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Vlog the Dungeon

Discussion in 'Creative Writing' started by TotalAbsolutism, Jun 20, 2019.

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  1. TotalAbsolutism

    TotalAbsolutism Magnificent Bastard Moderator

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    February 2017: Mysterious Dungeons start opening in population centres across the world. Nations around the globe quarantine the regions they appear in and evacuate civilians.

    March 2017: Some Monsters escape from Dungeons, and cause heavy casualties before they're stopped. Several countries declare nation-wide states of emergency.

    April 2017: First 'Adventurer' safely enters and closes a Dungeon.

    July 2017: Video footage taken from inside a Dungeon goes viral on YouTube.

    August 2017: A 'Dungeon Vlogger' passes one million subscribers for the first time. Others follow shortly.

    In this world, Dungeons have appeared. They are dangerous yet lucrative places; able to be entered only by a select few individuals who risk life and limb in order to defeat the Boss of these labyrinths and seal them away. Human nature being what it is, a non-trivial portion of these Adventurers decided to put it all on the internet for money, fame and, most important of all, views.

    These are their stories.
     
  2. Index: Index
    TotalAbsolutism

    TotalAbsolutism Magnificent Bastard Moderator

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  3. Threadmarks: DV King (1) - Dungeonstream
    TotalAbsolutism

    TotalAbsolutism Magnificent Bastard Moderator

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    March 17th 2019 - First Recorded ‘Dungeonstream’

    “Shit, is this thing working? Yo, holla at me in the chat if you can see.”

    On screen all that could be seen was a frame around a black box. To the right of it was a coloured list of scrolling names with words beside them responding to the audio. At the top was appended a single name with dollar signs to either side and an amount on the right of it, while at the bottom was a number of page addresses with a small advertisement in the corner which cycled every few seconds.

    “... alright how about now? Damn, stream delay… ah well, fuckit. Let’s just… there we go!”

    The picture suddenly flared into life and the black box reveals a young man. He had bleached blond hair with blue-green tips that hang out of his open-faced helmet. When he pulled back from the camera it revealed his armour plating, kevlar and carbon fibre, with brand logos stamped all over it.

    “Yo yo yo wassup it’s ya boy DV KIIIIING coming to you live from my home of Detrooooiiit. Lemme see y’all make some noise in chat!”

    DV King grinned widely into the camera and looked down at his left wrist where an expensive smartwatch sat. Lines of text streamed across it and he laughed out loud as he saw it.

    “Oh yeah, thanks for the five bucks from BuzzLog, he says, ‘Are you already in the dungeon?’ And to answer that…”

    He walked up to the camera and picked it up; moving it around so he was no longer visible and then attaching it with an offscreen click. Shown onscreen now was a glowing green rectangle about the size and shape of a regular doorway. The colour was washing out the surroundings but it seemed to be embedded in some kind of corrugated metal.

    “There ya go, DV fans! You met my Patreon goal so, as promised, today I will be streaming my capture of this dungeon live! This is a world first, people! Now we’ve not got too long before the Twitch mods shut this down so today we’ll be going for a speed capture! Gimme some of that lightspeed hype in chat and keep the donations flowing!”

    His hands flickered into view several times and flashed double horn signs at the camera. Then focus shifted to his smartwatch as he switched tabs to show a bin filling up with tiny dollar bills and various amounts listed on the side.

    “Remember, if we get to five hundred bucks I’ll do the rest of the run with dual shields! Shieldbro hyyyyype!”

    With that he looked into the glowing doorway and moved forward; the screen went white for a moment as he passed through and then there was a moment of static. It lasted less than a minute before the picture came back; there was a mossy floor with heavy stone blocks making up the walls and ceiling.

    “Woah… this is promising, guys. Like, I found this dungeon in one of the old warehouse and I don’t think the Association even knows about it yet. Didn’t show you guys the Entry Zone ‘cause it was just giant rats, but this looks way cool.”

    A sharpened arming sword, well-oiled, came into view along with a clear plastic shield strapped to his left hand. He glanced back at the entrance where a handful of other people, similarly equipped, were setting up.

    “Got my crew here setting up so we don’t lose signal for the stream. No worries, though, DV King still clears solo! Solo hype!

