78
Chapter 78
Was it the aftereffect of using Golden Breath?
The Little Yellow Dragon suddenly became affiliated with a Domain named Gold.
At the same time, out of nowhere, an achievement of mine was accomplished.
It feels like it's been a while since I achieved something.
Let's see....
An achievement exclusive to the Luck Domain?
One Who Commands Gold?
What kind of achievement is this?
Hmm. Is Gold perhaps a subordinate Domain related to Luck?
.......
Helper, answer me.
I just asked you a question, so why are you staying quiet?
Do you want a scolding?
[...Checking the question.]
[What is a Domain-exclusive achievement?]
[A Domain-exclusive achievement means an achievement that can only be unlocked if you belong to a specific Domain.]
Aha, I see.
But my question was something else?
I was curious about that just now, but I didn't ask it.
I asked if Gold is a subordinate Domain related to Luck, so what am I supposed to do if you give me an irrelevant answer?
[Checking the question.]
[The relationship between the Gold Domain and the Luck Domain.]
[Gold is one of the derivative Domains of Luck. Those belonging to a foundational Domain like Luck can increase their Domain Assimilation Rate by subjugating those belonging to its derivative Domains. However, subjugating a Domain derived from a foundational Domain other than the one you belong to (Luck) will not affect your Assimilation Rate.]
Alright, understood.
So you're saying I can increase my Assimilation Rate if I subjugate a guy belonging to a subordinate Domain born under the influence of Luck?
But I never subjugated the Little Yellow Dragon.
Ah. Is it because the little guy recognizes me as a parent?
I guess this is treated as subjugation too.
[Additional explanation.]
[Subjugating a Domain identical to one you have already subjugated once will not unlock the achievement.]
I guessed that much, you punk.
Who do you think I am, an idiot?
[Confirmed.]
[I will not provide any additional explanations in the future.]
I'm sorry, I was wrong.
Please continue to give me additional explanations on your own.
I'm begging you.
[Confirmed.]
Bear-Bear Punch!
[?]
After throwing an apologetic Bear-Bear Punch into the empty air.
I once again laid my eyes on my Domain Assimilation Rate.
└ Assimilation Rate - 2.04%
Was it originally 1.04 percent?
It seems to have gone up by exactly 1 percent.
As expected, it's hard to raise the Assimilation Rate.
Seeing as it said my Assimilation Rate heavily increased when it only rose by this paltry amount.
I tore my gaze away from the information.
And turned my eyes toward the Little Yellow Dragon belonging to the Gold Domain... Huh? What the, where did he go?
Glance, glance.
I turned my head this way and that before spotting the Little Yellow Dragon.
"I'm in big trouble, yong... I'm sorry, yong...."
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle.
The Little Yellow Dragon was slowly crawling toward the Fake Doll that had turned into a Golden Statue.
Finally arriving in front of the Golden Statue, the Little Yellow Dragon opened its mouth, stuck out its tongue, and licked the statue.
Then,
"I'm sorry, yong!"
Swoosh-
The Golden Statue reverted back into a perfectly fine Fake Doll.
So it was possible to restore it to its original state.
I was glad the little guy could make up for his mistake.
***
The Lycanthrope's head.
The three or four Natural Mana Stones I gave as a gift.
And so on. Ms. Vampire packed all her belongings.
"I shall be on my way now. I will drop by again soon."
Having finished preparing to leave, she bid us farewell.
It was now time to part ways.
"Have a safe trip back, Master."
"...!"
"Woong, woo-woong!"
"Kku-oh! Goodbye, Unnie!"
Ailee bowed her head politely in greeting.
The Puppeteer Doll also followed her mother and bowed respectfully.
Tosuni and Jjokkomi waved their hands cheerfully.
"Mama, are you abandoning me, yong...?"
"Vampa-jjang is mean! She's trying to abandon us and run away!"
The Little Yellow Dragon and the Fox clung to Ms. Vampire's legs with tears in their eyes.
I could understand the Little Yellow Dragon's reaction.
It must be sad to hear that one of your parents is leaving your side.
I don't know why the Fox is acting like that, though.
Did she grow attached in that short time?
Ms. Vampire stroked the heads of the Little Yellow Dragon and the Fox, speaking gently.
"I'm not abandoning you, I'm just leaving for a bit. I will come to play often, so both of you, stop making such sad faces."
