The Adventurers’ Guild located in the Kingdom of Sale.
Today, as always, the inside of the guild office was crowded with adventurers.
They were all in the same place, but each carried different dreams.
Some adventurers wanted to raise their rank and gain fame.
Others dreamed of turning their lives around by obtaining gold, silver, and treasure.
A very small few had become adventurers simply because they liked wandering around.
As everyone dreamed different dreams and painted hopeful futures for themselves,
there was one person sitting off to the side with a gloomy expression.
It was the guild receptionist, Ralli.
To understand why she was so depressed, one had to go back a week.
A week ago, three adventurers had come to her, a receptionist.
All three were iron rank, rookies who had only just become adventurers.
And they had asked if there were any leftover dungeons…
Had her judgment been wrong?
She had introduced them to an iron-rank dungeon—more precisely, it was copper rank, but it was scheduled to be downgraded to iron rank in a few days anyway.
It was a dungeon that would soon fall to iron rank regardless, and since the adventurers in question were also iron rank, she had assigned it to them without hesitation.
But that had not been the right answer.
A week had passed, and there had still been no contact from those adventurers.
‘They couldn’t have died inside the dungeon, could they?’
Normally, after a dungeon commission was accepted, one week was used as the standard.
If there was no contact within that period, the guild would conduct an investigation of the dungeon on its own.
This was not because the guild had time to spare.
In the past, there had been an incident related to a certain dungeon.
A dungeon had fed on the blood of adventurers after repeated subjugation failures.
That dungeon had continued to grow, and in the end, it had caused the worst monster wave imaginable.
This policy had been born from that vigilance: to manage every dungeon without leaving even one neglected.
However, this applied only when a commission had been formally assigned.
The problem was that the three adventurers from before were iron rank, and the dungeon she had assigned them was, for the moment, still a copper-rank dungeon.
Ralli regretted it.
‘If I’d known this would happen, I should’ve just listened to the branch manager!’
She had never imagined that something like this would occur.
If only they hadn’t entered the dungeon at all…
‘No, wait. They might not have gone into the dungeon, right?’
Ralli’s eyes suddenly lit up.
The more she thought about it, the more reasonable it seemed.
There were often adventurers who accepted commissions and then gave up without a word.
So there had been quite a few cases where, after a week passed and the guild began an investigation, it ended as nothing more than a little incident.
Perhaps those three who had received the dungeon commission from her had given up as well?
‘They were rookies, after all.’
The newer the adventurer, the more easily frightened they were bound to be.
So they might have abandoned the dungeon commission midway. No, they definitely had.
If they had given up, it made sense that there had been no contact.
‘They were probably too embarrassed to say anything.’
Ralli decided that on her own.
Perhaps thinking that way would ease the discomfort in her heart.
Just as she rose from her seat with a much more relaxed expression, she heard the branch manager’s voice.
“Ralli, what happened to that dungeon I mentioned back then? The one I said we were planning to lower in rank.”
Ralli flinched for a moment, but answered as if nothing had happened.
“Ah, if you mean that dungeon, it’s still there. No one was looking for it.”
In truth, there had been someone.
But since they had given up the commission (according to Ralli), it was practically the same as no one having looked for it.
At Ralli’s natural lie, the branch manager nodded.
“Is that so? That works out well.”
The branch manager handed her a document.
“The order from the alliance head has come down to officially lower it to iron rank.”
“Understood, Branch Manager.”
Now that it had officially become an iron-rank dungeon, it would be taken quickly.
There were many new adventurers at the moment, so dungeons like this were popular. If anything, there were probably many adventurers leaving empty-handed because there weren’t enough dungeons.
‘Let’s forget about those guys. I’m sure they’re living well somewhere.’
If they were timid enough to give up on a dungeon commission, then this line of work probably wasn’t their calling.
The three of them most likely wouldn’t be able to continue as adventurers.
Hoping they would quickly find another job, she cheered them on in her heart.
‘May everything they wish to do go well.’
***
I had been incredibly busy.
My porter schedule had continued without a moment to rest.
“Having a status window really does make it easier to find work.”
As expected, the difference between having a status window and not having one was enormous.
Thanks to that, I worked continuously for a week without a single day off.
