stars shining in a deep blue sky, the white sponges float still in this wide space. To this, you have to add the streams of jellyfish from all colors being dragged by the water currents, moving from one dark pillar to the next incessantly.

You’d imagine the dark mounds would look sinister and ruin the view, but instead of ruining it, they contribute a necessary contrast to the light and colors, perfectly complementing everything.

But what gets my attention is the humongous white whale, completely visible for the first time, swimming relentlessly between the stone pillars. The scars covering its skin are a testament to its aggressive and warlike behavior.

It’s like being in a dream. The whale, though, turns it into a nightmare. This is why, to me, this dungeon appears to fit the Dream Vestiges faction more than the Deep Seas.

“So…” After looking at the jellyfish moving around for a while with my mouth wide open, I realize there’s a big setback for our plan. “...how are we supposed to do this?”

“I… I’m not sure.”

Yes, this is the problem. Ricard said we’re supposed to jump on the jellyfish and use them to get to the next pillar. But since we reached the top, not a single one has come close to the pillar we’re in.

“Do we have to swim to reach them? I suppose it’s fine. But what about our support mobs? You don’t expect them to ride the jellyfish without touching their tentacles, do you? It’d be a miracle if it worked.”

“You’re right.” Ricard nods. “We should leave them behind. There’s no need to take the risk of bringing them with us. If they don’t die to the tentacles, they might get the whale’s attention. And that’s assuming they don’t start combat with the jellyfish…”

Wait a moment! What did he say?

“The whale’s attention…? Fufufu! Hahaha!” I start laughing. Then, I grab his shoulder while making a serious expression. “Baldy, my friend. Do you want to do something stupid with me?”

“Something stupid?”

He makes a face that says ‘What crazy plan did you come up with?’. He’s right. I came up with one of my crazy plans. But before I tell him, there’s something I must check.

“Do you think your specters will be fine swimming between the jellyfish and remain hidden from the white whale?”

“I think so. I’ve played for a long time with them and modified their AI to the best of my ability. As long as I’m the one giving orders, they should be able to do anything I desire. Why are you asking?”

“Well, you see…”

I drag my words to add tension and to annoy him as payback for his behavior so far.  But mostly for the latter.

“...you said we have to cross this place by riding the jellyfish, right?”

“Yes?”

“Also, our support mobs would be a hindrance to our plan. So we should leave them behind.”

“That’s right. I’m considering leaving everyone behind, even the specters, to avoid unexpected consequences.”

I put on my best evil smile before continuing. “What do you think about this? Why don’t we…”

 

---

 

“Mr. Cyam. We won’t need your services anymore. This is our formal goodbye. See you in future campaigns, our best kidnapper.”

I make a military salute towards one of the best monsters I’ve ever created.

Cyam isn’t the best because of its strength; nor is it the best because of how dangerous, annoying, or distracting it is. Cyam is the best because it has saved me a lot of time by capturing everything I’ve ever wanted before I even had to ask him.

Next, I turn to the two Good Followers.

“Good Follower number 1, Good Follower number 3. You too are dismissed.” I make another military salute.

Number 2 is the one who got kidnapped earlier. If you’re wondering how I distinguish between them, the answer is simple: I don’t. I make up the names on the fly.

“...can’t you do it faster? Why are you wasting time with something this stupid?”

From somewhere behind me, a voice from a man I vaguely know, whose name starts with R if I’m not wrong, reaches me. Since that man isn’t relevant, I decide to ignore him and continue.

“Comrades. We have but one last job for you.” I said I dismissed them, but I’m giving them another job? Please, don’t swear about the minor details. “From now on, you’re going to put your lives at risk so that I and that annoying man over there survive.”

“Hey! At least call me by my name, TheGreatBaldSage!”

Yeah… no thanks.

“You all know what must be done. Thank you for your valiant sacrifice.” I wipe the nonexistent tear threatening to fall from my eye. “Do your best to survive, comrades.”

Having finished saying goodbye, I turn around and make a surprised face.

“Oh, Baldy. Are you finished? Were you waiting for me? I didn’t notice.”

“...”

He stays silent and glares at me. Ok, I’ll admit it. This is getting awkward.

“Alright, alright. I’m sorry. I couldn’t stop myself from doing it.” When it comes to Ricard, the best way to calm his anger is to switch the topic to something he likes. “So… are you ready? We’re going to be the first players to clear this area in under a minute!”

“O-oh! Yes! We’re ready. Let’s show everyone we’re the best! Hahaha!”

As I expected, as soon as it came to talk about showing how good he was, he immediately cheered up.

I look at the specters floating around Ricard. Like all phantom-like undead, they are half transparent. They also glow slightly, which makes them easy to spot in dark places. But once we go outside, the bright light from the sponges and the glowing jellyfish should make them almost impossible to see.

“Alright! Let’s go!”

“This undead will stop at nothing! We’ll fool The Great White Whale and break the record! Hahahaha!”

I’m glad he’s so motivated. What we’re going to do is quite stupid, to be honest. I’d rather have him behave like a crazy undead than be scared to death.

Haha… sorry for the lame joke.

We wait for a jellyfish swarm to come as close as possible before leaving our hiding place. We swim at our maximum speed – which isn’t high by any means, as we move at half the speed – to reach them before they move away.

From afar, they looked small. But now that we’re close, I realize they’re half the size of a car. They look tiny when close to the white whale, which serves to prove how massive that creature is.

Freakish monster!

The jellyfish's size makes them extremely disgusting and dangerous, but at the same time… it makes them perfect for riding.

I choose a red one because it looks cooler, and Ricard settles for a green one.

As for the specters… We discussed it thoroughly, and our first plan was sure to fail. They wouldn’t be able to keep up with the jellyfish’s speed, so we had to think of something else. The plan we came up with was for them to stick as close to Ricard as possible to prevent them from doing anything foolish.

To keep it short: Ricard is now wearing a ‘spectral coat’. Given the specter’s nature and the jellyfish’s color, it seems as if they were a single creature: a monstrous jellyfish eating Ricard whole from the top of its bell.

Well, as long as he’s fine and it’s not me… I shiver.

“Let’s gogogo!” I shout, pointing forward. “Onwards, on the jellyfish express! Fufufu! Hahaha!”

As if in response to my shout, from the mound-like pillar we were in, all our remaining minions start swimming in every possible direction. They’re the ‘bait’ for our pursuer. The bait to catch the giant whale, so that it leaves the more important package (us) alone.

They’re going to swim in the direction of one of the stone pillars and circle it, making sure to stay visible all the time.

“I really hope they buy us enough time. Otherwise…” I gulp at the sight of the colossal whale turning around and looking in the direction of poor Cyam. “...we’re done for.”

 

“Thinking out of the box can bring huge benefits in DMA. Unlike in reality, there are game constraints. If you manage to abuse them and turn them in your favor, any situation can be solved easily.”

- Comment from an unknown player.