She Rules the Dungeon

Time flew by quickly and Otta found herself panicking like a headless chicken.

"What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? Oh Telesia! What do I do, Richard?!"

Richard yawned and blinked a few times before rubbing his eyes and pulling the cover his head. Otta was in one of those moods again and Richard become used to them. Grace called it the "mental meltdown" and Otta seemed to have a lot of those. It usually happens when Otta doesn't have enough time to prepare for something. The woman is several screws loose and Richard didn't question her need to be informed about anything 'major' two weeks prior. Major events include releasing event dungeons, going out to meet strangers, her parents visiting or asking her to go back, Neru-Neru's concert and any amount of money above one hundred dollars that required spending.

"Richard!" she screamed when the programmer promptly fell back to sleep. How could he do this to her!

She tugged at the covers and drew the curtains open. The sunlight burned Richard's eyes and the man wished he'd been blind.

"Dang it Otta! What's your problem?!"

"Save me!" she gasped and Richard glared at her in annoyance.

"Ten seconds," he growled and Otta wasted no time.

"FLS's first year anniversary is coming up and I have no idea what to do because it is four days from now!"

Richard blinked. His brain didn't work very well after being so rudely awakened but he grasped the basics.

"Make an event, throw some freebies or don't do anything at all." Having said that, he snatched the blanket back and went back to sleep, ignoring Otta's dilemma.

Desperate and unsure about what to do when her partner abandoned her, Otta reached for the phone and called the first person on speed dial.

"Grace," the person answered and Otta sobbed in relief.

Five minutes later, Grace still couldn't understand what the red-head was saying but she knew for sure that it was one of Otta's episodes. This isn't something she could deal with, she needed Michelle.

"Ok, relax. I don't know what happened there but let me call Michelle ok? I'll text you when we can come over, just don't try to kill yourself in the meantime. Is Richard there?"

"He abandoned me!" she cried again and Grace felt a headache coming. Logically she knew that it wasn't Richard's fault but couldn't the guy help a little? A close neighbour is always better than a distant relative... doesn't Richard have any compassion in him? Grace fumed as she called Michelle.

"Michelle speaking."

The socialite cussed. "I'll meet you near her apartment in twenty minutes. Just let me pack up."

Grace agreed and did the same.

Twenty minutes later, all three girls were sitting in Otta's room listening to Otta's side of the story. The adventurer wanted to smack some sense into her friend. No wonder Richard snapped! This isn't a life and death matter. In fact, Grace had a few ideas in mind.

"Otta... I think you should apologise to Richard when he's up later. You overreacted."

Otta sniffed. "I'm sorry... any ideas though? The first year anniversary is meant to be a huge thing."

Michelle hummed. Sure, she had some ideas. However, knowing Otta, the red-head would never settle for something normal. She pitied Richard and respected the programmer for being so patient with her fastidious friend. Otta had her moments and those moments tested the strength of their friendship. Grace was fast to get angry and faster to forgive so it wasn't too difficult. However, Michelle found it challenging at times to understand Otta. As much as she tried to, she could never understand the way Otta's mind worked. Yes, it produced miracles and wonderful ideas but at the same time, Otta seemed to lack the common sense that many were born with. She lived in a world of her own and Five Lives Saga is merely a glimpse into it.

"Otta, instead of asking us what we think, what about you let us know what you had in mind? Surely you've considered some possibilities even before today."

Grace gave Michelle a thankful smile. The adventurer wasn't good at dealing with Otta when she had a meltdown because Otta would often launch into rants about things that Grace didn't know of and ask her for her opinion. Nobody knew what a 'moochathung' was and only Otta understood what she was talking about. Grace and Michelle have tried again and again to understand their friend but had to accept that Otta was from a different world. Grace wasn't very smart. She didn't know how to help her friend and sometimes her honest opinions only made matters worse. Michele, on the other hand, was an expert at dealing with people. Although she couldn't understand what Otta was talking about like Grace, she was able to aid Otta into finding her own answers by nudging her subtly in the right direction. Grace admired that about Michelle.

Otta frowned. Normally, dungeon owners gave away free special dungeon tickets, merchandise discounts and things to promote their business to adventurers. Otta didn't want to do the same. Instead, she wanted to add value for the loyal adventurers who'd made their success possible. However, she didn't know if people would be willing to participate in what she'd planned or be happy about it.

"I'm thinking of creating a solo quest that will run for three days. However, the prizes involved upon quest completion isn't going to be anything adventurers will benefit from. They get a title for completing the quest and a random potion but nothing more. However, through the quest, I hope that it would help us gain supporters for the new dungeon ideas I have."

Grace had a bad feeling about it. "Are you still trying to give the disabled a chance to experience normal life through the dungeon?"

Otta nodded and Grace sighed. Richard and Otta were way too reckless, doing things on their own behind PJP's back and underneath the government's noses. Time dilution in dungeons was stepping in the grey zone so Grace closed one eye on that because Otta and Richard didn't release that dungeon to the public. However, copying someone else's memory to share it with another person is illegal as it counts as human experimentation.

