The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

With eight days and 18 hours until the level collapses, the party travels to station 131. Along the way, they kill armadillo-like Zlurpies on a new train with a grumpy conductor. Mongo reaches level 15, his final growth stage. He is now pony-sized and gains the Earthquake special attack, a leap attack with a chance to knock enemies off their feet.

At their base in the safe room, they find Mordecai at his alchemy table. Mordecai presents his creations: two multi-effect healing potions with severe side effects, two potions that permanently increase Donut’s Constitution by four points, and 20 throwable potion balls. Carl’s improved Determine Value skill reveals that the stuffed Kimaris Figure in his inventory is a unique item.

When the fan boxes arrive, Donut opens hers first and receives an Enchanted Mongoliensis Saddle that provides combat bonuses to both her and Mongo when mounted. Carl reluctantly places it on the protesting dinosaur. Carl opens his platinum box, triggering a special event called The Prize Carousel.

A winged, wolf-headed NPC host named Chaco the Bard materializes in their base. Recognizing him, Mordecai furiously attacks, throwing a chair. The system freezes the chair midair and places Mordecai under a Naughty status for attacking someone in a safehouse. He and his manager’s room disappear. Donut receives a notification that Mordecai is in a seven-day time-out for violating the rules.

Carl confronts Chaco, realizing viewers orchestrated this meeting between the two because of their bad history involving the prominent interviewer, Odette, who regularly interviews Carl and Donut. Carl is forced to choose one of nine prizes from the spinning carousel, including his father’s motorcycle and his own toolbox from home. Guided by a glint of light, Carl chooses a thick book with an anarchy symbol.

The prize is revealed to be The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook, and its official description presents it as a simple recipe book. Chaco calls it a stinker of a prize and vanishes. However, when Carl opens the book, his Escape Plan skill activates, revealing hidden text promising to help him “burn it all to the ground” (120).

Carl reads the introduction, learning that it is the 24th edition of a secret guide to the dungeon, passed down through many crawlers and seasons. Its contents are invisible to viewers and the showrunners but not the AI, and Carl is asked to contribute his own discoveries to the text. The book cautions that when he puts advice from the book into action, he must act as if figuring them out himself to avoid suspicion. A note from a previous owner suggests reading in safe room bathroom stalls.

The party watches the recap episode, feeling Mordecai’s absence. Carl reads a section in the book on explosives and finds a recipe for infusing smoke curtains with healing potions to create weapons against undead. He acknowledges that the viewers’ troll, which resulted in Mordecai’s suspension, was brilliant, if malicious.

Donut declares they need to party at the Desperado Club. Katia, lacking access, stays behind to work with a new craft table. At the club, Carl purchases private security after a bouncer reminds them about the bounty on their heads. They are assigned two rock monster bodyguards, Bomo and the Sledge.

They see Elle, a member of Imani’s party. She has transformed into a small, blue-skinned, floating Frost Maiden. Imani arrives, having transformed into an Obsidian Butterfly with large, ethereal wings. She explains that Brandon’s brother Chris chose an Igneous rock monster race, which made him aggressive. He split from their group to hunt and is looking for Carl.

As Carl prepares to show them his train map, a commotion erupts on the dance floor. Donut, who went to dance, stands over the dead body of a male human crawler named Ji-Hoon. Her health is critically low, but her Cockroach skill has saved her. A skull icon appears next to her name.

Carl rushes to Donut, who sobs about having killed a person. Another crawler in the crowd is suddenly killed by an icicle to the eye; Elle takes credit for the kill, explaining the woman cast a spell that stunned their bodyguards. Imani casts protective buffs on Carl and Donut while Carl reassures Donut that she acted in self-defense.

The club’s assistant manager appears and apologizes for the security failure. She refunds 400 gold and grants Carl and Donut complimentary security going forward. Carl requests that Bomo and the Sledge be assigned as their permanent guards.

Donut loots Ji-Hoon’s body, finding armor and a dagger with a backstab bonus that would have killed her without her Cockroach skill. They examine Mordecai’s train map, and Elle points out that all transfer stations are located at prime numbers. They form a plan: Imani and Elle’s group will investigate one of the mysterious fifth platforms, while Carl’s group will try to capture a train engineer.

After saying goodbye, Carl and Donut investigate the rest of the club. They visit the marketplace and guild rooms before heading to the casino. Carl uses his 100,000 gold comp chip, acquired in an earlier novel, at the Wheel of Fortune. After witnessing an NPC fall through a trapdoor for landing on Nothing, Carl spins and wins a Scroll of Upgrade, which upgrades his Enchanted Toe Ring from +3 to +10 Strength and increases its Powerful Strike skill bonus by two levels.

Carl and Donut return to their base to find that Katia, who has been working on shaping her mass, has transformed into a nearly perfect replica of her friend Hekla. She reveals she also had two upgrade coupons and used them on a new makeup table, which helps her sculpt transformations more easily.

They take advantage of the safe house to train and level up their skills. Carl uses the engineering and sapper’s benches, consulting the cookbook in bathroom breaks, to build devices for their plan to derail a train. Donut practices riding Mongo, who resists violently at first but eventually calms down.

The party travels to a platform on the Ocher Line to prepare for the derailment. Carl tests the third rail, confirming that it is electrified. They mark a passing train with a spray-painted X as a warning to allied crawlers farther down the line that it will be the last one for a while.

Carl places two custom-made land mines called Jelly Bombs on the track. Elle messages Carl that her team found multiple bosses at a fifth station, including a borough boss named Miss Krakaren. As the ground rumbles with the approach of their target train, the party retreats to the top of the stairs to wait.