MCT 10

Chapter 10

Daylight finally broke.

The new employees who joined the dungeon had spent the whole night practicing combat and finished their preparations to welcome the challengers.

Even though I couldn’t pay them overtime allowance, their enthusiasm was amazing.

I suddenly felt that a training facility was needed inside the dungeon.

Of course, there were still plenty of facilities that needed to be built before that, but…

I pledged to myself that as long as we successfully handled this challenger, I would immediately prepare spaces for the new employees.

“I’m so nervous.”

I couldn’t sleep well all night either.

Because if things went wrong, the dungeon could be cleared right away by the very first challenger, and that would be the end.

Brownie and I hid near the entrance together, waiting for a challenger to appear.

Please let it be someone extremely weak. Let it be a beginner adventurer who has just started adventuring!

How much time had passed? Just as I was getting tired of waiting, chattering voices were heard from afar.

“This time, I’m definitely going to get permission from my parents!”

“Is it really going to be okay? We haven’t even finished basic swordsmanship training yet.”

Two different voices!

The fact that there were two challengers instead of one made my head dizzy for a moment, but there was still hope.

As long as both of them were weak!

As the two people grew closer, their figures became clearer and clearer.

Looking at them up close, their appearance was…

“What? They’re just kids?”

Because I also have a complex about my small frame, I try hard not to judge people by their looks, but no matter how I looked at them, they were definitely kids.

At most, middle school age?

“Humans can act as adventurers even if only 13 years have passed since they were born,” Brownie said as if it were no big deal.

“Then thirteen years old? That’s way too young. Kids that young… beat up monsters and things like that?”

In our world, thirteen is the age to go to cram schools and play games at internet cafes…

“There are even adventurers who left records in upper-tier dungeons at sixteen. After three years, kids like that will be extorting passing monsters.”

“Still…”

“Isn’t it actually better? No matter how weak the new guys are, would they lose against kids like that? Look at how they hold their swords. It’s completely full of openings.”

Brownie chattered away excitedly.

However, I couldn’t leave it alone because my conscience pricked.

What if the children got badly hurt in the dungeon? What if they even lost their lives…

No matter how desperate my situation was, I didn’t want to do harsh things to children.

“Brownie, I don’t think this is right.”

“What? Are you worried that a monster in the dungeon might take an adventurer’s life right now?”

“Of course. I’m human too. How can I just leave a fellow human child to go wrong?”

“You’re making a huge mistake about dungeons!”

Brownie scolded me in an exasperated voice.

“I-Is that not it, then?”

“Of course not! If an adventurer dies, it’s a loss for the dungeon! They have to challenge the dungeon again and again for us to make money.”

Hearing that, it made sense. Dungeons cannot make money if the number of adventurers decreases.

Because the Demon King gains power from the fear extracted from adventurers, and the dungeon is operated with the money adventurers put into the prayer box.

“Then… what is the condition for a challenger to fail a dungeon clear?”

“It’s when the challenger feels extreme fear that they might die. When they reach that state, the sacred relic can cast a curse that causes the challenger to lose consciousness and become unable to act. To us, that’s a signal to kick them out since there’s no more fear to squeeze out.”

We had to stop challengers from heading to the innermost part of the dungeon no matter what.

The reason was to protect the sacred relic.

On the first day of the contract, I had heard an explanation from Brownie about the ‘sacred relic’ kept deep inside the dungeon.

“The sacred relic is the very core that maintains the dungeon! It’s a super, super important object that can extract fear from adventurers and grant the Demon God’s blessing to the dungeon.”

Completely ‘clearing’ a dungeon was no different from the sacred relic being taken by adventurers, making the dungeon unable to function as a dungeon.

Normally, to prevent that, a reward room is created right in front of the place storing the sacred relic as a distraction, encouraging adventurers to return satisfied after getting an appropriate reward.

However, since we couldn’t even make such a reward room yet… we had to block the first challengers somehow.

“Of course, getting hurt during combat can’t be helped. Even so, the dungeon never lets it go to the level of permanent injury or death. It makes them recover again so they challenge it again!”

In other words, it meant that injuries were only allowed up to a level that could be completely cured with treatment.

