Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Monster Wave (1)
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Azmo's dungeon was finally starting to take shape now that a lieutenant had been assigned to manage it.
A lieutenant had been recruited.
There was no immediate need to summon more monsters urgently.
"And some species even reproduce on their own."
On top of that, there were quite a few cases where monsters bred among themselves.
The vampire butterflies in Sector 3 of the first floor were a prime example.
Their numbers were increasing naturally without any additional summons.
As insect-type monsters, they reproduced quickly, so as long as an ecosystem was established, there were no major issues.
"Alright, then. Time to try the miscellaneous gacha?"
It seemed like it was time to turn his attention to something else.
For instance, the miscellaneous gacha?
The description stated that it mainly yielded equipment, weapons, or skills.
Based on that description alone, he had actually tried the miscellaneous gacha once before.
'But all I got were total duds.'
Unlike the monster gacha, which at least gave 1-stars, the miscellaneous gacha had outright trash items that could be called misses without exaggeration.
Not just useless twigs or leaves, but even pebbles had come out.
The only silver lining was that the dress Celia was currently wearing had appeared.
If even that hadn't shown up, he might have been furious.
That said, completely skipping the miscellaneous gacha was the worst option.
Just looking at Celia's current outfit, it had various options attached.
Though it wasn't from the gacha, the maid outfit she had worn before also had cheat-like properties.
What if he pulled equipment or clothes like that?
"Even one really good item would be a huge win."
With that thought, he reached to tap the miscellaneous gacha option in the shop window.
Ding-
But before he could press it, an alert popped up first.
It was an alert that the number of monsters in the dungeon managed by Azmo had reached capacity.
Looking at Azmo's dungeon status, it seemed the recent surge in ghouls was the cause.
"Just how many has he caught?"
The reason for the ghoul increase was undoubtedly the Death Knight.
Due to the Death Knight's skill characteristics, any being it killed would revive as a ghoul.
Originally, Azmo's dungeon was an incubus dungeon.
The fact that there were so many ghouls now meant the Death Knight had taken down a substantial number of intruders.
The intruders were probably people like him, but he felt no particular sympathy.
After all, they were the ones who had come charging in to steal what was his.
He had merely defended his own.
"Yeah, the ghoul numbers are insane."
Adding the lieutenant on top of that made the dungeon feel even more cramped.
"Hmm... Anyway, it says I can set up the Monster Wave?"
Monster Wave.
It referred to the phenomenon where monsters burst out from the dungeon.
The most prominent theory was that when the dungeon filled up with monsters inside, it pushed them out.
"Looking at the explanation now, that doesn't sound entirely wrong."
The Monster Wave settings window was simple.
It let you designate the range of the wave and how many monsters to release.
Of course, he could also choose to expand the dungeon size right away to avoid a Monster Wave.
But considering that monsters would continue to reproduce and increase their numbers on their own in the future...
He might not be able to check each dungeon individually every time the number under his command grew.
"Might as well set it up now?"
The good news was that it didn't require detailed settings for each individual dungeon.
Plus, there was an option for the dungeon master or lieutenant to judge and handle it themselves.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
From what he'd seen so far, these monsters had decent intelligence.
Letting them handle things with some leeway had yielded better results at times, so he selected that option without hesitation.
"Azmo will handle it well, right?"
Curious about how he'd respond to the current situation, he deliberately refrained from expanding the dungeon size.
"He'll probably send the ghouls out first."
For now, he'd just do the gacha.
"Goddamn it, why the hell are we stuck doing this crap?"
One hunter grumbled while patrolling around the dungeon.
The person next to the complaining hunter spoke up.
"Low-ranks like us just gotta do what we're told. What can we do about it?"
That person was equally displeased.
They weren't thrilled about giving up their day off to patrol here.
They were hunters from the Phoenix Guild.
And the place they were guarding was the Incubus Dungeon.
Incubus Dungeon.
It was the dungeon where the guild master's second son, Jeong Woo-jin, had entered for subjugation.
Of course, it had failed.
They thought it was just incubi, but it turned out a succubus was the master.
With the guild master's son returning in a pathetic state, the guild's mood was understandably sour.
Naturally, the Phoenix Guild prepared a second raid.
This time, they adjusted the gender ratio of hunters to counter the succubus, deploying those specialized in mental defense skills, along with artifacts.
The raid leader and nearly fifty hunters included half A-rankers.
In short, the guild's leadership had resolved themselves firmly.
Yes, this raid was set up for inevitable success.
But one variable cropped up.
"Another bust today, huh?"
"Sigh, are we stuck here until our next day off?"
Quite some time had passed since the Phoenix Guild's raid entered, yet there was no news.
The dungeon remained sealed, and the status of the hunters inside was unconfirmed.
Either the raid would subjugate the dungeon and emerge, or they'd all be wiped out and the dungeon would open.
Or the dungeon master might show mercy like with Jeong Woo-jin and send the raid back alive.
Any of those three scenarios would be fine, but the dungeon stubbornly stayed shut.
With no telling when the raid inside would come out, Phoenix Guild hunters continued to provide cover outside.
This was a crucial task.
Suppose the raid subjugated the dungeon and exited exhausted.
If enemies of the guild were around, what might happen?
It was obvious, so all guilds dispatched two types of hunters for dungeon subjugations.
The raid team that cleared the dungeon.
And the patrol team that waited outside for news or to provide rapid support if needed.
The currently grumbling hunters belonged to the latter: the patrol team.
Thus, despite their complaints, they knew why they were here and carried out their duties silently.
