Dungeon Maker

Chapter 3 Taking the Throne 2

Behind Eligor appeared a woman, dressed in highly revealing clothing, walking slowly toward them.

Her long red hair flowed smoothly behind her like silk. A purple dress enveloped her milky white skin, revealing her shoulders and neck, and partially displaying her large breasts. Her dress was wrapped tightly around her thin waist, with a narrow slit down the side exposing her thighs.

"It is a pleasure to meet the descendant of the great Mammon. I am the dungeon merchant Sitri."

After Sitri gracefully bowed toward him, Yong-Ho managed to maintain his posture and prevent extending his head into her gaping cleavage.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Sitri. My name is Chun Yong-Ho, and I shall be taking Mammon's place as the master of the dungeon."

Yong-Ho felt the need to say something but wasn't able to talk to her casually right away, so he decided to first just formally introduce himself. He was hesitant to reveal the fact that he was human, but time was just too short for him to come to a proper decision.

Anyway, if being human was such a problem, then Catalina and Eligor wouldn't have to come and visited him in the first place.

After hearing Yong-Ho's careful response, Catalina sighed in relief and Eligor gave a satisfied smile. Sitri glanced at Yong-Ho for a moment and smiled seductively.

"Perhaps the Mammon Family has finally regained its luck."

It might have been an insulting remark to others, but Eligor seemed to revel in it. Catalina didn't seem to be as delighted as Eligor, but she appeared to agree with the sentiment as well.

'Did they not feel bad about the previous master?'

He didn't know the details, but he could understand their feelings to a certain extent. Due to the suicide of their former master, Eligor and Catarina were in danger of dying themselves.

"Then let's proceed. Chun Yong-Ho please wear this necklace."

Sitri pulled out a necklace buried beneath her cleavage. It was made of gold with a large green gemstone attached to it, roughly about the size of two fingers.

Yong-Ho had only just heard that Sitri was going to attend the ceremony never mind what was actually going to happen in it. Naturally, he didn't know what the necklace was specifically for, nor what Sitri was planning to do from now on. No, regardless of that, he was already on the verge of paralysis due to Sitri's exposed cleavage.

After seeing how Yong-Ho looked somewhat nervous, Sitri shook her head and then asked with a smile, "Oh, do you not know the ceremony?"

Yong-ho was a youthful South Korean male, who went to an all-male middle school, high school, and then entered a school for engineering. Seeing such a seductive woman smile while asking him a question made him realize that he lacked the ability to resist telling the truth to such a beautiful woman like her.

After revealing that he didn't know with an awkward expression, Eligor stared at Catalina as if he was going to chew her up at any moment. He looked at her as if he was asking why she hadn't given Yong-Ho an explanation.

Catalina tried to clumsily defend herself but eventually just shut her mouth. After all, speaking more would only further embarrass herself in front of their visitor.

Sitri then approached Yong-ho and explained, "From now on, the ceremony will contain only the necessary procedures and skip all the formalities. By wearing this necklace around your neck, your two vassals and I shall perform the magic ritual which shall allow you to reawaken as a demon."

After hearing the word, 'reawaken', Yong-Ho gulped nervously. Sitri noticed Yong-Ho's expression and continued to talk in an alluring voice, "Master of the dungeon is a special role amongst our kind in the demon world. Especially for you, Yong-Ho, who has succeeded the role of the great demon Mammon. You shall surely receive a great power. This necklace will not only help you awaken your powers as a demon, but it shall also tell you the type of power that you have awakened."

As Sitri finished talking, the necklace had already been placed around Yong-Ho's neck. Eligor suddenly spoke up, "A title that indicates your power will appear on the jewel. Like 'The Demon of Magic', or 'The Demon of Magic', or 'The Demon of Magic'."

It was clear what title Eligor personally wished for. With a nervous expression, Yong-Ho examined the jewel embedded on the necklace.

"Then let us begin the ceremony."

Rather than a pedestal, the throne just rested on the flat floor, so Sitri was able to create distance between them by simply taking a step back. Catalina and Eligor, on the other hand, naturally stood on the left and right side of Yong-Ho.

Facing Yong-Ho, Sitri closed her eyes and began to quietly chant in an unknown language. Soon, Catalina and Eligor followed suit, and Yong-Ho began to feel his first genuine fear since entering this new world.

It was the fear of change.

The fear of a new life vastly different from his past.

His blood began to boil. The louder their voices became, the hotter his body began to feel. His mind was beginning to lose focus. Pure pleasure overwhelmed his mind as he bathed in the feeling of being reborn anew.

Mere moments later...

Yong-Ho breathed out, releasing all the heat within himself. He suddenly felt himself breathing quite differently than before. The pupils of his eyes had also changed. His eyes shone with an emerald light as a message appeared before him.

The power received through awakening.

It was a message symbolizing the reawakened Yong-Ho.

