Chapter 7

Carl, Donut, and Mongo arrive on the Over City (the third floor), a sprawling urban level about the size of Arizona. Mordecai explains the floor's mechanics, the nature of the NPCs as engineered beings, and warns Carl about the dangers of night travel before directing him toward a larger settlement to the east for better shops and guild training.

Carl arrives on the third floor with Donut and Mongo, where Mordecai greets them at a small village. The Over City is a massive connected world approximately 300,000 square kilometers, with scattered villages and vast abandoned ruins. Mordecai reveals that NPCs are biologically engineered creatures owned by the Borant Corporation, with their memories altered each season to maintain the game's narrative. He explains the floor's lore: a volcanic world destroyed by poison gas from a dormant monster, with survivors now inhabiting the ruins. The floor features day and night cycles, with daytime monsters manageable but nighttime creatures significantly more dangerous. Mordecai warns against attacking NPCs or guards, as the only consequence is death with no jailing system. He directs Carl to follow the main road eastward for a half day to reach a medium-sized settlement with better shops and tutorial guilds. Carl learns about saferooms scattered throughout the ruins, the existence of class-specific guildhalls for training, and that the 18th floor serves as a luxury retreat for wealthy tourists rather than a challenging combat zone. Before leaving for a pub, Mordecai instructs Carl not to stop at the first saferoom and to avoid women with horns, as increased charisma attracts them. Carl and his companions exit the village gate into the ruins to begin grinding their way to the larger settlement.