- The trait “True Master of the Dungeon” has activated.
- Will you make this Hunter a sacrifice for your dungeon?
A new alert appeared.
And not on my smartphone, but right before my eyes.
“Is this the trait’s effect?”
An EX-grade trait, no less.
The problem was, there was no description written for it, so I couldn’t tell exactly what kind of ability it was.
At least, from the alert just now, I had a rough idea of how it was used.
I looked at Ji Tae-hun’s corpse.
“So I just have to make this guy a sacrifice?”
It had already happened anyway.
Without hesitation, I made Ji Tae-hun’s corpse a sacrifice.
- You have made the corpse of a C-rank Hunter a sacrifice.
As that alert appeared, heat began to emanate from Ji Tae-hun’s corpse.
Soon after, blue flames surged up, blooming as if to envelop the body.
The corpse was immediately swallowed by the flames’ ferocious force and began to burn smoothly.
Blue flames.
They gradually grew stronger, brightly illuminating the dark dungeon, and as the brilliant light shone, a faint breeze softly stirred the surroundings.
“……”
The corpse gradually withered away along with the flames.
At last, nothing remained in the place the flames had swept over.
Only the dungeon’s cold floor was there.
My reflection lasted only a moment before another alert appeared.
- Please select the reward you will receive for this sacrifice.
1) Upgrade Dungeon Core
2) Upgrade Dungeon Altar
3) Create Empty Dungeon
There were three options listed in the alert.
I examined the descriptions of each choice one by one.
[Upgrade Dungeon Core]: An important organ called the heart of every dungeon. Upgrading the dungeon core increases its durability and allows the dungeon’s power to be expanded.
“Hmm…”
I thought about it for a moment.
Was there really a need to upgrade the dungeon core right now?
Of course, the importance of the core went without saying.
If the core was destroyed, the dungeon would be destroyed along with it.
On top of that, since I knew I would die if my dungeon was destroyed, I couldn’t afford to neglect the dungeon core.
But my dungeon currently boasted tremendous power.
At one point, my dungeon’s grade had fluctuated between copper and iron grade.
The last time, an alert had sounded saying the dungeon’s grade had been upgraded to silver.
But in my eyes, it was difficult to evaluate it as only silver grade.
Celia was already 6-star, and there was a 5-star Death Knight and Goblin Lord, as well as a Lich soon to be promoted to 5-star.
When I first thought it was just a game, I had simply accepted it as in-game balance.
But now, even I could tell.
‘It’s by no means weak.’
It wasn’t simply at the level of defending the dungeon.
If not for the range restriction that prevented them from leaving the dungeon, it was a force powerful enough to attempt the conquest of the continent already.
“So let’s pass on this one.”
I was curious about the phrase saying it could expand the dungeon’s power, but not right now.
In truth, I had already decided in my heart which one I would choose.
The altar upgrade.
Until now, I’d wanted to upgrade the altar but hadn’t been able to. Only now had I obtained a clue.
Of course, before choosing, I checked the description of the third option.
[Create Empty Dungeon]: Creates an empty dungeon with nothing inside at a location of your choice. The grade of the dungeon that can be created varies depending on the sacrifice’s ability.
What I had just used as a sacrifice was a single C-rank Hunter’s corpse.
So with this, I could only create one empty dungeon at most?
“Dungeon creation, huh…”
Dungeon creation was certainly good, but there was one thing I had to point out.
Whether it was Azmo’s dungeon that had been offered to me, or this dungeon creation now, there was one thing that bothered me.
The dungeon core.
If my original dungeon was destroyed, I died as well.
Then what would happen if Azmo’s dungeon, or a newly created dungeon like this, was destroyed?
I immediately tapped my smartphone screen and checked the dungeon list.
- Updating dungeon list.
【Dungeon List】
[Nest of the Evil God]
- General Manager: Celia (★★★★★★)
- Lieutenant: Vacant
- Subordinate Managed Dungeons: [Red-Haired Tribe], [Fog-Shrouded Village], [Dregs of the Demon Realm], [Sticky Pool]
- Special Note: A dungeon core exists that is connected to Master Lee Ganghyeon’s soul.
[Temptation of Phantoms]
- Manager: Vacant
- Lieutenant: Vacant
The list of dungeons I possessed appeared.
Perhaps because I had obtained a new trait, the system had changed a bit.
“As expected, there’s only one core directly connected to me.”
Among the dungeons I owned, the only one actually connected to my soul was the “Nest of the Evil God.”
And I also learned that even if I effectively controlled a dungeon, unless it was offered to me like Azmo’s, it appeared as a subordinate dungeon.
‘It shouldn’t be a problem.’
Even if Azmo’s dungeon or a newly created dungeon collapsed, it wouldn’t matter as long as my original dungeon was safe.
