Ch.150Dungeon Demolition and the Queen’s Message

~ ~ ~ Dungeon Boss Perspective ~ ~ ~

The boss of this dungeon, named “Puppet Master,” was engulfed in deep terror and despair.

Six days ago, the Puppet Master, having been granted life along with massive resources, pondered endlessly on how to create the ultimate dungeon. With high-quality dungeon cores, abundant resources, biological data to create diverse monsters, and advanced formulas needed to craft artifacts—with resources of this caliber, one could easily create either a grand labyrinth that would take days just to map out, or a perilous fortress filled with all manner of traps and monsters.

However, no dungeon concept that came to mind could satisfy the Puppet Master. Creating a deep and complex labyrinth would eventually have its structure revealed as intruders came and went. Placing powerful monsters would require appropriate rewards, or adventurers would soon stop coming. Yet preparing sufficiently attractive rewards to draw in adventurers raised concerns about them successfully taking those treasures away. The Puppet Master disliked the idea of wasting the generous resources just to please intruders.

Faced with this dilemma that every dungeon boss experiences, the Puppet Master devised a scheme: what if intruders who set foot in the dungeon could be sent to a specially prepared prison from which they could never escape? However, the concept of an “inescapable prison” could not be magically established, and the Puppet Master learned that the larger the prison and the more powerful the magic binding the prisoners, the more magical power and resources would be consumed.

So the Puppet Master designed the prison in the form of a small mansion to conserve resources and gradually tainted the souls of prisoners through absurd yet seemingly flawed rules. For those who reached the second-floor bedroom, feeling as if they were solving a puzzle while unknowingly submitting to the mansion’s rules, three possible outcomes awaited:

Those who became tainted with the concept of “destruction” by fighting the servants would be destroyed by the Puppet Master’s sanctions.

Those tainted with the concept of “submission” through household labor would be trapped forever in the mansion by invisible magical barriers.

Only those who betrayed their petrified companions without gaining a single gold coin could safely leave the dungeon—receiving a few treasures as souvenirs in exchange for the companions they left behind.

With all magical power and resources poured into this S-class artifact, the “Prisoner’s Doll House,” the Puppet Master could live safely and comfortably without the dungeon itself being in danger. This perfect plan to live comfortably without working seemed flawless, but—

“I… I almost died…”

Caressing a shattered left ear, the Puppet Master sighed in relief. There was no mental space to contemplate what went wrong or where the mistake had been made. Having one’s right hand destroyed after carelessly reaching for the intruders in the mansion was shocking enough, but the Puppet Master never imagined they could break through the powerful spell of an S-class artifact and attack from outside the mansion. Had the Puppet Master not hastily abandoned the spell’s influence and expelled them, that terrifying red light might have blown the Puppet Master’s head off by now.

“It’s good I hid this room so thoroughly as a precaution. If the entrance led directly to this room… haaah.”

Despite the grand term “expulsion,” all the Puppet Master had done was free five adventurers from the Prisoner’s Doll House and send them to the adjacent room, separated by just one wall. Having spent all resources and magical power on creating and operating the Prisoner’s Doll House, the dungeon itself could only be made with a simple structure of just three rooms.

The antechamber that greeted intruders upon entering the dungeon contained powerful magic that immediately transported them to the doll house. Beyond that, the boss room was physically and magically separated from the antechamber and could only be accessed through special means. The third room, needless to say, was where the dungeon core was stored. It was impossible not to shudder at the thought of those extraordinary intruders being just on the other side of a single wall.

“Phew… calm down. Creatures forcibly expelled can no longer be transported to the doll house, and it’s impossible to enter this room directly from the antechamber. I’ll never have to face those terrifying individuals again.”

Despite the minor crisis, the Puppet Master had ultimately survived. Learning from this incident, the plan was to be more careful going forward while maintaining a safe and comfortable life. Just as the Puppet Master sighed in relief once more—

‘Whoosh~’

“Huh?”

With a sound like air escaping from a rubber tube, part of the wall behind the boss room disappeared like a mirage.

