Dungeon Maker - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Demon Labor Market (2)

Evolution meant change.
To adapt to one’s environment, to become more efficient.
However, it was a bit different in Yong-Ho’s case.
The power that he possessed deviated from the original meaning.
It went a step further.
It activated one’s potential through both body and soul. Through him, was the power to induce development, to advance one level higher.
If one wanted to be faster, they would become faster.
If one wanted to be tougher, they would become tougher.
If one wanted to be stronger, they would become stronger.
The power would guide one down their chosen path.
It would bring out their full potential, and finally, awaken them as an entirely new being.
That was the power of evolution.
The almighty power that one may receive after awakening as a demon.
Yong-Ho opened his eyes. He summoned his consciousness that was dwelling deep inside him.
‘So what does this power really do?’
The power of evolution
He had a rough idea, but he was unsure of the extent of the ability and how to use it. If this was a game then a tutorial window would pop up and give an explanation, but sadly this was reality. So Yong-Ho had to figure it out himself. 3
‘So, like class change… no, perhaps this power is more akin to class advancement?’
In a game, you could upgrade your goblins to hobgoblins or upgrade your warriors to higher-level warriors.
Yong-Ho felt like he had a better idea than before, but he was still missing something. If that was the case, he would be better known as the Demon King of Advancement, instead of Evolution.
Furthermore, unless this was a game, it didn’t seem that the term ‘upper class’ was really used in this world.
‘Regardless, this power helps beings evolve.’
Yong-Ho recalled the games that he used to play. Even the strategic simulation games had distinct levels for each unit. If a unit survived on the battlefield for long enough, they would typically accumulate enough experience to level up. Furthermore, the units that had leveled up were clearly stronger and more useful compared to low-level units of the same class.
Of course, reality would not be the same as those games. No, Yong-Ho’s power was the ability to ‘evolve’ beings into superior versions of themselves, rather than just simply leveling them up. 2
However, he had enough of an idea to catch the gist of it.
As an engineering student, Yong-Ho wasn’t satisfied that he couldn’t find a clear process that would fit. However, for now, he decided to be satisfied with what he had.
His power wasn’t going anywhere, so he would just experiment with it, little by little, to fully understand the extent of his ability.
Yong-Ho opened his eyes. He saw Catalina, still buried underneath her cloak, rolling around on the floor.
“Huh?”
Smoke began to rise from her body. It seemed to split into five separate streams of color.
Red, blue, black, yellow, and violet.
Five separate colors of smoke rose up to the ceiling, all on a similar scale. The five different streams of smoke oddly didn’t merge into one, and none of the separate colors seemed to mix together.
Yong-Ho blinked. Every-time he blinked, the colored smoke seemed to fade little by little, eventually vanishing entirely as if the smoke had never existed in the first place.
Instead of being alarmed, Yong-Ho carefully thought about what just happened.
Why did he suddenly see that strange smoke?
Was it caused by either Catalina or himself?
Yong-Ho stood up from his throne and walked towards Catalina, who was still fast asleep this late in the morning. She squirmed around underneath his cloak and showed no signs of getting up.
Yong-Ho assumed that the source of this peculiar phenomenon must have been himself.
If so, then what’s different from before?
It was simple. It was the power of evolution.
Yong-Ho sat down on his backside in front of Catalina and swallowed dry saliva. He closed his eyes once again and awoke the power of evolution. 1
It was just as he expected. Once again, five colors of smoke arose from Catalina’s body.
What do these different colors of smoke mean?
‘This doesn’t make sense.’
It was all too vague. Yong-Ho needed more explicit information.
He wanted the data to be more accessible to him. More intuitive. Full comprehension with just a glance.
Yong-Ho suddenly felt the power within him react to his desire.
The power manifested itself from Yong-Ho’s soul and began to take on a new form. Above the colored smoke, letters of light began to appear. 1
[Name: Catalina (Female)]
[Race: Half Succubus / Half Dark Elf]
[Main Elements: Wind / Darkness] [Secondary Elements: Lightning / Water / Earth]
[Stats: Succubus – Charm / Mana | Dark Elf – Agility / Skill] 1
[Evolution Rate: 31/100]
Yong-Ho looked around. Over the letters of light were several square boxes of light. With each box containing different information.
[Succubus: Charm Specialisation | ★★★ (3)]
[Dark Elf: Agility Specialisation | ★★★ (3)]
[Hybrid | ★★★☆ (3.5)]
[Succubus: Mana Specialisation | ★★★☆ (3.5)]
[Dark Elf: Skill Specialisation | ★★★ (3)]
He intuitively understood the information before him. What was visible before him was the basic information for evolution.
It displayed the skills that they possessed now as well as the potential skills they would be able to gain in the future.
Each color represented a different attribute. The square boxes of light indicated the different evolutionary paths one would be able to take, like a form of skill tree.
In which direction should he evolve Catalina? Which skillsets did he desire her to possess?
