Chapter 9 of 48 · Book 1, Dungeon Crawler Carl

Chapter 9 — The Polish McDonald's

Book: Dungeon Crawler Carl · Part: The First Floor · Previous: Chapter 8 — Rats and Scatterers · Next: Chapter 10 — 4,148,111 · Floor: Floor 1 — The Tutorial · Series: the series

Opening

We entered the room, and both of us stopped at the entrance, gaping.

Summary

The safe room is a Polish McDonald's with a ball pit, three screens over the counter, twenty free rental rooms, and Tally — a Bopca Protector who does not move when he speaks and who has spent years preparing to cook for humans. He makes Carl the best vindaloo of his life and, unasked, special-orders a fresh salmon for Her Highness; Donut's instruction is only that they get the best room.

The screens count down to the premiere and to the collapse, and count the living: 4,322,395. Donut receives the Talisman of the Slate Butterfly, a bell she refuses to take off. Carl decides to camp here and farm the Scatterer nest next door; Donut decides they need a catchphrase.

Characters

• Tally — Introduced: 'Is better than pet biscuit.'
• Carl — Eats, sleeps, plans; the world is gone and it hits him over dinner.
• Princess Donut — Gets her bell and the zoomies; wants on the show.

Locations

• Safe rooms — The first one seen in full: the McDonald's.

Motifs

• The show — The premiere countdown on the screen.
• The crawler count — First seen: 4,322,395, ticking down as he watches.
• Donut's charm — Tally already calls her Your Highness.