I’ve run into a big problem.
“What on earth is this?”
An alarm suddenly rang, so I immediately checked its contents.
– Adventurers are starting to learn about the existence of the dungeon ‘Evil God’s Nest’.
– Adventurers are starting to learn about the existence of the dungeon ‘Red-Haired Tribe’.
– Adventurers are starting to learn about the existence of the dungeon ‘Scraps of the Demonic Realm’.
– Adventurers are starting to learn about the existence of the dungeon ‘Village Covered in Mist’.
It stated that information about my dungeons was spreading to adventurers.
“Huh…”
My thoughts stopped.
It wasn’t a feeling of panic or anxiety.
“The time has finally come.”
A deep sigh dispersed into the room.
Truthfully, I could say I’d been lucky so far.
Until now, I could quietly grow while hiding the existence of my dungeons.
Thanks to that, I had time to secure a 6-Star Celia, 5-Star monsters, and various monster troops.
Although some intruders appeared during that process, the dungeon monsters handled them well, so they were not a threat.
But now, the situation had changed.
“As I feared, it’s finally happened.”
I had expected that the existence of my dungeon would be revealed someday.
After all, I couldn’t hide the dungeon forever.
But still. Isn’t this too sudden?
“Where on earth did the story leak from?”
Where there is a result, there must be a cause.
No.
The water has already been spilled.
Now is not the time to dwell on the cause.
Rather than pondering why the water was spilled, it’s more important to figure out how to respond, whether it’s to collect the water or wipe it up.
“Let’s organize this.”
Now, the existence of my dungeon will continue to spread.
Even if I wanted to stop it now, would it be possible?
This isn’t the right answer either.
Then there’s only one correct answer.
“I need to recruit more troops.”
Not just troops, but the dungeon itself needs to be strengthened overall.
This is not the time to save jewels.
It was right to spend real money to its limit and acquire jewels. And then investing all the obtained jewels into the dungeon would be the answer.
“Then again, I was too negligent.”
Since it’s come to this, let’s expand the dungeon facilities as well.
It’s time to truly operate the dungeon, not just spawn monsters.
Of course, that requires jewels. And to recharge jewels, money is needed.
“I’ll have to visit the Fire Bird Guild soon.”
Although I may seem like a jobless person now, I was serving as an advisor to the Fire Bird Guild.
Well, to be precise, I’m an advisor limited to Yerin Jeong’s team, but the important thing is that I receive a salary.
The problem is Yerin Jeong.
“If she realizes my truth, she’ll cut me off immediately.”
I got the advisor position thanks to Yerin Jeong’s misunderstanding.
That means I could be fired at any time if she figures out my true nature.
It seemed right to rake in as much money as possible before that happens.
Some might think I’m overreacting.
But in the current situation, it was absolutely right to react sensitively.
My dungeon and I are connected entities.
If the dungeon collapses, I will die too.
My life is at stake, so I have to do everything I can.
Now that the existence of the dungeon has been revealed in earnest, I can no longer predict the dangers that lie ahead.
More powerful adventurer parties might flock to the dungeon, and in the worst-case scenario, there’s a possibility that the entire country might take action.
Even if my monsters are powerful, can they withstand endless waves of sheer numbers?
There is a saying that nothing can stand against sheer numbers.
Hmm. Should I also resort to sheer numbers?
My mind became complicated.
“If there’s one sliver of hope…”
It’s about how the rumors spread among the adventurers.
The alarm said that the existence of the dungeon had started to be known, but it didn’t say they had accurately identified it.
Yes, there is still hope.
After all, I had the Satellite Dungeon as my last resort.
If the atmosphere is too unfavorable, I can move the Dungeon Core to the Satellite Dungeon.
Fortunately, the existence of the Satellite Dungeon has not been revealed.
I immediately touched the screen to inspect the dungeon.
In a situation where every second counts, Celia was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did she go?”
I looked through other sectors, but Celia was nowhere to be found.
“Did she go outside?”
The range of action for my dungeon monsters has now expanded to the Sail Kingdom.
Therefore, it was not strange for Celia to be absent.
Perhaps Celia knows something about this situation?
And what if she went out of the dungeon to solve the problem?
Suddenly, hope surged in my heart.
This is not a small incident, and Celia must have noticed something.
As if to prove it, the movements of the troops within the dungeon were unusual.
Undead monsters that should have been in Sector 1 were lined up and deployed throughout the dungeon.
Goblins were also armed and patrolling inside.
It looked like security had been strengthened in preparation for intruders.
Couldn’t this be interpreted as Celia giving instructions in advance?
I’m not just wishful thinking.
In fact, Celia has always done an excellent job.
Dungeon management was perfect, and she faithfully followed my orders.
Above all, she has always brought good results and was practically a jack-of-all-trades manager who could solve problems.
I was able to come this far thanks to Celia.
She must have taken action with some plan in mind this time too.
Yes, for now, it’s best to trust Celia.
And I can prepare in my own way.
“First, let’s check the dungeon’s status.”
I inspected the dungeon sector by sector.
‘Hmm.’
There seemed to be no particular problems.
Since the dungeon was already full of monsters that guarded it, there were no issues with defense.
However, something was lacking.
“Ah, the facilities are too poor.”
Looking at Sector 2, where the goblins live, the condition of the huts was too dilapidated.
It seemed I had to focus on the facilities for now.
[Dungeon Facilities] [Constructible Facilities]
I touched [Dungeon Facilities] first.