Though it was exhausting, the income was fairly decent.
Whenever things got tough, looking at my wallet, which had grown rather thick, made me feel pleased.
“Will my stats go up too?”
On top of that, if my experience increased, I would level up.
Of course, saying I would level up was just an expression.
The same went for experience; even with the status window, I couldn’t check its numerical value.
It was just that, if I kept being active, my stats sometimes rose by a tiny amount, so people used that expression.
They said that if you were lucky, the rank of a skill or trait might also rise ever so slightly.
At most, it was just a “+” getting attached behind the rank, but even that much was something to be grateful for.
Part of the reason I continued working was because I also wondered if my stats might rise.
If I hadn’t had a status window, I wouldn’t even have had that opportunity, but now the situation was different.
In the end, beyond porter work, it would surely have a good effect someday.
In that sense, I intended to keep working for the time being.
“…Should I start looking for a guild soon?”
Before going to the Eldorad Continent, I had joined a small guild and worked as their exclusive porter.
But now, without any fixed affiliation, I entered dungeons whenever work came in.
However, I shook my head.
“No. For now, let’s just keep doing it like this.”
Back when I worked exclusively, it was because I didn’t have a status window.
There weren’t people willing to use a half-baked Awakened without a status window, so I had joined even a small guild.
But now it was different.
Now, I had a status window.
Besides, from the start, my goal had not been to become a porter.
I had dreamed of entering dungeons as a Hunter in my own right.
For now, I would just keep doing things as I was.
I headed straight home.
After taking a quick shower and filling my stomach,
I launched the game for the first time in a while.
I had been so busy moving around that I hadn’t been able to pay attention to the game.
“They handled those intruders properly, right?”
The last thing I had done was deploy the Death Knight and order them to make the intruders regret entering the dungeon.
Celia should have handled that well.
If she couldn’t, then she would have to step down from her position as lieutenant.
“Right. Come to think of it, a bunch of alerts popped up…”
A few days ago, when I came out of a dungeon, game alerts had appeared.
Of course, I had been too busy to check them and had deleted them all.
“I can just check now.”
As soon as the game turned on, I immediately checked the alert list.
The first alert that appeared was a message saying the intruders had been stopped.
- Successfully repelled the intruders.
“Oh, that’s right! There’s no way we’d fall to those nobodies.”
I nodded and checked the next alerts.
- Conditions to unlock [Mid-Boss] have been met!
- [Mid-Boss] unlocked!
- When the number of monsters in an area reaches 30 or more, you can designate a “Mid-Boss” for that area.
- A [Mid-Boss] can more easily manage the loyalty of subordinate minions.
“A mid-boss?”
Well, the dungeon had gotten quite large.
It would keep expanding in the future too, so it would be difficult for the lieutenant alone to manage everything.
Especially since I didn’t know how that loyalty system would affect things, but higher loyalty had to be good.
“Don’t tell me they’re planning to start a rebellion or something.”
Since the topic had come up, I decided to choose a mid-boss.
- You can set a mid-boss for [1st Floor, Area 1].
- Only monsters of 4★ or above can be designated as [Mid-Boss].
There were even detailed conditions for becoming a mid-boss.
“Then there’s only one choice.”
Even if those conditions hadn’t existed, there would have been only one choice.
I immediately clicked on the Death Knight and appointed it as mid-boss.
- The mid-boss for [1st Floor, Area 1] has been set.
[1st Floor, Area 1 Mid-Boss]
- Death Knight (★★★★★)
- The loyalty of minions placed in [1st Floor, Area 1] has increased.
“How reassuring.”
After setting not only a lieutenant but also a mid-boss, it finally felt somewhat like a proper dungeon.
After choosing the mid-boss, I checked the next alert.
- Conditions to unlock [Dungeon Support & Dispatch] have been met!
- [Dungeon Support & Dispatch] unlocked!
- You can provide support to other dungeons in need or dispatch monsters to them.
“Dungeon support?”
Supporting other dungeons?
Do I really have to care about other dungeons too?
Just as that question occurred to me, the screen on the TV changed.
