Chapter 51
Chapter 51
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 51
Chapter Title: Second Lieutenant Selection (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Vampire Aren.
She was a young vampire who had barely escaped a massive assault by the Holy Knights.
Right now, she had left her original dungeon behind and was contentedly living in her current spot.
"This place is great because there are so many friends!"
Vampire butterflies fluttered around Aren.
Aren snatched one out of the air and popped it into her mouth.
The more she chewed, the more the juicy flesh of the vampire butterfly burst in her mouth.
"...Delicious! Butterfly friends really are the best!"
Aren's red eyes sparkled brightly.
She was that satisfied with her current life.
She watched the vampire butterflies flitting about and played along with them until her gaze suddenly shifted to a corner.
Something lurked there.
"Ugh..."
The creatures in the corner were massive venomous spiders.
They stared at Aren, still drooling.
"Those guys aren't friends..."
Aren pouted and was about to look away when...
"You've been playing nicely here, I see?"
Her savior had arrived.
"Pretty big sis!"
It was Celia.
Aren immediately leaped into Celia's arms.
This was the dungeon overseen by Celia as chief administrator.
The dungeon was vast, divided into multiple zones, and Aren was staying in Zone 3.
Zone 3 resembled a natural landscape, with expansive fields inhabited by man-eating plants, vampire butterflies, and spiders.
To accommodate Aren living there, Celia had built her a small hut.
Of course, it wasn't entirely free.
Aren wasn't officially part of the dungeon yet.
She was just a visitor.
Strictly speaking, she was more like a dungeon refugee.
Not wanting to let Aren idle around, Celia had assigned her a task: zone management.
Unlike other zones, Zone 3 had no monsters capable of independent thought or action.
So Aren patrolled the area on Celia's orders, managing the monsters within Zone 3.
And the reason Celia had come to find Aren today was much the same.
"Today, I have a different task for you, Aren."
Celia smiled and stroked Aren's head.
"Okay!"
Aren beamed, basking in Celia's touch.
"You're such a good girl, Aren."
Celia praised her and handed Aren something.
It was a small box.
Aren took it and peered inside.
Squirm, squirm—
Something was wriggling inside the box.
Upon closer inspection, it looked like some kind of earthworm.
"Squirmy...?"
Aren murmured, staring at the wriggling thing.
"Yes, exactly. It's a child bestowed by the Great One. From now on, your task is to raise it well. It's very important, so no mistakes allowed. Got it?"
📛 Name:Small Wyrmling, Squirmy (★)🔹 Traits:Wyrm hatchling. Crawls through the earth.
- Set as lieutenant for the dungeon 'Nest of the Evil God'?
[Yes] [No]
Celia trusted Aren to handle a task like this.
Normally, she would raise it herself, but her workload was piling up.
With every hand needed, she entrusted it to Aren.
As she cautioned her, Celia added...
"In return, if you raise it well, I'll send those spider friends outside."
She dangled a carrot to boost Aren's motivation.
"Really...?"
And sure enough...
Aren's eyes lit up again.
To Aren, those weren't friends—those spiders were the last beings she wanted to get close to.
So Celia's words were music to her ears.
"Don't worry! I'll take great care of Squirmy friend!"
Aren clenched her fist, brimming with confidence.
She immediately opened the box and placed the self-proclaimed Squirmy friend on her palm.
"Squirmy friend! I'll protect you from now on!"
As if understanding her resolve, Squirmy wriggled even more vigorously.
Gazing at it, Aren swiftly caught a nearby vampire butterfly with practiced ease.
She placed it before Squirmy.
"Be friends with Butterfly friend too!"
Squirmy wriggled over and enveloped the vampire butterfly.
It suddenly opened its mouth wide.
Tiny spines lined the inside.
"Ooh! Squirmy friend loves Butterfly friends too!"
Aren murmured in delight, examining Squirmy closely.
"Huh? What's this?"
Something dropped onto Aren's palm as Squirmy wriggled.
"...Scales?"
To Aren, Squirmy didn't just resemble something in shape—its surface felt similar too.
"Ah! Just like long friends!"
Aren knew long friends—snakes—and they had scales like that.
