"You have been chosen for the [Game of Dungeons: DxD Edition!]" When a bimbo Goddess summons you to a dungeon sandwiched between the supernatural world of High School DxD and the deadly Monster Realm, what's a normal guy supposed to do? Well, becoming a Dungeon Master, scamming the Goddess into being your servant, and using every loophole in the system to profit would be a nice start.
The Worst Dungeon Master (Gamer!SI)
- Thread starter Koyon
- Start date
- Crossover
The Worst Dungeon Master (High School DxD Gamer!SI)
- Created
- Status
- Ongoing
- Watchers
- 58
- Recent readers
- 0
- Threadmarks
- 2
-
Statistics (2 threadmarks, 19k words)
User Total Koyon 2 Threadmarks Reader mode
The Tutorial Episode
Game
Thoughts
"Talking"
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A tall, lanky man with a muscular build lay on the floor of a pitch-black room. He wore a black T-shirt that clung tightly to his defined upper body, and gray sweatpants.
"Ugh… Did I drink too much last night?" Azuma groaned, his head aching as he rolled over, a drop of water plopping onto his head, "The fuck is going on…"
He opened his eyes. Then he opened them again. And again. It wasn't until the fourth time trying to open his eyes that he realized that his eyes were already open.
"Did the power go out? Why's it so dark…" He glanced around - or, would've glanced around if it wasn't pitch black.
"Chiho? You home?" Azuma called out for his younger sister, pushing himself up into a sitting position on the hard, damp floor. As he felt around, his hand brushed against something rough.
Is this… rocks?
He brushed his hand back and forth, feeling small grains crumble away from the solid ground. He flinched as another drop of water dripped from the ceiling, landing on his head.
"Okay… Either I'm way too hungover, or this isn't my room," Azuma concluded, "Did I get kidnapped or somethin'? Where the hell am I?"
"The fuck?" Azuma said out loud, blinking as a bright red light assaulted his eyes. A large graphic box was floating in front of him, a red light exuding from it and shining a dim light onto his surroundings. Azuma looked around, seeing that he was in a small room with a rocky floor and a ceiling full of stalactites. Drops of water were dripping occasionally from the hanging objects, and a few feet in every direction of him were smooth walls.
Those walls are absurdly smooth for a cave.
He glanced at a puddle a few feet away and caught his reflection—a handsome face with a mop of messy black hair and high cheekbones.
Hi, me. Azuma thought idly before he snapped his attention back to the floating box.
"Dungeon Master?" He said out loud, poking his finger forward into the floating box. The box vanished, dumping Azuma back into darkness for a second before another one appeared.
"DxD?" Azuma asked, "Like, High School DxD?"
He received no response - just a text box staring back at him.
Never heard of another DxD before, so it's gotta be that one.
"Yo, fucking floating box," Azuma said, jutting his finger into the box, which resulted in his finger pushing through it as if it were intangible, "This is cool and all, but I'm good. I'm about to graduate from University, and I didn't waste four years of my life to sit in a dirty ass cave. Just pick someone else."
The box disappeared for a moment, and a new one appeared.
"Did you not hear me, shitter?" Azuma shoved his finger into the box again, his face being washed with annoyance, "I don't wanna sit in this fucking caveI was on track to be a pro volleyball player, y'know? Do you know how much pussy those guys get? A lot! So, send me back!"
Another box appeared to Azuma's right, but he pointedly ignored it.
"You deaf or somethin'? I don't wanna, just send me home." Azuma waved his hand dismissively. He stared at the box. The box stared back. Their staring contest continued, both too stubborn to give in, until finally…
"Yes, I'm fucking sure. Send me back."
"Convince me?" Azuma stared incredulously at the floating text, "Nothing, jackass! Do you know who I am? You should if you picked me! I'm Azuma Kaito, and I'm lazy as fuck. You think I'm gonna build some awesome dungeon and survive in the world of High School DxD? Where literal gods can snap their fingers and end me? I just finished University, shitty box, I need a few months of vacation, and not in some fucking cave!"
"You try being ripped out of your comfy bed and put in some dark shitty cave. Tell me how you feel afterward."
"Nah."
"Give me a million."
"5 Million or I'm out."
"10 Million."
"15 Million."
"Go ahead. Pick a new one." Azuma said dismissively, leaning back so he was lounging as he stared up at the box.
"Please do. Send me back home so I can chug some beer and forget this ever happened."
"Don't care."
"Didn't ask."
"Best argument so far, but nah. I'd probably die before I even met them." Azuma waved the idea away.
Azuma yawned in response, rolling over and closing his eyes.
"25 million, or just go pick a new one," Azuma said with his eyes closed.
,,,
…
…
…
The box moved, its position changing from directly above Azuma to in front of his closed eyes as he lay on his side.
"Just pick someone else," Azuma groaned, opening his eyes as the bright red light assaulted him.
"Who even are you, anyway?" Azuma said as he rolled back over, laying on his back.
Azuma glanced over, spotting… nothing.
"There's nothing here." He deadpanned.
Azuma glanced down, seeing a small rock sitting by the absurdly smooth stone wall.
"You're a rock?"
"Looks like a rock to me."
"I don't wanna spend all day babysitting a fucking rock. Just send me home." Azuma said, staring incredulously at the small rock.
"Huh? Then why don't you just give me a shit ton of points?" Azuma mused, "You want me to protect you, right? Just give me the max so it'll be easy."
"Eh?" Azuma said, "Nah, just give them all to me. Why would you want more dungeons? Sounds like a bunch of work, and dumb as fuck. More dungeons mean more chances to die."
"Resurrect? Are you like some dead monster or god or somethin'?"
"Whatever, I don't care. Just send me home."
"Alright, here's how it's gonna go," Azuma sighed as he stood up. He walked over and picked up the rock.
I'm gonna rinse this fucker dry.
Azuma raised his hand, throwing the rock into the smooth rock wall. The rock slammed into the wall, bouncing off and falling to the ground.
Azuma walked over to the rock, picked it up, and raised his hand to throw it at the wall again, "Give me all the points, or I'll do it again."
"Nah, I want 'em all," Azuma said, grabbing the rock and chucking it at the wall with a bit more strength.
Azuma's foot stomped down, slamming into the top of the rock.
"Don't be such a cheapskate," Azuma said stomping repeatedly on the rock.
"That doesn't sound like a hundred thousand," Azuma hummed, stomping down again, "I want an apology too."
Azuma nodded with a satisfied smirk, "Glad we could agree. Now give me the points before I start using your rock to wipe my ass."
"You wanna be dormant or do you wanna die?" Azuma asked the floating box.
"I want it all, shitter."
"I want the last one," Azuma raised his foot above the rock menacingly.
"Yup."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I want that apology too." Azuma said with a shit-eating grin.
"For threatening to kill me. That's frowned upon back in Japan." Azuma responded as if it was obvious.
"Not good enough." Azuma bent over to pick up the rock.
Azuma's shit-eating grin grew even wider, "You can do better."
"What'd ya say?" Azuma asked, waiving the rock in the air.
"Just felt like it."
"Go ahead," Azuma said, gesturing toward the floating box.
A scrolling list appeared in front of him with various names and prices.
Why is the female slime so expensive…
The list had every type of creature Azuma could think of, and even numerous types that he had never heard of. He swiped his finger down the text box to scroll and quickly realized that it'd take years to look through all the options.
"I can't look through all these weak fuckers," Azuma said pointedly to the text box, "Just show me the good shit. Also, why are the prices listed so randomly? You can't sort it by cheap to expensive?"
Huh?
"Yo, shitty game dev," Azuma said, waving his hand at the box.
"Who else would I be talking to in this remote cave?" Azuma deadpanned.
"This right here," Azuma pointed at the option, "Says Nami. As in, Nami from One Piece. I thought I was in High School DxD. And stop ignoring my question from a minute ago."
"Yeah, I'm him."
"I'm him. You know, like Himothy? Like, I'm that fucking guy?" Azuma said, making a random motion with his hands to enunciate his point.
"Whatever, it's human stuff. Just tell me why Nami's an option, and why you suck at sorting things by price." Azuma said with a disappointed sigh.
"It's gonna be a bit fucked up?" Azuma asked blandly.
"So, I can run into these characters in the outside world and in the dungeon? Also, the monsters attacking?" Azuma asked with a tilted head.
"Alright, but I'm not forgetting about your shitty store-making skills just because you keep avoiding my question. This would be so much easier if you just sorted in descending order from high to low prices." Azuma swiped down again, going past the general options to get to the already-established characters in the DxD world.
"That's enticing," Azuma said as he stared at the last option, "How does this attendant thing work? Isn't she just gonna kill me when she gets randomly summoned to a cave?"
"Nice," Azuma hummed, "She'd be a good choice then. She's already a maid, is one of the strongest devils, and I'll still have half my points left. However, there's just one problem…"
"Nah, there's an even bigger issue," Azuma hummed, not explaining further, shadows covering his eyes as he was deep in thought.
"It'll totally ruin my sex drive," Azuma said, putting his thumb on his chin like a philosopher.
"Think about it! The high I'll get from cucking a Maou will be awesome, but it'll ruin me for the rest of my life!" Azuma said, a stressed look appearing on his face, "Nothing else will be able to compare! I'll constantly be searching for a greater pleasure, and it'll be hard to find something better than that. I'll start doing crazy things, like trying to bang Ophis or somethin'."
"Relax," Azuma chuckled, "I know what I'm doing. I already got my attendant in mind."
Azuma swiped back up, tapping on an option he'd previously skipped over.