    He looked back down the corridor and started strolling with only the occasional pause to check chat now and then. It looked like the dungeon was lit by open-flame torches without any visible fuel that DV passed without any comment. Up ahead was a brighter light that he moved excitedly toward; coming into and then looking around a large round room with evenly spaced alcoves around the edges that had statues in them.

    “Woah… nice! We had giant rats outside, so I wonder what monsters we’ll find here? Yo, mods, can you get a comp running for that? Everyone who guesses correctly will get a bonus entry in my next giveaway, which I’ll be announcing at the end of the stream!”

    The view drifted slowly around the room as he confidently walked to the very middle. There were three different paths heading out from it aside from where he’d come out of; one was darker than the rest, one was more overgrown with plant life, and the third was just the same as the one he’d entered through.

    “Hmm… hey guys, which way should I go? I’m counting on your advice here.”

    His camera wasn’t quite situated well enough to perfectly see the chat on his smartwatch when he looked down at it but it was easy enough to hear him mumbling what he read out loud.

    “Lots of you want the dark path, but don’t forget that this isn’t my nightvision rig. I can see in the dark guys but you can’t, so… wait, what was… lemme scroll up a sec… Formark says, ‘Did that statue ju-”

    Suddenly the viewpoint shifted violently as DV leapt forward; judging by how the camera swung he’d literally pulled a forward flip into a front roll and as he’d done so a flash of grey had passed over the feed. When he righted himself there was an armoured statue with an impassive expression standing opposite him.

    “Oh sweet, stone golem dungeon! Those drop some killer loot guys. Can we get a gift sub for Formark? Thanks man, you saved my ass!”

    Chat exploded as DV circled around the slowly marching golem. It was holding a massive stone longsword in one hand; the edge was dull but that didn’t really matter when it swung it as fast as it did. The streamer was clearly not bothered by this at all; though he did unclip his shield and toss it aside.

    “Alright gang, this is just like normal. Lotsa noobs have trouble with golems but for your boy they’re capital EZ, so listen up and I’ll dump some knowledge on you!”

    The feed leapt forward and then back again; in front the golem swung again with a massive horizontal swing that caused a spike of rushing air over the mic which nearly washed out DV’s laughter.

    “See that? Golems only ever have one or two moves, tops, so no wombo combos here boys. They walk in straight lines only and never dodge non-dungeon hazards. So if you see one go around a floor tile…”

    One of the moderators watching the feed back at the dungeon entrance was on the ball and an anime girl graphic appeared on screen for a moment followed by a cartoon fish man with a big word bubble screaming, ‘It’s a trap!’ DV laughed and stepped in again, baiting out another swing, and then looked down as he dodged so the camera caught the tip passing within a centimetre of his armour; another mod quickly clipped it and played the instant replay in slow motion as a looping picture-in-picture at the bottom left.

    “Blam! Hail to the King, baby!”

    Meanwhile, on the main screen, the streamer had punched through the chest of the golem with a powerful straight thrust that cracked the stone around the entry wound. Immediately the thing stopped moving and DV leaned back so he could kick it in the rocky stomach. This, combined with a hefty yank, sent it teetering backwards to the floor where it smashed into a dozen pieces.

    “That’s how we do it in the DV Dynasty, yo! Solo dungeon captures, one-hit kills all the way! I’d like to thank my sponsor, Maximum Armaments, for the sweet sword that makes this all possible. If it ain’t Maximum, it ain’t enough.”

    He checked out the blade during the promo, showing off the undamaged surface, and then sheathed it so he could go and root through the stone fragments. As he did so the camera shifted to the side now and then so he could read chat.

    “Ah, Coolimp asks ‘How did you kill a stone golem with one hit? They’re C-Rank monsters, aren’t they?’ You must be new to the DV Dynasty, so I’ll fill you in.”

    On screen he found what he was looking for; a shining crystal sphere about the size of a softball that had a perfect sword-shaped hole through it. He tossed it in one hand a few times and then glanced down at a small leather pouch tied to his left vambrace. The crystal easily fit into the pouch in spite of its small size.

    “Stone golems used to be considered C-Rank monsters even though they only showed up in D-Rank dungeons, or sometimes even as bosses in E-Ranked ones! That was before yours truly, DV King, discovered their weak point! That’s the magic core you just saw. Any hit to that will take them out instantly, and it’s always in the same place every time.”

