Tipid

Tipid, a former dungeon crawler, exits the dungeon after taking a deal at the beginning of the 12th floor. Traumatized by his escape from the Illusionists' realm where he chose to save himself over his friend Horatio, he struggles to process his freedom and the brain lesions he sustained during his time underground.

Tipid sits in a zero zone, initially disoriented and confused, his mind caught between trauma and reality. He mistakes Damien, his facilitator, for an attorney, and his hands appear bloody to him—a lingering effect of his dungeon experience. Damien explains that Tipid has fulfilled his contract as a Game Guide and Poisoners guild member but has sustained brain damage that requires treatment at a Viceroy system. The cost will consume much of Tipid's pension. Tipid is told he is free to leave and that a not-for-conquest organization, supported by the Syndicate, will help destitute former crawlers transition. A former crawler will accompany him to the Viceroy system. Tipid questions what a Viceroy is, his memory conjuring horrifying images of masked surgeons and the fate of someone named Rosaline. Damien reveals that Tipid negotiated an extra season in the dungeon specifically to keep a key he obtained—the key that allowed only one person to escape from the Illusionists' trap. Tipid had used it to save himself while leaving behind Horatio, a friend with a wife and children waiting for him outside. The weight of this choice crushes Tipid as he processes his freedom. He tears the key from the chain around his neck and throws it across the table, rejecting it and the guilt it represents.