It had been a long time since I checked the facilities after building them at the beginning of the dungeon.
Actually, there was no other way.
Back then, I thought this was just a game.
After realizing it was reality, my immediate priority was to reinforce monsters, and I didn’t even think about facilities.
At most, I only paid attention to the altar.
[Dungeon Facilities]
– Prison: You can imprison intruders who enter the dungeon. (Can be upgraded to ‘Magic Suppression Prison’)
– Subordinate Officer Room: A space where the subordinate officer resides and works. (Can be upgraded to ‘Office’)
– Hut: The basic space where monsters can reside. (Can be upgraded to ‘Sturdy Hut’)
– Altar: You can offer sacrifices through the altar. (Level 2)
– Dungeon Core
There were fewer facilities than I thought.
“I was too careless.”
The list of facilities was so meager that they could all be upgraded.
It showed how indifferent I had been.
Even Celia was still working in the subordinate officer room that was built at the beginning.
She, who worked the hardest, received no reward and only indifference.
I felt sorry for Celia for working under such a wicked boss.
“Should I upgrade them first?”
– Consuming jewels to upgrade ‘Prison’ to ‘Magic Suppression Prison’.
– Magic Suppression Prison: A prison equipped with a special barrier and device that suppresses magic. (Capacity: 10 people)
The prison was the first thing I upgraded.
It said the capacity had increased, and a barrier and device that suppress magic had been installed.
“This should be enough to effectively imprison mages.”
It might be cruel, but this is clearly an emergency situation.
Now is not the time to consider the human rights of adventurers by overthinking things.
In the case of the prison, I purchased additional ones and similarly upgraded them to Magic Suppression Prisons.
“The prison is fine, next is the subordinate officer room.”
No matter what group it is, the most important thing is the command structure.
I upgraded the subordinate officer room where Celia had been staying to an office.
– Consuming jewels to upgrade ‘Subordinate Officer Room’ to ‘Office’.
– Office: A space where the dungeon owner works and meets subordinates. However, if the dungeon owner is absent, the next in command can use it.
Like the prison, I purchased an additional subordinate officer room.
Of course, I did not upgrade the additional subordinate officer room I built to differentiate it.
‘I hope Celia likes it.’
I smiled with satisfaction and turned my gaze to the next facility.
After the subordinate officer room came the huts.
The huts were mainly used as living quarters for the goblins in Sector 2.
Although they weren’t there initially, I built huts where they could live as the goblin population increased.
“A sturdy hut would be better if possible.”
I upgraded all the huts in Sector 2.
There were no other facilities that could be upgraded.
I shifted my gaze elsewhere.
[Constructible Facilities]
– Warehouse: A place to store and manage valuables and items.
– Training Ground: A training facility to improve the combat abilities of monsters.
– Corpse Repository: A place to store corpses.
– Interrogation Room: A space to interrogate and torture prisoners. (Can be upgraded to ‘Execution Ground’)
– Dungeon Throne: A seat that only the dungeon owner can sit on. (Locked)
– Strategic Conference Room (Locked)
– Fountain of Regeneration (Locked)
– Hall of Heroes (Locked)
…
…
There were various other facilities, but most of them were locked.
“There isn’t much that’s immediately useful.”
Still, I had no choice but to upgrade the dungeon now.
I immediately purchased all the facilities that could be built.
– Purchased ‘Warehouse’.
– Purchased ‘Training Ground’.
– Purchased ‘Corpse Repository’.
– Purchased ‘Interrogation Room’.
– Consuming jewels to upgrade ‘Interrogation Room’ to ‘Execution Ground’.
– Execution Ground: Instills fear in the prisoners being interrogated. It also increases the loyalty of monsters within the dungeon.
“With the facilities, it finally feels like a dungeon.”
Suddenly, with the addition of facilities, the interior of the dungeon also changed. Nevertheless, with the addition of facilities, it finally had the atmosphere of a dungeon.
“Next, let’s focus on expansion.”
The next thing I chose was [Dungeon Expansion].
It didn’t mean expanding to new sectors.
I intended to increase the size of the existing sectors.
Even without it, Sector 1 was already filled with Undead monsters. In Sector 2, goblins were already living packed together.
In the current state, I couldn’t recruit more monsters even if I wanted to.
So, I planned to expand the dungeon using jewels.
It was time for the dungeon to undergo changes after a long time.
* * *
Celia returned to the dungeon after completing her mission.
Thanks to the bandit leader, Ralph, whom she met on the way, the work was easily resolved. Ralph’s manipulated stories spread widely among adventurers.
As a result, Celia and Kazel were able to return sooner than expected.
“Ah, I feel the greatness of Master once again.”
Upon returning, Celia marveled at the changed appearance of the dungeon.
It was only Master who could change the dungeon so freely.
“This is his power!”
Celia exclaimed in an excited voice and looked around.
The most noticeable change was the increased size of each sector.
And most importantly, new facilities had been added.
Especially, since the existing subordinate officer room had been changed into an office, Celia smiled brightly.
“Indeed. Master must have intended for this situation!”
The Master, whom Celia thinks of, is an omnipotent being.
Therefore, she would already know about the dungeon’s existence becoming known among adventurers.
No, it was certain.
It must be that Master had changed the dungeon to encourage her to defend against the adventurers who would come in the future.
“This Celia will surely spread Master’s reputation throughout the continent!”
Celia’s plan began now.
