WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Ceaseless
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈
Chapter 17: Dungeon Expansion (2)
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There was something I had to do before starting construction on the dungeon.
Loot the corpses.
I had to wrap things up quickly before Malrang cleaned everything away.
First, I rummaged through the shattered Manticore's belongings.
An old gold necklace.
It looked pretty expensive, but it was meaningless to someone living in a dungeon anyway.
I'd just put it in the Core Room.
"Ugh, those black ape bastards..."
If they were coming to a terrifying dungeon, they should've prepared better.
I couldn't find anything useful on the others, either.
magichero: Itttttt's trash... Just give it to Malrang...
Honestly, I'd thought all magic items were good.
It seemed these guys only carried budget items.
I chewed on a piece of jerky the Dark Mages had brought as food.
I didn't feel hunger or thirst, but my sense of taste was still intact. I should save some.
"You eat well."
"Blegh."
Malrang chewed away.
The sight was pretty grotesque, but I'd gotten used to it at some point.
"Let's see."
Unlike the Living Maze, whose size was determined by the length of an area, this trap's size was determined by its volume. So I was planning to dump fifty thousand Points into expanding the dungeon first.
I'd make it wide and square.
Installing the trap was over in no time.
The System did the construction instead of me, so it didn't take too long. About an hour, maybe.
I sought advice from the Veterans in the gallery.
no_minions_4_me was especially helpful with this part. They coached me on how to make it as large as possible while saving Points.
└no_minions_4_me: You follow instructions well. It's nice teaching you because you don't frustrate me.
└ newbie: Thank you hehe
There was one problem, though.
└ skullbones: But even if you make an Area 2, it'll be placed after the maze, so we won't actually get to see it in action until much later...
└ cowhead: Why'd you have to put it like that, fuck? You killed the excitement.
└ squintychar: Honestly, isn't that fine? From newbie's perspective, it's better if there's never a day you need to use it.
Even if I made an Area 2, there was no way to use it right away.
That made things a little awkward.
The Anomaly Theme was powerful, but once people knew how to deal with it, its effectiveness dropped sharply.
For example, the way to clear the Living Maze was to find the "mouth" somewhere inside, then shove enough food into it that it wouldn't be hungry.
As for the Doppelganger that appeared along the way, instead of killing it, you treated it warmly like a friend and said something like, "Let's go get the Magic Stone together!" If you did that, you could clear Area 1, provided you found the maze's exit within fifteen days.
Of course, figuring that out in one try with no information would be extremely difficult. Still, there had been that bastard who used the Escape Scroll before, and who knew what would happen over time.
The moment the Manticore found its path blocked, it led its group in search of the maze's truth, unlike the stupid monsters of the mountain range.
If information kept piling up, it could put me in a difficult situation.
Which was why I...
└ newbie: Sans, I came up with a good idea for that. Wanna hear it?
└ skullbones: Go ahead.
└ newbie: What about randomizing the spawn locations?? Like, intruders enter Area 1 sometimes, then other Waves send them to Area 2 instead.
└ skullbones: You're going to change the locations of traps and Minions every Wave?? But you already spent Points on expanding the dungeon. I don't think it'd be that good. The maze scales with length, but this scales with area. It wouldn't be very efficient;;
└ newbie: Nah, nah.
I had no intention of relying on such a primitive method.
Because there was one fucking amazing trap that could solve everything related to this.
└ newbie: Check this out.
【Elevator to Another Area (★3)】
【Price: 50000P】
【Tags: Anomaly, Immortal, Passage Classification】
【An elevator governed by fixed rules (see the details for information on the rules). Intruders who solve them will spawn at a location designated by the Dungeon Master.】
【…….】
【…….】
【If they ride every elevator installed in the dungeon, intruders can use an elevator to travel to the Core Room.】
The Elevator to Another Area.
To explain it, it was the only trap and method that could replace a "Passage."
Until now, my dungeon's areas had been accessible on foot through Passages.
Once you passed through Area 1, you could reach the Core Room. That was how it worked.
There was one point worth noting here.
Dungeon Masters could spend Points to expand or shrink their dungeons however they wanted, but the one thing they couldn't do was block Passages.
A dungeon had to remain connected somehow.
The System wouldn't permit something like blocking a Passage.
After all, if you used indestructible walls to block the entrance to the Core Room itself, everyone would either leave through the dungeon entrance or starve to death. It was a setup that couldn't exist in the first place.
This elevator was different, though.
It could block Passages.
Because it could take over their role.
It was a kind of teleportation device.
In other words, it could drop intruders in random locations.
If I installed this elevator, which served as a Passage, at the entrance, I could send intruders to Area 1 or randomly send them to Area 2.
Then I just had to place additional ones at each area's exit, and it would be complete.
As you could tell from the description, if I blocked every Passage with elevators...
Even if someone cleared Area 2, they could never reach the Core Room unless they had ridden the elevator in Area 1. In the end, intruders would have to clear every area.
Anyway, that explanation got long.
