After breakfast, Alric didn't bother changing clothes—he simply walked toward the area where he had installed the Dungeon gate, still dressed in his black-and-white pajamas.
"Wait!" Ravenna suddenly called out.
"Heh?" Alric turned to her, puzzled.
She approached him, holding a damp cloth in her hand. Gently, she began wiping his face. "Even if no one lives here, you're still a Demon King. Try not to look so slovenly."
"Hm…" Alric seemed far too accustomed to her care to object. He stood still, letting her clean his face.
"Alright! Now put this on." Ravenna handed him a folded outfit.
Alric pouted. "I'm not wearing those heavy clothes again."
"No…" Ravenna let out a soft laugh. "This is the one you redesigned yourself. It's just a single layer, not the multi-layered royal type."
"Ah!" Alric took the outfit and walked away to change.
Ravenna watched his retreating figure, murmuring to herself, "Alric… you're still the same as before. Still a kind man."
…
Now wearing a lightweight robe made from a special material, Alric made his way to the courtyard where he had placed the Dungeon gate the day before.
"System, I want to begin building the Dungeon."
[Ding! Please prepare yourself. You are about to enter the Dungeon's dimensional space.]
In an instant, Alric's body vanished as if he had never been there.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself floating in a vast, pitch-black void. There was no sound, no light—nothing but endless darkness.
"This place is…" he muttered with a frown.
[You have entered the Dungeon's internal dimension.]
The mechanical voice of the System echoed around him as numerous translucent panels appeared, displaying a variety of Dungeon construction tools and their instructions.
Alric glanced over them briefly, then turned his gaze to the empty black expanse surrounding him, deep in thought.
[If you don't know where to begin, I can offer some suggestions.]
"No," Alric said, shaking his head. "Building a Dungeon just to harvest greed and fear from intruders is too boring—it's the same as every other Dungeon out there."
"So… why would people come to my Dungeon? For money? For resources? For monsters? No, I doubt I can build something grand enough to rival the other Demon Kings and draw in that many adventurers."
"You said all emotions from those who enter are collected, not just greed and fear. Am I right?"
[Correct. All emotional energy is accepted. The higher the rank of the Awakened individual, the greater the value of the emotion collected.]
"Exactly," Alric said. "Humans possess countless emotions. Focusing only on greed and fear is far too narrow."
"Besides, even if I could create a perfect Dungeon like the others, it wouldn't attract many people in a short time. And those who came once wouldn't have much reason to return."
Alric rubbed his chin, still floating in the void, lost in contemplation.
[You are correct. Most other Demon Kings design their Dungeons as single-use challenges. Once adventurers have cleared everything, they rarely return.]
Alric frowned. "Then how do the monsters inside those Dungeons come back to life?"
[They don't. When the creatures die, the Demon King who owns the Dungeon must manually summon new ones. That's why I said most Dungeons are disposable creations.]
Alric nodded lightly. It made sense.
A Dungeon might look like a goldmine, but its worth came from the monsters and treasures within. Once the monsters were slain and the loot stripped clean, what remained?
Nothing but an empty shell.
And adventurers weren't fools—they wouldn't waste time waiting for a Demon King to respawn his minions.
After all, summoning monsters wasn't simple. It required far more energy—and time—than most people imagined.
That was why Alric never intended to build a Dungeon like the other Demon Kings.
"An amusement park?" He thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No… that's too childish. The emotional fluctuation would be small—and people would get bored easily."
"Ah… what the hell am I supposed to do?" Alric sighed.
It was a tricky problem: he needed to create a place that would attract Adventurers and Awakened Ones, keep them from getting bored, make them want to return again and again—and evoke strong emotions each time.
Building something that fulfilled all those conditions seemed nearly impossible.
"Wait…" Alric suddenly widened his eyes and looked once more at the tools listed in the System's interface.
After an unknown amount of time studying, he frowned and asked, "System, is there any limit to the Dungeon's space?"
[There are no limits. As long as you have enough Energy Points, you can make it as large as you wish.]
"Ah! Then what if I finish constructing a certain area and lock it off—restricting access to any incomplete zones?"
[That is possible.]
"And later, when I build new areas, can I connect them to the existing ones?"
[Of course. Other Demon Kings often do the same when expanding or creating new Dungeon zones.]
Alric's expression brightened, and an excited grin spread across his face. "Hahahaha… hahaha! I finally know what I'm going to do!"
[What… what are you planning?]
Alric laughed. "A place that everyone wants to visit—a world so engaging that people's emotions will surge, not because of danger or treasure, but because of wonder."
"A place people want to come to, stay in, explore—and eagerly await every new update. That place will be… a Game World."
[Game World?]
"That's right," Alric said, smiling. "Alright, I just need to figure out how to start."
Although he had found his direction, actually building a game world was an enormous challenge.
It wasn't just about designing environments—creating NPCs and giving players meaningful experiences was even harder.
Suddenly, Alric slapped his forehead and laughed loudly. "Hahaha! I really am an idiot. This is an entirely different world—there's no such thing as copyright or intellectual property here!"
"Kekekeke… kekekeke…"
A cold, devilish grin curved across his face—the kind of smile that promised trouble.
System: […]
…
Outside, time passed quickly.
By nightfall, Alric reappeared, his face tired but his eyes gleaming with excitement.
He stretched his arms and groaned softly. "Aw! Finally finished the framework. Tomorrow I can start adding the main content. Once that's done, version 1.0 will be complete."
"Alric!" Ravenna hurried over to him, worry etched across her face. "You… are you alright? Where have you been all day?"
"Ah!" Alric pointed toward the Dungeon gate with a grin. "Just building my own Dungeon, that's all."
"You…" Ravenna was about to speak when Alric's eyes fluttered closed and he slumped toward her.
Ravenna did not pull away; she immediately caught him in her arms. His head rested against her soft, ample chest, startling her.
But she made no move to push him off; instead she hugged him tighter, as if wanting his body to meld with hers.
She stroked his hair and sighed, "You… you worry me, you idiot."
She watched his sleeping face, feeling a strange warmth in her chest.
Ravenna bent her head, about to kiss his hair—then stopped.
'I'm this ugly… perhaps being by his side is already a privilege for me.'
…
Elsewhere.
In the audience chamber, Catrina sat in the main seat at a long table.
Flanking the table were other Adventurers and Awakened Ones, along with Bruk and his knight.
Catrina folded her arms across her chest, radiating arrogance—but everyone felt it was deserved, for she had the standing to be proud.
"I have summoned you all to deal with a problem created by Bruk. You may have seen the invitation, yes?"
Hearing Catrina, Bruk bowed quickly, his pig-like face flushing with shame.
His knight cast him a contemptuous glance, then turned to Catrina.
"You present here are high-ranking Awakened Ones in this Kingdom. Therefore, I hope you will cooperate with me to eliminate the Demon King."
"Of course, I will not ask you to do it for free."
Catrina waved her hand, and two knights hefted two large chests and dumped them onto the table.
Clink! Clink! Clink!
The sound of metal rang out as dazzling golden light flashed. They did not squint; instead, they stared at the table with greedy eyes.
The table was piled with gold coins and gemstones radiating all kinds of colors.
Seeing everyone's expressions, Catrina said coldly, "I will not tolerate a single speck of dust on my territory. Understood?"