Dungeon Maker

"You're sharp."

Sitri buried herself deeply into the back of her chair. The way she looked at Yong-Ho was somewhat different from before as if she was examining his worth. She slightly stuck her tongue out and lightly licked her bottom lip.

"Please continue."

Yong-Ho swallowed his dry saliva. Yong-Ho quickly thought about Catalina in his head so that he wouldn't be blinded by her beauty. When he thought of how Catalina drooled while she slept, he quietly chuckled and was able to somewhat break free.

With a more relaxed expression, Yong-Ho continued to talk.

"Foras didn't make a move when the last two owners were alive. According to Eligor, it was because the owners within the empty parts of the lands were maintaining the balance."

A peace that was created by the balancing of power.

None of them recklessly made a move, since they were hostile to each other. While they were attacking one owner, another owner might attack them from behind.

"It's still a dungeon even if it's on the brink of collapsing. It takes both the utilization of time and troops when attacking a dungeon. During that moment, their own dungeon could well be in danger because of the other hostile owners."

"And you think the House of Mammon's dungeon isn't worth taking a risk?"

Sitri spoke as if she was assisting him. She wore her usual light smile, but he couldn't tell what she was thinking. Whenever he saw her, the only thing that filled his mind was how beautiful she was.

Yong-Ho thought about Catalina again and answered.

"Yes. The House of Mammon really weakened after Kaiwan, the King of Distortion, disappeared. They probably didn't make a move since it probably wasn't worth the trouble."

Hesitation.

It's too much trouble to eat, and too much to throw away.

But in the end, Foras didn't make a move. He left the House of Mammon alone. Even during the time when the past owner had died and the dungeon was at its weakest.

"But now they've started to move. And it seemed like they're quite determined about it."

It was difficult to believe that he just had a simple change of heart.

Yong-Ho didn't believe that Foras had just been waiting until the protective barrier further weakened, as Eligor had first mentioned.

"And there's one more thing that I find suspicious."

Sitri tilted her head. It wasn't that Yong-Ho's question was unexpected, but she was curious as to what he wanted to say and if he would ask about the thing that was on her mind.

Yong-Ho slightly leaned his body to the left and continued.

"Every time I explore the dungeon and find new facilities, it's something I think about."

Sitri licked her lower lip again.

Yong-Ho gently closed his eyes.

He didn't have any suspicions at first.

But the sense of discord grew day by day.

"Is the House of Mammon's dungeon really not worth anything to the other owners within the empty Southern Region?"

Yong-Ho opened his eyes again. He wasn't in a hurry.

"The ancestor of the House of Mammon… the dungeon belonged to Mammon, the King of Greed. There are a lot of facilities within the dungeon. For instance, I've recently discovered the armory and the gold mine that Kaiwan left."

The House of Mammon didn't just contain facilities.

Within the dungeon, there were numerous hidden items, including Aamon which he had found recently.

"In the beginning, I even thought that perhaps the other owners were just trying to avoid provoking Mammon's spirits, even though the dungeon itself was weak. But no matter how much I thought about it, I found it strange. The House of Mammon's dungeon is incredibly valuable. If a strong owner took this dungeon, they would be able to acquire Mammon's inheritance a lot faster than I could."

"But no one covets the House of Mammon?"

Sitri smiled brightly and commented back. Yong-Ho nodded his head.

"Yes. If the defensive shield is the issue… then honestly, it's only an issue to weaklings."

There was nothing to obtain for the six kings that controlled the demon world.

But, if the demon had a decent level of power or if they were more powerful than Yong-Ho, then that was more than enough.

But no one wanted the House of Mammon's dungeon.

Was it because it was at the edge of the demon world? Perhaps the dungeon was too far into the corner?

That sounded absurd. It might be a different story for the owners on the other side of the demon world, but for the owners that were in the empty Southern Region, it was definitely within their reach.

Sitri stopped touching her chin and waved her hand in the air. The distance between Yong-Ho and Sitri suddenly narrowed. Rather than the chairs moving, it felt instead like the ground itself had become narrower.

They were now so close that their knees were touching.

Sitri leaned forward slightly and whispered a question to Yong-Ho as if she was telling him a secret.

"Have you tried discussing it with Eligor?"

"Not yet."

Sitri waved her finger again. Her chair suddenly spun around and merged with the chair Yong-Ho was sitting on. The armrest that was in the way naturally disappeared and Sitri leaned her body against Yong-Ho. Yong-Ho felt his body become strained as he felt something unimaginably soft and aromatic.

Sitri ignored his reaction as she began to slightly move her lips.

"Where should I begin…?"

She didn't think about it for long. Sitri lightly placed her hand on top of Yong-Ho's thigh and whispered.

"Let's start with Foras then."

Yong-Ho nodded his head. Instead of distancing himself from her, he thought about Catalina again. He managed to remain after thinking about how Catalina would act cold, but her ears would still be fluttering.

Sitri waved her right hand. A large window of light appeared in front of them.

"This is the empty Southern Region where the House of Mammon belongs. When Mammon, the King of Greed, ruled in the past, this entire land was his."

That large land took up a seventh of the entire demon world. Naturally, there were many owners that owned their own dungeon.

"Just as you said, the owners in this empty Southern Region are maintaining a tight balance. Nothing good will come out of suddenly starting a war... they were maintaining a delicate balance."

Sitri spoke in past tense. Yong-Ho instinctively reacted and she looked satisfied with his response.

"It hasn't been that long since that delicate balance has broken. On the edge of the northwest part of the southern area, a new owner suddenly appeared and started to conquer the surrounding area. And they're being violent about it. They haven't lost once and they're rapidly expanding their power."

