Chapter 43
I bought the Memory Cat and the Ink Rat.
With these, if an intruder carries information out and comes back to attack Dreamland again,
I’d be at least somewhat prepared for the so-called 'multiple-run wave'.
If some weakling tries to farm easy gains off me, I can just beat them down.
And if a strong one comes, I can use the anomalies against them, so it feels like I’ve got my countermeasures down.
However.
A helper died this time.
According to the head mod, they were someone the Blesser had cut off.
What sort of variable that creates is still unknown.
So I need to prepare.
There’s a formula for expanding a dungeon.
1. Choose a trap.
2. Choose a minion to pair with the trap.
It’s a little different from the formulas other veterans use.
Usually, they mainly use minions and use traps more as support.
But in the anomaly theme, traps are like the stage itself, so in many ways they have to be the main feature.
As a celebration for reaching level 80, I take a look at the 4-star traps.
The higher the level goes, the more the number of available pieces shrinks, as expected.
"Oh."
I found an interesting name.
【Strange Goblin Cave Generator (★4)】
【Price : 150,000P】
【Tags : Anomaly, Immortal, One-time】
【…….】
【…….】
School, maze, and the white hallway that serves as the base, and so on.
Most of the traps I’ve seen so far were modern-themed.
This one was oddly fantasy-like.
You could say it suited this world.
I was a little torn.
When that happens, the gallery is the answer.
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Title : The constable I saved last time confessed and asked me out—what do I do?? Should I accept?? Can a dungeon master and a human have sex and have a baby??
Author : Newbie
Brothers, I’m trying to expand Zone 3, but I’m really torn over the trap choice. Could you take a look?
I’m thinking of going with either Goblin Cave or the downtown area... The scary one is definitely Goblin Cave, but the one intruders wouldn’t be used to is the downtown area, so I’m a little conflicted...
Hmm... honestly, I’m leaning toward Goblin Cave, yeah.
From the description, it feels really different from the goblins I’ve seen before. Will that be okay??
Which one do you guys think would be trickier??
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My title really makes me want to crack you on the head, yeah...
I really want to kill you lol
I rushed over after seeing the title, but this is total fucking clickbait.
Honestly, I was expecting a lot, so this is disappointing...
Hmm... since Queen Ant herself is living proof, for title questions you should ask an expert...
ㄴQueen Ant: Newbie should be laying eggs, not getting pregnant...
ㄴQueen Ant: I can give you a brutal guide, lol.
DIP: This pisses me off, but if you have sex later, will you livestream it?
Slit-Eyed Character: Newbie, will you livestream the sex later too?
ㄴDIP: Same.
ㄴNewbie: I’m not some AV actor or anything, why would I do that;;
Shibalnaraengae: I almost lost the meaning of life.
ㄴShibalnaraengae: Did I do something wrong? Lately, whenever Newbie doesn’t reply to my comments, it starts bothering me and I feel like I’m going crazy. What should I do?
ㄴShibalnaraengae: Has Newbie gotten sick of me? Newbie, if I did something to upset you, could you tell me? I’m sorry. I was wrong.
ㄴNewbie: No, it’s just clickbait...
ㄴShibalnaraengae: I tried baiting people too.
ㄴNewbie: It is clickbait, right...?
ㄴShibalnaraengae: Hehe
Newbie: So, brothers, what should I buy??
ㄴShibalnaraengae: Downtown! Absolutely downtown! I’m downtown! The real downtown!
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: Because it looks good for dating Newbie?
ㄴShibalnaraengae: Yup, that’s the right answer >_<
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: What a mess...
MyOnlyNoMinions: I’m voting for Goblin Cave. Just hearing the description makes it freaking terrifying, doesn’t it??
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: I don’t know how it’ll apply to the Blesser, but... stuff like this usually gnaws at a person’s mind.
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: It makes people’s judgment fuzzy inside the area, I guess. Of course most of Newbie’s dungeon is like that, but in that respect Goblin Cave feels like the king of the bunch.
ㄴOrange★: I actually think the more familiar something is, the easier it is to feel fear.
ㄴOrange★: I agree with Nabu.
ㄴQueen Ant: This one feels a little more horrific to me too.
ㄴGolem King: I think Goblin Cave is better too??
ㄴSkull Bones: It’s not that downtown is bad, but........
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Downtown got two votes.
The others recommended Goblin Cave.
Shibalnaraengae: But it really is clickbait, right...? Like, there wasn’t some meeting or something you didn’t post to the gallery...? I’m just asking because I’m curious...
ㄴNewbie: Nothing like that happened ㅠㅠ
ㄴShibalnaraengae: ...........................
But from now on, I guess I should keep the baiting at a reasonable level.
One person got caught in the blast, and the menhera meter shot through the roof.
Newbie: Love, you’re the only one for me...
ㄴShibalnaraengae: Gasp! Newbie-yam! Is that really true!?
ㄴNewbie: Actually, I was lying...
ㄴShibalnaraengae: I’ll die
ㄴNewbie: So you’re not menhera after all.
And so construction began.
For the expansion section, I got help from Nabu, the Dungeon Gallery’s construction foreman.
MyOnlyNoMinions: Making it square like a school is the cheapest, yeah.
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: If you’re only making the space bigger, then yeah, that’s how you should do it.
ㄴMyOnlyNoMinions: You’ve mastered how to use the expansion tool by now, haven’t you??
