With deputies assigned even to the dungeon Azmo managed, things were slowly beginning to take shape.
He had chosen deputies, too.
Nor was the monster shortage so urgent that he needed to draw more right away.
“And depending on the species, they even reproduce on their own.”
On top of that, there were quite a few cases of monsters breeding with one another.
The vampire butterflies in Area 3 of the first floor were a prime example.
Even without drawing any more, their numbers were increasing on their own.
Since they were insect-type monsters, their breeding rate was fast, so as long as he built an ecosystem for them, there would be no major problem.
“Then should I try drawing some miscellaneous goods now?”
It seemed about time to turn his attention elsewhere.
For example, something like the miscellaneous goods draw?
The description said that the miscellaneous goods draw mainly produced things like equipment, weapons, or skills.
In fact, after seeing only that description, he had tried the miscellaneous goods draw once before.
‘Back then, all I got was trash.’
In the monster draw, at worst, he got a 1-star, but in the miscellaneous goods draw, there were junk items that would not have been strange to call blanks.
Not only useless twigs and leaves, but even pebbles had come out.
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that the dress Celia was currently wearing had appeared.
If even that hadn’t come out, he might really have gotten angry.
That said, not doing the miscellaneous goods draw at all was a poor move.
Just looking at Celia’s clothes right now, they had several options attached.
Though it hadn’t come from a draw, even the maid outfit Celia had worn before possessed an absurd trait.
If he managed to draw equipment or clothes like that?
“If I draw even one really good thing, it’s a profit.”
With that thought, he was about to tap the miscellaneous goods draw category in the shop window.
Ding—
But before he could press it, an alert appeared first.
- The number of monsters within the dungeon “Temptation of Illusions” has reached a certain level.
- Please increase the dungeon’s size or regulate the population through a monster wave.
- You may select the settings for the monster wave.
It was none other than an alert saying the dungeon managed by Azmo had reached its monster capacity.
Looking at Azmo’s dungeon status, it seemed to be because of the ghouls that had increased rapidly of late.
“Just how many did he kill?”
The cause of the increase in ghouls was probably the Death Knight.
Due to the nature of the Death Knight’s skill, beings killed by it were reborn as ghouls.
Azmo’s dungeon had originally been an incubus dungeon.
The fact that there were so many ghouls now meant the Death Knight had caught that many intruders.
The intruders might be people like me, but I didn’t particularly feel any sympathy.
In the end, they were the ones who charged in first to take what was mine.
All I had done was try to stop them in order to protect what belonged to me.
“There really are a ridiculous number of ghouls.”
And with a deputy assigned on top of that, the dungeon seemed even more cramped.
“Hmm… By the way, it says I can configure the monster wave?”
Monster wave.
It referred to the phenomenon of monsters pouring out of a dungeon.
The most likely hypothesis was that when the inside of a dungeon became packed with monsters, the dungeon pushed them outside.
“Looking at this explanation, I can’t exactly say that’s wrong.”
The settings window related to the monster wave was simple.
It allowed him to designate the range of the monster wave and decide how many monsters to send out.
Of course, in his case, he could also choose to avoid the monster wave for now by increasing the dungeon’s size.
But he had to consider future situations in which monsters would reproduce among themselves and increase their population on their own.
Maybe not now, but as the number of dungeons under his command continued to grow, he wouldn’t be able to check each and every one.
“Should I start with the settings?”
If there was one fortunate thing, it was that he did not have to configure every dungeon in detail one by one.
There was also an option for the dungeon’s administrator or deputy to judge and take action on their own.
“Well, this is probably better.”
Judging from what he had seen so far, these monsters were quite intelligent in their own way.
There had been times when a moderate amount of neglect produced better results, so he selected that option without hesitation.
“Azmo will handle it well, right?”
Curious about how the current situation would be handled, he deliberately did not expand the dungeon’s size.
“He’ll probably send the ghouls out of the dungeon first.”
I should just do my draws.
* * *
“Damn it, why the hell do we have to do this crap?”
A hunter complained while patrolling around the dungeon.
At the hunter grumbling out his complaints, the person beside him spoke up.
“Grunts like us just do what we’re told. What else can we do?”
That person was just as dissatisfied.
He did not like having to give up even his days off to patrol here.
