0. Million Dungeon Lord
0. Million Dungeon Lord
There was a game called 'Million Dungeon Lord.'
Abbreviated, 'MLD.'
Overall, it was a basic dungeon defense game with the common setup of the user protecting a dungeon as a Dungeon Lord and Demon Lord candidate.
There was a special element where the user's alter ego was directly characterized and fought on the front lines, but the user's direct control was limited to summoning creatures, making or purchasing traps, and configuring the dungeon. Direct control was impossible during the wave defense phase.
Even the dungeon configuration could be set to run automatically once general policies were decided, so practically over 80% of it was just a bonsai management game.
A typical partially paid game where you could spend currency to customize your user avatar and sometimes even pull special characters.
Honestly, it wasn't that fun of a game.
- Forget a million, does it even get ten thousand concurrent players? Does it even reach a thousand if you combine NPCs?
- Characters are pretty, but there's literally nothing to do.
- After hitting 1,000 hours of gameplay with supposedly unlimited content, there's basically nothing left, right?
It was the kind of talk heard among the few veteran players, not even from casual users.
But hey, you don't play bonsai games for the thrill. You play them because you can just invest a little time during your busy daily routine.
Like veteran users always do, I called the game dogshit too, but to me, it was a game well worth holding onto.
'It didn't attract popularity, but isn't it decent enough?'
I thought.
So for about three years, even after my avatar became the Demon King in-game, I enjoyed it... or rather, I left it alone, only checking in when I felt like it.
『Thank you, Demon King, 'Libertas'!
We inform you that you have achieved 10,000 hours of gameplay!』
'Oh, this came again.'
So when this kind of message arrived, I didn't suspect a thing.
Because similar messages with bonus gifts had come at 100 hours, 200, 500, and 1,000 hours.
I remembered thinking it was odd when nothing came at 2,000 or 5,000 hours, but I just figured it would come at 10,000.
『To the Demon King who has grown alongside their dungeon for so long in our world of 'Million Dungeon Lord,' we grant the following gifts...』
And these special bonuses were like free cash shop items that normally required real money, so I was actually pleased.
The game's gacha was quite generous so the burden was light, but no one hates free stuff.
So even when I opened the message, that pleasant feeling hadn't faded.
『...And finally, as a 10,000-hour special bonus, we grant you the 'Free Customization Ticket' to design your very own Demon King, and the 'Alpha Test Access Pass' to enjoy the upcoming 'Million Dungeon Lord 2' in advance!』
"Oh."
Until I saw this message.
It wasn't a particularly fun game, but the developer never screwed up service or paid items, never had a single server management issue—in other words, it was a game that left me with not a single bad memory.
I'd enjoyed it alongside my daily life for three years, so attachment was bound to develop where none had been.
For once, it was news that sparked motivation.
『The appearance of the Demon King you design here can accompany you as a Demon Lord Candidate in the sequel, so decide carefully!』
So.
I decided to design the prettiest avatar possible, referencing animation and the appearances of all my favorite characters from 2D games.
Because female characters are the universal rule for game avatars.
'It's 3D. ...Are they seriously going to develop this properly? I just hope they don't suddenly pull the plug on the decent server.'
It wasn't dogshit, but a game you could never call a goated masterpiece had no reason to adopt the luxury of 3D graphics.
So touches like this, which raised expectations that they'd go with a 3D design for the sequel, were enough to ignite the passion dormant in my heart.
Maybe the profits were bigger than expected.
I thought I'd long since fallen out of fandom because daily life was too busy, but perhaps that wasn't entirely true.
In the end, I wasted an entire day off on customization.
"...Goddamn it."
Of course, if I'd known this would happen, I'd never have done it.
"Explain to me why this is happening to me..."
Possession within a game world.
Something I thought only happened in novels had genuinely happened to me.
Transmigrating into another world.
And into the form of the character I personally customized.
In other words, into the form of a woman.