(Since most Yu-Gi-Oh! Card art stories are unfinished, and the art styles vary. I will be re-creating the card stories. Those unfamiliar with the lore can still enjoy.)
He snapped his eyes open. His vision was met by a massive, dim, and dilapidated dome, with fractured stone pillars thrusting into the dusty ground like broken ribs.
The sensation was really wrong.
These palms were far too small, the skin excessively delicate; pressing them against the gravel floor even sent a stinging pain through him.
Aided by a few glowing plants on the ground, he looked down. His gaze locked onto the reflection in a small puddle before him, and his entire being froze.
It wasn't the familiar face of a corporate drone at all. In the puddle's reflection stood a petite, exquisitely carved, and adorable girl!
A pair of small, delicate silver demon horns grew from the sides of her forehead. She wore a tattered white Gothic-style puff dress, and her skin was pale.
"White hair? White eyes? A little girl? And these horns... a demon?
"Have I become the protagonist of a transmigration novel?"
The current Labrynth opened her mouth in disbelief, letting out a soft, delicate cry of surprise.
Before she could process the fact that she had reincarnated into a white-haired loli, a powerful sense of crisis instantly crawled up her spine and enveloped her body, making her head spin.
This body was too weak. Her combat power was absolute bottom-tier garbage; just the act of propping herself up and moving a moment ago left her panting.
'Damn, this is a hellish start!'
Labrynth gritted her small teeth as intense fear of death and an extreme desire for survival instantly filled her mind.
She desperately needed a weapon for self-defense. Locking her gaze on a fragment of rock nearby weighing about ten pounds, she reached out with two slender little hands and gripped it tightly.
But the rock only rolled half a turn on the ground; she couldn't lift it off the floor at all; instead, she ended up huffing and puffing from the overexertion.
Unable to even lift a ten-pound rock, this body didn't even qualify as "combat power: five."
Just as Labrynth was descending into panic, a set of footsteps approached.
The sound came from deep within the long corridor outside the hall, accompanied by the clatter of metal armor echoing through the empty chamber.
"Boss, why is it so quiet here? I remember the overlord of the sixth floor was a Skeleton Lord, but now I don't see a single bone!"
"Who cares? It's better if it's dead! We've hit the jackpot this time. Even if we just pry off a few low-grade Mana Crystals, it'll be enough to drink, eat, and gamble at the tavern for half a year!"
The voices grew closer. Labrynth's heart constricted to its limit as her mind locked onto a few keywords.
Dungeon. Sixth floor. Skeleton Lord.
After a brief moment of realization, Labrynth had a rough grasp of her current situation.
She was inside a dungeon as a tiny, vulnerable demon loli, and those people were likely adventurers entering the dungeon.
For her present defenseless self, any adult man carrying a weapon represented a catastrophic disaster; she had no room for resistance.
A large foot clad in iron-plated boots stepped from the passage into the hall, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Three men wearing crude leather armor and carrying iron axes and spears walked in swaggering, each reeking of blood.
The man in the lead scanned the ruined hall, his gaze finally fixing on the high, dilapidated throne in the center.
The conspicuous silver-white in the dim environment instantly ignited the fire of greed in his eyes, making his breathing ragged.
"Oh? Boys, look at the treasure we found."
His gaze roamed shamelessly over Labrynth's petite frame.
"No Skeleton Lord, but a lone demon chick? This hair color, these white eyes, and those little horns... Good Lord, this is the finest of the fine!"
The man beside him looked like his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. He rubbed his hands excitedly and let out a lecherous laugh.
"If we capture her alive and sell her to those lords in the city with... special tastes, we won't have to worry for the rest of our lives, let alone six months; we could sleep with the top-tier girls every night!"
"Hehe, can't we have a bit of fun ourselves before we sell her? I've never touched such a fresh demon girl in my life!"
Another burly man let out a nauseating, strange laugh. The three of them looked at each other and burst into raucous laughter, gripping their weapons and closing in with sinister grins.
Tension and horror surged through her heart. Labrynth slowly backed away, her heartbeat accelerating to the limit. This body was screaming and trembling. She wanted to turn and run, but her legs were as soft as overcooked noodles; she couldn't even stand up.
It's over. Is this going to turn into an adult-rated plot right at the start?
God, are you freaking kidding me!
At this critical juncture, a cold, emotionless mechanical voice suddenly exploded deep within Labrynth's mind, bringing a sliver of a chance for survival.
[Skill: Labrynth of the Silver Castle]
[Linkage through Mental Visualization]
[Identity: Silver Demon of the Dungeon. Obtained 100 starting Emotion Points and Trap Blueprints.]
In a blink, time seemed to slow down in Labrynth's eyes, and a translucent sandbox construction panel abruptly floated before her.
