←Book 2: Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Odette debriefs Carl and Donut after the interview, warning about the Valtay Corporation and advising them to prioritize pathfinder skills on Floor 3 and let Donut pick her class first. On the third floor, they meet Mordecai—now a Level 50 Incubus Guildmaster—who guides them through class selection. Donut secretly selects Former Child Actor instead of Artist Alley Mogul, forcing Mordecai into the Manager role, stripping him of his freedom and binding him to their saferooms. Mordecai is furious, but Carl accepts the debt to Odette and hopes Mordecai will forgive Donut if it appears to be her impulsive idea. Report issue

Carl selects the Primal race and Compensated Anarchist class on Floor 3, while Donut re-selects Cat, boosting her Charisma to 70 and gaining abilities like 9 Lives and Slash Attack. Mordecai explains that unlocking skills past level 15 as a Primal dramatically multiplies their potency, justifying the 10 base stat sacrifice. As the second floor collapses, the Floor 3 timer resets to eight days, with only 700,000 crawlers remaining. Mordecai's new manager status lets him leave the saferoom, and the group steps into the sulfur-choked Over City village. Report issue

Mordecai explains that Floor 3—the Over City—is a massive staged world populated by NPCs whose memories are wiped between seasons, set in a dormant volcano world overrun by monsters. He outlines strict rules: attacking NPCs or guards means immediate execution, villages are safe during the day, and the ruins are where they must grind. Mordecai directs Carl east toward a medium-sized village with better shops, then heads to a pub while Carl and his companions step into the foggy ruins. Report issue

Carl and Donut are ambushed by feral lemurs from Grimaldi's Traveling Circus, triggering a new Quests tab and the quest "The Show Must Go On" to investigate the circus's origins. A giraffe covered in lemurs escalates the chaos before they finally defeat Terror the Clown, a Level 10 stilt-clown immune to Fear. They reach the saferoom "The Belly-Rubbed Pug," where Mongo grows after eating clown meat. Mordecai teleports in moments later—drunk, pants down, and vomiting—prompting the Bopca barkeep to warn Carl that he is "so dead." Report issue

In the saferoom, Carl and Donut open their Silver Earth boxes—Donut gets odd Amazon deliveries and an Earth Hobby Potion, Carl gets Louis L'Amour novels. Donut instantly learns Clockwork Triplicate from her spellbook, creating temporary clockwork clones of pets. Venturing outside, they find three dead crawlers booby-trapped by a skull-masked lemur, which Donut kills before scouting ahead to discover circus tents in a nearby park. Mongo rips off the lemur's hat to reveal a grotesque secondary skull, and Carl reflects on calling Mongo merely a "pet" as Donut affectionately calls him "Partner." Report issue

Carl and Donut loot three dead crawler sisters killed by circus lemurs and gear up with new equipment, including rings boosting Carl's Strength and an enchanted anklet for Donut. Observing the circus encampment at nightfall, they witness clowns erecting barricades and magical mortar emplacements before being caught in the barrage and falling underground. They encounter Tsarina Signet, a Level 60 Elite NPC Half Naiad/High-Elf Summoner whose overwhelming Charisma triggers a charm effect on Carl, which he breaks by fracturing his own finger. Signet reveals she has opened all the circus beast cages, leaving Carl's group completely surrounded as darkness falls. Report issue

Carl and Donut help Signet fight off Mold Lions while she attempts a summoning ritual requiring primal blood, which Carl narrowly avoids providing. Signet reveals she is the sole survivor of a Scolopendra poison cloud attack and was using them as bait; Carl negotiates a meeting for the following night. Back at the saferoom, a drunken Mordecai explains that Elites are writer-controlled NPCs with heavy plot armor, warning that interfering in their storylines is dangerous. The chapter also introduces several notable crawlers via a recap episode, including Hekla and Lucia Mar, before Mordecai hints at a major planned operation for the next day. Report issue

Mordecai steals a regional newsletter warning of a major battle event tied to Signet and urges Carl and Donut to flee toward the Skyfowl settlement. Carl is ambushed en route and knocked unconscious for fifteen hours, waking in Signet's building to find Donut trapped under her Water Lily sleep spell—which will kill Donut if Signet dies. Signet reveals she is the lone survivor of a Scolopendra attack and that the circus crew was enslaved by Grimaldi's vine form. She demands Carl help her assault the circus to kill a bear-clown hybrid named Heather so Signet can use her blood for a summoning ritual. Report issue

