Dungeon Maker

"We should've brought a cart or something."

There were around forty-odd different items within Kaiwan's Armory. Among them, was a total of seven magical items.

One helmet, two armors, three swords, and one shield.

He could carry them by himself if he wore them, but since he wasn't able to equip them right now, he had no choice but to just carry them individually by hand.

He handed the items out to Skull, Jon, and the Kobold though he decided to just give the Kobold a shield so he wouldn't be able to hide it away. After handing them the items, Yong-Ho approached the salamander in the corner of the room.

Its movements still looked extremely sluggish, as if it was still recovering from being hit on the head so many times.

When it noticed that Yong-Ho was approaching it, it began to bare its teeth and growl, but that didn't last for long. As soon Yong-Ho slightly raised Aamon, the salamander immediately backed down and when Skull raised his hammer, it even started to whimper.

Judging from its appearance it seemed to recognize the fact that it couldn't beat them, just like Catalina had said. Yong-Ho asked Catalina.

"How do I register the dungeon monster as a dungeon spirit? Is it the same as registering ordinary spirits?"

"It's quite different, but what you personally have to do is fairly similar. You can leave the more complex tasks to the Spirit of the Dungeon. The important thing is that the dungeon monster needs to be willing to submit to you."

The salamander seemed to have already submitted itself. So, Yong-Ho took a step closer towards the salamander and slightly raised his hand. He then placed his left hand above the salamander's head and called the Spirit of the Dungeon.

[Would you like to register the salamander as a dungeon spirit?]

[More mana will be required than the typical dungeon spirit.]

"Since Master has already consumed a lot of mana, would you like to use the remaining mana in the dungeon instead?]

Just as Catalina had said, what Yong-Ho needed to do was similar. As soon as he confirmed with the Spirit of the Dungeon, a small, white magic circle was drawn between Yong-Ho's palm and the salamander's head.

[Registration complete. The salamander is now a dungeon spirit.]

As if to prove it, a complex looking white magic circle suddenly appeared on the salamander's forehead.

Perhaps because it was a dungeon monster, but it seemed to be treated differently by spirits hired from the Dungeon Market.

The salamander had now been acquired. Yong-Ho felt great with the current situation but he suddenly became curious. He asked aloud.

"Can I use the remaining mana in the dungeon?"

If it was possible for him to inject his own mana into the dungeon, wouldn't a reverse also be possible?

[It's possible. However, it will be less efficient than retrieving the mana that you've injected into me.]

[What's the difference?]

[During the absorption process, you would expect to lose around 30% of the mana.]

It was a tolerable rate. Furthermore, Yong-Ho didn't require that much mana anyway for what he was about to do.

Following the guidance of the Spirit of the Dungeon, Yong-Ho absorbed a part of the remaining mana. It was amazing the way the mana flowed into his body from the ceiling and the floor.

"Okay, let's give it a try."

Yong-Ho smiled as green flames blossomed from his eyes. The Power of Evolution started to analyze the salamander.

[Race: Salamander (M)]

[Class: Evil Spirit (Mid-Rank)]

[Main Element: Fire]

[Main Stats: Physique / Strength]

[Evolution Rate: 0/100]

Perhaps it was because Yong-Ho had become stronger, but now he was able to see the "Class" category. To test it, he looked at Catalina, who was standing next to him.

[Name: Catalina (F)]

[Race: Half Succubus / Half Dark Elf]

[Class: Demon (Mid-Rank)]

[Main Elements: Wind / Darkness | Secondary Elements : Thunder / Water / Earth]

[Main Stats: Succubus - Charm / Mana | Dark Elf - Agility / Courage]

[Evolution Rate : 70/100]

Catalina, too, had another category show up.

'A mid-ranked demon.'

Yong-Ho wanted to analyze Skull as well, but instead, he looked back at the salamander. He wasn't able to absorb a lot of the dungeon's mana.

[Physique - Level 2 | ★★ (2)] -> [Development routes will be revealed upon advancement]

[Agility - Level 1 | ★★☆ (2.5)] -> [Development routes will be revealed upon advancement]

[Mana - Level 2 | ★☆ (1.5)]

[Strength - Level 1 | ★★ (2)]

As expected, they've already developed quite a lot.

Moreover, the additional information regarding the evolutionary routes was quite useful.

Yong-Ho slowly raised his finger into the air. When he touched the physique category, an interesting silhouette of the salamander's development was revealed. It showed the already large salamander to have grown even larger. Although it was just an estimate, it must have grown at least 1.2 times.

Yong-Ho then examined its agility. Since it had high evolutionary potential, he was excited to see the results.

Once again, a silhouette was drawn in the air. Yong-Ho unknowingly yelled aloud.

"Wings?!"

Because of his sudden yell, all of the dungeon spirits, including the salamander, looked at Yong-Ho in surprise.

Yong-Ho took a deep breath and looked at the silhouette again. When evolving through the agility route, the salamander would develop wings that resembled a bat's. Other than that there wasn't a huge difference, except that its body became slimmer.

