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Chapter 200 – Day 31 of Management Life
We heard the earth rumble in front of the mine.
Thud.
“That’s intense.”
It was the sound of the mine’s Nushi moving through the tunnels.
After discarding my magic and scanning the tunnel, I saw that a large number of magic cubes had been deployed, forming a complex network of paths within the mine, like a dungeon.
“What’s going on here?”
Kahiman seemed unable to grasp it.
“Let me show you.”
I pulled out an entire section of the tunnel to demonstrate. I made a square, R-shaped cube with holes, supported by mine timbers, floating in the air.
“These are scattered all over the mine and are constantly shifting. While regular tunnels always lead somewhere, these move, so you suddenly hit dead ends or come out into big chambers.”
Seeing that Kahiman had grasped the concept, I returned the cubes.
“So, how do we mine the magic stones?”
Hel asked me while gnawing on dried meat.
“I don’t know either. But if we keep moving through these tunnels, maybe a vein of magic stones will lead right to the entrance.”
“You’re so laid-back.”
Chel stared at the tunnel and retorted.
“Well, we’ll just have to wait until the Nushi gets bored with this task.”
“Why not just have Makyo pull it out?”
“No way. If I pull out the Nushi itself, the magic power from the earth veins will erupt and turn the whole area into something like Cliff Garuda’s ‘Great Hole.’ Sealing it might be best.”
“But…”
Chel hung his head dejectedly. He had probably thought that finding the magic stone deposit would save the Meiju Kingdom.
The Nushi had been shifting the tunnels all night. If it were sucking magic power from the earth’s veins, wouldn’t it keep changing the terrain indefinitely?
For now, it was confined within the mine’s boundaries. But who knew what would happen to the demonic land if it was pulled out? The Nushi hadn’t quite become a dungeon yet, but it had amassed a considerable amount of magic power, even among the demonic land’s Nushi. Even if I could consume its magic power, there was a limit.
Before I knew it, I was standing on the brink of the demonic land’s collapse.
“The reason this pseudo-dungeon master ended up like this is because I opened the sealed tunnel, right?”
“Probably…”
Hel said this and swallowed a piece of dried meat.
“All right, I’m going. Wait here a moment.”
I snatched the remaining dried meat from Hel’s hand and shoved it into my mouth. It might be my last breakfast, but the meat from the demonic land isn’t bad.
“Stop. What are you planning to do?”
“Emotions usually swirl inside a Nushi. If I don’t know what the Nushi wants, I can’t stop it, right?”
I handed PJ’s notebook, which I’d kept in my pocket, to Chel.
“What the hell?”
“This will tell you most of what you need to know about the demonic land. You know that, right?”
Whether she sensed my resolve or not, Chel suddenly looked solemn. She plucked a strand of her own hair and handed it to Hel. Hel did the same, plucking a strand and winding it around a leather cord.
“You think we’ll just sit back and watch you die, Makyo?”
“If you die, we’ll dig you up and make you work until you’re bones. Keep this on your wrist.”
The pressure was impossible to resist, so I ended up putting it on.
I felt like Chel and Hel had put reins on me. Maybe that’s the curse.
I bumped fists with Kahiman. “This is just about right.
“I’ll go as far as I can without dying. If it gets dangerous, I’ll come right back.”
With that said, I entered the mine shaft.
The timber pillars and beams were sturdy, though scarred. There was no risk of the ceiling collapsing, but the ground ahead was uneven and shifted in places.
Thud.
Deep within the tunnel, it seemed as if the Nushi had shifted the passage.
Dust fell through the gaps created by the shifting earth.
I lit the magic stone lamp and moved forward slowly.
Thud!
When I turned back, the tunnel where sunlight had streamed in had vanished, replaced by an earthen wall.
It had been shifted soon after I entered the tunnel.
I had no idea where I was in the mine. However, I felt a sensation as if someone were pulling on the leather cord around my wrist. This told me that the others were diagonally behind me.
“Even if I die, they’ll dig me up. Well, that’s fine then.”
The magic stone lamp glowed on its own, without being infused with magic. It must be because of the high concentration of magic.
As I advanced further into the tunnel, I saw crystals sparkling on the wall. I discovered that it was a magic stone when I dug it out. When I brought the lamp close to it, it resonated, and the entire wall began to glow brilliantly.
The corpses of spider and bat monsters lay scattered about. Their bodies had been eroded by the magic stones, transforming into crystal-like formations.
Thud!
I was propelled through the tunnel again. My direction changed, and I was pulled downward by gravity.
I fell into a huge chamber.
Whoosh!
The sound of the wind filled the air, and then the pressure of the air crushed my body.
The flow of blood throughout my body stopped, and I couldn’t breathe.
My lungs felt like they were being crushed.
Is this how one dies? At this rate, I won’t be able to work until I’m nothing but bones.
I tried to resist by circulating magic power throughout my body, but the lack of oxygen made my head spin.
As the circulation of magic power weakened, Nushi’s memories were hammered into my head.
It seemed that Nushi had hatched from an egg and been raised by the Dungeon Master. The Dungeon Master was a young slave who was forced to work in the mines. It appeared to be a time of severe natural disasters. Nushi witnessed the Dungeon Master enduring storms, lightning, earthquakes, and heat waves.