Carl fights Heather the Bear solo—a Level 19 boss controlled by parasitic worms—using smoke bombs, moonshine, and fire. A scratch lottery ticket accidentally heals the bear with custard, inadvertently killing the controlling worms, and a moment of lucidity allows Heather to ask for a quick death before Carl finishes her. Heather's blood fuels Signet's ritual, summoning an army of Blood and Ink Elementals. Signet reveals the cure program for Carl's curse is called Vengeance of the Daughter, but Carl must now enter the circus big top solo to destroy three structural poles to allow Signet's weakened army to breach it. Report issue

Carl enters the circus tent, where performers mindlessly reenact their acts while the massive central vine is revealed as Level 85 Elite City Boss Ringmaster Grimaldi, transformed to protect his circus family. Recalling Mordecai's explanation that Pestiferous Vines can be killed by poisoned blood dripped onto them, Carl removes his cloak to lose poison resistance, deliberately poisons himself using health potions, and cuts his palm to let blood drip onto the vine. He takes an antidote to survive and waits to see if the plan is working, while a nostalgic circus smell triggers painful childhood memories of his mother. Report issue

Carl negotiates with the producers of Vengeance of the Daughter through Zev, proposing an exclusive deal: if he and Donut survive to Floor 6, he will only accept elite-themed quests. He then heals Grimaldi by feeding him a worm-infested ice cream cone, becomes infected with parasitic worms, and uses Wisp Armor to broker a telepathic truce between Grimaldi and Signet—arguing both want to protect the circus family from the show's destructive cycle. After Mordecai's healing potion expels the worms and Signet departs, Carl completes the quest and jumps from level 15 to 18, but Mordecai urgently alerts him that Donut's health has dropped below 20%. Report issue

Carl rushes back to find Donut at 5% HP, kept alive by her Cockroach skill while Mongo fiercely defends her. He heals Donut with a scroll and crafts a custom potion for Mongo using Mordecai's ingredients, which triggers a new recipe and levels Mongo to 10. At dawn Donut wakes, levels to 15, and they receive a loot box for completing the quest. Zev books them for a new talk show with Ripper Wonton and reveals their circus quest was orchestrated by Sensation Entertainment. En route to the Skyfowl settlement, Carl and Donut practice spells and establish a combat playbook system before spotting the Desperado Club tower. Report issue

Exhausted after 24 hours without sleep, Carl and Donut collapse into Mordecai's chamber as he teleports in slightly drunk. Carl opens over 20 achievement boxes, earning the "One Quadrillion!" milestone and the rare "Hadji!" achievement which upgrades his reward to a Platinum Quest Box, while Donut receives an Acute Ears potion and Fang Caps for Mongo. Carl uses a time-sensitive Scroll of Upgrade on his BigBoi Boxers, gaining massive stat boosts but permanently triggering the "Freeballing" benefit that locks him to one clothing layer over his crotch. Mordecai hands Carl a 100,000 gold casino chip for the Desperado Club and promises to take them there tomorrow night. Report issue

After settling in, the group shops at general stores where Donut leverages her Artist Alley Merchant class to sell off loot, netting 50,000 gold, and Carl unlocks a new stun effect by leveling Iron Punch to 10. They quickly defeat a neighborhood boss called the Dispenser using a new dynamite tactic, then encounter GumGum the orc surrounded by mutilated corpses of women killed in the alleys each night. Despite Mordecai's earlier warnings about the dungeon's manipulative nature, Carl accepts "The Sex Workers Who Fell From the Heavens" quest for a Silver Quest Box reward. Donut notes he has the same predictable hero complex as before. Report issue

Carl, Donut, and Mordecai enter the Desperado Club, a retro-futuristic nightclub with themed rooms, a quest board, and locked stairs to the Hunting Grounds until Floor 6. Mordecai trades moonshine with Quint, a Half-Djinn pharmacist, for an alchemy starter kit, while Donut gets tipsy and unlocks her fan box. Mordecai explains the manager protection system activating on Floor 4—quasi-immortality that financially incentivizes survival—but remains evasive about his lingering resentment over being chosen as manager. The group prepares to leave before the recap show begins to avoid being swarmed by autograph-seeking bot NPCs. Report issue

Carl, Donut, and Mordecai visit the Silk Road market, where Donut haggles down the price of explosives at a hobgoblin merchant's booth called "Hobgobs and Boom Sticks." On their way back, Mongo spots red dots in a dark alley and bolts toward them, leading the group to discover GumGum's mutilated corpse and three Level 16 Krasue—floating, organ-dripping undead heads that flee when illuminated by Donut's Torch spell. A lingering city elf monologues about luring Mongo into a trap, but Carl instantly kicks him in the groin while Donut's Magic Missile decapitates him. The chapter ends with Mongo playing with the severed head as Carl demands to know who he was. Report issue