"You have so little faith," Azuma hummed, "You gotta think big with stuff like this. She'll ensure I have the support of the Phenex Clan - who are arguably the strongest devil clan around. They're raking in an insane amount of cash from the Phenex tears, and I'll have access to all the tears I want with Ravel. On top of that, I'm betting theres some game bullshit that'll let me copy her powers. Infinite regeneration is OP as fuck. They also have a good relationship with the Gremory Clan, who were the only other choice I was considering."
"Yup, but Rias is too expensive," Azuma explained, standing in the red glow of the text boxes, "I'd have no points left, and she shares a similar problem with Grayfia. Sirzechs is a huge siscon, and he'd barge in here to evaporate me. Ravel's family supports her, but no one is obsessed with her, and they're manipulatable with Ravel loyal to me. I'd rather have the Gremory Clan's support, as with it would likely come the Bael's, but the cons outweigh the pros."
"I overestimated yours," Azuma replied, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. He leaned casually against the wall, eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and satisfaction. "I figured you'd realize I wasn't actually a stupid jackass after I rinsed you for 100,000 points."
"Yeah, stay quiet," Azuma mocked, his smirk unwavering. He pushed off from the wall and crossed his arms, his stance oozing confidence. "You really believed all that shit? I've never even played volleyball. I'm a jackass, just not a dumb one. Now, where's Ravel at?"
"Oh, alright," Azuma nodded, "Then what's next?"
"Stop being passive-aggressive. It'd be fine if you were a cute girl, but you're a dead old as fuck god," Azuma scoffed, rolling his eyes as he leaned back with an exaggerated yawn. "Just show me my options."
"Just show me the list, woman. This is starting to get pathetic." Azuma's tone was dismissive, his gaze fixed on the floating text.
"Reputation? Is this a fucking dating sim or somethin'?" Azuma asked incredulously, his tone dripping with disbelief as he interrupted the text box before the list had fully appeared.
Azuma's smirk widened as he nodded, a mixture of approval and mockery in his eyes. "Good thinking."
The goddess's digital presence, the text box, flickered with a hesitant spark of hope.
Azuma's grin was almost predatory as he leaned closer to the glowing text. "Yeah, it'll be great for fucking babes. Does it have obedience and affection?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
Azuma's eyes flickered with a mix of satisfaction and impatience. "Nice. Start showing me the other options now," he ordered, his tone brooking no argument.
The goddess didn't bother to give a response and the red box in front of him expanded downward.
Azuma's expression turned smug as he waved a dismissive hand at the floating text. "You can stop now. I already know what I'm choosing," he hummed.
"I'm staying human," Azuma responded, "All the other ones are so expensive. How the hell was I gonna afford them with 100 points?"
"You're so cheap, no one wants to be a fucking gobby," Azuma waved his hand dismissively, "I'm staying a human. What's next? Do I get to choose a sacred gear now?"
"That would be great," Azuma nodded wisely, "Just give me that last point and go sleep or whatever. I can figure this out alone."
"Don't wanna."
"You shoulda started with that," Azuma grinned widely, "Alright. What do I get out of this?"
"A unit?" Azuma hummed, "I don't even know what that is, shitty tutorial."
"So… what are you gonna be useful for?" Azuma asked, staring doubtingly at the floating text box, "Getting scammed outta points?"
"I'll think about it," Azuma responded, "How do I summon units?"
Summons.
"Oh, I like the way you think, Goddess," Azuma grinned at the bottom option, "How'd you know I love gambling?"
"Fine, fine," Azuma conceded, tapping on the unit list. A small array of options appeared in front of him.
"You're a support unit, right?" Azuma asked out loud.
"You seem too dumb to do anything else," Azuma hummed, ignoring a red box full of angry text that appeared at his side. He tapped on the support units.
"So, you're Aphrodite," Azuma hummed appreciatively, "It makes sense why you're so dumb now. Your whole legend is about being an airheaded whore."
Azuma looked away from her rant, tapping on the summon option.
"-Goddess who fucked the king because she's too weak! I would never have sex with that old bastard! I should be one of the virgin goddesses! It's not my fault that my tits are so big-"
In front of Azuma was now a small woman - literally. She was only a few inches tall, looking as if she could fit in the palm of his hand. She had an angular and beautiful face, with a pair of breasts that looked far too big for her body. She was the definition of beauty, with her even her curves having curves, and her ass looking plump and bubbly. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a toga that did a poor job of hiding her sexy body - which wasn't the toga's fault, as Azuma doubted there was any outfit that could hide the woman's curves. She had a pair of blue fairy wings on her back, holding her in the air as she angrily ranted, pointing her finger at Azuma as if it was his fault. Her beautiful blue eyes bored into him as she ranted.
[Love Goddess] Aphrodite:
[5 Point-Restricted Form]
LVL: MAX
"-that I need handmaidens to hold them up! It's not my fault that they so enamored Athena's maidens that they begged me for the job! And I mean BEGGED! Like, on their knees, bowing, and everything! How was I supposed to say no?!"
The tiny goddess hovered closer to Azuma, jabbing her finger at him with a mixture of frustration and defiance. Her face was flushed, her voice high-pitched and animated. "Tell me how it's MY fault that a bunch of mortal men left their wives after seeing pictures of me and falling in love! I didn't talk to them! I never even met them! I can't help being this perfect—"
"That was funny at first, but you're getting annoying now," Azuma hummed, raising his hand and flicking the small woman in front of him with two fingers. The tiny goddess went flying backward, disappearing from his view into the darkness of the cave. He turned back to the floating box, looking at the other options.
"Hey! What was that for!" A high-pitched voice squeaked to his left, and he looked over to see the small goddess glaring at him as she hovered in the air.
"Just felt like it. Your voice was giving me a headache," Azuma said, raising an eyebrow, "What about it?"
"Hmmph!" The goddess made a noise in her throat, a large evil grin forming on her face, "Well, you'll regret making a mockery of me! You summoned me so willingly! Who's the dumbass now?!"
"What are you going on about?" Azuma asked, tilting his head at the tiny flying woman.
"You will regret all those insults you directed at me, the Great Aphrodite! Now, you will become my slave!" The goddess shouted, grabbing the top of her toga and pulling it down to reveal her perky porcelain breasts, "Fall in love, mortal!"
The system flashed an urgent message.
"Hahahaha!" The goddess laughed victoriously, wiggling her breasts at Azuma as she groped them, "Become my slave! If you're a good boy and lick my feet clean, maybe I'll let you feel these divine breas-"
"Nice tits," Azuma said, poking his finger into Aphrodite's chest. The tiny goddess went flying backward, her outraged squeal echoing as she disappeared from view. Azuma turned back to the units page.
"Don't just ignore me so quickly!" Aphrodite shouted, jutting her finger into Azuma's cheek as she flew back up to him, "How did you resist that?!"
Azuma looked at her with a deadpan face, "I thought you were making a joke. You literally made the system."
To showcase his point, Azuma pointed to a small box that was floating to his left, where Aphrodite had shown him her breasts.
"Oh… I forgot about that…" The goddess deflated, having the decency to blush, "No hard feelings, right?'
"Goddesswhosegoingtobeworkedtothebonesaywhat?"
"What?"
"Yeah… I can see why you cost the same amount as a goblin," Azuma said, an overly sweet fake smile on his face, "No hard feelings. None at all."
"I'm way more useful than a goblin!" Aphrodite protested. "It costs points to maintain my form in the world, and I saved them so I could come down when you made a big achievement and reward you! This tiny form is much cheaper than my normal goddess form, which costs millions of points!" Aphrodite pouted.
"Yeah, well, now you cost as much as a goblin," Azuma said dismissively, pulling up the last list of units.
"Don't compare me to a goblin! I have awesome magic skills!" The goddess pouted.
"Sure, sure," Azuma said, reaching up his hand and poking her ass, eliciting a yelp of surprise from the love goddess, "Just explain how the monsters will be attacking, shitty tutorial."
"Stop calling me a tutorial!" The goddess whined, "Please?"
"Whatever you say, tutorial." Azuma hummed in response.
"I hate you!" Aphrodite squeaked indignantly, then sighed as she started to explain, "The dungeon has two entrances - one tied to the High School DxD realm, and one tied to the Monster Realm."
"What's the difference?" Azuma asked as he glanced around the small dim room, "Can I get a chair or something? I don't wanna sit on the floor again. I might sit down in some goddess shit by accident."
"Don't act like I'm some kind of dog!" Aphrodite said, poking her finger into his cheek again, "But, you can summon a worker unit if you want a chair."
Azuma's hand reached up, selecting the top option of the worker class.
A flash of green light filled the room, and suddenly there was a small ugly creature staring up at him.
[Worker Goblin] - LVL 1
[Upgrade with Points]
[Evolution Tree] - LOCKED
[EXP: 0/100]
The goblin was small, looking to only be roughly 3 feet tall. It had green skin, a big nose, and an ugly face that synergized with its bald bumpy head. It was clearly out of shape - with skinny muscleless limbs but a thick stomach. The goblin was naked except for the small loincloth over his crotch, and he had a pickaxe thrown over his shoulder. The pickaxe had a wooden handle and a metallic top.
"Yo, goblin," Azuma waved down at the little creature, "Can you make me a chair? Or, better yet, a couch!"
"He can't make you a couch! He doesn't even know what a couch is!" Aphrodite said as she floated next to his ear, planting her soft and plump ass on his shoulder.
Contrary to Aphrodite's words, the goblin raised his hand to his forehead and gave Azuma a salute.
