Edited By: Sebas Tian  

No matter what anyone said, the Heart of the Dungeon was the most important location within the dungeon.

The Heart of the Dungeon provided mana to all the facilities within the dungeon and the Spirit of the Dungeon, who was like the manager of the dungeon, lived there.

If the Heart of the Dungeon dies, then the dungeon dies too.

The dungeon wasn't a simple location or building. It was an enormous spirit.

With Catalina following behind him, Yong-Ho entered the secret room that was in the Heart of the Dungeon. The bleak room wasn't any different from the last time he visited.

"You're here, master."

"You didn't have to rush here."

A moment ago, the Spirit of the Dungeon was urging for him to go, but now, they were cunning.

There was a reason why she had the voice of a little girl.

Since it was such a cute whine, Yong-Ho just chuckled and approached the Heart of the Dungeon. The Heart of the Dungeon was placed on top of a rough altar and they were releasing an even brighter light than the last time he visited.

The Spirit of the Dungeon spoke.

"Because you've gotten stronger, I was given the chance to grow as well."

"The mana that I need in order to grow has been charged, so all you have to do is give me your approval."

"Please place both of your hands on top of my body."

Yong-Ho followed their instructions and placed both of his hands on top of the marble that was releasing an emerald-colored light.

It was warm. It was similar to body heat.

Yong-Ho instinctively replied to the question that popped in his head. He approved the Spirit of the Dungeon's growth.

Moments later, it felt like his hands were being sucked into the Heart of the Dungeon. The light that was released from the Heart of the Dungeon grew bigger that the emerald light filled the entire room.

Seconds later.

The light dimmed. A happy voice filled Yong-Ho's head.

"The Spirit of the Dungeon has grown!"

"Their dungeon management skill has increased. They're able to install new dungeon facilities and manage them!"

It was something he expected, but the fact that they announced their growth was kind of funny.

They must've read his mind because they spoke with a surprised tone.

"E-everyone does it like this. This is the general format that the dungeon shop entered."

Yong-Ho just smiled. Just like the spirits, they were connected to him as well, so he could feel the Spirit of the Dungeon being embarrassed.

The Heart of the Dungeon did grow.

The marble was as big as a person's head, but now they were 1.5 times larger and the rough rectangular-shaped altar changed into a trapezoid.

But the biggest change was the room that the Heart of the Dungeon was in. From the dark, rough stone room, he could feel a small amount of warm mana.

"What kind of new facilities can be installed? And the new ones that we can activate."

Instead of replying right away, the Spirit of the Dungeon waited for a bit. It seemed like they were sulking, but it was only for a moment. Then, they answered happily.

"The dungeon's daily mana production volume and the maximum mana storage volume has been increased. And, the way the mana is distributed will be more efficient."

"And I think this can only be done once, but your room and the the facilities within the dungeon can be relocated."

"Relocate? Are you saying I can change the actual layout? More than now?"

The dungeon wasn't a fixed building and more like a giant spirit. There was a time when they slightly lengthen the distance between the throne room and the entrance.

But all they did during that time was slightly increase the distance. But it was different this time. The Spirit of the Dungeon was saying they could do more.

"Yes. Relocating the facilities does take up a lot mana, but other ordinary dungeons are able to do this too."

"But for the House of Mammon, there's a small special detail that's included."

As soon as they stopped talking, a window of light that filled one side of the wall appeared. It looked like they were going to show the dungeon map.

When the window suddenly appeared, Catalina, who was looking around, started blinking her eyes. Yong-Ho felt a presence, so when he looked back, he asked the Spirit of the Dungeon.

"Is Catalina able to listen to your explanation as well?"

"It's possible."

Their answer ringed inside Yong-Ho's head, but in a corner of the window, words appeared which looked like subtitles.

The Spirit of the Dungeon started explaining.

"The House of Mammon's inactivated areas are like the ocean. The activated rooms are the islands on top of the ocean."

An island was floating in the middle of a blue ocean. And when they slowed down, they started seeing other things around the island.

A small deserted island and a large vessel with its anchor on that island. There were islands that were larger than the one in the middle.

"The inheritance that's been left by the previous owners in the inactivated rooms are the islands that are floating or boats that's been drifting."

Aamon, the gold mine that had Kaiwan's mark and other inheritance were marked either on the floating islands or on the drifting boats.

"The dungeon facilities that the two previous owners left have been reverted by Eligor so that the dungeon could survive. But those inheritances are located somewhere within the dungeon."

They slowed down again. The number of islands and ships that were on the ocean increased as well.

"The dungeon relocation is done based on the dungeon's entire area, but for the House of Mammon, the areas within my control are the only ones that are possible."

"And the controlled areas are the places that I've activated so far?"

"That's correct."

"On top of that, out of the dungeon facilities, the location of the gold mine cannot be moved. Please keep that in mind."

The video of the ocean that was displayed on the window disappeared and the dungeon map that he was familiar with appeared.

Yong-Ho looked at the map for a moment and then nodded his head.

He wanted to relocate the passageway that was connected to the entrance, so this was good.

While doing this, he thought it would be best to move the Heart of the Dungeon and the throne room further back and relocated the armory and the other facilities near the throne room.

Having a detailed dungeon layout was the basics of the basics when it came to dungeon defense.

"What kind of new dungeon facilities can be added?"

"The facilities that the previous owners developed or the layout that the dungeon shop designed already can be built."

"With my current skill, I'm able to build the dungeon prison, a dungeon waterway, a spirit dormitory, a basic dungeon workshop and a basic dungeon training ground."

"Unlike the prison that we have, the one I can build is managed through mana. It not only drains out the stamina and mana of the prisoners, but it slowly decreases their will to resist."

