224 Monke, a "Minor" Storm, and a Playdate

"Damn, things are going ham on the other side."

"Good thing I had the primates cover up the entrance."

Drake and I were both busy watching the news inside one of the public rooms available to the evacuees. Accompanying us were the humans who had sought refuge, all of whose eyes were glued to the screen as they witnessed the devastation the storm had brought.

"Holy shit…"

"My house…"

"My car…"

"You're lucky your car is fucking cheap… My damn Tesla…"

All around us, the evacuees lamented their lost possessions as they got swept in by the wind and flood. Not to mention the incoming storm surge that was rapidly approaching the devastated city.

As for where the footage is coming from, some of the evacuees who didn't participate in coming inside my Dungeon were bunkered down in an evacuation zone in case of strong storms.

"Yeah, otherwise, your Dungeon would've been flooded right about now." Drake chuckled as he continued to watch the live stream.

"That reminds me, a Vtuber was apparently one of the evacuees. She is currently streaming right now, a very nice tactic to remain anonymous." I smiled at the thought. Remaining anonymous is a very big deal in the Vtuber community, even if some say fuck that and do a face reveal.

And by streaming while a huge storm is ongoing, that rules out Massaware as a potential residence for the anonymous Vtuber.

'Damn my mind. Random topics go brrrr…' As the quite curious, but otherwise useless, thought ran its course inside my head, I looked around the general area of the building.

Some of the evacuees earlier were quite nervous around me for quite a while, but after being here for more than an hour and just chilling, they literally just ignored me.

"By the way, wasn't Domino looking for you earlier?" Drake reminded me while eating a bag of chips.

"… Thanks for reminding me." I hummed as I got off my huge and lazy ass. Stretching both of my arms from the inactivity, I gave Drake a nod before heading out. "Have fun with your friends."

"I will." Drake gave me a wave with his arms before he got up as well and went his own separate way.

Once outside of the building, I checked my status for both me and my Dungeon. A huge grin crept up my face as my inner Jionni did a victory lap more than a thousand times.

Dungeon Resident Income:

DP gained: 435,752

EXP gained: 237,204

DP: 533 =\u003e 436,285

Level up! x9

Yes. Just one day after accepting these people into my Dungeon, I leveled up nine times! And that DP income… Ohhh… That DP income… My inner spendaholic is threatening to burst!

But before that, upgrades must come first. My defenses are my highest priority, and next was the comfort of my residents. That includes the evacuees currently residing within my Dungeon.

As much as I hate feeling giddy about the loss of numerous people's homes due to an incredibly strong storm, seeing this income was enough to throw my morality aside and bask in the afterglow.

Name: Jionni

Age: 0

Gender: Male

Race: Gorilla (Hybrid)

Class: Colossus

Level: 33

Exp: 3,457 / 33,000

HP: 14,260 / 14,260

MP: 3,740 / 3,740

Str: 211 (+238) =\u003e 449

Vit: 268 (+204) =\u003e 472

End: 233 (+182) =\u003e 415

Agi: 127 (+80) =\u003e 207

Dex: 151 (+95) =\u003e 246

Int: 142 (+125) =\u003e 267

Wis: 141 (+125) =\u003e 266

Cha: 92 (+10) =\u003e 102

Luc: 1

Imagine my surprise when I woke up feeling more energetic than I was before. If that wasn't enough, my strength was leaps and bounds more overwhelming than yesterday.

I had trouble controlling my strength the moment I woke up. My destroyed bed, a couple of broken doorknobs, and the broken utensils can attest to that.

'Still, I didn't get a class upgrade when I reached level 30. Did the required level increase? If it doubles every time, then maybe at level 40, I can get a new class upgrade.'

I hummed in thought as various humans, all from the same city, steered clear of me as they went on to their new temporary lives inside my Dungeon. The adults were all nervous, while the children were all ecstatic.

After all, there was no school.

Even my former self would've shed a tear during this kind of time. Hell, name one student who wouldn't be happy during a no school day.

I'll be waiting.

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"Domino?" I called out the moment I reached the Dungeon Core Room.