"Gerbbhleh!" The noise that came out of the little goblins mouth was far from intelligible, sounding like a jarbled mess that came from the back of his throat.
He turned away, walking toward the eastern rock wall, his legs rising in falling in a stiff motion as he marched.
"He can figure it out," Azuma nodded approvingly, then turned his head to look at the goddess perched on his shoulder, "Now, tell me what this whole 'realm of monsters' is about."
"It's the 'Monster Realm'," Aphrodite corrected, "And, just as it sounds, it's a realm of monsters. It'd be more accurate to say your dungeon is split in half, with one side residing in the Monster Realm and the other in the High School DxD realm. Most of the Monster Realm is composed of the 'Wildlands' where mindless beasts roam. These monsters can attack your dungeon at any time, either in packs or alone."
A clang rang out, and Azuma looked over to see the small [Worker Goblin] swinging his pickaxe into the rock wall, chipping away at it.
"'Most' of the realm," Azuma said, focusing on why she specified that, "What's the rest of it?"
"Well, I'm not the only god who's trying to resurrect," Aphrodite continued, blushing as she looked away innocently, "I also, maybe, possibly, might not be the one who designed the Dungeon System. The Monster Realm is full of gods and acient beings who want to resurrect, and all of them are using the same system."
"BUT!" She shouted, holding up a finger as she saw Azuma open his mouth, ready to make a quip about how useless she was, "I'm a step above the rest! From what I've seen, none of the other gods have Dungeon Masters from other worlds, and none of them are connected to another world! Since you're not technically a race from this universe, you can summon all types of monsters instead of just specialized ones!"
"So, the other Dungeon Masters are intelligent monsters?" Azuma assumed, getting confirmation as Aphrodite nodded.
"Yup! Though, their level of intelligence varies," She explained, swiping a finger across her nose as her face grew increasingly smug, "I picked a pretty great spot for your dungeon! The only other Dungeon Master within a few days' travel is this stupid F-Rank orc! And! And! There are only weak monsters around, so you won't need to worry about anything higher than E-Rank monsters until you've expanded the dungeon a lot!"
The tiny bombshell goddess had jumped onto her feet in her excitement, standing on Azuma's shoulder as she looked at him expectedly, stars in her eyes.
Does… she want to be praised or somethin'?
"Um… good job?" Azuma started, resulting in the goddess blushing as she bounced on the soles of her bare feet, "You're not completely useless, I guess. Maybe you should've been the cost of two goblins."
The goddess's excitement dwindled at the second part of his statement, and she sighed as she plopped back down on his shoulder, her fat tits swinging as she did, "Close enough."
"About the ranking system," Azuma started, bringing the goddess's attention back to him, "How does the dungeon rank work? Why is the orc a F-Rank dungeon master?"
"Oh! It's simple!" Aphrodite said, her face brightening, "It's based on your points! When you defeat a monster or someone from the DxD realm, you'll get points based on how strong they were! And, if you defeat another Dungeon Master, you can either destroy their dungeon and take the points they used on it, or claim their dungeon as part of yours! There's other ways too, but… um… I don't remember…"
"Since I'm in an area with only weak monsters around, I'll be able to farm them for a while and gain points, then take down that Orc for even more points," Azuma hummed, ignoring her trailed-off confession, "You've actually put me in a pretty good starting spot. Maybe you're not so useless."
"I did!" The goddess said proudly, then frowned at the backhanded compliment, "...thanks? I guess?"
"But, if the other gods don't have a connection to other worlds, how'd you get connected to the DxD realm?" Azuma asked with a raised eyebrow, looking down at the small goddess, "Is there some 'Dungeon God' who pitied you for being so useless?"
"No!" She squeaked again indignantly, "I planned that out! I'm the [Goddess of Love], so I can gain a lot of energy from my Dungeon Masters doing love-related things! I figured that any Masters I summoned would be all about building a harem, so I chose an over-the-top ecchi world! This way, I'll be swimming in energy!"
"Though," Aphrodite's face squished in worry, "Since you're so rude, I don't know how you're going to get a harem. You're handsome, but your attitude is awful."
"Don't worry," Azuma waved her concerns away dismissively, "Women love when you're mean to them. If the relationship is going too well then they get bored. You gotta keep it interesting. Start a few arguments. Make em' jealous every once and a while."
"That… sounds like an abusive relationship," The tiny goddess deadpanned.
"Does it?" Azuma raised his finger to his chin, thinking dramatically, "Oh, I guess it does. Oh well, I'm about to be committing literal murder to expand the dungeon, so no use in trying to change now."
"As the Goddess of Love, I think you should at least try-" Aphrodite started, but was cut off as Azuma interrupted her.
"How'd you connect the two realms anyway? Must've been a huge feat if the other gods couldn't do it," Azuma said, dragging the goddess's attention to another topic as he stroked her ego a little.
"I forced a connection to the realm myself! No other god could do that!" Aphrodite continued, puffing out her ample breasts proudly, "I'm pretty awesome, right?!"
"What if," Azuma spoke, raising his voice as if he was talking to a child, "They could, but they didn't, because they realized that both them and their Dungeon Master could die instantly from someone in the other world? Like, you know, if I was a bit dumber and picked Rias, and then Sirzechs showed up and murdered us?"
Aphrodite's face fell at his words, her face conflicted as she tried to think of a comeback.
"Or," Azuma continued before Aphrodite could respond, "what if someone powerful, like, I don't know, Lord Phenex, showed up after his daughter mysteriously disappeared? He might not believe she'd suddenly fallen for someone like me. And if I only had 100 points to defend the dungeon... yeah, that would be a nightmare."
Aphrodite's face fell even further.
"But! That won't happen, since a Goddess so graciously and willingly gave me 100,000 points!"
"I get it," Aphrodite huffed, "Maybe starting with 100 points wasn't a good plan."
"It's alright," Azuma lifted his hand, smiling softly at the small woman as he patted her head with two fingers, "You might be a dumb Goddess, but you're my dumb Goddess!"
Aphrodite's face brightened as she bristled under his touch, blushing as she looked up at him with stars in her eyes, "Really? That so swe- Wait!"
Aphrodite reached up, pushing his fingers off her head as she pouted angrily, "T-This! Y-You! You're trying to manipulate me! You're pulling me into one of those abusive relationships!"
"Aphrodite," Azuma said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, casually pushing his fingers back onto her head despite her swatting them away, "how could we be in an abusive relationship if we're not even dating?"
"Oh," Aphrodite blushed as she stopped swatting at his fingers, letting him pat her head again, "I guess that's true. Sorry, Azuma."
Such an airhead. But, a hot airhead goddess.
Azuma's attention was drawn away from the goddess as something tapped on his leg, and he looked down to see the short goblin staring up at him.
"Garblhh!"
The goblin gestured behind him, then fell into a salute. Azuma followed his finger, spotting an object now sitting in the previously empty cave.
A pile of jagged rocks were haphazardly crammed together, forming what could only be described as the world's most uncomfortable couch. Sharp armrests jutted out dangerously, threatening to tear into anyone daring enough to use them. The backrest was crumbling and uneven, while the seat—though not exactly inviting—was the only part that seemed somewhat usable, with a few irregular bumps scattered across its surface.
"Good work, solider!" Azuma saluted dramatically at the goblin, whose eyes filled with pride as he straightened his back and saluted again, "Go… um… mine a wall or something. We need some actual light, so, uh, figure that out."
"Geelbh!"
The goblin took his vague orders to heart, hurriedly marching over the dented-in wall he'd been mining to make the couch and swinging his pickaxe into it.
"So, what's next, tutorial?" Azuma asked as he walked over to the couch, sitting down on the flattest end of it, "I've still got 80,000 points. There better be some more shit to use it on."
The tiny goddess followed behind him, plopping her thick ass on the top of his head this time as she hummed happily, clearly in a good mood from the previous compliment considering she ignored his 'tutorial' comment, "Yup! There are still a few more steps. Next, you should choose your abilities!"
"My abilities?" Azuma asked, resisting the urge to tilt his head as the busty goddess sat on top of it, her feet dangling just above his eyes.
"Yup! Just think 'ability shop'! As a Dungeon Master, you can choose one major and one minor ability!" The goddess explained, "During the tutorial, you'll get to pick from the signature category, which you can only choose from right now! After that, you'll have the chance to obtain another one every time your dungeon ranks up, but only from that rank category. So, if you upgrade to E-Rank, then you can buy an E-Rank ability!"
Ability shop.
A list scrolled out in front of him, the text box shining a bright blue color that illuminated the entire cave.
[Strong Punch] - A powerful punch!
[Flying Kick] - A kick that uses the entire force of your body.
[Commanding Tone] - Speak in a commanding tone that encourages others to listen to you
I'm not picking any of this useless shit.
Azuma jutted his finger forward, scrolling down the list past all the cheap abilities.
[Gravity Manipulation] - Control the strength of the gravity around you.
[Gigantificantion] - Increase the size of your body at will.
[Adrenaline Boost] - Flood your body with adrenaline, allowing you to push beyond your body's limits.
[Vibration Control] - Create vibrations within anything you make contact with.
That last one seems pretty good. I could make earthquakes n' shit.
"What else am I gonna be using points on?" Azuma said out loud to Aphrodite, debating if he should scroll down further and look at the more expensive options.
"For the tutorial, just the major and minor skills," Aphrodite said from above him, "But, any points you have left over will be kept. Points are the main currency for the Dungeon System, so they're used for nearly everything: Summoning units, upgrading units, upgrading your abilities, setting traps, making new rooms, using the store…"
"How many points is an F-Rank monster gonna give me?" Azuma asked as he weighed the importance of keeping points leftover from the tutorial.
