The wheel appeared in front of Zion.
It was far more elaborate than he expected.
A circular frame of black metal floated above the throne-room floor, nearly as tall as the sealed doors behind it.
Hundreds of symbols covered its surface, each one glowing briefly before vanishing beneath the next.
Zion caught glimpses of claws, swords, wings, towers, and creatures too large to fit inside any floor he currently possessed.
A silver pointer sat at the top.
[Lucky Draws Remaining: 3]
Zion focused on the center of the wheel, and it immediately began to spin.
The symbols blurred together as pale light spilled across the chamber.
For the first time since waking up, he felt something close to excitement.
It was called a lucky draw.
It was bound to give him something good, especially as a first time Dungeon Lord.
Surely the system would provide something useful enough to keep him alive.
Perhaps a lava pit.
He could build a narrow stone bridge over it and force adventurers to cross one at a time.
A fire dragon could wait on the other side, filling the room with flames while they struggled to keep their balance.
Poison mist would work too.
Thick green clouds could cover an entire floor, hiding reanimated zombies in the shadows.
Adventurers would have to move carefully while the dead rose around them again and again.
Sharp cliffs could be useful too.
A flying monster could knock challengers from the ledges before they reached the other side.
Even if they somehow survived the fall, they would still have to climb back up while being attacked from above.
Zion had no idea how much any of those things normally cost or if they were even possible, but this was a Lucky Draw.
Cost shouldn’t matter.
The wheel began slowing, and his attention followed the symbols as they passed beneath the pointer.
A dragon skull.
A black tower.
Then something that looked like a demon holding an axe.
“Come on,” he muttered with hope.
The pointer clicked over one final symbol before stopping.
Golden light burst through the chamber, lighting it up all at once.
[Congratulations!]
[Full Sheep Pasture Pack acquired!]
Zion stared at the words.
“Sheep?”
A cheerful model appeared beside the wheel.
Green grass rolled across a gentle hill beneath a warm blue sky.
White fencing surrounded a small wooden barn, while a clear pond reflected fluffy clouds overhead.
Several sheep wandered through the pasture with their heads lowered as they grazed.
One of them looked toward Zion with round black eyes that held absolutely no aggression.
It blinked at him, its eyes watering slightly.
“Umm…hello,” Zion greeted awkwardly before he turned to open the prize details.
[Full Sheep Pasture Pack]
[Includes:]
[Grassland Terrain Pack]
[White Picket Fencing]
[Shallow Pond]
[Pasture Barn]
[Wooden Pens]
[Feeding Troughs]
[Pastoral Daylight Environment]
[Sheep Monster Contract]
[First Spin Bonus:]
[Horned Ram Boss Contract]
[Create the ultimate paradise for sheep!]
Zion read the final line again before looking back at the model.
One of the sheep hopped over a small patch of flowers for no reason while the others continued peacefully grazing.
“Paradise?”
He wasn’t trying to build a paradise.
He was trying to stop heavily armed people from reaching his throne room and smashing him against the nearest wall.
Were adventurers supposed to lose from cuteness overload?
Zion focused on one of the sheep, frustration growing faster than he wanted.
[Sheep]
[Classification: Beast]
[Threat Rating: Minimal]
[Primary Attack: Headbutt]
[Secondary Traits: Herding, Grazing, Dense Wool]
[Environmental Preference: Open Grassland]
The model sheep lowered its head and lightly bumped another one.
The second sheep stumbled a single step before immediately going back to eating.
Zion closed the information panel and let out a deep imaginary sigh.
“This is my first line of defense.
Fucking sheep.”
The wheel offered no sympathy.
It continued to flash with its congratulatory lights as if he had won something impressive.
“I’m screwed.”
He turned his attention toward the Horned Ram contract instead.
It was the bonus item given to him for his first spin bonus.
From first glance it looked slightly better than the cute sheep.
It was nearly twice the size of an ordinary sheep, with thicker legs and two heavy horns curling around the sides of its head.
Its wool was darker around the shoulders, and it pawed at the ground with enough force to scatter dirt behind it.
If someone got hit directly by those horns, it would probably hurt.
At least he hoped it would.
Still, it was a ram.
In his opinion, a floor boss should inspire fear.
Adventurers should see it and wonder whether they had made a terrible mistake by entering the room.
This one looked like it belonged on a particularly successful farm.
Zion stared at the peacefully grazing flock for another moment before dismissing the model.
Maybe the first spin had just been unlucky.
He still had two more chances.
“I’m bound to get something better on the second.”
Right?
He couldn’t think of many more things less threatening than the sheep he had already won.
[Lucky Draws Remaining: 2]
The wheel began spinning again.
This time, he did not waste his thoughts on lava or dragons.
He wanted one thing:
Skeletons.
Large, fearsome skeletons wearing dark armor.
Skeleton archers lining the walls.
Skeleton mages throwing blue fire from behind rows of undead soldiers.
An entire army would be even better.
Maybe it was because he was technically a skeleton himself, or at least part of one, but the idea felt right.
Skeletons belonged inside a dungeon.
They would match the throne room, the blue flames, and the cold stone corridors.
More importantly, skeletons had weapons.
Something to defend him with.
Zion watched the wheel slow.
“Please be skeletons.
Please be skeletons”
The pointer clicked across a golden sword, a red-scaled beast, and a black gate before finally stopping.
The light that filled the chamber was darker this time, almost blue-black.
