- Celia offers the “Demonic Sword” to the Master as a sacrifice.
- Receiving the sacrifice, “Demonic Sword.”
- Celia offers the paladins of the White Order to the Master as sacrifices.
- Absorbing the abilities of the sacrificed paladins.
……
…
- Successfully repelled all intruders!
- Rewards will be given!
- The range of activity of your minions has increased.
- The types of dungeons you can support in [Dungeon Support & Dispatch] have increased.
- The list of facilities that can be constructed within the dungeon has increased.
- The types of items that appear in [Miscellaneous Draw] have increased.
- The dungeon’s fame is slowly spreading across the continent.
- Warning! To adjust the law of causality, the purchase price of gems will be doubled.
“?”
* * *
It was an alarm I was seeing for the first time.
- Successfully absorbed the sacrificed paladin.
- Absorbed the paladin’s skill, “Goddess’s Healing.”
- Absorbed a portion of the paladin’s divine power.
- Successfully absorbed the sacrificed paladin.
- Absorbed a portion of the paladin’s divine power.
Until now, I had seen alarms saying that a sacrifice was being absorbed, but this was the first time it told me what I had gained from that sacrifice.
“You should’ve done this from the start.”
Then I might have noticed a little earlier.
Still, the results were fairly good.
I had absorbed two paladins and gained one skill, as well as their divine power.
“But why did this come from here?”
The skill I had obtained was “Goddess’s Healing.”
Goddess’s Healing was an advanced skill that only a small number of priests could use, an ability that healed others.
In Hunter terms, it was essentially the same position as a healer.
No, if anything, it was a higher-level skill than a Hunter’s heal.
In any case, those who possessed the Goddess’s Healing skill could be said to have a high chance of rising beyond priesthood, to become a high priest—or perhaps even higher.
So how had someone with that skill ended up becoming a paladin?
Did he not know his own ability and take the wrong tech tree?
I thought about it for a moment, then shook my head.
“Well, it’s not something I need to worry about.”
At any rate, the more skills one had, the better.
“In that sense, absorbing divine power is pretty nice.”
After absorbing divine power, a new divine power category appeared in my status window, one that hadn’t existed before.
Of course, because the divine power I’d absorbed was minuscule, the grade displayed on the status window was F-rank.
And the grade of the Goddess’s Healing skill was proportional to the divine power I possessed.
In other words, the Goddess’s Healing skill, which followed the same grade as my divine power, was also F-rank.
Put another way, Goddess’s Healing was a skill that could grow.
All I had to do was raise my divine power grade.
And the method for raising it was, likewise, sacrifices.
At the same time, it was the condition most advantageous to me right now.
If I kept absorbing divine power through sacrifices, the amount of divine power I possessed would eventually increase.
Then the grade of Goddess’s Healing would rise as well.
“I’m already looking forward to it.”
I turned on the game to see if there were any more paladins to be offered as sacrifices, but soon shook my head.
Absorbing the paladins just now had cost me six hours.
While I was absorbing the sacrifices’ abilities, I had realized that I was falling into drowsiness.
In short, I was in an incapacitated state where I couldn’t move.
So even if there were still targets left to offer as sacrifices right now, I had no intention of requesting them immediately.
Rather, I was in a situation where I needed to tell them to offer sacrifices only when I wanted it.
“Anyway, in the end, it’s sacrifices.”
On top of that, my previous guesses were now nailed down as certainty.
The status window and traits I had gained so far were all results obtained through sacrifices.
A system where I grew stronger by sacrificing someone else.
That didn’t mean I felt any sense of guilt about these sacrifices.
The reason for that could be found within the game.
The small existence at the center of the dungeon.
The dungeon core.
When I clicked on that part, an explanation appeared, and the description of the dungeon core was as follows.
[Dungeon Core]: The core and a vital component of the dungeon, supplying it with energy. As such, the core is also called the dungeon’s heart.
If the core is destroyed, the dungeon will also be destroyed.
Up to this part of the explanation, it was fine.
Just because the dungeon in the game was destroyed didn’t mean there would be any disadvantage to me.
However.
There was another sentence written beneath the explanation.
“Even ant writing wouldn’t be this bad.”
It was seriously so small that it was hard to read.
Moreover, the content was even more absurd.
- Caution! If the dungeon is destroyed, the dungeon’s master will also perish.
