This Dungeon Needs Restructuring
"Witches must be exterminated."
That was the prevailing consensus of this world. It was black magic that birthed witches in the first place, and the root of this evil could be traced back to the Ten-Tier Abyss—the second-ranked dungeon—which had secretly leaked the forbidden art to the surface.
More than a century had passed since then, yet humanity's deep-seated hostility toward witches had not waned in the slightest. To learn black magic, one absolute condition had to be met: the practitioner had to be a woman pregnant with a daughter. Enticed by the forbidden art, female mages went so far as to deliberately conceive just to grasp its power.
Because it was a secret magic with such a bizarre condition, the number of those who mastered it was initially in the single digits. Yet, despite no new mages officially initiating into the art, the number of black mages inexplicably began to multiply like weeds. The reason was simple: a mother's magical energy was passed down to her offspring. As long as their descendants survived and continued to bear children, black magic would, theoretically, endure forever.
Once this truth came to light, humanity unanimously declared black magic to be an insidious conspiracy of the Ten-Tier Abyss. The women who inherited or practiced this magic were branded as "witches," and massive witch hunts and public burnings erupted across the Empire.
Charlotte, a fourth-generation witch, had spent her entire life hiding from humans. Throughout her years on the run, she had been forced to watch her friends, her grandmother, and her mother burn to death, unable to do anything but flee. Over the years, her hatred and desire for revenge against humanity had festered into a deep, dark core. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Charlotte's resolve to slaughter tens of millions of humans before she died was, perhaps, a natural consequence. She would do to them exactly what they had done to her family.
But the world was vast, and humans were countless. With half the continent now under human dominion, the places where Charlotte could hide were extremely limited. There was the Demon Realm, which split the continent with humanity, but its toxic atmosphere posed a great danger to Charlotte, who still possessed a human body.
Charlotte pondered. A place where she could remain hidden from humans while ensuring her safety. A place where she could satisfy her thirst for slaughter and find allies to plot her revenge. A dungeon.
Since formulating her plan, Charlotte had served as a Dungeon Deputy and a gatekeeper several times. However, because she was biologically human, she was kicked out of most places before long. Despite these repeated failures, Charlotte continued her wanderings, holding fast to her grand ambition. And now, she was resting at an inn in a village situated along a major highway.
"Hey, young lady, did you hear the news?"
"I am not interested."
"Sigh, there you go again. What a stiff young lady. A woman ought to have some charm. Anyway, I guess you don't care about dungeons, do you?"
When anyone mentioned dungeons, they immediately thought of the 72 Dungeons, the public enemies of humanity. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Charlotte, who secretly felt a sense of kinship with them, stirred. It wasn't just kinship, either. Having worked in them before, she naturally reacted whenever dungeons were brought up.
"What news are you referring to?"
"A dungeon appeared on the mountain behind our village. And apparently, it's—oh, look at me. I'm talking too much."
The landlady cut herself off, shaking her head. Charlotte frowned and tossed a coin onto the counter. The landlady caught it reflexively, gasping when she realized it was a gold coin.
"Explain in more detail."
"O-Oh, of course! Absolutely!"
The landlady practically spat with excitement as she spilled everything she knew. Charlotte's faint hope swelled into an unbelievable anticipation. The Mugan 7 Palaces? That's impossible.
Charlotte had already heard the news that one of the Mugan 7 Palaces had recently been conquered. As was typical for the dungeon hierarchy, she assumed a new 7th-ranked dungeon would soon emerge to take its place. But on the mountain behind this village? If the birth of a new Mugan 7 Palace was real, the human Empire, not to mention the Demon Realm, would be thrown into absolute chaos.
"...Is this not just an exaggerated rumor?"
"Oh, come on! I heard it directly from the subjugation force that just came back! They said right from the entrance, there was a True Ancestor vampire, and a Death Knight... some kind of irregular, anyway, a Death Knight also appeared. They were drunk when they said it, but it didn't sound like a lie."
