She picked the second option.
After that, she was asked which spot of the dungeon where she would put the link between this floor and the initial floor, and whether it would be connected on the floor above or below.
She chose above, and put the stairs connecting to it on one of the paths of the first floor model with a dead end in it.
Cardboard Dungeon Floor 2 has been successfully added!
"Okay, let''s check it out!"
She was extremely excited after she was done with this dungeon. She knew she would be done with her build, so she had already prepared her adventuring gear before she ventured onto her dungeon.
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Just outside Mikoto''s house, there was a small white structure with a window on it besides the cardboard entrance of the new dungeon. On the other side of the entrance just in line with this white structure was a metallic rod with a red and green lense on top of it.
They called this structure the Dungeon Outpost. A government owned building that acted as a toll gate for Adventurers and at the same time the guard for the possibility of a monster wave. The white structure was a station for guards, while the rod on the other side of the entrance was a magical sensor created to identify anyone going in and out of the dungeon, and an alarm if a monster ever step foot out of it.
Since the time it got evaluated, the Hokkaido Branch had decided to build a simple outpost and an office. The office was located a bit farther than here. It was because the road on this village wasn''t that developed yet. It still was a road of dirt. They had built the office and the outpost first before creating a concrete road to connect the outpost to the main road.
With this land owned by Mikoto''s family, they had paid her a lot as they were essentially seizing her land. Mikoto doesn''t mind as she hadn''t used most of their farmlands yet. She was only one person, and she had no farmers working under her.
Not like there would be any available farmers out there as most people preferred to dive the dungeon. Mikoto''s parents even left their land since they acquired decent skills on their Skill Board.
There was only a single person who was stationed on the outpost. Her name was Hiiragi Konoha. A Rank F Adventurer, and an association trainee.
This girl from Sapporo was glad to be assigned on this small village. The existence of a dungeon that even children could dive was unprecedented in itself. It was just a bit underwhelming to normal Adventurers so it wasn''t that popular to them. Only children would actually attempt to go here, or those hopefuls who hasn''t got their license yet.
It was still in the works, but later on the Yakumo Cardboard Dungeon would be put on their system and everyone from Japan would know of the existence of the weakest dungeon in the history. The Hokkaido Branch hoped that it would increase traffic on this part when this dungeon got advertised like that.
Because it literally had no value other than being a starting dungeon for the Adventurers.
Konoha was glad because being assigned on a station increased her salary along with the benefits she would get from the association. Normally, Head Post Guards would normally be at the D Rank, and Post Guards would be E Ranks at the minimum.
With this outpost being made for the weakest dungeon, a weak F Rank like her was considered enough for the station. So she was immediately promoted as a Head Post Guard.
"I''ll have to do my best!"
She hyped herself up, before she perked up when she saw a woman approaching this place. She quickly recognized who it was. It''s the one who owned this land, and the person who reported the existence of this new dungeon.
"Hello, I''d like to enter my... the dungeon." Mizufune Mikoto, a girl who was slightly taller than her, said.
Konoha could see that she looked ready for an expedition. She wore those basic adventurer sets that could be bought typically on a market.
"Ah right. Just let me check your ID and then I''ll let you in."
Normally, it would be their Adventurer License, but this dungeon was considered Rank G, the very first of it''s type, that they decided even civilians could enter it. So people only need a valid ID before they could enter the dungeon.
After the woman showed her ID at her, she let her be on the dungeon.
"Hmm... I wonder just what the dungeon looks like?" Konoha wondered to herself.
She passed the time sitting on her chair within this small station. It''s not like she had anything to do. This was a small village with barely any population left in it. The few that were here were busy on their own farmlands to be bothered on a dungeon, or were unaware that a dungeon was here at all. It''s not like anyone in this village had access to internet. It would be rare to even find people here to have cellphones. So it was likely for people to know there''s a dungeon here.
She doesn''t expect anything special to happen. Even if she wanted to do her best, the only thing she could do right now was to simply sit and guard the entrance until her shift ends.
It shocked her when after an hour, the owner of this land emerged from the dungeon with a shocking news.
"There''s a new floor on the dungeon."
"... What!?" She exclaimed in surprise.
A ban for entry was declared the day after Mikoto reported about the second floor. Another investigation would be done by the association, and a dispatch from the JSDF would be done again for evaluation. The process was estimated to be done after a week.
But Mikoto doesn''t really mind. She was more interested at the adventure itself, and what she got within her own dungeon.
"Mana Stones are amazing. It actually let me create more functions within my dungeon!"
In her hand was a violet orb. This orb was very important, and costs millions of yen at the minimum.
This is because this orb is the Skill Orb. A rare drop from a dungeon.
Based on what she learned from the forums on the internet, Skill Orbs could only be taken as a loot on high tier dungeons. There were chances it would appear on a low tier ones, but it was incredibly rare, and most of the time it only appeared after beating a boss or finding a rare treasure chest.
But as the Dungeon Builder herself, she thought what if she could create her own chest. She managed to do so by creating a small cardboard chest and putting it on the edge of the large room.
That''s not enough. It had been added to the dungeon, but it was still empty. She still had to do something.
She had gotten a prompt on it when she found a stylish pointer at it after she peered at it during the creation of the second floor. It gave her prompt asking for a mana stone.
She couldn''t understand at first until she used one of the mana stone she had on her Treasury. When she pressed the mana stone on the cardboard chest, it immediately crumbled on her hand and it''s dusts got absorbed by the cardboard chest. Then she was given a prompt asking her what kind of loot she wanted it to have.