Yong-Ho gulped.
What would happen if he were to invoke the power of evolution? If he were to choose one of the five boxes of light, what kind of changes would Catalina undergo?
He wanted to know.
He wanted to experiment.
He wanted to use his power.
“Ach.”
Yong-Ho quickly retracted his hand that was subconsciously reaching out towards Catalina. He hurriedly took a couple of steps back and kept his distance.
‘No.’
This was not something he could just do on a whim. He didn’t yet know what would happen if he were to use this power. Experimenting on Catalina without having a clear idea of what exactly would happen was both reckless and insane. 2
‘Furthermore.’
He didn’t think that this power would just activate for ‘free’. It was just an assumption, but according to what had happened so far, to activate this power would most likely require the consumption of mana. Since yesterday, Yong-Ho’s mana was still quite exhausted. For now, it was a good idea to refrain from an excessive consumption of mana.
“Mas..ter?”
After hearing Yong-Ho nearby, Catalina pulled her out from underneath the cloak. She must have been still half asleep as her eyes were still drooping.
The smoke that was rising from Catalina’s body gradually faded. Yong-ho casually smiled and spoke as if nothing had happened.
“Are you finally awake?”
Instead of answering, Catalina just rolled her eyes and recovered herself with the cloak. She seemed to wriggle around quite a bit, most likely in an attempt to re-organize her clothes. After which, she then stood up and lightly cleared her throat. Her ears were so long that she almost had no earlobes, but he still noticed that they had turned a faint red.
If he continued to stare at her, he felt that he would be branded as the stereotypical engineering student that likes to stare at beautiful women. Yong-Ho quickly recovered then stood up and headed towards his throne.
Eligor returned not too long after.
*** 3
“It appears to be different from Catalina.”
“Sir?”
Instead of answering Eligor’s question, Yong-Ho just opened his eyes in a squint.
Catalina and Eligor were different.
Unlike Catalina, who had five different colors of smoke. Eligor only had three colors, red, blue and black.
[Name: Eligor (Male)]
[Race: Red Demon]
[Main Elements: Fire / Darkness]
[Stats: Red Demon – Strength / Stamina]
[Evolution Rate: 62/100]
[Strength Specialisation | ★★ (2)]
[Stamina Specialisation | ★★ (2)]
[Mana Specialisation | ★ (1)]
The information showed both the different races and different abilities of Catalina and Eligor. The skill tree also differed slightly between them.
However, the part that caught his eye the most was the ‘Evolution Rate’. Perhaps it was necessary to first fill this ‘Evolution Rate’ for them to undergo evolution.
‘The crucial question was, how would one fill it?’
Yong-Ho didn’t have enough people to analyze and to fully understand the complete process. Although the way that he received information was game-like, it didn’t mean that he would receive an explanation for skills as if it were actually a game.
Catalina and Eligor didn’t know much about the power of Demon Evolution.
The Demon Kings’ power was only given to demons who had become a king.
That was the greatest difference between Demon Kings and ordinary demons.
So, it was quite natural that they didn’t know much about it. There weren’t many who would nonchalantly expose their strongest weapon.
They had seen their former master use their power often, however, they still didn’t know about any additional functions or weaknesses that it had.
The Demon King of Mana had powerful mana. While the Demon King of Fire controlled fire. This was the typical level of information that ordinary demons like Catalina and Eligor were privy to.
‘Well, I’ll just have to learn about it gradually over time.’
Yong-Ho shook his head in bafflement, and naturally switched topics.
“No, it’s nothing. You still have to eat in the demon world, huh?”
The three of them were gathered around in a circle in the middle of the room, eating pancakes and vegetable soup. All of which were cooked by Eligor.
Catalina flinched momentarily after hearing Yong-Ho’s words and then spoke with the same cold-hearted persona that she had displayed when they first met.
“I will go hunting after breakfast. I shall put my life on the line in order to bring you some meat.”
Although she was overflowing with beauty, after Yong-Ho knew of her true personality, he saw her in quite a different light. It was almost as if he could hear crying to herself about what she would do if she couldn’t find any meat.
‘She really isn’t much of a guard…’
He never said that aloud though, since Catalina would surely start to cry. He instead just nodded slightly and turned his attention towards Eligor.
“Is it alright to increase the number of members in our family in this situation?”
The inheritance that the previous head left wasn’t completely gone. There was still the ‘last legacy’ that Catalina and Eligor were keeping in case of any trials or hardships that they might encounter.
Of course, this ‘last legacy’ didn’t surmount to much and accurately reflected the state of the Mammon family, but regardless, money was money. Eligor, however, had demanded that the remaining money be boldly invested.
“Spirits are essential in the development of a dungeon. A dungeon without any spirits doesn’t exist.”
Eligor responded with an unusually serious expression. He wasn’t wrong. In order to gather resources and install various facilities within the dungeon, labor was essential.
“This is the labor market for the demon world.”
Yong-Ho looked towards his throne.