MMORPG: Rise of the Peerless Pumpkinmancer

Jack would disappear for hours and hours in the Chicken Dungeon.

Knowing where he was still didn't tell anyone what he was doing. It was very odd too: he kept entering and exiting it over and over.

There would always be a crowd around the portal, gawking trying to see his shadow:

"Do you guys think that he's speed-running it every time?!"

"No way! He's going way too fast for that! He's OP but not a god!"

"Maybe partially. This Dungeon has many different challenges."

"Oh? So he's farming a specific item over and over. Makes sense."

"That's all the poor guy can do. He's stuck here with us plebs."

"He's getting money, I guess….but it's so sad for D.L.!"

"Can't he just make peace with the village chief?"

"Nope, the "peace" he offered is a sham."

"That NPC is a scammer."

They all sighed. From time to time, a member of I.R.L. came to ridicule them, but no one cared. Many players simply felt sympathetic to Jack's troubles.

He had created a foothold for his faction, but it was now crumbling underneath him. He had flown too close to the sun! Such a shame.

But that's when the red chicken portal in front of them rippled as the Demon King appeared, ready to reenter.

A curious D.L. player, who had been watching for a while, unconsciously spoke up.

"Leader! Can you tell us what you're farming!"

Jack turned to glare at the man. His gaze was so intense that it made many take a step back. Had they made him mad?!

"Didn't you hear? People say D.L. is dying and that I'm running away." He growled.

The youngster gulped but didn't avert his eyes. He was even frowning as he heard this.

"With all due respect, Sir. That's horse shit!" He shouted.

"Oh?" Jack raised a brow, intrigued.

"You're still farming! As long as you haven't given up, there's no way that D.L will ever disappear! I joined this faction because of you in the first place!" He cried his heart out.

A few players in the back sniggered hearing this:

"How naive is that guy!"

"Just leave that trash guild! Oh wait— I.R.L. doesn't need wimps like you!"

But even under the insults, the youngster didn't falter one bit. Jack finally let go of any pretense as he gave a brilliant smile.

"You're right. There is still hope. If you must know, I'm farming surveys." He winked as he reentered the Dungeon.

The I.R.L players joked about how he had lost his mind. The Demon King was spouting complete nonsense!

The D.L. members weren't sure how to react to such a cryptic message. He was farming surveys?! What the hell could this mean?!

They didn't know, but they knew how to achieve temporary peace of mind. It was time to find plenty of I.R.L. players, insult them until they lost their cool, and trash them.

Luckily the remaining D.L. members were pretty powerful. After all, they had received lots of training…

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Meanwhile, Jack had just completed yet another clear.

Hell, by now he was doing this on auto-pilot. He really was speed-running the whole Dungeon, so fast that no one could believe it.

Along with the clear, a survey prompt appeared. He filled it with the same drivel he entered every time:

—

Rating? 1/5⭐

Length? Whatever.

Difficulty? GG EZ! Error 404, difficulty not found.

Rewards? Need more stuff to farm! MORE!!!

Any additional feedback? It REALLY needs a harder alternative version to it: 100% necromancy-based. People absolutely adore that shit! Trust!

—

He was so used to it, but this time it was different:

[Filled the 100th survey!]

[Compiling Results!]

[Analyzing Results!]

"Don't thank me, I'm just doing my civic duty." Jack shrugged.

.

.

.

[Critical Flaws Detected at the Hellish Level!]

[1. Dungeon Cleared Too quickly!]

[2. Dungeon Is Too Easy!]

[3. Insufficient rewards!]

[4. Necromancy Wanted!]

[Analyzing Possible Solutions]

"I gave you one! We need content beyond the Hellish Chicken Trials!" Jack reminded.

.

.

.

[Found Possible Fix In User Suggestions!]

[Generating New Alternative Instance!]

[Generating….]

[Generating….]

[New Alternative Instance Created!]

[Chicken Trial Palace of the Damned!]

Jack stared at the recent announcements laughing his ass off!

"Hell yeah!!! It's freaking here! Thank you, system!!!"

"You're doing great by listening to the game community!!"

"This is the best you could ever have done! Amazing Job!!!"

Jack was praising the AI endlessly. After all, this would possibly be the most beloved update in the History of gaming!

In total: 100% of the players running the Hellish Chicken Palace Trials praised this update!— Sure, it was just Jack, but that was a minor detail.

None of the players in the other villages had even attempted a Hellish Clear as far as he knew. Typically, 100 clears wouldn't be done by one guy in a few days…. #As Expected of the Demon King!

Thus this silly exploit had been born. But hey, it was actually making the game a better place. Now it would have even more hidden content!

It was time to put this new Dungeon to the test….

━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━

The New Leaf village was as peaceful as ever: insults, newbie hunting, challenges thrown left and right. The players were so goddamn loud!

But that's when a miracle happened. The sky began to darken at an incredibly quick pace. For a brief instant, there was a respite to the constant cacophony.

For a very brief instant…

"What the fuck is that?!"

"Run, the world is ending!!!"

"The sky went dark?! An Eclipse?!"

"Guys, there's something above the plain!"

They all rushed toward it, soon witnessing a bright red light appearing in the sky. It slowly descended directly toward the red dungeon portal. But the closer it got to the ground, the clearer it became.

"That's a phantom chicken?!"

"A giant skeletal phantom chicken?!"

"The Chicken Spirit is coming to take revenge?!"

It basked the surroundings in its bloody red glow. It gave the whole Tutorial a horrifying ambiance.

Some players were already shivering as they huddled in groups. They shot wary glances at the nearby chickens. In response, the creatures went Cluck-Cluck….yep, that was it.

Others were already hopeful. Loot! Loot! Loot! Experience! Experience! Titles! They welcomed every new disaster because it gave rise to new special quests!

After all, events always gave great rewards!— well, usually.

The latest Demon King hunting event had been lacking, to say the least. The guys tasked with "protecting" him had just received a token reward of a few potions.

That's when an eager player suddenly saw the portal ripple as a man exited it.

"Guys, there's someone there!"

"Wait…that's the Demon King!"

The phantom undead chicken finally reached the portal. In passing, it gave a taunting screech toward the nearby Jack and then disappeared inside.

Not many spoke chicken, but they all understood what it meant. The creature would be waiting inside, eager to be challenged.

The players looked at the man in shock:

"Don't tell me he's the one that did that?!"

"As expected of the— wait, I'm in I.R.L now!"

"Open your dog eyes, you fools! D.L. is still alive!!"

"Oh, esteemed Demon King! What's going on! Please tell us!"

They waited for the man's answer while holding their breaths. If anyone knew what was happening, there was a good chance it was him.

Jack didn't mind telling them. After all, it wasn't a big deal.

"Oh, it's nothing much. I've been complaining to the system lately: the Dungeon is just too easy. It finally added a new difficulty level, that's all." Jack shrugged.

On that note, he reentered the portal, leaving behind traumatized players.

"Easy?! Dungeons are easy?!"

"He was kidding, right, right?!"

"Coming from him….it could be true."

"Is there a need to flex so damn hard?!"

"Did he just nag the game into submission?!"

They looked at one another. Once more, they had the feeling that they just weren't playing the same game as him.

"I wonder what the hell he's facing in there."

"I don't know, but something nightmarish. Look at the statue…."

The dungeon entrance had changed. Before, it had been a chicken statue with the portal in its mouth. Now half of the statue's body showed a skeletal frame.

Also, it had a pair of skeletal wings behind its back. They were bony, and the tips looked so sharp that players would probably die if they collided with it.

It inspired fright, and yet Jack had gone inside so casually.

As expected of the Demon King….