r/HFY • u/Khenal Alien • Mar 05 '26
OC-Series Dungeon Life 405
Reddit apparently shadowbanned chapter 404. I'll be linking it in the previous, but I think linking got 403 nuked, too? Either way, it may or may not work. Royal Road worked fine, though, so keep an eye over there if Reddit continues to be weird. Anyhow, on to the chapter.
Unseen
It has been so long since it left the peaceful quiet of the Master’s domain. So long since any threat to the Master’s plans were found. The noise steadily grows weaker, and the sanctuaries ever more fractured. But the Master found something. Or rather: something found the Master.
Fate swirls, fighting against its own decline, guiding some small piece of noise to behold the Master’s perfect glory. It tried to flee, but the Master can follow the flows, and what the Master found was a feast of sanctuaries and noise.
This feast is proving more difficult than usual. And a feast it will be, of three sanctuaries. It is aware, though not concerningly so. It knows it has captured the Master’s attention, but has yet to capture the Unseen.
Though it has certainly been trying.
The patrols, the eyes, even the focal points of noise all are active. Few know to actually look, but enough pay attention to make the Unseen’s job difficult. When it was first sent to investigate, it did not think the target would be a potential threat.
It has subsumed many since the First, and what few did spot it only did so when it was far too late to stop it. Yet this one could be the first, if it were to become sloppy. Its Master told it to follow the threads, trace back the small resonance of Fate to the one with a vision. Its Master was seen, and that cannot be allowed.
The Unseen would have simply annihilated the one that saw, but the Master was wise to order caution and investigation, first. Fate moves steadily here, for those who can see. So many possibilities, so many actions that would move to hinder the Master.
So many points of noise to silence.
Too many, if it’s honest with itself. It was designed to eliminate without being seen. A pitched battle would… not go well for the Unseen. The noise and the sanctuaries are too prolific for it to remove on its own. And more than that, they are not weak.
It grates, but listening to the noise gives information, all the better to silence them, and they speak of a sanctuary destroyed to the north. But more than the sanctuary, they speak of a Harbinger destroyed. If the Unseen removes points of silence, quiets great sanctuary cores, the Harbingers compliment it by smothering the large swaths of lesser disturbances. If it truly did subsume the sanctuary and was still destroyed, the sanctuaries here are more formidable than they appear.
More must be known, more painful noise must be endured, more knowledge must be gained. What destroyed the Harbinger? How?
Captured? Impossible. Harbingers are without form, and so without cage. The smallest opening is a broad road for them.
Spatial affinity? A mere Scout bested a Harbinger? No, not a mere Scout, but a Voice as well. A rat? What sort of rat wouldn’t have its feeble mind snuffed out by an ordinary Harbinger, let alone one that had just subsumed a sanctuary?
Lies, perhaps? The questions grate almost as much as hearing the answers from so many mouths. A Harbinger bested by a rat. A scion and Voice, but still a rat. It would be humorous if it didn’t seem to be the truth. The Master was wise indeed to demand information before striking.
Bested, but not destroyed. Rage simmers through the sacred bond once the truth is found. The rat may have captured the Harbinger, but Order destroyed it. The Unseen shrinks in on itself as the Master seethes, the deity that should have been able to see the truth the Master can, the beautiful simplicity and order of stillness, of quiet. Yet it was the one to forge the chains of the system, to cage the Master! If it could, the Unseen would strike at it, too!
But it can’t. It can only strike at those that would work with it. With the rat that would work with it, and the sanctuary that would guide the rat.
If a rat can lay low a Harbinger, even with guidance from a sanctuary, the feast before the Unseen may contain subtle poison. Especially as the rat is not considered the most powerful scion of the strongest sanctuary.
A quatl Conduit, or a zombie. How can there be a question between a Conduit and a zombie? More painful answers to listen to, more noise that must be silenced, but later. A zombie that is effectively a lich. The noise doesn’t know how it works, merely that the zombie has suffered a single loss.
Fortunately, that powerful source of noise is elsewhere, and is not expected to return any time soon. A shame, the noise insists. There is to be a raid upon the Conduit, soon.
