Luck, however, would not remain on their side for too long. Though them beating the 14th had nothing to do with luck. Any sort of hidden information trick where said information doesn’t keep changing will be found out, just as with the 12th floor. So, after they realized how important it was to deal with the other side of the floor, Jim’s team managed to become the first to step onto Doyle’s last floor in a long time. And he wasn’t even there to witness it!

  This, however, was when things started to go downhill. At first, it simply seemed as if the 15th floor wasn’t as straightforward as they thought. Maybe the monsters were shifting around and there were now some tougher monsters near the entrance. That probability fell as they got pushed back even further.

  At a slow pace, everything seemed to get harder and they soon realized that none of the teams were capable of reaching the 15th floor anymore. In fact, they kept losing ground on the 14th floor as well. And it wasn’t just them.

  Down on the 6th floor, people were finding it harder to farm the cattle. Not by a lot, but it was noticeable. Teams that once would come out loaded down with meat soon found themselves retreating before that point. It wasn’t by much, but over all of the people farming the floor, this led to a noticeable drop in the available beef. People even started blitzing through the first floor to grab some goat meat, despite the much lower popularity.

  In Ace’s office, both his and Jim’s team had gathered as well as a handful of the system provided staff for both the town hall and the Adventurers Guild. Ace looks around at everyone and sighs, “The best we can tell, this isn’t some increase in levels or stats. Does anyone have new information on what is happening in the dungeon?”

  Kelly steps forward, “While the system makes it very hard to tell, even more so than with levels and stats, we are mostly certain this isn’t a Path thing. The change is too gradual and while yes, paths can provide opportunities for growth, those tend to come in the form of per level boosts.”

  After that, the room falls into an uneasy silence that extends until one of the system provided workers for the Adventurers Guild steps forward. This particular fellow looks like a cross between a mole and a gecko, being one of the more alien appearing folks. He glances around nervously.

  *Ahem*, He pauses, almost as if he was hoping someone would interrupt, “So. We don’t have an answer. But! Hear me out, we might have a slight clue. Or, rather, I had an idea and no one else disagreed with me, which is why I’m here.

  “So, you see, this isn’t unheard of. Rather, the problem is how quickly it is happening and how it isn’t coming along with other stuff. Dungeons, in general, will have their monsters grow stronger. Many times, their early floor monsters, if phased out of later floors, will stagnate, yes, but overall they get. Well, not strictly stronger? More refined, I guess would be the best way to say it.

  “We also see this happening to the loot and such. In fact, while less noticeable, the loot drops have improved in some aspects as well. It is just that the way they’ve improved is mostly behind the scenes. Looted swords aren’t designed better, but rather the craftsmanship for the current design has improved. Stuff like having a more precise and consistent angle on a sword’s blade.”

  Ace nods, “Well, at least this isn’t too unique. Maybe the situation itself is out there, but dungeons can grow in this manner. The question is, how long will this growth spurt last? We can not afford for the sixth floor farmers to be pushed out.”

  Jim shrugs, “I doubt it will get that bad. While the monsters are getting harder to beat, they aren’t actually getting stronger. Otherwise, their stats would be going up. A good comparison would be between someone who is trained with a sword and one who isn’t. They can both swing a sword, but even if weaker, the person with training will do so more effectively.

  “As they just said, what is strange here is how it is happening without any other changes and the fact it is happening so quickly. At this point, though, while things are changing, we’ve reached the point of diminishing returns.”

  Ace nods, “Well, hopefully that is true and we aren’t simply on some sort of plateau before it destroys us.”

  Jim, “We’re already doing it, but our teams should never be delving the dungeon at the same time. Though that brings up another sort of problem. While it is heartening to see the other teams grow stronger, since they're delving into the deeper floors cuts into the time we would have to delve. No one has tested it yet, but it is almost assured that the only floors with extra instances are the first and sixth floor.

  “Useful for food production, but the deeper floors are going to be a problem. If only because it is taking so long to advance. However, we might have a solution, even if it will cost us a pretty penny. Oh, and it isn’t 100% guaranteed to work.”

  Ace raises an eyebrow, “What kind of gamble are we talking about?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Jim steps back and gestures to another of his workers. The lady catkin steps forward. “I would like to debate his claim. This will do what it is meant to do 100% of the time.”

  Ace turns to Jim who frowns. “What it is meant to do and what we are aiming for are two different things. It just so happens that one of the possible outcomes will result in a fix for this situation. Also, the time it takes to go into effect is not certain.”

  The lady catkin sighs, “Such a short sighted view. I have been petitioning for this to be enacted for a while now.”

  Jim, “And maybe if we had gold to throw around I might have already gone with it. Please, just explain what the option is along with the cost.”

