Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: Summoning the Black Fairy Queen
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Thud…
Thud…
“Oh, did they leave something behind?”
Aje Rup was cackling away, clearly delighted by something.
“There is. Something they left behind.”
Nod.
I gave a slight nod, and this time a hobgoblin lumbered over with a heavy chest and set it down.
Thuuud-!
“Kukukuku… Looks like there was more tribute after all. Excellent, let’s see…”
“Wait.”
An unexpected haul.
3,000 magic stones.
A reward like rain in a drought.
I absolutely could not squander these magic stones.
“I’ll proceed with the summoning ritual slowly.”
“Hmm… Suit yourself. As long as there’s tribute, I don’t care.”
There’s a widespread superstition that doing single pulls has a higher success rate than ten-pulls.
I have no intention of ignoring it.
‘Either it happens or it doesn’t. That’s gacha for you.’
Face and pride? None of that matters now.
I can’t afford to fail here. My life depends on it.
‘I’ll do single pulls and adjust my gacha strategy in real time!’
Target: Boss-grade familiar.
Forest-attribute familiars, 5-star or higher.
‘If it doesn’t pull this time…’
No.
‘I’ll pull it. No matter what!’
A war without gunfire.
Truth be told, staring at the loot might just be making me overthink everything.
Whoooosh…
“High-quality… magic stones.”
The summoning begins.
Crackle…
First one…
Blue!
[★★★ Successfully acquired False Aroma of Exhilaration.]
‘This… is good.’
But it’s not urgent.
What I urgently need are familiars.
Crackle…
Blue.
[★★★ Summoned Perfectly Camouflaged Moss Mimic.]
‘This is good too! But…’
Not yet.
It’s still not enough.
Something more…
Craaaackle-!
‘Purple!’
[★★★★ Summoned Doppelganger.]
A familiar emerges amid a purple glow.
“Heehee… Excuse me, but may I borrow your face?”
It’s an incomplete form, shifting through shapes in a mass of black sludge, unable to settle.
Excellent.
This one will be essential moving forward.
But… it’s still not quite as urgent as what I really want.
Squirm…
The doppelganger started inching toward me.
Flick.
I waved my hand, and Lucifer stepped forward to shove it aside.
“Huh? Sure, even your form… Gah-! D-Demons! Demons are here…!”
“Please quietly move to the side. You’re disturbing Lord Faust.”
“……”
Her words were polite, but the vibe suggested refusal would lead to trouble.
In a normal dungeon, the doppelganger wouldn’t face such treatment, but my dungeon was in full wartime mode right now.
…Commanders over grunts.
Craaaackle-!
Another purple!
[★★★★ Summoned Forest Troll Wanderer.]
Thuuud-!
Big as a house built from full-grown trees, a massive troll worthy of its 4-star rank appeared.
“Grrraaahhh… Hunnngryyy…”
The troll stood blankly in front of the hell gate.
‘Move, you’re in the way.’
Flick-!
Another wave of my hand, and the forest troll scratched its head and backed off under Lucifer’s guidance.
The demons’ presence was awfully convenient.
But even that fleeting appreciation was drowned out by a wave of anxiety.
They call it “hitting pity” in pay-to-win mobile games.
After a set number of pulls without the target character, you’re guaranteed it.
Naturally, Remegaton’s newbie gacha had a pity system too.
Fitting for a newbie gacha, it guaranteed a 5-star—not 6-star—after just 40 pulls, which was a low ceiling.
Low compared to other banners, sure, but for me, a F2P player thrust into the game, failing to get a 5-star in 40 pulls would be catastrophic.
And this was the early game… Hitting pity and exploding here would doom the future.
Anxiety was inevitable.
Whoooosh…
‘…Huh?’
A distinctly heavier atmosphere than before.
“Urgh… Uuurrrghhh…”
Aje Rup’s skull reacted.
I knew this reaction well.
‘5-star! 5-star or higher!’
Craaaackleeee-!
A brilliant orange light poured from Aje Rup’s empty eye sockets.
And finally, the moment I’d been waiting for arrived.
Krakaboom-!
With a thunderous roar like a lightning strike, a fairy with coppery skin appeared.
A woman in a simple dress, wearing a crown of leaves on her head.
[★★★★★ Summoned Black Fairy Queen.]
She stared straight at me and spoke.
“Where… is your forest?”
Her words carried power.
In the game, it was just a string of words and whispers, but now it hit different.