    He snorted with amusement as he looked around the room and then turned to the mossy tunnel.

    “Before that people used to have to totally wreck their arms and legs to take them down. Oh hey, look at that crew, we got a twenty dollar donation from Dartbrobi! Can we get some love for him in chat? And we’ve just hit the hundred dollar mark so that means…”

    There was an extended pause while he fiddled with something just out of view and then suddenly the blond face of DV King came into view in the top left-hand corner of the stream.

    “Ta-dah! That’s right, it’s the long-awaited return of DV Facecam! Took me a while to get a good rig going, but I finally acquired one thanks to Razer’s new harness rig. Shout out to Razer for comping me this one; I’ve only just started using it but I love it.”

    He gave a winning smile to the camera and then looked down again. Then he turned and glanced into a now statueless where a large wooden and metal chest was sitting.

    “Oh shit! Big shoutout to HealerEpsk, I totally missed that room reward! Like I said, golem dungeons give out some phat lewt, y’know what I’m sayin' guys? Let’s go see what’s uuuuuuup. Yo, mods, get that guy's deets of him; Epsk, bro, if this chest is any good I’m totally sending you something nice.”

    DV strolled casually over to the chest, grinning the whole time and knelt down; running his hands over the lid and making a goofy, satisfied face as he did so.

    “Ah man, you guys, this is some epic shit! We’re talking the first ever live dungeon unboxing you guys! Get ready to be part of history!”

    He flung the chest open and stared, with an expression of abject glee that began to rapidly morph into horror, at a large unblinking eye, a massive tongue, several flesh tentacles and dozens of razor sharp teeth. The camera’s view was suddenly pitched forward violently and went dark as a splash of red filled the facecam’s lens right before it too went black. There was nothing but screaming, a horrible meaty chewing sound, and then… silence.

    The chat exploded seconds later.

    March 17th 2019 - First Recorded Instance of ‘Mimic’ Monster in a Dungeon
     
    Last edited: Apr 23, 2020
  4. Threadmarks: BasilA (1) - First DVlog, Part 1
    TotalAbsolutism

    TotalAbsolutism Magnificent Bastard Moderator

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    “...ere we go. Ah, I’ll just turn around the viewfinder here so I can… oh, good, it’s working.” A mail shirt was all that could be seen at first, but it pulled back soon to show a man with a well-weathered face, wisps of white hair, thick glasses, and sturdy boots with a bit of dirt caked on them. He smiled nervously at the camera and gave a little wave.

    “Ah, hello everyone! This is, ah, Basil Ainsley, but of course you know all that. Before we began today I’d just like to say a few things…” He reached into one of his belt pouches and pulled out a slightly crumpled bit of notepaper that he held up and peered at; casting hesitant glances at the camera as he did so.

    “Firstly, of course, I want to thank everyone who’s subscribed to my, ah, channel. I also want to specifically thank, um…” The paper was held a bit closer as he squinted at what he must have written earlier.

    “Aim… I think that’s meant to be ‘Aim Edge’, though they’ve used numbers as well. Your tips for how to balance my sound were very helpful. Oh, and Sen… Senomic? That mixture you recommended for getting the rust out of my mail worked wonderfully.” After that he turned the paper over a few times and then nodded to himself; tucking it away. Then he looked straight into the camera and straightened up with a proud grin on his face.

    “Now! Until now I’ve been just talking about, ah, my experiences in these ‘Dungeons’, how I got into all of this, oh, and showing you all how I do my weapon maintenance and things. But just last week I got my E-Rank license, and after I posted the video about the test I also reached a hundred subscribers! I really can’t express just how grateful I am for all of the kind words you’ve been leaving. But, ah…”

    Basil rubbed the back of his head with a bashful little chuckle and then walked over to the camera to pick it up and point it at the view he’d been standing in front of. There was temporary fencing there, on wheels but secured in place, with barbed wire at the top that bridged the gap between two buildings. With some delicacy he zoomed in on a plastic sign hung on the fence that read, ‘Danger: Monsters Within’.

    “This is an F-Ranked Dungeon that appeared recently, in the alley behind my local chip shop. It’s a right nuisance, so some of the lads are going to go in and clear it out today. Now, I just figured out how to use this-” At that he zoomed out again and waved a hand in front of the camera with small black device clutched in it.

