Dungeon Maker

"The Demon King Mammon's? One of the Seven Deadly Sins...so my ancestor's?"

"That's right. They are the spirits that followed King Mammon himself."

Catalina's expression was serious, but her voice was filled with tension.

Yong-Ho frowned. After swallowing his dry saliva, he asked again, "So are they like you and Eligor that they belong to the dungeon?"

"That's…"

That didn't seem to be the case. Which was probably why she referred to them as Mammon's Spirits instead of spirits of the House of Mammon.

"Did they go crazy because they've been stuck here for such a long time?"

Perhaps they had reached the point where they didn't even recognize their owner. Since they had been trapped somewhere alone in this dark dungeon for so long, it was entirely possible for them to become that way.

But, that didn't seem to be the case either.

Catalina bit her lips and then lightly licked them. It seemed quite difficult for her to say since she took a moment first to collect her thoughts before she continued.

"Although that does sometimes happen, there is however a bigger problem. You see…"

Yong-Ho let out a deep sigh. It wasn't because he became frustrated with her. In fact, while she was hesitating, Yong-Ho started to contemplate the issue and then confirmed his suspicions after seeing her expression.

"Mammon's spirits don't acknowledge his heirs."

Catalina couldn't say anything and instead affirmed through her expression.

A few moments later, she spoke again.

"With all due respect sir, but there was an owner that was even killed by one of Mammon's spirits. It was because they weren't able to pass the test presented by them."

Yong-Ho closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. And then he let out a deep sigh.

He now understood why the previous owners couldn't completely activate the entire dungeon.

It was because of Mammon's Spirits.

Mammon was one of the Seven Deadly Sins and controlled a quarter of the demon world in this lifetime and those were the spirits that he himself had gathered.

"But, how are they still alive? Do they gain eternal life because they're high-ranked demons?"

He thought it was a strange question to ask. If high-ranked demons gained eternal life, then there was no reason for Mammon to die.

Catalina answered, "It's true that high-ranked demons do have a long life, but their life is not eternal. Most of Mammon's spirits are currently sealed. They'll fall asleep and wake up when someone is near. There are also spirits where their bodies are dead but their souls remain in the dungeon. The demon king, Mammon, was very possessive."

Did that mean he kept the souls of his underlings even after they had died?

Yong-Ho thought of the different funerary practices amongst various cultures, such as a pharaoh's grave, and then shook his head.

"Okay, fine. Let's look at this positively. If I pass their test, that means I'll be able to recruit them as my followers. Right?"

"Yes, that's right. If it's you, master, I'm sure you'll pass the test. I believe in you."

Catalina spoke, with a glowing expression. She looked really cute, but at the same time, he felt that it was burdensome.

Just like Eligor, Catalina sincerely trusted and followed Yong-Ho. He was too afraid to actually try it, but if he told them to die for him, he was sure that they would actually do it.

They were wasting too much time just standing around and talking.

Yong-Ho moved from the throne to the right wall of the room and activated one of the dormant rooms.

He spoke to Catalina while moving, "I actually expected there to be… stuff like treasure rooms. If the size of the dungeon really is that huge, shouldn't there be other important things like that in here, right? Do you know anything?"

"I heard from the previous guard that there is an arena."

"An arena?"

Yong-Ho suddenly stopped walking since it was so unexpected. Catalina stopped walking as well and then started to explain.

"The place was actually discovered by the third owner after Mammon. He visited the place in secret, so there's no information about its location, but I'm sure that it does exist."

Yong-Ho started walking again. He thought for a moment and then asked, "What kind of place is it?"

"It's a place managed by one of Mammon's old spirits. Those that enter will be tested on their level of power, and each time they pass the test they'll be awarded with one item out of the many that Mammon has gathered over his lifetime. I heard that every time you enter, the difficulty level increases, but the rewards also become better."

It sounded reasonable. After crossing through an empty room, Yong-Ho activated another room.

"The test probably requires me to fight, right?"

"Probably...I think so. The third owner didn't leave many records, but I know that it is called the arena."

The current owner of Mammon's dungeon would be tested through combat and would then receive an award from one of Mammon's spirits.

'It's an actual arena.'

It was similar to the type of arenas that he had seen in RPGs. It was too difficult to truly understand Mammon's thoughts, but what exactly was going on in his mind when he decided to actually build an arena in his own dungeon?

To train the younger generation? To train spirits?

"Wait."

Yong-Ho suddenly stopped walking while crossing the fourth activated room. Catalina was taken aback in surprise, as she hadn't expected to suddenly stop like that.

"Master?"

Instead of answering, Yong-Ho looked at the left wall. It was quite ordinary. But, he felt something weird emanating from it.

It felt out of place.

It was the same peculiar feeling that he had experienced recently. And just like then, his hands and feet began to move on their own.

Out of the Seven Deadly Sins, he had the power of Greed. It was a power that he inherited from Mammon.

He suddenly walked towards the wall as if he was possessed by something. He touched it and then figured out the identity of his strange feeling.

The flow of mana.

It was different compared to other places.

Yong-Ho instinctively released his mana through the palm of his hand.

Suddenly, something unexpected occurred. The wall started to lightly shake and with a loud rattling noise, a door that would barely fit a large person appeared. It was a secret door.

Yong-Ho was certain that he would be able to obtain something precious if he went inside.

That's what his instincts were screaming out to him.

"Shall we take a look?"

After Yong-Ho spoke, Catalina nodded her head nervously. She approached him and spoke.

"Then, I'll go in first."

It was a decision that she made as his guard who was responsible for the safety of her family. But, Yong-Ho shook his head.

