Chapter 9

Carl and Donut discover a Safe Room—a complete fast food restaurant transported underground—where they can rest, eat, and prepare for the coming challenges. They meet Tally, a Bopca Protector who serves as the caretaker, enjoy delicious food, and decide to spend the next few days clearing nearby bugs while waiting for the next level to open.

Carl and Donut enter a Polish-themed fast food restaurant that serves as a Safe Room on the first level. The screens display alarming information: the level will collapse in four days and 17 hours, and the crawler population has dropped from 10 million to 4.3 million. The restaurant offers 20 free rental rooms and food services. Carl discovers a non-combatant NPC named Tally, a Bopca Protector with a Slavic accent, who works as the caretaker and can prepare meals. After exploring the minimap and noting three exits—including hallways with tiny sleeping rooms—Carl and Donut settle in. Tally prepares a spiced Murgh Vindaloo with biryani rice and naan for Carl, and yogurt for Donut, whom Tally treats with unusual deference, calling her "Your Highness." Carl opens several loot boxes from safe room discoveries, obtaining a silver ring (+1 Constitution) and other supplies. Donut receives a magical Talisman of the Slate Butterfly (+4 Light on Your Feet, +1 Intelligence) that attracts her greatly despite Carl's concerns about its jingling noise. After the meal, Carl proposes spending the next few days hunting the Scatterer bugs in the adjacent area to gain experience while waiting for the next level to open. Donut pushes for a strategy to showcase their fighting on the broadcast "Dungeon Crawler World: Earth," which premieres in under 24 hours, while Carl remains skeptical about gaining fame.