"Papa…" Splayed on the ground spread eagle like some kind of photosynthetic creature, Domino glanced at me with the same expressionless face I had gotten used to over the past few weeks. "Come here…"

Obliging my surrogate daughter, I approached the lying figure of Domino and sat right next to her. "Lie down…"

Humoring her request, I lied down right next to her and faced the artificial sky above.

All was quiet, the swaying leaves and blowing wind the only sounds echoing around us. Both Domino and I lied together, content to just acknowledge each other's existence as our bodies felt the grass beneath us.

"Papa… We haven't had much… time spent together… These past few days…" My ears listened intently as Domino broke the silence.

Glancing at her, I noticed Domino staring at me with the same expressionless face, but with a hint of longing as she scooched closer.

She grabbed my arm with her own and stared deeply into my eyes. The silence hanging around us was thick, the wind dying down as the leaves rustled to a standstill.

"Heh, alright. What say you and I play some games, and then take a stroll around my Dungeon?"

Domino nodded furiously as she climbed atop my chest, her eyes gleaming with childish glee. Chuckling at the sight, I rose up and repositioned her on my shoulder, which she took to like a fish in water.

"So, what should we play?"

I asked Domino, who hummed before giving me her suggestion. Now that the internet in my Dungeon was connected to the earth's internet, online gaming was just a few clicks away from either console or PC.

And boy, was I in for another stomp. At least I was on the side of the stomping, with my gaming prodigy surrogate daughter as my teammate.

Now for my revenge against the team called Bing Chilling.

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~ Third Person POV ~

Daniel sighed as he stared at his smartphone's screen. It wasn't a sigh of boredom or annoyance. It was a sigh of contentment.

"Ahhh… Rika-chan… You have no idea how much you give me strength in these trying times." Daniel singsonged as his eyes focused on the Vtuber on the screen.

It wasn't a gaming stream nor a collab stream. It was just a regular chat and talk stream, with Rika chatting with the viewers, or in most cases, the superchat.

"Yo, dude, you hard simpin' again." From behind Daniel, Pol emerged with a raised eyebrow.

Daniel pinched his temple with an exasperated sigh.

"I don't care if I simp. I've told you this before, and I'll tell you again, I can simp for whoever I want. The same way you simp for catgirls." Daniel smirked as he continued. "And fight against anyone who says otherwise."

Pol flinched at his remark before bursting into an embarrassed chuckle. "Alright, you got me there."

"Anyway, you done exploring?" Daniel asked, his eyes once more focused on the smartphone with Rika answering some questions about being yabai or not.

Pol's eyes lit up the moment Daniel finished asking his question. "Am I done exploring? Oh hell no! I've seen the promised land, my fellow degenerate! Catgirls! I've seen them just a couple hours ago!"

Pol's lips formed into a full-blown smirk, with a hint of perversion tugging at the sides.

"And holy hell, they are smoking hot!" Pol shook giddily at the memory of seeing a real-life catgirl with his own eyes. Granted, he wasn't able to talk with her, but just seeing the real deal brought a tear to his eyes.

"Good for you." Daniel replied with less enthusiasm than his roommate. "Anyway, can you leave me alone for a second? I have something important to do."

"… Damn, killjoy." Pol sighed, his previous enthusiasm gone as his back hunched forward. "Sure man, I'm going out again."

And once again, his excitement returned in full force. "And I'm going to talk to a catgirl! Mark my words, universe!"

As Daniel heard Pol's footsteps slowly trickle down into silence, he sighed, before continuing to watch the livestream.

'Not like I can do shit with my current job right now. Nothing too strange is going on, and going out of the area designated by the Dungeon Master will be too suspicious.' Daniel hummed as his mind filtered through everything he had seen inside the Dungeon.

'Then again, the Dungeon Master seems like a nice guy. He was also spotted lounging about earlier in the public news hall, before separating from his friend after an hour.'

Daniel played with his fingers before shaking his head.

'That kind of action doesn't show me anything, other than that Jionni is a free spirit.' Daniel cracked his neck a few times before he went back to addressing the more important matters of the day. 'Now, Rika-chan, have you ever seen a real-life catgirl before?'