The “dungeon” referred to here is the “Evil God’s Nest,” and the “master” refers to Master I Ganghyeon.
“…….”
The important word here was perish.
There was no way it had been used in a good sense.
Judging from the situation so far, the word perish did not have a light meaning.
“Death.”
There was a high probability that I would actually die.
No, it was practically certain.
Until now, I had gained many real benefits through this game.
Just today, I had obtained divine power and a skill, so it wasn’t strange for there to be at least one penalty like that.
“If anything, maybe I’m lucky.”
Perhaps the fact that such an element existed felt fortunate to me.
If it had continued handing me abilities without anything in return, that would have been suspicious in its own way.
It wasn’t bad.
It was the same as me gaining a means to keep growing stronger, and I could erase any guilt about the sacrifices.
The intruders who entered my dungeon were effectively no different from people holding a knife to my throat.
If that actually happened, I would have to take them down first in order to survive.
This game was the same.
If the other side was trying to kill me and I just sat still, there’d be no bigger sucker than me.
I knew how I should act from now on.
“Still, the gems are a bit of a shame.”
The rise in gem prices was a variable.
Now, if I wanted to buy 5,000 gems, I would have to spend 110,000 won instead of 55,000 won.
A full twofold increase.
But I could understand it.
No, in fact, it was still practically cheap even now.
Most importantly, hadn’t I also learned that I couldn’t purchase gems endlessly just because I had a lot of money?
This game was adjusting its balance appropriately.
I tapped the screen and looked around inside the dungeon.
After repelling the intruders, the dungeon looked somewhat busy.
“I see some new faces too.”
But that wasn’t important right now.
First, I decided to change the settings regarding the altar.
When offering a person as a sacrifice, not an object, I would give separate instructions myself.
And one experiment.
Since I had received people as sacrifices, I had a rough idea about that part.
But what would happen if an object was offered as a sacrifice?
Of course, there was also the example of the Demonic Sword, but to confirm it directly, I needed a long period of two weeks.
Furthermore.
What about monsters, which were neither people nor objects? Could they be used as sacrifices?
If I could absorb monsters’ abilities too, couldn’t I just offer the ones I had as sacrifices?
I immediately clicked and put it into action.
“Yeah, you’ll do.”
It was a 3-star monster equipped with armor and a sword, a Skeleton Knight.
1-star and 2-star monsters had abilities that were too low, while monsters higher than 3-star felt too wasteful to use as sacrifices.
On top of that, since my life was on the line, I needed beings to defend the dungeon. Offering high-grade monsters as sacrifices would be nothing but an act of cutting away my own flesh.
So my choice was the Skeleton Knight.
The Skeleton Knight climbed onto the altar.
“Let’s see what happens…”
I held my breath and stared at the game screen.
Soon, the altar blazed up, and an alarm appeared.
- The altar’s level is too low. Please upgrade the altar.
What?
It couldn’t be done because the altar’s level was too low?
A 3-star monster shouldn’t be that high of a grade, should it?
I immediately clicked the altar, intending to upgrade it.
But the following problem occurred.
- The altar cannot be upgraded.
- Altar-related upgrades have not been unlocked.
“…….”
Having no other choice, I sent the Skeleton Knight down, then sent up a 2-star Skeleton Swordsman next.
- The altar’s level is too low. Please upgrade the altar.
“Huh…”
Even 2-star wouldn’t work?
Surely 1-star wouldn’t fail too, right?
With a nervous heart, I had a 1-star Skeleton Soldier climb onto the altar.
A Skeleton Soldier holding only a single worn-out sword.
Visually, it didn’t seem like I could gain any particular ability even if I took this guy as a sacrifice.
“Eh, still, I’m just checking.”
This game would be an important factor for me from now on.
I needed to confirm with my own eyes how these little details worked.
Fortunately, this time it passed.
- Celia offers a Skeleton Soldier to the Master as a sacrifice.
- Caution! This monster has been confirmed to belong to the Master’s dungeon.
- Conflict! This monster will be changed from a sacrifice to a summon.
- The Master will soon be able to receive the Skeleton Soldier.
“?”
Wait.
I checked again to see if my eyes had misread the sentence.
“Receive?”
Not absorb its ability?
Something felt ominous.
My instincts were only wishing for the current event to be canceled.
Unfortunately, however, no cancel function existed.
