Dungeon Maker - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: The Power of Evolution

On the day that they held the crowning ceremony, Yong-Ho had felt a change.
It could not simply be described by the word ‘awakened’.
He was literally reborn as a demon. Of course, many things had changed.
The first change was that his body had been considerably strengthened.
His physique was improving every day. Even when working out at a gym back home he had never been able to gain a six-pack like he had right now. Furthermore, the muscles in his arms and legs had gotten noticeably larger. 1
It was all because he now had mana. Amongst demons, the mana of a demon king was especially concentrated. Eligor explained that the stronger the mana, the stronger the performance of the physical body.
‘Eligor is out retrieving water.’
Catalina, just like yesterday, was sleeping underneath her cloak. Yong-Ho thought about whether he should wake her up but instead, ended up walking towards his throne. He examined his body using the power of evolution.
[Name: Chun Yong-Ho (M)]
[Race: Half-Human/Demon – Demon King]
[Main Element: Fire / Darkness]
[Strength Specialization | ★ (1)]
[Stamina Specialization | ★★ (2)]
[Mana Specialization | ★☆ (1.5)] 1
[Charm Specialization | ★ (1)] 3
[Agility Specialization | ★ (1)]
[Skill Specialization | ★★ (2)]
[Seven Deadly Sins | ???] 1
He was very satisfied by how many evolutionary routes that he had, but he expected to have had more stars. He still thought that demon kings were too overpowered, he didn’t even know much about the potential of his own power of evolution. Even though he wasn’t able to see much effect from the power of evolution at the moment, there were a lot of available opportunities to use it, so it would definitely become a more powerful asset later on.
‘What’s perplexing me the most is the power of the Seven Deadly Sins.’
Out of the Seven Deadly Sins, Mammon wielded the power of greed.
Even if one was a descendant of Mammon, it didn’t necessarily mean they would be able to use the power of the Seven Deadly Sins. That was why Catalina, Eligor, and even Sitri were surprised when the power of Seven Deadly Sins emerged from within Yong-Ho.
‘Since none of the previous generations of owners could wield it.’ 3
However, Yong-Ho had the power. Although the power hadn’t fully awakened yet, it was still lying dormant inside him.
A smile unknowingly crept onto Yong-Ho’s face, which he covered with a light cough. He then connected his consciousness to the spirit of the dungeon.
He had a lot of work to do today.
*** 3
“So this is the most southern edge of the demon world.”
“Yes, that’s correct. It’s actually in the outskirts. In the past, during the era of Mammon, the entire southern region was controlled by the House of Mammon…”
While he was talking, tears began to linger in Eligor’s eyes. He cried quite often for a demon.
Yong-Ho thought that Eligor was just a typical old man that missed his glorious past, but Eligor wasn’t even born during the reign of Mammon. He turned his eyes away from Eligor towards the window of light before him.
‘It’s quite wide.’
It wasn’t just wide, it was extremely so.
He assumed, from the meager information before him, that the region he was in seemed to be wider than the United States.
From there, Yong-Ho’s dungeon, the House of Mammon, was located at the most southern point. Just like Eligor had said, it was based on the outskirts. Just like in a video game, the dungeon’s borders had plenty of space surrounding it to expand.
Eligor, who wiped away his tears with a handkerchief, started to explain again.
“Currently, the demon world is divided into six powers. Those are the kings of the demon world.”
After several borders were drawn, this world was divided into seven different regions.
The southern wasteland, formerly owned by the House of Mammon, is now a land without any owners.
The remaining six lands are ruled by the mighty demon kings who command all dungeon owners within their territories.
The world itself was so large that even the nearest “King’s Land” was a considerable distance away. From Yong-Ho’s perspective, despite just starting out with two subordinates, there would likely come a day where he would have to meet those kings.
However, regardless of that, he still had to keep a track of the overall situation.
Yong-Ho couldn’t leave his dungeon in such a state, as it was now. As he became more powerful, the day would come where he would have to eventually face them.
Furthermore, that was why Sitri had warned him.
There was no need to ask for any further explanations. Yong-Ho was not a pure demon, but a half-blooded demon. From the standpoint of the regular pure-blooded demons, this kind of irregularity was quite rare. There was also a high probability that the other demons would dislike his existence.
‘That’s why Eligor wanted to hide me.’
There were two reasons why they called for the dungeon merchant Sitri instead of any other demon kings for his crowning ceremony.
One reason was that they didn’t really know any other demons to call, while the other, and far more important reason, was that they were trying to conceal Yong-Ho’s existence as the next king of the House of Mammon.
Even a simple crimson ogre had almost caused the ruined dungeon to perish. At this point, if any other pure-blooded demons were to attack, then it would be all over.
The more Yong-Ho thought about it, the more things he realized he had to do.
For the moment, it seemed to him that being the owner of a chicken restaurant might be more prosperous than the owner of a dungeon.
But Yong-Ho still couldn’t help but smile. No, it wasn’t due to courage, but given that their situation was in such dire straits he had a sense of challenge to overcome the odds.
Eligor had a satisfied smile on his face after seeing the gallant appearance of Yong-Ho and continued to explain.
“First of all, the main aim is to restore the overall function of the dungeon.”
The window of light suddenly disappeared, and an aerial view of the dungeon appeared in its place. Almost all areas of Mammon’s dungeon were either inactive or had collapsed.
“It’s an embarrassing story, but since Mammon, none of his descendants have ever been able to fully revive the dungeon. Just finding the facilities hidden in ruined areas of Mammon’s dungeon will help you tremendously in reviving the dungeon.”
