- …100% synchronization complete.
- The dungeon's location will be randomly generated.
- Remaining time: 1 hour.
What the hell is this now?
One hour?
I finished the synchronization, and now I have to wait again?
At first, when it said one hour, I thought it was in-game time. But seeing the remaining time on the screen ticking down second by second exactly like reality left me dumbfounded.
“Ha….”
This is absurd.
I changed the dungeon name however I wanted, waited for the synchronization, and now they’re telling me to wait another whole hour?
“They’ve got some serious nerve, huh?”
I was bewildered, but thanks to that, I could turn my eyes to my surroundings, which had become a complete mess.
The house I returned to after two years was truly no different from hell.
The refrigerator had probably become a pandora’s box of chaos that should never be opened. I was already afraid to open the door.
And dust was piled thick on the appliances, furniture, and floor.
If I kept living like this, all sorts of diseases might reach out, asking to become my friends.
Above all, the clothes I was wearing right now.
They hadn’t been washed properly, so a strange smell wafted strongly from them.
Of course, it was a world where laundry magic existed, but there was no kind soul around to cast it on me.
“Let’s wash up first.”
I figured I should wash up, eat something simple, and then clean up too.
* * *
By the time I finished everything, more than an hour had passed.
Still, I felt refreshed, like a student who’d finally finished homework they’d been putting off.
I immediately lay down on the bed and casually tapped on the smartphone game.
- The location of the dungeon ‘Nest of the Evil God’ has been selected in a mountain range near the Seil Kingdom.
- The Seil Kingdom is a nation situated in the northern part of the continent where human feet can tread.
Looking closely at the map, the dungeon had landed in the ‘Silent Mountain Range’ located north of the Seil Kingdom.
“This is a huge win, isn’t it?”
Was this the reward for waiting an hour?
It was quite a good result.
The Seil Kingdom was a nation located in the northern part of the Eldorad Continent.
The problem was that this ‘north’ marked the Maginot Line of where humans could set foot.
Beyond that, land did stretch out, but it was forsaken land. It wasn’t simply wasteland; it was a deathly land swarming with dungeons and monsters.
It was a place called the ‘Demon Realm,’ which humans dared not approach.
As fate would have it, the Seil Kingdom was positioned at the junction connecting the Demon Realm and the continent.
In this situation, the kingdom had no choice but to maintain minimal defenses.
But what if one were summoned to the Seil Kingdom?
Even if a mountain range blocked the kingdom, they would have to stand constant vigil for monster waves that could pour out at any moment.
Because of this, the Seil Kingdom was also the place most avoided by Hunters summoned to the Eldorad Continent.
Of course, that was from a Hunter’s perspective; to me now, it wasn’t a problem at all.
This was simply a game, and moreover, it wasn’t from a human’s point of view.
Since the concept was literally dungeon management, being close to the Demon Realm wasn’t a disadvantage but an advantage.
“My luck is good.”
The regrettable part was that the White Order was located in the southern part of the continent.
My plan to quickly harass the Order had become impossible for the time being.
For now, our bases were at opposite ends of the continent, so the distance was too great.
I would have to slowly make my way forward, cleaning up my surroundings one by one.
The location was set. I touched the screen and waited for the next scene.
- From now on, you must protect and grow your dungeon, Master.
- Currently, no lieutenant has been set to manage the dungeon.
- Please set a lieutenant through a draw. (Settable lieutenants: 0/1)
- 10 selective draws for lieutenant candidate monsters (First selection only: Free)
- Choices cannot be undone, so please choose carefully. (No rerolling)
Finally, it’s here.
I knew there’d be gacha in a game, as expected.
The notice about no rerolling stood out, but I hadn’t wanted to go that far from the start anyway.
I immediately pressed the summon tab and started the draw.
A magic circle filled with unknown characters began to emit light and rotate.
Soon the light spread across the smartphone screen and displayed the candidates who would become the dungeon’s lieutenants.
The first to appear was a goblin.
It wore shabby clothes and held an old sword.
Name: Vagabond Goblin Swordsman, Gob (★)
Trait: A goblin swordsman banished from a goblin village.
Weakened by illness.
- Will you set him as the lieutenant of the dungeon ‘Nest of the Evil God’?
- [Yes] [No]
Hmm.
The description matched its appearance exactly.
Seeing as it had only one star, it was probably a useless bottom-tier monster.
Yeah, this is the first draw.
I wasn’t expecting much.
It was pitiful being banished from its pack and even falling ill, but games aren’t played with emotions.