They were hunters belonging to the Firebird Guild.
And the place they were guarding was where the incubus dungeon was located.
The incubus dungeon.
It was the dungeon that Jeong Ujin, the second son of the Firebird Guild Master, had entered in order to subjugate.
Of course, he had failed.
They had thought there were only incubi, but apparently, a succubus had turned out to be the master.
With the guild master’s second son returning from the dungeon in a miserable state, there was no way the guild’s atmosphere would be good.
Naturally, the Firebird Guild prepared a second raid.
This time, in order to deal with the succubus as well, they balanced the gender ratio of the hunters, and mobilized not only hunters who possessed skills specialized in mental defense, but even artifacts.
The raid leader in charge of the assault team, as well as half of the nearly fifty hunters, were made up of A-rank hunters.
In short, it meant the upper ranks of the Firebird Guild had firmly made up their minds.
Yes, this raid party was a scenario that could not help but succeed.
But one variable had occurred.
“Looks like we’re coming up empty today too, huh?”
“Haa, at this rate, aren’t we going to be stuck here until our next day off?”
Even though quite some time had passed since the Firebird Guild’s raid party entered, there had been no news at all.
The dungeon had remained closed, and the life or death of the hunters who went inside had yet to be confirmed.
Either the raid party subjugated the dungeon and came back out, or everyone inside was wiped out and the dungeon opened.
Or, failing that, the dungeon’s master might show mercy like with the second son, Jeong Ujin, and send the members of the raid party back alive.
It would have been nice if even one of those three cases could be confirmed, but mercilessly, the dungeon remained firmly shut.
In a situation where they did not know when the raid party inside would come out, the Firebird Guild’s hunters continued to cover the surrounding area.
This was quite an important task.
Suppose the raid party subjugated the dungeon and emerged exhausted.
If there happened to be people who bore a grudge against that guild, what would happen?
The answer was obvious without even looking, so every guild dispatched two types of hunters for dungeon subjugation.
The raid party that subjugated the dungeon.
And the patrol team that waited outside until news of the raid party arrived, or could quickly provide support if necessary.
And the hunters currently harboring complaints belonged to the latter, the patrol team.
Therefore, even while dissatisfied, they knew why they had to be here, and were silently carrying out the operation.
As they continued patrolling, another variable occurred.
An unwelcome guest that broke the silence of the quiet night.
The dungeon’s energy began to fluctuate.
A moment later.
Weeeeeee—
The sound of a siren echoed through the area.
It was the signal that the dungeon had opened.
“Fuck. Of course the dungeon opens when I’m here.”
Though he grumbled, he was thinking something else inside.
Please, let it not be something like a monster wave….
* * *
Despite the siren blaring loudly, nothing had changed.
There was nothing that could particularly be called a problem.
“Is the detector broken?”
Choe Jihun, a B-rank hunter leading the patrol team.
He muttered while examining the detector inside the tent.
The detector was an artifact that reacted to the dungeon’s energy.
The fact that the detector had just gone off meant the dungeon that had been closed had opened.
“Hmm.”
But in the end, nothing happened.
The dungeon remained closed, and there was no incident of the raid party hunters returning or monsters bursting out.
“Well, it’s still too early for a monster wave.”
A monster wave referred to the phenomenon of monsters pouring out of a dungeon.
It was a phenomenon that mainly occurred when a dungeon was neglected and the number of monsters inside continued to increase.
It was like this.
You could think of it as too many people gathering inside a house and being driven outside.
Dungeons were the same.
In any case, monster waves were truly troublesome.
Once monsters poured out, there were that many more things to pay attention to, so the government and guilds regularly cleared out dungeons.
Choe Jihun put down the detector in his hand again.
A monster wave was definitely too far-fetched a thought.
Even now, not a single monster had come outside, had they?
“Well, unless the raid party that went into the dungeon turns into monsters….”
Even as he said it, he found it ridiculous.
“Ha.”
It did not make sense in the first place.
Of course, beings that turned hunters into monsters did exist.
Death Knights, which turned people into ghouls, were a prime example, and there were also zombies that bit others and made them zombies like themselves.
There were even vampires, who turned people into their own kind.
But this dungeon was one where incubi and succubi lived.
They, too, possessed charm as a weapon, but those were not skills that turned people into monsters.
