57
Chapter 57
Inside the dungeon made of toy blocks.
The orbs embedded in the ceiling, which had been shedding a faint glow, began to emit an intense light once again.
Had morning arrived in the outside world?
To make sure, I briefly stepped out through the portal.
"Huh?"
As soon as I came out, I locked eyes with the fox.
She was poking her head out from inside the burrow.
She sure was an early bird, or rather, an early fox.
Anyway.
Morning had also come to the outside world.
It seemed the flow of day and night out here affected our dungeon too. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say our dungeon was exactly mirroring the outside world's cycle.
"Good morning! Hehe!"
Wiggle wiggle.
I greeted the fox by waving one of my front paws.
Yeah, good morning.
The fox scrambled out of the burrow and trotted over to me.
"I'm... I'm going to hang out in your dungeon again today! Don't try to stop me!"
I told you I wouldn't.
Do whatever you want.
"Hehehe."
The fox held a mana stone in her paw.
It was the pure white mana stone I had seen before.
Why did you bring that?
Are you going to give it to me?
As I stared intently at the mana stone, the fox noticed my gaze.
She quickly hid the mana stone behind her back.
Guess it wasn't a gift for me.
Still, there was no need to hide it...
Anyway, having confirmed that morning had arrived, I decided to go back into the dungeon.
When I took the portal into the dungeon, the fox naturally followed me inside.
"Whoa? The dungeon got brighter!"
"Vrr."
Tosuni also came through the portal right behind us.
...Wait, when did you get here, Tosuni?
Is suddenly appearing out of nowhere a trend these days?
It seemed she had arrived exactly at the moment we were crossing through the portal.
"Nice to see you, rabbit doll!"
"Vrr!"
While the two were greeting each other.
The puppeteer doll also approached with quick steps and greeted them.
And not long after, Ailee and Jjokkomi also woke up from their sleep.
***
As Tosuni spoke and Ailee provided the interpretation.
I was told that you could magically whip up buildings in the dungeon.
However, we didn't use that method.
Because doing so required a massive amount of mana.
I heard that even a single small building demanded more mana than one could imagine.
Perhaps the puppeteer doll decided it severely lacked the mana to create a complete building, so it just kept endlessly generating toy blocks the size of ordinary bricks.
Those didn't seem to consume much mana.
Just like that, after generating roughly tens of thousands of blocks.
The puppeteer doll flopped down on the floor, seemingly out of mana.
"Vrr?"
"Ku, kuo?"
"Gasp?! Emergency, emergency!! The doll died!!!"
"Little fox... Our baby isn't dead, so please don't make a fuss."
The puppeteer doll looked like an ordinary doll.
It was completely immobilized, like a robot that had been powered off.
Hey, you should have saved enough mana for basic actions, you idiot!
What were you planning to do if we weren't around!
I gave it a light smack on the head.
Then I scooped up a generous gourd full of blood from the jar and fed it to the puppeteer doll.
"...!"
Only then was it able to move again.
Even creatures without the bloodsucking skill could rapidly replenish their mana by drinking the blood made by Tosun's Mom.
Unfortunately, because we had mixed other monsters' blood into the jar, it was diluted and the effect was ever so slightly diminished.
Afterwards.
The puppeteer doll waved its hand, issuing orders to the fake dolls.
I could roughly guess what the order was.
It was likely an order to build a structure using the newly generated blocks.
Since the fake dolls were moving in unison, picking up and carrying the toy blocks.
The fake dolls began building the structure by hand.
Each block had protruding and grooved parts, so they assembled sturdily just by stacking them up.
Just like putting Lego blocks together.
When the protruding and grooved parts connected, they locked together perfectly with a click.
During the construction.
I tried kicking the stacked blocks with all my might.
My goal was to see if they were sturdy.
Thankfully, my full-power kick didn't bring them down.
They must not be ordinary blocks, but rather blocks with special properties.
After finishing my check.
I was watching the fake dolls build from a short distance away.
"Hmm, hmm-hmm~"
The fox subtly approached my side, humming a tune.
Then, she intentionally dropped the white mana stone she was holding onto the floor with a plop.
"Oh my? My precious mana stone just fell!"
What are you doing?
You clearly just dropped that on purpose.
Do you think I'm an idiot?
"Where did it go? I can't see it!"
Even though the mana stone was right at her feet.
The fox absolutely refused to look down, pretending she couldn't see the mana stone while glancing around instead.
"Aww... I lost it. It's a shame, but it can't be helped."
It was terrible acting.
Even an inanimate object could tell it was acting.
"Whoever picks up the mana stone I lost will be very lucky."
Glance, glance.
The fox was studying me out of the corner of her eye.
Hmm...
It doesn't seem like she wants me to pick it up for her.
Did she want to give me a gift to celebrate us becoming friends, but felt too shy to just hand it over, so she's giving it to me like this?
It definitely seemed that way.
What a tsundere.
