Editing Dungeon (section)

==Dungeon Core== 

A recent trend in literature, especially LitRPGs, is the concept of a '''Dungeon Core'''. based loosely on the ''Dungeon Keeper'' video games, the Dungeon Core is a sentient crystal that feeds on mana, and has minor reality-warping abilities over a limited area that it can expand by absorbing more mana. It does this by luring creatures into its area of influence, then usually killing them with traps or monsters that it's created. It can then use the mana gained to grow its area of influence, or create more monsters based on the creatures it has slain, which are used to defend itself and kill ever more powerful creatures(such as adventurers).  Eventually, it learns that creating certain valuable materials and items(I.e.: Loot) will lure adventurers to its depths in greater numbers, and the cycle truly begins. When Humans figure out what a Dungeon is, their reactions may vary. Some people or kingdoms may seek to destroy it to end the threat it poses(especially if it starts expanding its influence aboveground and/or sending monsters to attack the surrounding areas) or harvest the core as a powerful focus or magical component, others attempt to manage it various ways, usually by deliberately sending adventurers into it to harvest materials and loot, training their warriors on its monsters, and in return letting the dungeon feed off the foolish and/or inexperienced who die in there in the process. As most Dungeon Core stories are LitRPGs, they often have overt or subtle videogame-like setups, such as Floor Bosses and Loot Drops. Many of them also borrow elements of the ''Xianxia'' or "Cultivation" genre, having the Dungeon Core use similar techniques to refine its ability to contain, use, or generate mana as a means of personal growth. 

Many Dungeon Core stories feature the Core itself as the Protagonist, often one made from the soul of a living person though chance, dark rituals or Isekai-style reincarnation. Supporting characters often include a [[Fairy]] or W(h)isp who is drawn to newly-born dungeons to guide their growth, particularly strong minions/bosses, the residents of the nearby village, town or kingdom who first discover the dungeon and try to deal with it one way or the other, and various invaders who may seek to destroy, harvest, or control it.

===Examples of Dungeon Core Stories===
*'''[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/10881/dungeon-heart Dungeon Heart]''': A Dwarven Master Craftsman dies of old age, only for his soul to merge with a broken Dungeon Core he was wearing at the time of his passing. 
*'''[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/25082/blue-core Blue Core]''': A story where Dungeon Cores were designed as magic siege weapons and living fortresses. '''WARNING''': contains (consensual) tentacle sex. 
*'''[https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/15935/there-is-no-epic-loot-here-only-puns There is no Epic Loot Here, Only Puns]''': A young woman becomes a Dungeon Core, and decides that she'd rather ''not'' lure people into her depths to kill them. Which is probably for the best, as the next town over contains a LOT of retired adventurers. 
*'''Dungeon Crafting''': A merchant's daughter with a hobby of collecting crafting techniques ends up asking the wrong person, and finds herself reincarnated as a Dungeon Core, tasked by God with helping to ensure the survival of people who would just as soon destroy her. On the bright side, she can use her Dungeon powers to finally try out all those techniques her crippled body in life prevented her from using. 
*'''Bunker Core''': A Sci-Fi take in a post-apocalyptic world about an AI using nanotech instead of mana. 
*'''Slime Dungeon''': A man reincarnates into a dungeon core, and decides to concentrate entirely on [[Ooze|Slime monsters]]. 
*'''The Misplaced Dungeon''': A Teenage girl's soul is copied to be used a Dungeon Core. Immediately things go wrong, starting with the fact that the gods left open the backdoor to the girl's original soul on Earth. 
*'''[https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/jonathan-brooks/bio-dungeon-symbiote.htm Bio Dungeon]''': A sickly young thief is forced to eat rocks by his cruel bosses, one of which happens to be a dormant Dungeon Core. The core grows within the thief's body, trying to gain enough power to take it over while battling a deadly curse that is the true source of his illness.