"Jade, why do you have a charm?"
Viper's eyes immediately locked onto the talisman in Jade Chan's hand a charm marked with the image of a bull's head.
"I got it from District 13. Is it very useful?" Jade replied proudly, holding it up like a trophy.
"..."
Viper could only bring a hand to her face.
District 13 — supposedly the safest place in the region.
So how in the hell did Jade keep strolling in there and walking out with priceless magical artifacts?
Don't tell me this brat is actually better at stealing than me…
She'd suspected for a while that Jade had an unnatural knack for getting into trouble.
"The Ox Talisman?"
Up in the sky, Yami Tsukishiro's attention sharpened.
Normally, Jade would never have the strength to obliterate a zombie in a single hit. But with the Ox Talisman — the talisman of raw power she could.
That relic granted its wielder superhuman strength, turning even a mischievous kid into an unstoppable force of nature.
And right on cue, the dungeon's system delivered its verdict:
[Ding! You have defeated the first-level monster, zombie, and obtained 1 magic stone!]
From the crumpled corpse, a streak of purple light surged straight into Jade's body.
"Jade!"
Viper instantly tried to rush over, thinking it was an attack.
But the light faded in less than a second.
"Relax, I'm fine. That thing felt like… a magic stone," Jade called out, grinning.
"Magic stone? So, killing monsters gives you these stones?" Saeko Busujima's voice was calm, but her eyes were already on the remaining zombies.
"Everyone, let's take them down first!"
The group moved back into formation, steel clashing and feet pounding against the stone.
Jade glanced at her panel — 1 magic stone earned. She was still feeling smug…
But in the Multiverse Dungeon's throne room, Yami Tsukishiro was staring at a completely different notification:
[Ding! You have obtained 10 magic stones!]
"…?"
He leaned back, resting his chin on his hand.
Why am I getting ten times what she does…?
Yami frowned, drumming his fingers on the armrest. Is this some kind of dungeon tax? Or… a lord's share?
If every kill from an adventurer funneled ten times the reward to him, then these "guests" were going to become very profitable investments.
Even more interesting... the zombies they killed weren't gone for good. They were instantly resurrected in the Bone Cemetery, ready to be released again.
"So, a monster created with 1 magic stone ends up generating 11 magic stones after being killed… and I get the biggest cut right away."
Yami blinked, finally putting the pieces together.
"…Ha? So this Multiverse Dungeon is basically a mine… and the adventurers are my miners?"
"Show me more," he muttered, leaning forward.
He watched the group's skirmish on the monitor. Even against a handful of zombies, they were struggling.
At this pace, it would take them a while to make any real progress.
Yami pushed himself up from Ella's lap pillow.
"Ella, keep an eye on them. If anything happens, report to me immediately. If they make it to the tenth floor… you can take over from there."
Ella, now officially a monster with the title of Messenger, gave a respectful nod. It was only natural for her to serve as a floor boss.
"Yes, Master."
With that settled, Yami cast one last glance at the floating display before leaving for the endless forest.
A perfect place to fully test and adapt to the power he'd obtained.
"Click."
He popped open a bottle of ice-cold Happy Water, chugging it down in one go.
"Goo goo goo!"
Wiping sweat from his forehead with a towel, he flopped down on the sofa.
His hand reached for the remote, flicking through channels lazily… until a news broadcast caught his eye.
"…Tsk. Couldn't they have gotten a clearer picture?"
The headline was hot news, but to Yami Tsukishiro, it wasn't surprising in the slightest.
It was footage of the leatherback turtle… and the scene of him killing it.
The camera had been shaky, but the moment was still captured clearly enough.
"Are giant monsters and alien creatures real?"
"Superman? Monster? No way — it's all AI-made! Just special effects and editing!"
"Experts' analysis suggests these "monsters" and "superhumans" may be mutated lifeforms caused by nuclear radiation."
Speculation was everywhere.
A quick scroll through the forums showed an overwhelming flood of posts.
Some believed it, some panicked, some mocked it.
"It seems the authorities are trying to suppress the hype," Yami Tsukishiro thought, noticing how the trending topic had disappeared once, only to resurface not long after.
With so many witnesses and the carcass of the leatherback turtle lying in plain sight on the beach... suppressing it completely was impossible.
The story had exploded again.
Eyewitnesses swore they had seen monsters with their own eyes.
Others claimed aliens had landed.
One joker even posted that his grandmother had turned into a ghost.
Public opinion was a chaotic mess.
Yami stepped out onto the balcony, leaning against the railing as he looked into the distance.
"…Let's hope they don't do anything stupid."
Since he hadn't chosen to hide from the start, Yami Tsukishiro was naturally prepared for the authorities to come knocking.
If it had been before, he might have worried a little.
But now?
The shadows beneath his feet writhed like the maw of an endless abyss.
He already had a clear grasp of his own power.
If he wanted, his shadow could easily swallow a city the size of Tokyo from his previous life.
He wasn't certain he could withstand a nuclear strike... humanity's most devastating weapon but once he slipped into the shadow space, no one could touch him.
And with the Multiverse Dungeons under his control, there was even less reason to hide.
"The world's going insane…"
A faint grin tugged at his lips as his eyes glowed with a cold blue light.
"…and the future's only going to get more interesting."
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