A being swung a sword.
Its entire body was covered in a black robe, and its face was hidden behind a black mask as well, making it impossible to tell who it was.
The orcs were swept away by the sword he swung.
“Hmm.”
I sat down nearby and quietly watched the scene.
The being who had covered himself entirely in black wiped out the orcs, then nodded toward me.
It was Maru.
Nod.
I nodded back at Maru as well.
Just how overwhelmingly could Maru fight?
To measure his combat strength objectively, I had come to the dungeon early in the morning.
For now, Maru could slaughter orcs without any trouble.
In truth, the current Maru was 4-star, B-rank.
D-rank orcs were monsters he could deal with very easily.
Even so, I hadn’t expected him to wipe out a horde of orcs that effortlessly, as he had just done.
“No matter how many orcs rush in, it’s over in an instant.”
Since there were only two ranks between them, I had been somewhat cautious, just in case.
But that had been needless worry.
However, there was one problem: Maru was a skeleton whose entire body was black.
Compared to an ordinary pure-white skeleton, he stood out far too much.
As I was now, I had to avoid attracting attention at all costs.
So the method I came up with was to cover Maru’s appearance completely by putting a robe and mask on him.
By putting a black robe and mask on Maru, I was able to conceal his black bones easily.
Of course, I also put gloves on the hand holding the demonic sword.
With this, Maru had become a skeleton that was perfection itself.
Seeing Maru like that made me feel proud.
“Which dungeon should we go to next?”
Just as I was wondering that.
Ding—
My smartphone alarm went off.
I immediately checked the contents of the alert.
- Azmo, master of the dungeon “Temptation of Illusions,” has requested support from Master.
“Huh?”
Azmo was the monster leading the incubus dungeon.
And just like last time, he had sent a request for support.
Well, since he had entered under me in the first place, I should at least show him this much mercy.
This fellow named Azmo had voluntarily come under me, and there was one peculiar thing about him: Azmo’s dungeon was not on the continent of Eldorad.
On the screen, it was listed as being in another dimension.
“Even if he’s in another dimension, he’s still a loyal subject.”
All the monsters I had under me had high loyalty, but Azmo was no slouch either.
No, if I thought about it, he was truly a loyal guy.
Last time, I had brought him an incubus who had nowhere to go.
All I had done was give him a companion, yet I had received an alert saying Azmo was delighted.
Whatever else might be true, he certainly had plenty of camaraderie.
‘If there are any lost incubi from now on, I should send them all here.’
If I kept sending in incubi, his companions would increase and the dungeon itself would grow stronger.
Even now, if you thought about it, he had requested support because his combat strength was weak.
“Well, incubi aren’t exactly a combat race.”
Thinking that, I opened the dungeon support window.
How should I help this time?
First, dispatching forces was only natural.
I wanted to support him with gems in addition to that, but...
At the moment, I was nearly out of gems myself.
The restriction on gem purchases had been lifted too, and it was about time I recharged my gems, but...
Last time, the price of gems had doubled.
What had originally been 55,000 won for 5,000 gems had now jumped all the way to 110,000 won.
For now, I would put off paying.
“When I get some income this time, I’ll have to spend some cash.”
This wasn’t a simple game.
For all intents and purposes, it was reality.
It was a system where if the dungeon grew stronger, I grew stronger as well.
Therefore, I had no intention of making tiny, unsatisfying purchases bit by bit.
When I did it, I would do it all at once.
In any case, the game itself would block gem purchases like last time, so all I had to do was purchase up to the limit.
“For now, I won’t support him with gems. I’ll just dispatch troops.”
Last time I dispatched Celia, so should I dispatch the Death Knight this time?
Celia seemed busy with a lot of work right now anyway.
On top of that, she had even created and was operating a unit called the reconnaissance corps on her own.
Whenever I looked at Celia like that, a smile naturally formed on my face.
“As expected, I picked one fine adjutant.”
She had started as a 3-star succubus adjutant, and now she was a 6-star succubus chief administrator leading the dungeon alliance.
That being was Celia.
I didn’t want to burden her by adding a dispatch on top of everything else.
“By the way, are no more packages going to appear?”
Through a package purchase, I had raised Celia from 3-star to 6-star.
What was unfortunate was that no additional package capable of raising her to 7-star had appeared.
“Does this mean I have to gather soul stones separately?”
When I bought the promotion package last time, the package contents had also consisted of soul stones suited to each star grade.
To promote Celia now, I would probably need soul stones suited to the 6-star grade.
If a related package continued not to appear, I might have to collect these things called soul stones separately.
“If a package appears, I’ll buy it immediately. If not, I’ll have to look for soul stones.”
Thinking that, I shifted my gaze to the list of monsters in my dungeon.
“I can spare the Death Knight for a little while, at least.”
In any case, the dungeon was currently growing smoothly.
I clicked on the Death Knight and pressed the dispatch button.
After dispatching the Death Knight to Azmo’s dungeon, I was about to press the close button.
But at that moment, another new alert appeared.
- An additional mission has been assigned.
“An additional mission?”
It had been a very long time since I had been given a mission.
Aside from when an emergency mission appeared before and I changed Celia’s name, it was an alert I hadn’t seen in ages.
- Dispatch the Lich (★★★★) as an additional force.
- Reward: You will be granted the right to purchase the Arch Lich (★★★★★) Promotion Special Package.
“...?”
No, what was this supposed to mean?
It wasn’t promoting him, but granting me the right to purchase a package that made promotion possible.
“Hah...”
Still, it seemed promotion packages hadn’t disappeared entirely.
