140
Chapter 140
Jjokkomi created a Portal.
It was a Portal connected to another Dungeon.
And the connected Portal led to none other than the Gacha Field where I enjoyed a date with Tosuni.
So this place was a Dungeon too.
No wonder it was strangely sunny underground.
It seemed there was a Portal inside the hole we had gone down through.
It was so dark that I didn't even realize we had crossed a Portal.
I guess the entrance Portal leading to this Dungeon was a special type that didn't emit light.
"Kku-o-o! Connection successful!"
Hooray!
Having successfully established the Dungeon Connection, Jjokkomi danced happily.
"U-eo, u-eo!"
"Go-o-o!"
Mother Bear and Urami also cheered and danced along.
They were super excited.
"U-u-ung...."
Tosuni was drooping her ears.
I could guess why she had such a reaction.
It must be because her own secret place had been revealed to everyone.
"Gom-gom, gom-gom-gom-gom."
I patted Tosuni on the back.
Tosuni, monopolizing things isn't good.
You should share a fun place like this with everyone.
As I was telling Tosuni that, Tosun's Mom quietly approached and asked.
"U-um? Do Tosuni and Son-in-law Bear know this Dungeon?"
"Gom-gom-gom, gom-gom."
I went on a date with Tosuni here last time.
After answering like that, I explained about this Dungeon to everyone nearby.
This is a secret place that only Tosuni knew about.
It's the place where Tosuni gets Carrots, and various things like Carrots, Mana Stones, different fruits, and even monsters are buried underground. To pull out the leaves sprouting above the field, you just need to infuse a little bit of Mana.
─Like that, I smoothly spilled all the information I knew.
"U-u-um, so the field where our Tosuni brought Carrots from every time was here. I was always curious about the source, but I finally found out."
A secret place she hadn't even told Tosun's Mom about.
I don't know just how much Tosuni likes me to so readily share a place like that with me.
Anyway.
First, we closed the Portal connected to the Gacha Field Dungeon.
Because it's not a Dungeon we should keep connected continuously.
If we leave it open all the time, enemies might invade while our guard is down, right?
Therefore, we decided to open the Portal only when we had business there.
According to Jjokkomi, it's easy to reconnect a Dungeon once it has been connected.
As long as that Dungeon doesn't face Annihilation, that is.
After closing the Portal connected to the Gacha Field.
I erected Statues of Tosun's Mom and the three Luna Rabbits near the Portal connected to the Rabbit Dungeon, and then created and placed a new Statue where the Portal connected to the Gacha Field had just been.
It was a Statue in the shape of a giant seed.
And I made a request to Jjokkomi.
I asked her to only open the Portal connected to the Gacha Field Dungeon near this Statue from now on.
***
We decided to keep our Toy Dungeon and the Rabbit Dungeon connected at all times.
So that we could freely cross over whenever we wanted.
It might be a different story for other Dungeons, but there was no problem at all with the Rabbit Dungeon, which had a very friendly relationship with us.
However, to maintain this state, we had to establish a rule.
Since a Dungeon now supported another Dungeon,
the Rabbit Dungeon would no longer collapse even if all three Luna Rabbits, who were its Owners, went out to the outside world. The same applied if all the Owners of our Toy Dungeon left as well.
But what if everyone went outside?
Usually, we acted carefully so that not all Owners would leave the Dungeon.
However, everyone might have grown complacent by now.
Thinking it would be fine to just go out to the outside world.
Thinking there would be no problem since there were Owners from the other Dungeon.
Thinking it would be okay not to pay much attention to it.
Such careless thoughts might have settled in their minds.
If that happened, and everyone coincidentally went out at the same time one day, it would be a disaster.
Such risks naturally had to be prevented in advance.
To prevent any mishaps, there was a need to manage the Dungeon more systematically.
Recklessly increasing the number of Owners was not a fundamental solution.
Designating an Owner who would never go out was also a terrible thing to do to that Owner.
Then what should I do?
After pondering for a moment, I soon came up with a method.
Hmm. I just needed to put the Owners of each Dungeon on duty.
No going out on the day of their duty.
I decided to have them work in the Duty Room that was scheduled to be installed in the Portal Square.
Of course, I planned to have them take turns fairly.
In addition to that.
As a double safety measure,
I should create and manage an Outing Status Board in the Duty Room.
If we could see who was out in real-time at a glance, the chances of the disaster I worried about happening would decrease.
I decided to entrust the management of the status board to the one on duty and the Butler Fake Dolls.
Because it required multiple people to manage it thoroughly.
So that absolutely no mistakes would occur when updating the status board.
I would tell them to report their outings and returns in person by coming to the Duty Room.
I could not just manage it carelessly and leave loopholes.
If it was managed sloppily, not only would mistakes happen, but a highly intelligent monster might sneak into the Dungeon with malicious intent and manipulate the status board.
