Earth is the dungeon and game show Dungeon Crawler World, crawled by Carl, his cat Princess Donut, their manager Mordecai, and the shapeshifter Katia, who have just cleared the fourth floor, the monstrous subway-maze 'Iron Tangle.' Recently, at the post-floor Odette interview, the team meets their new handler: Loita, a hostile Bloom-party kua-tin admin who has replaced the beloved Zev (shipped off to ominous 'reeducation' after a tragedy back home) and who censors the show at every turn, even banning snacks. Carl learns the Death Challenge he survived was a galaxy-wide gambling event that had pegged his odds at fifty-to-one and cost Borant dearly, and endures fresh mockery over a new fabricated sex-tape 'snick.' Odette confirms she personally, not her husband, backed Hekla, teasing a deeper game she won't yet explain, and repeatedly tries to warn Carl about the hunting brother Chris before Loita mutes her. Then comes the choice of the fifth floor: spinning two great wheels, Donut lands the party in the Air quadrant, facing the Dirigible Gnomes of the Wasteland Fortress. Odette's parting hint, that she's glad they have all those crafting tables, and a warning of endless possibilities linger as a door opens onto a harsh, sand-swept desert. Clutching a paperback he couldn't stow, Carl follows Donut out to go gnome hunting, and the book ends, the fifth floor, and the next chapter of the crawl, beginning.