<The Demon King of Evolution>

"Pant... pant...."

With a heavy breath, Yong-Ho raised his head. Now that he had attained the position as the master of the dungeon, he was able to somehow connect with the feelings of Catalina and Eligor.

Eligor felt overjoyed. He was trembling with excitement even though Yong-Ho hadn't received the power he had hoped for.

Catalina, who had a calmer mindset, still felt both relief and excitement coursing through her.

Relief—he could understand. After all, she finally had a place to return to. But, excitement? Why was she feeling excited?

Yong-Ho shifted the gaze of his bright green eyes to Sitri. He was unable to read her feelings, but he did notice a gleam held within her purple eyes.

The Demon King of Evolution.

This wasn't the only power. As he reawakened as a demon, there was another power that had revealed itself.

<The Seven Deadly Sins - Greed>

That was the real reason why Eligor and Catalina were so thrilled. It was the power of the Demon King, Mammon, that had not been revealed amongst his descendants for many years.

Yong-Ho looked within himself. He wanted to know more about this power that he had awakened.

But, at that very moment, the mysterious voice of a young girl rang out in his head.

[An intruder has entered the dungeon!]

***

Yong-Ho tightly closed his eyes and then sharply reopened them. From the very moment that he had awakened as a demon, he had become connected to the spirit of the dungeon, which now told him what he needed to do.

As he widely opened his hand, a large window of light appeared before him. Inside the window, that looked like a computer screen, a bird's eye view of the dungeon was spread out before him.

The Demon King Mammon, one of the Seven Deadly Sins, was clearly a formidable being. Even though he had experienced his downfall, the scale of the dungeon was truly enormous.

'It's useless'

More than half of the dungeon was in ruins. Either the ceiling had caved in, the walls had collapsed, or the floor had given way. Even the surviving area wasn't in the best condition. Almost four-fifths of the remaining land had been "deactivated".

All rooms of little to no purpose had been deprived of mana supply for a long time.

They were different from the empty stone room that Yong-Ho had first encountered. Even though its grade was the lowest, that empty stone room, however, was an "activated" space. Yong-Ho wasn't even able to access a "Deactivated" room.

If there were a hundred rooms in the whole of Mammon's dungeon, then only eight of those rooms would be usable. Most of those rooms were just empty stone rooms as well.

Yong-Ho felt like he had just been scammed, but decided to suppress that feeling and enlarge the available rooms on the map before him. He wasn't sure if the system had functioned this way before, or if it had specifically tailored itself for him, as it operated like a smartphone.

The eight available rooms were connected in a straight line. Yong-Ho was located in the second room to the left, whereas the furthermost room to the right was the entrance of the dungeon.

There was just a single intruder that had infiltrated the first room to the far right.

"Crimson Ogre!"

It seemed that the window of light was visible to Catalina and Eligor as well. Yong-Ho frowned deeply as he heard Eligor's frustrating cry. The spirit of the dungeon quickly provided him with new information.

[The heart of the dungeon is the room located at the far left of the screen. If the dungeon's heart is destroyed, then the dungeon will also die.]

At first, he wanted to ask how the dungeon would die if it was an inanimate object but decided to refrain from doing so. The reason that Catalina and Eligor had come to Yong-Ho in the first place was because the dungeon would die if there was no master to rule it.

After passing through the first room, the Crimson Ogre then moved into the second. He wasn't sure if the Ogre was really trying to invade the dungeon or if it had just gotten accidentally lost. Mammon's shabby dungeon only had a simple route configuration.

"Don't worry. There are many different types of traps within this dungeon," Eligor hurriedly shouted. Indeed, in the window before him, a summary of the dungeon was available, which showed him the markings of different traps installed in each room.

[Pitfall Trap - the most basic and classic type of trap that tricks enemies by covering a deep hole with a large mat.]

[Arrow Trap - a trap that kills enemies by firing a dozen arrows.]

[Fire Trap - a trap that destroys enemies with a flame created by magical power.]

Starting from the second room from the right, there were traps installed in each room.

'Nice, now this is more like a demon's dungeon.'

However, Yong-Ho's excitement barely lasted for even five seconds.

The Crimson Ogre fell into the Pitfall Trap, but the hole only came up to the ogre's waist. After struggling for a bit, it managed to get out.

"Ehh, I tried to dig the trap, but we lacked manpower."

He ignored Eligor's excuse and looked at the third room. Contradictory to the explanation, the arrow trap refused to fire a single shot.

"We ran out of arrows...."

This time, it was Catalina making an excuse.

Yong-Ho was patient. That was, until the ogre passed the fourth room with no issues, either. Yong-Ho sighed with disbelief.

"The magic to trigger the fire trap is..."

The Crimson Ogre then intruded upon the fifth room. Instead of covering his face with his hands, Yong-Ho looked expectantly at Catalina, the guardian of the dungeon.

"Catalina, can you win against that?"