"It depends on how strong they are," The goddess replied, placing a finger on her chin as she looked upward in thought, "Most of them will probably only give one point. The strongest ones can give up to around five, I think?"
"You think?" Azuma echoed.
"Well, I've never killed one before, so how would I know?" Aphrodite responded innocently.
"Then… why did you even bother answering?" Azuma asked incredulously.
"You asked!"
Whatever, even if they only give one point these abilities are too good to pass up on. I won't have another chance at them, but I'll always be able to farm more points.
Azuma scrolled down, going all the way to the bottom of the list.
[Time Loop] - Upon dying you will revive at a save point.
Ok, scrolled a bit too far. What is this pay to win ass shit? What rich-ass god is giving their dungeon master a billion points in the tutorial?
Azuma swiped his hand up again, scrolling to the abilities that were at the top of his price range.
[Invisibility] - Become completely invisible - both to the naked eye and tracking abilities.
[Forecefield] - Create a barrier that protects you from attacks.
[Clone Creation] - Create a clone of yourself at will.
[Time Dilation] - Reverse or accelerate time.
Azuma stared at the few options that looked promising, his mind whirling.
"Which one are you picking?" Aphrodite asked, now lounging on his head. She was laying on her stomach, her large breasts, which weren't actually that large considering her miniature form, were dangling in front of Azuma's eyes as she looked down at the ability screen.
"Not sure," Azuma hummed, "Invisibility is cheap, so I'd be able to get a more expensive minor ability, but I don't think it's worth it. It's good for offense and gathering info, but it's not a defensive ability. I'm supposed to be the last line of defense for the dungeon, yeah?"
"Yup!" The goddess confirmed, "Your units should do most of the work, but if they can't hold out then it's up to you to defend me!"
"Defend you?" Azuma repeated, "How are you still the dungeon core if you're right here?"
"Well, technically, I'm not the dungeon core," Aphrodite explained, "My life force is tied to it, and so is yours. As it grows stronger, I'll also grow stronger, be able to utilize more of my power, and eventually resurrect into my original form. In the same way, if it's destroyed, then we'll both die. This mini-me is more like a medium for my conscious that has life energy supporting it."
"Got it," Azuma hummed, looking back at his options, "Forcefield's got the opposite problem. It's too defensive, and I don't know its limitations. If I could just place an unbreakable forcefield over the dungeon, then it'd be OP as fuck, but I doubt it's that good. It'd also be situational if It'd be useful for offense."
"Um, yeah," Aphrodite spoke, sounding unsure of her own words, "I don't think it's unbreakable. I've never heard of a forcefield that awesome."
She's not really a good source, but whatever.
"The cloning one looks amazing," Azuma said, the possibilities flooding his head, "Especially for managing a dungeon. I could train more efficiently - hell, I could do everything more efficiently. I'm just worried it's gonna be some Naruto-ass bullshit where they're all one-shots and they're only decently useful in battle. Or, that they'll cost points to maintain or somethin'."
"So, you're going with the time one?" Aphrodite asked, her breasts squishing into the top of his head as she lay on it.
"Anything time-related is just always good," Azuma hummed, "The description doesn't make it sound all that appealing with how vague it is, but it's expensive as fuck and lets me control time. Having any control over time is always going to be OP as fuck. It's gotta be good."
Azuma tapped his finger on the [Time Dilation] option and selected it.
"Can I get some more concrete info on it now?" Azuma asked, poking his finger into the screen.
"You can check your abilities by thinking 'abilities.'" Aphrodite supplied helpfully from above.
Abilities
[Time Dilation LVL1] - Reverse or fast-forward time for an object or person within 5 feet of you for 1/10th of a second.
Cooldown: 60 seconds.
A shit-eating grin formed on Azuma's face.
Oh, this is even better than I could've hoped.
"You seem happy with it," Aphrodite said from above.
"Very," Azuma smirked, "This is like every broken time ability squished into one. I can do a lot with this."
"Well, I'm happy that you're happy," The goddess on his head hummed with a smile, apparently having done a complete 180 on her opinion of Azuma after he complimented her.
One compliment and she forgets that I scammed her outta a hundred thousand points.
"Let's hope the minor ability is decent at least," Azuma hummed, unconfident in finding a good ability for less than 5000 points.
Ability shop.
A lighter blue box appeared in front of him, another list of abilities being showcased.
[Sprint] - Running, but a bit faster!
Azuma didn't even finish reading the first option before he swiped down, not bothering with the cheapest choices.
[Fire Elemental Magic] - Gives you access to Fire Elemental magic.
[Water Elemental Magic] - Gives you access to Water Elemental magic.
[Earth Elemental Magic] - Gives you access to Earth Elemental magic.
Cool, but… not that cool.
[Emotion Reading] - Read someone's emotions at a glance, giving you insight into their intentions and mindset.
Decent for diplomatic shit, but useless in combat.
[Double Strength] - However much you can lift - double it.
[Double Speed] - However fast you can move - double it.
Very nice, but there's gotta be better.
[Intimidation Aura] - Give off an intimidating aura - enemies and allies alike will be intimidated.
[Enhanced Reflexes] - However good your reflexes are - double it.
[Healing Container] - instantly heal all injuries until a damage cap is surpassed.
"That's the one," Azuma said instantly.
"Which one?" Aphrodite's high-pitched voice came from above.
"The healing one," He replied, "I don't know what the cap is, but it's good either way. Either I'm immune to attacks that don't go above a certain damage amount, or I heal through all damage up to a certain point. Both are great."
Azuma tapped [Healing Container].
Abilities.
[Healing Container LVL1] - instantly heal all injuries until [5000HP] is lost.
Damage Remaining: [5000/5000]
Cooldown: 1 Day.
"How much HP do I have?" Azuma asked out loud, trying to figure out how good the ability was.
"You can think 'stats' to see your health," Aphrodite supplied, finally floating off his head as she down next to him on the bench.
Stats.
[Azuma Kaito]
[Dungeon Master]
Dungeon Rank: F (15 D-Value)
Level: 1 (0/100)
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
STR: 5
AGI: 5
END: 5
INT: 5
CHA: 5
LUK: 5
HPREG: 5
MPREG: 5
Abilities: [Time Dilation], [Health Container]
Dungeon Boosts: None
Points: 234
"So I can just die fifty times a day and be fine? For this cheap?" Azuma asked incredulously, staring at the abilities description.
"Looks like it," Aphrodite said from his side, staring up at the levitating light blue box with him, "It might've not been that many points, but it's still a signature ability. It'll be harder to level up than normal abilities, so you'll probably have more total health than the ability heals soon enough."
"How much harder is it gonna be to level up?" Azuma questioned her.
"I think… 10 times more points?" Aphrodite thought out loud, placing a finger on her lips, "But! You can take the points other Dungeon Masters used on their abilities and apply them to your own when you beat them! Oh, but that's only if you don't want to take their ability."
Azuma blinked as he stared down at the goddess, "Take their ability?"
"Yeah!" She nodded innocently, "If you beat another Dungeon Master, you can claim their abilities!"
"Wish you said that earlier…" Azuma sighed.
That would've changed my strategy a bit. If taking down other masters is that good, then I should've saved more points and gone on the offensive right away, but it's whatever.
"I forgot!" The bimbo goddess said, looking only slightly apologetic.
"So, how does ranking up the dungeon work? Is it just all the points I've spent?" Azuma questioned, looking at the '15 D-Value' sitting beside his dungeon's rank.
Aphrodite smirked, "The tutorial's over, so you should have to figure this out on your own. Glad you have me now, huh?"
"I can figure it out on my own," Azuma deflected her question, "I was just trying to get some use out of my 5-point unit, but I should've bought a gobby instead I guess."
"I'm more useful than a goblin!" Aphrodite whined again with puffed-out cheeks, "Fine. Your dungeon rank depends on how many point-costing things are in it. So, if your Worker Goblin dies, then you'll lose 10 points of value. If you buy another one, then it'll go up by 10."
Azuma glanced back at his stat page, tapping on both his abilities.
[Time Dilation LVL1] - Reverse or fast-forward time for an object or person within 5 feet of you for 1/10th of a second.
Cooldown: 60 seconds.
[Upgrade Ability] - 25,000 Points (0/25,000)
LVL2: -1 Second on Cooldown.
[Healing Container LVL1] - instantly heal all injuries until [5000HP] is lost.
Damage Remaining: [5000/5000]
Cooldown: 1 Day.
[Upgrade Ability] - 10,000 Points (0/10,000)
LVL2: +500 Damage to Damage Cap.
That's pretty expensive. I could buy 5000 gobbys with that amount.
Azuma almost made himself laugh with his own thoughts. Even 5000 goblins wouldn't be that useful in battle.
Azuma blinked as he looked around, realizing something, "I finished the tutorial, right? Where's Ravel?"
"She won't be summoned until she's completely alone," Aphrodite supplied, "If she randomly disappeared at the dinner table then there would be an uproar. This way you'll have some time before anyone she knows starts looking for her."
"That's actually smart," Azuma hummed.
"Right?! I'm a genius, huh?" The goddess smirked at him, looking overly smug.
"No, whoever made the system is," Azuma deadpanned at her, "You already told me it wasn't you, remember? You can't just take credit for it."
"Oh, yeah," Aphrodite said, looking more disappointed than embarrassed that she'd be caught.