~ ~ ~ Protagonist’s Perspective ~ ~ ~

“I thought expulsion meant being thrown out of the dungeon, but it’s just the next room over. How ridiculous.”

“It’s thanks to Will, who can recognize arcane words, that we figured it out. Ordinary adventurers would have assumed they were sent to the entrance and left the dungeon.”

After being expelled from the doll house by the mansion’s mistress, we were transported to a small room with a dungeon gate installed. We recited the arcane words written on the room’s wall to open a path to the boss room. The mistress, frozen in the position of looking back, couldn’t move until Seti’s spear cut her body in half. The shock of being discovered less than 30 seconds after expelling us must have been quite traumatic.

When the mansion’s mistress, split in half, dissipated like black mist, something strange happened in the boss room. The doll house began to emit a soft glow and started spewing out all the items inside. I worried the dungeon might become overcrowded as various objects appeared and grew in size, but fortunately, the items that shot out from the doll house soon dispersed like mist. After the doll house calmed down, the objects in the boss room began to disappear one by one. In the end, all that remained in the boss room was an empty doll house, a box containing three types of servant dolls, a small door hidden behind furniture, and two familiar human-sized statues.

“These statues…”

“They’re the adventurers who remained in the basement until the end.”

“They’ve been freed from the doll house, but it seems we need another method to undo the petrification. Since there’s nothing we can do, it would be best to have Atelier dispatch a rescue team.”

“Will they survive until then?”

“In a petrified state, they won’t be affected by the black magic, so they should be fine—as long as they don’t get shattered by impact.”

“Well… we can’t care for them beyond that.”

Even with the power of an Ancestor, we couldn’t transport two human-sized statues all the way to the city. We could only hope that passing monsters or wild animals wouldn’t mess with the statues.

After collecting the doll house and the box, we arrived at the room where the dungeon core was stored through the hidden door. A baseball-sized crystal orb with swirling five-colored light. Phyllis, who hadn’t been in our party during the Plague Demon dungeon, took on the role of destroying it.

‘Bang!’

The rifle bullet pierced through the core, and with a blinding light, we were transported outside the dungeon. The two petrified adventurers stood like guardian statues next to the rock face where the dungeon entrance had been. This concluded our conquest of the dungeon that had appeared in Korkas Gorge. All we gained was the doll house and a few dolls, but considering the danger of the dungeon, it might not have been a bad haul.

After completing our adventure and returning to Atelier, we reported the dungeon’s demolition and information about the petrified adventurers to the Pioneer Affairs Department, then headed to the Adventurer’s Guild to receive our reward for the Moonlight Moss quest. The money earned from the gathering quest was about 1,500 gold—quite a decent income compared to the effort expended. As I was about to leave the adventurer’s building after receiving the reward, an employee working at the reception desk called out to me.

“A telegram for me?”

“Yes. It’s an urgent telegram using a magical communication device. The sender is… Anastasia Yuria McClain, residing in Riverside.”

“…McClain?”

Anastasia must be the Succubus Queen we rescued from the Minotaur dungeon, but why would she be using the McClain surname? Puzzled, I unfolded the paper handed to me by the employee, which contained the perplexing instruction: “Think of me when you go to sleep tonight after receiving this message.”

“What is this?”

“Like… ‘sleep well, dream of me’?”

“Surely she wouldn’t have used expensive magical telegram services just to send such a message. Perhaps there’s some hidden meaning?”

“Hmm… anyway, let’s find lodging first. We need to eat too, and thinking about Anastasia’s message can wait until after that.”

I have some idea about the message’s content. Succubi are known as dream demons—a clan of demons who control dreams. Perhaps by following this message’s instructions, Anastasia intends to exert some influence over me.

‘The problem is that I don’t know exactly what Anastasia is planning to do…’

While our relationship with Anastasia is relatively friendly, she is also a dangerous individual who doesn’t hesitate to use abilities like charm or hypnosis on people. It would be best to discuss with my companions in private before deciding whether to follow her instructions.