Along with that were every available loots she could put in it. One of those things was a Common Skill Orb.
She always dreamt of having one as she thought it would give her the chance to get an Adventurer License. She might have lost her drive to be an Adventurer, but she still wanted to have the license and try being one anyway.
Another reason for it was because, after the second floor was revealed, the association might restrict unlicensed people from entering. She doesn''t want that. She had fun wandering around on her own creation. She wanted to continue exploring her own dungeon at least.
So she needed the license even if she had no desire to be an Adventurer anymore.
"I just have to hold it in my hands and squeeze it tight, right?"
They said that it was the most effective way to activate a Skill Orb. The normal way was to control their mana and pour it on the Skill Orb. Those who got Skill Orb didn''t just get Magicite sensitivity, they also acquired the capability to control it.
Though it was uncommon, but there were cases where people who awakened with their Skill Board couldn''t control these magical particles that well. Mikoto was one of those who couldn''t do that.
Though she could force her bare amount of mana to work by clenching her muscles and then squeezing that mysterious energy through her fingers. It doesn''t do anything on the outside perspective, but it was proven to let people control their magicites somewhat and in a limited manner.
So she did that and squeezed the Skill Orb. Despite it''s appearance, Skill Orbs weren''t easily broken. Even a drop from a thirty story building wouldn''t break it. That''s how tough it was. So a squeeze from her hands wouldn''t leave a mark on it.
She expected to get a prompt about her new skill, though she froze when she read what occurred on her Skill Board.
[Skill acquisition failed. Common Grade skills were incompatible to the user.]
"... Eh?" It felt like she got splashed by a bucket of cold water as she read that message.
She tried again.
[Skill acquisition failed. Common Grade skills were incompatible to the user.]
The orb was supposed to be single use, but seeing that she could use it again, it showed that the skill orb''s charge hadn''t been used as she was incompatible with it.
"... No way... I''m incompatible?"
Incompatibility. An incredibly rare case for Adventurers, but it was possible. She had read it on the internet. How some Adventurers were simply incompatible with certain skills that they couldn''t learn it even with a Skill Orb.
The message destroyed her expectations. Whenever she read the message, the cracks from her heart widened until it became too much for her.
"I''m incompatible with every Common Grade Skills!?" She cried out.
It didn''t specify the skill contained within the Skill Orb. The message stated that she was incompatible with the Common Grade Skills.
She felt like crying just seeing that.
After this, she spent her day on her bed in depression. She doesn''t feel like doing anything to this day.
Chapter 2: Second Dungeon Evaluation
It took three days before Mikoto got over her depression. She decided not to hope so much and simply be satisfied with what she got.
"Right... I got the power to make my own dungeon. I should just stick to it instead of trying to reach an unrealistic goal." She said with a sigh and a shake of her head.
She felt sad, but she knew she had to move on.
"... Well then, I think I should check how my dungeon is doing..." She stood up from the bed and went to her living room where both of her dungeon models were located.
She hadn''t seen any activities in her dungeon in the past three days. Which should be obvious as the association declared an entry ban for the duration of this week.
She was just thinking what to do next when she saw a group of small people appear at the entrance of her dungeon model. They looked like they were holographic simulation on her eyes as they walked towards the sketch of stairs on the cardboard floor, which made it look like they were stepping on actual stairs as they descended to the first floor.
"Oh! I want to see this!"
She already explored her dungeon three days ago. She knew how it looked inside, and even as the creator of it she felt satisfied with the dungeon. She wondered if they would like her dungeon too, and how they would evaluate the second floor of her dungeon.
She was excited as she sat on the tatami floor and watched the holographic simulation of the Adventurers who were exploring her dungeon.
Sgt. Kazama Sugou moved cautiously towards the stairs that led to the second floor above. Along with him were three of his men, dispatched to evaluate the threat of the new floor. They had quickly taken care of this first floor, and they haven''t seen anything new on this floor so they quickly got to this part within half an hour.
"Everyone ready?" After their nod, he gestured with his head. "Isshimaru, take point."
Their pointman nodded before he moved forward. Rushing towards the stairs that goes above. After a while, he yelled out.
"Clear!"
With his confirmation, the others followed. Getting to the second floor and quickly getting into position.
The second floor started at the edge with a single path moving forward. It showed another peculiarity within the dungeon. Normally, dungeon floors always move down, and the start of each floor is a large room. Stairs that start or end at the edge of a narrow path are uncommon, mostly for weak dungeons like this.
''Not like that matters to an Evolving Case.''
Evolving Case was a term used for dungeons that could change or expand itself. The majority of the dungeons remained the same, even the first dungeons that popped up ten years ago. The very first Evolving Case occurred in Moscow, the one they called the Moskva Hell. This kind of case was extremely rare, and was normally a difficult dungeon even for high ranked adventurers.
Out of the thousands of dungeons that appeared all over the world, 1% of them were recorded as an Evolving Case. Japan only had one Evolving Case, and it was on Okinawa. This would be the second one.
Their squad was dispatched for accurate evaluation of the change. Evolving cases were always dangerous, so his squad was picked as a first attempt for evaluation. All of them were equipped with military grade light weaponry, sidearms, and military suit fused with dungeon-based materials. This gave them a high chance of survival that they could flee in case of a sudden crisis.
After they looked at their every angle and didn''t find any hidden paths around, they decided to continue. Sugou was a bit unused at the feedback on his steps. The cardboard floor felt fragile on his soles that he felt like he would fall if he didn''t control the weight he was putting on each of his steps.
