– …100% synchronization is complete.
– The dungeon’s location will be randomly generated.
– Remaining time: 1 hour
What is this now?
1 hour?
After completing the synchronization, I’m told to wait again?
At first, when they said 1 hour, I thought it was in-game time. But seeing the remaining time on the screen tick down second by second, exactly like in reality, I was stunned.
“Sigh…”
This is absurd.
They changed the dungeon name arbitrarily, I waited for synchronization, and now they want me to wait another hour.
“This is completely blackmail operation!”
While I was flustered, it allowed me to turn my attention to my surroundings, which had become a complete mess.
My home, after returning after 2 years, was nothing short of hell.
The refrigerator would have turned into a forbidden box of chaos if I opened it. I was already afraid to open it.
And dust had piled up on the appliances, furniture, and floor.
If I lived in this state, all sorts of diseases might extend their hands to me, inviting me to be their friend.
Most importantly, the clothes I was wearing now.
They weren’t washed properly, so they gave off a strange smell.
Of course, it was a world where laundry magic existed, but there was no kind person to cast magic on me.
“I should wash up first.”
After washing and eating something simple, I should probably clean too.
***
An hour had passed by the time I finished my tasks.
Still, I felt refreshed, like a student who had finished their overdue homework.
I immediately lay down on my bed and comfortably clicked on my smartphone game.
– The dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’ has been located in the mountain range near the Sail Kingdom.
– The Sail Kingdom is a country located in the northern part of the continent where humans tread.
Looking closely at the map, I saw that the dungeon was located in the ‘Silent Mountain Range’ to the north of the Sail Kingdom.
“This is a great deal!”
Was it worth waiting for an hour?
The result was quite good.
The Sail Kingdom was a country located in the northern part of the El Dorado Continent.
The problem was that the standard for “northern” was the threshold for where humans could set foot.
Beyond that, there was land, but it was a wasted land. Not just desolate, but a land of death teeming with dungeons and monsters.
It was called the ‘Demonic Realm,’ a place that humans dared not approach.
Coincidentally, the Sail Kingdom was located at the junction connecting the Demonic Realm and the continent.
In such a situation, the kingdom had no choice but to maintain minimal defenses.
But what if I were summoned to the Sail Kingdom?
Even if a mountain range blocked the kingdom, they would constantly be on guard duty to prepare for monster waves that could pour out at any moment.
Because of this, the Sail Kingdom was the place that hunters summoned to the El Dorado Continent most avoided.
Of course, that was from a hunter’s perspective, and it was no problem for me now.
This was simply a game, and not from a human’s point of view.
Given that the concept was dungeon management, being close to the Demonic Realm was an advantage, not a disadvantage.
“I’m lucky.”
What’s regrettable is that the White Church is located in the southern part of the continent.
My plan to quickly harass the church was impossible for now.
After all, since their bases were at opposite ends of the continent, it was too far.
I guess I’ll have to clear out the surroundings one by one and proceed slowly.
Now that the location was set, I touched the screen and waited for the next scene.
– From now on, Master must protect and grow the dungeon.
– No subordinate officer has been set to manage the dungeon.
– Please set a subordinate officer through the gacha. (Settable subordinate officers: 0/1)
– Gacha draw for 10 subordinate officer candidates (First draw is free)
– Selections cannot be undone, so please choose carefully. (Reroll not possible)
It finally appeared.
As expected of a game, there was a gacha.
The text stating that rerolling was not possible caught my eye, but I had no intention of doing so anyway.
I immediately pressed the summon tab and started drawing.
A magic circle filled with illegible text began to glow and rotate.
The light then spread across the smartphone screen, displaying the candidates to become dungeon subordinate officers.
The first one to appear was a Goblin.
He was wearing shabby clothes and holding an old sword.
Name: Wandering Goblin Swordsman, Gob (★)
Trait: A goblin swordsman kicked out of the goblin village.
Weakened due to illness.
– Do you wish to set Gob as a subordinate officer for the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’?
– [Yes] [No]
Hmm.
The description was as the appearance suggested.
Moreover, seeing that it only had one star, it was probably a useless, lowest-tier monster.
Yes, this is the first draw.
I didn’t expect anything.
Although it was pathetic that he was kicked out of his group and even fell ill, you don’t play games with emotions.