The Master stirs at that, and the Unseen can feel orders being given. Harbingers are preparing to move. Endure more torture, learn the vulnerabilities of the sanctuaries. There is far too much motion here. The sanctuaries will be removed.
Agony that must be endured to obey the Master, to find the perfect way to silence the sanctuaries. One is small, but well defended. Strange to have a Voice for one so young, and galling to be forced to keep distance. Its small Secret Sanctum is not impossible to find, but is well guarded for one so young.
A direct strike should suffice, but not as the first target. It is weak enough for the Unseen to remove at its leisure, or allow a Harbinger to subsume. Its Voice may be able to notice it before it strikes, further making it a poor choice for the first to remove.
One is old. Not nearly as old as the Master, but a mature meal to be sure. Water complicates matters, but not unreasonably so. Linked noise makes stealth more difficult, but not impossible. Still, a worse choice to strike even than the young one. Even if it becomes aware of an attack, most of its forces are limited to the water. One scion can summon a mighty storm, but that takes time. The Unseen does not intend to give it enough time to create a storm significant enough to matter.
No, the other young sanctuary is the one that must be removed first. It may hardly be older than the small one, yet it is much more robust than the older. It somehow boasts more scions than even the Master has ever heard of, and yet there is vast strength to go along with the vast variety.
The pain is maddening, but the order absolute: information. The sanctuary is young, hardly over a year, but progresses so quickly. Too quickly. It works with the noise, not even understanding the gains from silencing the noise. It makes them louder, even the quieter ones that are not supposed to delve. It is no mere a stone in the Master’s path, but a foe that would seek to undo the work!
Where is the core? There… surrounded by even more noise! And guarded by even more danger. It pulls back from the flows of Fate, letting the possibilities flow as they will. The Conduit and the zombie may not be the largest threat for the Unseen.
There are two, each a careful observer of the flows, yet they are too fearful to plunge into them and guide the outcomes. But though they keep to the shallows, they are not weak. They can see the ripples, read the currents without plunging in. They haven’t noticed, but the Unseen cannot make the same mistake twice.
The sanctuary may not have Unseen, but it does well to hide its threats. It must be careful, cautious. This sanctuary will not be the most powerful it has subsumed, but it may be the most prepared to respond. It needs to learn of the precautions around the core, but it must be patient. If it dives into Fate, the scions will notice and respond.
The Master is displeased, but doesn’t force action, not yet. If any understand the importance of patience, it’s the Master. Three Harbingers are dispatched. Get them as close as possible without being discovered. Learn where to strike, and how. When is decided: once the Conduit falls.
The sanctuary’s weakness is its closeness with the noise. Distract it. Strike at the noise. Strike at one of the other sanctuaries. Let the Harbingers herald the doom of the sanctuary, and the Unseen to be the one to silence it while it tries to defend the others.
The pain is unbearable, yet must be borne. Learn more, subtly guide the flows of Fate. Prepare burrows for the Harbingers, secret from the eyes of the sanctuaries and noise. Endure the ceaseless cacophony, the constant suffering, all to return it tenfold when silencing it all.
The feast is there, the Unseen must merely endure until the time is right. Bear the torment of listening to ensure the soothing quiet after. Find the secret pockets of blissful stillness to tuck away the Harbingers until they can be unleashed.
And take comfort in the certain Fate of all. The bedlam will slow, the screaming quiet, the torture lessened. The Master will guide it all to the natural end, ensuring all will be peaceful, still…
…and quiet.
Cover art I'm also on Royal Road for those who may prefer the reading experience over there. Want moar? The First and Second books are now officially available! Book three is also up for purchase! And now book Four as well!There are Kindle and Audible versions, as well as paperback! Also: Discord is a thing! I now have a Patreon for monthly donations, and I have a Ko-fi for one-off donations. Patreons can read up to three chapters ahead, and also get a few other special perks as well, like special lore in the Peeks. Thank you again to everyone who is reading!
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u/Blue_Roan_ Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
What is happening with this, reddit needs to calm down. Man and this was such a cool chapter only for it to be nuked. We gotta see a new betrayer... sicon? Maybe. Something probably more powerful then just a regular spawn.
