The Compendium

The World Dungeon is a subterranean 18-level dungeon built from Earth's repurposed matter, into which surviving humans may enter to reclaim their lost matter.

Carl is a 27-year-old former US Coast Guard member who works as a marine tech fixing electrical systems on boats in Seattle.

Donut is a tortoiseshell Persian show cat owned by Carl's ex-girlfriend Beatrice, worth more than Carl makes in a year.

The Syndicate is the galactic governing authority whose rules and codes govern planetary resource reclamation and mineral rights.

The Borant Corporation was assigned regency over Earth's solar system and chose the 18-Level World Dungeon as the method of resource reclamation.

Beatrice is Carl's ex-girlfriend who owns the show cat Donut and went to the Bahamas for New Year's, bringing her ex-boyfriend.

A Syndicate neutral observer AI speaks directly into survivors' minds in a non-English language they nonetheless understand, with text appearing floating before them.

At about 2:23 AM PST on January 3rd, every building and structure on Earth was instantly crushed, killing nearly everyone who was indoors or under any roof.

Mrs. Parsons is Carl's grumpy, complaint-filing first-floor neighbor who was killed when the building was crushed, leaving only her severed head.

Multiple tutorial guilds are seeded throughout dungeon levels 1 through 3, and new crawlers are strongly advised to find and use one immediately.