Then, another variable arose during their ongoing patrol.
An unwelcome intruder shattered the silence of the quiet night.
The dungeon's energy began to fluctuate.
Moments later.
Weeeeeeng-
A siren blared across the area.
The signal that the dungeon had opened.
"Fuck. It had to open while I'm on duty."
He grumbled, but inwardly he was thinking something else.
Please don't let it be a Monster Wave...
For all the racket the siren made, nothing had changed.
There was nothing worth noting as an issue.
"Did the gauge malfunction?"
B-rank hunter Choi Ji-hoon, leader of the patrol team.
He muttered while examining the gauge inside the barracks.
The gauge was an artifact that reacted to the dungeon's energy.
It going off meant the sealed dungeon had opened.
"Hmm."
But in the end, nothing happened.
The dungeon stayed sealed, no raid hunters returned, and no monsters burst out.
"Well, a Monster Wave is still too early anyway."
Monster Wave referred to monsters pouring out from the dungeon.
It mainly occurred when a dungeon was left alone and its internal monster population kept growing.
Like this:
Think of it as people overcrowding a house and getting kicked out.
Dungeons were the same.
In any case, Monster Waves were a real pain.
When monsters spilled out, there were that many more things to worry about, so the government and guilds periodically cleared dungeons.
Choi Ji-hoon set the gauge down again.
A Monster Wave was definitely too far-fetched.
There weren't any monsters coming out, after all.
"As long as the raid team inside doesn't turn into monsters..."
He chuckled at his own words.
"Ha."
It didn't even make sense to begin with.
Of course, entities that turned hunters into monsters did exist in reality.
Death Knights that created ghouls were the prime example, along with zombies that bit and turned others into more zombies.
Even vampires that converted kin.
But this dungeon housed incubi and succubi.
They had Charm as a weapon, but it wasn't a skill that turned people into monsters.
It was closer to mental control.
So Choi Ji-hoon didn't consider any other possibilities.
"Captain Choi Ji-hoon!"
Someone burst into the barracks, calling his name.
It was his lieutenant, assisting him.
"Yeah? You finished the headcount?"
When the siren had gone off earlier, Choi Ji-hoon had ordered the lieutenant to check the personnel.
"Yes, sir! Here it is!"
Choi Ji-hoon looked at the status board the lieutenant handed him and muttered to himself.
"Hmm, twenty-two people..."
The board listed exactly who was present and how many.
"We had about twenty today, right?"
They were the patrol team, preparing for contingencies around the dungeon.
Personnel fluctuated daily, so the numbers varied.
"Hmm."
Choi Ji-hoon stroked his chin while staring at the board.
He should verify the count thoroughly, but...
'I'm not some idle guy...'
It roughly matched, so no big issue.
"Got it. You're dismissed."
Choi Ji-hoon sent the lieutenant out and immediately contacted the guild operations room.
Tracking dispatched hunters was vital for the guild, making this report essential.
Connection established shortly after.
"Yes, Patrol Leader Choi Ji-hoon here."
He reported the current situation and personnel status.
"...So, we have twenty-two on site, no issues."
With that, the day's duties were essentially done.
As he was about to end the call and rest...
- Hold on.
The operations room responded.
It was the director's voice.
- How many did you say you have right now?
Ugh, didn't he hear earlier?
Choi Ji-hoon grimaced slightly and repeated.
"Twenty-two on site."
But the operations room asked again in a grave tone.
- You sure? No miscount?
Ha.
Choi Ji-hoon sighed softly.
He was a bit annoyed, but the other was his superior.
He composed himself and replied politely.
"No anomalies in personnel. Nothing problematic."
But then...
- Hey! You bastard!
A curse flew from the director's mouth.
- You didn't check properly! Idiot, you were supposed to have twenty-one today!
"Pardon?"
Caught off guard, even Choi Ji-hoon responded blankly.
- Recheck your personnel now!
Urgency seeped from the operations room.
Choi Ji-hoon scanned the board again, reading names one by one.
"...Kim Min-jae, Lee Nam-hyuk, and finally Seo Young-ho."
It clearly said '22' on the board.
No duplicates either.
- Choi Ji-hoon, what was the last name you said?
"Pardon? The last one? Oh, Seo Young-ho?"
- You bastard! You messing around right now?
Choi Ji-hoon was getting irritated now too.
He was always serious.
Getting cursed at and accused of joking out of nowhere pissed him off.
"No! Explain properly! I'm not joking. What's the big deal?"
- ......
Silence fell briefly.
Then the operations room spoke again.
- Hey, Ji-hoon. You don't remember? Seo Young-ho was in this raid team. The one that entered the dungeon you're patrolling.
"...Ah."
Right.
It came back to him.
The raid that entered this dungeon—the leader was A-rank hunter Seo Young-ho.
How had he forgotten?
"Uh, maybe it's just a name coincidence...?"
Coincidences happened.
It had to be.
But the operations room crushed that hope.
- Just checked. No other Seo Young-ho in Phoenix Guild.
"You're kidding, right?"
- Does this feel like kidding time!
The director raised his voice, bellowing.
- So start rechecking personnel immedia—
Click.
Choi Ji-hoon cut the connection.
Yeah, he needed a moment to think.
Maybe the lieutenant wrote it wrong.
"......"
But what if.
Really, just hypothetically.
What if it wasn't a mistake?
Come to think of it, the siren had blared before the headcount.
No way...
"Fuck."
Choi Ji-hoon bolted out of the barracks, shouting.
"Everyone, assemble!"
Something had gone terribly wrong.