Though Squirmy's felt a bit tougher.
'Maybe Squirmy friend will turn into a long friend when it grows up?'
Aren watched Squirmy with anticipation and excitement.
📛 Name:Master of Transformation, Vetter (★★★★)🔹 Traits:A blue-bodied slime. The master of transformation, capable of perfectly mimicking others' appearances. Once seen, it never forgets, copying forms exactly—and faintly replicating traits as well.
- Set as lieutenant for the dungeon 'Temptation of Illusions'?
[Yes] [No]
Squirmy, the tenth pull from the final lieutenant gacha.
I'd originally planned to decline.
But refusing doubles the cost of the next gacha, so I reluctantly selected it as a lieutenant.
"Let's think positive."
Celia started as 3-star.
Now she wielded immense power, so maybe Squirmy had growth potential too?
Of course, I knew comparing it to Celia was unfair.
Still, clinging to that slim hope...
I'd secretly hoped for an upgrade perk package like Celia's, but nothing appeared.
"Well, relying too much on packages isn't right anyway."
Convincing myself, I sent the gacha Squirmy to Celia.
The dungeon under Celia's chief administration had a solid system.
Adding a 1-star monster as lieutenant wouldn't collapse it—the risk was practically zero.
"I'll throw in some extra monsters for her."
Apologizing to Celia like that, I checked the dungeon list.
"The gap looks huge like this."
6-star underling with a 1-star...
If a growth package for Squirmy ever appeared, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.
For now, I could only hope Squirmy grew well, feeling sorry for Celia.
I prepared the next gacha.
With a new lieutenant for Celia, it was Azmo's turn next.
Luckily, this one was easy to decide.
The very first pull yielded a whopping 4-star monster.
"Whoa!"
A full-body blue slime appeared.
Slimes might sound weak, but this one was 4-star.
"Mimicking appearances perfectly."
Checking the details, it seemed incredibly versatile.
"This solves the biggest issue."
Azmo's dungeon had one major problem: too simplistic and uniform composition.
All incubi meant intruders could counter easily.
B-rank+ dungeons were tough because of diverse monster types.
You had to calculate countless variables and bring varied hunters.
Just incubi? It was only a matter of time before clearance.
Right now, Death Knight and Arch Lich helped, but I couldn't station them forever.
To be blunt, my life depended more on my main dungeon than Azmo's.
But I wouldn't foolishly abandon Azmo's either.
"More dungeons are always better."
I assigned the gacha lieutenant to Azmo right away.
Just adding a lieutenant already felt rewarding.
Finally, I tapped to check another of my dungeons.
The F-rank Skeleton Dungeon where I'd caught Ji Tae-hoon and Ji Sung-min last time.
Thanks to my 'True Dungeon Master' trait, perhaps?
Skeletons' speech was normally inaudible to humans.
But now I could hear them.
Conversations worked with the dungeon's F-rank skeletons, and they pledged loyalty.
With so many dungeons, no harm in accepting.
"Hmm, can't manage these directly?"
Unlike others, this self-conquered F-rank Skeleton Dungeon had no management options.
I couldn't even appoint an administrator at will.
It just showed the name, taking a slot in the list, but nothing I could touch.
"Do I have to manage this one in person?"
What an annoying system.
I'd need to figure out why the smartphone couldn't handle this one.
The 'Temptation of Illusions' dungeon.
There, administrator Azmo was chatting nonstop with someone.
"Just this fragrance alone transforms the scent of clothes wonderfully."
Azmo sprayed fragrance on the clothes before him as he spoke.
Spray, spray—
"How about it? Doesn't the aroma smell divine?"
As Azmo said, a pleasant scent wafted from the clothes.
The owner nodded in satisfaction.
It was the Death Knight.
His maid outfit draped over his shield smelled incredible now.
He felt immense satisfaction.
Beside him stood the Arch Lich.
He had recently been promoted from lich to Arch Lich by the master's grace.
He too basked in ecstasy from the oil rubdown by Azmo's subordinates.
Was this paradise?
The Death Knight and Arch Lich wanted to stay in this dungeon longer.
And then...
A change began.
Vrrr—
The dungeon entrance started vibrating.