"Now, where are the entrances?" Azuma asked, looking around the cube-shaped cave, "I thought this was just a waiting room or somethin' until I finished the tutorial. I don't see how anyone's gonna invade the dungeon when I can't even get out."
"It's right there!" Aphrodite answered, pointing at the north wall, "That's the entrance to the DxD world, and the Monster Realm one is on the opposite side!"
"Aphrodite," Azuma started, his tone matching that of a parent speaking to their child.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know what a wall is?"
"Of course I do!" Aphrodite said, staring at him questioningly.
"Just making sure, because what you're pointing at right now is most certainly a wall." Azuma deadpanned.
"No! It's behind the wall! Look!" The tiny goddess shot forward, her ass jiggling as she slammed a fist into the wall. The wall stood standing, nothing coming from Aphrodite's movement.
"Are… Are you okay?" Azuma asked incredulously.
"I'm serious! Look!" She paused for dramatic effect, then slammed her fist into the wall again. Once again, nothing happened.
"Did you hit your head as a child?"
"N-No! I'm perfectly fine! These tiny arms just can't break through!" Aphrodite whined, sending a series of punches at the wall, all of which did nothing but create a smacking noise.
"Aphrodite, this is a dungeon," Azuma said slowly, explaining to the goddess, "Not a mental ward."
"I-I'm not crazy! Just- um, push your hand into this wall!" Aphrodite shouted, gesturing for him to come over.
"Look, if you can just remember where the actual entrance is then I can pay for your thera-"
"Stop! Seriously!" The goddess whined, her face drooping.
"Fine," Azuma gave in, stopping his teasing as he walked up to the wall. He placed his hand on it and pushed forward lightly. The wall gave away instantly, crumbling into a pile of rocks and revealing a bright light.
"Wow, it looked so real," Azuma mused as the ultra-thin layer of rocks gave way to a tunnel leading to the outside world.
"See! I told you!" Aphrodite said smugly as she flew beside his face.
"All I saw was you struggling to break the wall," Azuma countered, "I put no force into that. Literally none. Like, I think even a baby could've broken through."
"It's not my fault! This body is so tiny, and I was always a magic user anyway!" The goddess's smug face fell as she lamented her failure.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Azuma hummed, walking down the hallway.
"I'm serious!"
Azuma ignored the Goddess of Love's whining as he continued down the small tunnel, approaching the light. The light continued to grow brighter, and Azuma blinked as he stepped out of the entrance.
All around him were towering trees that partially blocked out the shining sun above. Azuma glanced around, seeing tall messy grass surrounding the cave opening and the occasional pile of rocks. A squirrel hung from the top of a tree, looking down curiously at him.
"So… just a forest?" Azuma questioned with a raised eyebrow.
I was expecting a plot twist - like that I would be in the underworld or heaven or something. This just looks like a normal-ass forest.
"Not just any forest!" Aphrodite said as she flew around the side of him, floating by his shoulder, "Does it look familiar?"
Familiar…
"The familiar forest?!" Azuma asked, blinking in surprise as he looked at the goddess.
"Uh, no," Aphrodite deadpanned, "I didn't mean that literally. I meant, like, maybe you've seen it before?"
"Aphrodite," Azuma stared at the forest surrounding them, "How the fuck would I recognize a forest? You think I can tell these trees a part or somethin'? It's just a fuckin' forest!"
"It's the forest next to Kuoh Town!" Aphrodite said with a huff, "It was in the show!"
"When?" Azuma asked simply.
"Um…" Aphrodite put a finger to her lips as she thought, "It was… um… in the background a couple of times, I think?"
"Good one." Azuma deadpanned, "You might be stupid, but hey, this is actually a pretty good spot. This is only where, I don't know, every bad thing ever in the show happens?"
"B-But!" Aphrodite started, seeing where he was going with his statement, "It's where the main girls are! I thought you'd love that, for your harem and all! My research showed that all males from your world want a harem!"
"I mean, I do," Azuma conceded, "But not every guy is like that. What kind of research did you even do?"
"Well, I saw that males from your world being summoned to different worlds is a normal thing, so I just looked at those cases!" The goddess explained.
Azuma stared at her incredulously, "No, that's definitely not normal. Where'd you even get that idea?"
"I couldn't observe your world completely, so I used fragments!" Aphrodite continued, "I watched the lives of those who were summoned to different worlds! I think they were called… um… isekis?"
"Isekai?" Azuma deadpanned.
"Yes! That's it!" The goddess confirmed excitedly, "Isekai's, and they were contained in ancient recordings called animes! Just like this world's history!"
"...sure. Let's go with that," Azuma said, choosing to not question the goddess anymore, "The main cast being here is fine. Honestly, it's good. Great, even. The issue comes with, oh, I don't know, Kokabiel showing up here eventually? Or, maybe when the leaders of the Three Factions show up here for a nice little meeting? That totally won't put the dungeon in jeopardy or anything!"
"...I feel that you are being sarcastic," Aphrodite said in a conflicted tone.
"No shit."
Granted, there's no guarantee any of that happens. I'm here now, so this little thing called 'the butterfly effect' will change everything. On top of that, this universe has already changed anyway. Still, Kuoh just seems to be where a bunch of supernatural shit happens, so I'd rather not be here.
"I'll probably have to defend this side pretty heavily," Azuma hummed, staring at the forest around him. He turned around, walking back into the tunnel, "But I'd like to see the Monster Realm too."
"I think that'll be the harder part to defend," Aphrodite advised him as she floated beside him back through the dark tunnel, "The mindless beasts from that side will be a constant problem. At least on this side, someone will have to have a reason to attack you."
"Yeah, but it's mostly weak ones, right?" Azuma asked as he continued into the darkness of the cave… except it wasn't as dark anymore. As Azuma walked back into the square room, which now only had three walls, a large white light illuminated it from above. The goblin came scurrying over, saluting him as the pickaxe was slung over his shoulder.
"Gelh!" He spit out, his eyes looking up to a white gem hanging above them and then back to Azuma.
"You… actually found light," Azuma said, genuinely surprised as he stared at the glowing gem that was wedged between two stalactites in the ceiling.
"That's a glowy ore!" Aphrodite supplied, pointing up at the glowing ball.
"Yes, little Aphrodite, that ore is glowy," Azuma nodded, speaking to her like a toddler again.
"No, like, that's what it's called!" She said, doubling down at his doubtful look, "It is! It's a pretty common ore in the Monster Realm.."
Azuma turned around, seeing the goblin still saluting as he looked at him expectantly.
"Alright, you did find light. Good job, little gobby. As a reward, I shall give you a name!" Azuma said, raising his hand victoriously. The goblin's back stiffened as he stared at Azuma, pride filling his ugly little eyes.
"From this day onwards, you shall be known as Gobby! With a capital G!" Azuma shouted, placing his hand on the goblin's shoulder, then his others, as if he were knighting him. The goblin stared at him pridefully, and Azuma swore he saw a single tear roll down his cheek.
"Glbeh!" Gobby cried out in affirmation.
"Now, Gobby! As my first and most important unit," Azuma started, ignoring an indignant whine from Aphrodite, "I shall give you the important job of… um… mining that wall! Expand my kingdom, humble Gobby!"
Gobby nodded, marching with a purpose as he walked back to the eastern wall, swinging his pickaxe again.
"Now, let's go check out the Monster Re-" Azuma cut himself off as a flash of blue light filled the cave. In front of him, a short blonde girl with drill-like ponytails appeared from the flash of light. She had a petite body and was wearing a business suit, fit with a flat skirt and buttoned up shirt.
Honestly, those are more impressive than I thought they'd be.
In the show, Ravel had been a part of the small-breasts team, but that seemed to only be the case because she was being compared to people like Rias and Akeno. Despite having a rather skinny body and being 'petite,' the girl still had a rather large pair of breasts on her chest that poked through her suit as one of the middle buttons popped open, failing to keep them contained.
"Wh…Where am I?" Ravel looked disoriented, blinking as she looked around the dark cave. She spotted him, opening her mouth and raising a hand as she looked like she was about to shout, but then closed it again.
"Master…?" Ravel finally said, still looking a bit disoriented.
"Yo." Azuma held up a hand in greeting.
"Your secretary has arrived, Master!" The girl said, abruptly dropping to one knee.
"Actually, you're technically my atten-"
"Your SECRETARY is here, Master!" Ravel repeated, blushing as she talked over him.
"...Do you have a workplace fetish?"
"..."
"Is that why you're wearing a suit?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes. Fine, you're my secretary." Azuma said, staring down at the blushing kneeling girl.
"Thank you, Master!" Ravel said, seemingly accepting that he was her master instantly as she glanced around the cave, "Where are we?"
"This is my dungeon," Azuma gestured around, "Pretty nice, huh?"
Ravel glanced around, then looked back at him with a deadpanned stare, "This place sucks, Master. Are we going to be living here?"
"Yeah, so get used to it," He hummed.
"I'll get to improving our living conditions, Master," The girl chirped, looking around in thought as she pointed to a rather dry corner, "That will be a great spot for the bed."
"You're… taking this rather well," Azuma said, staring at the girl as she started floor-planning the tiny cave room, "You're just fine with being here?"
"Of course, Master," She said simply, "I'll go anywhere you go."
She's just ok with this? I guess this is a good time to learn how the reputation works.
"You know you just met me, right?" Azuma asked, wondering if it'd changed her memories.
"Yes, Master," Ravel confirmed as she continued walking around the cave, holding her hands up as she judged the size of each area.
