Motif · from book 1

The crawler count

The number on the first safe-room screen: 4,322,395 when Carl first sees it, under a million by the middle of the second floor. He tries not to look at it and always does.

First appears: Book 1

Series arc

As of book 3. Ten million at the start; 990,303 after two floors; about 700,000 at the third floor's opening; 389,441 at the fourth's; just under 275,000 near its end, a number Carl thinks is too high for the people anyone can find.

Through book 1

The number on the first safe-room screen is 4,322,395 when Carl first sees it (B1 ch. 9), 4,148,111 after a night's sleep (B1 ch. 10) and 3,594,517 by the time he thinks of it as dripping like a faucet (B1 ch. 19). It is 2,552,085 before the Ball of Swine (B1 ch. 26) and 1,292,526 the second the first floor collapses — 700,000 of them in that second (B1 ch. 31). After the elemental it reads 1,033,992 (B1 ch. 38), and by the end of the floor 990,303: 'We'd gone below one million, and I hadn't noticed' (B1 ch. 44). Carl tries to tune it out and reads every figure.

Through book 2

Just over 700,000 crawlers are alive at the floor's opening (B2 ch. 2) and 649,433 by the Narwhal (B2 ch. 14). The drop is slowing, because 'The people who’ve made it this far mostly know what they’re doing now.'

Through book 3

The counter at the top of the floor reads 389,441, hundreds of thousands having died in the Over City's group quests (B3 ch. 2). By the last days the count is just under 275,000, which Carl thinks is too high for the people anyone can find (B3 ch. 29).

The tally

Every count the system posts, in order; the drop is since the previous count of the same kind.

Book	Chapter	Of	Count	Drop
1	B1 ch. 9	crawlers	4,322,395	—
1	B1 ch. 38	crawlers	1,033,992	−3,288,403

Where they appear

Book	Chapters they are in (of the book's)	Where
1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl	4/48	Ch. 9, Ch. 31, Ch. 38, Ch. 44 · the book's own page
2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario	1/26	Ch. 2 · the book's own page
3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook	3/35	Ch. 2, Ch. 19, Ch. 29 · the book's own page

By book

The crawler count in book 1 — Dungeon Crawler Carl

4,322,395 on the first safe-room screen (ch. 9); 4,148,111 after a night's sleep (ch. 10); 3,594,517 dripping like a faucet (ch. 19); 2,552,085 before the Ball of Swine (ch. 26); 1,292,526 the second the first floor collapses, 700,000 of them in that second (ch. 31); 1,033,992 after the elemental (ch. 38); 990,303 — 'We'd gone below one million, and I hadn't noticed' (ch. 44). Carl tries to tune it out and reads every figure.

The crawler count in book 2 — Carl's Doomsday Scenario

Just over 700,000 at the floor's opening (ch. 2), 649,433 by the Narwhal (ch. 14) — slowing, because 'the people who've made it this far mostly know what they're doing now.'

The crawler count in book 3 — The Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook

389,441 at the top of the floor, hundreds of thousands dead in the Over City's group quests (ch. 2); 'just under 275,000' near the end, a number too high for the people anyone can find (ch. 29).