Just as I was about to close the game and choose my reward—
“Ah, I should choose a manager.”
The dungeon Azmo had offered currently had no manager.
It was obvious who I was going to appoint as manager anyway.
[Temptation of Phantoms]
- Manager: Azmo (★★★★)
- Lieutenant: Vacant
The lieutenant position was also vacant, but Celia’s lieutenant position was currently vacant as well.
‘I’ll draw a lieutenant later.’
I could just get one through the lieutenant draw.
And I pushed the Lich’s promotion back for the time being.
For now, I had seen everything I needed to in the game.
Now it was time to return to the present and choose my reward.
Without hesitation, I chose the dungeon altar.
- You have selected Upgrade Dungeon Altar.
- Dungeon Altar upgrade complete.
- Dungeon Altar level has risen to 2.
Along with the alert saying the altar had been upgraded, a message appeared saying its level had risen.
“Does that mean the range of sacrifices has widened a bit now?”
Before raising the altar’s level, I had barely managed to bring Maru over.
Of course, the current Maru had become 4-star, so that would be impossible now, but since the altar’s level had risen, the range should have expanded.
As I was thinking about how to use these things, the guy who had collapsed earlier woke up.
“Ugh… uhh…”
I approached him.
“You awake?”
“Where is this… Hup!”
The guy flinched in shock the moment he saw me.
I asked him his name.
“Ji, Ji Seong-min.”
He hesitated for a moment before revealing that his name was Ji Seong-min.
“By the way, where’s my d-dad…?”
Ji Seong-min’s father, Ji Tae-hun, had already been used as a sacrifice and was gone.
But I had no obligation to tell him that honestly here.
“I’m the only one asking questions. You just answer my questions. If you understand, just nod.”
Ji Seong-min nodded slightly.
Since Maru was guarding him from the side anyway, it was practically a threat.
I stared at Ji Seong-min.
Ji Tae-hun had been a father who cared terribly for his son.
He had probably passed many things on to his son in preparation for something happening to him.
“Then first, take out the money you’ve hidden.”
* * *
Leaving Ji Seong-min to despair as he checked his lower half, I organized my thoughts.
As expected, the money Ji Tae-hun had passed on to his son was by no means a small amount.
‘I didn’t expect there to be throwaway bank accounts too.’
No, was that actually only natural?
It wasn’t just money. I heard various other things as well.
Fortunately, I didn’t need to worry about the guild he belonged to.
The Black Sun Guild had never been an official guild to begin with, nor did it do legal work, so they apparently weren’t the type to care much about the absence of a guild member.
Since it was a cell organization from the start, it didn’t seem like there would be any issue even if Ji Tae-hun and Ji Seong-min disappeared.
If anything, the problem was Kang Jin-su.
They said that once this job was over, if they contacted him, he would even handle the cleanup.
“I always called him after the job was done. But as for who comes to clean things up, I don’t really…”
Ji Seong-min trailed off.
There was no way to be certain whether Kang Jin-su himself would come clean things up, or whether others would appear.
‘I can’t gamble here.’
I ordered Ji Seong-min right away.
“Make the call first.”
“T-to where?”
“Where do you think? Kang Jin-su, obviously. Just say something urgent came up and hang up.”
I took Ji Seong-min and left the dungeon for a moment.
Since ordinary communication was impossible inside the dungeon, I had no choice.
Then he immediately contacted Kang Jin-su.
All we needed to do was buy a little time anyway.
“Ah… yes, yes. Something urgent came up right now…. Yes…. Dad said to ask for a little more time…. Ah, yes…”
Beside Ji Seong-min, Maru stood waiting with his sword drawn.
The area around the dungeon was so remote that there were no passersby.
Thanks to that, Ji Seong-min didn’t try anything funny either and followed my words obediently.
After telling Kang Jin-su that something urgent had come up, Ji Seong-min hung up.
“He said okay…”
I smiled brightly at him, then went back into the dungeon.
Clap—
Then I clapped my hands once.
“Now, I’ll deal with Kang Jin-su later, and there’s just one thing left to confirm.”
“Hik!”
Ji Seong-min.
Earlier, it had been a corpse, so I had used it as a sacrifice as-is, but this time it was a living being.
I used my ability on Ji Seong-min.
- The trait “True Master of the Dungeon” has activated.
- Will you make this Hunter a sacrifice for your dungeon?
The same alert as before appeared.
But this time, another message appeared in addition.
- Will you transfer this Hunter to your dungeon?
It was asking whether I would send him to my dungeon.
‘Is this possible because the altar’s level went up?’
When Maru had been 1-star, it had been impossible to send him back to the dungeon.
On top of that, Ji Seong-min was an F-rank Hunter.
In effect, he was no different from the Maru of the past.