"You have to come back, yong...."
"Keep your promise... If you don't come back, I'm going to cry...!"
After sending Ms. Vampire off like that.
We spent a long time comforting the sad Little Yellow Dragon and the Fox.
After some time passed, the little ones barely managed to stop crying and calm down.
The Little Yellow Dragon fell asleep, exhausted from crying.
The Fox stepped out of the house and stared at the Portal with a determined expression.
"If Vampa-jjang doesn't come back, I'm going to pee all over the house."
Don't say weird things, you brat.
Why would you pee in the house?
Thwack! I flicked the Fox on the forehead.
Times like this require a little scolding.
"Eh?"
Leaving the bewildered Fox behind.
I gathered the Fake Dolls to slowly begin the Dungeon expansion work.
Excluding the Gatekeeper Old Man Doll,
all the Fake Dolls quickly assembled.
Now, Fake Dolls!
Bring out all the Natural Mana Stones stored in the warehouse and present them before me!
Point- I pointed at the warehouse building with my hand.
At that, the Fake Dolls nodded and ran toward the warehouse in unison.
What incredibly loyal guys.
For reference, it's not a problem even if I don't give commands out loud.
I can issue commands to the Fake Dolls just by thinking them.
You could say it felt roughly like telepathy.
It would be nice if I could converse with the Puppeteer Doll and Tosuni like this, too.
While the Fake Dolls transported the Mana Stones.
I envisioned in my head how I would develop the Dungeon.
First of all, the first floor is spacious enough, so there is no need to expand it.
I just need to change the spatial layout.
Right now, the entire space is too wide open right from the Portal entrance, so I thought it wouldn't be bad to build walls connecting to the ceiling here and there to make it like a maze. That way, if an Intruder appears, it will be hard for them to find their way.
Of course, it has to be easy for us to navigate...
I can just place a few Fake Dolls to act as guides.
The middle of the maze will be the bear-shaped house we are currently in.
I plan to build a maze behind this house too, and at the end of the maze, I will install a Portal leading to the second floor of the Dungeon.
As I said before.
Dungeons have what are called floors.
In addition, each floor is an independent space.
It meant that they were not physically connected spaces like the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd floors of a building that you can go up and down using stairs.
Helper mentioned that it is another dimension that can only be moved to through a Portal generated within the Dungeon.
The place we are currently in is the 1st floor of the Dungeon.
To be exact, it's the 1st floor.
And as long as you have enough Mana, you can think of the 2nd floor and above of the Dungeon as roughly a higher-dimensional concept compared to the 1st floor.
As a side note.
If we're being technical, a 0th floor also exists.
The 0th floor is outside the Dungeon.
In other words, I heard that the shared world, the real world, is called the 0th floor.
Anyway.
For today, I'll just try making up to the 2nd floor.
Creating the 3rd and 4th floors still seems like too much to handle.
Because I was told that creating a new higher floor requires an immense amount of Mana.
Ah, wait a second.
There's something I need to do before that.
Before attempting to create the 2nd floor, I decided to summon one more Fake Doll.
The Portal moving from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor.
I need to place a Gatekeeper Fake Doll here, too.
One that's even stronger than the current Fake Dolls.
I already have a guy in mind.
The Lycanthrope I caught a while ago.
That guy is registered in the Doll Encyclopedia.
I immediately opened the Doll Encyclopedia and pulled out a Werewolf Doll.
The summon required quite a lot of Mana, but I still had plenty of Natural Mana Stones, so I didn't mind.
"Kku-oh? It's a new Doll."
"...!"
"Oh my, a scary-looking Doll popped out. Is that the wolf monster you said attacked Master and you Bear Babies?"
While I was nodding at Ailee's question, the Fox who had gone to pee joined us belatedly.
As soon as she saw the Werewolf Fake Doll, the Fox jumped in shock and shouted.
"Hehehe. I had a refreshing p... Hue-e-ek!? The bad wolf came back to life! It's dangerous, so everyone hide behind me right now!!!"
"Woong, woo-woong."
"Eh? It didn't come back to life? That's a relief."
The stupid Fox's misunderstanding was quickly cleared up.
It's a huge relief that we have the smart Tosuni.
But where should I place the stronger Gatekeeper?
The Gatekeeper at the 1st floor Dungeon entrance.
The Gatekeeper at the Portal heading from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor.