"And you're just ok with me being your master, even though we just met?" Azuma asked, "How'd you even know to show up in a suit?"
"Of course," Ravel said, not seemingly the least bit bothered by his questions, "I was in a meeting regarding the Phenex clan before you summoned me, Master. It was a well-timed coincidence."
"Why am I your master?"
This time, Ravel blinked as she stopped to think for a minute. She was silent for a moment, and then finally said, "...Master is Master. That's just how it is. It's like how I need to breathe. It's just a part of life."
"I told you she'd be completely loyal to you," Aphrodite said as she looked at the girl.
"Can I see her stats?" Azuma asked her, and Aphrodite nodded in confirmation.
"Just think 'unit stats!'"
Unit stats.
Azuma tapped on Ravel's name.
[Ravel Phenex]
[Dungeon Attendant]
Level: 15 (0/40,000)
HP: 8,000/8,000
MP: 55,500/55,500
STR: 75
AGI: 120
END: 50
INT: 550
CHA: 100
LUK: 75
Abilities: [Phenex Regeneration], [Flame Magic], [Demonic Magic]
Dungeon Boosts: None
"She's a lot stronger than me," Azuma observed as he watched the small girl berate Gobby for mining unevenly.
"Yup," Aphrodite hummed, "She's a High-Class devil, though she's on the weaker side as far as children of 72 pillars go. You'll catch up to her soon."
"Yo, Ravel," Azuma called out, "Wanna go see the Monster Realm with me?"
"Of course, Master!" Ravel said, overly excited. She spun around, her ass smacking into the back of Gobby's head and knocking him into the wall as she skipped over to Azuma.
"You good, Gobby?" Azuma hollered, watching as the poor goblin staggered from the impact.
"Gbleh."
"He's fine," Azuma said dismissively, walking over the southern wall and pushing on it. Similar to the northern one, it crumbled instantly under the force, but this time there was no light that came shining in. In front of the pile of rocks was a dark tunnel, stretching out a couple feet before it became too dark for Azuma to see anymore.
"Make a light for us, Ravel." He commanded, and the blonde-haired girl nodded in affirmation. She held out her hand, and a small flame appeared on her plam, lighting up the tunnel around them as they walked through it. The tunnel was very similar to the cave room: Stalactites hanging from the ceiling, puddles on the floor, and rock walls on each side. Azuma continued forward, Ravel walking next to him and Aphrodite sitting on his shoulder.
He walked forward, seeing more rocks and stalactites.
Then, more rocks and stalactites.
After 5 minutes of walking, he finally saw some more rocks and stalactites.
Did Azuma mention that there were rocks and stalacitites?
"When does this tunnel fucking end," Azuma groaned after nearly ten minutes of walking, "I thought this eterance was right next to the Monster Realm?"
"It is!" Aphrodite said helpfully from his shoulder, "We're in the realm already."
Azuma blinked, "Aphrodite, this just looks like a tunnel to me."
"A tunnel in the Monster Realm!" She replied unhelpfully.
"Is the dungeon in a mountain or somethin'?" Azuma asked her, "Where the hell can there be a tunnel this long."
"Nope! The dungeon's on the 10th floor!" Aphrodite said, not explaining further.
"The 10th floor?"
"Yup."
"No, like, I meant for you to explain what you meant by that." Azuma said, pushing away a headache from dealing with the bimbo goddess.
"The Monster Realm is more vertical than horizontal," Aphrodite started to explain, "While your world was very horizontal - with the inhabitants all living in the same vertical plane - the Monster Realm is the opposite. The vertical distance of each floor is much smaller, but the realm is broken up into numerous layers."
"The surface," She pointed up at the ceiling, "Is 10 floors above this. The average monster on the higher floors is weaker, but the surface is where many of the strongest Dungeon Masters reside. The surface is more similar to your world, so many Dungeon Masters from the lower floors relocate up there."
Aphrodite then pointed to the floor, "There are another 90 floors below us. The average monster becomes stronger the further you go down, and stronger Dungeon Master's will also have their bases lower down. The majority of the Monster Realm is a series of connected tunnels - almost like an underground cave system. This tunnel will eventually lead to something else - either another Dungeon, an entrance to a lower or higher floor, or a monster den."
"...Why are you suddenly smart?" Azuma asked incrediously.
"I've always been smart!"
"No, no," Azuma shook his head, "You explained that well. Like, how a good tutorial would, not a shitty one. You even put the dungeon in a good spot. Close enough to the surface to have weak monsters, but not close enough to have to fight with the strong guys up there."
"Right?! I set you up with a good start! I'm pretty awesome, right?" The goddess asked smugly.
"...This time, you actually are pretty awesome. Do you know how many other Dungeon Masters are on this floor? Or roughly how big it is?" Azuma asked, his mind planning out how to act upon his new knowledge.
"Watch out, Master!" Ravel shouted loudly in a panic from next to him, holding her arm out to stop him dramatically. Azuma looked down to see a puddle where he was about to step, and side-stepped around it.
"Thanks."
"Um, like, 10, maybe? Or 5. It could've been 5," Aphrodite said, her face wrinkled as she thought hard. She held up her hands, placing them on either side of her in the air, "It's like, this big?"
Yeah, there's the dumbass goddess I know.
"Whatever," Azuma sighed, "Is there a map feature? Or do I have to make an actual paper one?"
"Oh! Think 'map'!"
Map.
A large rpg-like map appeared in the corner of Azuma's vision. It was square that was mostly blacked-out except for a small section on the left side. A small square was lit up, followed by a straight line and a dot at the end to show his location. At the top of the map was a label, reading [Monster Realm - 10th Floor].
"So, as I explore the map will fill out?" Azuma hummed as he stared at the map.
"Yup! Any where you or any of your units go will light up." Aphrodite responded.
"...So, since this path is in the Monster Realm, there's not point in walking further down, right? Actually, we could run into monsters, so it's dangerous if anything." Azuma brought up.
"Yup."
"...It would've been nice if you said that before we spent ten minutes walking." Azuma deadpanned at her.
"Oops. I forgot."
"Of course you did," Azuma sighed, placing a hand on Ravel's arm as she led them down the path, "Let's just go back."
They turned around, heading back down the way they came as Azuma silently lamenting about the wasted time. As they walked, Azuma decided to question the goddess more.
"Are there a lot of different ores in the Monster Realm?" He questioned.
"Yup."
"...Mind telling me about them?" Azuma grit out at her one-word answer.
"Sure!" Aphrodite agreed easily, "On this floor, theres the glowy ore! And also a few others… probably. The glowy ore is pretty easy to find, so it won't sell for much, but the rarer ores probably will!"
Azuma blinked at her words, "Sell?"
"Yup."
"Fuck you. Explain what you meant by that." Azuma said, pushing away a headache.
"Oh! You can sell stuff for points," Aphrodite explained, "Whoops. I was meant to say that during the tutorial."
"Stuff?" Azuma echoed as the light of the glowy ore filled his vision again, the trio walking into the cave room.
"Yup."
Azuma pinched the bridge of his nose, "No, that one was my fault. I should've known. What I meant was: what stuff can I sell?"
"Hmm," The Goddess hummed, "Pretty much anything, I think. You just hold something in your hand and think 'sell.'"
Azuma walked forward, grabbing Gobby from behind as he avoided his swinging pickaxe..
Sell.
I get not letting me sell him for the same amount I bought him for, but damn, half price?
Azuma placed down the goblin, walking over to a small pebble sitting on the ground. He reached down and picked it up.
Sell.
Absolute steal.
This is good. I thought grinding monsters was the only way to earn points, but my options just increased drastically.
Azuma stared at the small goblin as he swung his pickaxe into the wall again, a clanging sound ringing out as he worked.
I get the type of game this is now. This should be easy.
A small grin filled Azuma's face.
There's never been a hard farming simulator, right?
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Not sure how often this story will be updated, but if you guys really like it then I'll try to update it often. So, if you do like it, feel free to support me on Patreon (Patreon.com/Koyon) or just leave a comment letting me know!
I'll also add an option to read the next chapter early on Patreon if I do continue writing this story frequently. Thanks for reading, and I hope y'all enjoyed chapter 1!
Also also - feel free to suggest any ideas you have for abilities or units. I have a bunch in mind, but this story will feature a TON, so suggestions are always welcome!
Thoughts
"Talking"
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A tall, lanky man with a muscular build lay on the floor of a pitch-black room. He wore a black T-shirt that clung tightly to his defined upper body, and gray sweatpants.
"Ugh… Did I drink too much last night?" Azuma groaned, his head aching as he rolled over, a drop of water plopping onto his head, "The fuck is going on…"
He opened his eyes. Then he opened them again. And again. It wasn't until the fourth time trying to open his eyes that he realized that his eyes were already open.
"Did the power go out? Why's it so dark…" He glanced around - or, would've glanced around if it wasn't pitch black.
"Chiho? You home?" Azuma called out for his younger sister, pushing himself up into a sitting position on the hard, damp floor. As he felt around, his hand brushed against something rough.
Is this… rocks?
He brushed his hand back and forth, feeling small grains crumble away from the solid ground. He flinched as another drop of water dripped from the ceiling, landing on his head.
"Okay… Either I'm way too hungover, or this isn't my room," Azuma concluded, "Did I get kidnapped or somethin'? Where the hell am I?"
[Welcome to your Dungeon, Dungeon Master!]
"The fuck?" Azuma said out loud, blinking as a bright red light assaulted his eyes. A large graphic box was floating in front of him, a red light exuding from it and shining a dim light onto his surroundings. Azuma looked around, seeing that he was in a small room with a rocky floor and a ceiling full of stalactites. Drops of water were dripping occasionally from the hanging objects, and a few feet in every direction of him were smooth walls.