Drunken talk. It wasn't highly credible. Humans lied with straight faces the moment alcohol touched their lips. But if it is true... A Mugan 7 Palace would undoubtedly be the perfect sanctuary. Whether they would accept her was uncertain, but she had to explore every possibility.
"Do you know where this subjugation force is staying?"
"Oh, so you are interested! They're staying in the largest room upstairs. I heard they're leaving tomorrow morning, but—"
Before the landlady could even finish her sentence, Charlotte was already heading upstairs. *My, what an ill-mannered girl.* A sigh echoed behind her, but she ignored it.
Knock, knock.
"Who is it now? Huh?"
The door swung open with a creak almost as soon as she knocked. Charlotte immediately scattered mana powder from a pouch in her hand. Starting with the man who opened the door, the hulking men inside collapsed one after another like falling dominoes, slipping into a deep slumber.
Charlotte crouched down to eye level and asked, "Tell me everything you know about the dungeon on the mountain behind this village." A mind-manipulation spell woven with sleep magic. Under its influence, they had no choice but to speak the absolute truth about everything they had seen, heard, and felt.
"The mountain... dungeon..." they mumbled in slurred voices. Even after cross-referencing their accounts, the information converged on a single conclusion: the newly designated Mugan 7 Palace had indeed appeared on the mountain behind this village. Even if it wasn't a hundred percent certain, the probability was incredibly high. If she could make that place her home, the first step of her grand plan would fall into place. There was no time to waste. Charlotte slipped into the dark of the night and headed toward the mountain.
Things are going completely off the rails. Charlotte, who was supposed to go to the Ten-Tier Abyss, wanted to settle down here instead. Why? Because she thought this place was one of the Mugan 7 Palaces. Hearing her talk so obsessively about it, it was clear this was a past event. According to the background story I knew, Charlotte had desperately wanted to join the Mugan 7 Palaces to exact her revenge on humanity.
"Before I am human, I was born a witch. I have experience serving as a deputy in the 72 Dungeons, and as this is a newly formed dungeon, it must still be unstable. If you employ me, I will be of great assistance to you."
Her tone was stiff, her expression mechanical. What a cold-blooded, heartless sociopath. To be completely honest, just talking to her is making me sweat bullets. It doesn't matter if Charlotte is human or a witch who hates humanity. The fundamental issue is that this place isn't even a dungeon!
"I will tell you one thing. This is not one of the Mugan 7 Palaces. And I am not a boss."
"I see."
Despite her words, she didn't look like she believed me at all. No, seriously, why on earth do you think I'm a boss of the Mugan 7 Palaces? This isn't a dungeon, and I'm not a boss! So just get the hell out of here, you crazy girl! If I could, I wanted to scream my frustration right in her face.
But I couldn't do that because of that level. I barely managed to swallow my frustration. I couldn't afford to make a reckless move in front of Charlotte. Am I a pathetic, cowardly loser? Well, yes, but it's also true that this crazy woman is an emotionless, murderous psychopath. She's a witch whose hobby is skinning humans alive. No one could predict what a lunatic who destroys everything on a whim—completely contrary to her neat appearance—would do next.
Let's say I cleared up the misunderstanding and convinced her this wasn't a dungeon. What would her reaction be? 'I see. So this was not one of the Mugan 7 Palaces. To think you dared to deceive me. Atone with your death.' If she reacted like that, I would die without even being able to resist. What if I went the other route and told her I wouldn't accept her? 'It seems you do not trust me. In that case, let me demonstrate my power. (Magic blast, kaboom!)' No matter how much I thought about it, every path led to death. After agonizing over it for what felt like an eternity, my choice was clear.
"Welcome. I accept you as the Dungeon Deputy."
When I extended my hand, Charlotte shook it with a slightly trembling hand. Even though her face remained completely expressionless, her actions betrayed her inner feelings.