Soon after, an intense light began pouring out of the smartphone.
“…!”
When the intense light died down, a familiar being was standing on top of the smartphone.
“A skeleton…”
A skull-shaped monster holding a worn-out sword.
A Skeleton Soldier.
The being I had seen countless times in the game’s gacha had appeared right before my eyes.
Clatter—
Clatter—
The Skeleton Soldier approached me with a creaking sound.
I instinctively raised my guard, but the Skeleton Soldier’s next action was unexpected.
Clack— clack—
The Skeleton Soldier suddenly bent at the waist and greeted me.
At the same time, it opened its mouth, looking as though it was saying something.
“Uh…”
This is really flustering.
And so, aside from a skill and divine power, I also gained one Skeleton Soldier.
* * *
The Firebird Guild was currently in a gloomy state.
An emergency meeting was being held, and it was an important matter, one that both the guild master and vice guild master attended.
Because of Jeong Ujin.
Jeong Ujin, who had entered the incubus dungeon, had been found in a horrific state.
Had the master of the dungeon had a change of heart?
Jeong Ujin had been able to leave the dungeon.
Fortunately, he was still alive, but the people who saw his condition all had exactly one thought.
That perhaps it would have been better if he had died.
That was how miserable Jeong Ujin’s condition was, and even the Hunters who had accompanied him were in a dreadful state.
“Just what on earth happened inside that dungeon…”
“No, didn’t all of them enter an incubus dungeon?”
“An incubus that enjoys men. This truly shatters all our previous assumptions.”
The Firebird Guild Hunters attending the meeting each voiced their impressions.
In truth, no one had thought this subjugation would fail.
Jeong Ujin was an A-rank Hunter, and all the Hunters who had gone to subjugate the incubus dungeon were men.
And yet, not only had it failed, they had returned in a horrific state. Who wouldn’t be shocked?
“Everyone, quiet.”
The guild master of the Firebird Guild, Jeong Taeksu, opened his mouth.
At that one word from Jeong Taeksu, the noisy conference room instantly fell silent.
Silence.
After confirming that everyone had shut their mouths, Jeong Taeksu continued.
“Vice Guild Master, give the briefing.”
Vice Guild Master Jeong Taeyeong was the guild master’s eldest son.
Even so, the fact that he called him by title instead of name showed how much he valued separating public and private matters.
Even though his own son Jeong Ujin had suffered such a fate, Jeong Taeksu was dry and impassive, which made him appear cold-hearted to others.
Jeong Taeyeong knew this as well, so he did not feel particularly hurt.
He simply began briefing the others on the information he had organized.
“The dungeon that Jeong Ujin and twenty-one others entered was an incubus dungeon, ranked B-grade.
Through multiple prior scouting attempts, we had already confirmed that only incubi existed there, and thus composed the entire group of male Hunters.”
But they had been utterly defeated.
If there was a silver lining in that misfortune, it was that they had at least survived.
Of course, since their vitality had been drained by the incubi, they did not feel truly alive even though they lived.
“…As a result of questioning the survivors, we confirmed that a single succubus exists within that dungeon, and also received testimony that she is presumed to be the dungeon’s master.”
As soon as Jeong Taeyeong finished speaking, everyone grew agitated.
“At this level, isn’t she an existence comparable to a Succubus Queen? To think she rules over incubi all by herself.”
“The first subjugation failed, so we must respond thoroughly.”
How terrifying a place was it?
A single succubus ruled over the incubi within the dungeon.
“If a monster wave were to occur from that dungeon, then…”
Someone spoke in a trembling voice.
He swallowed the rest of his words, but anyone could easily infer what he meant.
The worst-case scenario, a situation no one wanted to imagine, would unfold.
At Jeong Taeyeong’s briefing, Guild Master Jeong Taeksu opened his mouth.
“As of this moment, the dungeon’s grade will be raised from B-rank to A-rank. In addition, we will prepare thoroughly regarding the succubus and set out to subjugate it again. There will be no failure this time, so be thorough.”
Now that even the guild master had taken an interest, that dungeon would be subjugated without fail.
However, Jeong Taeyeong could not shake off his uneasy feeling.
‘An incubus dungeon where a succubus reigns as king…’
She was probably a terrifying existence.
That was what Jeong Taeyeong thought.
A monster lived in that dungeon.
An unknown monster.