Forcing Her Hand.

It had been three days since Gina had awakened her dungeon and since then they hadn't moved from the core room. The trap she had used worked wonderfully, the cops discovering the second floor within minutes and heading down to the trap only to be looped around endlessly, leaving the trio safe. 

Quinn and Heather had both been excited to begin the expansion of the second floor, only to realize that she had spent everything to protect them, leaving them with nothing to do but wait. 

Since then they've done nothing but lounge around the core room, eating through the few supplies that Heather had brought and watching how the cops managed the building through Gina's Map skill.

They had finished clearing the building of all mutated within the first day, but the cops weren't allowing the people back into their homes, instead they seemed to bring in a team to explore and investigate her dungeon, probably an organization higher up in the chain. 

She wasn't fully sure if or what they were investigating in her dungeon as she had no exact visual on them, they moved slowly, constantly staying in groups and rotating almost every six hours.

The largest group was fixed at the trap door, at least five of them were always there, another six groups wandered her dungeon and the apartment building either guarding it or investigating the area she couldn't tell.

"How's our current DP looking?" Quinn asked her, the little fairy was bored out of her mind and had asked her almost hourly what her DP looked like.

Sighing Gina pulled up her status.

[ Name: Gina Lier.

 Occupation: Awakened Dungeon Master of Lust.

 Race: Hyena-Kin.

 Stats:

 Health- 14/15 Stamina- 14/14 Mana- 10/10

 Strength- 16 Endurance- 15 Dexterity- 17 

 Intelligence- 20 Charisma- 25 Willpower- 20

 Dungeon Points- 71

 Dungeon Rank: 1 

 Skills: <Map > <Dungeon Management> <Dungeon Shop> <Dungeon Inventory>

 Resistances: <Lesser Poison>

 Traits: <Scent Gland> <Night Vision> <Improved Hearing> <Improved Smelling> ]

"Seventy-one." It had only changed by a single digit since she last checked it. Heather had told the both of them they needed to save up at least 150 DP until they could begin making the most basic of floors, leaving the both of them incredibly bored. 

Quinn groaned in boredom flopping her head onto the table and asking Heather, "Why can't we just install death traps and get DP that way, it'll be faster."

Heather sighed, she was trying to get some sleep, but Quinn was constantly interrupting it, "You know why. Now would you both be quiet so I can get some rest!"

They both sheepishly nodded, trying to let her rest only for a loud boom to ring through the area, Quinn cursing at the sound, "AGAIN?"

It had been a big surprise when it first occurred, but now the explosions were a common occurrence, they had tried to destroy the trap door several times, each time causing them to lose the small DP they had gained, "What are we at now?" Quinn asked her.

"Sixty-one." Almost five hours of progress was gone due to the investigators' testing, leaving them with at least two more days of waiting before they could begin the first expansion, "Can I at least begin testing my magic, Heather?"

"No Gina, any mana you use is from the Dungeon, it'll halve our DP gain at the very least."

In sync both Quinn and Gina sighed again, if these explosions hadn't been happening, they would have already expanded the second floor and maybe even the third. It was both annoying and infuriating.

Back to the waiting they went, and for the next few days the explosions only increased in frequency and intensity. With another loud bang Gina automatically responded, "Twenty."

They were all exhausted now, the constant explosions meant no long sleep or rest, combined with the randomness of the bombing it left them all going mad.

"Heather, we have to do something, at this rate the dungeon will die, me with it, and you two a few seconds later." Gina told her, if she ran out of DP the repairs would fail and they'd break through, let alone the fact it would mean the core would shatter leaving her dead and the two of them with nothing to defend themselves.

"No! The only thing you've suggested is madness, it would reveal us completely, we'd be completely vulnerable to them." Yesterday Gina had suggested they make contact, try to negotiate with the investigators to stop the bombing, but Heather had denied it outright, it was just too unpredictable, even Quinn agreed with her.

Gina had to make a choice though, she knew that they wouldn't last more than a day at this rate, and while Gina didn't want to go against them as they were her helpers, but she had to put her foot down, "I'm sending the message Heather. If it fails all it does is save us a day of waiting."

Pulling up the dungeon shop she tracked down the first step to her plan, a signpost, it was basic, allowing her to write a message and put it down wherever in her dungeon she pleased. The more expensive ones could be rewritten to her will, but she didn't have the DP to buy them, settling for the cheapest one. A wooden sign good for a single use, though even with its poor quality it still took half her remaining DP.

Gina knew what she was putting on the sign, having already thought up the exact message she wanted to send, it was a long one, but she only had one shot at this. The message went as follows.

"I am the dungeon master.

This is a request for a truce, a meeting to exchange both intentions, desires, and deals if we reach that point.

I will open the way deeper into my dungeon for one of you to talk, I will answer questions to the best of my abilities and expect the same in response.

If you wish to discuss, learn more about who and what I am, leave a single person in this room, everyone else should exit my dungeon fully including the apartment building above.

I will not harm the person you send to me, unless they try to attack or harm myself, I will show no mercy to them if they do. 

If any more explosions occur inside my dungeon, I will not continue to be lenient."

Quickly writing it all down she placed the sign down in the center of the trap room, spending five more DP to do so and leaving them completely helpless to the next bomb.

Opening her map to see their reactions, she watched as the outsider, one of the investigators represented by a single dot, saw the sign immediately, only staying for a moment to read what was on it before running back to the first floor, explaining what they found to the others.

Like ants they went down the stairs in a storm, surrounding her message and observing it in its entirety, they even broke it off the floor costing her one DP, but the message was working, the explosions had finally stopped.

"What are they doing?" Quinn asked her, excited and nervous of what Gina's plan might do.

"Just observing us for now." 

Her message was bringing in far more people than usual, increasing her Daily DP gain to almost 500 for a few hours, mostly it was from them trying to hide around her dungeon to observe her, testing to see her boundaries most likely.

They had lined up outsiders all across her dungeon, either people or caged animals she couldn't tell yet. They were everywhere from inside the maze, at the trap door area, on the stairs, and even at each floor of the apartment building including the roof.

Slowly over the course of nearly eight hours they removed themselves from each area, until finally there was only a single outsider in her dungeon, "Heather, hide yourself and Quinn from view, I want them to think I'm alone. If they try to attack me, you guys know what to do."

They both agreed to the order, moving to the corner and disappearing from her view instantly. With a small thought the trap door opened up to the correct way letting their messenger approach her, their footsteps clicking off the ground.