Chapter 126
Chapter 126
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Warrior, Preparing for Opening
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It had been three days since the dungeon closed.
Balak and his sworn brothers had returned long ago, spending their time resting or training, passing the days in a relaxed manner befitting men.
But as evening approached, the others still hadn’t returned, which was puzzling.
"Big brother, when do you think Kairel’s group will arrive?"
"They’re running a bit late."
"Who knows? But with Ophelia there, they’ll make it before the dungeon opens."
Balak dismissed their worries, confident in his sharp-witted daughter-in-law.
Speak of the tiger, and it appears—as if on cue, a powerful surge of mana erupted in the boss room shortly after.
The ones who soon revealed themselves were, naturally, Kairel’s group.
"We’re back!"
"Welcome home!"
"Sorry we’re late, Father."
"No matter. So, did you have a good time?"
"Of course! Let me tell you what happened these past three days…"
Kairel recounted the events of the last three days to Balak and his sworn brothers.
"A banshee and a troll?"
"That’s an unexpected combination."
"A banshee that doesn’t harm the living, and an intelligent troll working as a blacksmith…"
"We were pretty shocked when we met them too."
"Rightnya! We were really shockednya!"
"Kairel, so those two are now neighbors in the dungeon where Pepira was?"
"Nah~ We just agreed to live as strangers."
In the first place, hunger wasn’t an issue in the dungeon, so there was no need to stray into each other’s territories.
Kairel’s group had met the blacksmith troll Yon and forged various agreements, then spread the word to all the Nyaotribe in the forest.
"So that’s why you’re so late."
"Hahaha… But we wrapped everything up before leaving."
They’d decided to live like cows and chickens minding their own business, but Orek asked Kairel if she could really trust them.
"Of course not!"
"Then why make that agreement?"
"Because I’m going to live in Pepira’s village from now on."
"Oh… That’s a fine decision."
Kairel had been living alone in a cave to begin with.
Why stay in a dank, gloomy cave when she could live in a Nyaotribe village with fresh water and clean air?
And she was a cat person! Surrounded by dozens of cats after work—what paradise was this!
Now that Kairel would live in the Nyaotribe village, she could step in if the troll or banshee caused trouble.
"Then you’ll need to get even stronger to protect the Nyaotribe, Kairel."
"Hehehe… You’re right, branch manager."
Around the time Kairel truly became a cat mom, Balak suddenly fell silent, lost in thought without a word.
"Balak brother, what’s wrong?"
"……."
"Uh… Brother?"
Even as Perguson asked directly, Balak didn’t respond, leaving everyone puzzled.
"That’s it!!!"
BOOM!!!
"Arghhh!!"
"Eekkkk!"
"Nyaahhh!"
Balak’s thunderous shout sent everyone but Ophelia tumbling to the floor.
*********
Yes!! That’s it!!
I’d just remembered the most essential presence for my dungeon!!
Ah… Why hadn’t I thought of that existence before?!
This world was a fantasy RPG.
Beyond shops, banks, and taverns, there was one absolutely vital entity.
That entity was a blacksmith who could enhance gear!!
"Damfir!! Rise!"
"Ack! Kairel rising!"
"Tell me about that troll you met."
"Huh? Oh, no, that troll is…"
Ooooo!
He was a blacksmith as a hobby.
But Ophelia had given his weapons a very high evaluation.
So his skills were more than sufficient.
"Yeah, dwarven little runts as blacksmiths were getting a bit stale."
"Uh… What do you mean by that?"
"You don’t need to know!"
In my past life’s media, dwarf blacksmiths were churned out like factory goods.
But a troll blacksmith?!
Now that was unique!
I’d found the talent I absolutely had to scout for my dungeon!
"Father, what do you plan to do with that troll?"
"Here’s the thing!"
He explained the ‘enhancement’ system to his family.
And the reactions to this system?
"Whoa…"
"That’s too malicious…"
"The, the worstnya."
They were all horrified.
***********
What is enhancement in games?
It’s a system that uses resources to boost a weapon’s performance.
But what makes it truly malicious is that they design trash mobs and bosses you can’t even scratch without enhancements.