His training about dungeons and his recollection about their drill instructors who constantly reminded them about the indestructible nature of the Dungeon made him continue without showing any signs of nervousness.
"There''s a bend. Left side." Their pointman briefly conveyed.
The others slowed to a stop. The others positioned on the wall near the bend, while one of them stood on the farther wall on their right, on the spot where he could check what was beyond the bent path. His assault rifle''s flashlight equipped above the muzzle pointed at it as he took a crouched position.
"Clear." The man crouched with his rifle pointed on the curved path stated.
Sugou nodded. "Isshimaru, take point." Their pointman nodded before he lowered his stance for a bit.
After that, he moved quickly with his shotgun raised. Checking below, his side, and above as he moved through that left path.
"Clear!"
With Isshimaru''s words, the others followed suit.
After a few minutes, they stopped when they encountered a room. Beyond this cardboard hallway was a wide opening, which let them immediately know that it was a room.
"Hostiles detected beyond the room." Cpl. Yuuya Shidou stated. He was their spotter, which was usually reserved to snipers, due to his skill which was a detection skill.
"Numbers?"
"Six."
Sugou nodded before he made some hand gestures. Everyone moved behind their pointman, while their pointman took one of his flash grenades. After he took the safety pin off and threw it in the room, they waited. When they heard the sound of spark and ringing of metal, they quickly moved.
With quick precision, they pointed their guns at the first humanoid being they encountered within the room. Based on the brief time they saw them, Sugou quickly deduced that the flashbang hasn''t affected them.
A burst of fire occurred within this cardboard room as they peppered the humanoid monsters with lead. They haven''t heard any screeching from the monsters as they sprayed them with bullets.
As they shot them, Sugou noticed the features of the monsters.
"... Paper?"
These humanoid beings were made of paper. They were like those art projects from elementary. A human-shaped paper that they were now shooting with a hale of bullets.
The sentient papers flopped aimlessly to the ground, their body slowly crumbled and turned into ash. The bodies of the sentient humanoid papers were replaced by a small crystal the size of their thumb. One of them moved towards the monsters to take the mana stones that the monsters had dropped, while the others decided to talk for a bit.
"Did you see it?"
"Yeah... they''re made of paper..."
Sugou felt it was surreal seeing a monster made entirely out of paper. It looked flat. It was like someone animated a children''s art project.
They were expecting to fight something stronger, but this felt like another disappointment.
"... Sir, I just checked. Those monsters dropped a larger mana stone than the ones at the first floor." PFC. Isshimaru Kyohei stated as he showed the mana stone on his hand.
"Let me check." Pvt. Yukitani Kimura quickly took the flashlight from his toolkit and then peered at it as he pointed the light on his head.
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After a while, they verified his words. The mana stone dropped from the peculiar monsters of this floor was a fourth of an inch larger than the one dropped by those sentient clumps of dust.
"Okay, we will add it to the report. Is there anything else?" With a shake of their heads, Sugou quickly continued. "Okay, let''s continue with the operation."
With that, the others quickly took their positions and then moved forward.
"They''re really weak..."
An hour later, and they have explored every nook and cranny of the dungeon except one. For evaluation''s sake, they didn''t have to strictly stick to military protocols. They were also here to check just how strong the monsters were inside it.
So while it would be foolish for a normal military operation to let go of their guns, here they had to. They tried their batons first which quickly killed the moving paper man. The knife easily cuts through their body.
Other than that, they discovered that these paper men couldn''t hurt them. Their pitiful attacks only consist of swinging their paper-y fist and harmlessly making contact with their specialized suit and body armor. Even taking their attacks on their face doesn''t harm them.
The other soldiers had relaxed considerably after they learned about this. They were still vigilant about their surroundings. It would be foolish not to as it was drilled to them, but they weren''t as tense as the time they first came to this floor.
Other than the disappointing enemies of this floor, they had discovered the chest of this dungeon. It was a chest entirely made out of cardboard. The chest contained some disappointing loots within it.
They encountered at least three cardboard chests. One in a room and two on the hallway deadends. The loots they got from it were a wooden sword, a small flask of red potion, and a bundle of paper sheets. Out of everything, the small flask of red potion was more important, as it could heal fatal external wounds. With enough of it, they could even reattached cut limbs.
The wooden sword doesn''t matter. Even if it was better than a normal bokken due to being a dungeon loot, it was still a wooden sword. As for the bundle of paper sheets, it was a new loot so they had to get it appraised later.
Other than that, there was nothing else. They had left the largest room for the last as they felt it might have something important in it. Dungeons always put some strong monsters on a larger room. It was a common pattern that they followed. It also had a door, a large difference compared to the other rooms which had no doors on it, so they decided to check it for last.
They haven''t encountered any traps on this floor, lowering it''s threat rating further to nil. It was just four times larger than the first floor. Anything else, and it might as well be the same as the first floor due to how non-threatening it was.
"Are you all ready?" With their nods, they quickly took position as their pointman moved forward. Going a few meters in advanced than them towards the large room.
This would be the final room that they would check. They had already mapped everything other than this. If there was nothing beyond this large room, then their exploration would be done and they could start with their reports.
When they got closer to the entrance pf that large room, they stopped when their spotter suddenly exclaimed.
"Sergeant!"
The others turned to him, a bit startled and also curious.
"What is it, Yuuya?" He noticed that the guy was trembling for a bit. It made him tense.
"... I am detecting a strong aura within that room. It might be a boss monster!"
"... What!?" Just like him, the others were surprised when they heard that.