In simple terms, that meant there were certain areas within the dungeon that he had to target first.
‘It sounds good, but there must be a catch.’
Considering how the previous owners were not able to fully inherit the power of Mammon in the past, this would not be an easy task. Eligor, who noticed Yong-Ho’s intentions, spoke up.
“At first, I think it’ll be better to gradually develop the upper level. You could then build up your strength by defeating neighboring low-level demons.”
“I think I’m probably the lowest level demon in the neighborhood.”
The demon world was a land of ‘survival of the fitness’. Conflicts with other demons were unavoidable. 1
“Then Eligor, which do you think is better, strength or stamina?”
“Sir?”
Eligor quizzically blinked at the open question. Instead of explaining, Yong-Ho just activated his power of evolution. He wasn’t planning on first testing out his power on Eligor, but he still wanted to see what the potential outcomes were.
[Name: Eligor (M)]
[Race: Red Demon]
[Main Element: Fire / Darkness]
[Main Stats: Red Demon – Strength / Stamina]
[Evolution Rate: 62/100]
[Strength Specialisation | ★★ (2)]
[Stamina Specialisation | ★★ (2)]
[Mana Specialisation | ★ (1)]
Yong-Ho waved his finger in the air. He lightly touched a box of light that was invisible to others, except for himself. A faint silhouette appeared over Eligor’s figure.
“Oh.”
In each of the evolutionary routes that he took, Eligor would transform into a buff demon, which was a stark contrast to his current form. He couldn’t be absolutely sure since it was just a silhouette, but he believed that Eligor’s wrinkled face might change as well.
“Sir?”
Eligor, who hadn’t had a clue what was going on, called out to Yong-Ho with an anxious look.
“It’s nothing.”
Yong-Ho, who had been absorbed into his research, deactivated the power. Immediately afterward, a voice sounded on the other side of the door. It was from Catalina, who seemed to be brimming with excitement.
“Delivery! The packages are here! They’re here!”
After all, both demons and humans found it exciting when deliveries arrived. Yong-Ho and Eligor both looked towards the door with grins on their faces.
*** 4
Currently, the House of Mammon was composed of eight large square rooms made out of stone.
Yong-Ho didn’t have to run to the dungeon’s entrance to receive the package, but instead Catalina entered the throne room with a cart holding two large boxes.
“Master!” They’re here!”
She normally acted calm, but it seemed that the delivery was too exciting for her, as there was a large smile plastered on her face. Just like before, her long ears were fluttering like wings.
Catalina quickly dragged the cart to the throne, and Yong-Ho, who had just gotten up from the throne, instinctively leaned over and patted her head. It felt appropriate for the moment.
“The boxes are smaller than what I imagined.”
The cart couldn’t hold anything else, so he couldn’t really say that they were small, but they were still smaller than he had expected. They looked like common wooden boxes found on docks, that were about one meter wide.
“The goblins are quite small. They’re probably curled up in those boxes.”
“They’re curled up in there?”
He thought that it was absurd that someone would deliver living creatures in a wooden box.
However, since Catalina and Eligor didn’t seem to be bothered by it, Yong-Ho didn’t mention it. He ordered Catalina to open the box with a directed glance.
Using her thin arms, Catalina easily unloaded the boxes onto the ground.
“Okay, I’ll open them up.”
“Okay.”
When Yong-Ho gave the go-ahead, Eligor broke open the seal of the Dungeon Market and used a crowbar to open the lid of the box. As if under the influence of some sort of device, the entire box broke apart and revealed its contents.
Just like Eligor and Catalina had mentioned, there was a goblin curled up inside. It had green skin, a big head and bulging knuckles on its hands and feet.
Yong-Ho looked at the goblins meticulously, as they seemed to be frozen in place. Eligor explained the problem.
“If you register them with the dungeon first and then inject them with mana, then they’ll start to work. They’re currently frozen due to the magic of the Dungeon Market.”
[Would you like to register the goblins as dungeon spirits?]
The Spirit of the Dungeon asked Yong-Ho. Yong-Ho nodded without hesitation.
[Registering two goblins as dungeon spirits.]
As soon as the Spirit of the Dungeon finished speaking, a red pentagram appeared over the goblins’ heads. Yong-Ho swallowed his dry saliva. It wasn’t just because he had high expectations for the goblins.
He had felt the movement of mana.
He had felt it transfer from himself to the dungeon, and then from the dungeon to the goblins.
Moments later, the goblins started to tremble. They suddenly opened their large bulging eyes, and then slowly stood up. The goblins looked up at Yong-Ho with a blank stare.
They were each about 120cm in height. About the same size as lower grade elementary school students.
“They may be small, but goblins are natural workers. They’re the best spirits for value for money, they hardly eat anything but still work hard.”
‘Is this not child labor?’ 2
After facing Eligor’s content face, Yong-Ho quickly turned towards the goblins.
The goblins were still dazed. It wasn’t due to the aftereffects of waking up, but they were generally, as stated in the manual, ‘out of it’.
“Sir, would you please give them your first command? Anything will do.”
Eligor spoke, while Catalina excitedly alternated her gaze between the two goblins and Yong-Ho with bright eyes as if expecting something wondrous to happen.
Yong-Ho continued to stare at the goblins and then shook his head.
“No, not yet. If I just use them like this, then it’ll be like child labor.”
“Sir?”
Eligor asked with a confused look on his face. But instead of answering, Yong-Ho took a deep breath.
And activated the power of evolution.