The latter assumption seemed like too much worrying, but it would not hurt to be careful.
I conveyed this management plan to everyone gathered in the square.
Fortunately, there was no pushback and no disagreement.
Everyone agreed that it seemed like a good plan.
Lastly.
I briefly considered having the Princess Doll's Toy Soldiers regularly check the status board to find the Owners who weren't out and verify if they were truly inside the Dungeon. But it felt like excessive surveillance, and I couldn't invade everyone's privacy, so I dropped the idea. Privacy is important, after all.
***
The Toy Dungeon and the Rabbit Dungeon.
To commemorate the connection of the two Dungeons and to foster camaraderie, I hosted an event.
Namely, hosting a Gacha contest at the Gacha Field.
Jjokkomi had just opened the Portal connected to the Gacha Field Dungeon.
It was in the exact same location as when we first connected it earlier.
And it was near the entrance, the place where Tosuni and I had previously enjoyed our date and played the Gacha.
The outline of the contest was simple.
The Participants would do the Gacha in the field for a given amount of time.
Once the contest ended, they would gather the items they pulled and bring them before the Judges.
Then, those items would be evaluated by the Judges.
Among the items brought by a Participant.
The Judges would score only the single best-looking item.
The Judges could each give a score to a different item.
The scores given by the Judges would then be tallied, and prizes would be awarded to first, second, and third place in order of the highest scores.
There were two Judges.
Tosuni and me, and we would not participate in the Gacha.
I also deployed Security Guards.
The Fake Dolls and the Toy Soldiers.
They would not participate in the Gacha contest,
but instead prepare for monster attacks, prevent unexpected accidents, and manage the Participants so they wouldn't wander off too far, among other things.
They were tasked with taking responsibility for the overall safety of the Participants.
"■□□......."
"■■, □□■...?"
"Bear Baby, the Slave children are asking if it's really okay for them to join in too."
"Gom-gom-gom."
I nodded at Ailee's Interpretation.
Of course, the Humans were Participants too.
I couldn't just leave them out because they were Slaves.
Ah, for reference.
I didn't coat anyone with a Luck Breath.
They had to face the contest relying solely on their own innate luck, without any Luck Buffs.
Now, then....
Let the contest begin!
"Gom-gom-gom!"
"U-ung? U-u-ung!"
I shot a Luck Breath up into the sky.
It was the signal announcing the opening of the contest.
As soon as the signal was fired, everyone who had been waiting ran forward with bright smiles.
"Huhihi! This is gonna be so fun! Everyone brace yourselves, I'm gonna pull out the best thing!"
"Kkyu-a! I'm gonna pull the best one!"
The Fox and the Red Panda were the first to arrive at the Gacha Field.
"Yong-yong? Gold has been pulled out-yong. What a fascinating Dungeon-yong."
"Geobu-uk, geobuk!"
Arriving right after, the Little Yellow Dragon and the Turtle began to pull without hesitation.
"Kku-o! Mom, Oppa! Let's pull over here!"
"U-eo!"
"Go-o!"
Sticking close together and looking for a spot were Jjokkomi, Mother Bear, and Urami.
"...! ......!"
"Baby. You can't just use force, they say you have to infuse Mana into the leaves to pull them out."
The Princess Doll was struggling, pulling on the Stem with sheer strength alone.
Beside her, Ailee watched the sight as if finding it cute and offered advice.
"U-ung! Step aside! I grabbed this one first!"
"You step aside! I've had my eye on this Stem for a while now!"
"U-u-ung! Stop fighting and just yield it to me!"
The three Luna Rabbits were bickering, surrounding a single Stem.
While everyone was enthusiastically participating in the contest.
Tosun's Mom stood blankly and looked around the field, then quietly approached me and spoke in a subtle tone.
"Son-in-law Bear, didn't you clearly state earlier that we must absolutely infuse Mana to pull them out?"
"Gom-gom, gom-gom-gom."
Yes, you absolutely cannot pull them out with just force.
I thoroughly checked everything last time.
"U-um, is that so?"
Nod, nod.
Tosun's Mom nodded her head slightly up and down, then suddenly cast Temporary Limit Breakthrough.
In an instant, Tosun's Mom evolved into a Crimson Luna Rabbit.
What the, why is she suddenly using her Unique Skill?
Did an enemy appear?
Startled, I looked around, but not a single attacking monster was in sight. The Security Guards were all standing still, and the field was peace itself.
"Gom?"
The moment I was expressing my question.
"U-u-um, without using Mana... just applying a little bit of force......."
Muttering like that, Tosun's Mom grabbed a single Stem.
And as she seemed to apply a little force,
Plop-!
She easily pulled the Stem out.
"U-um? It pulls out perfectly fine without using any Mana at all?"