Chapter 10

Carl and Donut wake refreshed after a long sleep in the Safe Rooms and prepare for continued exploration. After a shower and meal, they venture into the dungeon halls to hunt Scatterers, leveling up to 5 before discovering a locked Spanish-language door. Carl uses goblin dynamite to blow it open, triggering an explosive encounter with an unknown threat inside.

Carl wakes after sleeping 10 hours straight, the longest uninterrupted sleep he's had in five years. Donut sleeps on his neck as usual. After showering and shaving in the restaurant facilities, Carl eats breakfast despite it being nighttime on the surface—a sign his internal clock is broken. He observes the death counter at 4,148,111 and questions Tally about Safe Room features, learning that personal spaces transfer between levels and that purchasing accessories early is crucial for their strength progression.

Outside the Safe Rooms, Carl and Donut encounter Scatterers, starting with two level-2 cockroaches and one level-4 Brood Guardian. Donut's magic missiles prove effective, reducing the larger roach's health by half. Carl discovers that melee weapons (toad cudgel, poker) are ineffective, but physical attacks—particularly snap kicks and stomping—deal significant damage. The roach explodes into "coconut pudding" goo. As they continue hunting, Carl learns that magic missiles can inflict Sepsis, causing roaches to flee and collapse.

By the time Carl and Donut reach a large round room at the end of a tunnel, they've leveled to 5. Carl's skills (Pugilism, Unarmed Combat, Foot Soldier, Smush) have also reached level 5, while Donut's strength has grown to 15 due to her special buff, making her claws noticeably more powerful.

At the room's door, Carl discovers a weathered Spanish-language sign reading "No entrar, por orden del Centro de Salud" (Do not enter, by order of [Health Center]). When Carl pushes open the grimy, barely-latched door, it screeches loudly. The room is pitch black, but Donut senses numerous level-1 and level-2 roaches and unidentifiable piles of garbage with a smell Donut compares to Carl's gym bag. This revelation triggers Carl's realization that his ex-girlfriend had someone over to his apartment while he was at the gym. Reckless and upset, Carl retrieves goblin dynamite—an unstable explosive that even loud noises might detonate. The AI's description triggers a sudden "BOOM!" in Carl's head, startling him severely. Carl lights the dynamite's wick and throws it into the dark room, then runs with Donut back toward the Safe Rooms.