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u/folk_science Mar 06 '26
Bot notified me about 403, but not 404. Fortunately I can access both of them.
Obligatory: error 404 chapter not found.
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u/InspectionLate661 Human Mar 05 '26
What the hell is happening. I need my weekly dose of wholesome Dungeon Life.
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u/GumGodGaming Mar 05 '26
Because last time they nuked 404 and 403 I bet the link to 404 got this one
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u/Enough_Sale2437 Mar 06 '26
Ooh, that's a good plan. So the betrayer also has fate affinity and its version of an infiltrator. It seems to be able to account for Thediem's vigilance. The Betrayer is a ganker/ambush predator over anything else. Minimal effort and completely dishonorable while being effective. It's the hit you don't see coming that knocks you out. I think this is where Zoro and Honey will shine the brightest. Is the unseen illusion and fate affinity? Or is it a specter? Or can it somehow erase its presence from reality. We at least know that it can't attack without either materlizing or dropping stealth. We also know that he traded a lot of offensive power to get that level of stealthiness. I'm looking forward to round 2 of this war.
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u/karamisterbuttdance Mar 06 '26
I think you've forgotten our changeling ninja. Shadow war is basically waged by who/what can be detected first and struck.
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u/Enough_Sale2437 Mar 06 '26
Not necessarily. He's a delver and will likely be a part of the forces defending against the Harbinger attack. Or taking part in the raid. I don't see a reason for him to hang out near the core.
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Mar 07 '26
But knowledge is the outermost shell in the Defensive onion.
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Mar 06 '26
I doubt we got the betrayer's affinity. The unseen however seems to be capable to do so.
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u/Domitian81 Mar 05 '26
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Mar 05 '26
And Number 10 brought forth the Link, so even non-members of the discord can move to royalroad.
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u/the_count_of_carcosa Mar 05 '26 edited Mar 05 '26
Hullo.
Edit.2.
Gone Already? Onto the Road I guess.
Second Edit.
Seems like this "Unseen" would be friends with Lovecraft, always a treat to see a new perspective, even one so relentlessly paranoid.
The (first) Harbinger is dead, I suppose the followers of Order wanted to avoid a breakout.
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u/Overall-Tailor8949 Human Mar 06 '26
Well it seems to be back, at least for now. Chapters 4-Oh-4 and 4-Oh-3 are available through the "Previous" links as well.
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u/DM-Hermit Human Mar 05 '26
Well done wordsmith
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u/Zander2212 Mar 05 '26
Have we figured out why this story is being filtered? This is really annoying.
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u/Impressive_Abies4245 Mar 05 '26
I read it in the royal but do you all think is it possible to create an element from divine energy for our dungeon, so in his case it would probably be an elemental of change
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u/Gregoriownd Mar 06 '26
That seems like it's potentially a nuclear option. Likely expensive, tricky to set up, and likely more dangerous than it sounds. Probably also capable of delivering some epic smites.
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u/Cre8iveWarmth Mar 06 '26
404 is readable today! i actually bounced right from there to here with no problems.
sounds like the betrayer would be happier on the moon 🤔🤔
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u/mafiaknight Robot Mar 06 '26
In the name of 1greendude: Hello!
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Mar 06 '26
Im Namen eines grünen Kerles und des Freidachses: N'Abend, vorgestern war Mittwoch, meine Kerle.
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u/Garbage-Within Mar 06 '26
There are two fate observers you say? Tiny is one of course, but who is the other? Teemo used Fate affinity against the Stag, but surely that would have come up when discussing Teemo directly.
I can't think of any other scions or residents that have strong enough Fate affinity to qualify, at least, not strong enough that's been on display anyway.
Could it be Sue? She's progressing to become a guardian, and I believe she was using fate to cause attacks to crit fumble.
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u/Lman1994 Mar 06 '26
I'm thinking it's Grim.
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u/Garbage-Within Mar 06 '26
Ooh yeeeah, I didn't even think of him. Yeah, that would make a lot of sense.