It seemed it had become possible because the altar’s level had risen.
At first, I thought about using him as a sacrifice right away, but Ji Seong-min was an F-rank Hunter and didn’t seem very useful.
If there were a lot of them, maybe, but right now I needed to run an experiment, so I chose the latter without hesitation.
I would send Ji Seong-min straight to my dungeon.
- Which dungeon will you send this Hunter to?
- [Nest of the Evil God] [Temptation of Phantoms]
“Hmm…”
So any dungeon I owned was possible.
For now, I intended to keep Ji Seong-min alive.
Because I would make him cough up various information from now on.
In the Nest of the Evil God, there was the succubus Celia.
In the Temptation of Phantoms, conversely, there was Azmo, an incubus.
After thinking for a moment, I made my decision.
“An incubus dungeon should be better, right?”
If he was an incubus, then since they were both men, he probably wouldn’t do anything to him.
I nodded and immediately selected the “Temptation of Phantoms” dungeon.
The moment I selected it, blue flames wrapped around Ji Seong-min just like before.
“Uwaaak!”
Ji Seong-min screamed in shock at the flames that had suddenly appeared.
Still, it didn’t last long.
Because the scream soon disappeared along with the flames.
Only the dungeon floor remained where Ji Seong-min had been.
Looking down at that floor, I spoke.
“You can stop that and come out now. I know you’re there.”
I had already known for a while that there were monsters near me.
I had only left them alone because this was an F-rank dungeon anyway.
At most, it was a place with only basic skeletons.
Clatter—
Clatter—
At my words, the skeletons moved with rattling sounds.
Among them, one skeleton soldier stepped forward and looked at me.
“Clack clack clack.”
The skeleton soldier moved its jawbone as it looked at me.
And then, wasn’t it lowering its waist?
“Huh?”
I had clearly only heard the sound of bones moving.
But.
“Clack, clack clack.”
(O great one.)
“Clack clack.”
(Please look upon us with favor.)
I began to hear their words.
Usually, intelligent monsters could speak, so people could understand them.
But the words of most monsters like skeletons could not be understood unless one possessed a tamer trait.
I immediately turned my head toward Maru.
“Maru, say something.”
At my words, Maru immediately began making sounds.
“Clack clack-clack clack—”
(You who are supreme and great, our creator and master of the dungeon—)
“Enough.”
I raised my hand and stopped Maru’s mouth.
“Huh… Is this also thanks to the trait?”
I had discovered another ability of the trait.
* * *
Karendia Dereuseil, the king responsible for the Seil Kingdom.
At present, his expression was as cold as ice.
Several nobles stood before Karendia, but all of them merely watched his reaction, none daring to open their mouths.
After a short while, someone spoke.
“Your Majesty, their tyranny grows worse by the day.”
Once that single remark opened the floodgates, voices began to rise from all around.
“Indeed! They are clearly using the name of the Order as a pretext to bring the kingdom to heel! First one priest goes missing, and now twenty holy knights have vanished? And in our Seil Kingdom, no less!”
The nobles nodded in agreement.
At first, the White Order had said that since one priest had gone missing, they would dispatch an inquisitor.
Back then, not wanting to blow the matter out of proportion, he had agreed.
But this time, they had crossed the line.
They claimed that not one priest, but twenty holy knights had gone missing.
And in response, the Order had notified them that, following the inquisitor, they would dispatch holy knights as well.
“The first claim that a priest went missing was surely a lie! It is time we showed them the strength of our kingdom!”
The nobles’ voices grew even louder.
And there was one person who had been watching all of this from the very beginning.
It was Irena, beside King Karendia Dereuseil.
Irena was the princess of the Seil Kingdom, the king’s only daughter.
Barring any unforeseen problems, she was destined to succeed her father and become the next queen.
Irena’s expression twisted at the sight of the nobles.
‘Despicable bastards….’
The reason they were raising their voices was not because they were truly worried about the Seil Kingdom.
Rather, they wanted to use the White Order to diminish the king’s authority. That did not mean they wanted the king to fall entirely.
They wanted the authority of the nobles to rise, while the king remained as nothing more than the face representing the kingdom.
Irena glanced sidelong at her father.
‘Father must be aware of that as well….’
Irena turned her head again.
Her expression, too, softened into something gentle.
But she could not stop her clenched fist from trembling faintly.
In truth, she knew.
She knew that her father was staying silent despite knowing all this.
‘I must build up power.’
A king without power was bound to be lonely.
Having grown up watching her father in that state, Irena felt that truth in her bones.
And even when she ascended the throne, the situation would likely not differ much from what it was now.
To change the future already laid out before her, she needed power.
‘Even if I have to make a pact with a demon…!’
The clouds of war began to gather over the Seil Kingdom.