Dungeons—mysterious, magical places.
They're filled with traps and monsters—the kind of places no sane person would willingly step into.
And yet, the treasures hidden within promise all kinds of thrilling rewards: lost spells, the armor of legendary heroes, blades that cleave iron like paper... you might even stumble upon a sealed vampire girl.
Naturally, adventurers across the world are obsessed with dungeons.
Sein Dungeon — Deepest Level: The Hidden Throne Room
Wade sat atop a dusty altar, staring down at his shriveled, withered body, lost in thought.
How was he supposed to explain this? Just an hour ago, he'd been working overtime at a game company. The map designer on his team had quit, and even though Wade knew nothing about map design, he'd been dragged in to clean up the mess. After a short nap during lunch... he woke up in another world.
And somehow became the Dungeon Lord of Sein Dungeon—the "Living Corpse," Aldwin.
Even worse, he had less than a month to live.
After fully absorbing Aldwin's memories, Wade quickly realized the reason behind his short lifespan.
This guy's dungeon... was way too easy.
Other people's dungeons had endless waves of monsters, deadly traps, elite guardians, and treasure chests filled with hazards.
Aldwin's dungeon? A handful of weak monsters, traps so obvious even idiots could spot them, a straight path to the boss room, elite monsters used as decoration, and high-quality treasure offered with zero challenge.
The result?
His dungeon had become a playground for rookie adventurers. Even total beginners could clear it in one go, walk out beaming with confidence, and come back for more. Foot traffic never stopped.
And that… was bad.
Researchers in this world were still puzzled by one mystery: how did monsters and treasures keep reappearing in dungeons? Kill the monsters, take the loot… and the next time, they're just back again.
It all ties into the fundamental operating logic of a dungeon.
Put simply, monsters and treasure are created using the Dungeon Lord's energy—this is how they regenerate.
And the source of that energy... is people.
Specifically, human emotions—joy, anger, sorrow, fear—everything a person feels releases energy. The dungeon absorbs that energy to sustain itself.
But that alone isn't enough.
When adventurers die inside a dungeon, they release dozens of times more energy. The stronger the adventurer, the greater the yield.
Only by absorbing large amounts of energy from fallen adventurers can a dungeon truly thrive.
But in Sein Dungeon? Nobody dies.
"Was this Aldwin guy an idiot?"
Using his Dungeon Lord authority, Wade summoned a miniature model of Sein Dungeon into the air before him. One glance—and he was speechless.
Aldwin's dungeon design skills weren't just Mid. They were catastrophic.
From the entrance, adventurers could walk in a straight line to the boss room. Sure, there were side paths—but those had treasure. The roaming monsters were things like slimes, minotaurs, and ghosts—useful for materials but harmless. Thanks to local ley lines, even the mines were overflowing with valuable minerals just a few steps in.
Wade sighed. Whoever made this map might as well have put up a sign: Free Loot Inside. Please Come In.
"Nope. I have to overhaul everything."
He might not have been a dungeon design expert, but he had one major advantage—he'd played a ton of games.
And his favorite series?
Dark Souls. Famous for its brutal traps, sanity-draining enemies, intricate interconnected maps, and uncompromising difficulty.
He rubbed the Dungeon Lord's ring on his left index finger, and a stream of data materialized before him:
[Sein Dungeon]
[Remaining Energy: 1806]
[Daily Maintenance Cost: 78]
[Available Structures: Abandoned Village, Poison Swamp, Ancient Ruins, Underground Mine, Invisible Bridge]
[Available Monsters: Skeletons, Minotaurs, Slimes, Rotten Wild Dogs, Blood Mosquitoes, Ghosts, Goblins, Lesser Snakemen, Berserk Undead]
[Miniature Dungeon Model]
"First, I'll split the dungeon into upper, middle, and lower levels. Shrink the total size, recycle unused structures into energy. Place elite guards at every level transition. I don't have the energy for powerful monsters, so I'll go for quantity over quality."
After some careful planning, Wade deployed thirteen Rotten Wild Dogs to the first path—fast, aggressive, venomous.
Only three were visible. The remaining ten? Hidden in ambush.
"Heh… I'll have the three in plain sight facing away, make it look like an easy sneak attack… then bam—ambushed from behind."
Wade grinned like a true schemer.
At the second path, he placed two elite minotaurs. One would hang from the ceiling. Once the other dropped to half HP, the hidden one would crash down in an AOE smash, enter a berserk state, and target the party's magic users first.
Next, the roaming monsters.
He made sweeping changes.
Goblins were added—each group led by a shaman capable of casting buffs.
The wild minotaurs were removed. In their place: low-cost skeletons, posed like scattered corpses. When adventurers passed by, they'd spring to life. If reduced to low HP, they'd drop and fake death—only to revive at full health minutes later.
Ghosts? Replaced with blood mosquitoes. These nasty things inflicted anemia, blocked vision, and disrupted party coordination. Their only weakness was fire.
Despite all this, the overall monster energy cost actually dropped.
But something still felt off.
"…The map design's still too generous."
So he turned a key chokepoint into a poison swamp. After all, no Souls-style dungeon was complete without a proper hellhole.
Originally, the dungeon had a majestic layout of sprawling, open ruins—broad and grand.
Now, under Wade's touch, it was drastically condensed. He redesigned it into one main path with loops leading back to the correct route and plenty of dead ends. Exploration freedom was limited. Lighting was dimmed. The entire place took on an eerie, oppressive tone.
The ancient ruins were gone.
In their place:
Upper Level: Abandoned villages and poison swamps
Middle Level: Scattered ruins mixed with thick forest
Lower Level: A maze-like underground mine system
These weren't lore-driven decisions. Wade simply picked them from the options available.
He also added extra flair:
Detours that looked promising but led nowhere
Hidden monsters placed behind critical turns
Mimic treasure chests
Random teleportation traps
Wade couldn't stop grinning—he was having fun.
He'd planned to add more traps, but—
"…I'm out of energy."
Even after shrinking the map, lowering monster strength, and reducing treasure value... he only had enough energy left to survive for about a week.
[Remaining Mental Energy: 631]
[Daily Consumption: 77]
Seven days. That was all.
Once his energy ran out, he—now bound to the dungeon's soul—would vanish. And the dungeon would fall into decay.
"Only two or three people's worth of mental energy per day to stay operational… guess I'm surprisingly efficient."
With a resigned sigh, Wade gave up on traps—for now.
But one question still nagged at him: Why was the daily upkeep still so high, even after all the cutbacks?
Answer: because he'd massively increased the monster count.
Not to mention… he'd added loot usually found only in games.
Weapons with unique combat skills. Rare ores. Distinctive, cheap, and abundant gear—each costing only a few points of energy.
According to Aldwin's memories, items like these didn't even exist in this world. They could become a major draw.
Later, once he gathered more energy, he could start placing high-tier gear to lure in stronger adventurers.
Because if it's too hard and there's no reward? No one shows up.
You have to dangle the right bait.
.
..
...
Dong—dong—
The heavy dungeon bell tolled. A new day in Sein Dungeon had begun. Its gates creaked open once more.
Countless wide-eyed newbies, dreaming of glory, stepped in to test their mettle—braving harmless paths, defeating pushover enemies, collecting valuable loot, and brimming with newfound confidence.
But waiting for them ahead…
…was malice from another world.
Abandon hope.
Death lies ahead.
Turn back.
(*****)
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