“I don’t know whether I should call this fortunate or not...”
If this had been an ordinary game, the pressure to spend money would have been so severe that I would have quit long ago.
Of course, since this truly wasn’t ordinary, I followed the contents of the alert without complaint.
My hand immediately clicked on the Lich.
“The Lich probably has nothing to do right now anyway.”
I had assigned him the role of inspector, but right now, the dungeon was literally in a peaceful period.
There was no particular need for an inspector to remain stationed there twenty-four hours a day.
“Fine. Since we’re at it, you can follow the Death Knight and come back with him.”
Likewise, I dispatched the Lich to the dungeon “Temptation of Illusions.”
After sending the Lich as well, I pressed the close button.
Based on my experience so far, it had always produced good results.
So as I dispatched the Death Knight and the Lich, I felt a slight sense of anticipation.
I put my smartphone back into my pocket and spoke to Maru.
“Let’s go, Maru.”
Maru nodded and followed behind me.
* * *
Azmo, master of the dungeon “Temptation of Illusions.”
Azmo had been troubled with many worries lately.
“Those humans are coveting our dungeon again.”
Unlike last time, the humans were not openly scouting.
However, unlike then, he could feel something unpleasant.
It was as though they intended to examine them thoroughly.
They were undoubtedly using some kind of trick.
“Must I ask for help again?”
Last time, Azmo had requested help and easily overcome the crisis.
And he had voluntarily entered under the great being who had helped him.
On top of that, that person had even given him daily sustenance.
Azmo’s gaze turned to one of the incubi.
When that fellow had first come here, he had resisted fiercely, but now he had become fairly obedient.
“Indeed.”
The being who had bestowed that incubus upon him was also great and merciful.
If he requested help this time as well, surely that merciful hand would descend upon him.
But he could not go on living like this forever.
“If we overcome this crisis with the help of the great one once again...”
Azmo swept his gaze across the dungeon with a solemn expression.
“I shall offer him the management rights to my dungeon.”
That was the decision Azmo made.
* * *
Early dawn.
The sun was still hidden below the horizon.
The surroundings were enveloped in cold darkness, and with no light visible anywhere, the desolation made it seem as though there was no hope.
It was a time filled only with silence.
Breaking that silence, armed hunters began to take their positions.
They were hunters belonging to the Firebird Guild.
“Everyone, get ready!”
The dungeon they were going to raid this time was one the Firebird Guild had failed to conquer once before.
The incubus dungeon.
The dungeon where the guild master’s second son, Jeong Ujin, had entered, suffered a terrible experience, and emerged.
To subjugate that place once more, the hunters of the Firebird Guild were preparing in front of the dungeon.
And the raid leader who would lead the hunters in this subjugation was A-rank hunter Seo Yeongho.
With a hardened expression, he looked over those who would enter the dungeon with him.
This dungeon had an unusual power structure.
It was an incubus dungeon, but the master of the dungeon was said to be presumed to be a succubus.
There were many incubi, but only one succubus.
Even hearing it described made it a strange dungeon.
And the succubus’s estimated rank was none other than S-rank.
Usually, there was a tendency to overestimate ranks, but that still meant she was at least A-rank.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that their method of attack was not to charge head-on.
According to the advance party that had gone in first, they said those monsters tempted hunters solely with charm skills close to mind control.
The problem was that such charm did not possess ordinary power.
That was why the guild leadership had said the master of that dungeon was presumed to be S-rank.
“Everyone, keep your heads on straight!”
Seo Yeongho shouted to the hunters.
Then he opened his mouth toward the hunter specialized in dungeon detection skills.
“What is the state inside the dungeon?”
When the advance party had scouted it directly last time, they had missed the succubus’s existence.
This time, since they were preparing thoroughly, the guild had attached a hunter with detection-related skills to the raid team.
Seo Yeongho asked that hunter if there were any particular issues, but the hunter shook his head.
“It’s strange.”
“What is?”
“Well... the incubi definitely exist, but I can’t sense the succubus.”
“Hmm.”
At those words, Seo Yeongho fell into thought for a moment.
The previous advance party had reportedly scouted not just once, but several times.
The conclusion had been the same: there was no succubus.
Because of that, the entire raid team had been composed of men, and the result had been their wretched state when they came out.
Of course, even that had only been possible because the dungeon’s master had acted on a whim and spared them.
But this time, even using a detection skill, they said they could not sense the succubus.
‘This has become troublesome.’
Could she be erasing her presence?
Just the fact that she could freely conceal her presence meant she was not a monster to be taken lightly.
Seo Yeongho looked around.
The hunters in this raid team were all at least B-rank or higher.
More than half of them were even A-rank hunters.
It showed just how much the Firebird Guild had gritted its teeth and prepared.
On top of that, they had taken measures against the succubus and incubi.
Not only artifacts capable of resisting mind-control types, but also a large number of hunters who could use related buffs had been selected.
With this much, their charm skills should be nothing.
“Everyone, do one final check! No matter how specialized the enemy is in mental-type abilities, you must not neglect your equipment checks!”
Now, it would soon be time to enter the dungeon.
Seo Yeongho looked up at the sky.
The sun was slowly rising, driving away the darkness of dawn.
Light gradually illuminated the surroundings.
If until just moments ago it had felt as though the darkness was blocking the path ahead, now it seemed as if a hopeful future was waiting.
Seo Yeongho lowered his head from the sky.
Now, the time to enter was slowly approaching.
He glanced once at the watch on his wrist for no particular reason, then said,
“Everyone, enter the dungeon!”