Carl and Donut loot the corpse of Vincente, a city elf from the 201st Security Group—a conspiracy cult that believes Skyfowl are angels—and resolve to complete GumGum's quest to honor her. Mordecai teaches Carl to craft Hair of the Dog potions, and their fan boxes arrive: Donut receives a framed photo of Carl's ex Bea, while Carl gets a xistera (a jai-alai basket that replaces his slingshot and retracts into a bracer). Mordecai identifies a blood-stained letter from GumGum as necroscript, suspecting Magistrate Featherfall—a black cleric who dismissed GumGum's complaints—is pulling strings behind the Krasue attacks. The next morning, a murdered prostitute with "No, you won't." carved into her back confirms the killer is watching them. Report issue

Carl and Donut navigate the town hall to confront Magistrate FeatherFall, but are blocked by Miss Quill, a gatekeeper who only lets the magistrate appear at night. Carl deduces FeatherFall is likely the killer based on his black cleric class and nocturnal habits. While waiting, they farm mobs until a dynamite mishap knocks Carl unconscious; he awakens at Level 19 to find Donut and Mongo having cleared the area and Mongo hitting Level 12. The group prepares to return to the magistrate's office once night falls, expecting a fight. Report issue

Carl and Donut appear on the intergalactic talk show Danger Zone with Ripper Wonton, where Carl uses a "boiling frog" metaphor to passionately advocate for rebellion against oppressive rulers like King Rust, drawing a sedition warning from comedian Tucker. A pulse attack strikes the studio mid-broadcast—Prince Stalwart of the Skull Empire claims responsibility, targeting Carl and Donut for their pro-rebellion speech. The attack accidentally killed pop singer Manasa after she traded trailers with Carl's team for the cleaning facilities. In retaliation, the Valtay destroy Stalwart's yacht, killing Queen Consort Ugloo, and Hekla notes that Carl's path is one of "scorched earth" and chaos. Report issue

Back in the saferoom, Mordecai is furious about Manasa's death and bans Carl and Donut from all outside politics until after Floor 6. Carl theorizes someone orchestrated the assassination attempt to damage Valtay-Skull Empire relations, but Mordecai dismisses it and focuses on survival. The group then dismantles the 201st Security Group at the Apito Education Center, where Donut's Enchanted Anklet of the Fallen Oak causes the cultists to identify her as their prophesied antichrist "Oak Fell" and enter a berserk state. Carl executes their "Mic Drop" plan—grabbing a young dwarf, tossing a boom jug, and Donut teleporting them to safety—destroying most of the cultists. Report issue

After hiding from guards, the group meets Katia Grim at the One-Eyed Narwhal—a Level 9 Doppelganger and Monster Truck Driver crawler sent by Hekla to join their party. Mordecai helps Katia practice shaping her face and explains her Juggernaut tanking build. Carl discovers that the mysterious letter from GumGum is actually a Suppurating Eye necroscript spell the killer is using to spy on them; they turn it into a trap by having a clockwork Mongo swallow it and leap onto the magistrate's roof. With three days left until floor collapse, they deploy hobgoblin smoke curtains and dynamite to breach the magistrate's office, ending on a cliffhanger as the explosion goes off. Report issue

Carl and Donut accidentally kill both Magistrate Featherfall and Miss Quill in the explosion, but the quest remains active, signaling a missed mastermind. Exploring the rubble, they discover a hidden krasue nest with dozens of hanging female corpses; Mongo biting one wakes the krasue heads, triggering a chaotic fight cleared with smoke, light, and a Fireball ticket. Amid the destruction they find Burgundy, a dying part-krasue assistant who reveals that Miss Quill was the real magistrate all along, Featherfall had long been dead and used as a protective fetish, and her husband Remex is casting a resurrection spell—collecting feathers from new arrivals to do it. As the building collapses, Donut finishes off Burgundy at her request. Report issue

Carl and Donut escape the collapsing municipal building and loot a plush creature named Kimaris, then meet fellow crawler Daniel Bautista 2—a Level 18 Tigran Swashbuckler whose family was wiped out by lemurs Carl's party recently killed. The pair theorizes that the women were falling from alleys into Remex's warehouse and prepare to assault his hiding spot, rigging the exterior with goblin dynamite and enlisting Katia to hold a backup detonator as insurance against potential mind control. They enter the warehouse, navigate past hundreds of stasis-mode armor suits, and ascend to the second floor where Carl confronts the figure—only to realize with shock that it is not a lich. Report issue

