Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: The Demon Realm Merchant Guild's Half-Blood Succubus
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Celia was in a great mood today.
"Grow the dungeon in a manner befitting my stature. I grant you all authority."
The Master himself had given her the command.
He had entrusted her with full management of the dungeon.
This was as good as saying he trusted and believed in her.
Celia's spirits soared, but she didn't let herself get carried away.
This trust came with a test.
If she performed admirably, the Master would surely entrust her with important tasks in the future as well.
She absolutely could not disappoint him.
Celia first checked the state of the dungeon.
The benevolent Master had given her a few things along with the order to manage it.
The first was monsters.
The moment she received dungeon authority, she gained command over the dungeon's affiliated monsters.
"Skeletons, huh."
One skeleton swordsman, two soldiers.
One archer and two mage apprentices.
Not a strong force by any means.
Looking at it objectively, they were the bare minimum for dungeon defense.
But all of this was surely the Master's test.
If she couldn't overcome it on her own, she had no right to call herself the servant of such a great Master.
She turned her attention to the other items next.
There lay two black cards.
The second gift was those cards.
She knew what they signified.
Celia had once been a disciple of the Succubus Queen in the past.
And she had learned a little about dungeon management back then.
"These are Demon Realm Merchant Guild cards, aren't they?"
No matter how much you had a dungeon, there were limits to growing it alone.
Just as human society had merchants, the Demon Realm was no different.
The Demon Realm Merchant Guild.
The largest and only merchant guild in the Demon Realm.
No matter how mighty a Demon King might be, they couldn't bully the guild.
What if they did?
The guild would simply cut off trade with that Demon King.
Even a Demon King would wither away, and their dungeon would go bankrupt.
Thus, the guild was both a vital force for growing a dungeon and a leash that had to be endured.
Of course, if you had enough money, even the guild would bow their head, or so it was said.
And the third and final item was a fairly large pouch.
Celia opened it and her eyes widened.
"Th-this is magic stones?"
Small magic stones gleaming with a purple hue sparkled inside.
The quantity was enormous.
At least thousands of them.
And their quality wasn't low either.
They could all be called top-grade without issue.
The grade of magic stones varied greatly even at the same quantity due to quality differences, leading to massive price gaps.
With this many top-grade stones, it was more than enough as startup capital.
"The Master truly is remarkable."
She hadn't expected such generous support.
He had already laid the groundwork.
With this level of backing, she couldn't forgive herself for failing.
Celia immediately set off, leading the skeletons.
Her goal was to figure out how to deploy them.
For now, some barrier prevented anyone from invading the dungeon.
She had learned that upon gaining dungeon authority.
'Probably a barrier.'
But that wouldn't last forever.
She needed to position the skeletons for defense once it lifted.
As Celia led them down the dungeon passage, a thought suddenly struck her.
"It's too narrow, isn't it? What do you think, Mr. Skeleton?"
The dungeon passage was narrow compared to its length.
Did the skeleton understand her?
It clacked in response.
"As expected, Mr. Skeleton agrees. We should tackle this issue first."
As a succubus, Celia lacked deep military knowledge on offense and defense.
But the problem was obvious.
A narrow passage favored defense but also benefited attackers.
They needed to expand certain sections into wide open spaces.
That way, they could repel invaders crawling through the narrow paths.
And that wasn't all.
The flat terrain without cover only amplified defensive difficulties.
"Looks like we'll need the guild's help after all."
Dungeon expansion wasn't something you could do just by saying so.
It required labor, funds, and time.
The Master expanding this small dungeon like this was simply because he was an extraordinary being.
No one else could do it.
In truth, with the Master's power, he could solve this issue in an instant.
But Celia didn't want that.
She couldn't rely on his power forever.
Wasn't that why he had entrusted it to her in the first place?
Celia promptly tore one of the black cards in half.
The Demon Realm Merchant Guild card burst into blue flames and turned to ash.
It had been used correctly.
A merchant from the guild would arrive soon.
The Demon Realm Merchant Guild was enormous.
Its vast scale was maintained by countless monsters meshing together like individual gears.
Monsters.
From a human perspective, they all looked the same, but they weren't.
Monsters had their own hierarchies, and titles varied by bloodline.
Those with noble Demon King blood or promoted to Demon King were called higher demons, not monsters.
And higher demons scorned regular monsters for lacking pedigree.
Of course, this was mostly formality; in truth, those with overwhelming power were respected regardless of monster or demon.
The Demon Realm Merchant Guild was the same.
Being in the Demon Realm, it was filled with pedigreed higher demons and powerful monsters.
And at the very bottom rung was Molu.
She sat at her desk again today.
Molu had been with the guild for quite some time.
Long enough that she wasn't a rookie anymore.
