Kanzaki Ren upgraded without hesitation!
[Ding! Upgrade successful. Sea of Inspiration awakenings +1!]
[Name]: Kanzaki Ren[Rank]: Tier 2[Mental Power]: 340 / 5000[Soul Crystals]: 732[Inspiration Crystals]: Left 4 Dead[Current Dungeon]: Apocalypse Frenzy (335 / 1000)[Territory Capacity]: 125 / 125
Many rookie dungeon lords spent two or three years exhausting themselves in endless mind games with adventurers, scheming until they went bald, just to barely reach Tier 2.
Kanzaki Ren achieved it in three days.
The next rank required 5000 Mental Power.
Honestly?It didn't even seem that hard.
A Tier 2 Dungeon Lord gained a 50% increase in lifespan, and unlocked the ability to create Tier 2 combat units, Tier 2 dungeon cores, and Tier 2 buildings.
This was exactly why Kanzaki Ren had to rank up as quickly as possible.
The higher the dungeon tier, the richer the content.The higher the building tier, the stronger the functions.
At present, Miracle City only possessed a Tier 1 dungeon core, capable of supporting at most 1000 Mental Power worth of content.
Kanzaki Ren had already invested 335 Mental Power into Apocalypse Frenzy. Once another 665 was added, the dungeon would reach full operational load.
And Apocalypse Frenzy currently only had one major stage.
At least two or three more were planned.
Future stages would feature denser enemy placement, meaning total material investment would inevitably exceed 1000 Mental Power.
With the performance of a Tier 1 core—
it was like asking a calf to pull a freight train.
Impossible.
In the future, there would also be story modes, various competitive modes, bio-survival, battle royale-style gameplay, and other classic formats.
Only by upgrading the core could these be fully realized.
And upgrading the core required ranking up first.
A Tier 2 dungeon core could support up to 5000 Mental Power, enough to build far more ambitious content and greatly enrich gameplay.
More importantly—
upon reaching Tier 2, Kanzaki Ren gained one opportunity to open the Sea of Inspiration.
While ranking up wasn't the only way to obtain Inspiration Crystals—certain rare items or extraordinary encounters could also trigger awakenings—
such opportunities were extremely rare and purely a matter of fate.
For the vast majority of dungeon lords, ranking up was the only reliable path to acquiring new materials.
No hesitation.
Open the Sea of Inspiration!
In an instant, it felt as though his soul had left his body.
Kanzaki Ren's consciousness plunged into a boundless, kaleidoscopic ocean.
[Do you wish to awaken an Inspiration Crystal?]
"Awaken!"
A mysterious force churned the radiant Sea of Inspiration, forming a massive vortex. Within it, a huge crystal slowly took shape.
Then—
a second.
A third.
[You have awakened the Inspiration Crystals: "Sekiro," "Resident Evil," and "Legend of Mir." Please choose one to activate.]
"What?"
"Three of them?"
This was unexpected.
By ironclad law, each rank-up allowed only one Inspiration Crystal.
No exceptions.
Ever.
But perhaps Kanzaki Ren's Sea of Inspiration was simply too vast.
Every time he ranked up, it could condense multiple crystals, allowing him to choose one for activation.
As for the remaining two—
through communion with the Sea of Inspiration, Kanzaki Ren learned that unactivated crystals would not disappear.
They would permanently float above the Sea of Inspiration, becoming a permanent reserve material library.
When the time was right, he could activate any of them.
Every future awakening opportunity could be used to activate one of these stored crystals.
In other words—
his choices had just multiplied.
Some games were excellent games.
But not suitable for the current stage.
So how to choose between Sekiro, Resident Evil, and Legend of Mir?
The decision was actually simple. Only two practical factors mattered.
First: the current dungeon core's performance limits.
A Tier 1 core could handle at most 1000 Mental Power, and even at Tier 2, only 5000.
Second: Miracle City currently lacked the ability to create a second dungeon.
A single core could not operate two fundamentally different rule systems at once.
If Kanzaki Ren wanted to create a second game, he would first need to seize another dungeon core.
Therefore, this material acquisition had to focus on enhancing the current dungeon.
Sekiro was unquestionably an outstanding game.
Kanzaki Ren had no doubt it would become a ruthless harvesting scythe against adventurers.
The problem was that Sekiro's world, themes, and materials were completely incompatible with Apocalypse Frenzy.
It couldn't be stuffed into the same dungeon and would require a standalone build.
As for Legend of Mir, it was even less suitable.
Beyond the reasons above, it was an online game whose true appeal only emerged with massive populations and large-scale networking.
Unless Miracle City reached a far greater size, such games simply weren't viable in the short term.
That eliminated two options.
Leaving only one.
Activate the "Resident Evil" crystal!
"My luck's not bad," Kanzaki Ren muttered.
If he had drawn games like Chinese Paladin, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Titanfall, Diablo, or League of Legends—
all top-tier games with top-tier materials—
he would still have been forced to just stare helplessly due to current territorial constraints.
The Resident Evil series wasn't necessarily stronger.
But it was perfectly compatible with Apocalypse Frenzy.
No rejection. No conflict. It could be integrated without requiring an additional core.
It could both showcase the bio-horror appeal and expand Apocalypse Frenzy's world and lore.
Kanzaki Ren had already planned to build a story mode.
Obtaining Resident Evil materials now was like adding wings to a tiger.
After all, while Left 4 Dead excelled in gameplay, it fell short in narrative depth, character development, and world-building.
With Resident Evil materials—
Apocalypse Frenzy's quality would soar to an entirely new level.
It would deliver a far more immersive experience to adventurers.
After successful activation, Kanzaki Ren immediately inspected the Inspiration Crystal.
Dense streams of materials flooded his vision.
[Monster Materials]:T-Virus Zombies, Zombie Dogs, Cerberus, Lickers, Tyrant T-001, Tyrant T-002, Tyrant T-003, Nemesis…Giant Majini, Executioner Majini, G-Virus Mature Forms
[Character Materials]:Jill, Chris, Leon… Carla, Simmons, Wesker
[Location Materials]:Mansion, Underground Research Facility, Raccoon City…
[Weapon Materials]:...
Incredible.
Absolutely overflowing.
The sheer volume of materials awakened this time was something most dungeon lords would never achieve in their entire lives.
This single crystal practically contained the entire Resident Evil series.
There were more than twelve Tyrant variants alone, not to mention scenes, weapons, vehicles, and character materials.
That said—
even 10,000 Mental Power wouldn't be enough to build everything at once.
A phased rollout, integrating these elements gradually into Apocalypse Frenzy's story mode, was clearly the correct approach.
"The road ahead is long," Kanzaki Ren sighed.
Then he set two goals for himself.
First: rapidly gather resources and upgrade Miracle City's core to expand Apocalypse Frenzy further.
Second: aggressively expand the dungeon, increase territory scale, and seize a new core to eventually build games like Sekiro.
With goals set—
it was time to act.
He already had a batch of essences on hand.
Miracle City was ready to begin its expansion.