They were closer to mind control.
That was why Choe Jihun did not consider any other possibility at all.
“Captain Choe Jihun!”
Just then, someone entered the tent and called Choe Jihun’s name.
It was the deputy assisting Choe Jihun.
“Yeah. Did you finish checking the personnel?”
When the siren had sounded a little while ago, Choe Jihun had ordered his deputy to check the personnel.
“Yes, here it is!”
Choe Jihun looked at the status board the deputy handed him and muttered to himself.
“Hmm, twenty-two people….”
The status board had written on it how many people were currently here, as well as every single name.
“We were roughly twenty people today, right?”
They were the patrol team, patrolling around the dungeon and preparing for unexpected situations.
Because the personnel changed a little every day, the personnel status kept changing as well.
“Hmm.”
Choe Jihun rested his chin on his hand and looked at the status board.
Normally, he should thoroughly check the headcount, but.
‘It’s not like I have that much free time….’
Since the numbers roughly matched, there was nothing that would particularly be a problem.
“Got it. You can go.”
Choe Jihun dismissed the deputy and immediately contacted the guild situation room.
Since it was important for the guild as well to understand the status of the dispatched hunters, this report was essential.
Soon after, he was connected to the Firebird Guild’s situation room.
“Yes, this is Patrol Captain Choe Jihun.”
Choe Jihun reported the current situation along with the personnel status.
“…And so, with twenty-two personnel currently present, there are no abnormalities.”
Now that he had reported this much, today’s work was practically over.
Just as he was about to end the call and take a rest.
- Wait.
The guild situation room spoke.
It was the voice of the Firebird Guild’s chief.
- How many people did you say are currently there?
Come on. Did he not hear me earlier?
Choe Jihun’s expression twisted slightly, and he said it once more.
“There are twenty-two personnel currently present.”
But the situation room asked again in a strangely serious voice.
- Are you sure? You didn’t miscount or something?
Ha.
Choe Jihun let out a small sigh.
He was slightly annoyed, but the other party was his superior.
He refined his voice and spoke politely.
“There are no special personnel issues. There was nothing that could be called a problem either.”
However.
- Hey! You little bastard!
A curse burst from the chief’s mouth.
- You didn’t check the personnel properly, did you! You idiot, there are twenty-one of you today!
“Yes?”
For a moment, Choe Jihun was so flustered that he answered in a dazed voice.
- Hurry up and check the personnel again!
Urgency could be felt from the situation room.
Choe Jihun scanned the status board his deputy had handed him again, then read out every single name one by one.
“…Kim Minjae, I Namhyeok, and lastly, Seo Yeongho.”
The status board clearly said “22 people.”
It was not as if any name had been entered twice.
- Choe Jihun, what did you say at the end?
“Yes? At the end? Ah, are you talking about Seo Yeongho?”
- You little bastard! Are you messing with me right now?
Choe Jihun was slowly getting irritated as well.
He always approached his work seriously.
But when someone suddenly cursed at him and asked if he was joking, how could he not get angry?
“No! Please speak clearly! I don’t play jokes like that. What exactly is the problem?”
- …….
A brief silence passed.
Then, before long, a voice came from the situation room again.
- Hey, Jihun. Don’t you remember? Seo Yeongho participated in this raid party. The one in the dungeon you’re patrolling right now.
“…Ah.”
That was right.
He remembered.
The raid party that had entered this dungeon—the raid leader commanding that raid party was none other than A-rank hunter Seo Yeongho.
Why had he forgotten?
“Come on, maybe it’s just someone with the same name…?”
There was a possibility they were different people with the same name.
Surely that had to be it.
But the answer from the situation room shattered his hopes.
- I just checked. There is no other person named Seo Yeongho in our Firebird Guild.
“You’re joking, right?”
- Does this sound like the mood for jokes?!
Instead, the chief raised his voice and shouted.
- So check the personnel right n—
Click—
Choe Jihun cut the connection.
Yes, he needed a moment to think.
Maybe the deputy had written it wrong.
“…….”
But what if.
Really, just what if.
What if it hadn’t been written wrong?
Come to think of it, the siren had gone off before they checked the personnel.
No way….
“Fuck.”
Choe Jihun bolted out of the tent and shouted.
“Everyone, assemble!”
Something had gone wrong.