The Dungeon Monsters Keep Offering Sacrifices

The dungeon monsters keep offering sacrifices – 007

EP.7 Demon Merchant Half-Blood Succubus

Celia was in a good mood today, for some reason.

[Grow the dungeon according to your discretion. I will grant you full authority.]

Master had given her a command.

He had entrusted her with complete control over the dungeon.

This was not just a sign of trust, but also a test.

If she handled it well, Master would continue to entrust important tasks to her in the future.

She couldn’t afford to disappoint him.

Celia first checked the state of the dungeon.

Her generous Master had given her some instructions along with the responsibility of managing the dungeon.

The first instruction was about the monsters.

Along with the authority over the dungeon, she had also gained command over the dungeon’s resident monsters.

“Skeletons, it seems.”

One Skeleton Warrior, two Skeleton Soldiers.

And one Skeleton Archer, two Skeleton Mage Trainees.

They weren’t a formidable force.

To be objective, they were barely enough for minimum defense of the dungeon.

But all of this was probably a test from Master as well.

If she couldn’t handle this on her own, she wouldn’t be worthy of being her great Master’s servant.

Next, she turned her attention to the other items.

There were two black cards placed there.

The second item she had been given was those cards.

She knew well what those black cards represented.

Celia had once been a disciple of the Succubus Queen in the past.

During that time, she had also learned a bit about managing a dungeon.

“These are Demon Merchant Invitation Tickets, right?”

Even if there was a dungeon, there were limits to growing it with her own strength alone.

Just like in human society, there were merchants here in the demon realm as well.

The Demon Merchant.

It was the largest and only Merchant in the demon realm.

No matter how powerful a demon lord might be, they couldn’t bully the Merchant.

If they did, the Merchant would simply cut off trade with them.

And that would lead to the demon lord withering away and the dungeon going bankrupt.

That’s why the Merchant was both a force that could help the dungeon grow and a noose around its neck.

Of course, if you had enough money, even the Merchant would bow their heads.

Lastly, the third item was a quite large bag.

Celia opened the bag and her eyes widened.

“This… these are magic stones, right?”

Small purple magic stones sparkled.

The quantity was enormous.

At least several thousand.

And their quality wasn’t low either.

With this amount of magic stones, her initial capital was more than sufficient.

“Master, you truly are amazing.”

She hadn’t known if he would support her to this extent.

He had already laid the foundation.

She couldn’t bear to fail after receiving so much support.

Celia immediately started walking with the Skeletons.

Her goal was how to arrange them.

For now, due to some reason, no one could invade the dungeon.

She had learned that when she obtained authority over the dungeon.

‘Maybe it’s a barrier?’

Even so, that time wouldn’t last forever.

After the barrier was lifted, she had to place the Skeletons in the dungeon and focus on defense.

Celia was walking towards the dungeon corridor with the Skeletons when she suddenly had a thought.

“The corridor is narrow, isn’t it? What do you think, Mr. Skeleton?”

Compared to the length of the dungeon, the width was narrow.

Did the Skeleton understand her words?

The Skeleton replied with a clattering sound.

“Mr. Skeleton seems to have the same opinion. We need to solve this problem first.”

Celia, being a Succubus, had limited military knowledge regarding actual attack and defense.

But the current problem was quite obvious.

A narrow corridor was advantageous for defense while also beneficial for attackers.

There was a need to expand certain parts of the dungeon, creating open spaces like courtyards.

With this, they could repel intruders crawling through the narrow corridor.

That wasn’t all.

Terrain like a plain with no cover emphasized the difficulty of defense.

“It seems we’ll need help from the Merchant.”

Expanding a dungeon isn’t as simple as just saying it.

It required labor, funding, and time.

Master who had expanded the small dungeon to its current size was an extraordinary existence.

No one else could have done it. In reality, with the power of Master, he could probably resolve the current issue quickly.

However, celia didn’t want it that way. She couldn’t rely on Master’s power forever.

That’s why Master had entrusted her with this task in the first place, believing in her abilities.

Celia immediately tore the black card in half.

When the Demon Merchant card was torn, it transformed into blue flames.

It had been used properly. Shortly, a merchant from the Merchant would visit.

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***

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The Demon Merchant was vast. As immense as it was, it functioned like a set of interconnected gears, with many demons and monsters working together like individual cogs.

Monsters and demons might appear the same from a human perspective, but they were different.

Demons had noble bloodlines, with demon lords or those who had been promoted to demon status, while monsters had no such lineage.

In practice, powerful beings were treated well, regardless of whether they were monsters or demons.

The Demon Merchant was no exception.

It was populated by demons with established lineages and powerful monsters.

Among them, Moru was assigned the lowest rung of responsibility. She had been in the Merchant for a while now.

At least, it had been long enough that she no longer heard the whispers of rookies.

However, her background limited her within the Merchant.

She was a monster without any lineage, and her strength was lacking, too.

But there was an even greater problem. She was a hybrid, born from a union between a succubus and a human.

She faced the most discrimination among the Merchant members.

Good dungeons were always claimed by demons or powerful monsters.

What made a dungeon good?

It was one where Master had enough money and strength to ward off intruders immediately.

Furthermore, the stronger the dungeon, the higher the potential profits for the Merchant, so they were highly sought after by traders.

