Belissar awoke with a start, sitting upright. He blinked for a moment, then gasped and reached for his back. He didn’t feel anything there. No arrow shaft, no wounds, no pain, not even blood. He blinked again.

Had it all been a dream?

Just then, vivid memories passed through his mind. He could smell the smoke of flames just outside his window...and the scent of blood. He heard the screams of the villagers, the roar of burning houses, and the angry shouts of soldiers. He could see sunlight reflecting off metal blades before they plunged into his neighbors. He could remember the sharp pain stabbing into his back.

He turned pale and began to sweat. No, he didn’t think all that was a dream after all. Not to mention the fact that he apparently hadn’t awoken in his bed...or on the ground where he had fallen.

He finally thought to look at his surroundings. He was...well, he didn’t know where. All around him was empty white space with only a single feature. A glowing sphere hovered in the air a bit in front of him.

“Am I...dead?”

He couldn’t think of any other explanation for his current surroundings, and the sudden lack of mortal wounds on his back. But at the same time...this did not match anything he had been told. Where was the Hall of Judgement? Where was the God of Death?

Just then, he heard a buzzing noise. He began glancing around until he saw it. A single bee, buzzing around the glowing sphere. She flew up to him and he held up his hand by reflex. His eyes widened as she landed right on his finger. She was missing an antenna, just like the one from the spider web.

“Don’t tell me you died too?”

That seemed impossible. Even if this was somehow the same bee, only humans went to the Hall of Judgement when they died...or so Belissar had been told. But on the other hand, this place didn’t match any description of the Hall of Judgement Belissar had heard. Not that any human had actually seen the Hall of Judgement and lived to talk about it. They couldn’t, by definition, after all. There was also the lack of the God of Death passing judgement on the events of his life.

He looked at the bee on his finger. Unless...the God of Death was a bee?! Or did he somehow end up in the bee Hall of Judgement?! Did bees have a Hall of Judgement?!

Said bee or potential god buzzed her wings and danced around, brushing his finger with her remaining antenna, before taking off. She hovered in front of his eyes and then flew in a figure eight, before turning and flying towards the sphere. Belissar blinked. The bee flew back in front of him and repeated her actions, then flew back towards the sphere.

“Um, do you want me to do something with this?”

The bee buzzed her wings and began dancing on top of the sphere.

“Um, what exactly?”

The bee just repeated her actions. Belissar gulped, and then stepped forward. He had no idea what was going on, but if a potential bee God of Death wanted him to act, then he’d have to try his best. He looked at the sphere. Even though his surroundings were nothing but white light, he could somehow tell the sphere was faintly glowing. It was perfectly smooth, with no protrusions or marks anywhere. Which meant no hints whatsoever to what he was actually supposed to do with it. But the bee kept dancing and buzzing around on top of the sphere.

“Um, like this?”

Belissar reached out to touch the sphere, for lack of any better idea.

And once he did...

Belissar grunted and shielded his face as the sphere began to glow bright, to the point it hurt his eyes. He tried to pull the hand that touched it back...but his hand was apparently stuck to it. He felt the sphere heat up, hotter than anything he ever felt. Yet, he didn’t feel any pain nor smell any smoke, so it didn’t seem like it was burning him. The heat then passed from the sphere into his hand and traveled along his arm. It circulated through his whole body, leaving his entire being feeling hot, burning without pain.

And then...something appeared before his eyes.

Beginning Dungeon Binding.

Strange words began to appear before his eyes. He was blessed to have learned how to read, but knowing the words didn’t help him make any sense of them. Dungeon...binding? Was he...was he in some sort of prison? Was this the Hall of Judgement after all...and was he just judged as wicked?!

“Wait! This is some sort of mistake! I didn’t break any of the commandments!”

Well, there was that one about not lying, and that time he snuck some cookies. And he didn’t actually know all the doctrine, his village was too small to have a dedicated priest after all, so he couldn’t rule out that he had broken a rule he hadn’t known about. But beyond that, he was pretty sure he had followed the rest! Don’t murder, don’t steal, pay taxes, obey every command from any and all Tower Lords without question, etc.