Remex turns out to be a Soul Leech Capacitor who reveals that Miss Quill was casting "The Final War"—a three-part spell designed to genocide the Over City's non-Skyfowl population. Though Miss Quill is dead, the incomplete casting will trigger a catastrophic explosion in seven minutes, triggering a forced group quest affecting all crawlers within a 45-square-kilometer blast radius. Realizing they cannot reach a saferoom in time, Carl chooses to attempt containing the explosion using a Sheol Glass Reaper Case, while Donut demonstrates moral growth by prioritizing the lives of Katia and eighty other trapped crawlers. The chapter closes with Carl and Donut bracing for the blast as Remex fades away muttering about his deceased son. Report issue

Carl shoves the glowing case into his inventory just before detonation, transforming it into "Carl's Doomsday Scenario"—an unstable explosive with a twenty-minute countdown. Remex's remaining energy emits four precursor bursts that systematically disable magical gear, destroy armor, and randomly activate items, causing chaos among escaping crawlers. Carl leads a mixed group east toward a stairwell to the fourth floor while the magical anomalies escalate, including his own enchanted underwear forcing him to strip. With three minutes left on the timer, they reach the stairwell just as it dissolves and are teleported to Odette's show—where Donut immediately points out Carl forgot to put his pants back on. Report issue

In Odette's studio, the team learns that Borant Corporation used their season veto to cancel Carl's Celestial box rewards despite an explosion that saved thousands of NPCs. However, the massive blast granted enormous experience: Carl reaches level 27, Donut level 26, and Katia jumps to 21. Odette reveals a tentative leaderboard placing Carl at #6 and Donut at #7, warns that Hekla is actively trying to recruit Donut to access Mordecai, and explains the leaderboard numbers are actually bounties for killing each crawler. She also reveals the fourth floor has momentum-based advantages and a gauntlet that can summon the war god Grull if used against his followers. Report issue

The party materializes on Floor 4, "The Iron Tangle," inside a moving Moscow Metro subway car with 10 days until collapse. Donut selects the Football Hooligan class, gaining the Mascot skill that buffs the party when Mongo deals damage—and Mordecai reveals that temporary skills can be permanently retained if leveled at least once, warning them to keep this bug quiet. The train arrives at station 81 to reveal a horde of Level 6 Drek monsters; the party retreats to Car 15, fights off Jikininki ghoul janitors, and eventually uses Carl's Protective Shell to sweep through the train cars. They sprint to Car 20 to survive until the next stop. Report issue

At Station 83, they enter a saferoom where Mordecai has been transformed into a Grulke Infantry toad-creature after a court veto. Carl opens various loot boxes, acquiring the Enchanted Necklace of the Haute Bourgeoisie with the Talon Strike skill, while Katia receives a shape-shifting arm bracer and Donut gets the Hole spell and a new tiara. The AI also sends petty revenge coupons for free personal spaces as compensation for the court's veto. Donut uses her diva negotiation skills to get a discounted price from the innkeeper, and Mordecai guides them through combining their three coupons into a single Conjoined Level 5 personal space with major upgrades including an Ultra-Stabilized Bed and Crafting Studio. Report issue

Carl's party configures their upgraded personal space—the Royal Palace of Princess Donut—adding restrooms, a kitchen, crafting studio, and training room, while Mordecai finally gets his own manager quarters. The Ultra-Stabilized Bed provides ten hours of rest in two hours and a 30-hour buff boosting stats and skill training by 10%. The recap show introduces "The Iron Tangle" train level and announces that the top 10 leaderboard now features active bounties, officially opening hunting season on ranked crawlers. Carl discovers a dead-crawler chat folder containing a final message from Brandon, who died holding off Shade Gremlins—asking Carl to apologize to his estranged brother Chris—leaving Carl so devastated he enters the Training Room to aggressively train Bare Knuckles. Report issue

Carl trains Bare Knuckles while Mordecai sets up alchemy, sapper, and engineering tables in the crafting space. Using the Goo-inator 3000 on a massive iron breastplate, Carl crafts for the first time and earns the Martha Stewart! achievement, receiving an unending bucket of pink glitter. The party visits Limp Richard's general store for supplies and trades Carl's Louis L'Amour novels for sci-fi and horror paperbacks. On the Yellow Line platform, they snipe monsters through train doors using Formation One tactics, and Carl tests his new Talon Strike ability before preparing for another wave of ambushing monsters. Report issue

