Chapter 27

Carl receives an unwelcome fan box reward granting him mandatory appearances at CrawlCon, a galactic fan convention for Dungeon Crawler World, while the group prepares to make their guild upgrade. The chapter is interrupted when the town of Point Mongo comes under magical attack from distant elves using poison bomb trebuchets, and Carl discovers that Clint has undergone a dramatic transformation into a beaver-like creature.

The chapter opens with Carl, Donut, and Mordecai reviewing the recap episode, which shows Vrah and her mantis unit executing crawlers, Lucia Mar defeating a stegosaurus boss in a visceral display, and the main group raiding a druid town to hunt Eva. Carl notes Imani's transformation—her wings are now solid, she glows with fire, looks gaunt, and can fly. He observes that Li Jun, Na, and Zhang are now working with the main group while Chris and the bodyguards are absent, and he feels a pang of loneliness about their separate path. Katia arrives to make an exchange with Donut so they can purchase a guild upgrade before she leaves the party. A lengthy system announcement from the Borant Corporation addresses the "civil war" in their home system, clarifies the dungeon's independence, and announces several patch notes including changes to hot springs, lava tubes, and allosaurus mobs. Importantly, hunters are now banned from communicating with those outside the dungeon—a victory Carl credits to Quasar. Crawlers in the top 1,000 can now see their rankings. The announcement also reveals the Butcher's Masquerade party will occur. After Katia and Donut leave to shop and complete the guild upgrade, Carl opens his fan box to discover he has been selected as a special guest for CrawlCon, a massive intergalactic fan convention. Despite his protests and willingness to send Donut instead, Zev informs him it is mandatory. Carl is scheduled for three events: an art contest judge's panel, a discussion panel moderated by Circe Took, and an autograph session with fans. Donut is disappointed she cannot attend. While Carl prepares to work on various projects, the town suddenly comes under magical attack. Clint rushes in to warn them, but Carl is shocked to discover Clint has transformed into a beaver-like creature with fur, buck teeth, webbed hands, and a flat tail. Clint explains that distant elves have set up magical trebuchets in the woods and are firing poison bombs at the town. Carl decides he has a "ridiculous idea" and rushes off to retrieve something.