  The lady snorts, “As if you couldn’t do that yourself. Anyway, we need to ask the system for permission to buy a dungeon bead of the dimensions. Because of our situation, the system will allow it and then we simply have to buy one for a couple hundred gold. Quite cheap, if only because the types of dungeon that can use it are limited.

  “As for what it does? The bead itself doesn’t do anything. Rather, it is a clever alchemical product, similar to a pill, but for dungeons. Well, okay, not just for dungeons. Most crystalline, metal, and rock-based sapients, including SAI on silicon-based systems can make use of them. It is just that this particular bead is nearly dungeon exclusive in its use.

  “While the bead will not directly increase the number of instances. The best guess we have is that for any dungeon that already has instances will have a path open up to them after they eat the bead. In every case, within a hundred years, the dungeon will display some sort of massive improvement to their instances. Whether that is quantity or some other oddity can not be predicted. Oh, and the exact price is exactly 250 gold as the system does subsidize them to a degree as long as you have a dungeon that can use it.”

  Ace frowns, “We don’t exactly have a hundred years to wait. Also, are there other dungeon beads that would be useful?”

  The catkin shrugs, “Sure, but then we’d have to wait a century for whichever we want to use next. Maybe longer. In the same way you can’t chug potions endless, these beads take a while to digest. Beyond that, it seems that whatever it is that forces this delay will build up over time. Plus, not all of them are guaranteed to work. It isn’t even known why this one is assured by the system.”

  Ace sighs, “You really make me doubt this.”

  The catkin nods, “I can see how that might seem from your perspective. Though I guess I should mention that only this bead is system subsidized. This is likely because an improvement in instances is a massive increase to a dungeon’s ability to perform its task. All the others are more selfish, like a bead that might make coin drops larger.”

  Ace covers his face with his hands, “Do I even want to know how much a dungeon bead like that would cost?”

  The lady rolls her eyes, “That one alone can’t even be bought for gold coins. You must use a higher form of coin to buy them. Dungeon beads, especially the ones specifically for dungeons, are generally only used on the main dungeon of an entire solar system. To have more than one used on a dungeon? You’re talking about a dungeon on a galactic empire’s home world.

  “Not just because of the cost, either. Rather, these beads are rare, being some of the only things that a dungeon can’t replicate endlessly. So each one will generally have been concocted by a very high level alchemist.

  “The bead I suggested is only so cheap and available because of the distances the system is willing to go to make it so. Not just the production either, but also whatever it does to make sure a dungeon makes use of the bead.”

  Ace looks up from his hands, “We’ll do it. As it is right now, we have a line and that is just from the nearby settlements. Give it a couple years? People might end up needing to schedule their trips and only get in once a week or even less. Being the steak capitol of this post-system world is simply too attractive. Do other dungeons have this problem?”

  Jim shakes his head, “Not generally, it is just on newly integrated worlds that situations like ours arise. From how I understand it, in a more established world a new dungeon is merely a curiosity. Here? Our dungeon is literally standing between us and starvation. Well, maybe not us, but certainly more than a couple settlements out there.”

  Ace sighs, “We’ll buy it. While I hate the fact that it only has nebulous promises about the future, it is exactly the kind of thing we will always need, whether now or in the future.

  “However! We will not use our current funds on it. As of right now, we will start saving up for it and one in every ten gold we get will be out towards it. I suspect we will have enough within three months.”

  Kelly shakes her head, “I suggest we just buy it now and get it over with. The only reason all the settlements are even using system coins at this point is to deal with us and the rare bits of system infrastructure. We can drain a few more idiots of their coins before people truly realize it is the currency of the future. I suggest we liquidize all of our saved pre-system currency, besides maybe a few collector items.”

  Jim nods, “While it is fun being a ‘millionaire’, we all know that the old money will only become more and more worthless. Right now we are holding onto it in case someone had something we really wanted and refused to sell it for system coinage. However, at this point, it should be clear that even if someone did show up like that, chances are they wouldn’t actually be asking for all that much.

  “Hell, we raided multiple banks to gather this all. Might as well use it now. Who knows, maybe some vestiges of the old organizations managed to survive. Better to launder the hot money while no one is looking into it.”

  Ace gives up and nods, “Fine. We’ll buy the bead and sell our stock of old money. Not that we have all that much. I knew it wasn’t like they had their vault stuffed full of cash, but each one had shockingly little on hand. I guess that is what happens when most transactions happen digitally.”

  With that, the meeting is adjourned and after petitioning the system for permission; the town buys a dungeon bead of the dimensions and leaves it in the dungeon. Then all that was left was to wait.

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