On the window of light, an illustration of the prison appeared. A magic circle was drawn on the ground and the Orcs that were imprisoned there looked real.

"If a waterway is installed, it will supply water. For the House of Mammon, there's an underground water source that the previous owners used, so we'll be able to get the water from there."

"When installing the waterway, it's best to think about the direction of the dungeon facilities."

This time, he imagined Eligor drinking water from the waterway with a bright smile on his face.

Eligor had to go outside of the dungeon every morning to get water, so imagining Eligor with that smile made Yong-Ho feel bad.

'It'll definitely be useful if we have a waterway. If possible, we might even be able to build a bathhouse. And we could even install a kitchen.'

Just imagining it made it seem like the dungeon life became more luxurious. Yong-Ho asked."Does the spirit dormitory have some sort of special function like the prison?"

"Mana will be provided so that it can relieve the exhaustion that the spirits feel. Heating and cooling is possible as well."

Catalina's ears and tail started dancing around at the sound of heating and cooling.

"The dungeon workshop is a place where items that are needed in the dungeon can be created. Since it's a basic workshop, it can support basic production facilities through the anvil and small furnace."

"It's not created automatically?"

"Employing a spirit with manufacturing skills…"

It was selfish of him to expect the items to be created by themselves.

Yong-Ho thought about the Dwarf spirit he saw before and nodded his head.

"Is the dungeon training ground a place to train the spirits?"

"That's correct."

"It's a place to increase the effects of the combat training through mana."

"It won't be as much as the actual battle, but I believe it can increase the development rate."

"It requires a space that's larger than your room, so please keep that in mind."

In the window of light, it displayed the Goblins using the bamboo spears to attack the dummies that were set up.

It was probably good for spirits like Eligor since he wasn't a fighting spirit.

"Great, I'm starting to get an idea. Thanks. It's a good thing I listened."

"It makes me happy that you're happy."

"The facilities that I've explained to you can be further developed."

"Please keep that in mind as well."

As soon as the Spirit of the Dungeon replied happily, the window of light disappeared.

But then Yong-Ho spoke.

"I was wondering. Can I…give you a name?"

They didn't answer right away. A person would've already blinked several of times during this period and he finally heard their voice.

"Um, are you talking about my name?"

"Yeah, your name."

The Spirit of the Dungeon didn't reply again. But Yong-Ho could tell that they were happy, causing him to chuckle. He thought for a moment and then spoke.

"What about Lucia?"

It was the name of a NPC that appeared in a game that Yong-Ho played often.

The Spirit of the Dungeon replied right away.

"I like it. I like the image as well. Is that how you're imagining me as, sir?"

Since his thoughts were shared with them, they found the source of the name.

It was a cute little girl with long, sky blue hair.

"Okay, Lucia. I'll be going to the dungeon shop."

"Understood."

"I'll be waiting for you."

Maybe it was all in his head, but the Spirit of the Dungeon, no, Lucia, answered in a more energetic and brighter tone than before.  

  &

As the Heart of the Dungeon grew, the altar that it was placed in wasn't the only thing that changed.

Yong-Ho's throne also changed as well. The hard, square-shaped rock throne now had shapes.

'It's still pretty hard though.'

Yong-Ho sat on the throne while happily complaining about it. The report that Eligor made was sitting on top of the dungeon shop's magic circle.

"I'll be back."

Yong-Ho spoke right before closing his eyes and Catalina, who was standing in front of the throne, replied while her ears were slightly fluttering.

"Yes, sir. We'll be waiting."

She said the same thing as Lucia. Is she being jealous of Lucia as well?

Yong-Ho purposely didn't point it out. After looking at her slightly pursed lips with a slightly annoyed expression, he closed his eyes.

He connected to the dungeon shop's Virtual Space.

  &

In a room where both the sky and the ground was white, there was a large bed in the middle. And a beautiful woman with red hair was lying on the bed completely defenseless.

Yong-Ho was embarrassed.

To be exact, he looked at the sleeping Sitri with an embarrassed expression.

What kind of welcoming method was this?

Sitri was wearing her usual provocative dress. Because of that, it was embarrassing to look at her and the shy Yong-Ho from his high school days returned, causing him to clear his throat several of times within the awkward atmosphere.

Thankfully, she was a light sleeper, so she sat up like someone that was brought back to their senses. She blinked her eyes with a blank expression and when she saw Yong-Ho, she was surprised and quickly stood up.

The bed disappeared in an instant and a luxurious looking sofa appeared. With a snap of her finger, her hair was taken care of and she gracefully sat on the sofa.

But it was late.

Yong-Ho coughed with the same embarrassing expression and because Sitri felt embarrassed as well, her cheeks turned red.

"I tend to sleep a lot on a regular basis…"

Sitri seemed different from all the other times and it reminded him more of Catalina.

But still, Sitri was still Sitri. She calmed herself and created a sofa behind Yong-Ho as well. She spoke with a graceful smile as if the event that just occurred didn't happen.

"Seeing as how you're here, it means that you've succeeded in defending the dungeon. Congratulations on your victory. I believed that you would win and waited."

It would be better to go along with it.

"Thank you. I'm also happy to be able to see you again."

"Even though I'm not personally assigned to you, we've seen each other several of times. What did you want to purchase today? Are you here to exchange your prize or purchase material for…oh my, you obtained a third horn."

Sitri spoke as he eyes widened. Yong-Ho nodded with a composed look. Instead of touching the third horn that he still felt incompatible with, he placed his hand on top of the sofa armrest in a relaxed posture.

"First, I would like to sell the prize."

"Understood. I'll take a look at the item."

Sitri didn't waste any time.

She lightly snapped her finger and between Yong-Ho and Sitri, a large war carriage appeared.

End.

Chapter end