Boss Monster. A type of monster within a dungeon that had to be defeated before they could move forward. They usually protected the door that would lead an adventurer to the next floor, though sometimes they protected something else, or they were just there as a challenge to Adventurers.
Regardless, Boss Monsters were always stronger than any monsters within that dungeon. Even the weakest dungeon, if it had a boss, would have its threat rating elevated by two ranks. That was how dangerous Boss Monsters were.
Boss Monsters always had valuable drops, so the risk was sometimes worth it. Though only strong adventurers attempt to defeat a boss monster. Weak adventurers could only stay on the weaker dungeons if they wanted to survive.
Though this was an anomaly. Boss Monsters only occurred on larger dungeons. At the minimum, they would start appearing on the tenth floor. The hardest dungeon on this date, The Path to the Abyss, also was an anomaly but the earliest Boss Monster they would encounter there would be at the Fifth Floor.
To encounter a Boss Monster on the second floor was absurd.
"... Prepare yourself. We will enter after my count."
They quickly positioned themselves with their pointman in front of the door.
"At the count of three. One, two, three! Go go go!"
After that short count down, Kyohei took a large stride and then kicked the door down. The stylistic cardboard door opened wide and they quickly entered the large room with their guns trained around them.
"... Ah..." Sugou looked up and couldn''t help but gaped in amazement and horror as they watched the being in front of them.
It was a large humanoid figure. It''s whole body was so slender, and it''s entire body was wrapped by a bandage. It looked like a doll that had been wrapped with multiple bandages around its body. It''s incredibly long limbs felt really creepy to look at. Ot was currently crouched, and it''s entire arms were huddled on each side of the room, entirely covering their entire area with it''s arms.
The door they came through closed on its own, indicating that this room wasn''t normal.
They had entered the boss room.
"Open fire!" Sugou quickly ordered which snapped his teammates out of their stupor.
They quickly pointed their muzzles at the featureless head of the large humanoid monster. The large monster reeled from the hale of bullets, it''s head that leaned closer to them pulled back and raised its head at the ceilings of this dungeon.
Then one of its arms swept towards them. It looked slow, but they were sure it would hurt due to its humongous size.
"[Iron Wall]"
Kyohei, their pointman, shouted as he moved in front of the large bandaged hand that was coming fast at them. A shimmer of brown light covered his emtire body before it solidified into a holographical shield shape.
The hand slammed onto that shield shape, and air itself seemed to have exploded due to the impact. A short shockwave passed through them, the blow causing wind to dispersed and creates a breeze of air that brushed through their hair and skin.
"Kyohei!"
"Guu! It''s nothing Sergeant, I can handle it!" He said as he held his shotgun properly and then shot the large hand that was trying to press it''s palm on his shield, intent on breaking it with sheer force.
"[Damage Boost]"
Their field support, Pvt. Yukitani Kimura, quickly shouted. After his shout, a shimmer of red light covered their figure before they felt a sense of power deep within their guts.
After the boost in power, Kyohei pulled the trigger of his shotgun. A sound akin to an explosion occurred as buckshot shredded the bandaged hand of the titan. It reeled in pain even when no noise left its mouth, if it ever have a mouth at all.
"Bullets can affect it!" Kyohei yelled as he pumped his shotgun. Spent casing falling on the cardboard floor of the dungeon as he prepared to shot another buckshot on the retreating hand of the large monster.
With their pointman''s words, they resumed their attack on it''s face while the titan tried to cover its face with its other unharmed hand. The hand it used to cover was quickly shredded from their bullets, and added more holes on its face. Their shots penetrated more due to the boost their field support gave them.
Sugou watched for anything that might happen next, though when he saw the titan fell to its knees and slowly crumbled into nothingness, he suddenly became dumbfounded.
"... Huh?"
He was expecting that there might be more. It was a large boss monster. He was checking if it would suddenly surprised them with something, like using some mysterious skill to instantly wipe them out or something.
Instead, it just died.
The others were also dumbfounded that they stopped shooting. They were already expecting for a long battle, but not even a minute had passed since they started fighting, and now it was already crumbling.
The paper titan exploded into magical particles after a few short moments.
"... Seriously?"
The tension that gripped their heart were quickly released with disappointment.
This dungeon was too underwhelming for them.
"Wow... they took care of the paper golem that fast?"
Mikoto was amazed at the JGSDF soldiers from dealing with her very first boss monster. That boss was actually a paper doll that she then wrapped with more slips of paper to look like it was bandaged. She didn''t manage to control the dimensions of the doll, making it''s limbs a lot longer than she was expecting.
It couldn''t be helped. She had to make it the same height as her hand, because it wouldn''t be able to move in that large room if she made it larger. She tried to make its hands detailed by putting fingers on them, and it was the cause why its arms were long. She thought it might have added some creepy factor so she decided to leave it as it was.
She couldn''t hear what they were talking about, though she could read what they were saying through popup messages that only she could see so long as they were within her dungeon.
"They find it underwhelming... huh..." She felt a bit down at that.
She made the second floor as an escalation to the difficulty of the first floor, and at the same time as an experiment.
"Traps too... I think I have to add some traps on the future extensions for this dungeon." She nodded to herself.
Then she continued to watch, feeling excited at their reaction when they saw the chest beyond the boss room. It was the only door other than the entrance to the boss room where it would lead to a deadend. On the edge of that deadend was the cardboard chest where it gave skill orbs. That''s how she set it''s loot whenever a boss was defeated.
