NOVEL WEB
Chapter 16
EP.16 The Dungeon Gets Stronger with Microtransactions
“Haah… Ha…”
Someone was running through a dark forest.
His face was hidden beneath a large, ill-fitting robe, leaving only his silvery hair swaying outside.
Even while running, he held tightly onto something clutched in his arms.
It seemed like he might run out of breath any moment, but he didn’t slow down.
‘Just need to get over this hill…!’
Beyond the large mountain lay the realm of death, the Abyss.
They just had to reach there.
‘Stay strong for a bit longer.’
The mysterious figure glanced back for a moment.
In the distance, a group of pursuers was following through the trees.
“You wicked being, halt immediately! In the name of the Order, we will judge you!”
The knights were shouting loudly as they chased on horseback.
‘Just a bit more…’
Once they reached the Abyss, the pursuers would stop. They had to hold on until then.
Their breaths were already heavy. The midnight chase continued.
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I remembered the day I first awakened.
It was a day of awakening, yet the joy didn’t last long.
‘No, it was more like despair.’
The reason was that I didn’t get a status window.
It was a day that should have brought joy but instead filled me with despair.
I even resented being awakened.
But I gathered my strength.
At first, I hoped that hard work would be enough. If I worked hard, would I achieve something?
However, that was an arrogant thought.
Even if I swung my sword with all my might, I was still a hunter without a status window.
To close the gap, I made one choice.
I entered the Hunter Academy, a place allowed only for awakened individuals.
Even without a status window, I was still an awakened.
Enrollment wasn’t that difficult. The problem was what came afterward.
The four years there were nothing less than hell for me.
My peers, and even my juniors, ignored me.
The professors rejected me and treated me unfairly, but I endured.
I thought that if I worked hard enough, someone would acknowledge my efforts.
But the efforts of someone with no talent are nothing but a fantasy.
Still, I endured.
I endured to graduate from the Academy.
Even though I was last in the rankings, I was able to graduate.
But that was it.
Even after graduating from the Academy, I was still a half-baked hunter without a status window.
“Maybe that’s when I realized.”
No matter how hard I tried, as long as the fundamental problem remained unsolved, I would end up stuck in the same place.
It wasn’t an issue of ability.
From the beginning, I didn’t have a status window, so growth and effort were impossible.
Realizing this, I began to escape into games from reality.
At least in games, the more time and money you invested, the higher you could climb.
“Now, things are different.”
I have a status window.
Possibilities have opened up.
Naturally, I started putting in effort once more.
“Of course, I’ll keep playing games.”
However, now I play games not to escape reality but solely for the peace of mind it brings.
In other words, I play games to relieve stress, not to add to it.
It’s a paradoxical situation.
One that’s hard to tolerate.
So, I need to make up for my dungeon’s rating drop.
“My goal is dungeon growth and decoration.”
I feel like I’ve been playing games too simplistically.
As the concept of dungeon protector, I should take some time to manage it.
I clicked on the screen and looked at the dungeon. First, some new functions appeared for facility installation and dungeon expansion.
When it came to facilities, I had limitations on the types I could purchase right now.
“I’ll definitely install the Servant’s Office… Oh, having a Prison would be good too.”
Earlier, when I looked at the dungeon, it seemed like the goblins had captured an adventurer.
More adventurers might get caught in the future, so it seemed wise to start preparing now.
– To construct the Prison, you’ll need 5,000 gold. –
– You are short on gold. –
– You can purchase gold with gems. –
The problem was, I didn’t have any gold at the moment.
The gold I initially acquired from the Servant Fusion Pack had been used to expand the dungeon.
“Can I use my gems for this?”
In most games, you could use premium currency like gems to buy in-game currency.
– The value of 100 gems is 10,000 gold. –
“This should be fine, right?”
I currently had 9,800 gems.
In total, they were worth 98,000 gold.
But spending all my gems on this was a foolish choice.
For now, I decided to exchange only 800 gems for gold.
– Spent 800 gems and received 80,000 gold. –
With 80,000 gold, I immediately purchased the Prison.