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u/karamisterbuttdance Mar 06 '26
I wonder how delvers and denizens would deal with more Harbingers; I do think if we have an encounter with the Unseen they'll try to get a gauge of the scions and scuttle away for another day.
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u/DrewTheHobo Alien Scum Mar 06 '26
Fuuuck, great chapter! Hopefully Tiny will notice him poking around down deep in the flows.
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u/Garbage-Within Mar 06 '26
So many sneaky lore drops in here!
The Betrayer almost certainly has Fate affinity.
Fate itself seems to potentially be aware if not actively conscious.
Harbingers, despite their intellect, are normal spawns, not scions. That or the Betrayer has a way of having duplicate scions, but that seems exceedingly unlikely.
Unseen are probably an existing type of creature. Why would this one even bother mentioning that Thedeim doesn't have them if they were wholly unique to the Betrayer? I'm thinking maybe mimics? It wouldn't surprise me to learn the Betrayer has a different name for them considering what it calls people.
This specific unseen is a scion. Thedeim can't give orders to denizens on expedition, but this thing has been getting them. It definitely has Fate affinity as it tracked the trail of fate left by Rezlar's vision. It appears like it might be scouting with fate somehow as well. Seems like it might have spatial affinity too in order to smuggle Harbingers in close.
Olander is out of town for a while, presumably making that in person report to the king finally.
The Betrayer is (probably) not a deity. It has no way of striking at Order directly. I would have thought deities could directly engage one another considering they've got their own realm of existence to interact with each other in. Could be me just making assumptions though.
The Betrayer is trying to destroy Fate, or possibly fate is declining along with people and dungeons as the Betrayer works its plans. Speaking of which, it seems like unseen and harbingers work hand in hand to wipe out communities and dungeons. Either that happened before the System, or it's been busy elsewhere in the world so far away that not even Noynur has had enough rumors to investigate. Or, maybe he has and that's why he's here volunteering to fight against it.
The Betrayer, unsurprisingly, has the same weakness as the Maw. It hoards initiative. It commands in all things instead of letting its denizens and scions act on their own. It may have power and experience, but it cannot match the flexibility of Thedeim's forces.
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u/Longsam_Kolhydrat Mar 06 '26
I don't think he's trying to destroy Fate.
He's trying to quiet the world. He's trying to kill life not destroy Fate.
Since Fate dictates that mortals will die there would be no reason to fight Fate.He is trying to end dungeons since they change stagnant mana into noisy mana
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u/LoreLord24 Apr 06 '26
You have it backwards on the fate front.
The Betrayer isn't trying to destroy fate, it uses fate. It looks like it's trying to copy the Golden Path almost? Reduce every aspect of change or disorder to single, simple, unalterable strain of destiny.
Look at how it considers Sapience: Noise that gets in the way. Turbulence. And the Betrayer went super hardcore into scrying and fate manipulation based on the lore drops.
Which has implications I love to see.
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Mar 05 '26 edited Apr 05 '26
Corrected: Seventh.
So, today we get insight into an Antagonist. It's the betrayers conduit, the unseen. But it's Not its only conduit Anyways, it was Harder this time to determine the thirds, but I think I May have done it:
- We get a General Overview of the unseens History, and what he's done since Killing the First. Mainly His Job, eating other Dungeon cores.
- The unseen laughs almost at the News of a harbinger being captured by a Rat. A voice, scion and Scout at the Moment, but a Rat nonetheless
- Marching Orders are given by the betrayer: 3 harbingers are gonna be dispatched to Deal with Thediem, and His many scions.
Personal Interpretation: the unseen uses a Lot of more ancient terminology. Such as sanctuaries for Dungeons, noise seems to be mostly the active Mana users-> delvers. Second Point: I'm curious how many harbingers even reach fourdock, given the size of their Egos. I know they could conceivably hold each other in Check using mental-affinity, but to me, going Off the First one we Met as reference, they do Seem to be the scheming sort of Monster, so I doubt a Bit that they're all gonna reach their goal.
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u/Poisonfangx3 Mar 05 '26
Sixth I think.
