So It Works Out Like This?

Han Ji-woo hadn't even considered taming the Orc Lord as a pet. He just needed a safe place ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to stay in the Dungeon Prison. Ferrofero had warned him that this place was crawling with tough monsters. Luckily, he'd only run into easy ones so far. But you never knew when rain might pour from a clear sky. If he unluckily bumped into a high-grade monster, he'd be dead meat.

Osgeelro Haiban had tipped him off that there were four Orc Villages here. The moment Ji-woo heard that, his mind jumped to: 'Monsters must not kill each other, huh?'

He didn't know how big the Dungeon Prison was, but if monsters were constantly slaughtering one another, low-grade orcs wouldn't have been able to maintain their villages this long. So when he subdued the Orc Lord, Ji-woo tossed out a few questions to test his hunch.

"Yep. Killing you would be a breeze. But there's a way that benefits all of us if we take the long road—wanna try it?"

"Queeik?"

"Looks like there are a few more Orc Villages around. You monsters don't kill each other off?"

"We did at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠first. But not anymore. Unless it's a special case."

"Who sent you guys here?"

"The Dungeon's manager, 'Kakia'."

"Kakia?"

"That's right. A horse with a horn on its head."

From that conversation, Ji-woo pieced together a few facts. First, the monsters in the Dungeon Prison used to kill each other when they first arrived, but they didn't anymore. Second, the Dungeon manager who brought the Orc Lord wasn't Ferrofero or the imp Osgeelro mentioned—it was someone else entirely.

This confirmed it even more. There were multiple dimensions in this universe, and each dungeon handled just one. So the managers stationed in them had to be different too. The one managing the Orc Lord's dungeon was a horned horse called Kakia. The description immediately made Ji-woo think of a unicorn.

Whatever. It didn't matter right now. Ji-woo's priority was keeping himself alive, no matter what happened in other dimensions. Since the monsters here didn't fight each other, hiding in the village the Orc Lord had unified should keep him safe.

And that Orc Lord was now...

'A name, huh.' Ji-woo thought of his other two pets that came before the Orc Lord. Lucy and Pao.

'Wonder what those guys are up to now.'

With that idle thought, he checked the remaining time before death without much expectation.

The death timer kept steadily increasing.

Then, a snippet from the system message suddenly came to mind.

'Hold on.' Ji-woo's body was back in the Hidden Space, left all alone. It made sense it couldn't sustain itself. But weren't there two pets there with him?

'Are those guys feeding me something non-stop right now?'

As Ji-woo pondered that, something amazing happened.

The death countdown suddenly started jumping up in big chunks!

It was because Pao had acquired the Cooking Buff skill. Of course, oblivious Ji-woo just figured his pets were stuffing his body with something relentlessly.

'Gotta make 'em something really tasty when I get back.'

With his mind at ease, Ji-woo turned back to the Orc Lord.

"Orc Lord! From now on, your name is Turkan."

"Turkan? What does that mean? Queeik!"

Surprisingly, Turkan—the newly named Orc Lord—spoke politely to Ji-woo. Pao, with his simple smarts, had stuck to casual speech the whole time, but this guy seemed a bit sharper.

With noticeably more affection in his voice, Ji-woo explained.

"Saw it in some novel. Means something like a brave warrior."

"Brave warrior... I like it. Turkan! That's my name! Queeeik!"

Turkan shot to his feet with a mighty roar. The other orcs joined in, their queeik! queeik! cries echoing everywhere, nearly deafening.

Clang! Clang! Amid the noise came the sharp ring of metal on metal from somewhere nearby.

"What the—?"

Startled, Ji-woo whipped around to see Osgeelro Haiban wielding a hammer, tinkering with a nearby building.

"What're you doing?"

Osgeelro scowled fiercely at the question, snapping irritably.

"You expect me to stomach this eyesore and stick around? I wouldn't stay here even with a blade to my throat! I can't live in a village that insults my aesthetic sensibilities!"

He dove into rebuilding with fiery passion. True to form, the dwarf—master blacksmith, architect, and artist—erected structures at an unbelievable speed. He swapped tools from his inventory as needed, never pausing.

Amazed by the bizarre sight, Ji-woo asked another question.

"Those tools coming from your Inventory?"

"Why? Jealous? My Inventory's stocked with every building tool imaginable! And it's crammed full of basic materials too! Hah hah hah ha!"

Osgeelro puffed up proudly, letting out a hearty laugh.

"Guess dungeons make that stuff easy to get?"

Ji-woo had no clue how dungeons really worked. He'd only ever stayed in the Hidden Space.

Osgeelro hammered a nail with a furrowed brow. Thud!