It was a little awkward to ask her to do something like that, but since he was now the master of the dungeon, it was only natural.

Catalina's face was filled with fear as she looked at the screen, but she nevertheless tightened her fists, as if she was hardening her heart.

"I-I'll deal with it."

She looked as if she was about to cry.

The Crimson Ogre then passed through the fifth room and was about to enter the sixth. They were running out of time. Yong-Ho focused on the screen in front of him, instead of looking at Sitri for help, who had a calm expression on her face. He analyzed all the information that the Spirit of the Dungeon had given him and devised a plan.

He inquired about the remaining necessary information from the Dungeon Spirit.

[A room costs 10 mana to activate.]

[The path from the heart of the dungeon to the entrance must always be connected.]

Yong-Ho quickly waved his hands. Since he had awakened as a demon, the magic from his hands could be imprinted onto the screen. He only had 100 mana points. However, the remaining balance of the dungeon was only 10 mana, so compared to that, he had 10 times more.

It was now impossible to install a new trap into the sixth room. Not even considering the mana that would be required, he didn't even have the manpower nor the time to install any more traps.

What other assets did Mammon's dungeon possess?

Lots of useless space. That is, lots of inactive rooms with nothing inside.

Yong-Ho placed his finger on the inactive room just below where he was currently residing. At the same time, he activated the room by consuming his mana and then swiped his finger across to the entrance, activating seven rooms in total.

In total, 70 points of his mana had been used. But, he was still not done. Waving his hands while tightly holding his breath, Yong-Ho deactivated the sixth room, the only room remaining between himself and the Crimson Ogre. The door in front of the throne room suddenly disappeared, as if it had never existed.

His eyes darted back to the screen. The Crimson Ogre seemed perplexed by the sudden disappearance of the door.

'Please, please!'

The ogre didn't seem to want to go back. It instead forcefully opened the new door in the left wall.

At that same moment, Yong-Ho waved his finger again as he both reactivated the recently disabled old sixth room and then deactivated the 'new sixth room' in one swift motion.

He had to obey the rule that the heart and entrance of the dungeon must be connected at all times.

It was extremely close.

Not noticing that the door to the 'new sixth room' had just disappeared, the Ogre seemed to wander around a bit and then eventually exited through a door that he hadn't yet entered, a room leading to the entrance of the dungeon.

Catalina and Eligor opened their eyes wide in astonishment. Yong-Ho forgot to breathe as he watched the ogre's every move.

"Oh-oh! The Crimson Ogre is fleeing!"

'It's not fleeing, it's just leaving.'

Yong-Ho, however, did not blame Eligor for his excitement. He was too busy trying to catch his breath as he slumped down onto the throne.

He was lucky.

He was able to lead it out since the ogre wasn't planning to attack the dungeon and instead had just gotten lost.

Since the majority of Mammon's dungeon was empty space, he was able to create a way out through momentarily activating and deactivating certain rooms. Had a trap been installed in the sixth room, he would not have used such a method.

The Crimson Ogre then completely left the dungeon. Then, as if it had been infected by Catalina and Eligor, the spirit of the dungeon spoke in a bright tone.

[First victory.]

[The attacking enemy has been successfully repelled.]

[Acquired loot: -]

[Acquired mana: -]

'Of course, I got nothing.' Rather, he had almost consumed all of his mana.

However, he had won regardless. This was his first victory as the new master of the dungeon.

'It's a small victory, though.'

Yong-Ho, who was already dropped across the throne, further stretched himself out across it. It was at that moment that Sitri entered his vision.

She was smiling.

It was an unusually bright smile that didn't quite fit with her alluring beauty.

Sitri looked back at Yong-Ho and quickly replaced the bright smile with her typical seductive expression as she began to speak to him.

"Dear customer, I look forward to seeing you again in the near future."

Without waiting for an answer, she took one of his Yong-Ho's hands and planted a gentle kiss on the back of it. She then gracefully turned around and left the dungeon like a swift breeze.

A few seconds later.

Catalina and Eligor quickly knelt before Yong-Ho, as if they had planned it beforehand. They then both spoke in a heartfelt tone.

"I, Catalina, offer my allegiance to the master of the dungeon."

"I, Eligor, offer my allegiance to the master of the dungeon."

A clumsy guard and a decrepit butler.

The dungeon was in such ruins that it was almost destroyed by a lost ogre.

'I just want to give up.'

However, he never said that out loud. After re-awakening as a demon, Yong-Ho now truly understood. As the master of the dungeon, the dungeon was now a part of Yong-Ho. It wasn't something he could easily throw away.

He just gave a hopeless chuckle and accepted the will of the two people in front of him, who had sworn their allegiance to him.

Chun Yong-Ho, the Demon King of Evolution.

The one who had inherited one of the Seven Deadly Sins, the power of greed.

He had taken a great, yet dangerous, first step into the world of demons.