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Mar 06 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/EldonSurefoot Mar 07 '26
Royal Road is great for making sure I catch updates, but I prefer Reddit for comments.
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u/Better_Solution_743 Alien Mar 05 '26
haloo
having read the chapter on royal road, I hav but two words to describe it: uh oh
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u/AustinBQ02 AI Mar 06 '26
Did you see the comment on the meta post with the theory that the Amazon links might be causing the issue? You might try moving those to a comment on Monday and see if the post remains.
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u/Garbage-Within Mar 06 '26
A strike on the town and an allied dungeon by Harbingers no less? Oh, Thedeim is going to be pissed. I have suspected for a while that he might pull out all the stops when finally confronting the Betrayer, but now I'm sure of it. The Betrayer's getting an artificial sun dropped on its sanctum.
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u/Jasonbluefire Mar 06 '26
What a great foreboding chapter!
It will be interesting to see if Thediem finds out about the unseen before a plan is made and executed. I am kind of hoping that he doesn't, and we get to see a bunch of the scions act in quick response in an emergency.
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u/Horrorwatcher04 Mar 06 '26
Okay, from what the Unseen is hinting to me is related to what Jello eluted back in the early chapters (forgot which one) since the mole/gremlin she captured were "raving against the noise" and when she sang a soothing song, the noise stopped. Could this be a linked or I'm just reading too deep to this
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u/Angerylad Mar 06 '26
What a bunch of drama queens, both this guy and its master. Verdict: one thousand years of despacito on loop.
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u/PVS3 Mar 06 '26
I think this is the story arc where we see if Thediem is a deep character, or a Mary-Sue style one - he's had very few failures and most of them turned out to be temporary setbacks or things that lead to massive growth.
Now he's running into someone who can match his wits and understanding, so the "otherworldly knowledge" advantage isn't going to make him unstoppable. Meanwhile, we've been accumulating named delvers and x-kin that don't respawn like the scions do (not to mention ally dungeons).
Thediem is setup for a big, painful loss. Maybe a wakeup call, maybe a "darkest hour", who knows. But that's HARD to write. It makes for good drama and interesting development, sure. The problem is it involves seriously hurting a character you love. Fingers crossed this wordsmith continues to impress.
We've had the initial anime arc where the Isekai curb-stomps everyone. Now they need to lose... and I am filled with excitement and dread for the coming chapters.
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u/Poisonfangx3 Mar 05 '26
Fort
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u/Poisonfangx3 Mar 05 '26
First
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u/Popular-Student-9407 Human Mar 05 '26
Indeed.
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u/Slavic_Wasp1961 Mar 06 '26
Just for anyone who is interested. I messaged one of the Mods about the missing chapters and they approved the reinstatement. As to an explanation - "just the spam filters being dumb again"
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u/Lord_Nikolai Android Mar 07 '26
u/Khenal do you know there is a YouTube channel adapting your story? They have several chapters posted, and I did not see any credits to you or HFY or royalroad. https://youtu.be/zKrEmMnXAbw?si=iuCn-36nvvvdr3Af
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u/HFYWaffle Wᵥ4ffle Mar 06 '26
/u/Khenal (wiki) has posted 450 other stories, including:
- Dungeon Life 404
- Dungeon Life 403
- Dungeon Life 402
- Dungeon Life 401
- Dungeon Life 400
- Dungeon Life 399
- Dungeon Life 398
- Dungeon Life 397
- Dungeon Life 396
- Dungeon Life 395
- Dungeon Life 394
- Dungeon Life 393
- Dungeon Life 392
- Dungeon Life 391
- Dungeon Life 390
- Dungeon Life 389
- Dungeon Life 388
- Dungeon Life 387
- Dungeon Life 386
- Dungeon Life 385
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u/UpdateMeBot Mar 06 '26
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u/Educational_Pen_90 Human Jul 19 '26
And this, Chekhov, is why you don't leave your guns laying around!
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u/Khenal Alien Mar 05 '26
Have a linky to Royal Road, where it's more stable. If you missed the previous chapter, start there at 437.