– 5,000 gold has been spent. –
– The Prison has been purchased. –
– Would you like to place the Prison? –
No, not right now. Placing it should come after all the preparations.
I shifted my attention to other facilities.
Celia, who always wandered around the dungeon, concerned me.
I decided to purchase the Servant’s Office, a place where she could perform her duties.
– It will cost 10,000 gold. –
– The Servant’s Office has been purchased. –
I also looked at the Shack, another purchasable facility. It was described as a space where monsters could live.
“Hmm…”
Were there any monsters that needed a Shack right now? The skeletons didn’t seem like they required one. Just look at them.
They were like freshly emerged from a grave, standing motionless. Even though it was a game, their appearance was somewhat eerie.
Still, it seemed like they would manage fine without this facility.
There were only three goblins left, but their numbers were too small.
“For now, let’s not think about the Shack.”
There were only a few facility types available for purchase, and I didn’t see any need for additional ones.
Instead, it was time to decorate the dungeon itself. Placing the purchased facilities would be a task for later. I immediately touched [Dungeon Expansion.]
“Oh…”
More functions had been added than I had expected. Initially, I could only expand the size of the dungeon by spending 100,000 gold. But now, various decoration options had become available.
I could create new paths and expand the spaces for monsters to inhabit.
“I can even make waterways?”
At the same time, I could choose the terrain for the dungeon.
This would allow for many strategic possibilities.
Creating waterways would enable the placement of monsters that lived in water, or it could serve as a means to temporarily stop intruders.
Of course, not everything could be built for free. Some options required gems, while others needed gold. But my wallet was quite thick.
I bought gems without hesitation.
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As I decorated the dungeon, I realized that three hours had passed unnoticed.
Thanks to that, my eyes were bloodshot from staring at the screen.
“Still, I’ve done it all!”
I had rearranged and decorated the inside of the dungeon according to my vision.
After decorating, I proceeded to draw monsters and place them in each location.
I had done a great job, even by my own standards.
Initially, the dungeon had a simple layout with a single passage from the entrance to the end.
Intruders simply had to move straight forward.
This gave me the advantage of focusing solely on the front, without worrying about the rear.
However, now it was different.
Upon entering the dungeon, there were two paths to choose from.
I had moved Area 2, which was previously behind Area 1, to the front.
Now, intruders had to choose between two paths when they entered the dungeon.
The left path led to Area 1, where the undead resided.
If they chose the right path, they would enter Area 2, inhabited by goblins.
“This is very good.”
Now, I had a variety of strategic options.
By having a fork in the path, I could disperse the enemy’s forces.
If intruders didn’t disperse their forces and concentrated on one side?
In that case, I could attack them from behind with the monsters I placed on the opposite side.
One of the reasons I created the fork was the nature of the species. Monsters other than the undead had a fatal issue.
The problem was that they needed to eat like living creatures.
Skeletons didn’t require food, but goblins were different. Without food, they couldn’t survive.
Until now, Celia had somehow managed to find and feed them meat.
Of course, this was only possible because the goblin population was barely three.
But now, it was different.
I had drawn a lot from the monster draw, which had increased the goblin population to more than thirty.
As a result, the mouths of the goblins that needed to be fed increased.
Celia couldn’t continue to find meat for them forever.
At this point, I had a thought. What if I moved the goblin area to the front of the dungeon and allowed them to roam freely outside?
By doing so, they could engage in hunting and sustain themselves with their own food.
Monsters couldn’t leave the dungeon right now, but this constraint would eventually be lifted.
Then, the monsters would be able to move freely outside the dungeon. From that point, my goal would be to build an ecosystem, allowing them to hunt and create a self-sustaining environment.
With the increase in the number of goblins in Area 2, I decided to buy and install the Shack that I had put on hold.
At the same time, a mid boss was created in Area 2.
– The mid boss for Area 2 of the first floor has been set. –
– [First Floor, Area 2 Mid Boss] –
– Goblin Lord (★★★★★) –
– The loyalty of minions placed in [First Floor, Area 2] has increased. –
– The effect of “Goblin Lord” activates! Increases the loyalty of all goblin-type monsters. –
“Just the perfect situation.”
