The second book in Matt Dinniman’s series is titled Carl’s Doomsday Scenario. Picking up immediately after the events of the first book, the novel transitions the characters from the basic tutorial phases into a complex, open-world environment that satirizes classic MMORPG mechanics.
Carl and his sapient, magic-casting feline partner, Princess Donut, arrive on the third floor of the world dungeon, known as the Over City. This level is a sprawling, ruined metropolis built on top of an active volcano. It features isolated non-player character (NPC) settlements, faction politics, and—to the dismay of their manager Mordecai—complex quest lines that force crawlers to choose their official character Race and Class.
Carl’s Build: Carl chooses the Primal race, which grants him high-tier stats while keeping his human physical appearance. He selects the Compensated Anarchist class, heavily boosting his ability to create and deploy high-yield explosives.
Donut’s Build: Donut embraces her nature, sticking with the Cat race but choosing the Former Child Actor class, a unique manager-focused path that keeps Mordecai tied to her royal court.
he plot focuses on two major, interwoven storylines that Carl and Donut are pulled into:
The Undead Circus: An elite, high-level NPC named Signet kidnaps Princess Donut to force Carl into a deadly conflict involving Grimaldi’s Circus, a horrifying carnival overrun by undead clowns and monsters. Carl relies on his knowledge of the intergalactic reality show’s scripted background lore to outsmart the scenario producers, defeat the circus, and rescue Donut.
The Over City Murder Mystery: Carl and Donut become deeply invested in a dark conspiracy involving a necromancer and city elves who are murdering vulnerable lower-class NPCs to fuel a powerful soul-harvesting spell. The investigation introduces them to Katia, a doppelganger crawler who becomes a close ally.
The book earns its title during the final confrontation with the mastermind behind the necromancy ring, Madame Quill. When Carl destroys her to stop the ritual, the spell’s massive soul crystal destabilizes, threatening to instantly vaporize the entire city.
Thinking quickly, Carl manages to seal the volatile, exploding soul crystal inside an enchanted glass container and shoves it directly into his digital inventory. This containment converts the crystal into a legendary, city-leveling weapon added to his arsenal, officially dubbed “Carl’s Doomsday Scenario.”
However, containment triggers a secondary countdown, leaving the crawlers with only twenty minutes to organize a desperate, explosive escape down the stairwell to the fourth floor just as the zone begins to collapse.