Please select a starting defender:

- Slime (Rarity: Common, Random Default Option)

- Goblin (Rarity: Common, Random Default Option)

- Zombie (Rarity: Common, Random Default Option)

- Monster Bee Queen (Rarity: Rare, Unlocked by Dungeon Conduit’s Records)

- Clockwork Puppet (Rarity: Epic, Random Option)

Belissar blinked again.

“Um, what?”

Select...a defender? From...a list of monsters? What did that mean? Was...this some kind of test? Was he choosing his own punishment?! Would whatever he picked arrive to eat him alive?! He glanced at the bee who was still on top of the sphere, but she didn’t react.

Well...the choice should be obvious, right?

Or rather, Belissar had only heard stories about the others, but he knew bees. Had worked with them for most of his life. He even pretended they were his friends and talked to them...when no one else was around. Or so he thought. He didn’t become known as the “weird bee guy” for nothing.

He hung his head at that thought.

In any case, if he had to be killed or tormented or whatever this was, he would prefer it be done by his long-time companions.

Monster Bee Queen selected.

Please select a starting room:

- Flower Meadow (Rarity: Common, Unlocked by starting defender)

- Forest (Rarity: Common, Unlocked by local environment)

- Stone Labyrinth (Rarity: Common, Default Option)

- Enchanter’s Laboratory (Rarity: Uncommon, Random Option)

Belissar tilted his head. Ok, now he was getting really confused. Pick...a room? Was the God of Death was letting him choose where he would be punished? Why would he be allowed to choose that? Was it a consolation prize for good behavior?

Well, if that was the case, the choice was pretty obvious here too. Of all the places he could be punished, a flower meadow sounded the least bad.

Flower Meadow selected.

Completing Binding.

The heat from the sphere grew even hotter and began to change. Before his entire body had been filled with the same amount of heat all over. Now...it felt like the heat was concentrating down, focusing on his hand.

And then it vanished all at once, leaving only a now dull warmth in his body. Belissar stumbled back as his hand was suddenly freed. He turned his palm toward him and blinked.

There was now a glowing pattern on his hand, in the shape of a bee landing on a flower.

And then...more words passed before his mind.

Constructing Dungeon.

Belissar stumbled as the ground began to tremble. He felt as though he was rising into the air. The sphere began to change as well. Colors began to swirl inside of it, and the warmth now inside his body grew hot once more.

Eventually, the rumbling stopped. Belissar glanced around...but he was still in the pure white space. And he was not, in fact, being eaten or tormented by monster bees. In fact, nothing had changed at all, save for the sphere. He stepped forward and peered inside of it...and blinked.

Inside the sphere, he could see a large meadow full of flowers, a field of color broken up only by an occasional tree. The sphere was blinking towards the top, which drew Belissar’s attention. As he did, additional words appeared before his mind.

Please place Monster Bee Queen Spawner(s). Upkeep: 20 Mana per active spawner.

Mana: 95/100

Belissar blinked again.

“Um...just what is going on here?”

As he spoke the words, the view in the sphere shifted, displaying a small, circular building. It was a single story tall, and made of some kind of white stone, with perfectly smooth walls. All around it was a sea of an amorphous black substance with faint rainbow undertones, constantly shifting and twisting like a stormy sea. Words again appeared before his eyes.

Dungeon Status:

Rooms: 1*/1 (*Pending Completion)

Floors: 1

Mana: 95/100

Available Monster Types: Monster Queen Bee

Available Room Types: Flower Meadow

Core Corruption: 0%

Dungeon Master: Belissar

Dungeon Conduit: Unnamed Bee

Current Missions: Complete at least one room, Complete initial purification, Earn the favor of a patron

The words...did not help him understand the situation. But Belissar was hardly paying any attention to them, for his eyes were fixed upon the image inside the sphere. It was a sight he recognized. It was a sight that every person alive could recognize.

“It’s...a Tower of the Gods?”

Though he recognized the sight, Belissar found himself ever more confused.