"Sorry. But, I feel like I should trust my instincts. I'll take the lead so follow right behind me and watch my back. Is there anything that we can use as a light?"

Catalina felt briefly conflicted but eventually agreed with his decision. She then took out a small stick from her leather pouch and injected it with mana. It was a type of flashlight used in the demon world.

"Here. It will become brighter if you inject it with mana."

"This is quite convenient."

Yong-Ho smiled and grabbed the flashlight and then turned around towards the secret door. He shone the flashlight inside and then took a step inside

One step. Two steps. And on the third step.

The floor suddenly disappeared.

Yong-Ho didn't have the ability to control gravity. So he suddenly fell and typical of someone that was falling, he instinctively started to yell.

"Master!"

Catalina also screamed. Yong-Ho wasn't able to look up to see her, so he used the flashlight to light the rapidly approaching ground, but he still couldn't see the floor. Within the narrow gap, all he could see were the walls, rocks, skeletons, and various bugs.

"Master!"

He heard Catalina's voice just above his head. Yong-Ho instinctively tilted his head back and saw Catalina reaching out to him.

She grabbed Yong-Ho.

Moments later. They both crashed to the ground.

***

His entire body was racked with pain.

He must have been unconscious for a moment because he was suddenly feeling dizzy. Or perhaps he had been unconscious for a considerable amount of time.

Yong-Ho started to cough. He tried his best to control his breathing. He couldn't see anything. It was too dark.

'Catalina.'

He couldn't think clearly. He started to yell for Catalina.

"Catalina!"

It hurt. It was hard to even move the muscles in his body to move to scream out her name. However, Yong-Ho couldn't afford to let the pain overcome him. He focused his mind.

"Ahhh."

Yong-Ho focused on the strange groans. The sound was close.

"Catalina?"

"Ma...ster."

Yong-Ho immediately recognized where the voice was coming from. It was below him.

Yong-Ho was startled and quickly got up. Because of Yong-Ho's quick movement, Catalina ended up letting out another groan.

"Ack."

Because he quickly stood up, Yong-Ho let out another groan. His whole body was racked with pain. It didn't seem like anything was broken, but it felt like his entire body was covered with bruises.

As soon as he managed to stand up, he tried to look at Catalina, but he still couldn't see anything. The room was too dark.

"Are you okay? Can you stand?"

He tried his best to speak. Thankfully, she managed to utter a reply.

"Master."

"Catalina."

Yong-Ho sat down on the ground. Once he managed to calm himself down, he looked around and noticed the flashlight sitting not too far from him. Seeing that it was still shining brightly, he probably wasn't out for that long.

'A little bit later.'

He wanted to go and grab it, but his body refused to listen to him. While Yong-Ho was catching his breath, he heard a rustling sound in front of him. It was the sound of Catalina standing up.

"Thank you, master. You saved me. I'll never forget your kindness for as long as I live."

Yong-Ho, who was listening inattentively, unconsciously tilted his head to the side. He responded in an incredulous tone.

"Huh?"

"You...don't remember? Just as we were about to hit the ground, you held me in your arms."

Catalina answered carefully and Yong-Ho became even more confused. It sounded like that's what he did. Most of all, Catalina sounded like she was telling the truth.

"Wait. Then why were you beneath me?"

"W-we rolled after we crashed into the ground?"

Yong-Ho smiled at Catalina's assumption.

'No wonder my entire body was aching.'

Unfortunately, because it had happened so suddenly, he couldn't remember any of Catalina's soft touch. After a short pause, Yong-Ho stood up with a groan and picked up the flashlight. He turned the flashlight towards Catalina to check that she was safe and then raised it towards the ceiling.

"Did we fall from up there?"

It was too difficult to check the edge with the flashlight. It was hard to tell exactly how far they had fallen, but he felt that they must have fallen at least over 10 meters.

Catalina started to speak.

"I tried to slow down the speed of our fall, but...I don't think it worked that well. I'm sorry."

The reason why Yong-Ho was still alive, despite falling over 10 meters, wasn't just because his body was sturdy. The real reason, in fact, was that Catalina had grabbed him during the fall and used all sorts of methods to slow down their speed.

"No, I'm alive thanks to you. Thank-you. You did really well."

Yong-Ho expressed his gratitude and complimented her, he then waved his finger in the air. Although he wanted to properly acknowledge her actions, it wasn't the best time to have a long discussion about it.

As expected, he couldn't connect to the Spirit of the Dungeon.

"Is it because we're underneath the main level?"

Just what floor were they on? Since the ceiling of the first floor was quite high up, if he calculated it using that, maybe they were on the fifth, or perhaps the sixth floor?

"Eligor will surely come to help us."

Catalina spoke in a positive tone. Yong-Ho nodded his head in agreement, and then after letting out another groan, he stood up. Once again he began to have a peculiar feeling.

"At this point, I can't tell if this feeling is a blessing or a curse."

"Master?"

Instead of answering, he began to concentrate on the feeling.

It was the reason why he was able to find this secret passageway. The peculiar feeling had led him here.

It still continued. Never ceasing. It stimulated his instincts.

He quickly lit up his surroundings with the flashlight. It was a small, narrow room. Unlike the rooms on the first floor, there were various decorations on the walls.

And in one particular direction.

Something stimulated Yong-Ho's 'Greed'.

Yong-Ho used the flashlight. Catalina stood up after gulping and looked in the same direction.

At the end of the room, there was a small altar with something stuck on top of it.

Yong-Ho spoke while frowning.

"A lance?"