The tremor of mana in her voice, the unique aura—everything.
It all made the tension coiled in my fist slowly unravel.
Yes, I did it.
“Stop the summoning.”
* * *
[Completed construction of Altar of Growth.]
[Injecting labor into the Altar of Growth will increase familiar EXP gain efficiency.]
[Tip: Familiar growth is directly tied to dungeon growth.]
……
[Completed construction of Magic Stone Mine.]
[Injecting labor into the Magic Stone Mine will increase daily magic stone yield.]
[Tip: Start mining magic stones as early as possible.]
……
[The dungeon now has all core base facilities.]
[Intruders targeting the dungeon core and treasures may strike at any time.]
[Fortify the dungeon to thwart their aims.]
At last, the core base facilities for Rotten Roots Zone 1 were successfully established.
It hadn’t fully absorbed Agnea’s territory, but that was just a matter of time—soon it would claim it all.
Creak…
I rummaged through the mailbox.
‘It should be… here…’
Rustle…
There it was.
A new letter in hand.
Its contents…
[Gift for the New Demon Lord!]
- Hello, New Demon Lord!
You must be working hard defending your dungeon from vicious intruders today!
Now that you’ve unlocked all core base facilities in Rotten Roots Zone 1, expect a steady stream of intruders after your treasures!
Your heart must be pounding with excitement—and worry. As a show of support, our devs have sent a gift!
Check your Sanctum!
[Must check item bound to Sanctum.]
Returning to the Sanctum, I mulled over the question lingering in my mind.
Was this place the game world? Or some other world like Solaria, the stage of Remegaton…?
‘Doesn’t matter either way.’
So, did the devs who made this game throw me in here? …Why?
And if they could do that, what did that make them? Gods?
I even knew one of the core devs.
‘…Seunga.’
…Better not think of her.
It’d just leave a bitter aftertaste. And no matter how much I pondered, I’d concluded there was no way to confirm.
Back in the Sanctum, I checked the “gift” from the devs.
Creak…
Something shabby emerged—a helmet? No, more like a mask.
Hm… So, this mask has history.
Among the cosmetic items usable only by Faust, the protagonist, there are dress-up items.
Skins, basically—no stats, just for looks.
The devs probably used this first cosmetic to hook players on skins, hoping they’d buy more useless ones later.
And it worked pretty well, from what I remember. The seasonal ones sold like hotcakes.
Anyway, I never spent on skins.
Guess I was a vanilla loyalist.
Slide…
My Faust had worn this mask until server shutdown.
That nostalgia—or wistfulness—for old times sprouted anew.
Maybe this mask would take on new meaning for the current Faust in the future.
‘…Shall I try it on?’
Sliide…
“It suits you well.”
!!!
“…Were you there?”
…Jeez, you startled me.
Not even an embarrassing situation, but I flinched anyway.
“I am always by Lord Faust’s side.”
“……”
Whatever. At least make some noise next time.
More importantly, this mask fits comfortably.
“Aaah! It’s a goat!”
“…Phenex.”
You too?
She was pointing right at my face…
“My lord, goat mask! Heehee!”
It looked like a goat skull, but it was meant to evoke Satan’s image.
I’d just remembered it and tried it on a whim.
Slide…
I took off the mask and said,
“Assemble all familiars in the Sanctum.”
“Yes.”
Soon, the Sanctum filled with familiars reeking of forest air.
Thud…
Thuuud…
“Hunnngryyy…”
The forest troll had been muttering that nonstop since arriving. Even after assigning two more familiars to the cafeteria.
At this point, I suspected it wasn’t real hunger—just the only word it knew.
Sliide…
The familiars stood in neat rows, heads turned toward me.
Five goblin types.
Two orc types.
Two black fairies.
The rest miscellaneous.
It might seem sparse for a dungeon, but reality was different.
‘The early episodes are balanced so you can clear with just the basics, even if difficulty spikes sometimes.’
To give F2P players hope of tackling content without paying.
‘And that’s why I chose forest as my first field.’
[Familiars and traps suited to forest terrain have been placed.]
[Conditions met: Forest environmental effect activated.]
[Environmental Effect: Cradle of Life activated.]
[When hostile targets die in forest terrain, forest familiars have a high chance to grow or breed.]
Yes, exactly this.
‘Forests grow and multiply.’
Faust always prepares for the worst.
What if I hadn’t pulled a boss-grade familiar?