I pressed ‘No’ without hesitation.
Then, touching the screen, I looked at the next summoned opponent.
“Oh.”
The next summoned opponent had an unusual appearance at first glance.
She was a female demon of the demon race, wearing a black dress and having pure white skin.
Name: Blood Reaver, Baalcherit (★★★★★)
Trait: A high-ranking demon of the Vampire royal lineage. She manipulates blood at will and has negated all the weaknesses of vampires over the years.
– Do you wish to set Baalcherit as a subordinate officer for the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’?
– [Yes] [No]
It’s 5-star!
The description was also good. It would be crazy to pass up this one.
I pressed ‘Yes’ immediately.
Then, the next situation unfolded differently from my expectations.
A speech bubble appeared above the head of the 5-star Baalcherit that had just appeared.
– How dare you try to make this noble being your slave? Retreat at once!
I was refused.
What’s this? I clearly selected the monster that came out of the gacha, but the character rejected me.
And slave? I only intended to appoint her as a dungeon subordinate officer, why slave?
Just like changing the dungeon name arbitrarily and selecting the dungeon location, it was realistic in these useless aspects.
‘The difficulty is quite high?’
The problem is that even if good monsters appear in the remaining draws, I might not be able to choose them.
This is critical.
Well, what’s done is done.
I immediately touched the screen to proceed with the next draw.
However, perhaps it was luck that the second 5-star character appeared.
Slime (★★)
Ghoul (★)
Golem (★★★)
Lizardman (★★)
Orc (★★)
Young Worm (★), etc….
Although some 3-star monsters appeared, there were no monsters with stars higher than that.
With a glimmer of hope, I kept pressing ‘No,’ and before I knew it, only the last 10th draw remained.
If I had known this would happen, I should have just taken a 3-star.
Regret is useless now.
Hoping for a good outcome in the last draw, I proceeded with the 10th draw.
The result was….
Name: Frail Succubus, Celia Ishar (★★★)
Trait: Disciple of the Succubus Queen.
However, due to her weak heart, she could not steal human energy as a succubus and starved.
For this reason, she was embroiled in a debate about her qualifications, her disciple status was revoked, and she was driven out.
– Do you wish to set Celia Ishar as a subordinate officer for the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’?
– [Yes] [No]
A 3-star monster appeared.
I can’t re-draw, and a 3-star appears at the last minute.
Actually, I don’t know how strong a 3-star monster is in this game.
It might be strong, or it might be an average monster.
“Still, it’s a bit disappointing.”
Having seen a 5-star monster once, it felt a little disappointing.
Moreover, looking at the description, there was no hope.
A succubus who couldn’t even use her abilities.
I wondered if she could even contribute one person’s worth.
Hmm.
Honestly, I’m not drawn to it, but there were no other options.
Moreover, even if high-grade monsters appeared, there was no guarantee that I could choose them.
‘It was the last draw, surely it won’t be rejected again?’
I pressed ‘Yes’ and waited with bated breath.
‘…’
After a few seconds, the result came out.
– Celia Ishar (★★★) has been appointed as the subordinate officer for the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’.
Fortunately, it wasn’t rejected.
– As a reward for setting the first subordinate officer, two ‘Demonic Realm Merchant Invitation Tickets’ have been issued.
– Using the Demonic Realm Merchant Invitation Ticket will bring a merchant to your dungeon.
The reward for setting the subordinate officer wasn’t important right now.
More importantly, I immediately checked the subordinate officer’s stats.
– Rank: ★★★
– Race: Succubus
[Trait]
– None
[Basic Information]
HP: F+
Attack Power: E
Defense: F+
Magic Power: B
[Skill]
– Nightmare (F): Grants minor nightmares to the opponent.
For a 3-star, the stats are really not good?
Except for magic power, the rest were F or E rank.
“Is this really 3-star?”
Are the performance of 3-star monsters in this game bad?
The way strength is measured in Earth and the El Dorado Continent are quite different.
On Earth, monster strength is indicated by alphabets.
For example, from F rank to A rank, and up to S rank, which only the few strongest can reach.
This was also a standard applied to monsters.
Meanwhile, on the El Dorado Continent, strength was gauged by the number of stars.
Starting from 1 star, up to 5 stars were generally the stars of monsters seen on the continent.