I agonized over which of these places to put the stronger guy.
Tracing my hazy memories of my past life, in games or comics, stronger gatekeepers usually appeared as you went to higher floors.
Why is that?
Is there some special reason for it?
Wouldn't it be better to place the strongest Gatekeeper on the 1st floor to completely block Intruders from entering?
Mmm.
No matter how much I ponder, I can't find an answer.
I'm terrible when it comes to things like strategy.
Ugh, I don't know.
They probably set it up that way for a good reason.
I'll just do what others do and place the stronger guy in front of the Portal heading to the 2nd floor.
We're planning to stay on the top floor all the time anyway.
[......]
[Placing a relatively weak Fake Doll on a lower floor is not a bad judgment.]
[Listing advantages.]
[Able to identify the Intruder and gather information by sacrificing a weak Fake Doll.]
[Able to deplete the Intruder's stamina, Mana, and equipment by sacrificing a weak Fake Doll.]
[The Intruder who fought a weak Fake Doll will overestimate their abilities. Induces carelessness due to increased confidence.]
.
.
.
.
.
.
[Secures time for the strong Fake Doll to prepare for battle.]
[Summoning a strong Fake Doll requires a large amount of Mana. Therefore, placing a strong Fake Doll in the rear saves resources.]
[Even for a strong Fake Doll, fighting an Intruder with absolutely no information is not recommended. If you learn all the patterns the Intruder exposes beforehand, the probability of defeat significantly decreases.]
[That is all.]
Oh, what the heck.
It's giving me an explanation even though I didn't ask.
There were advantages after all.
[Listing disadvantages.]
[Possibility of the Intruder getting stronger as they come up─]
Stop.
Forget about the disadvantages.
Hearing the disadvantages will just unnecessarily prolong my agonizing, so pass!
[Confirmed.]
***
I called the Gatekeeper of the 1st-floor entrance, the Old Man Fake Doll.
And I made him stand face to face with the Werewolf Fake Doll I summoned this time.
I looked back and forth between the two of them.
Hmm. It's frustrating that I can't see their information.
First, I tried recalling their information from when they were alive.
[Human lv.85]
┗Pw.170 (+400)
┗Rnk.Uncommon
[Soul Weapon]
┗Pw.400 (+170)
┗Rnk.Unique
This is the Old Man Fake Doll.
[Lycanthrope lv.65]
┗Pw.390
┗Rnk.Elite
This is the Werewolf Fake Doll.
If the two of them weren't in their Fake Doll states.
That is, if they had fought when they were alive, the Old Man would have overwhelmingly pushed back the werewolf and seized victory.
The Old Man's power was 570.
The Lycanthrope's power was 390.
There was a whopping 180 difference in power.
But that wasn't the case now.
The Old Man's strength originated from his Soul Weapon.
In other words, he was no different from a Human carried by his gear, strong only thanks to the Soul Weapon.
Of course.
His base power was also high.
However, it couldn't be compared to the Lycanthrope's.
Even with a high level, his low racial rank meant there was a limit to his power.
If we compare their base power.
The Old Man was 170, and the Lycanthrope was 390.
A massive difference of 220.
Then, should I compare the two based solely on their base power from when they were alive?
I'm not sure about that.
Currently reborn as Fake Dolls.
These guys have become entirely different creatures from when they were alive.
It's true that the Fake Dolls are born heavily influenced by their past lives, but they aren't born as exact copies of everything from back then.
Helper told me that even if the original was strong, they could be summoned weak, and even if the original was weak, there's a chance they could be born strong.
Well, if I were to dare make a guess anyway.
I'd think the Werewolf Fake Doll side would probably be stronger.
Naturally, I wasn't completely certain.
Because you never know.
So, to know for sure, I called them over to hold a Gatekeeper Selection Match right now.
Now, then....
From now on, kill each other!
No, don't kill each other, just fight! Fight!
"Kku-oh! Lose, ugly Human Doll!"
"Lose, Wolf Doll!!!"
Jjokkomi and the Fox poured out curses instead of cheers.
With their voices echoing out, the mock battle to determine superiority began.
Thud-!
As soon as the battle started, one side's body split vertically and collapsed.
A match decided in a single instant.
The one who grasped victory was none other than the Old Man Fake Doll, standing with a relaxed face and his hands behind his back.
...Huh?