As expected, when they got to that room and opened that chest, they were surprised. She felt happy when they said this dungeon might be worth it with the Skill Orb alone.
"I think it''s a success, right?" She said, at least satisfied with the reaction of the military about her dungeon.
She hoped it would make her dungeon popular enough. She wanted other adventurers to try her own designs and see how they would fare within it.
"... I knew it..." She said with a sigh as she looked at the poster on the outpost.
After a week, an announcement for this dungeon stating that the second floor could only be ventured by Licensed Adventurer that were at least ranked F. Unlicensed Adventurers could only venture up to the first floor.
She felt a bit depressed at that, as it would be impossible for her to enter the deeper parts of her own dungeon.
Chapter 3: Clay Dungeon I
"This sucks..."
Mikoto doesn''t know what to do next. She could still enter the dungeon, but only on the first floor. She couldn''t go beyond it. If someone caught her entering the second floor, she would be blacklisted to this dungeon.
If she wanted to enter the second floor, she had to pass the assessment to get an Adventurer''s License.
That was the only way.
"But I only have the skill to make dungeons. It didn''t give me any boost on my body, or anything that will give me an edge in a combat situation."
She also realized that she couldn''t really afford for someone to learn about her abilities. If they learned that she was the creator of this dungeon, the Adventurer''s Association might actually target her. As for what they would do to her, she doesn''t want to think about it.
"What should I do now?" She wondered to herself with a frown.
It took until tomorrow before she decided to shelved that thought for sometime and plan for the next thing she would do with her dungeon.
"It''s useless to think about stuff like this for a long time. I need to do something."
With those words, she started the day by going to the storage room just besides her house. She entered and looked at the objects lined up on each tables that usually had farming tools or sacks of animal feed in it.
They were the cardboard mazes that she had made all over this year. It wasn''t just cardboard. There were also some made entirely of clay, plastic, lego, and stone.
This was it. The culmination of her hobby for five years. A collection of dungeon models from her years of creating them by her own hands. She learned carving, chiseling, and many other skills so she could make different types of dungeon terrains.
And right now she was thinking of using one of them.
"Cardboards are good and all, but a dungeon must be a cave-like system. I think I have something like that..."
She had decided to create a new dungeon other than the cardboard one. She couldn''t enter her own creation anyway, so she might as well make another while she thought about stuff.
"Clay should be a good base for it." She said as she looked at the section where she put all of her clay models.
This entire room had been renovated so she could store all of the dungeon models she made to this place. She kept making dungeon models on her free time so it was obvious she would run out of space before long.
Good thing she owned this land. If her parents were still living here, they would scold her due to her wastefulness.
On the section for her clay models, there were five dungeon models. From right to left side, each models acquired more details on them. These were the clay models she made on the following year until she mastered it and decided to move on to other types of materials.
"I think this will do." She picked the one with the least amount of detail.
It was a maze-like dungeon entirely made of clay. Just like her other creation, it was a roofless one where she could see the path of the dungeon from above. She couldn''t possibly imagine exploring a dungeon if it had a roof that covered the interior part of it.
It was a meter in length, which meant it was pretty large. Though for her it was small. It barely had hallways and only have five small rooms with a single large room.
Though it couldn''t be helped. All of her models, even the newest clay model she had were the same size as this one. It''s not like she could create a bigger one. It became a bit unwieldy that adding more would just break the model itself if she carried it with her hands.
This was the only storage place she had, so she could only do it like this.
She was just thinking what to do next when an idea came to her mind.
"Wait... my skill have this function to use my other models as an extension to my existing dungeon, right? Couldn''t I just connect these five?"
She stared at the other clay models she had stored on their farm''s storage house. Then she smiled, her eyes lighting up in excitement at the thought.
"That''s right! All of this will be the new dungeon!"
Without wasting anytime, she immediately used her skill and chose the very first model she had.
After she was done with the manifestation of her new dungeon, the next thing she had did was find the minions for this new dungeon.
She already had a candidate for that.
Currently she was on a plot of land that was formerly her family''s potato field. She wore rubber gloves and carried a tweezer and a plastic bottle. She crouched on the empty plot full of weeds, reaching out and then squeezing the insect with her tweezer before putting them on the mouth of the bottle. After that, she continued doing that.
Within the bottle were reddish colored ants commonly known as fire ants. She had decided to put these insects known for their aggressive trait on her clay dungeon.
She still remembered how those soldiers were disappointed at the apparent harmlessness of her cardboard dungeon. So she decided to have these aggressive ants as her new minions. It was also an experiment for her.
She knew she could turn inanimate objects into minions. She wondered if living organisms can be turned, and if they can, how they would behave within her dungeon.
She couldn''t wait for the result.
"Oh! Lucky, I got a breeder too!" She said, her tweezer capturing an ant with a pair of wings in them.
This sight was quite surreal but for her she was used to it. She was raised on this province by her parents, so she doesn''t mind touching insects or playing with dirt.
After she was done collecting at least a hundred fire ants, she returned to her storage room where her new dungeon was located.
The five clay models she formerly had was now fused. She took out some of their parts so they would seamlessly connect to each other with the extension function. She connected each of these dungeon models in a straight line. She thought that anyone who entered her clay dungeon would notice the better details of the other models than the former one. She made it so they would wander on every clay models she made and witness her improvements of her creation.
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She took out the cap from the plastic bottle and then tilted it in the middle of the dungeon. She shook it so she could force the ants to leave through that opening. While doing that, she peered on the ants who takes foot on her clay dungeon, and then saw the stylish pointers on them.
She mentally picked these pointers and quickly chose them to be her minions.