Well, if it really is a gift, I'll gratefully accept it.
I went ahead and picked up the white mana stone.
Then, I gently tapped her on the shoulder.
"Eh?"
I held out the mana stone to the fox.
It was possible she wasn't giving it to me as a gift, but rather that she was genuinely too silly to find it.
I had to make sure of these things.
I didn't want to be falsely accused of being a thief.
"It looks exactly like the mana stone I lost. But it's not mine. It's yours, teddy bear."
The fox turned her head away.
...So it really was a gift.
Thanks, I'll put it to good use.
But is she only giving one to me?
From the looks of it, she wasn't giving anything to the others.
I didn't know why, but it seemed she liked me the most out of everyone here.
Bow, bow.
After bowing to the fox's back in gratitude.
I looked down at the mana stone in my hand.
I couldn't feel any reinforcement mana from it.
It seemed to be a mana stone composed entirely of consumption mana.
It felt like a massive amount of consumption mana was compressed inside it.
Just consuming a little bit of this would fully recharge my mana.
Of course, I decided not to consume it right away.
My mana was already full.
I had fully recharged it to my maximum mana by drinking blood earlier.
For now, I should just hold onto it.
I wanted to give it to the puppeteer doll so it could whip up a building, but giving away a gift might make the fox sulk.
That's why I decided to save it for later when we go hunting.
If a situation arose where my mana bottomed out, I'd use it as an emergency mana supply.
Or I could use it if another use came up.
Whatever happened.
Considering the fox's sincerity, I resolved to definitely use it myself.
***
The fake dolls' labor came to an end.
A massive, container-like building was completed.
Seeing how simply and largely it was built, it didn't seem intended for residential purposes.
Perhaps it was meant to be a warehouse?
Ailee seemed to think the same, as she asked the puppeteer doll.
"Baby. Did you make this building to be used as a warehouse?"
"...!"
Nod, nod.
The puppeteer doll nodded its head.
As I expected, it was built to be a warehouse.
Soon, the fake dolls began carrying magic tools and monster corpses into the building.
This time, we helped the fake dolls too.
Because it was boring to just watch.
While we were busy transporting things.
Someone quietly approached and poked me in the back of the head.
Was it the fox again?
I turned around, but this time it wasn't the fox.
The puppeteer doll was staring intently at me.
"......"
What? Do you have something to say?
But you can't speak.
As I tilted my head, a helper notification suddenly popped up in front of my eyes.
[The 'puppeteer doll' is attempting to transfer ownership of the dungeon to you. Will you accept the transfer of ownership?]
Huh? It's trying to transfer ownership?
Doll, are you trying to hand the dungeon over to me?
Why is it suddenly acting like this?
Ah. Could it be a reward for the soul weapon?
Is it trying to return the favor for the gift it received?
Or is it feeling guilty about swallowing the old man's corpse?
Man, it wasn't a shameless fellow after all.
The more I got to know it, the more I liked it.
Anyway.
I decided not to accept the transfer of ownership.
Reject, reject, reject!
Distributing the ownership is one thing, but transferring it completely is a no-go!
Are you planning to trap me here?
If I hold the sole ownership.
I won't be able to leave this dungeon.
Because if I do, the dungeon will face annihilation.
I hated the thought of being trapped here for the rest of my life.
And I couldn't just abandon the dungeon after all the development we put into it.
I'm sure the puppeteer doll finds it frustrating too.
But what can you do?
It's the dungeon it chose.
Of course, it probably wasn't trying to transfer ownership just because it felt trapped.
It was likely just a gift out of goodwill.
Because our doll is a good kid.
"...?"
The puppeteer doll blinked its eyes.
It seemed to have realized that I rejected the ownership transfer.
It made a puzzled expression for a moment, then,
"...!"
Nod, nod.
It suddenly bowed its head and apologized.
It must have roughly guessed why I refused.
It was a thoughtful fellow.
Soon, the puppeteer doll massaged my body with an apologetic look on its face.
I didn't mean to do that.
That was probably the message it wanted to convey.
It stared at me intently once again.
Shortly after.
"...!"
[The 'puppeteer doll' is attempting to distribute the dungeon's ownership to you. Will you accept?]
A new notification popped up.
This time, it was a distribution, not a full transfer.
Hmm. Distribution is fine.
If we share the ownership, there won't be any issues even if I leave the dungeon.
Just like how there was no problem when one of the Luna Rabbits left the dungeon.
And if this happens, the puppeteer doll will be able to go outside too.
Alright, I'll gratefully accept your gift!
Hand over the ownership! No, distribute it!
[You have been distributed the ownership of the dungeon.]
[Congratulations on becoming a dungeon master. Your stake in the dungeon is 60 percent.]
[You have acquired all rights to dungeon management.]
[The 'doll encyclopedia lv.1' skill is shared. This skill can only be used inside the dungeon.]
[The dolls born from the 'doll encyclopedia lv.1' skill will prioritize your commands.]