"What nonsense! There's nothing here—nothing at all!"

"Then where'd you get all that?"

"It's my skill's doing. Ever heard of 'Architecture Artisan'? With this skill, tools and basic materials for building generate automatically in your Inventory!"

Ji-woo was blown away. What an insane skill!

Pleased by the reaction, Osgeelro threw himself even harder into the work.

* * *

Dungeon Floor 6.

The dungeon survivors were packing food to head down. Less than 10 minutes remained on Ferrofero's time limit.

The apple trees that had been laden with fruit were stripped bare. The lake had no more fish swimming in it. The ten new grapevines that had sprouted were plucked clean, left skeletal. The fields and paddies, ransacked of everything, lay desolate.

"All set? Let's go."

Mitchell's words prompted a shout from the bathroom: "Wait! Grabbing more TP!"

"There's bathrooms on the lower floors too. Quit screwing around and hurry up!"

Yui's bark made Jonathan jump, scrambling out.

Meanwhile, Seol Ara counted heads with the goblins.

'46 including me, 8 goblins.'

A few hours ago, there had been 9 goblins. But Andra had hypnotized one into suicide, spilling needless blood. People eyed him warily now, though he seemed oblivious.

Lost in those thoughts, Ara's gaze drifted to Andra. He met it, eyes flicking her way.

Instead of looking away, she smiled faintly to brush ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it off.

'What is his deal?'

Heavy-hearted, she blended into the crowd heading down.

* * *

Something incredible happened in the Dungeon Prison.

In just hours, the village Turkan had unified was totally transformed.

The crumbling structures were gone, replaced by sturdy wooden buildings. Hastily built, so the designs were simple—but they exuded an antique charm.

Not just buildings. The perimeter fence, watchtower by the entrance, food storage—everything was revamped!

It looked like a human village now.

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Osgeelro, who had led the charge, collapsed on the ground, unable to move.

He hadn't done it alone, of course. Ji-woo had ordered Turkan to help, and 300 orcs had labored like extensions of the dwarf's hands. Plus, Osgeelro's Architecture Artisan skill shortened build times. If he had a perfect blueprint in mind, it auto-corrected his movements to match.

"Hoooh!"

After heavy panting, Osgeelro finally sat up.

"Yes! This is it! Exactly!"

It was the moment the proverb "If you hate the temple, leave the priesthood" crumbled. Hate the village so much you can't stand it? Don't leave—remake it to your taste!

Osgeelro's feat screamed that. The orcs clearly loved their upgraded home too.

Meanwhile, Ji-woo hadn't idled. While everyone worked on repairs, he'd used Creation's crafting mode to make a hearth and stone slabs. Then he pulled out 15 Mad Cow corpses, butchered them, and grilled away.

"Alright! Everyone worked hard—let's feast!"

The orcs swarmed excitedly.

"Meat! Queeeik!"

"Hungry! Can eat lots! Queeeik!"

They chomped and tore into the well-done beef, bellowing happy cries.

Ji-woo watched proudly when Turkan approached, bowing his head.

"Thank you. My orcs are happy, thanks to Master."

"Someone else deserves more thanks, right?"

Turkan bowed to Osgeelro too.

"Thanks."

"Hmph! I don't converse with barbaric orcs, you oaf."

"Still, thanks."

"......"

Osgeelro never looked at him, but his cheeks flushed pink. He seemed weak to straightforward gratitude.

Amused, Ji-woo chuckled mid-bite—then felt a rumble in his gut.

Gurgle!

"Ugh!"

Come to think of it, no bathroom here. He hurriedly crafted one identical to the one in Hidden Space.

'I worked so hard to regain my dignity!'

No way he'd revert to primitive times here.

Rumble!

"Phew!"

Modern civilization was the best. Refreshed, he stepped out to find orcs lined up.

Curious about the toilet, apparently. Ji-woo explained how to use it. They rushed in, fascinated.

Grinning at the spectacle, a question popped into Ji-woo's head. He asked Turkan:

"So, what do you guys do for food around here?"

"Animals here too. We hunt and eat."

"Lots of 'em?"

"Getting fewer."

"Exactly! Stop just hunting—start ranching."

"Don't know what that is."

Overhearing, Osgeelro fumed.

"You ignorant brute! Don't even know ranching? Fine, I'll build some pens first—follow me! Don't get the wrong idea! This ain't 'cause you thanked me!"

In a flash, he erected three pens suitable for livestock.

Ji-woo explained ranching to Turkan, and that night...

Rabbits, deer, wild boars—wild animals filled the pens.

No intention, but the Orc Village kept improving. And this act, done without expecting reward...