The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie - Chapter 19

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Ceaseless

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ The Dungeon Gallery's Terrifying Newbie ◈

Chapter 19: Goodwill (2)

──────

【You have successfully defended the Wave.】

【Rewards will be calculated according to the difficulty.】

The Hobgoblins had been dealt with.

There were more of them than last time, so I got my hopes up just in case, but the difficulty was easy again.

If I said the rewards were stingy, worldiscold would probably say they wanted to kill themself while tears streamed down their face, right?

I decided to keep that thought to myself.

The problem was this woman, who had entered before the Hobgoblins.

"I didn't enter on purpose! Really! It's a long story, but I'm a Constable who came to catch criminals. Um, I mean, catching bad people is my job, but I've never once thought Dungeon Masters were bad people, and, uh, I actually think you're wonderful people! Anyway, I heard there was a criminal in the Lowjinrat Great Mountain Range, so I came with my colleagues, but we were attacked by monsters and ran away... Then I found the dungeon entrance completely by accident, so I had no choice but to come in! I'm sorry for daring to set foot in a Dungeon Master's dungeon when I'm only a rookie Constable! I really regret it, so could you please spare my life!?"

Had she won an oratory contest or something?

She'd been trembling like a leaf a moment ago, yet she defended herself quickly and without a single unnecessary word.

She was damn good at talking.

"Hmm."

At least to me, she looked harmless.

I logged into the Dungeon Gallery.

I should check what the Veterans thought too.

└ magichero: I'm a little annoyed our concepts overlap...

└ whaleyeah: This person turned completely black too...

└ op_ghost: H-h-h-h-hey, don't do that.

└ magichero: Hehe...

└ no_minions_4_me: Doesn't feel like a lie to me either.

└ anonbutcher: What kind of pathetic Constable is this? Things must be truly hopeless in the South Kingdom.

└ sealedconq: She looks young too, so it makes sense.

└ humanluvr: I'm very angry because she's hitting on newbie...

└ golemking: What the hell?

└ dip: Which part of that conversation looked like she was hitting on newbie?

└ antqueen: But newbie, I'm curious. Why are you trying to keep her alive?? Are you going to make her lay eggs or something??

└ psychward_mvp: LOLLLLLLLLLL Please hold your breath for just 365 days...

└ sealedphilo: Let's watch for now. We should respect newbie's choice.

└ antqueen: No, are you serious? Why aren't you stopping this................

"Is that so?"

"Yes..."

"The reason you didn't leave the dungeon right away was..."

"There are too many monsters outside! Sorry for interrupting! I really didn't come here with bad intentions!"

This pathetic Constable's name was Restia.

According to the System, she should have been an intruder, but for now, she was being treated as a Dungeon Minion.

One of a Dungeon Master's powers was an employment function that could turn outsiders into Minions. It even let me check their Status Windows.

Restia was level 5.

To put it simply, she had enough combat ability to give a Hobgoblin a decent fight.

According to the Veterans, even if I were asleep and she ambushed me, I could easily defeat her.

They said there was an absolute gap in power that could never be overturned.

Anyway.

"Please spare me..."

It felt strange. I'd never been in a position of power in my life.

Was this how the owner of a small company felt when watching someone desperately suck up to them?

I was certainly in a position where I held her life in my hands.

"From now on, no more 'please spare me,' 'I'm sorry,' or 'I apologize.'"

"U-understood!"

"Get up for now. The longer I look at you, the more frustrating this gets."

Flattery only worked on assholes who liked throwing their weight around.

For an ordinary person like me, it just had the opposite effect.

I asked Restia as she carefully got to her feet.

"Do you want to leave the dungeon right now?"

"Y-yes! If I could, that would be wonderful..."

"Even if you leave, there'll still be a shitload of monsters outside, like you said."

"......"

Restia lowered her head.

"Haah."

I sighed.

I'd saved her, sure, but I had no intention of volunteering to be her babysitter too.

Unlike me, who could live just fine without eating or drinking, Minions could not.

Didn't no_minions_4_me explain it at the start? You had to feed your Minions, clean up their shit, and take them for walks or play with them so they wouldn't get stressed.

That was why all Dungeon Masters who chose human-related themes, since humans basically had a strong drive to improve their circumstances, ended up dead.

Restia was no different.

She needed drinking water and food to survive.

Sure, there was jerky left behind by the Dark Mages.

I could spend Points to buy more food and water too.

But did I really need to go that far?

I was already broke from expanding the dungeon.

Looking at her, I could clearly see a future where I'd have to take care of her until the monsters disappeared.

"Hmm."

I crossed my arms and thought.

Was there a way?

A moment later.

"Ah."

I had a good idea.

This way, we could both benefit.

"Follow me."

"Yes!"

We left the dungeon.

"?????"

"Good. Minions can leave too."

Restia looked at me in complete confusion.

Was this her first time seeing a Dungeon Master leave their dungeon?

Ah. Of course it was.

"I have a job for you. Can you do it?"

"A-a job? What kind of..."

"You know the Goblins, Trolls, and Hobgoblins around here? Can you lure them into the dungeon?"

"What on earth does that..."

"Answer only yes or no."

Restia nodded.

"If you work well, I'll provide top-quality food and drinking water. And there's no point running away halfway through. Don't forget that this is the Lowjinrat Great Mountain Range. I can track your location too. You saw me leave the dungeon, right?"

"O-of course. I-I never even thought about running away..."

If Restia could perform well as bait, I could deal with the enemies around here, earn Points, and give her food and water in exchange for her labor.

That was killing two birds with one stone.

"Hehehe."

The Dungeon Master had acquired bait.

Look at those Hobgoblins who entered Dreamland fearlessly because they were so obsessed with humans.

I didn't know where or how they planned it, but for some reason, they had begun avoiding my dungeon.

