"Where… am I? Am I really dead?"
Miyamoto Rei's voice trembled as she wandered aimlessly in pitch darkness.
This was the World of the Dead, a place that swallowed all light.
The dungeon's cold, mechanical reminder still echoed in her mind:
[You cannot be resurrected. Required magic stones: 10.]
When her team was fighting through the dungeon, most of the zombies had been taken out by the Shinobu Kocho.
Rei herself had barely managed to land a hit so she hadn't earned a single magic stone.
And without magic stones… there was no way back.
Now, there was nothing she could do but walk. Step after step, aimless and hopeless.
---
[Miyamoto Rei, it's a pity. You are indeed dead. In this dungeon where there is no true death, your magic stones are insufficient for resurrection.]
The sudden voice made her freeze.
She spun around sharply, but there was nothing, only endless shadow.
That voice… she recognized it instantly.
It was the Dungeon Master.
"Where are you? Is there… any other way I can come back?" Rei called out into the void, her voice echoing.
[You are in the world of the dead. Resurrected…? Hah, of course I won't let my labor force go to waste. You will be revived—] the voice paused, dripping with amusement, [—but as my slave.]
"...Slave?"
Her head spun. Before she could demand answers, a wave of dizziness washed over her, and the darkness swallowed her whole.
---
When she opened her eyes, she was standing in the main square of Bone City.
She instinctively touched her arms, feeling for warmth and a pulse. Her body was real. Alive. She'd been… resurrected.
But the Dungeon Master's words echoed in her mind. A slave?
Before she could dwell on it, a sudden heat bloomed low in her abdomen.
"Nngh—!"
The sensation was impossible to ignore. She hastily lifted her clothes...
"What… is this?"
Her eyes widened.
A glowing red line traced itself across the smooth skin of her lower abdomen, pulsing faintly. At its center was a heart-shaped mark, strange and indecent all at once.
It looked exactly like something out of the more… questionable novels she'd seen before.
[Now you are resurrected as my slave. You can only obey my orders.]
Rei's body tensed.
She couldn't resist those words, her mind and muscles simply refused to disobey. The brand… it was real.
Her arms crossed protectively over herself, her teeth gritted. Even so, her voice came out halting and flustered.
"W-Will… will you turn me into the kind of slave with… the last name…?"
There was only one kind of "silver streak" mark she could think of, and the implication made her cheeks burn.
---
[…]
In the dungeon master's chamber, Yami Tsukishiro fell silent.
Umm...What?
He originally just wanted a group of hard-working slaves to mine for him.
He hadn't expected… this.
The silver streak had been nothing more than a casual slave mark he created.
But after Miyamoto Rei's flustered reaction Well, since she was already a slave… maybe the idea of her also being "surnamed slave" wasn't such a bad one.
Ahem!
Not the time for that thought.
[Go and conquer the dungeon. You are no longer like ordinary adventurers, you can be resurrected unconditionally, without paying anything. All you need to do is create value for me.]
Yes
That was the true perk of being a dungeon slave: infinite free resurrections.
But there was a leash.
Slaves could not break free of the dungeon's control.
For example, Rei could not enter higher levels unless an ordinary adventurer had already unlocked them.
She couldn't just rush the tenth floor; she would need a guide who wasn't bound like her.
Her role was simple:
To use her endless cycle of deaths to mine resources, becoming a ruthless, tireless harvesting machine.
Of course, Yami Tsukishiro wasn't overly strict at least when it came to operations inside the dungeon, she had freedom of movement.
The list of a slave's "privileges" appeared directly on Rei's adventurer panel as a reminder.
"…"
Reading it, Miyamoto Rei felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment.
What the hell did I say earlier?!!
[As for that 'surnamed slave' thing you mentioned… well, thank you for the reminder. I'll consider it.]
"Eh???"
She froze.
Then panic hit her.
"W-Wait, Master!"
But no matter how she called, there was no answer.
Yami Tsukishiro was already gone.
"…!"
Rei didn't even notice she'd called him "Master" so naturally she was too busy pulling at her hair in regret.
"Why is my mouth so stupid?! I basically gave him the idea myself!"
The thought made her face grow hotter.
"Damn it… whatever. One step at a time…"
With no other choice, she headed for the dungeon portal to do the only thing she could do as a slave: work.
Selecting the "Solo Entry" option, Miyamoto Rei vanished into the portal.
A few moments later, the portal shimmered again, and Shinobu Kocho stepped out with the others.
Having slain the last zombie on the first floor, they could have moved on to the second without hesitation But Rei's earlier death had cast a shadow over the group.
Without a word, everyone unanimously chose to exit the dungeon.
The adventurers' panels now displayed their assigned lodgings.
Death Bone City might have lacked NPCs, but no one here was reckless enough to ignore basic safety. Every adventurer had a private residence.
Daily necessities, weapons, and other tools were accessible through the Dungeon Mall and Dungeon Roulette, all linked directly to the magic stones they'd collected.
Purchasing was simple
Picture the item in your mind, and it would appear in the Mall.
Prices depended entirely on the nature of the item:
Imagine a plain watermelon knife? Cheap.
Imagine a watermelon knife that could cut through light? The cost would spike dramatically.
Of course, there were limits...
You couldn't just conjure up resurrection artifacts or other game-breaking tools. The dungeon's rules strictly forbade anything that could disrupt its balance.
Once an item was purchased, it was permanently added to the Mall's catalog, making it available for anyone to buy.
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