Even so, I still felt uncomfortable…

“Ooh! They’re coming, they’re coming!”

Brownie hopped up and down on my head and pointed outside.

While we were talking, the children had reached the front of the dungeon entrance before we knew it.

“I had no idea there was a dungeon near our village.”

“I found it by chance while coming to pick medicinal herbs. Maybe I’m the first discoverer!”

“Uwaa… But isn’t it a bit… spooky? Can we really do this?”

“How long are you going to practice vertical slashes until your arm gets a cramp? If we clear the dungeon and return proudly, Master will have no choice but to acknowledge us. Then he’ll allow us to set off on an adventure!”

“Wait! Aren’t you going to pray before challenging?”

“I did it in advance yesterday. If I carry it in my pocket, I’ll get caught stealing errand money, so I just put it in the prayer box.”

It seemed the children had prepared quite thoroughly in their own way to challenge the dungeon. They came dressed in armor made of wooden swords worn from use and leather plates tied over their front and back with string.

They were truly the beginner adventurers themselves that I had wished for so desperately, but the lingering discomfort still didn’t fade away.

“Where are you going?”

“To tell the monsters to go easy on them.”

“Is there a need for that? You have to show them the bitterness of life!”

“Like you said, if we handle them moderately, those kids won’t get frustrated and will challenge us again.”

“Oh! You have it all thought out!”

I quickly headed to the 1st floor where the monsters were waiting.

I sat in my private office and monitored the dungeon situation through the status screen.

It was a type of manager-exclusive authority that allowed me to look into every single corner of the dungeon, powered by the force of the sacred relic.

A moment later, I saw the little challengers entering the 1st floor with trembling legs.

“I can see the children’s attack power and defense power.”

Surprisingly, the combat power of the challengers was displayed on the monitor.

Both of them were Level 2, with an attack power of 50 and a defense power of 10, which was combat power far inferior to the monsters.

‘There is no possibility of them winning.’

Brownie, who was watching alongside me, said:

“At our current level, we can only view the information of challengers below Level 10. To see information higher than that, we need to enhance the sacred relic.”

“It’ll be a real disaster if a high-level adventurer visits…”

Once adventurers pass the entrance, the dungeon provides a lobby where they can lightly prepare for combat.

The lobby alone was a save point where it was considered an unwritten rule that monsters would not cross over.

“If we open that door, monsters will come out.”

“I’m scared…”

Finally, the dungeon’s first challengers opened the door, and as practiced, a low-grade Goblin popped out while letting out a roar to assert dominance.

“Uwaaaah! It’s a Goblin!”

“Kee-he-hel, soft-fleshed humans have come fearlessly.”

Although it said such terrifying words… in truth, that Goblin was a vegetarian.

“By any chance, does the dungeon also provide lunch?”

“Uh… No. Our dungeon is still lacking a lot in welfare…”

“Aha, I asked just in case because I’m a vegetarian. O-Of course! Even without meal provision, I can work hard!”

To draw out the challengers’ fear, the monsters also needed to act as cruel as possible.

One of the children who came along fell flat on his buttocks, but the other child immediately held up his wooden sword and stood in front of his friend to block.

“I’ll deal with you!”

His hands were trembling badly, but he was quite brave.

“Eeyah!”

Even though the little adventurer looked clumsy, he launched a fairly proper attack.

“Teon!”

‘So that brave child’s name is Teon.’

Since the Goblin didn’t have equipment yet, it had to take the attack with its bare body. Fortunately, because the children’s attack power itself was weak, almost no damage went in.

The Goblin also merely made a face as if it only felt a slight sting.

Even so, the monsters were faithfully fulfilling my request to match them moderately.

“For a little kid, you’re pretty good! But can you block this attack too!? Clack.”

“Hic! It looks like an incredible technique is coming! Teon, dodge!”

“I won’t run away!”

“Take this! Special Move: Swinging Hard!”

As they were pushed into a corner, a red aura-like mist began to bloom from the children’s bodies. That was likely the visual form of the ‘fear’ being absorbed by the dungeon.

Having been tossed around by the monsters like that, the children’s fear eventually reached its limit, and they fainted.