Without hesitation, I chose ‘No.’
I touched the screen again and looked at the next summoned being.
“Oh.”
The next summoned being had an appearance that was clearly extraordinary.
It was a female demonkin wearing a black dress with snow-white skin.
Name: Blood Devourer, Baalcerite (★★★★★)
Trait: A high-ranking demonkin, descendant of vampire royalty. Freely manipulates blood and has overcome all vampire weaknesses over the years.
- Will you set her as the lieutenant of the dungeon ‘Nest of the Evil God’?
- [Yes] [No]
A 5-star!
Even the description was good. Throwing this one away would be insane.
I immediately pressed ‘Yes.’
But then things unfolded differently than I expected.
Because a speech bubble appeared above the 5-star Baalcerite who had just appeared.
- You dare tell this noble body to become a slave? Withdraw at once!
Rejected.
What? I clearly selected a monster from the draw, but the character rejected me.
And a slave? I was only trying to appoint her as a dungeon lieutenant; why was she talking about slaves?
They let me change the dungeon name however I wanted and randomly selected the location, yet they chose to be realistic in this useless aspect.
‘The difficulty is pretty high, huh?’
The problem was that if good ones came out in the remaining draws, I might not actually be able to choose them like this.
This was fatal.
What was done was done for now.
I immediately touched the screen to proceed to the next draw.
But perhaps getting a 5-star character on my second draw had used up all my luck.
Slime (★★)
Ghoul (★)
Golem (★★★)
Lizardman (★★)
Orc (★★)
Baby Worm (★), and so on….
Occasionally a 3-star came out, but there were no monsters with more stars than that.
Pressing ‘No’ just in case, before I knew it, only the last 10th draw remained.
If I’d known this would happen, I should have just picked a 3-star.
Regret was pointless; it was already in the past.
Praying something good would come up last, I proceeded with the 10th draw.
The result was….
Name: Fragile Succubus, Celia Ishahar (★★★)
Trait: She was the disciple of the Succubus Queen.
However, due to her fragile constitution, even as a succubus she couldn’t steal human vitality and starved.
Because of that, she was embroiled in a controversy over her aptitude, stripped of her status as a disciple, and banished.
- Will you set her as the lieutenant of the dungeon ‘Nest of the Evil God’?
- [Yes] [No]
A 3-star came out.
I couldn’t draw again, and a 3-star came out at the very end.
Honestly, I didn’t know what level of combat power a 3-star was in this game.
It could be strong, or maybe it was a mediocre monster.
“Still, it’s a bit of a shame.”
Having seen a 5-star monster once, it felt a little disappointing.
And looking at the description, it was hopeless.
A succubus who couldn’t even utilize her own abilities.
I wondered if she could even pull her own weight.
Hmm.
Honestly, I wasn’t drawn to her, but I had no choice.
Moreover, even if a high-rank one appeared, there was no guarantee I could select it unconditionally.
‘This is the last one; surely I won’t be rejected again?’
I immediately pressed Yes and waited with bated breath.
‘.......’
After a few seconds, the result came out.
- Celia Ishahar (★★★) has been appointed as lieutenant of the dungeon ‘Nest of the Evil God.’
Fortunately, there was no rejection.
- As a reward for setting your first lieutenant, 2 ‘Demon Realm Merchant Invitation Tickets’ have been issued.
- Using a Demon Realm Merchant Invitation Ticket will cause a merchant to visit your dungeon, Master.
The reward received for setting a lieutenant wasn’t important right now.
More than that, I immediately examined the lieutenant’s stats.
- Grade: ★★★
- Race: Succubus
[Traits]
- None
[Basic Info]
Vitality: F+
Attack: E
Defense: F+
Magic: B
[Skills]
- Nightmare (F): Inflicts a minor nightmare on the opponent.
These stats are really terrible for a three-star, aren’t they?
Aside from Magic, everything else was F or E grade.
“This is really a 3-star?”
Were 3-star performances just poor in this game?
The way strength was measured on Earth and the Eldorad Continent was quite different.
On Earth, monster strength was indicated by letters.
For example, from F-rank to A-rank, and up to S-rank, which only a select few strongest could reach.
This standard applied to monsters as well.
Meanwhile, on the Eldorad Continent, strength was gauged by the number of stars.
From 1-star to 5-star was the typical star grade for monsters seen on the continent.
“The one who drove the continent to terror in the past was said to be 7-star, right?”
They say stars fell across the entire continent when that being appeared.