- Breaking news. A B-rank dungeon has appeared in the middle of Jeju City. The government and the Hunter Management Agency have immediately begun attacking the dungeon, and cooperation from other guilds is urgently needed…
“Well, I guess.”
They also request support from other guilds in order to attack dungeons more smoothly.
The dungeons in the game probably had a similar setting.
However, I had no intention of supporting other dungeons yet.
There was one reason.
“I don’t have any monsters to send.”
Celia, my lieutenant and a 6-star monster.
The 5-star Death Knight, the mid-boss of Area 1.
Aside from those two, I didn’t have any suitable forces to send.
And I couldn’t take those two out.
If I did, there was a risk my dungeon would be raided.
Nor could I send out the 1-star skeletons.
“Even I’d be pissed if skeletons showed up.”
If a dungeon were in danger and the support that arrived was nothing but skeletons, I’d probably get angry.
I immediately touched the screen.
- Acquired unique monster Denver (★★★).
“Huh?”
A unique monster?
What was more, unlike the other monsters, it wasn’t a species name.
- Rank: ★★★
- Species: Ghoul
[Traits]
- Eternal Loyalty to Lady Celia (A+): Under the effect of Celia’s Charm skill, it has entered a state of unconditional loyalty and obedience.
[Basic Information]
Vitality: C
Attack Power: D+
Defense: C-
Magic Power: E
[Skills]
- Bite (D): Bites the opponent until they die.
“Looks like unique monsters have separate names?”
Come to think of it, the monster called Denver was also listed as a ghoul.
A normal ghoul was 2 stars, but since Denver was 3 stars, it did seem to be a unique monster.
“But what’s this loyalty to Celia about?”
When I looked at the screen, there was something following Celia around.
“Is this Denver?”
It said he had been charmed.
Could Celia’s type be undead like that?
Well, they were both monsters.
As a human, I couldn’t say much about monsters’ preferences.
Or maybe she had simply taken in a subordinate because she was short on help.
“Then doesn’t that make me sound like way too much of an exploitative boss?”
It made me feel like some wicked employer who dumped all the work on his lieutenant.
Well, it was true, but that was taking it too far.
It wasn’t as if the game was alive, so there was no need to think about it on such a high-dimensional level.
“It’s probably just some kind of event.”
Next were some rather useful items.
- [Facilities] has been unlocked.
- [Dungeon Expansion] has been unlocked.
- The types of monsters that appear in [Gacha] have increased.
“Oh!”
I was exclaiming a lot today…
It was because the game finally felt like a game now.
Yeah, this was how it should be. This made it fun to play and worth spending money on.
Could I finally decorate the dungeon however I wanted?
I clicked on Facilities.
[Constructible Facilities]
- Prison: Can imprison intruders who enter the dungeon. (Capacity 0/5)
- Lieutenant’s Room: A space where the lieutenant resides and works.
- Advanced Altar: Upgrades the existing altar. (Locked)
- Hut: A basic space where monsters can reside. Can be upgraded in the future.
- Dungeon Throne: A seat only the master of the dungeon may sit upon. (Locked)
………
……
There were a few other facilities as well, but they were all locked.
“There are more types than I expected.”
I wasn’t sure about the others, but building a lieutenant’s room or huts seemed like a good idea.
Look at me, working this hard for my monsters!
At least I had to make a show of it.
While I was happily wondering what to touch first, a new alert appeared.
- The Adventurers’ Guild has adjusted this dungeon’s rank.
- Dungeon “Evil God’s Nest” will be downgraded from copper rank to iron rank.
“…?”
No, what is this supposed to mean?
What kind of nonsense is this?
“Why did the dungeon rank go down?”
We had cleanly stopped the intruders who entered the dungeon.
And the dungeon now had not only a 6-star lieutenant but even a 5-star Death Knight.
But instead of going up, the rank went down?
“Haah…”
Just how much are they trying to raise the game’s difficulty?
Ah, don’t tell me…?
Was it because I hadn’t killed the intruders quickly?
Honestly, I could have ended it fast, but I had dragged it out to check the monsters’ performance.
Was the speed at which intruders were killed also added to the score?
If so, I had nothing to say.
“I’ll have to kill the next ones who come in right away.”
I resolved to end it quickly next time.