To put it simply.
└ newbie: Damn, that got really long. Sorry.
└ newbie: Anyway, from now on intruders have to run circles around the dungeon desperately looking for elevators.
From now on, Dreamland's Passages would basically become elevators.
To reach the next area, intruders would have no choice but to go through an elevator.
That wasn't all.
The elevators were Passages, but they could also serve as traps, so the difficulty would rise even further.
The time needed to clear the dungeon would increase too.
└ skullbones: That's a good idea.
A thumbs-up emoji.
Our Sans looked scary enough to devour a hundred lions in the picture I saw, but they used cute emojis.
└ skullbones: But why am I the only one you call Sans? dip and op_ghost look more human than I do.
└ newbie: Your username just feels the most like Sans, that's all...
└ skullbones: LOL, fuck.
└ psychward_mvp: If the intruders are humans or elves, they're intelligent, so they'll figure out a method eventually. I think elevators are a good countermeasure.
└ whaleyeah: The strength of newbie's dungeon is that if you don't know, you die. Information is really important for intruders, so being able to throw them off with elevators is fucking great.
└ golemking: Still, Steampunk has more romance.
└ antqueen: When I lay eggs and have children, I don't even need to think. I feel bad for newbie.
└ kingslayer: You guys have an inferiority complex.
└ worldiscold: Anomaly is ridiculously overpowered. GG.
└ kingslayer: You have an inferiority complex.
└ worldiscold: I do have an inferiority complex, though?
Anyway.
The other Veterans seemed to think it was good too. Nice.
The problem was that I had no Points to install the elevators.
I'd spent Points on expanding the dungeon and buying the trap, so I hadn't even bought a Weeping Person Statue.
The Anomaly Theme was great and all, but it was fucking expensive.
A three-star Minion cost 25,000 Points, while a trap cost 50,000.
Even if I made a shitload of Points, they would vanish just as quickly.
Lately, Goblins and Trolls hadn't been coming in like they used to.
I thought about how I was going to earn those fifty thousand Points.
Of course, it wasn't urgent.
I was in the Lowjinrat Great Mountain Range.
The chances of running into dangerous intelligent beings here were extremely low.
The Manticore had just been a special case.
There probably weren't any dangerous ones nearby right now.
I'd earn them slowly.
There was no need to rush.
* * *
【Warning】
【24 hours remain until the Wave.】
A Wave usually started again one week after the previous Wave ended.
I propped my feet on the table and stared at the hologram with a bored expression.
People really were creatures of habit.
Unlike when I had been trembling in fear at first, I didn't feel nervous at all anymore.
Because seriously.
"Warning my ass. It's going to be another dud this time, right?"
A full three weeks had passed since the Manticore.
Yet I hadn't even seen a bald Goblin's leg hair.
I wasn't some deep-sea fisherman.
The sight of myself waiting around in a dungeon for intruders to come felt pretty ridiculous.
They said to strike while the iron was hot.
I needed to gather Points quickly and buy the elevators and Weeping Person Statues.
Sigh.
You never have dog shit when you need it for medicine.
At first, you came in without a shred of fear, but after a few of your buddies got properly taught a lesson, you're too scared to come in now?
Cowardly bastards.
This newbie Dungeon Master was disappointed in the Lowjinrat Great Mountain Range.
Hurry up and come in so you can see the Anomalies I worked so hard to prepare, damn it!
Left with no choice, I logged into Dungeon Gallery again.
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Title: Posting the head mod's nude photo
Author: golemking
My life definitely changed after choosing Steampunk.
Back when I was low-level, I couldn't even make eye contact with humans.
I'd whine at my Minions and spit everywhere.
But after becoming a Steampunk Theme Dungeon Master,
I started trying to maintain my dignity.
Humans invaded just now, and I gave them a proper beating with Golems.
Now I can make posts titled "Posting the head mod's nude photo."
No matter how shitty something makes me feel.
Who am I?
"A Steampunk Dungeon Master."
When I say that and laugh, I feel better too.
I guess that's why people say the position makes the person.
*Comments
└dip: Oh dear, here we go again. It's time for your medicine, sir.
└newbie: LOLLLLLLL
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I was starting to understand why Veterans became addicted to the gallery.
There was fucking nothing to do besides stop Waves.
newbie: Please look at my cute, transparent Malrang hehe
└ humanluvr: My slime is pink.
└ newbie: I'm jealous you got a Shiny...
└ humanluvr: I'm jealous of newbie's Malrang... I want newbie to squish me too. T_T
└ newbie: Excuse me?
I chatted in the gallery until the Wave.
Just as I was starting to wonder whether I should make some actual tabletop RPG-style content.
【The Wave begins.】
【Intruders are entering.】
【A total of eleven intruders have been confirmed.】
【One human.】
【Ten Hobgoblins.】
【The human will enter first, in the order they arrived.】
【The remaining intruders will enter three hours later.】
"Huh? Split Entry? A human and Hobgoblins?"
What kind of situation was this?
Footnotes:
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