The panel was pitifully bare. Most of the icons in the various sections were grayed out in a locked state; only the "Build" column glowed with a blue light, standing out.
Labrynth hastily browsed through the information on the panel in her mind. Her heart, which had originally fallen into despair, became active at once as she saw a glimmer of hope.
Isn't this just Tower Defense plus Management Simulation?
God, I misjudged you.
Her gaze swept over the description in the bottom right corner of the panel. A prompt indicated that Emotion Points could be used to exchange for traps, summon monsters, and repair the dungeon.
[Basic Pitfall Trap: Consumes 50 Emotion Points. Can generate a three-meter deep pit on a designated floor. Optional iron spikes can be installed at the bottom for an additional 10 points.]
I see.
The panic that had filled Labrynth's eyes gradually underwent a subtle, cold transformation at that moment.
"Little demon, come here like a good girl! Your uncles will take good care of you, we guarantee you'll be in heaven!"
The man in the lead had already reached the area below the steps in front of the throne.
His large hand reached directly for Labrynth's slender ankle, his face full of a sickening, lecherous grin.
Five steps, four steps, three steps!
The distance was only a short three steps away. The man in the lead could even see the pale skin and terrified expression on the silver-haired girl's face.
Now!
The terror in Labrynth's eyes vanished without a trace in an instant, replaced by extreme indifference and ruthlessness.
With a thought, her finger pressed down hard on the semi-transparent panel in the void. She consumed fifty Emotion Points to build a Basic Pitfall Trap, then spent another ten points to add the iron spikes.
With a thunderous crash, without any warning, the solid bluestone floor beneath the feet of the man in the lead and his two accomplices behind him vanished into thin air!
"What!"
The lecherous grin on the leading man's face froze instantly, his pupils shrinking to the size of needle points. He didn't even have time to make a gesture with his arms.
The originally flat ground had turned into a pitch-black, three-meter-deep pit without warning, like a deep-sea beast opening its mouth to swallow everything.
"What's happening!"
The three of them fell into the deep pit together like dumplings. The terrified screams had just broken from their throats when they were replaced by shrieks of agony.
Shnk! Shnk!
The iron spikes easily pierced through their leather armor, stabbing ruthlessly into human flesh and scraping against bone.
"Aaargh! My leg! My stomach! Help!"
"What the hell is this! It hurts so much!"
Blood sprayed out, staining the soil red.
The shrill screams exploded within the empty hall, echoing beneath the ruined dome, making one's scalp tingle and heart turn cold.
The three Iron-rank scavengers, who had been insufferably arrogant just a moment ago, were now pinned firmly to the dense, rusty iron spikes at the bottom of the pit like kebabs, struggling frantically.
Especially the leader who had rushed to the front; a sharp iron spike had pierced directly through the root of his thigh, nearly destroying his manhood.
Blood gushed out as if it were free, and the pain caused his features to distort; Tears and snot mixed with cold sweat covered his face, as his hands gripped the iron spike, not daring to pull it out.
Sitting high upon her ruined throne, Labrynth leaned out, looking down from above at the miserable scene in the pit without a hint of pity.
Her heart felt only the pleasure of surviving a disaster, along with a trace of morbid excitement—one she hadn't even noticed herself—spreading frantically through her blood, causing her heart to steady.
This demon body possessed a deep-seated, instinctive affinity for darkness and the scent of blood, as if this were her true home.
Labrynth tilted her head, her long silver-white hair sliding down her shoulder, a cruel curve appearing at the corner of her mouth.
"You were laughing quite happily just now, weren't you?"
She spoke. Her voice was still soft and crisp, gentle as a tender greeting to an old friend.
"Uncles, your expressions now are much more pleasant to look at than they were before."
Hearing these words, which sounded like a fiend's whisper, the leader struggled to lift his head.
He met Labrynth's pair of emotionless, pure white eyes; deadly silent like an abyss… and felt his blood freeze.
What he saw was not a weak, exploitable little girl at all, but a terrifying monster wrapped in a beautiful shell that viewed human life as nothing more than grass. It was utter despair.
"Mon... Monster..."
The leading man trembled all over. Immense fear drowned all his rationality. His head slumped to the side as he passed out from the pain.
[Absorbed Fear Emotion: +10!] [Absorbed Despair Emotion: +20!]
The notification sounds rang out frantically in her mind like pleasant wind chimes. Her Emotion Points soared.
In the blink of an eye, they broke through the two-hundred mark. This feeling of a bountiful harvest was truly wonderful, allowing her to fully recognize the laws of this world.
It was either kill or be killed.
To survive in this malicious otherworld, and to avoid being treated as a plaything, one had to be more ruthless and heartless than anyone else.
"Since God gave me this system, then I will turn this place into an absolutely secure fortress!"