The Bait Is Set

With the occupation finished, I sat cross-legged in the center of the plaza, and the windows unfurled before my eyes.

Sung-ha's voice cut through my drifting thoughts, earnest and flat.

I know. Still — thanks for the warning.

I let the exchange with Sung-ha close and turned my awareness back to the world in front of me.

"Chuuup—."

"Schlick, shlup, chup…"

"Hah… nngh, hh—…"

Squelch. Squelch. Squelch. Squelch.

The women worked in front of the chair I occupied — some with their mouths wrapped around my cock, others turned away from me, rolling their hips. I had told them the same thing I'd told the ones in the dungeon: first come, first served, and the winners would live. This was the result.

They had hesitated at first. Then I killed a few people in front of them, and reality seemed to arrive all at once. They came scrambling out like whores in heat, fighting each other to claim my cock.

And why, exactly, was I putting on this particular show in front of the humans still on their knees before me?

Because it was entertaining.

Watching them strip off the shell of character and morality and put their squalid true faces on display — that was entertaining. Making the others sit there and look at it, until they understood they were not the lords of creation at all, just another species of mammal — that was endlessly entertaining.

I snorted inwardly at the phrasing.

Sung-ha was right. This was not a land-grab. Which was why I had no intention of turning this village into a base of operations.

So was I going to throw it away?

Of course not.

I was going to use it as a lure. A place to draw adventurers in.

I would leave a request at the adventurer's guild in another town. The ones who took the job would pass through this village, push into the forest, and happen — purely by chance — to discover a dungeon.

A dungeon the world had never heard of.

An unexplored dungeon.

Rare items. Gold and silver. Experience enough to gorge on. A place purpose-built to inflame an adventurer's greed. And once they stumbled across it, there was only one thing they would do.

They would try to conquer it.

Those naive adventurers would walk themselves, step by willing step, into the trap I had set to catch them.

That's a problem for later, and there's nothing to be done about it either way. I was never going to keep the dungeon's identity hidden forever. Don't worry. By the time that day comes, the dungeon will be more than large enough.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

I answered by turning my head.

Unlike the rest of the mass-produced monsters, two creatures and one human stood in a neat row behind me, as if in attendance.

First: the earliest monster I had ever created. The Dungeon Servant.

Combat and a diet of human flesh had raised both its level and its stats.

Second: the monster born from Cecilia as its host.

A warrior's body as the host had left its intelligence wanting, but it more than made up for that in sheer size and muscle — a brute far larger than any of the others.

And last of all:

I could see Cecilia's information window now. Which meant she was no longer a temporary subordinate. She had been formally folded into my ranks.

That's right. The same way I did with Cecilia. I'll corrupt the village women and use them as puppets to run this place.

In other words, this village and everyone in it would become a stage — a way to put visiting adventurers at ease, and to keep the dungeon's existence quietly out of sight, at least for a while.

The plan looks good on paper. There's still a mountain of work to do before any of it happens, and more than a few hills to climb.

I shrugged off Sung-ha's praise. The ruined village would have to be rebuilt to a certain standard, and the women would have to be corrupted. Breeding to swell the monster ranks was a given by now. And of course the dungeon itself would need to be refitted, in preparation for the adventurers to come.

One step at a time.

There was no need to rush. Careful, but never sluggish — that was the pace I would take into everything ahead. And for that, I needed people. One of them was already here: the guide inside my head, my companion. Yoon Sung-ha.

I'll be counting on you.

"Nngh—."

A thick, wet gulp.

Watching the woman moan as she took the gush of semen into her belly, Sung-ha and I shared a pleasant smile.

"Tihana Village? Have you ever heard of it?"

I was reading the board at the adventurer's guild when a familiar voice called to me from behind. I turned to find the source.

Long black hair that fell all the way to her waist. Gray eyes. Skin so pale it seemed at odds with a profession that lived by the sword. Thin plates of iron armored her chest and both shoulders; a small shield and a shortsword hung at her back. This was Serena — an apprentice paladin.

She served the same god I did. She had not yet received a formal appointment, but I believed without a shred of doubt that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one day she would reach the highest rank a holy knight could hold. Paladin.

"No, I've never heard of it either. It seems like a terribly remote little place."

I shook my head hard enough to set my long golden hair swaying. The staff in my hand answered with a small, clear chime.

"Hmm…"

Serena began to read the posting with care. I watched her face for a moment, then asked, as gently as I could:

"Serena… couldn't we take this one?"

"Hm? Why?"

"These people… they must be having such a hard time. If someone from a village that far away came all the way here to post a request, they can't have found anyone willing to take it. I want us to take it. I want to help them."

"Well…"

Our party leader hesitated, then caught the pleading look on my face and huffed a small laugh.

"You really are too kind-hearted. Then again, that's probably why you're a cleric even though you're an adventurer."

She smiled and ruffled my hair. I leaned into that warm hand, grinning despite myself.

"Kindness aside, though, the terms aren't bad. It's a bit of a journey, but four gold just to take the job, and three silver per monster? That's a solid payout."

One gold was enough for a household to live modestly for a month. For the party's sake, the offer was genuinely a good one.

"All right, Aria. We're taking this quest. Let's gather the others — now."

"Yes!"

I answered her brightly, with all the strength I had, and then I turned back to the board and folded my hands.

Please hold on. Just a little longer.

I prayed for the villagers who would be suffering under the monsters even now.

We're coming. We'll be there soon.

I pictured the pain of people I had never met, and I set my resolve.

And that this resolve of mine would be twisted into screams and suffering…

At the time, I had no idea.