A tall figure formed beside the wheel, dressed in black plate armor from neck to foot.
Layers of pale bone had been worked into the metal, creating rib-like ridges across the chest and jagged guards over the shoulders.
A closed helmet hid its face, but cold blue fire burned behind the narrow visor.
The knight held an enormous sword with both hands.
The blade was nearly as tall as Zion’s throne.
[Rare Reward!]
[Ossuary Knight Contract acquired!]
Zion stared at it with awe.
The knight looked like it could cut an armored adventurer in half.
It looked like it belonged in the middle of some ruined graveyard with lightning splitting the sky behind it.
It looked like a proper floor boss.
“Now that is useful.” The blue flames inside Zion’s eye sockets brightened as he opened the contract.
[Ossuary Knight]
[Classification: Elite Undead]
[Role: Specialized Floor Boss]
[Primary Affinities: Bone, Grave, Martial]
[Threat Rating: High]
[Respawn Eligible: Yes]
The Ossuary Knight lifted its sword and brought the tip down against the ground.
A low metallic sound passed through the throne room, causing a few layers of dust to fall from the upper walls.
Zion felt better already.
He could place it on the final floor before his chamber.
Even if the first few floors failed, the knight would be waiting near the end.
Maybe he could surround it with lesser skeletons once he unlocked them from the store.
Then he noticed the smaller line at the bottom of the contract.
[Placement unavailable.]
[All hidden floor bonuses must be fulfilled before summoning.]
Zion panicked slightly.
“What hidden floor bonuses?”
He focused on the warning to try and get more details.
[Hidden conditions remain undisclosed until discovered.]
“That doesn’t help!”
The Ossuary Knight remained motionless beside the wheel, looking every bit as powerful and promising as before.
Except, what good was something he couldn’t even use?
Zion tried selecting the placement option anyway, but nothing happened.
Then he tried opening the hidden conditions and received another message telling him the information could not be accessed.
He focused on the contract again, as though irritation alone might force the system to reconsider.
Nothing changed.
Zion groaned.
He had finally received something that looked capable of defending him, and the dungeon refused to even tell him how to use it.
“What do you need?
Graves?
Skeletons?
A pile of bones?”
The knight looked down at him but didn’t answer.
Its model dissolved into blue light, leaving only the contract stored inside Zion’s dungeon inventory.
So far, he had a pasture full of adorable sheep and one terrifying undead knight that could not actually be summoned.
[Lucky Draws Remaining: 1]
Zion looked at the wheel and lowered his expectations.
He didn’t need a dragon anymore.
He did not even need an undead army.
At this point, he only wanted something he could actually use.
Anything that could protect his pathetic form would be welcome.
Even a basic trap would be fine.
Spikes.
Falling rocks.
A door that locked behind adventurers and refused to open again.
Anything practical.
At this point he was getting desperate.
The wheel began spinning for the final time.
Zion watched without imagining elaborate floors or unstoppable monsters.
The first draw had given him livestock.
The second had given him what was essentially a very intimidating decoration.
As long as the third reward could be placed somewhere between his throne and the entrance, he would accept it.
The wheel slowed until the silver pointer settled on a small golden flame held between two hands.
A bright chime echoed through the chamber.
Ding!
The light that followed was stronger than before.
Gold spread across the floor, climbing the pillars and briefly illuminating the faded carvings above them.
Glitter fell from the sky, piling on the cold stone floor beneath the wheel.
[Major Prize acquired!]
Zion’s eye sockets lit up again.
This had to be useful!
A small black token appeared in the air.
It was round and smooth, with a silver figure with angel wings carved across one side.
The figure looked like it was rising from an open grave.
Zion opened the description immediately.
[Resurrection Token x1]
[Bring one fallen soul back to life within the dungeon ecosystem.]
[The resurrected soul will retain its memories, personality, autonomy, and free will.]
[Race and level may be altered according to dungeon compatibility.]
[Single use.]
Zion inspected the token floating in front of him.
His excitement caused his eye sockets to glower brighter than before.
“Resurrection!
So if I get killed, I can get resurrected!” he exclaimed.
“It’s like having a second chance at life!”
Then, another line appeared.
[*Not usable on self.]
Zion read it mid exclamation, freezing in place.
“Why does everyone seem to hate me?”
If he could not use the token on himself, then he could only use it on someone else.
And in order to use it on someone else, that person would have to die first.
His attention drifted toward the sheep still happily grazing inside the pasture model.
That was probably not going to happen anytime soon…if ever.
Zion had asked for something useful, and the wheel had given him an item that required a dead person.
Even worse, it was single use.
He couldn’t place it on a floor.
It couldn’t stop an adventurer, build a wall, trigger a trap, or guard his doors.
For the moment, it was completely useless.
Zion tossed the token into his inventory beside the Ossuary Knight contract.
Useless.
His three Lucky Draws were finished.
He had received sheep, an unavailable skeleton knight, and a resurrection item with no one to resurrect.
The throne room returned to silence as Zion looked toward the sealed doors.
The timer continued counting down.
[Founding Grace Remaining: 13 days, 23 hours, 47 minutes]
He turned his attention back to the Full Sheep Pasture Pack, and the small model appeared again.
One sheep lay in the grass with its legs folded beneath it, while another wandered toward the pond.
Zion watched them for several seconds before opening the Dungeon Store.
“Fine,” he said.
“Let’s see what sheep can do.”
Please add to your library!