"Otta..." Michelle understood what her friend was trying to do and gave her a warning stare.

Immediately Otta raised her hands in defence. "I'm not going to break the law, I promise!"

Both girls looked doubtful. Although Otta wasn't the kind of person who would break the law on purpose, she was the kind who would try to find a way around it. They didn't trust that innocent face after being fooled one too many times. Instead, they pinned her down with their stares, pressuring her into telling the truth.

Under the intense pressure of hawk-like stares, Otta caved.

"Ok, it might not be breaking the law but I found a way around it. Or at least to a certain extent to bend pass it with Richard and Cameron's help."

Grace and Michelle sighed simultaneously. Of course they should have expected something like that.

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's equally risky to perform memory transfers without proper testing and safety procedures. However, much like how flying is invented in the dungeon, I was thinking of allowing the physically disabled to experience what it is like to perform normal tasks. I consulted many times with Richard and Kalissa about the human brain and the link between physical disabilities. As long as the brain is normal, the disability is only a physical factor that can be erased in a dungeon."

Michelle exchanged looks with Grace. She hasn't had the experience of flying in dungeons unlike Grace so she couldn't judge if what Otta was saying was good or bad even if it sounded logical.

"I'm not going to say anything at this point. While it should be possible, what would you do once you have their support? Create a dungeon for the disabled who by law are unable to find employment? Only adventurers and beta testers are allowed to enter dungeons."

Otta frowned. Grace was right and that was the reason for her hesitation. While the laws did mention that it was illegal for disabled people to find employment, they didn't say disabled people couldn't find their own activities. Many of them joined clubs or associations as volunteers and Otta hoped to exploit that as suggested by Cameron.

"I want to hire them unofficially as our volunteers for the testing of the new dungeon. Adrian has a lot of people to answer to so we won't be involving PJP in this project. Instead, I'm considering setting up a subsidiary under Five Lives Saga to run the special dungeons. It will be registered as an R&D company instead of dungeon developers."

"Alright," Michelle conceded. "It looks like you have everything planned out. Richard seemed to be well aware of your intentions so what was the panicking about this morning?"

Remembering her earlier meltdown, Otta blushed. She needed to stop making a mountain out of a molehill and learn to act under pressure.

"I have not figured out the quest for it or approached the societies for the disabled to see if there would be a chance for collaboration. Also, I didn't know if adventurers would be willing to undertake tutoring tasks as part of another kind of job in the dungeons... As you know, not many of them are good teachers. Khan is a very rare exception after all."

Grace grimaced. Otta was right. Adventurers are not the thinking type of people. Under normal circumstances, the scientist beta testers would be better candidates for the job but like the red-head mentioned earlier, it wasn't wise to involve PJP for such a risky project.

"There's no real need to rush," Michelle quipped. Sure, Otta might feel the urgency to act on it but in her opinion, it was a bad idea to rush. To fight against the government, they needed a solid argument to push their point across. A lot of preparation needed to be done before they could begin and one week isn't enough.

"You should bring this idea and discuss it in further detail with Richard and the informants. Design a strong plan and set a strong foundation. The last thing you want is the government interfering and shutting down everything you've worked for. As for FLS's first birthday, how about making it a carnival where adventurers could enjoy different activities? I know for a fact that not many of them have unlocked all the available classes lie Khan. You can give everyone who logs on that day a ticket that can be redeemed for any one job class' unique skill or design a short quest and allow them to participate in a lucky draw etc... there are so many things to do that doesn't involve your plan for that new dungeon. Your customers would be happy with a limited item or collectable too. As of date, FLS has not released any collectables or official merchandise for fans, You can start considering it."

Grace perked at the mention of collectables. "Hell yes! Otta, you need to do that. You have no idea how many female adventurers could do with an in-dungeon wardrobe makeover. We now have homes to include a wardrobe function for costumes or clothes. The guild leader is complaining about having to iron his set of suit every day even when he is running in a dungeon lying in the comforts of his bed. The system does not allow any customisation of appearance and it's not very practical to be wearing uncomfortable clothes if we're lying in a bed or reclining on a chair for hours on end. The material of uncomfortable clothing can cause rashes and I'm not joking about it... If not for the stupid system of the headset, I would've worn my pyjamas."

Michelle grinned. From the look in Otta's eyes, she knew what she was going to do. The socialite was just glad that the problem could be resolved this easily. Knowing that Grace and Otta would be engrossed in discussing details now that they were on the same page, Michelle decided to excuse herself and grab lunch.

On her way out, she caught sight of a certain dark-haired programmer leaning against the bedroom door, away from sight from the two women still chattering away in the living room. Michelle frowned but didn't make any attempt to give the man away. She didn't trust Richard entirely even after their success. However, she knew that Richard wouldn't let anything happen to Otta. He cared too much about her to hurt her.

As Michelle left, she decided to get an extra lunch for Richard despite her dislike for him. After all, if it wasn't for him, she would've been unable to see Otta look so happy living her life to the fullest each day. For better or for worse, fate brought the world's most eccentric man and woman together. God forbid anything happened to them, Otta deserved happiness.