The northwest region started to change into one single color on the map.

Yong-Ho now knew.

"You're right. Foras has decided that in order to survive he had to become stronger. Even if it meant that he was potentially putting himself in danger."

The balance had been broken. The line of dominoes had started to collapse.

The delicate balance that was maintained in the southern region had collapsed. It was the start of a revolution.

"And."

Sitri collected her breath. She looked at Yong-Ho and whispered into his ear.

"What I'm about to tell you now is so important that it can't be compared to the information about someone like Foras."

Yong-Ho had a hunch of what Sitri was about to say.

It was an answer regarding the second suspicion that Yong-Ho had mentioned.

"It's a secret that Kaiwan, the previous two owners and all the other owners under the House of Mammon put their lives on the line to protect."

The chair split into two again. Sitri now sat right in front of Yong-Ho. Instead of her seductive smile, she looked at Yong-Ho with cold eyes. She spoke in a low tone.

"In the past, Mammon, the King of Greed, ruled a quarter of the demon world. And Mammon's true dungeon, his largest and most powerful dungeon, is known as The Maze of Greed."

The window of light was located behind Sitri and even though it showed new pictures, Yong-Ho didn't lay his eyes on it. He stared straight into Sitri's violet eyes.

"After Mammon suddenly died, the other kings that were suppressed by Mammon started to attack the House of Mammon. And during this process, Mammon's true dungeon, The Maze of Greed, was completely destroyed."

Sitri closed her eyes. She leaned back as if she had been suddenly hit by a wave of exhaustion. She spoke in a slightly different tone from before.

"The enormous amount of treasure that Mammon had gathered was looted and after destroying The Maze of Greed, the kings were satisfied. They took all of his Seven Miracles, so they were definitely satisfied."

'Seven Miracles?'

This was the first time Yong-Ho had heard of that term, but he didn't interrupt her. He decided to concentrate on her explanation for now.

"The Maze of Greed had been destroyed. Mammon's treasures were looted by the other kings and the twelve spirits that had guarded the House of Mammon either left or died. This was the 'truth' that has been spread around the demon world."

Sitri purposely stopped talking. She slowly opened her eyes and looked at Yong-Ho and a smile appeared on her face again.

Yong-Ho understood.

"The Maze of Greed is still alive."

"Yes. The one that was destroyed by the kings was a fake one. The true one… is the dungeon that's the current home for the House of Mammon."

Mammon's spirits didn't disperse. They remained in The Maze of Greed.

Mammon had four out of the Seven Miracles and three of the Seven Deadly Sins, but since they had all disappeared, the demon world believed that his dungeon The Maze of Greed had been destroyed.

But that wasn't the case.

The one that did get destroyed was a replica.

It was true that the Seven Miracles and the powers of the Seven Deadly Sins had been taken, but Mammon's spirits were able to preserve everything else instead.

"If the real truth gets out, then it won't just be the vagrants in the empty Southern Region that'll attack the House of Mammon. The six kings who reign over the demon world will probably make a move."

To take away everything from Mammon.

To eliminate the potential risk from this world.

"It was actually rather easy to hide the truth when the previous two owners were alive. The dungeon was already in ruin, and whenever any of the dungeon spirits found something new, they just believed that it was the legacy of Kaiwan. But...I'm sure Yong-Ho's a bit different, right?"

Yong-Ho swallowed his dry saliva. However, it wasn't because he felt burdened by the truth.

Rather, he looked straight at Sitri.

The woman in front of him knew all of this information.

She had been involved with the House of Mammon for a long time and was showing favor to him.

"Ms. Sitri. You're…"

"An important asset of the Dungeon Market."

Sitri interrupted Yong-Ho. It was as if she denied whatever Yong-Ho was about to say.

"We're done talking. Since you wish to repay the debt for the mana potions, I'll charge you a little more for this information."

Yong-Ho could no longer read Sitri's expression, as she adopted a shrewd business smile on her face. A small window of light appeared between them as Sitri waved her finger.

The display on the window of light included the amount he could earn by using the gold mine as collateral, the price of the various items that Yong-Ho ordered, and the price of the information.

Yong-Ho pushed away his regrets. At any rate, the most important thing right now was to prevent an attack by Foras.

"I'll purchase a spirit with the remaining gold. Can I also purchase information related to Foras?"

"You'll be able to purchase a Rank Two and a Rank Three spirit with your remaining funds. And regarding the information about Foras… since you purchased an expensive piece of information, I'll give you a slight discount."

Sitri got rid of the window of light. She looked at Yong-Ho again and spoke.

"Usually, the Dungeon Market doesn't sell information about an owner. The owners themselves usually try their best to hide that information. Of course, the Dungeon Market knows about him, but even if you are a valuable customer, we cannot leak any information. I hope you'll understand."

A demon's power was their most important trump card. It was natural that they would want to keep it a secret.

"The only information that I can give to you is… the fact that Foras tends to use Orcs as his spirits. They tend to enjoy close combat."

Yong-Ho nodded his head. The fact that Foras had a lot of Orcs under his control was something that he already knew, however, he couldn't ask Sitri for any more information.

"Valuable customer, that was a pleasant transaction. I look forward to meeting you again."

With a deep bow, Sitri disappeared into a ray of light, like she always did.

In front of Yong-Ho, who was now alone, appeared a catalog of spirits, just like before. With his remaining amount of gold, he would be able to purchase both a Rank Two and a Rank Three spirit.

Yong-Ho focused on his current situation.

He looked through the Dungeon Market's servant catalog.