The Dungeon Takes Shape

Cheonmugye.

Sounds like something straight out of a wuxia novel.

I was just about to press Observe when—

"Ugh."

A jolt of pain surged through my side.

The moment my concentration broke, the vast field of vision I'd been enjoying snapped back to normal in an instant.

Oh, right. I got stabbed…?

With one crazy thing after another happening—Administrator privileges, reawakening—I'd completely forgotten.

I glanced down at the hand pressed against my wound. It was soaked through with blood.

At this rate, I was going to pass out.

I'll come back to this later, I decided, and pulled myself out of that strange space. The moment I did, the collapsed wall repaired itself as if nothing had ever happened.

I stared at the pristine, utterly traceless wall for a moment, then headed off toward the spot where the cleanup workers were gathered.

"Mr. Baek Doyun! Where did you run off to!"

The foreman spotted me and hurried over—only to freeze mid-stride, his face going stiff.

"Hold on a second. What is that blood?"

He peered at my side, his brow furrowing deep.

"What on earth happened to you?"

"A Kobold was playing dead. It was lying in wait."

"What?!"

The foreman's eyes went wide.

"Then that Kobold right now—"

"Handled."

"Eh, come on, man."

He let out a long sigh and clicked his tongue.

"I told you—if you find one that's still alive, don't touch it. Call us."

…I did call. Nobody came.

The foreman looked at me for a beat, then sighed yet again.

"Tsk tsk. The work's nearly done anyway, so head on home. We'll take care of the rest. Your full pay will be transferred, so check for it."

"Thank you."

After getting my wound treated, I returned to the villa and flopped onto the sofa.

"Reawakening…"

I hadn't been able to take a proper look earlier with my head spinning, but now that I had a moment to breathe, my heart began to beat just a little faster.

Reawakening — the phenomenon where an awakened trait transforms once again, triggered by some catalyst.

In some cases the trait changed into something entirely different; in others, the grade itself leapt dramatically.

It didn't always end well, to be fair—but plenty of Hunters had seen their entire evaluation flipped upside down by a single reawakening.

Which made it the lottery every awakened person secretly dreamed of winning.

My trait was Attunement. It let me sense the presence of things around me and the flow of mana with slightly more sensitivity than the average person.

That was it. That was the whole thing.

It wasn't a big help in combat, and compared to other detection-type traits, both its range and precision fell laughably short. A power that was as good as no power at all.

And that trait had reawakened.

Is this it? Am I finally turning my life around?

Carrying that flicker of hope, I opened my status window.

Bound domain?

The first ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠thing that came to mind was the dungeon from earlier. I'd reawakened the very instant I gained Administrator privileges, so that place was probably what it meant.

Plenty of guilds and clans claimed and managed dungeons. But a dungeon itself acknowledging someone as its Administrator? I'd never once heard of such a thing.

So I honestly couldn't tell yet whether this was a good thing or a bad one. Judging from the name alone, it seemed to imply I could do something related to the dungeon, but…

I'll just go back tomorrow and check.

The moment I reached that conclusion, a familiar window popped up in the corner of my vision.

Huh?

I raised my head and looked around. No matter how I checked, this was unmistakably my own living room.

Which meant…

It works from outside too?

I pressed it, half in disbelief, and my field of vision widened once more.

In place of my living room, the dungeon's interior sprawled out before me at a single glance.

"Wow…"

As I marveled, new windows began blinking into existence all across my view, one by one.

"How is there this much stuff?"

I deliberated for a moment, then ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠started with the item I was most curious about.

Observation.

Without hesitation, I selected Cheonmugye.

My vision shifted dramatically, and a wave of dizziness washed over me.

"…Did it work?"

Glancing to the side, I saw a marker confirming that Cheonmugye was currently under observation. But honestly, the scenery spread before me looked no different at all.

The maze-like corridors, the floors, the walls—everything was identical.

So what actually changed?

Puzzled, I toggled back to Earth, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠then returned to Cheonmugye—and only then did the difference jump out at me.

They merely looked similar at a glance. The length of the corridors, the placement of the chambers—the structure was entirely different, despite ostensibly being the same dungeon.

As I explored the interior, my gaze drifted to the single entrance at the very end.

I pressed a fingertip against the firmly sealed door, and a new window appeared.

"Seriously?"

I stared at the numbers for a long while.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

A bad feeling crept over me.

"I'm the one who has to fill these?"

