After I clicked on the 『 Shop 』button, the map disappeared and was replaced by a list once again. The list was completely full of different rooms for sale. I saw rectangular rooms, spiral staircases, circular rooms, caves, and even well-furnished buildings. After a few hundred options for underground options, fields, forests, and mountains began to appear along the bottom of the list. I was astonished that I was able to purchase entire ecosystems, but then looked to the right of the label and realized each of them was outrageously expensive. At the top of the list were several buttons.
『 Environment 』『 Mobs 』『 Traps 』
The 『 Environment 』 button was greyed out, which meant the list I was looking at now was the Environment's page. I clicked on the second button, the 『 Mobs 』 button, and watched as the list changed. The various rooms and fields disappeared, replaced by an empty screen.
I was slightly shocked when an empty list appeared, then I looked to the top. Where the first item was usually listed was instead a small line of white letters.
『 Due to the absence of the Dungeon Core, all mobs have been locked 』
I groaned in annoyance, then clicked on the third option. The line of dialogue disappeared and was replaced by another list. This time, it was full of different styled traps. From traps that swung down logs to traps that shot out poisoned darts from holes in the walls, everything was here.
There were even a few traps that gained bonus stats in certain environments, such as the 'Mirage Tree', which gained a 50% effective rate when placed within a swamp. As I read through the traps, I realized some of the enemies would most likely have certain boons as well.
I would have to choose what sort of environment to build with both the traps and mobs in mind. However, after looking through the list for a while I eventually turned back to the 『 Environment 』list and looked through those options again.
I needed a good room to place my core in. Whichever room had to hold the core had to be hidden behind both super strong enemies and a lot of traps, for extra defense. It wouldn't hurt to even attempt to hide the core a little.
Eventually, I used almost 80 of my DP and created a good core room to protect my core. I decided to hide the core in the room I was in now, but I connected a tight spiral staircase that ran from the core room to a larger room above it.
This large room was called the 'boss room' and would hold the dungeon's strongest enemy. Because the staircase and the boss room were bought from the system, their condition was already ten times better than the core room.
The staircase was dark and moody, but the walls were smooth and the floor was carpeted by a dark rug. The tightness of the staircase and the direction it went made it hard for right handed enemies to attack with any sort of weapon.
The boss room was much brighter and not as tight spaced. At the edge of the room was a large throne, which the 'boss' would sit on when they weren't fighting. Underneath the throne was the entrance to the staircase. The room itself was tall and made of white brick, like a roman cathedral. There were pillars on the edge of the room and a large dark carpet that ran across the center of the room.
However, because I didn't have the points to upgrade it's condition, a few of the pillars were broken and laying in pieces on the ground. However, I took advantage of this. Both the spiral staircase and the Boss Room were full of traps. Most of the traps were centered around the pillars and other forms of 'cover' that would invite intruders to hide behind them. There were many that were along the walls as well, to force the intruders to fight the boss head on.
On the other edge of the room was a large metal door which would lead to the rest of the dungeon. For now, it led to nothing, as there wasn't any more than this room that had been built.
After everything was built, I returned to the core room and upgraded it. After I upgraded it, I watched as it's size increased by more than three times. The walls and ceiling both turned into the same quality of stone as the staircase, and the ground grew a small circular indent in the center of the room.
After I saw this indent, I didn't even need to take a moment to hesitate. I quickly opened my inventory and placed the core in the center of the circle. After I made sure it was in the exact center, I clicked the 'Build' button that I used to create the other two rooms.
The green pedestal suddenly changed colors, instantly showing it's true form. There was no fancy effect that happened when an object was created. Instead, it just suddenly appeared, replacing the green replica that had been placed in the room.
As expected, the column was primarily made of stone. The floating ball overhead, however, was not. Instead of stone, the ball was made out of some sort of smooth crystal. It was blue in color, almost the color of the sea, and as shiny as a diamond.
After the core was placed, I opened my status and was met with a notification.
﹃
Congratulations on placing your first core!
Mobs are now unlocked
Spawned Mobs can be given the option to reproduce, though this can cause a dungeon break if the user is not careful!
Dungeon Map has been upgraded
Dungeon Boss can now be created!
+100 XP
Level up!
﹄
After I saw the new string of notifications, I turned to the right panel and opened the map. Beforehand, the map was entirely black and white. Now, because it had been upgraded, I was faced with a colorful version of my dungeon.
Everything I had created was given a new feel to it. However, even though I was seeing the fruits of my labor, I was left shocked by a different thing. In the center of the core room, a golden figure stood.
