Dungeon Crawler Carl #2
By: Matt Dinniman
“Don’t compare your circumstances with how they were yesterday. Look at how they were years ago.”
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
*This post contains spoilers for Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
Overview:
The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can’t get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive.
Carl’s Doomsday Scenario
They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose.
Carl still has no pants.
They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it’s anything but a game.
Something I really appreciate about this book is that it starts off right as the last book ended. No time jump whatsoever. They ended the first book by descending the stairs to level three and here we are at the bottom of the staircase.
This is also where the story really picks up. No more training levels and all crawler have the ability to change into a different race and class. I’m pretty pleased that neither Donut or Carl changed up their appearance too much. Carl is technically now a Primal but still looks and acts as himself.
The crawlers being able to change from human is also an easy way to level the playing field for some. For instance, the whole goal of the nursing home group was to get down to level three so the residents could all change into something that gave them a better chance for survival. This is proven to be crucial as when the rankings come out at the end of the book, one of the residents, Elle McGib is number 10 out of all crawlers. Had she stayed in her regular form and not been helped to the third floor, she most certainly would have perished.
We know from Mordecai and Odette that the goal of the crawl is not necessarily to make it through all 18 levels but instead to make it far enough to be offered a deal. Mrs. McGibb now has a really chance of making it far enough for a deal.
Another big plot point that happens is Donut picks the class “Former Child Actor”. This becomes critical because with this she gets a Manager for the rest of the crawl. Odette has highly encouraged Carl and Donut to pick a class that includes this Manager benefit. This makes it so Mordecai has to stick with Donut for the remainder of the crawl. He no longer has access to all the game information but he can still give advice based on his experience and expertise. Odette seems to have her own agenda in keeping Mordecai in the game but Carl and Donut know they need Mordecai so they pretend not to know what that benefit means.
So now, Mordecai becomes a permanent fixture in their journey and an invaluable resource. That is when he isn’t spending his time drinking in bars.
They also are join by Katia who is a member of Brynhild’s Daughters ran by Hekla, another well known crawler. Hekla has asked that Carl and Donut take Katia under their wing to help her level up. Carl is suspicious but still agrees to have her join their party.
There are several other new game aspect that are introduced on this level. Some of them are shops where the crawlers can buy items, quests (some that are not optional once you get involved), Elite characters, bounties and the host’s veto.
The shops explain what the gold they keep accumulating is for. Now they don’t have to scavenge for every single item they can instead shop around to fins things that they need. Good thing Donut has excellent skills in haggling and can get things for very cheap.
The quests add an interesting twist to the game. We already know that the NPCs believe that they are real so now they are pulling the crawlers into their lives. Carl and Donut find themselves in two quests. One involving a demented circus and the other involving murdered sex workers and a corrupt government.
In the circus quest, they meet Signet, their first experience with an Elite. A more powerful NPC who uses them for her own benefit. Strangely, this is the more straight forward quest.
The second quest seems straight forward until the end. The quest has a hidden objective that is triggered by Donut and Carl. They basically have to survive a cataclysmic explosion. The quest also triggered a mandatory participation within a 45 kilometer radius meaning that if the fail, many crawlers and NPCs will die. This explosion is something that was created generations ago and the AI seems very excited about the whole thing going down.
Of course Carl and Donut are able to stop the first blast and Carl’s Doomsday Scenario is created. They are able to trap the crystal that would cause the explosion in a case but the second it is taken out of Carl’s inventory, it would destroy them and everything around them. We can assume that this will be used at a critical time in the series.
Katia then triggered an explosion at the last second that ends up stopping the final blast that would have killed thousand of NPCs and dozens of crawlers.
After they save everyone they enter the fourth floor and are transferred to Odette’s show. Odette informs them that they have made the top 10 in rankings of crawlers. She also explains that they should have received a Celestial box from saving everyone from the blast. Unfortunately, the decision was overturn by the Borant corporation.
Every year the host has the ability to veto one decision after all appears to overturn it had been made. Borant was forced to use their one and only veto on the prizes won as they would have had to pay out 83 Celestial boxes. These prizes are not only expensive but can give crawlers crazy powerful abilities. They could not afford to have that many players achieve that much power so early in the game. One crawler was lucky enough to open his box before the decision was overturned and was able to keep his prize.
Borant having to use their veto this early is huge for the game. The AI seems to be up to something and is favoring the players over the corporation.
The final aspect is bounties. The bounties come from the rankings list. There is now even more of an incentive for crawlers to kill one anther.
Overall,
Another strong book in the series.
As I mentioned above, the game seems to be ramping up from what it has done in past years. The AI seems to be against the Borant corporation and possibly having a mind of its own. Also, Mordecai keeps mentioning how less people than usual are making it down each floor. This year seems to be more difficult than past years.
Perhaps it is just the ineptness of the Borant corporation and they aren’t equipped to handle the crawl? Probably not. The NPCs and the AI are gaining some kind of autonomy and making decisions on their own. I don’t think that Carl is the only one trying to start a revolution.
I don’t think this is quiet a 5 star book. Mainly because it is competing with the Dungeon Crawler Carl which is phenomenal. Still a great read and a great series.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
FableStoryNovel 