"Thank you for accepting me."
"Work hard from now on."
"Yes. I will devote my heart and soul to being of service."
Do whatever you want, for all I care. Behind us, the vampires clapped their hands. Cocky little mosquitoes.
"I must step out for a moment."
"Where are you going?"
"Now that I have a deputy, I have some business to attend to outside. Do not ask further."
"I understand."
What business could I possibly have outside just because I got a deputy? Obviously, there was none. Screw this. I'm running away. I'd rather set up a household in the Demon Realm than stay here.
"I have never seen a dungeon boss go out on an errand before," Charlotte murmured, her voice trailing off as she glanced sideways at the vampires. She seemed to be asking if their boss always engaged in such eccentric behavior. Isabella shrugged.
"We don't really know either. We haven't known him for very long."
"Meaning?"
"Uh... actually, we don't belong to this dungeon either. We just happened to end up here yesterday, and he generously took us in. We had no idea this was one of the Mugan 7 Palaces... but now it all makes sense."
"Makes sense? What do you mean?"
"It's nothing. Well, actually, maybe it is a big deal? The Boss saved me when I was on the verge of death, and, well... in the process, he turned me into this."
Because Isabella wasn't very articulate, Charlotte didn't quite understand at first. She wouldn't have grasped it at all if Isabella hadn't touched her horns, fangs, and red hair.
"Are you saying you evolved because of the Boss?"
"Ah, evolution! Yes, that's it! He didn't tell us how he did it, but it's absolutely true."
Charlotte's eyes narrowed. She doubted the truth of those words. Having lived alongside non-humans in dungeons for so long, Charlotte understood them far better than she did humans. A monster's evolution was something that could only be achieved through self-awakening. There had never been a single recorded case of someone forcing that change upon another. If this was true, it was a truly incomprehensible power.
Suddenly, the words of the subjugation force at the inn flashed through her mind. They had also claimed that their weapons vanished into thin air with a single gesture from the Boss. "Yes, that's true too. Whew, I knew he was cut from a different cloth, but to think he was a boss of the Mugan 7 Palaces..." Isabella seemed strangely excited. It made sense, as the Mugan 7 Palaces were objects of longing and awe among non-humans.
A dungeon boss who possessed incomprehensible abilities and didn't hesitate to step outside. Charlotte gave up trying to understand him. The bosses of the Mugan 7 Palaces were, without exception, beings beyond comprehension. That is precisely why they are the Mugan 7 Palaces.
Charlotte looked around. "I should look around until the Boss returns." Since it was a newly formed dungeon, she needed to inspect the internal layout, restructure it, and reinforce it. As the deputy directly appointed by the Boss, such tasks were her natural duty.
The hierarchy within a dungeon was as follows: Boss → Mid-Boss → Gatekeeper → Trash Mobs. Here, a gatekeeper referred to one who guarded a specific floor or room. Aside from this, there existed another distinct role: the deputy. A Dungeon Deputy carried a far heavier burden of responsibility than an adjutant in human society. They served as the Boss's personal attendant while simultaneously keeping their ears to the ground to gather information from human society.
Furthermore, they managed dungeon expansion, monster recruitment, trap placement, food and water supply, the construction of mining outposts, the cultivation of labyrinth flora, cartography based on shifting terrain, formulating strategies against intruders, and even establishing emergency contact networks with the Dungeon Chamber of Commerce. It was no exaggeration to say they were entrusted with the entire management of the dungeon. In a sense, the dungeon deputy was the absolute second-in-command. As such, a deputy had to be competent rather than merely possessing raw martial power.
Charlotte strolled around, calmly observing the dungeon's interior. Although the Boss had accepted her, a part of him likely still distrusted her for being human. Having dealt with such prejudice to the point of exhaustion, Charlotte knew this all too well. Therefore, she had to prove her competence to the absolute limit and change his mind.
"He will surely be surprised when he returns."