This time, however, it wasn't entirely golden.
Instead, the golden shine was slightly translucent, which revealed the features of the figure behind the golden color.
"So that's what I look like?" I chuckled as I saw myself. As expected, my body was lean but muscular, almost to the point where I looked like a model and my face was well defined and strong.
I wasn't jaw-dropping gorgeous, but I was still good-looking. I had black medium-length hair that curled like the waves of the ocean. My eyes were a golden color and seemed to glow in the darkness around me. I didn't have any facial hair and my overall face was surprisingly young. Despite having the body of a tuned athlete, my face told me I was only nineteen or twenty years old.
"Holy!" I shouted as I saw my youthful appearance, "Is this because I'm a dragon? Will I be cursed to always look younger than I actually am?"
I sighed in disappointment as I clicked on the『 Mobs 』button.
"Now, our main objective! Let's get some mobs in here! A boss and a few minions, maybe?" I laughed, "It would be nice if they could talk. I might get lonely all by myself."
After I clicked on the『 Mobs 』page, the empty list from before showed up, but now it was full of different options. However, most of the options were greyed out. In total, there were only four mobs that I could spawn right now.
At the top of the list, I saw a small line of letters that read out,
『 Core Level: 1 』
"So I can get more mobs when I level up my core? I'm alright with that," I chuckled, "This is almost like a game, haha."
After I spoke to myself, I looked back to the list and read off the options. Each option had a small picture on the left and a DP cost on the right. The only one that didn't seem to have a DP cost was the top option.
『 Dungeon Boss 』
"No DP?" I laughed as I happily clicked on the item. After my finger touched the panel, a second panel appeared, asking me if I was sure of my choice. Naturally, I clicked 'Yes' on that as well, "That's a steal! I wonder what I should choose?"
I watched the screen and expected another list to show up, preferably full of options for what I choose my dungeon boss to be.
"Hell, this guy is supposed to be my right-hand man!" I said, "It's an important decision."
However, instead of a list of options for dungeon bosses, a small panel appeared. As I read the message on the panel, my face fell and I felt my shoulders seem to drop down to the earth.
﹃
Creating Dungeon Boss
Boss Race will be Decided Randomly
8 Days, 2 minutes, and 25 seconds until completion
Surface connection will be unlocked after Boss is created
﹄
"Shit! I can't even choose? It'll be random?" I panicked, "What if it's something super huge? I might have just wasted a throne for no reason. That thing alone was more than 10 DP!"
﹃
Congratulations on creating your first Dungeon Boss!
As a reward, the completion timer will be automatically completed!
﹄
Suddenly the timer before me disappeared, replaced with three zeroes. Not long after the timer suddenly disappeared, the dungeon around me began to violently shake. Dust from the ceiling began to drop to the ground as the walls shook.
I quickly dashed away from the core room and made my way up the spiral staircase. The traps that I saw along the way didn't activate, as I had toggled a setting that made them ignore allies, and immediately ran into the boss room.
The throne itself was immediately moved, almost automatically, as I came close to it. Once I made my way into the boss room itself I found what was causing the commotion. In the center of the room was what looked like a giant tornado of red wind.
The wind was so thick that I couldn't even see what was in the center. The tornado soon began to lower to the ground, almost like a leaf falling from a tree, as it slowly descended. Then, after it finally made contact with the ground, the tornado suddenly disappeared.
As soon as it was gone, the dungeon stopped shaking. Everything around me became calm, but I was left in a state of shock. My eyes were focused on the space in front of me, where the tornado had previously been.
In its place was a large figure, human in shape, but clad in thick armor. The figure was almost a head taller than me, easily the size of the overly large throne I had prepared for it. The plate armor had a silvery shine but was the color of night, though it was very simple in design. There was nothing about the figure that told me it was a boss monster, so I became concerned about its strength.
Although the being was covered head to toe in this armor, its frame was slim. If I was to describe it with one word, it would most likely be 'normal'. This enemy looked like nothing more than an ordinary mob.
Suddenly, the being turned around, revealing one giant sword in his right hand. I became nervous when I saw the sheer size of the sword. It was almost the size of my torso and easily as heavy as my entire body, which completely changed my opinion of the creature in front of me.
"Thank you for bringing me into existence, Creator," The being said calmly. Their voice was deep and strong, with a hint of authority and power hidden among their words. However, when the figure faced me, it was as if they were completely obedient, "What purpose do you have for me?"