"You're dead."

When something was stupid, instinct came before reason.

If Restia wiggled her ass a little, Goblins and Trolls would come rushing in just like the Hobgoblins, right?

In the games I played, the weak, nearly dead mob worth 300 gold was always the sexiest.

I didn't know how long this would keep working.

"Time to duplicate some Points."

Didn't they say goodwill came back around?

It was exactly as the saying went.

* * *

Three months passed after that.

The Minion labor contract was an enormous success.

She came into the dungeon crying every day, so I expected her to complain and whine, but surprisingly, she didn't.

There had been an incident where an Ogre entered, but it was stupid too, so the maze handled it.

Restia worked harder than I expected.

Thanks to that, I earned the considerable sum of 200,000 Points.

My level had risen all the way to 40.

I could purchase a 4-Star Minion at level 80, but I still had a long way to go.

Anyway.

The bait strategy no longer worked.

The area around here seemed completely quiet now.

Which meant it was almost time to let Restia go.

"It's time to say goodbye."

"Thank you so much for everything, Dungeon Master..."

We had grown closer than before.

Still, we never opened up to each other like that.

She was an ordinary human.

And I was a Dungeon Master who used to be an ordinary human.

You could call it a sense of distance.

Even though we'd spent a long time around each other, we couldn't become close like the Gallery users.

"Hey."

"Yes."

"You worked hard all this time. Don't suffer outside. Live comfortably."

As a gift, I gave her the old gold necklace I'd received as loot during the Manticore Wave.

Restia made a strange expression as she accepted it.

Was she happy? Did she feel burdened?

"Let's not see each other again."

"......I, no. It's nothing."

With that, Restia left the dungeon.

It would've been nice if it ended as a simple happy ending, where we went our separate ways and lived happily.

└ newbie: antqueen

└ antqueen: Yep

└ newbie: You remember the terms of the bet, right?

└ antqueen: Yep. If you win, I'll hire thirty human Minions. But if I win, kill every intruder who comes from now on.

There was someone who hadn't welcomed this situation.

That person was antqueen.

* * *

All the Veterans respected my choice.

Even humanluvr, who had disliked it at first.

Yet there was one person who looked at it disapprovingly until the very end.

It was antqueen.

antqueen.

If I had to describe her, she seemed to view the world in black and white.

Everyone outside the dungeon was an enemy.

That mindset was at the root of it.

She didn't like that I kept Restia alive.

When I started feeding and housing her in Dreamland under the excuse of a labor contract, she even seriously advised me to stop and kill her quickly.

It was hard to believe this was the same antqueen who constantly stirred up trouble by uploading pictures of her Minions.

I understood.

If the goal was to leave no future trouble behind, antqueen's approach was probably right.

But.

I understood it in my head, but that method simply did not appeal to me.

When I wouldn't listen no matter what she said, antqueen proposed a bet.

└ antqueen: The terms are, if that woman stabs newbie in the back, I win. If she doesn't harm newbie or the dungeon, newbie wins.

It was a bet that gave neither of us anything.

Still, I knew she meant well.

So I accepted.

It seemed like the quickest way to resolve this conflict.

I didn't want things to turn sour with a Veteran who helped me.

Once we saw the result, no matter how it ended, we could both accept the other's opinion.

At first, I told Restia I could track her location.

That wasn't a lie.

But I hadn't told her everything either.

The Surveillance Camera in the Core Room.

It was still transmitting Restia's image.

That was one of the privileges of the Anomaly theme.

I crossed my arms and watched quietly.

There hadn't been any intruders anyway, so I alternated between watching her and browsing the Gallery.

Restia walked through the silent mountain range.

She walked and walked.

Then she encountered a human.

"Constable Restia. Are you well?"

"Ah..."

The human she encountered did not look ordinary.

After all, blue light shone from both eyes.

└ humanluvr: Ah, I'm so anxious...

└ humanluvr: Why is there a Blessed One in the mountain range of all places...

└ humanluvr: Ah, seriously, AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Blessed Ones.

They had Status Windows just like Dungeon Masters.

They were bizarre beings, as strange as Anomalies, who could revive at a Shrine even after death.

└ op_ghost: Isn't that person the bastard who tried to break through the head mod's dungeon before and failed? Why are they in the mountain range?

└ kingslayer: Ah... What was that name again...?

└ op_ghost: Sinclair. Looks like their level went up since then too.

└ kingslayer: Ah, I remember now. Thanks.

Anyway.

As I listened to their conversation, it seemed Sinclair had come because of the Manticore and the missing investigators.

└ orange★: This is a very serious problem... Sinclair isn't someone newbie can face right now.

└ orange★: Restia? How much does that woman know about newbie's dungeon?

└ humanluvr: I think she figured out Area 1. Thankfully, newbie didn't place any Minions or traps in Area 2 at all, so she shouldn't know about that.

└ humanluvr: Even for a Blessed One, clearing it all at once would be impossible...

└ orange★: Yeah. We need to stall for as long as possible until the Position Shift. There are about two months left, so that gives us eight Waves... This is giving me a headache...

└ orange★: Wait. I'll upload the data I collected later, so check it.

I didn't think they were exaggerating.

It was the first time the Veterans had spoken this seriously.

Honestly.

It would've been a lie to say I wasn't scared.

Still.

I could only watch the screen while posting live updates to the Gallery.

"Sinclair. You must have had a difficult journey to come all this way, but... the Manticore has already been subjugated."

"What? A rookie Constable like you subjugated a Manticore?"

"It wasn't by my strength alone. It was thanks to the sacrifices of the Constables who carried out the mission with me."

Restia presented the old gold necklace I'd given her as evidence.

"I heard from an informant that there was a dungeon here, and that the Manticore led Dark Mages here."