One night, a pillar of light rose in the southeastern sky.
The Dungeon Master promised to return, then left, but never came back.
Waiting endlessly for his return, the dungeon had apparently hidden itself deeper and deeper within the mine shafts.
Consciousness faded; it was on the verge of fainting.
Crack!
A sound like something breaking echoed from within my cloak.
The dungeon’s egg, which was kept in a leather pouch, had cracked.
“Haah!”
The pressure crushing my body vanished, and I slowly fell to the ground.
A hybrid beast—part slime with a transparent back and part giant serpent—turned its head toward me. Magic surged through its entire body, creating undulations like a great river.
The undulations transformed into fangs, and countless serpent heads lunged at me. Because it possessed slime properties, its form could shift endlessly.
However, it was only visible, which made it easy to see.
Dodging and parrying, I started running in the direction my leather-strapped wrist was pulling me.
I fled into a tunnel, used a magic cube to rip out a chunk of earth, and hurled it behind me.
Thud!
My body was moved to another tunnel, but escaping the mine was the priority. If I used the magic cube to dig through the wall in front of me, I’d definitely get outside.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
I was moved through multiple tunnels. For an instant, though, I saw a light different from the magic stones.
I channeled the spun magic into my legs and smashed through the wall.
Before I knew it, I burst out of the mine’s entrance.
Chel and Hel stared up at me, mouths agape. Only Kahiman gave me a thumbs-up.
I returned the gesture, landing with a spin in the bushes.
“Whew… I thought I was going to die.”
I checked my body for injuries and cast a healing spell.
“You’re alive!?”
“Yeah, I’m alive. Have you got any food?”
“I’ve got some.”
Kahiman had made a soup with meat and wild greens.
While we ate lunch, I told them what had happened in the mine shaft. I relayed what I had seen about the Nushi’s memories, promises, and loneliness as accurately as possible. We needed to devise countermeasures; otherwise, unresolved issues would persist.
“Couldn’t we do something with a magic circle?”
Hel asked, her expression saying, “Can’t we do something?”
We weren’t dungeon masters who had made a contract. But I understood the importance of promises. It was worth a try.
“Let’s try it. Can you draw a magic circle like the one we saw when we built the warehouse on the East Coast?”
“Of course I can. Where should I draw it? On the ground?”
“No, on the mine timbers supporting the tunnel. This tunnel lacks order right now. Nushi has slime-like properties, so its physical constraints are pretty weak. If we can immobilize the timbers, it might create some order.”
“I’m not entirely sure what you’re saying, but let’s give it a shot.”
The tunnel was supported by pillars and beams called frame legs.
Hel painted geometric patterns onto three pieces of wood with black paint.
“This paint contains powder from crushed fire-breathing lizard magic stones. If I infuse it with magical power, I can burn the patterns onto the wood.”
When I channeled magic into the painted patterns, the designs instantly burned into the timber.
“This looks familiar, you know.”
“It resembles the patterns painted on dungeon door frames.”
Thump… thump…
The mine’s Nushi continued to shift the tunnel. We decided to step outside and observe from a distance.
Thud! Thud!
The rumbling ceased.
From the mine entrance, the mountainside surged upward like waves, cracking and toppling trees as it shook its way toward the summit.
I discarded my magic and shot back into the tunnel to check inside. The entire mine had transformed into an ordinary magic stone mine. The path leading to the vein was blocked by a large crystal of magic stone.
However, the strongest magic emanated from the mine timber that had formed the entrance’s magic circle. The timber, now blackened like iron, was hard and durable. Infusing it with magic would create a barrier leading to the subspace.
“This is dangerous as it is. Using magic here unwisely would cause the dungeon to swallow us up. Let’s make a locked door.”
“Right. So you witnessed the dungeon’s birth, huh?”
Hel examined the mine timber with keen interest.
“How come Makyo didn’t get swallowed?”
“Thanks to this.”
I showed her the leather pouch containing the dungeon egg.
“Huh!? It’s crushed?”
I untied the cord and looked inside. Water had pooled inside, and a small magic stone floated in it.
“Of all things, it died? I got this from P.J., and the others are from a hundred years ago!”
I poured magic power and leftover soup into it.
Gulp.
The soup vanished instantly.
It seems it’s alive after all. When I took it out of the leather pouch, it wriggled and crawled up my arm.
It’s not exactly cute, but maybe it’s taken a liking to me.
“So, I’m becoming a Dungeon Master…”
“No, what about this dungeon? Who’s going to manage it?”
He pointed at the mine.
“To keep it from getting lonely, let’s have everyone from the demonic land manage it. The more people, the better. If we create a large enough room, it can serve as a shelter. The demonic land has a lot of disasters, after all.”
Pop… pop…
A strange sound came from Hel’s pocket.
“Ah, it’s from Jennifer and the others.”
Hel pulled out a handkerchief with a magic circle drawn on it.
“This is Hel. Has anything happened?”
Hel asked, but there was no response from the handkerchief.
“It’s still a prototype, so it can’t handle conversations yet. But it seems something happened in Midgard.”
“Got it. Let’s wrap things up and head over.”
A cloth used for camping was stretched over the dungeon’s timber supports.
A small dungeon slumbered inside the leather pouch in my pocket.
On this day, two dungeons were born in the demonic land.
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