'It also stated that further development routes would be revealed upon advancement in agility...'

He couldn't be completely sure as of right now. But, Yong-Ho could safely assume.

It would be possible for him to develop the salamander into a flying monster. Ultimately, it may even resemble a dragon.

A wide smile appeared on his face. It was a good thing he had listened to Catalina and accepted the salamander as a dungeon spirit rather than killing it.

"Well done. Good job, Catalina!"

Yong-Ho patted Catalina on the shoulder and lavished praise upon her. Catalina awkwardly smiled and expressed gratitude at the sudden compliment, but was still rather pleased since it was a compliment nonetheless.

"Whew, great. Let's go back."

Yong-Ho stopped using the Power of Evolution and looked back at everyone and said.

Just the thought of going back and getting Eligor to inspect the magical items made him feel good. He also planned to further evolve some of his spirits after he recovered some of his mana

Yong-Ho took the lead, while Catalina and the rest followed behind. The salamander did the same.

***

Somehow, not only Eligor but all of the spirits knew in advance of his return and were awaiting him in the throne room.

Eligor, on behalf of all the spirits, respectively greeted Yong-Ho on his return.

"You have returned, Master."

"How did you know?"

The Goblins usually slept in the corner of the throne room, so they could have been together there by chance, but that wasn't the case for the Treant.

This was the first time he had seen the Treant in this room.

Eligor explained with a smile.

"I was contacted by the Spirit of the Dungeon. As a spirit that belongs to this dungeon, I'm able to have simple conversations with her, but I'm unable to talk with her in detail like you do Master."

Now that he thought about it when the dungeon was attacked a few days ago, Eligor had called all the spirits and locked the door.

Yong-Ho slightly nodded his head and indicated to Catalina and the other spirits to place the magic items down in one location.

"We only brought the magical items for now. We'll go and bring the other equipment later."

"Ohh…"

Upon looking at the magical item, tears started to form in Eligor's eyes. It was inevitable. It was the armory that the previous owners had given up on finding.

"You have done a great job, Master."

Eligor spoke while trying to restrain his emotions. Yong-Ho shrugged.

"It wasn't just me that worked. Everyone did well. Skull and…"

Yong-Ho stopped talking for a moment and lightly rolled his eyes. He noticed Catalina pricking up her ears.

"Catalina, especially, did a fantastic job."

At Yong-Ho's comment, Catalina slightly bowed her head in an attempt to subtly hide her sudden joyful expression. Skull, however, was widely expressing his glee by swinging his hammer around in the air.

Both of them were the dungeon's most reliable treasures.

Eligor spoke while wiping away his tears.

"I've prepared water for you to wash in and food for you as well. Please take some to rest."

He was able to smell the food. Yong-Ho was desperate to take a rest, but he felt the urgent need to first inspect the magical items.

"Does it take a long time to examine the magical items? Are there any items that are required other than mana?"

"In some cases, strong magical items require special preparations to be made, but usually weaker items can be inspected right away. And… since the items within the armory that belonged to the owner three generations ago. Even if there were cursed items, they would only activate when worn by someone outside of the House of Mammon."

As if he prepared the answer in advance, Eligor answered Yong-Ho's questions with ease. Yong-Ho tilted his head.

"Huh? It's possible to tell the difference?"

"The dungeon spirits of the House of Mammon are registered to the dungeon. It's like a magical tattoo in order to differentiate them."

In short, there was no real reason to be concerned about the curse.

'Come to think of it, there wasn't a curse on the ring either.'

Convinced, Yong-Ho nodded his head. If the items weren't cursed, then they could just use each of the items to check their effects.

However, it was then that Catalina quietly coughed, attracting Yong-Ho's attention. She pointed to the passage behind them with her eyes.

"Oh, come to think of it, introductions have been overdue."

Yong-Ho spoke and Catalina immediately reacted.

"I'll go get them."

As soon as he mentioned introductions, Eligor just stood there and blinked. It was the same for Ron and the other Goblins.

Moments later, Eligor loudly exclaimed as Catalina passed through the opened door.

"Salamander!"

The Goblins were taken aback in fear after seeing the giant lizard covered in flames. Even the Treant was floundering in surprise.

"You subjugated the monster guarding the armory?"

Eligor struggled to talk while panting. Yong-Ho nodded.

"Yeah. It was Catalina's idea."

However, it seemed that Eligor didn't really hear anything after the word 'yeah'. After he admired the salamander for a few seconds, he looked up at Yong-Ho.

"By Mammon! I can't help but be amazed at your ability."

Not only had he reclaimed the armory that the previous owners had to give up, but he had managed to subdue the salamander, who was the cause of their strife. It had only been around ten days since Yong-Ho had ascended the throne, so it was quite an outstanding achievement.

.

Instead of nonchalantly shrugging, he patted Eligor on the shoulder. He then headed, along with the other spirits, to the dinner earlier prepared by Eligor.

Eligor had prepared a lot after hearing the news of Yong-Ho's success at retaking the armory, but sadly, the food wasn't all that special.

