New Earth: The Dungeon Of Madness

Kroff looked straight into Five's eyes. "You will soon become a dungeon master. It is important for you to understand the basics. I will teach you what I can; from how to build your dungeon to how to manage your monsters. The mentorship will last for 1 to 2 weeks, depending on your attitude and if you can understand what I am teaching."

He made a short pause, c.a.r.e.s.sing his white beard and then continued: "You can stop me at any time if you have questions, but first listen to what I have to say."

"The task of correctly managing dungeons and surviving in this world can be really hard sometimes. This is why alliances were created, we..."

'Crap. Another speech about alliances again... Please stop...' thought Five, avoiding Kroff's gaze. Having been betrayed in his past, the last thing Five wanted was to join any associations. He did not want to rely on anyone else. He did not want to risk being betrayed again!

...

"And so, I would like to formally extend an invitation to you for joining the Cyclone Alliance. Of course, you don't need to accept it right now. You first need to create your own dungeon to be able to join, but just keep that in mind."

"Thank you. I will think about it carefully."

"Now, for the actual lesson. Take a look at this! This is my dungeon. I cannot show you all my secrets, but I am revealing to you the first 10 floors. Have a look," said Kroff. He waved his hand and the sphere in his hand flashed before projecting a hologram.

'Since you really seem to have something against alliances, then don't blame me! Let me see how much you can learn without proper guidance,' said Kroff in his heart as he continued to observe Five. Kroff clearly noticed that Five once again got nervous and avoided him when he mentioned the Cyclone Alliance.

Five was surprised to see the hologram. He did not expect it to suddenly appear in front of him considering that he was in a medieval world. The hologram was semi-transparent, just like the one he could see in real life. By moving his hands, Five zoomed the hologram at the particular floor he pointed at. He did not need any instructions to control it.

All the floors had the same appearance. They consisted of caves and tunnels linking the large rooms. The different floors were connected via stairs. There were typically two stairs going up and two going down on each floor. The only differences between the floors were the creatures and the rewards. Naturally, some NPC adventurers were also present on the floors and were highlighted in red.

As for the dungeon's monsters, they were labeled in blue. On the lowest floor, the creatures present were slimes. Five could see that there were different colors of slimes and their levels varied from 1 to 6.

On the next two floors, Five saw Mine Rats, ranging from level 6 to level 8. The differences between the two floors were the levels of the Mine Rats and the population density. There were about twice as many Mine Rats on the third floor.

Giant Ants were guarding the fourth and fifth floor. Both had a high population density, but the fifth floor also housed a boss, the Giant Ant Queen which was level 9.

...

And finally, the tenth floor housed goblins who were all level 15-16. There was a goblin village in the corner of the map, but it was unreachable for the adventurers. There was a thin layer surrounding the village preventing the adventurers from seeing it.

Five took some time to analyze all the floors. He was very meticulous, looking at the stats of each monster, their positioning and taking note of every detail. The dungeon did not consist only of monsters; there were also some secret tunnels and rooms containing treasures or monsters, but in general, it was a generic dungeon.

After 10 minutes of silence, Kroff coughed to attract his attention. "What do you think? These are just the first 10 floors, but they follow the same principle as the higher ones."

"It is very interesting. I have several questions though. Why is it that only one species of monster is found on each floor?"

Kroff nodded and dully answered, "There is no particular reason. You can have as many species on any floor. Some dungeons do accommodate two or three species per floor. It is my own decision to only have one per floor."

"About these secret rooms and treasures, how frequently do adventurers find them?" asked Five

"Again, it is at your own discretion. Adventurers rarely find them by themselves. Sometimes, I intentionally reveal one to attract more adventurers. I vary the frequency, but it is up to you. You can add other things too," replied Kroff

"Then, how much DP do the adventurers generate?"

"It depends on their level; the stronger they are, the more DP they generate."

"What about the cost of these floors? How much did it cost to make them?"

"It will not be helpful for you to compare with me since you will be starting from scratch, but my floors did take at least more than 50000 DP each to make."

Five mentally took note of the answers but was inwardly annoyed, 'What's up with these answers? They are all so vague... Can't he give me more details? It looks like he is avoiding the answers,' thought Five in his heart.

But he did not show it. He continued to ask questions about the points he wanted to clarify but only received vague answers.

"Alright... I think that I have a pretty good idea of the arrangements of floors," finally said Five.

"That's good, but just looking at the dungeon via the core is not always good. The best way to understand is to actually see by yourself. Harriet!"

"Yes!" Harriet, who disappeared as soon as she brought Five to Kroff, suddenly reappeared out of nowhere.

"You will be his guide for today. Please show him around the dungeon for a bit," said Kroff, before waving his hand, changing the hologram projected by the dungeon core.

"Yes, master!" answered Harriet before smiling at Five and telling him to follow her.

Five felt relieved. He had a bad feeling whenever Kroff looked at him. He felt as if he was completely seen through. On the other hand, Harriet was more approachable; she constantly smiled and made him feel at ease.

"So, did you learn anything interesting?" asked Harriet.

"I learned a few stuffs. It would have been nice if I obtained more information but it's still good as it is," answered Five.

He was not actually lying. Just by looking at the dungeon, he could already think of his own dungeon. Despite the vague answers, Five learned that the monsters usually had a low cost. The real expenses came from the food they consumed. These needed to be bought with DP and although they were also cheap, large amounts were required for that number of monsters.

The other detail he noticed was that the monsters did not respawn. Once they died, they would never come back. Another monster needed to be purchased to replace the dead one.

According to his observations, these were the two biggest expenses of the dungeon. Five made a quick mental note and started thinking of ways to avoid them. It was the basics of good management: Planning.

...

"Which floor do you want to visit first? Or are you hungry? Do you want to the kitchen?" asked Harriet. Somehow, Five felt like a kid being taken care of by his mother.

"I am fine. Let's check out the first floor for now. I will visit them in order, but what about the adventurers? Won't they be alarmed to see us?" asked Five.

"Don't worry about that. We look just like humans right now. They won't suspect our identity," replied Harriet while smiling.

She then guided Five through a series of tunnels and stairs. Along the way, they met several monsters of various species, some of which, Five did not even recognize.

They were all very respectful towards Harriet. It was clear she held a very high position in this dungeon. Towards Five, they made a more modest greeting, but he did not mind it.

Eventually, the two reached a small platform. Harriet did not say anything and hopped onto it.

Five hesitantly approached the platform, "What is that? An elevator?"

"Huh? What is an elevator? This is a teleportation platform. There are more than 50 floors in the dungeon. Unless you want to go down all the stairs, this is the fastest way to travel in the dungeon," answered Harriet while opening an interface.

Five looked at the harpy and stepped onto the platform.

"Be careful. Since it is your first time, you might feel some unease, but I am sure you'll be fine," said Harriet as she pressed an icon on the interface.

The two vanished from the platform.