Fire Ant Worker (Rank I)
Fire Ant Soldier (Rank I)
Fire Ant Breeder (Rank I)
"I see. So my dungeon also identify them as fire ants huh..." She thought it would turn them into something else like what it did to those dusts.
She doesn''t really mind. She was just curious.
"Anyway, this breeder should be somewhere here." She stated as she picked the fire ant breeder with her fingers.
This was one of the things she had noticed when she was moving her monsters on her dungeon. Even when they looked like they were busy with something, when she picked them with her fingers, they would become extremely docile and simply let her do what she wanted.
Her experiment was a success as she saw the fire ant breeder was also docile to her and the other ants doesn''t seem to mind even when her fingers stayed there for a moment. She put the fire ant breeder on the edge of the room where the most detailed large room was located.
After she put the fire ant breeder there, she opened her Treasury and took a few lesser mana stone within it. Then she pressed it on the body of the fire ant breeder. The lesser mana stone crumbled and then got absorbed by the body of the fire ant breeder, and then a prompt appeared on her vision.
Upgrade
Role Designation
Variance
Improve
This was the function to turn a monster into something else. By using the mana stone she got from the loots on her dungeon, she could turn them into something else.
Upgrade has two options when she picks it. They are Rank Up and then Loot Upgrade. Rank Up increases the rank of the monster, while Loot Upgrade will show two other options which are Loot Amount and New Loot. Loot Amount increases the amount of loot a monster will drop after it dies. New Loot will enable that monster to drop a new type of loot after it dies.
She only used this function on her Paper Golem. Both the Rank Up and Loot Upgrade, and she also chose both options on the Loot Upgrade so it would drop something decent.
She recalled what they got from her Paper Golem after those soldiers defeated it. It was a large roll of bandage and a large mana stone. She knew because she had it on her Treasury.
Role Designation enables her to choose a role for her minion. Their default role is Dungeon Minion. If she chooses Role Designation, she can change their roles into either Floor Boss, Area Boss, Special Boss, Guardian, Hunter, Lurker, or Dungeon Boss. She still didn''t know the difference between each options, though she at least knows about Floor Boss themselves.
Floor Boss was the one she chose for the Paper Golem. When she picked that, she just knew that the Paper Golem became stronger. This is what she plans to give the fire ant breeder.
Variance, based on what she glimpsed at it when she tried to pick it, was an option to mutate the monster. There were two types of options for Variance. They were Fuse and Mutate. She still doesn''t know what it actually does as she haven''t proceeded to use it at all.
Then there was the Improve option. This option enables her to give everything to the monster. A permanent status buff, an increase in strength, increase in vitality, an elemental resistance, a weapon, an armor, anything she can think of.
All of this uses mana stones.
She picked the Upgrade option so she could start with the creation of the boss.
"Let''s see... oh, it needs 1 magic points to rank up." She said, surprised at the large jump in cost.
Magic points is the quantification of the mana stone she use for the monster. The lesser mana stone she uses comes from the sentient dusts that got killed by the soldiers. Their mana stone is equivalent to 0.01 magic points.
When she is upgrading the Paper Golem, she needs 0.1 magic points, which means ten mana stones from the sentient dusts. Compared to the Humanoid Paper which dropped mana stones with a 0.02 magic points in value. She prefers them hunting the Humanoid Papers rather than the Sentient Dust, as it gives her more magic points.
Anyway, the difference in costs cleared some of her questions.
"So the cost of their upgrade really depends on the type of minion I''m using it." She nodded to herself.
She used the mana stone dropped by the Humanoid Paper, so her balance shown on top of the head of the Fire Ant Breeder was 0.02. She decided to pick more of these mana stones and then dropped it on top of the fire ant breeder''s head.
After she got at least 3 MP in total. She ranks it up and then increased the amount of loot it will drop along with unlocking a new loot for it.
The Fire Ant Breeder''s rank has increased!
The Fire Ant Breeder (Rank II) loot has increased!
After that, the next thing she did was changed its role into a Floor Boss.
"Now it costs 2 MP?"
She shrugged and then chose that option.
Fire Ant Breeder (Rank II) has been promoted to 1st Floor Boss!
Fire Ant Breeder (Rank II) evolved into Fire Ant Princess (Rank II)
Some of the drops has been changed/replaced/added.
She wasn''t that surprised about it. That''s what also happened to the Paper Golem when she turned it into a Floor Boss.
"I''m still not done!"
She mentally chose the props within her clay dungeon model. The first clay model doesn''t have any designs other than having hallways and rooms made of clay, but starting at the second clay models, she put some details within them using clay.
Flat walls turns into brick walls, flat floors acquires those ridges and edges. The details of the doors becomes more pronounced, and the design of the room becomes more gritty.
At the fourth clay model, they were painted. Doors looked like actual doors, and there were models of torches within it among other things. The fifth model was just the high quality version of her fourth clay model.
She knew that even objects made of cardboard could be turned into something functional within her dungeon. The treasure chests on her dungeon actually worked, and it automatically replenished the loots within it every hour.
She wondered if she could also do that to the props on her dungeon models?
Yes
No
"... It''s working..."
She pressed the mana stone on the torch prop she painted on the dungeon model, and gasped when she saw the prompt. She quickly picked the "Yes" option and it absorbed the mana stone she pushed into it.
Then, that prop suddenly flickered. The flame part of the dungeon prop was now moving.