But her origins limited her, leading to constant discrimination within the guild.
She was a monster with no pedigree whatsoever. And she lacked power too.
No, there was an even bigger issue: she was the child of a succubus and a human.
The guild buzzed with disdain for a monster bearing lowly human blood.
All the good dungeons went to higher demons or strong monsters.
What made a dungeon "good"?
Ones with wealthy owners powerful enough not to be raided immediately.
And the stronger they were, the more profit they could bring the guild.
Good dungeons were easy for building sales records.
And those records determined rank within the guild, so everyone fought over them.
That said, the guild didn't only handle prime dungeons.
There weren't many good ones, and most dungeons were average.
The problem was that Molu hadn't been assigned even a single average dungeon.
"Haa..."
When could she finally visit a dungeon?
At first, Molu had wanted a good one too.
But now, she'd take any dungeon to build even a little record.
As she yawned, thinking today would be another bust...
"Molu!"
Someone called her.
It was Juwell, her recently assigned boss.
Her superior was a succubus too, but a pure one unlike Molu with her human blood.
Thus, Juwell despised her most of all.
She called her a vulgar wretch defiling pure succubus blood.
Molu naturally shrank in her presence.
"Y-yes? Ah, yes!"
Startled, Molu jumped up from her seat.
Her boss handed her a document.
"Work. You've wanted a dungeon assignment, right? Sign here."
Suddenly assigned a dungeon by the boss she expected to scold her—it threw Molu off.
She had been stuck at a desk for ages, not even seeing a dungeon.
Juniors who joined later were already out as merchants, while she remained in place.
Now, for the first time, a dungeon was assigned to her.
Molu gratefully took the document.
She bit her finger, using the blood to stamp it.
The deal was sealed.
"Th-thank you! I'll do my very best, Ms. Juwell!"
"It's late, so prepare quickly and go. Succeed, and you'll build some record."
"Yes! I'll be off!"
With an energetic reply, Molu dashed out.
The moment she left, Juwell smirked.
'She'll come back empty-handed.'
It was obvious without checking.
No noteworthy presence emanated from that dungeon.
Either a worthless backwater or an overwhelmingly untouchable one—those were the options.
But the latter was impossible.
The guild would have noticed such a place ages ago.
So it had to be the former: a broke dungeon.
The guild's first merchant virtue was money, second surprisingly loyalty.
Thus, merchants couldn't arbitrarily switch assigned dungeons unless the dungeon vanished or the owner requested a change.
Handling a poor dungeon stressed merchants out.
Poor sales plus penniless clients.
Worst case, they might even get stuck with tabs.
Yet reputation mattered— even bad dungeon owners were guild clients.
Merchants ended up extending credit grudgingly, tanking their records.
Such failures piled up, eventually strangling their careers.
'This is why hybrids with human blood are hopeless.'
Juwell eagerly anticipated Molu's dejected return.
I visited the Awakener Center after a long time.
"How can I help you?"
"I'd like a mana measurement."
"Your name?"
My goal was, naturally, the mana test.
In this era, hunters inactive or uncontactable for long periods were required to retest.
Without it, your hunter license was suspended—no dungeons, no Hunter Market, no services.
It was designed to curb hunter crimes.
"Ah, Hunter Yi Kang-hyun. Due to prolonged inactivity, you're required for mana remeasurement."
Having spent two years on the Eldorado Continent, I qualified.
I'd planned to take it leisurely, but with the Status Window appearing, I decided to get it done now.
'No big difference anyway.'
Awakened folks supposedly got Status Windows by default, but I hadn't.
And nothing else had changed beyond that appearing.
No stat boosts or new skills.
The test wouldn't reveal anything special.
Thus, no one would know I'd been to another world (kicked out, technically).
"Place your hand here for measurement."
A transparent orb shaped like a sphere.
Touch it, and mana measurement began.
A few seconds after placing my hand...
"Ah, F-rank. Any other peculiarities?"
The staffer nodded as if it were obvious, jotting notes.
Now came the real talk.
"I was planning to quit hunting entirely due to lacking a Status Window."
The center already had my record of no Status Window.
To resume hunter work smoothly, things needed to change.
"But suddenly one appeared. So I'm here to give hunting another shot."
"Huh..."
A brief silence fell.
"Congratulations! You're a real hunter now!"
The staffer's eyes widened slightly as they congratulated me.
It was the expected reaction.
I'd been a half-baked hunter until now.
"New license in 30 minutes. With a Status Window, all that's left is growth."
I replied appropriately and turned to leave when...
"Huh? Who's this? If it isn't the half-baked hunter."
A voice I hadn't heard in ages.
A truly unwelcome one from behind.
"Kid, still kicking, huh?"
A Hunter Academy classmate.