    “New ‘Go-Pro’ that my grandson Jason bought for me. So I’ll be taking some footage inside the Dungeon today. Only, I won’t be talking to you while I’m in the Dungeon as it’s important that I focus; so while you’ll be hearing me talk to you, it’s something I put in after, okay?” His camera went back on to it tri-pod and Basil moved in front of it again; frowning and pointing right into the lens.

    “Remember, any time you do any dangerous task you must give it your full attention. Now, I know that when I’m woodworking I also listen to music sometimes-” The old man’s hands parted in the universal ‘hold on a moment’ gesture.

    “But that’s because I’ve got fifty years of experience! Also, when you’re using a bandsaw there’s not much risk of some ghoulie jumping out and trying to stab you in the whatnots. So, when we’re in the Dungeon the portable stays at home, and we’re fully focused on our task. I know some of you are fine Adventurers in your own right, and I don’t want a one of you to get hurt. Good? Good.”

    Then he walked up to the camera and the view turned off. When it came back again it was clearly a different camera; the resolution was noticeably better, and it was also obviously mounted on a helmet. After a moment the sound cuts out and a voice cuts in.

    “Right, here we are at the, ah, start of the Dungeon. This is Basil again, but after the run ended; so don’t worry, I made it out alright. Oh, ah, ‘spoiler warning’, haha!”

    He was walking up to a gate with a man in uniform standing by it. The man had a slightly forced smile as he waved through a younger person in front that became far more genuine as Basil called out to him.

    “Hello Frank,” the old man began, “How’s the missus and the little’un?” The gate guard, clearly Frank, broke out into a full on grin as he took an offered booklet which he then scanned.

    “Oh, can’t complain, can’t complain. ‘Ere, you’ve got a camera on your helmet today, Basil! And I see you’ve ranked up, too. Glad to see it, glad to see it, you work twice as hard as some of these kids, and don’t I know it.” Frank cast a withering glance at the back of the young man who’d gone in before, wearing what looked like a leather jacket with a greatsword hanging in a sheathe on his back. The view shook as Basil shook his head.

    “Don’t be so hard on them, Frank; we’re all learning here, aren’t we? Anyway, I best get in there before it’s over. Maybe I’ll see you down the pub after?” The guard nodded happily and Basil clapped him on the shoulder as he headed in. The audio cut out again as ‘future’ Basil chimed in.

    “Now, what Frank was alluding to is that young fellow’s weapon. You see, he’s using a two-handed sword, looks like an English-style longsword rather than Scottish or German, but ah, anyway.”

    The video had paused with the young man in question in sight, with his head awkwardly blurred out in a way that obscured part of the sword’s hilt.

    “Now, you know I prefer a good arming sword or shorter spear, so take what I have to say with a grain of salt; however, my main gripe is not really a matter of opinion either. The lad’s sporting one of those back-sheathes, as you can see, which I will stress is perfectly fine for day-to-day carrying so long as you’re tall enough. But, well, we’ll talk more about him later on...”

    His video skips a bit and now shows a faintly glowing doorway embedded in a slightly grimy brick wall. There’s a few people loitering around it, four or five young men and a couple of young women, and Basil has done his best to blur out their faces; though he seems to err on the side of ‘too much’ rather than ‘too little’. They sport a variety of weapons and armour ranging from light kevlar with a shortbow on one of the girls to mail with a heavy chest plate and a riot shield to accompany a one-handed mace.

    They’re chatting, and a couple wave as they see Basil approaching; an African teen, face unblurred, steps over, dropping his axe into his belt loop as he does so, and holds up a fist to the old man. Basil raises his own and they bump knuckles, then top, then bottom, and then he hesitates for a moment before his companion laughs and makes an explosion sound while opening his hand quickly. Basil does the same moments later.

    Just barely visible to one side is the young man from before; he looks like he scoffs under the blurring and walks straight into the dungeon alone. In front of Basil the teen sighs and shakes his head.

    “Man, Baz, wish we had a few more cool old guys like you instead of arrogant -------ds like that.” His profanity is inexpertly cut out and he immediately looks apologetic as the view twitches from what must have been Basil wincing. “Oh, sorry bruv, I forgot; no swearing on the channel, right?” He waved at the camera with a wide grin and pulled the old man along to the others; the view turning just for a moment to show the arm put around Basil’s shoulder.