She was a bit bothered that her cardboard dungeon had no lights within it. She always wonders how she can give the dungeon some illumination so people won''t have to wander around in the darkness. Learning that she can turn props already part of the dungeon model into a real one solves that problem. Now she just have to actually make some props for it.
''Next time, I''ll make some lamp props on the cardboard dungeon. For now, I''ll focus on this one!''
She didn''t want to leave the first part of the clay dungeon dark, so she picks goes to the back of her storage room where she puts most of her materials for dungeon modelling and pick the unused clays within there so she can start making some dungeon torches.
It didn''t take long before she is finally done. A dungeon with lights within it, and some functioning traps within it.
As for the location of its entrance, she puts it a bit farther to her house. She thinks it will be suspicious if another dungeon appears near her house.
"Okay! It''s time to check my newest dungeon!"
Feeling satisfied with her creation, she left her clay model within her storage house. Her next destination was the clay dungeon, which was located beneath a bridge on a river just on outskirts of this village.
Chapter 4: Clay Dungeon II
Mikoto looked at the dungeon entrance in awe when she got below the bridge of the river at the outskirts of her village. It perfectly captured the details she made, and the ones she added.
"Amazing, so this is what it looks like in person." She muttered in amazement.
Unlike the cardboard dungeon which felt like an expensive personal project, this clay dungeon felt legitimate to her. It gave her the same feeling when she first took the qualification test for taking an adventurer''s license.
She looked around for a moment before sighing in relief after she confirmed that there were no people around here. This was a rural village so she wasn''t worried about security cameras unlike the capital. The people who currently lived in this village became sparser due to many acquiring Skill Boards with some having decent skills for dungeon diving.
Everyone wanted to be an Adventurer. It''s the most lucrative career at this age after all.
So no one would be in this remote village.
She took a deep breath, and then pumped herself up before she finally took a step inside her dungeon. She prepared her heart, clutching her baton which was part of an old kit she cobbled through for her adventurer career. Of course it failed so that was why she was in this village.
She didn''t know if the monsters within are not hostile like the one from the cardboard dungeon. She hopes they are, because she didn''t want to know what it feels like to be hit by a fire ant''s toxin now that they are large.
When she entered, she immediately noticed the bright torches that were held by the wall like a fixture. She is glad that she manages to make the dimensions just right. The array of torches are reasonably spaced so it can give light to every corner of the dungeon.
Mikoto walked through the halls for a moment before she stopped when she noticed some noises. They were the sounds of chittering beyond the hallways on a bend, and it didn''t take long before they showed themselves.
They were the Fire Ants, now larger than common ones. By just one glance, she estimates that their length is the same as her foreleg. She clutched her baton tightly as she looked at the ants nervously.
"Stop." She said, and suddenly the ants stopped on their tracks. "Can you turn around?" Her request was immediately followed and they turned around.
The sounds of chitin echoed as they skittered. She sighed in relief after she saw that.
"Okay... so they listen to me..."
After that, she walked towards that bend where she saw those ants now moving around in this hall. There were at least more than twenty of them.
"Just passing through..." She said as she carefully took her steps so she wouldn''t crush them under her foot. She didn''t want to find out what will happen if she hurts these monsters.
They simply let her and ignore her as they do their thing. This shows that the monsters are at least not hostile to her.
After she confirmed that, her steps became confident on her trek within this dungeon. Her meek expression from awhile ago quickly changed into a face of fearless wonder.
She got to the part where she encountered a hallway with a trap. The trap she put here was the arrow trap, the one that shot arrows on the small holes of the walls on each side. She knew where it was. She remembered how she made this dungeon after all.
She still remembers those times when she was preparing to become an adventurer. She studied traps so she could disarm them when she encountered one. Of course it didn''t matter because she got beaten by a single monster before she could realize her dream.
She crouched on the floor and then poked the floor where the arrow trap was located. She looked up and didn''t see anything. She takes a step forward and does this again. Nothing. She continues doing this until she gets past the arrow trap.
Seeing that the trap is not working and she is already on the other side of the trap, she decided to test something.
"Activate the trap." She ordered.
Then she squeaked as arrows suddenly shot on the walls. The arrows vanished as they shot through the halls on each side of the walls, which made the hall look as if nothing was wrong with it.
She stared at it for some time, now a bit nervous about her actions. She saw some of the arrows hit the spots where she crouched awhile ago. If they activated when she took one step at a time, she would become a human pincushion and die.
"... Err... I still have to check something..."
She was a bit scared, but still tried to push her hand forward. On the part where the arrow trap would activate. She stepped forward when nothing happened and then finally stood on the area where the arrows would hit.
After it didn''t activate, she finally sighed in relief as she took a step back.
She ordered it to activate itself again and it does so, which meant she could ignore its cool down time. She recalled traps having a cool down of thirty minutes before it functions again to the next foolish party that will pass it.
"Great, then I don''t have to worry about the traps of my own dungeon killing me!" She was happy about this discovery, and her steps became more lighter.
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The tension within her body was gone, and in exchanged it looked like she was on a casual vacation as she walked on the halls of her dungeon with a light step.
Her newest dungeon gave her a lot of fun. She saw how the doors worked, and it was very hard for her to open them by herself. Though when she ordered the door to open, it complied with her words and opened by itself.
She saw the chest made entirely out of clay, and the ones that were painted, and she could open them with some difficulty. Within were the loots she had chosen for each of these chest. Most of them thematic to this kind of dungeon.
She had seen the improvements of the details of the dungeon as she got deeper within it. When she got to the fourth phase of the clay dungeon, she touched the walls first as it was the part where she painted even the walls to look like dungeon walls instead of a clay that was simply shaped like it. She was surprised at the smoothness of the wall. It felt like she was touching stones themselves instead of clay.