I'd assumed a dungeon would just spawn this stuff on its own. Apparently, no such courtesy was on offer.

Reeling from the shock, I went ahead and tapped Monster first.

"Of course there are conditions…"

Equal to or below the dungeon's grade meant, right now, F-Rank only.

"Wait—where am I supposed to get monsters?"

Was I supposed to go kidnap them from some dungeon?

As I pondered this with complete seriousness, one place suddenly came to mind.

The Cheonsan Baek Clan kept a facility where low-grade monsters were captured and held for the live-combat training of its younger members.

Losing one or two from there wouldn't be noticed… probably.

With that thought, I headed out of the villa.

I crossed paths with a few people on the way into the clan grounds, but they only spared me a passing glance. Nobody paid me any real attention.

Which was how I slipped into the training compound without incident.

Inside, F-Rank magical beasts—Goblins, Kobolds, Horned Rabbits—sat caged behind iron bars, sorted by species.

Hope I don't get caught.

I scanned my surroundings one extra time, just in case, then approached the nearest cage.

Inside, a single Goblin sat slumped on the floor, its wrists and ankles bound.

Registering.

In an instant, the Goblin's body gave off a faint glow. Moments later, only the bindings it had been tied with remained—the creature itself was gone.

I immediately checked the dungeon.

There, standing alone in the middle of the dungeon floor, was the very Goblin that had been behind iron bars mere moments ago. Freed of its restraints, it looked around blankly, then began wandering about as it pleased.

Let me grab a few more.

I considered adding different species too, but quickly shook my head. No sense in them tearing into each other over nothing.

I registered four more Goblins.

That was enough.

Better to bolt now than push my luck and get caught.

I threw one last glance at the now-empty cages and hurried out of the training compound.

Even on the way back, my nerves kept pricking at me, and I glanced over my shoulder more times than I could count—thankfully, no one was following. Only when I'd made it back to the villa did the sigh of relief finally escape me.

"Phew…"

Monsters: done. What remained was the reward.

"Does anything count? Literally anything?"

I looked around the room.

Half-eaten snacks, empty cans, the trash scattered across the coffee table…

If I was going to put something in there, I'd rather it be something decent…

As I mulled it over, my eyes landed on a small basket set off to the side. Nestled ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠inside was a single round fruit glowing a pale blue-green.

A Cheongryeong Fruit.

As far as rewards go, nothing tops this.

A fruit that grew only on Mount Cheon. A kind of spiritual elixir that restored mana—and when consumed, even boosted one's mana cultivation. A monopoly of the Baek Clan, and treated outside the family as a rare treasure.

It had just one fatal flaw: the moment it left Mount Cheon, both the energy it held and the fruit itself would rapidly wither away and die.

That was why, despite the ample supply within Cheonsan itself, it was so precious everywhere else—and why crowds flocked to the Baek Clan day after day hoping to taste one.

"Will this actually work?"

For all I knew, it would crumble to dust the instant I put it in.

I picked up the Cheongryeong Fruit.

I selected Register without a moment's hesitation. The Cheongryeong Fruit in my hand gave off a faint glow—and vanished on the spot.

"Oh."

Going by what I could see, it seemed to have worked…

A moment later, a new message appeared.

I opened it without hesitation, and the tightly sealed door swung slowly inward.

A faint light leaked through from beyond—but no more than that. I couldn't make out anything else.

"Hmm…"

So the door was open. But I still had no real idea what any of this actually meant.

Kyaaak!

"Huh?"

I turned toward the sound and found two Goblins standing face to face.

Teeth bared, looking ready to lunge at each other at any second.

What's gotten into you two?

I'd figured that stuffing the same species together would be fine. Apparently not.

This was a problem if they started brawling. Could I separate them somehow?

The moment that thought crossed my mind—

Both of them froze at the same time. The snarling from seconds ago went silent as if it had all been a lie.

No way.

Step back.

The Goblins retreated several paces in perfect unison.

This time there was no doubt about it.

"So I can give commands too."

I was in the middle of eagerly testing out this and that, drunk on the novelty, when—

"Now what."

I whipped my vision toward the entrance.

Beyond the open door, someone was walking in.

Long hair, a worn robe, and a sword hanging at his waist.

His whole look was just—

A swordsman?

The man swept his gaze around the space and spoke.

"@#&*^"

A language I'd never heard before.

"What are you even saying?"

The meaning of the unintelligible words flowed directly into my mind.

"So this is a beast pen."