Those walls are absurdly smooth for a cave.
He glanced at a puddle a few feet away and caught his reflection—a handsome face with a mop of messy black hair and high cheekbones.
Hi, me. Azuma thought idly before he snapped his attention back to the floating box.
"Dungeon Master?" He said out loud, poking his finger forward into the floating box. The box vanished, dumping Azuma back into darkness for a second before another one appeared.
[You have been chosen for the Game of Dungeons: DxD Edition, Dungeon Master!]
"DxD?" Azuma asked, "Like, High School DxD?"
He received no response - just a text box staring back at him.
Never heard of another DxD before, so it's gotta be that one.
"Yo, fucking floating box," Azuma said, jutting his finger into the box, which resulted in his finger pushing through it as if it were intangible, "This is cool and all, but I'm good. I'm about to graduate from University, and I didn't waste four years of my life to sit in a dirty ass cave. Just pick someone else."
The box disappeared for a moment, and a new one appeared.
[Please choose your Dungeon Attendant, Dungeon Master!]
"Did you not hear me, shitter?" Azuma shoved his finger into the box again, his face being washed with annoyance, "I don't wanna sit in this fucking caveI was on track to be a pro volleyball player, y'know? Do you know how much pussy those guys get? A lot! So, send me back!"
[Here is a list of possible choices, Master!]
Another box appeared to Azuma's right, but he pointedly ignored it.
"You deaf or somethin'? I don't wanna, just send me home." Azuma waved his hand dismissively. He stared at the box. The box stared back. Their staring contest continued, both too stubborn to give in, until finally…
[...you sure?]
"Yes, I'm fucking sure. Send me back."
[What do I need to do to convince you?]
"Convince me?" Azuma stared incredulously at the floating text, "Nothing, jackass! Do you know who I am? You should if you picked me! I'm Azuma Kaito, and I'm lazy as fuck. You think I'm gonna build some awesome dungeon and survive in the world of High School DxD? Where literal gods can snap their fingers and end me? I just finished University, shitty box, I need a few months of vacation, and not in some fucking cave!"
[...you are quite vulgar, Dungeon Master.]
"You try being ripped out of your comfy bed and put in some dark shitty cave. Tell me how you feel afterward."
[If you accept your role as Dungeon Master, I'll give you 100 extra starting points!]
"Nah."
[W-What? That's a lot! Like, a game-changing amount!]
"Give me a million."
[...I'm not giving you a million, Dungeon Master. I'll do 200 at most.]
"5 Million or I'm out."
[250.]
"10 Million."
[S-Stop going up! You don't even know what these points do yet! You just ignored my list of attendants!]
"15 Million."
[S-Stop! I'll do 500, okay? If you don't accept, then I'll just choose someone else to be Dungeon Master!]
"Go ahead. Pick a new one." Azuma said dismissively, leaning back so he was lounging as he stared up at the box.
[I'm serious! I'll do it!]
"Please do. Send me back home so I can chug some beer and forget this ever happened."
[T-This is a huge opportunity, you know?! You're the first ever Dungeon Master in the DxD Universe!]
"Don't care."
[Y-You look like you work out, right? Here you can be super strong! Strong to the point that you can blast mountains away with just your bare hands! Awesome, right?!]
"Didn't ask."
[W-What about women? You said you were excited to get p-pussy back in your own world, right? There are some b-...babes here! You know, Rias? Akeno? You could make them yours!]
"Best argument so far, but nah. I'd probably die before I even met them." Azuma waved the idea away.
[Ok, fine! 1000 starting points! Final offer!]
Azuma yawned in response, rolling over and closing his eyes.
[D-Don't go to sleep! Hey! Hey! Look back over here!]
"25 million, or just go pick a new one," Azuma said with his eyes closed.
[2000! I'll do 2000!]
,,,
[Are you snoring?]
…
[Look back over here, Dungeon Master. This is so unbecoming of you.]
…
[Please?]
…
The box moved, its position changing from directly above Azuma to in front of his closed eyes as he lay on his side.
"Just pick someone else," Azuma groaned, opening his eyes as the bright red light assaulted him.
[I can't, okay? I chose you, so I'm stuck with you! And if you don't start upgrading the dungeon, then you're going to die, and then I'm going to die!]
"Who even are you, anyway?" Azuma said as he rolled back over, laying on his back.
[I'm right here. Look to your right.]
Azuma glanced over, spotting… nothing.
"There's nothing here." He deadpanned.
[Down a little!]
Azuma glanced down, seeing a small rock sitting by the absurdly smooth stone wall.
"You're a rock?"
[No! I'm a Dungeon Core!]
"Looks like a rock to me."
[Listen! I'm a Dungeon Core, so I'm the center of your dungeon! If I get destroyed then the whole dungeon will fall apart, and you, as the Dungeon Master, will die a painful death!]
"I don't wanna spend all day babysitting a fucking rock. Just send me home." Azuma said, staring incredulously at the small rock.
[I'm not a rock! And - I already created the dungeon you're inside, so I can't remove it. You have to take some points to start expanding and protecting the dungeon, or we'll both die!]
"Huh? Then why don't you just give me a shit ton of points?" Azuma mused, "You want me to protect you, right? Just give me the max so it'll be easy."
[...I can't do that. This is my first dungeon location, but I will be creating others which will require points. I need to spread the points evenly amongst the dungeon masters.]
"Eh?" Azuma said, "Nah, just give them all to me. Why would you want more dungeons? Sounds like a bunch of work, and dumb as fuck. More dungeons mean more chances to die."
[N-No! Having more dungeons will increase my energy intake rate, which means I'll grow faster and be able to resurre- I mean, uh, become strong?]
"Resurrect? Are you like some dead monster or god or somethin'?"
[...no…]
"Whatever, I don't care. Just send me home."
[...I'm getting fed up, mortal! I could kill you right where you stand! Now, fucking accept my generous offer, or I'll smite you!]
"Alright, here's how it's gonna go," Azuma sighed as he stood up. He walked over and picked up the rock.
[Hey! Put me down!]
I'm gonna rinse this fucker dry.
Azuma raised his hand, throwing the rock into the smooth rock wall. The rock slammed into the wall, bouncing off and falling to the ground.
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-1 HP! (99/100)
[Stop that! You fucking mortal, I'll kill you!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-1 HP! (99/100)
[Stop that! You fucking mortal, I'll kill you!]
Azuma walked over to the rock, picked it up, and raised his hand to throw it at the wall again, "Give me all the points, or I'll do it again."
[I can't-
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-1 HP! (98/100)
[Ok! Fine! I'll give you 10,000, alright? You'll be my most important partner! This is an honor that anyone would kill for!]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-1 HP! (98/100)
[Ok! Fine! I'll give you 10,000, alright? You'll be my most important partner! This is an honor that anyone would kill for!]
"Nah, I want 'em all," Azuma said, grabbing the rock and chucking it at the wall with a bit more strength.
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-2 HP! (96/100)
[Ow! Stop! 25,000 alright? That's a 1/4th of all my power! Then I can still make more-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (91/100)
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-2 HP! (96/100)
[Ow! Stop! 25,000 alright? That's a 1/4th of all my power! Then I can still make more-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (91/100)
Azuma's foot stomped down, slamming into the top of the rock.
[Fuck! Stop! Stop! 50,000! I'll do half!]
"Don't be such a cheapskate," Azuma said stomping repeatedly on the rock.
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (86/100)
[Sto-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (81/100)
[75,000!]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (76/100)
[90! I'll do-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (71/100)
[Stop and liste-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (66/100)
[Ple-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (61/100)
[Let me keep a hundred at leas-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (56/100)
[OKAY! I get it! Stop!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (86/100)
[Sto-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (81/100)
[75,000!]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (76/100)
[90! I'll do-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (71/100)
[Stop and liste-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (66/100)
[Ple-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (61/100)
[Let me keep a hundred at leas-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (56/100)
[OKAY! I get it! Stop!]
"That doesn't sound like a hundred thousand," Azuma hummed, stomping down again, "I want an apology too."
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (51/100)
[Okay! 100,000! Just stop and listen!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (51/100)
[Okay! 100,000! Just stop and listen!]
Azuma nodded with a satisfied smirk, "Glad we could agree. Now give me the points before I start using your rock to wipe my ass."
[I will, just listen! I need points to keep me in this realm, so if I give them all to you, I'll go back to being dorma-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (46/100)
[ALERT!]
You're Dungeon Core is under 50% HP!
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (46/100)
[ALERT!]
You're Dungeon Core is under 50% HP!
"You wanna be dormant or do you wanna die?" Azuma asked the floating box.
[OKAY I GET IT! Just… I can give you some recommendations before I become dormant, alright? So, I'll give you 99,000 so I can stay here to hel-]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (41/100)
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-5 HP! (41/100)
"I want it all, shitter."
[OKAY! HERE!]
[Alert!]
You have received 99,999 Points from ?
[Alert!]
You have received 99,999 Points from ?
"I want the last one," Azuma raised his foot above the rock menacingly.
[...Seriously?]
"Yup."
[...Just… Let me give you recommendations first, okay?]
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I want that apology too." Azuma said with a shit-eating grin.
[Apology? For what?!]
"For threatening to kill me. That's frowned upon back in Japan." Azuma responded as if it was obvious.
[...whatever. I'm sorry for threatening to kill a pathetic mortal.]