"So painting them changes the structure of the material... huh..."
She was still unsure about that. It might be some sort of magical effect and it might actually still be clay that had the texture of a stone. Her suspicion was quickly proven true when she took her chisel knife and carve that stone wall for a bit. After an inch, she saw the clay part of that dungeon. Then it repaired itself after she stopped carving on it.
"I see... so paints simply layer them with the texture of that material. It doesn''t really change their whole composition..." She nodded, satisfied with this discovery.
Then she resumed her trek within her dungeon. Arriving at the other interesting platforms she made, like the disconnected platforms where adventurers had to jump to the other side, or else they would fall on the pit. She wasn''t confident that she would be able to jump that far. It was a two meter jump, now she saw it.
She wasn''t that athletic. She knew her limits.
Good thing she made multiple paths on her dungeon. She made it labyrinthine as much as possible. The other path was full of traps like a pit hole trap and a spike trap. This were dangerous, but she knew it wouldn''t harm her so she managed to pass these traps unharmed.
Finally, she arrived at the boss room of this dungeon. When she opened it, she saw the large figure of the fire ant princess. Unlike the other fire ants whose comparable was comparable to her shin, the fire ant princess reached her knees by its height alone, and approximately her torso with its length.
The princess simply stared at her, and it might be her imagination but she thought she saw it bowed for a moment.
"Hi...?" She greeted it, and then she heard it chittered as its wings flapped in excitement.
She already knew that every monsters understood her, so she excused herself by telling it that she was checking stuff before she goes to the door beyond this large room where she added a single room with three painted clay chests on it. She quickly opened these chests and got the loots she was hoping for.
"One of the chest have a chunk of jewels, the other has one of the armor sets, and the last is a skill orb. Great, everything is working as intended!"
Satisfied with her mini-adventure, she left the dungeon after she put her loots on her Treasury.
When she arrives at the entrance of her dungeon, she notices the skies is just turning orange-y. It seems like it is already afternoon. She is planning to go back to her house with her scooter when she hears her phone beeping. She takes her phone and then looks at the notifications on it.
It was an announcement from the official site of the Adventurer''s Association of this country. She was subscribed to this site as she wanted to be updated to the new dungeons and new adventurer stars of this country.
"... Oh, the cardboard dungeon is being advertised on the official site?" Joy filled her heart when she saw the contents of the advertisement.
They advertised the skill orb drop on the boss room of the cardboard dungeon. She looks at the comments on that post, and see that many are interested by that.
"This is great. With this advertisement, many people will visit my dungeon!"
She nods at that in satisfaction.
"Now then... should I make another floor for the cardboard dungeon?" Once more, she thought about that.
She couldn''t enter the deeper floors of the cardboard dungeon anymore, but that doesn''t mean she couldn''t see how it looked like. Lately, she was having fun watching others venture within her dungeon and hear their thoughts about it.
Then she look at the entrance of her clay dungeon.
"Hmm... I should add more minions on the clay dungeon before thinking about that." She said.
By exploring the clay dungeon, she realized that there were a lack of monsters within the clay dungeon. Most of the fire ants were cluttered in a single hallway or a single room, and there were only few who roamed around the hallways.
She knew every minions she had would respawn after some time when they got killed. Though their numbers aren''t enough to fill every part of the dungeon. She feels like the adventurers will grow bored if they ever set foot on this dungeon. She wants it so they will encounter at least one monster every few bends, and each room having a group of monsters within it.
"I also need to give them food huh..." She muttered to herself.
She wasn''t an expert of ant behaviour, but she thought they might be looking for food with the way they kept roaming or cluttering around in a single spot. She thought she might have to put something for them to eat when she got back home.
And then, another thought occurred within her mind.
''Should I report this dungeon to the office?''
Along with an outpost, there was also an association office built just on the main road near the path to her house. The Association Office is the place where adventurers and civilians alike go to either submit their loots for monetary gains, or request some materials from the dungeon which will be turned into a quest. This is also where people report their findings on a dungeon, register as an adventurer, and many more.
She already gave up registering after she saw that the qualifications would force her to go to Sapporo for the test. She wasn''t sure she could handle a goblin again. She got beaten up badly that she was hospitalized at that time, and repeatedly at that as she tried at least ten times before her parents forced her to stop.
Those thoughts ran through her mind as she returned to her home with her scooter.
Mangekyo was a D-tier Guild owned by the Minorizushi Corp. Their Guild was based on Sapporo, and have hundreds of adventurer parties on their employ.
The Guild was either a state-owned or a corporate-owned business focused on dungeon diving, exploration, and resource gathering. A guild consists of many adventurer parties with administrators, managers, board directors, vice leader, leader, and the other miscellaneous positions reserved for civilians.
"A weak dungeon with a guaranteed drop for skill orbs. This is it. A good place to profit!" The man within the office grinned as he saw that. Greed filled his eyes as he stared at the announcement.
There were other Guilds based on Sapporo, but most of them were focused on the high tier dungeons on Hokkaido. Only mid tier guilds like them would be interested on something like this.
And they were the strongest mid tier guild compared to the others. They can monopolize this dungeon and acquire many skill orbs which they can sell for exorbitant prices.
"Hahaha! I have to make an appointment quickly!"
With that, the Guild Leader of Mangekyo moved with a large grin on his sinister face.
"That dungeon will be Mangekyo''s property!" He muttered under his breath.