At Phantom Kangaroo Station, Carl deploys newly crafted barricades to defend against boarding monsters, then meets Vernon—a Level 32 dwarf conductor who reveals the Nightmare Express enters a partial time loop after Stop 435, resetting to Station 10 while Vernon retains his items. They explore the Yellow Line Reward Room, where Carl gets an Invisibility Potion from a suitcase and Donut's suitcase unleashes Literal Fire Ants that ignite the room and cause Vernon's moonshine to explode. The party flees through the train and jumps onto the platform at Banshee Station just as the doors close, leaving the train consumed by fire. They realize they need to reach the end of the line or find a neighborhood boss to progress. Report issue

The party grinds through tunnel systems, fighting Red Cornets whose aural attacks inflict a Queasy debuff and discovering they are addicted to a golden liquid they use to get high before riding the trains. They find two inactive Dwarven Industrial Automatons in a warehouse and a control sigil only visible to Carl, with Katia noting similar rooms exist across other warrens. Zev messages demanding Katia adopt a more vibrant persona with a mohawk and catchphrase, which Donut enforces. Daniel Bautista contacts Carl to warn about leaderboard bounty hunters and relay that Imani wants to discuss Brandon and Chris at a Desperado Club meetup. Report issue

Continuing along the Yellow Line, Mongo reaches Level 15 and gains the Earthquake jump attack. At Station 131, Mordecai upgrades his alchemy table and crafts powerful items including a two-charge immortality potion and Fragmenting Potion Balls. Donut opens her Platinum fan box to receive an Enchanted Mongoliensis Saddle for Mongo, while Carl's box triggers the Prize Carousel event hosted by Chaco the Bard—an old enemy of Mordecai's who attacks him, getting Mordecai marked Naughty and removed for a seven-day time-out. Forced to choose without his guide, Carl selects an unassuming book with an anarchy symbol that turns out to be the unique Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook, which secretly activates his Escape Plan skill with a message about burning the dungeon down. Report issue

Carl discovers the Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook and resolves to crowdsource information by expanding his crawler chat network. At the Desperado Club, he reunites with Elle—now a small floating Frost Maiden mage—and meets Imani C, an Obsidian Butterfly spiritualist, who explains that Brandon's brother Chris underwent a severe personality shift after choosing an Igneous race and is now aggressively hunting Carl. Donut is found swaying with critical health after her Cockroach skill activated to save her from a fatal blow, and a dead crawler lies nearby with a slashed neck. A first kill skull appears over Donut's name, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger. Report issue

Donut kills Level 21 crawler Ji-Hoon in self-defense after he attacks her with an enchanted dagger while she's drunk, and Carl negotiates to keep Bomo and The Sledge as personal security after club manager Astrid intervenes to apologize. The group analyzes their subway progress and splits strategy: Imani's team investigates every fifth platform while Carl and Donut focus on infiltrating the engine cars. At the casino, Carl uses his comp chip at the deadly Wheel of Fortune and wins a Scroll of Upgrade that boosts his Splatter Skunk toe ring and raises Powerful Strike to level 13. Report issue

Hekla uses her Walk in Their Shoes skill to disguise herself as Katia, while Carl experiments with the Demolition Workshop to analyze bomb stability and Donut comically struggles to ride Mongo via the psychic saddle. Traveling to transfer station 149, the party battles new threats on the yellow line and devises a plan for Carl and Donut to take the purple line toward the mysterious stop 436 via the Nightmare Express, while allies intercept an engineer on the ochre line. Carl carefully plants two custom Jelly Bomb landmines on the tracks to derail the incoming train, nervously awaiting detonation as Donut expresses cautious excitement. Report issue

After the successful ochre line derailment, Carl confronts the surviving ManTauR engineer Gore-Gore, who reveals that Stop 435 is a transit point where employees teleport to the depot via an abyss gate while passenger cars loop and reset. Gore-Gore then attacks when a rival clan alerts him to the crash, triggering a brutal boss battle where Katia loses her metal prosthetic arm and Carl's gauntlet punch ability accumulates a rapidly growing 10.5% chance to summon the war god Grull. Carl uses Talon Strike to dropkick Gore-Gore onto the electrified third rail to end the threat, then receives an admin notice announcing that the Valtay Corporation has sponsored him. Report issue

Carl and Donut recover from the train crash and level up, with Donut gaining Princess D'nadia of the Prism Kingdom as a sponsor. Carl acquires a comprehensive map of the entire Ochre line from looting Gore-Gore, revealing station distances and monster patrol routes. Katia reveals Gore-Gore severed her fingers, and Carl resolves to craft her full metal armor. Boarding the Dismemberment Limited maglev, they meet Levi the Seventh—a symbiotic troll-flesher-hobgoblin-skeleton creature—and a quest triggers to protect him from Fleshers and their leader Dismember the War Mage. Carl kills Dismember instantly by grabbing his head through a hole Donut casts in the metal plate. Report issue