ㄴNewbie: Thanks to you for teaching me. Thanks, thanks.
As expected, people improve with practice.
In truth, I wasn’t personally smashing rocks with a pickaxe and digging with a shovel.
Since it was built with the system’s assistance, it was basically a freebie.
I built Zone 3 behind Zone 2.
I planned to keep making it into a straight line like this from here on.
Anyway, I can get anywhere by elevator.
"Good."
When I raised my head, a huge cavern came into view.
It was Zone 3.
It felt much larger than Zone 2.
If you enlarged a straight corridor and stretched it horizontally, it would look exactly like this.
The space was ready.
From here on, it was just a matter of setting up traps and elevators appropriately, so there was nothing difficult about it.
However.
One important thing still remained.
That was choosing the minion that would fit Goblin Cave.
Hmm, I looked through the minion window.
Which one should I pick? I was torn.
"Oh, this one’s pretty good?"
While carefully reading the minion descriptions,
one caught my eye.
【Merchant (★4)】
【Price : 50,000P】
【Tags : Anomaly, Immortal, Initiation, Untrainable】
【…….】
【…….】
Among the 4-star minions, it was the cheapest.
But it had pretty good synergy with Goblin Cave.
Merchants exist in this world too.
The vibe fits perfectly.
This one is definitely good.
I bought it right away and placed it in Zone 3.
"Damn, why is it so pretty."
If I had to sum up the merchant in one phrase, I’d call them a local S-rank gold-digger beauty.
If they went, 'Oppa, buy this for meee,' they had the kind of looks that could make you buy things you didn’t even want.
This one is also sleeping soundly like the other minions.
Though seeing it sprawled out in the hallway looks pretty odd.
The senior minions sleep on the floor too, so just bear with it.
Dungeon expansion, minion purchases, trap purchases, and so on.
650,000 points vanished in an instant, but I didn’t mind.
It was the kind of fun shopping spree that naturally left me feeling relaxed.
Looking at Dreamland, now even sturdier, I felt a sense of fulfillment.
"That said, I didn’t expect it to get this big."
Trolls, hobgoblins, black mages, branded elves, lords, helper parties, and so on.
Dreamland had grown lushly, feeding on the blood and flesh of intruders.
The dungeon master’s level was 80.
Population – 10/50
Malangi, Doppelganger, school friends, cats, rats, merchant.
There were already 10 minions.
Device count: - 7/50
Elevators, maze, school, Goblin Cave.
Before I knew it, the traps had reached 7.
There was still the unknown enemy known as the Blesser.
But I had finished all the preparation I could.
If you’re coming in, then come on in.
I’ll make you crap blood anytime.
There was still some time left until the location shift.
I was a little tense, since Sinclair might come into the dungeon furious over a dead party member.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen.
The last intruder in the Forest of Life was Max’s party.
No one came in for a while.
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Browsing the gallery, taking walks, and playing with Malangi.
In that peaceful daily life, time melted away like ice.
At last, that cycle arrived.
【Location shift is beginning.】
Location shift cycle.
Dreamland would soon shift.
Where would it land this time?
Well, anywhere was fine.
Come at me, world.
The newbie dungeon master is coming!
***
Blesser Gallery
Sinclair: Does anyone know anything about Dreamland?
ㄴAboralis: What’s that?
ㄴSinclair: Do you know Baron Jericho?
ㄴAboralis: No.
ㄴSinclair: To sum it up, he’s a noble of the West Kingdom. The lord died, and a retainer who had been serving him inherited the territory and became the new baron.
ㄴSinclair: Anyway, that baron suddenly sent me a letter asking if I was doing well with my dungeon conquest.
ㄴSinclair: Lol, because of that bastard Max, my dungeon conquest got ruined and I was mentally wrecked, so I was taking a break when I saw it and thought, “What the hell is this?”
ㄴSinclair: Apparently that baron gave Max information about a new dungeon called Dreamland...
ㄴSinclair: Last time I got so pissed I kicked Max out of the party, remember?
ㄴSinclair: When a helper dies, part of the points you invested gets refunded, right? A month or two ago the points came back, so I just brushed it off, thinking, “That bastard finally died,” and didn’t think much of it.
ㄴSinclair: Turns out he died in that new dungeon, Dreamland. And apparently the former lord died there before him too.
ㄴAboralis: A new dungeon...???
ㄴAboralis: Nothing got added to the quest though?
ㄴAboralis: I don’t see Dreamland in the dungeon conquest quests at all—am I the only one?
ㄴSinclair: Nope, same here.
ㄴSinclair: Hmm... for now, I think it’s worth investigating.
ㄴSinclair: It might be a hidden quest.
ㄴAboralis: I don’t think conquering a new dungeon would be that profitable, though.
ㄴAboralis: Clear it and give us a review.
ㄴSinclair: Lol, I’d like to, but the location shift is in a week and I still haven’t recovered from losing two helpers.
ㄴSinclair: I’m just going to rest in the South Kingdom until I find a usable human...
ㄴAboralis: Why don’t you try using dwarves like I do?
ㄴAboralis: Maybe it’s because there’s a culture of following the leader even to death, but their obedience is a massive strength.
ㄴSinclair: Humans still have the higher ceiling, lol...
ㄴSinclair: Anyway, thanks...
ㄴSinclair: If I’d known this a month earlier, I might have gone for it... The Forest of Life is still freaking far.
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