Good dungeons were easy to claim and accumulate achievements within the Merchant, leading to intense competition among its members.

However, the Merchant didn’t only manage such dungeons.

Many dungeons were ordinary in comparison.

The problem was that Moru hadn’t been assigned to any dungeon, not even an average one.

“Ugh…”

When would she finally be able to enter a dungeon?

At first, Moru had wanted to be assigned to a good dungeon as well.

However, now she just wanted any dungeon to begin accumulating achievements.

As she sighed, thinking about the situation, someone called her name.

“Moru!”

It was her new supervisor, Jewel, who had recently taken over.

Her supervisor was also a succubus, but unlike Moru, she was a pure succubus without any human blood.

Because of that, she looked down on Moru and criticized her for sullying the succubus lineage with human blood.

Therefore, Moru felt uncomfortable around her supervisor.

“Yes? Uh, yes!”

Surprised, Moru stood up from her seat.

Her supervisor handed her a document.

“It’s a job. You wanted a dungeon assignment, right? Sign this.”

The sudden request caught her off guard.

She had thought her supervisor would scold her or find some fault, but instead, she was being assigned a dungeon.

Moru had been guarding her desk, doing nothing but that, for a long time.

Even newcomers who had arrived after her had already been assigned dungeons and had started working as traders.

Now, she had finally been assigned a dungeon, albeit an average one.

“Sigh… Thank you! I’ll work hard. Supervisor Jewel!”

“It’s a bit late, so prepare and go. If things go well, you can build up your achievements too.”

“Yes! I’ll do my best!”

With a spirited reply, Moru accepted the document.

Then, she bit her finger and stamped her blood on the document, sealing the deal. It was a binding contract.

“You’re welcome. Now hurry and get ready.”

With those words, Moru left the room. As soon as she left, Jewel smiled.

‘She’ll be back after making a fuss.’

It was obvious even without looking.

Upon investigation, there wasn’t a significant presence in that dungeon.

It was either a truly unremarkable dungeon or an overwhelmingly inaccessible one.

However, the latter didn’t make sense. If such a presence existed, the Demon Merchant would have noticed it long ago.

So, it must be the former, a dungeon with little wealth.

Within the Demon Merchant, merchants prioritized money first and surprisingly, ethics second.

Therefore, unless a dungeon disappeared or Master requested a change of trading partner, merchants couldn’t freely switch the dungeons they managed.

Handling a dungeon without money was stressful for merchants.

They already had poor performance, and on top of that, the dungeon had no funds.

In the worst case, the dungeon might demand compensation from them.

But merchants also had to care about their reputation, and even a malicious dungeon master was a guest of the Merchant.

Ultimately, accumulating such issues would strangle a merchant’s neck.

“That’s why hybrid beings with human blood are like this after all.”

Moru’s expression, which couldn’t do anything about it, was already something to look forward to.

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***

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I visited the Awakening Center after a long time.

“How can I help you?”

“I’m here for a magic test.”

“What’s your name?”

The purpose, of course, was a magic test.

In an era where long periods of inactivity or unclear activities were mandatory for hunters to undergo a revaluation of their magical power.

If they didn’t take the test, the effectiveness of their hunter license would be suspended until they did, and they couldn’t use various services like dungeons or the Hunter Market.

This measure was designed to reduce the crimes of hunters.

“Ah, hunter Lee Kang Hyun. You are required to undergo a magical measurement test due to your long period of inactivity.”

And I had been traveling on the El Dorad Continent for a year, so I became a subject of the test.

Originally, I had planned to take the test more leisurely, but I must have earned a status window by now, so I decided to take the test right away.

“Since there won’t be a big difference anyway.”

When awakening, I didn’t have the status window that awakeners typically got.

What changed for me was just the appearance of a status window.

There were no sudden increases in stats or newly acquired skills. Even if I took the magical measurement test, it wouldn’t change anything significant.

Thanks to that, the fact that I had been to that world (although I was kicked out) was something that no one knew.

“If you place your hand here, we will measure your magical power.”

A transparent sphere with a spherical shape. The magical measurement began as soon as you placed your hand on it. After a few seconds of placing my hand on the sphere,

“Oh, you’re coming out as an F-rank. Do you have any other unusual conditions?”

The employee nodded as if it was obvious and wrote something down. Now, the real conversation began.

“Originally, I was going to take a break from work since I didn’t have a status window.”

The fact that I didn’t have a status window was already known to the Awakening Center. To have a smooth career as a hunter from now on, there was a need for change.

“But this time, a status window suddenly appeared. Thanks to that, I wanted to challenge the hunter job again.”

“Congratulations! You’ve truly become a hunter now.”

The eyes of the employee in front of me widened slightly, and she congratulated me. It was a natural reaction. After all, I had been a half-assed hunter until now.

“Your new license will be issued within 30 minutes. Since you have acquired a status window, all that’s left for you is to grow.”

After a polite response, the employee turned around.

“Huh? Who’s this? Isn’t it the half-assed hunter?”

A voice I hadn’t heard in a long time. The voice of someone I didn’t want to hear. It came from behind.

“Hey, you, aren’t you supposed to be dead?”

He was my fellow student at the Hunter Academy.