What if the gacha bombed and I had to fill the field with nothing but 2- and 3-stars?
‘Other fields wouldn’t cut it. You scrape by early episodes, but the game rewards gacha home runs eventually—you’d hit a wall.’
Remegaton communities always told newbies:
- Forest.
- Just go forest.
- Forest if broke, fire if rich.
- Don’t play. Money sink trash game.
…And so on.
So, building a basic field around forest attributes was time-honored tradition.
They started weak, but soon they’d turn this Rotten Roots into a dense jungle.
“You will live here from now on.”
“……”
“If any refuse to obey, speak now.”
No worries about them not understanding demonic tongue. Mischievous tree spirits zipped around, relaying my words. They were natural interpreters.
Thud…
Thud…
The black fairy queen stepped forward and bowed slightly.
“I will obey your will. This forest holds infinite potential…”
Swipe…
The queen glanced sidelong at Phenex and Lucifer, plastered to my throne, then added,
“And I have no intention of defying one who commands demons.”
“…Ariel.”
Her name was Ariel.
Not one I gave her—it was her original name.
“Heehee… No one gonna ask my opinion?”
“…You.”
There was one extra black fairy I didn’t recognize. I knew who it was instantly.
“You stole a black fairy’s form.”
“Stuck in a quiet place like this sounds awful.”
I remembered.
Doppelgangers had highly specialized abilities but sometimes pulled dangerous stunts on players.
Like warning intruders of traps or disguising as slain party members to explore the dungeon together.
Still, it had its uses.
“You won’t stay here.”
“…Huh?”
“You have work to do with Bill.”
“Bill—the black fairy, right? Hmm… Sounds fun?”
“It won’t be boring.”
Pleased with my answer, the doppelganger grinned in its stolen black fairy face.
Thump.
It knelt and said,
“May I… have a name?”
“Mori. Take it.”
“Mori. Heehee… I’ll take it.”
From that day—or that moment—the dungeon makeover began.
The explored zones so far divided into three: from hidden entrance to Sanctum.
First, heading toward the Sanctum: forest terrain.
The largest, site of the first boss fight.
Then the second boss room.
Still bare, just a musty cave.
‘No spare resources yet.’
Only Phenex to man it, but fire terrain for her would cost more than it’s worth.
She wasn’t ready for her role yet anyway.
Finally, the Sanctum.
I’d be here most, barring special circumstances.
That was the Rotten Roots prototype.
First post-construction: Placed the Rain of Fusion in a key spot.
Goblins and forest orcs.
Green skins, they shared traits but competed fiercely as rivals.
Intruders exploited that to breach forest fields.
[★★★ Placed Rain of Fusion.]
[Familiars in a wide area around Rain of Fusion dramatically reconcile.]
The Rain of Fusion from gacha.
Higher-grade equivalents existed, but this suited a small dungeon best.
As long as the stele stood, orcs and goblins wouldn’t fight. Huge advantage—attackers would dread their combined assaults.
Thud…
Thuuuud…
“Hunnngry… Grrraaah…”
True to its wanderer name, the forest troll patrolled the forest irregularly.
Low intelligence made it hard to control—a flaw—but its size outclassed peers, so tolerable.
- Keeek!
- Keeeek…
Goblins wove villages from trunks and rotten branches. A pair of orcs nested in a nearby cave.
All settled nicely.
Now, traps and environmental objects.
[★★★ Placed False Aroma of Exhilaration.]
[★★★ Placed Perfectly Camouflaged Moss Mimic.]
‘…Mimic’s a familiar, right? …Yeah?’
Sometimes confusing as trap or familiar, but it’s a familiar.
Can’t move on its own, hence the wording.
Anyway, that’s done.
Last trap… over there?
“Test it, Bill.”
“…Yes.”
Bill obeyed without question.
Thud…
Thud…
Counting steps from mimic. Attackers dodging its ambush would move like Bill.
“A bit more.”
Thud…
Yes, here?
They’d let guard down about now.
“This’ll do.”
[★★ Placed Venom Arrow Launcher.]
Set to trigger only on exit.
[★ Placed White Spore Poison Mushroom Cluster.]
…Hit or miss.
‘All done?’
Finally, standing at the dungeon entrance.
Whoooosh…
Craaaack!
A trickle of mana shattered the barrier sealing it.
With the barrier broken, the story advances.
[Dungeon: Rotten Roots opened.]
“…It begins.”