This statement was indeed true.
This time, I emptied my wallet as if I were possessed.
[First Floor Area 1 Monster List]
– Death Knight (★★★★★) × 1
– Lich (★★★★) × 1
– Banshee (★★★) × 3
– Ghoul (★★) × 6
– Skeleton Warrior (★★) × 11
– Skeleton Mage (★★) × 3
– Skeleton Archer (★★) × 6
– Skeleton Soldier (★) × 19
– Skeleton Archer Apprentice (★) × 11
– Skeleton Mage Trainee (★) × 8
[First Floor Area 2 Monster List]
– Goblin Lord (★★★★★) × 1
– Hobgoblin (★★★) × 3
– Goblin Shaman (★★) × 1
– Goblin (★) × 27
Just looking at it made my stomach full.
What can I say? It felt like a fortress that no one could breach for the foreseeable future.
Although I felt a bit disappointed that there weren’t many varieties that came out in the draw, it was an exciting mishmash for sure.
In a dungeon, the more diverse the types of monsters, the more challenging it becomes.
There was a reason why Kim Soo-Ho, who had appeared on TV not long ago, had a hard time with B-grade dungeons after soloing C-grade dungeons.
From B-grade dungeons onward, various monsters with different attributes appeared, making the strategies more complicated.
That’s why I decided to place monsters of different attributes.
“So, I’ll keep dividing the Areas.”
On the first floor of the dungeon, Areas 1 and 2 were located.
Behind them were Areas 3 and 4.
These Areas were also somewhat decorated.
Area 3 was the place to pass through after Area 1. Unlike Area 1, which had undead and a gloomy atmosphere, Area 3 had a refreshing atmosphere with a green field.
In fact, I changed the concept of this area hastily because of the monsters that came out in the draw.
In the field, there was a large flower, which was not a simple plant. Even the insects that looked like butterflies flying above the flowers were not ordinary.
[First Floor Area 2 Monster List]
– Carnivorous Tentacle Plant (★★★) × 1
– Bloodsucking Butterfly (★★) × 6
These creatures were, believe it or not, monsters.
The plant would devour people, and the bloodsucking butterflies were frightening creatures that sucked blood.
If someone were to approach the beautiful flowers, they would be devoured instantly.
Interestingly, the description mentioned that these monsters did not react to the undead even if they devoured them.
This was why I placed them in Area 3, which was connected to Area 1 where the skeletons were.
Just in case they might devour the goblins, which would be a loss for me.
As for Area 4, located behind Area 2, I had only created a small lake in the center so far.
I hadn’t placed any monsters yet. There weren’t many monsters that could live in the water, and for now, the goblins could come here to drink water.
“Maybe I’ll catch some fish and raise them later?”
There was no sunlight in the dungeon, so farming was impossible, but I thought I could raise fish in the lake.
Furthermore, the central area of the dungeon, also known as the end of the dungeon, had undergone changes from its previous appearance.
This place was important.
It was the core of the dungeon and, in a way, the last line of defense.
The central area had to function as a sort of command center that controlled all the Areas.
So, I installed a servant office.
When I installed the servant office, Celia had a happy expression on her face.
“But it’s the servant office in name…”
Monsters like the skeleton soldiers had to be there, right?
I had set aside some skeleton soldiers separately.
They were lined up on both sides, guarding the servant office.
Of course, they were only 1-star monsters, so I couldn’t expect much from them in terms of abilities, but this kind of display was important.
“It looks like there’s something here.”
It exuded an atmosphere as if an important presence was there.
In addition, in a nearby corner, I installed a prison.
Not immediately, but I planned to place monsters for surveillance near the prison in the future.
“Now it looks like a real dungeon.”
The dungeon grade would probably rise again.
“Now, should I try it out?”
I decided to be satisfied here today.
I had been looking at the game screen for over three hours, and I was drained from actively managing it.
Moreover, I had almost no gold and gems left after spending them enthusiastically.
Even if I wanted to do something more, I couldn’t.
Before I knew it, it was already dark outside.
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