Chapter 12
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 12
Chapter Title: Manticore
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Subordinates?
Yup yup!
Yeah.
If it were me, I'd recruit a subordinate right at this timing.
The veterans all chimed in with one voice: subordinates.
Didn't they tell me earlier not to recruit any because they might revolt?
I asked why the sudden change.
The anomaly subordinates have the "Activation" tag!
What's "Activation"??
It means they only activate during waves.
To make it easy for a newbie to understand, think of them like employees who only show up when intruders arrive and sleep the rest of the time?
Ah, got it.
Subordinates with the Activation tag usually have a high chance of having a purpose like "eliminate intruders," so they won't harm the Dungeon Master.
That's why you don't have to worry about a revolt.
Thanks for the info, Love!
If you're grateful, give me a kiss when we meet later >_<
Pardon?
I have some of those among my automatons, and they work great.
But why are the subordinate descriptions so brutal... There's even one that snaps your neck if you look away ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ What yandere bullshit...
Just like BiteyLoveDog ㅇㅇ
BiteyLoveDog is more menhera than yandere...
Hmm.
But thinking about it, these guys' conversation style really feels like internet hauntings.
You guys, how do you know words like menhera and yandere?? Didn't you say you have no memories at all??
Newbie.
Yeah?
Do you learn how to breathe at birth from someone?
Nope.
Communty slang is like that for us... We just know it naturally...
For real?
Oblivion must be one hell of a guy to instill such high-level, beautiful words.
Newbie, I'm not menhera ㅠㅠ
For real...
Lololol got it.
Anyway, the chit-chat dragged on.
Back to the main point.
What looks good to you bros? I can afford it with my current points.
Newbie, when did you earn that many points???
Earned 'em from the hobgoblin and goblins last time lol...
The chat froze.
A moment later.
I'm gonna kill myself.
Whoa, breathe, breathe!
Honestly, seeing Newbie rack up points and EXP makes me jealous...
One hell of a guy who can make even whales clutch their stomachs in pain...
No.
It's not intentional deception.
Stop whining about stomachaches and recommend some subordinates.
I like the Guide. Just reading the description makes me feel like I'm going insane...
Me too, vote for this one.
I like this one too—it seems like it can do more things.
Yandere go go go!
How do you deal with a neck-snapping yandere lolol
For real lol
Game Master go go go, I like poker.
?
?
Bro, can you hold cards with your hands? Lol
All you hook-handed losers shut up.
In truth, I already had my answer picked out.
It was the subordinate that fit this maze the best right now.
Still.
Cross-verification is always necessary.
So I tossed out the question on purpose.
They might call it leading the witness.
Whatever.
As long as I don't get caught, it doesn't matter.
I say...
...
...
I lean toward this one too.
Of course, the other opinions make sense as well.
Perfect.
Now I have justification.
Alright, I'll prep based on Guide bro and Love's picks.
Go for it!
Next time yandere, right?
Hm.
Maybe?
Human-faced lion, ruler of the Low Jenrat Mountains, a dark faction mage who fell into beastliness.
He had no forces, and his power wasn't particularly overwhelming. Some might say his influence in this world was negligible.
Yet the reason he bore so many titles was surely due to the manticore's hideous and intimidating appearance.
Its body length was roughly four meters, with a height to the shoulder of about one-and-a-half meters.
This quadrupedal monster resembled a beast more than a human.
Or perhaps an unsettling gorge.
This beast's head was exactly like a human's.
Hair instead of a mane, wrinkles on the face, dark circles under the eyes, and twenty-eight teeth.
It looked just like the face of a middle-aged mage in his forties overworked in a magic tower.
"Neither goblins, hobgoblins, nor trolls are a match."
The creature muttered in human speech.
Its intelligence was the same.
The manticore had once been human.
It simply had a more vicious and selfish mindset than the norm.
He had succumbed to the sweet temptations of power and wisdom, sacrificing twenty-seven children to transform into a monster's body.
"Dreamland..."
A dungeon that appeared in the Low Jenrat Mountains despite not being a location-shift cycle.
Unfortunately, though a mage, the manticore didn't have extensive knowledge about dungeons.
As a mage, he had spent his human days only in the magic tower.
So he was no dungeon expert, just like any ordinary person.
"It's clearly a newborn dungeon, so how is it holding out?"
He had noticed that Dreamland was a freshly born dungeon, unlike the others.
You could tell from the entrance.
The dungeon entrance was bizarre.
It resembled the black gates from legends passed down orally.
A round arch made of obsidian.
At its center rippled a fissure.
The longer the time passed, the more foreign substances accumulated on the gateway's exterior, invisible to the naked eye.
Only mages or those sensitive to mana could sense them, and no method could remove them. The gateway itself was indestructible.
Dreamland's entrance was completely free of such substances.
Clear proof it was newborn.
"It definitely looked like a worthless dungeon."
The manticore had directly observed the Dungeon Master through a goblin.
He figured it must have some strange tricks, but the combat style was just crudely swinging a knife.
"There must be something it's hiding..."
No problem.
The manticore wasn't dumb like goblins or trolls, and it possessed magical knowledge to boot.
But.
Better to prepare thoroughly.
A dungeon was a dungeon, newborn or not.
"Time to prepare."
He was a monster now, but once a dark faction mage.
He still had human connections left.
Mana stones were the world's most precious treasure.
Even fragments weighing a few hundred grams traded for astronomical sums.
If he absorbed the power from that dungeon's mana stone.
He could gain far greater strength than now.
With that, the manticore left the dungeon entrance.
Meanwhile.
Dreamland's Dungeon Master, who had been taking a stroll outside and sensed something suspicious, hid his presence.
"Fucking creepy-looking bastard."
He left a short impression from afar.
Title: This is a real anomaly
Writer: Newbie
Fucking creepy-looking thing, what the hell is this guy?
Felt like I'd lose in a straight fight, so I just hid and watched...
Really fucking creepy-looking lolololol
It's a manticore ㅇㅇ Why's a point monster there?
Manticore.
Apparently the name of that horrific human-faced lion.
Evil Ham, who's that guy??
Used to be a worthless dark faction mage, killed kids and turned into a monster with that.
Heard he's got a pretty notorious rep as a criminal.
Pardon?
This guy's a real monster-in-human-skin villain.
Lurking around the entrance is suspicious too, so he's probably the culprit, right?
I'm 99% sure lol.
Be extra careful this time... He might bring other dark faction mages ㅇㅇ
What's the dark faction?
Black mages. Group that uses human lives as sacrifices for their spells.
Fought a few; they're eviler than actual evil spirits lol.
Hmm.
Looks like I'll be facing humans with a high probability this time.
Ones who can even use magic, at that.
What if it comes to kill me ㅠㅠ No teleport stab out of nowhere?
What kinda noob idea is that...
No spatial movement magic works inside dungeons except escape scrolls for bailing out, so don't worry about that.
Blesseds don't pull that crap either ㅇㅇ
What's a Blessed...
Folks like us who can see status windows.
For real?
This is seriously throwing me off.
Others besides us Dungeon Masters can see status windows too?
Fr?
Yeah, and those guys resurrect at temples even if they die.
Cheat clan...
Aside from dying of old age, there's no way to kill 'em for good, so nobody likes fighting them. They're not that common among intruders, so don't sweat it.
Anyway.
The current enemy was the manticore.
I'll worry about later later.
I pulled my gaze from the hologram.
And looked at the liquid blob sitting motionless in the core room.
It wasn't squishy.
It was on my lap right now, after all.
The newly purchased subordinate.
"I'm counting on you."
I hoped it would put on a good show against those vicious black mages.
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