From then on, the Eldorad Continent took the number of stars to mean stronger.
Besides that, adventurers, mages, knights, and so on each had their own tier systems, so it was a complicated hierarchy.
“Well, I guess they wouldn’t use the same standard in the game.”
I returned to the game and looked at the 3-star succubus.
Could it be that she got three stars just because her Magic was high?
Forget managing the dungeon; I’d count myself lucky if I didn’t fall victim to her.
At least judging by her high Magic, she seemed like a monster meant for support.
As if the game had noticed my worry, a new screen appeared.
- First 3-Star Lieutenant, 4-Star Ascension Special Package! (5,900 won)
Contents: 2 Three-Star Soul Stones, 10,000 Gold (Remaining time: 24 hours)
Feature: You can synthesize a 3-star monster with 2 Three-Star Soul Stones to create a 4-star monster.
I was shocked seeing the package contents.
It seemed this game was determined to induce cash purchases in this manner.
‘No wonder the system where monsters can refuse seemed strange….’
To think there was this kind of strategy hidden behind it.
Rather, them pushing for cash purchases this aggressively made me curious.
Just how far had they built such a system?
It was a shame that a 3-star monster came out anyway.
5,900 won wasn’t a large amount, so I immediately pressed purchase.
“If it’s 4-star, it’s roughly B-rank monster level, right?”
- Purchase complete! Items have been delivered to your mailbox.
A window announcing purchase completion appeared with flashy effects.
At the same time, a game tutorial showed via arrows where synthesis could be performed.
‘They tell you really quickly.’
I immediately put in Celia Ishahar and 2 Three-Star Soul Stones and attempted synthesis.
- Synthesis successful!
- Celia Ishahar (★★★★)
- Grade: ★★★★
- Race: Succubus
[Traits]
- None
[Basic Info]
Vitality: E+
Attack: D-
Defense: E+
Magic: B+
[Skills]
- Nightmare (E): Inflicts a spine-chilling nightmare on the opponent.
Changed stats appeared simultaneously with the alarm announcing synthesis success.
Basic stats and skill grades had changed slightly.
“Wow, so promoting her does raise her stats, huh.”
My admiration was short-lived as a new package soon appeared.
- First 4-Star Lieutenant, 5-Star Ascension Special Package! (15,900 won)
Contents: 2 Four-Star Soul Stones, 20,000 Gold (Remaining time: 24 hours)
Feature: You can synthesize a 4-star monster with 2 Four-Star Soul Stones to create a 5-star monster.
“Goddamn it.”
My head spun.
* * *
Descendant of vampire royalty and Blood Devourer, Baalcerite.
She swirled a wine glass, savoring the fresh blood contained within.
“Hmm….”
She was spending extremely peaceful days.
The area surrounding the dungeon was filled with monsters who had sworn loyalty to her.
Even if she just sat still, fresh blood like this was offered to her every day.
From Baalcerite’s perspective, there was no reason to drive away those who offered tribute on their own.
Today as well, while leisurely savoring the blood.
Suddenly, the space-time before her eyes distorted.
And with it, an unknown voice was heard.
【Become this one’s slave. Receive this one’s mercy.】
A profound abyss lurked in the voice.
Who is it? Who is playing such a prank?
A slave, of all things?
It was the most absurd thing she’d heard recently.
Telling this noble body, descendant of royalty, to become a slave?
Baalcerite let out a scoff at those words.
She wanted to find out who the owner of the voice was right away.
She strained her eyes wide open, but she couldn’t see the owner of the voice.
She gathered her power to track the voice.
But wonder of wonders.
She couldn’t sense the energy itself in the first place.
As if nothing existed at all.
‘Can such a thing be possible?’
Then there was only one answer.
‘A level far above mine.’
An opponent on a level she couldn’t comprehend.
Baalcerite spoke cautiously in a dignified voice.
“You dare tell noble me to become a slave? Withdraw at once!”
There was no need to offend a higher being.
Therefore, she responded not too rudely and with a measure of courtesy.
Perhaps that was fortunate.
When she spoke thus, the distorted space-time began returning to its original state.
The voice was no longer heard.
“It retreats so obediently?”
How anticlimactic.
Perhaps the being wasn’t as high-level as she’d thought.
If she’d known this would happen, she would have hurled curses.
“Well, if it comes again next time, I’ll have to kill it then.”
The very words daring to tell a descendant of royalty to become a slave were nothing short of high treason.
And so, today as well, she savored the blood, smacking her lips.