    “Baz, this is my gang and gang, this is the almighty Baz himself, Luton’s oldest Adventurer!” The young man waves at everyone and then back at Basil. “He’s filming, but if you don’t want your face up on his channel just let him know, he’s real good about that sort of thing. Baz, this is Chauncey, Shawna, June, and Kendrick-”

    “Oi, it’s Kenny ya plonker. Get it right.” They all chuckle at their most heavily armed and armoured member’s annoyance and each one happily shakes Basil’s hand as he offers it.

    “It’s nice to meet you all. Wayne’s talked about you all quite a lot.” There’s a chorus of whistles and cries of ‘Oh has he now’ from the group towards Wayne, who just waves them off and laughs. Basil continues, “Non’t you worry about me so much; I might seem a bit slow but I just like to take it at my own pace. You kids just keep an eye on each other, and make sure you all come back safe.”

    “Aww, Baz, that’s sweet.” June, of Asian descent but still proudly sporting a thick London accent, gives the old man a quick hug and then gestures at them. “C’mon you lot, let’s get in before that tosser spoils it.” Basil watches them all go inside and then has a look around the alleyway they’re in.

    “Right. This is, ah, now-Basil speaking rather than after the run. It’s alright for now since we’re not inside the Dungeon yet. Ah, but, normally you must be careful even when you’re just in the ‘Zone’; which is what this is here. Now, it’s quite a small one because the Dungeon is very weak. You see…” He looked at the doorway and moved toward it; holding out his hand and pushing it closer and further. Faint tendrils of rainbow light formed around his fingers.

    “The brighter the door is, and the closer you get this, ah, ‘aurora’ effect the higher ranked the Dungeon is. It shows up very brightly indeed on the camera, but it’s not quite so bad as this. What some young folks don’t know is that the Dungeon entrances appear dimmer to you if you’re stronger. Make sure you ask everyone in your party about how bright it is for them.”

    Basil looks down but doesn’t quite capture his belt in frame; though he clearly removed something from it. He holds up into view a folding metal ruler that he puts up against the wall beside the door.

    “What I would recommend is getting something like this, or just use a weapon if you’ve not got a ruler handy, and hold it up here; then get everyone to say about where on the ruler, or weapon, the light from the door seems to obscure to. This should let you know about how tough the Dungeon is for each of your party members.” WIth his lesson concluded Basil folded up the ruler and stowed it away again.

    “Now, you might here a few comments from me now and then, but I probably won’t be stopping to talk to you directly again like this; so from now on you’ll be hearing me from after the run is over. So goodbye for now, my friends, and I hope you enjoy the video!” The old man looks into the doorway and steps straight into it.

    May 23rd 2019 - Small Channel ‘BasilA’ Posts ‘F-Rank Dungeon Video, Part 1’
     
    Last edited: Jul 8, 2019
  5. NakedFury

    NakedFury Not too sore, are you?

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    So right of the start we got a nasty death and from an experienced dungeoneer?

    is it explained later why taking guns is not allowed or something or is it because regular weapons are easier to buy?
     
    ChestBurster and TotalAbsolutism like this.
  6. TotalAbsolutism

    TotalAbsolutism Magnificent Bastard Moderator

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    There is a valid reason in universe. Multiple, even. Guns are certainly harder to acquire in some countries, which is a factor. The rest of it has to do with the nature of Adventurers and Dungeons, which will come up at some point.

    Usually people die for one of two reasons; either they were being careless, or else there was something unexpected. Sometimes the latter comes from the former, but more often it's from the 'new'.

    DV King was competent, sure, underneath all that swagger; but he was lax as well. Yet in this case it wasn't that laziness that got him killed, it was something unknown. That's the biggest danger of Dungeons. When 'new' things appear the casualty rate tends to spike.
     
  7. lot

    lot Know what you're doing yet?

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    Press F to pay respects. :D
     
  8. marsolino

    marsolino I trust you know where the happy button is?

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    Why am I not surprised lol. Interesting idea, watched
     
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  9. Generic_Generica

    Generic_Generica Verified kōhai

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    Oh hey I’ve finally gotten around to reading the new snip :V

    (Presses the like button)

    I maintain that this is a fascinating premise and I’m keen on seeing what you’re going to be doing with this premise,
     
    TotalAbsolutism likes this.
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