Carl's Doomsday Scenario

As the second installment in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario picks up right where Dungeon Crawler Carl left off. Dungeon Crawler Carl concludes with the protagonist Carl and his partner Princess Donut exiting the second dungeon level and completing their second interview with Odette. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario then opens as Carl and Donut step into the third level. In addition to the two main characters, Mordecai—their guide in the first book—gains a more prominent role in the second. Characters previously seen in the recap show gain greater significance: Carl meets Hekla, and one of her stranded group members joins Carl’s party.

The series is set in a dystopian future where Earth has been forcibly absorbed into an intergalactic game show called Dungeon Crawler World. Humans and other species are thrown into a deadly, procedurally generated dungeon and forced to fight for survival while billions watch for entertainment. Survivors become players—called crawlers—who gain experience, level up, and choose races and classes in a brutal, gamified system controlled by powerful corporations.

Carl, an ordinary man with no special powers, becomes a crawler alongside Donut, a pampered, talking housecat who previously belonged to his cruel landlord, Beatrice. While Beatrice never appears in the dungeon itself, she plays a central role in both Donut and Carl’s emotional arcs. Donut continues to idolize her former owner, convinced they’ll reunite. Carl, however, recalls Beatrice’s manipulative and neglectful behavior and recognizes that she likely intended to abandon Donut. This emotional rift becomes a powerful motif in the series, highlighting Donut’s naivety and Carl’s personal growth.

Additionally, Carl’s Doomsday Scenario develops several plot threads introduced in the first book. Carl’s encounter with Prince Maestro in the first book—in which Carl publicly embarrassed the prince during a televised interview—leads to a crucial moment in the second book: Maestro’s family attempts to assassinate Carl during an interview. This attempted assassination marks the beginning of a high-stakes feud with the Skull Empire, a galactic monarchy whose leaders now view Carl and Donut as dangerous agitators. Donut’s tiara, acquired at the beginning of the first book, becomes a plot-critical item that marks her as a participant in an elite blood feud that will come into play on the ninth floor. Though it provides protection for much of the second book, the tiara vanishes during the final chapters, setting up new dangers for the next stage of the dungeon.

Furthermore, the first book establishes a complex political conflict between the Borant Corporation, host of the current dungeon, and the Valtay Corporation to whom the Borant are in significant debt. This conflict leads the Borant to significantly shorten the time limit for each floor as they try to end the dungeon early to collect their profits. These shortened timers become even more critical in the second book, placing growing pressure on Carl, Donut, and the other crawlers to complete each level quickly while surviving its escalating dangers. Carl’s Doomsday Scenario also begins to explore deeper questions of identity, morality, and resistance—showcasing Carl’s evolution from a reluctant player to a rebellious figure with growing political awareness and influence.