Lacking clothing, food, and shelter, they were on the borderline between poverty and self-sufficiency.

Their main source of food came from whatever Catalina had hunted down and the grain provided by the Dungeon Market from their advance payment. At first, it seemed like quite a generous amount, but since they now had a lot more mouths to feed, Yong-Ho felt that it was a bit lacking.

After eating a pancake, Yong-Ho looked at Eligor.

"Hey, Eligor."

"Yes, Master?"

"How do you earn money in the demon world?"

In the human world, nobles would live off the taxes that they received from their territory.

If the equivalent was true in the demon world, then for demon kings, dungeons would become their territory. However, he found it questionable whether it was possible to generate an income through this dungeon.

Instead of giving an immediate answer, Eligor thought for a second and then spoke.

"I'm not sure how it works in your human world… but I believe that money earned here is quite similar."

The demon world was a place where people lived within demon families. Even though the world was ruled by law of the jungle, society couldn't be maintained simply through the act of killing...

"There are several ways you can earn money through the dungeon."

Eligor didn't feel the need to lower his voice. Catalina was the only person that was interested in Yong-Ho's current conversation. The Goblins and the Kobold were busy stuffing their faces with all the food in front of them, whereas Skull was just rolling around the floor as usual.

"The main method is to trade various items that are produced within the dungeon."

It was the most obvious answer. Eligor continued to talk.

"We don't have the facilities for the moment, but… there are a variety of ways to produce items within the dungeon. There are dungeons that grow various medicinal and magical plants whereas there are dungeons that purely just trade mana. The previous owner raised a variety of magical plants."

Yong-Ho could grow and sell various items within the dungeon, similar to how a farmer would grow and sell crops.

However, there were methods other than just selling simple items.

"In some cases, profits could be made by buying and selling spirits."

"I don't know about later, but that's something I want to avoid for now."

Yong-Ho immediately spoke up and Eligor admired him.

"You're most wise, Master."

Yong-Ho had the Power of Evolution, which allowed him to evolve spirits.

After purchasing low-ranked spirits like Skeletons and Goblins, he could evolve them and then later resell them to quickly generate money, even if they weren't worth as much as mid-ranked spirits.

However, then the world would know of Yong-Ho's existence.

Spirits that had evolved were too conspicuous. If those spirits were shown at the market, it would generate a lot of attention in the demon world.

The House of Mammon was still too weak. Now was not the time to let the demon world know about Yong-Ho's existence and that he had come from the human world.

"Also… I can't say that it's really a good method, but after repelling invaders, there are times when you can obtain good loot from them."

"Just like the guy I took down last time?"

The green cape that Yong-Ho was currently wearing had belonged to that guy. Eligor further expressed the pros and cons.

"There are times when intruders are part of the same demon family, however, there are also times when invaders may be from the human world."

"From the human world?"

"Yes, and with all due respect, you're technically regarded as from that world as well. Since, of course, you were born and raised there."

Of course, Eligor was right. He continued his explanation.

"Sometimes certain areas within the demon world 'connect' to the human world. Even when a connection is created, usually nothing bad happens and it's resolved peacefully, however…"

"There are exceptions."

"A dungeon owner may sometimes enter the human world and carry out an attack and vice versa. No matter which side wins, they're often able to reap substantial gains. There have been a couple of demons in the past that grew at an extremely fast rate because of this."

In short, that meant human soldiers had fought with demons of a dungeon.

Yong-Ho briefly recalled the games that he had played in the past and a frown appeared on his face. He was now considered the boss monster that protected the dungeon.

"That's not something I would particularly like to do."

"It doesn't happen that often, so you don't have to worry about it."

After finishing the conversation with a warm smile, Eligor focused on his food again.

Yong-Ho ate the rest of his pancakes and drank a cup of water. Even though he had achieved considerable gains today, he still had a long way to go.

'I must obtain that gold mine.'

However, recapturing it wasn't going to be easy. There were a lot of Crazy Ants and Slimes, and he was unsure of what other dangers might be lurking inside the mine, including the Queen Ant.

'But still.'

It's something he could take his time with. At first, Catalina and Eligor were the only spirits in the desolate dungeon, but now, they had made considerable progress.

Come to think of it, it was a bizarre story.

Just two weeks ago, Yong-Ho was the son of a chicken restaurant owner and was a freshman in computer science.

'But now, he was both a dungeon owner and a demon king.'

In the end, it wasn't a light situation. He could have lost his life from the invading demons who were targeting the heart of the dungeon.

But Yong-Ho couldn't deny it. For the moment, he was enjoying every day he had spent in the dungeon.

Were these the feelings of Yong-Ho himself or was it the influence of Greed?

Yong-Ho decided not to think too deeply into it. Either way, that was how he felt.

To become stronger. To gain wealth. To move forward.

Those were his goals, he also wanted to install the 'Space Door' to get back to the human world.

How far would he be able to go?

What would he find along the way?

Yong-Ho didn't try to find the answer.

He looked at the spirits. He possessed the same warm smile as Eligor.