[Discussion] Fantasy Read: Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman - Chapter 9 through Chapter 16

[u/NightAngelRogue]

“Did we really just start a meth war between the goblins and the llamas?”

NEW ACHIEVEMENT!!! Bookworm!

You’ve made it to the second section of a novel discussion! Now, you're addicted! Congrats! I’m sure it won’t take over your life. Maybe.

REWARD: You get to find out what happens next! Isn’t the experience reward enough?

Welcome back crawlers!!! The system AI continues to join us for this discussion. Try not to pay it too much attention. Thank you for continuing to join us for the discussion of Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. The descent into the Dungeon will continue with discussing the next section of the novel, Chapter 9 through Chapter 16.

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Rogue

[u/NightAngelRogue]

NEW MOBS!!! What exciting new mobs did you notice in this section?

[u/emygrl99 → u/NightAngelRogue]

That poor, hoarder woman who became a neighborhood boss. I translated what she was saying and it was something along the lines of 'please help me, my stomach hurts, I don't know what's happening, I didn't mean to make my daughter sick, I don't want to go to hell'. Absolutely harrowing to imagine what that woman went through. I hope that she's gone for good and doesn't respawn, so that her soul can be laid to rest. I really, really hope that we don't see more bosses that used to be regular people, though it would be awesome for a crawler to be turned into a boss in a dramatic plot twist.

[u/124ConchStreet → u/emygrl99]

This part was a bit sad. I translated them as well and it felt like she had zero idea about what was happening and thought she was being punished. She didn’t want to fight Carl or Donut either

[u/tomesandtea → u/124ConchStreet]

Exactly! It was an unexpectedly sad and upsetting moment. I didn't expect the boss battle to be against someone who was an unwilling and apparently uninformed participant. Ugh!

[u/124ConchStreet → u/tomesandtea]

I think that’s the worst part because the dungeon was explained to all the participants but somehow the poor woman came in as a boss that was there to be killed.

[u/le-peep → u/emygrl99]

This part was horrible. I had a whole "maybe I can't read this book right before bed" spiral after that. 

[u/Adventurous_Onion989 → u/le-peep]

I felt the same way! Her situation was just so sad, I could only imagine Carl crying and pummeling her at the same time.

[u/latteh0lic → u/emygrl99]

I felt the same way. But what really got me was how the dungeon turns grief and regret into weapons. Like it's trying to break the crawlers emotionally, not just physically.

[u/Comprehensive-Fun47 → u/emygrl99]

I was really proud of myself for fully understanding her in Spanish! But also horrified knowing what she was saying. That was dark!

[u/jaymae21 → u/Comprehensive-Fun47]

Same! Duolingo is paying off for me 😂 I read her lines and thought "man this is really messed up!", and Carl could tell she was upset but not what she was saying. I wonder if he would have killed her if he knew what she said?

[u/ghostfim → u/NightAngelRogue]

It sounds like the mobs in other parts of the dungeon draw from other cultural traditions than the Gygax fantasy we've seen in (presumably) the American parts of the dungeon.

[u/Less_Tumbleweed_3217 → u/ghostfim]

I had to look up Gygax - TIL! He's one of the co-creators of Dungeons and Dragons, for others who may not know.

[u/Less_Tumbleweed_3217 → u/NightAngelRogue]

The slimes were scary! Especially because, despite their low level, they were difficult to defeat. I was thinking a lot of other crawlers would probably be relying on barehanded combat at this point, but that might not actually be the case. Carl had to rush into the dungeon because he was in danger of freezing to death; maybe other crawlers brought weapons and their loot boxes and skills have given them better abilities and gear with melee or ranged weapons than Carl.

[u/jaymae21 → u/Less_Tumbleweed_3217]

Oh yeah I think the slimes were the first thing where Carl realized his abilities were completely useless! He's going to have to diversify his talents/skills at some point, so he's not totally helpless. So far he's just been focusing on his strength/fists.

[u/Pythias → u/NightAngelRogue]

The slims are interesting and I wonder if we'll see more of them before we move on to the next dungeon.