“Did you say the one who plunged the continent into terror in the past was 7-star?”
When that being appeared, stars fell all over the continent.
From then on, the more stars, the stronger on the El Dorado Continent.
In addition, adventurers, mages, knights, etc., each had their own stages, making it a complex system.
“Well, I doubt they used the same standard in the game.”
I returned to the game and looked at the 3-star succubus.
Did they really count it as three stars just because her magic power was high?
Forget managing the dungeon, it would be good enough if it wasn’t conquered.
Considering her high magic power, she seemed to be a support-type monster.
As if the game read my concerns, a new screen appeared.
– First 3-star subordinate officer, 4-star promotion special package! (5,900 won)
Composition: 2 3-star soul stones, 10,000 gold (Remaining time: 24 hours)
Feature: You can create a 4-star monster by synthesizing a 3-star monster and two 3-star soul stones.
I was surprised by the package contents.
It seems this game is determined to induce payment in this way.
‘No wonder the monster rejecting system felt strange…’
I was curious because such a strategy was hidden.
The more they pushed for real money purchases, the more curious I became.
Just how far did they implement such a system?
Since I was already disappointed with the 3-star monster, and 5,900 won wasn’t a large amount, I pressed the payment button right away.
“A 4-star would be roughly a B-rank monster.”
– Payment complete! The components have been delivered to your mailbox.
A ‘Payment Complete’ window appeared with a flashy effect.
Simultaneously, the game tutorial showed via an arrow where synthesis could be done.
‘They’re telling me so quickly.’
I immediately put Celia Ishar and two 3-star soul stones together and attempted synthesis.
– Synthesis successful!
– Celia Ishar (★★★★)
– Rank: ★★★★
– Race: Succubus
[Trait]
– None
[Basic Information]
HP: E+
Attack Power: D-
Defense: E+
Magic Power: B+
[Skill]
– Nightmare (E): Grants chilling nightmares to the opponent.
Along with the synthesis success alarm, the changed stats appeared.
The basic stats and skill ranks changed slightly.
“Wow, even after promoting, the stats went up.”
As I was admiring it, a new package popped up.
– First 4-star subordinate officer, 5-star promotion special package! (15,900 won)
Composition: 2 4-star soul stones, 20,000 gold (Remaining time: 24 hours)
Feature: You can create a 5-star monster by synthesizing a 4-star monster and two 4-star soul stones.
“Jesus christ.”
It was dizzying.
***
Baalcherit, descendant of the Vampire royalty and Blood Reaver.
She was swirling a wine glass, savoring the fresh blood within.
“Hmm…”
She was enjoying an extremely peaceful period.
The area surrounding the dungeon was filled with monsters who had pledged their loyalty to her.
Even if she just sat there, fresh blood was offered to her every day.
From Baalcherit’s perspective, there was no reason to refuse tribute that was voluntarily offered.
While leisurely savoring her blood today,
Suddenly, space-time distorted before her eyes.
And an unknown voice was heard.
【Become my slave. Receive my grace.】
The voice contained the depth of an abyss.
Who is it? Who is playing such a prank?
And a slave?
It was the most absurd thing I had heard recently.
Slave? To this noble being, a descendant of royalty? Baalcherit let out a hollow laugh at the words.
She wanted to find out who the owner of the voice was immediately.
Even if she glared with her eyes, she couldn’t identify the owner of the voice.
She tried to muster her strength to track the voice.
But what a surprise.
She couldn’t feel any energy at all.
As if nothing existed.
‘Is this possible?’
If so, there is only one answer.
‘A much higher rank than me.’
An opponent at a level that she could not grasp.
Baalcherit spoke cautiously in a dignified voice.
“How dare you try to make this noble being your slave? Retreat at once!”
There was no need to offend a being of higher rank.
Therefore, she responded not too rudely, but somewhat politely.
Was it fortunate, perhaps?
When she said that, the distorted space-time began to return to its original state.
The voice could no longer be heard.
“It retreats so readily?”
It was anticlimactic.
Perhaps the being was not as high-ranked as she thought.
If she had known, she should have cursed.
“Well, if they come again next time, I’ll kill them then.”
To suggest becoming a slave to a descendant of royalty was tantamount to high treason.
Thus, she savored her blood again today, licking her lips.
Wow