Plus, since enhancement is a money sink.
It also curbs in-game resource inflation.
Perfect timing—people who regularly earned coins in my dungeon were emerging.
They hadn’t reached the shelter yet, but persistent challengers had accumulated a decent amount of coins.
Yet the dungeon had only two places to spend coins.
The shop and the tavern!
The tavern barely cost any coins, so effectively, the shop was the only spending outlet.
Yeah, it was time to add more ways to burn coins.
My mind was racing when my second brother seemed eager for more details on enhancement.
"Balak brother, that enhancement thing— isn’t it basically enchanting?"
"You could see it that way."
"But I’ve never heard of stackable enchants."
"Uh… The branch manager’s right? I worked as a mage outside, but I’ve never seen anyone layer enchants on an already enchanted weapon."
Damfir and my second brother were spot on.
Enhancement was only possible thanks to game mechanics.
But who did we have for that?!
Squeeze!
"Balak, you’ve summoned me already… What’s the matter?"
"Skeleton merchant!!!"
"Arghhh!"
Oops, got too excited after so long and grabbed him too hard.
I quickly explained the enhancement system.
"You want to make weapons grow?! Isn’t that an ego weapon?"
"Hehey~ Not quite, but we’ll make it as close as possible. Using resources, of course."
Oh dear… If even dungeon merchant Karian didn’t know, then this world had no enhancement.
So I explained in more detail.
"So, it starts with ‘Sharpness Enchant - Very Weak,’ then layers on to become ‘Sharpness Enchant - Weak,’ growing the weapon step by step."
"Exactly!"
"But the upgrades are probabilistic?"
"Of course. And no failure cap."
"Failure cap…?"
"Meaning, after 100 failures, it’s guaranteed to succeed once."
"Wow."
No cap, but.
I wasn’t such a vicious boss—I wouldn’t reset or destroy weapons on failure.
"But as levels rise, success rates drop exponentially, and failure risks dropping levels, right?"
"That’s the key to curbing resource inflation!"
Suppose a player has a +10 enhancement.
Tries for +11, fails, and drops to +9?
Would they settle for +9?
Never.
They’d burn resources to recover their old power.
Up and down, up and down, until they hit +10!!
Kyaa!! Pure dopamine rush!
Some at +10 would chase even bigger highs at +11!
And if a rare few succeed and flaunt it everywhere?!
Ahh!! The wheel of hell!
The destiny of desire.
Challengers would enter my dungeon unable to resist!
Karian seemed positive about the enhancement system.
"This… sounds really good?"
"You think so too?"
"It’s high-risk, high-reward gambling from the start. Once they touch it, they’re hooked and go mad trying. And if high-level swords sell outside…"
"That’s part of it."
Coins from my dungeon were already fetching high prices outside.
But enhancement-invested weapons—what prices would they command?
How high would challengers push their enhancements?
An exciting moment ahead.
"Plus… it’s great motivation. Warriors grow stronger, but their weapons don’t—now they can grow together."
"Exactly why they’ll obsess over enhancement. Can you do it?"
"Enhancement stones… A hugely challenging research project. But it’ll be fun."
Now, wait for the dungeon merchants to develop enhancement stones.
Then recruit that troll Yon to my dungeon later.
Damfir said he lived in the kitten village…
"Damfir, be my messenger."
"Yes, sir!"
We’ll take it slow!
**************
The dungeon reopening was just around the corner.
During the final checks with everyone.
Something occurred to me, so I called the kitten over.
"Balak! Why did you callnya!"
"Do you remember what you told me during our last consultation?"
"Uh… You mean calling my friends…?"
"Actually…"
During this gathering, I’d met the chimeras and seen their training facilities.
Excellent curriculum and overwhelming facilities—why not send Nyaotribe warriors there?
Her eyes sparkled at the idea.
"S-such facilities exist for realnya?!"
"The dungeon merchants built them. I’ll tell the skeleton merchant ahead of time, so negotiate with him later."
"Thank you so muchnya!!"
The little kitten hugged me gratefully.
Cats aren’t so bad up close.
We’d handled the previous issue and laid groundwork for future dungeon upgrades.
Now, just wait for the reopening.