"Not good enough." Azuma bent over to pick up the rock.
[W-Wait! I-I… I'm sorry for threatening to kill you, alright?]
Azuma's shit-eating grin grew even wider, "You can do better."
[...fuck you…]
"What'd ya say?" Azuma asked, waiving the rock in the air.
[I'm sorry! I'm sorry for threatening to harm you, oh great Dungeon Master!]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-1 HP! (40/100)
[Ow! What was that for?!]
[Alert!]
You're Dungeon Core has been damaged!
-1 HP! (40/100)
[Ow! What was that for?!]
"Just felt like it."
[You… whatever. Can we get started now?]
"Go ahead," Azuma said, gesturing toward the floating box.
[...thanks. First, you need to summon a Dungeon Attendant. The Attendant will act as a mini-you - managing the Dungeon when you're busy and being able to buy upgrades. They are the only other person in this universe who will be able to see your Dungeon UI. You can only summon one once, so I recommend using the majority of your… hundred thousand points on this.]
A scrolling list appeared in front of him with various names and prices.
[Dungeon Attendants]
Male Goblin - 1 Point
Female Goblin - 2 Points
Male F-Class Familiar - 2 Points
Female F-Class Familiar - 3 Points
Male Slime - 2 Points
Female Slime - 1000 Points
Male Centaur - 5 Points
Female Water Spirit - 50 Points
Male Goblin - 1 Point
Female Goblin - 2 Points
Male F-Class Familiar - 2 Points
Female F-Class Familiar - 3 Points
Male Slime - 2 Points
Female Slime - 1000 Points
Male Centaur - 5 Points
Female Water Spirit - 50 Points
Why is the female slime so expensive…
The list had every type of creature Azuma could think of, and even numerous types that he had never heard of. He swiped his finger down the text box to scroll and quickly realized that it'd take years to look through all the options.
"I can't look through all these weak fuckers," Azuma said pointedly to the text box, "Just show me the good shit. Also, why are the prices listed so randomly? You can't sort it by cheap to expensive?"
[Right! The expensive choices will either be powerful beings or someone who already exists.]
[Dungeon Attendants]
Male Dragon - 10,000 Points
Female Dragon - 15,000 Points
High-Tier Devil - 10,000 Points
Six-Winged Fallen Angel - 20,000 Points
Four-Winged Angel - 15,000 Points
Nami (One Piece) - 50,000 Points
…
[Dungeon Attendants]
Male Dragon - 10,000 Points
Female Dragon - 15,000 Points
High-Tier Devil - 10,000 Points
Six-Winged Fallen Angel - 20,000 Points
Four-Winged Angel - 15,000 Points
Nami (One Piece) - 50,000 Points
…
Huh?
"Yo, shitty game dev," Azuma said, waving his hand at the box.
[...you talking to me?]
"Who else would I be talking to in this remote cave?" Azuma deadpanned.
[What do you want?]
"This right here," Azuma pointed at the option, "Says Nami. As in, Nami from One Piece. I thought I was in High School DxD. And stop ignoring my question from a minute ago."
[You are! You're also taking the whole 'pulled to a different universe' thing pretty well. I thought whoever I took would be having a mental breakdown.]
"Yeah, I'm him."
[...Him? You're who?]
"I'm him. You know, like Himothy? Like, I'm that fucking guy?" Azuma said, making a random motion with his hands to enunciate his point.
[I don't understand.]
"Whatever, it's human stuff. Just tell me why Nami's an option, and why you suck at sorting things by price." Azuma said with a disappointed sigh.
[...why do I feel ashamed? Ah, but about Nami. This is the world of High School DxD, but it also has a random Dungeon God, me, in it. Do you get where I'm going with this?]
"It's gonna be a bit fucked up?" Azuma asked blandly.
[I would've gone with 'different,' but pretty much. The world itself is the same, but some characters from other worlds were born here instead of in their own world due to a collision of dimensions! …or something, I don't really know. They are now a part of this world, meaning they will have grown up in this world and have no memory of their original one - if you meet them outside of the dungeon, that is. If you encounter them in defense of your dungeon, meaning they came with the monsters that are attacking, then that could not be the case.]
"So, I can run into these characters in the outside world and in the dungeon? Also, the monsters attacking?" Azuma asked with a tilted head.
[Yes! As for the monsters, I'll get to that later. First, pick your attendant.]
"Alright, but I'm not forgetting about your shitty store-making skills just because you keep avoiding my question. This would be so much easier if you just sorted in descending order from high to low prices." Azuma swiped down again, going past the general options to get to the already-established characters in the DxD world.
[Dungeon Attendants]
Kalawarner (Canon Character) - 20,000 Points
Millet (Canon Character) - 20,000 Points
Raynare (Canon Character) - 25,000 Points
Ravel Phenex (Canon Character) - 20,000 Points
Kiba Yuuto (Canon Character) - 25,000 Points
Asia Argento (Canon Characters) - 75,000 Points
Koneko Toujou (Canon Character) - 90,000 Points
Akeno Himejima (Canon Characters) - 95,000 Points
Rias Gremory (Canon Character) - 100,000 Points
Grayfia Lucifuge (Canon Character) - 50,000 Points
Kalawarner (Canon Character) - 20,000 Points
Millet (Canon Character) - 20,000 Points
Raynare (Canon Character) - 25,000 Points
Ravel Phenex (Canon Character) - 20,000 Points
Kiba Yuuto (Canon Character) - 25,000 Points
Asia Argento (Canon Characters) - 75,000 Points
Koneko Toujou (Canon Character) - 90,000 Points
Akeno Himejima (Canon Characters) - 95,000 Points
Rias Gremory (Canon Character) - 100,000 Points
Grayfia Lucifuge (Canon Character) - 50,000 Points
"That's enticing," Azuma said as he stared at the last option, "How does this attendant thing work? Isn't she just gonna kill me when she gets randomly summoned to a cave?"
[Good question! Whoever you summon as your Dungeon Attendant will become completely loyal to you, so don't worry! Regardless of their power, they will put you first above all others as their Master!]
"Nice," Azuma hummed, "She'd be a good choice then. She's already a maid, is one of the strongest devils, and I'll still have half my points left. However, there's just one problem…"
[Ah! I'm glad you noticed the issue with choosing Grayfia, Dungeon Master! Her husband, Sirzechs, is a Maou who will inevitably come looking for her and blow up the entire dungeon! I was worried about your intelligence at first, Master, but it seems I was worried for nothing!]
"Nah, there's an even bigger issue," Azuma hummed, not explaining further, shadows covering his eyes as he was deep in thought.
[W-What?! An issue that not even I, a Goddess, thought of? You must truly be a genius! I'll put my full faith into you growing the dungeon, Master! Now, what issue did you think of?]
"It'll totally ruin my sex drive," Azuma said, putting his thumb on his chin like a philosopher.
[...What?]
"Think about it! The high I'll get from cucking a Maou will be awesome, but it'll ruin me for the rest of my life!" Azuma said, a stressed look appearing on his face, "Nothing else will be able to compare! I'll constantly be searching for a greater pleasure, and it'll be hard to find something better than that. I'll start doing crazy things, like trying to bang Ophis or somethin'."
[...I can't believe the dungeon is in your hands. We are so dead.]
"Relax," Azuma chuckled, "I know what I'm doing. I already got my attendant in mind."
Azuma swiped back up, tapping on an option he'd previously skipped over.
[Dungeon Attendant Chosen!]
[Ravel Phenex]
[Points Expended - 20,000]
[Points Remaining: 79,999]
[Ravel Phenex? Please tell me you didn't just do this because you're into blonde girls.]
[Ravel Phenex]
[Points Expended - 20,000]
[Points Remaining: 79,999]
[Ravel Phenex? Please tell me you didn't just do this because you're into blonde girls.]
"You have so little faith," Azuma hummed, "You gotta think big with stuff like this. She'll ensure I have the support of the Phenex Clan - who are arguably the strongest devil clan around. They're raking in an insane amount of cash from the Phenex tears, and I'll have access to all the tears I want with Ravel. On top of that, I'm betting theres some game bullshit that'll let me copy her powers. Infinite regeneration is OP as fuck. They also have a good relationship with the Gremory Clan, who were the only other choice I was considering."
[Was Rias the other option?]
"Yup, but Rias is too expensive," Azuma explained, standing in the red glow of the text boxes, "I'd have no points left, and she shares a similar problem with Grayfia. Sirzechs is a huge siscon, and he'd barge in here to evaporate me. Ravel's family supports her, but no one is obsessed with her, and they're manipulatable with Ravel loyal to me. I'd rather have the Gremory Clan's support, as with it would likely come the Bael's, but the cons outweigh the pros."
[...That was well thought out. It seems I underestimated your intelligence.]
"I overestimated yours," Azuma replied, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. He leaned casually against the wall, eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and satisfaction. "I figured you'd realize I wasn't actually a stupid jackass after I rinsed you for 100,000 points."
[...]
"Yeah, stay quiet," Azuma mocked, his smirk unwavering. He pushed off from the wall and crossed his arms, his stance oozing confidence. "You really believed all that shit? I've never even played volleyball. I'm a jackass, just not a dumb one. Now, where's Ravel at?"
[...you need to complete the tutorial for her to be summoned…]
"Oh, alright," Azuma nodded, "Then what's next?"
[...you can choose a race if you want. It's optional…]
"Stop being passive-aggressive. It'd be fine if you were a cute girl, but you're a dead old as fuck god," Azuma scoffed, rolling his eyes as he leaned back with an exaggerated yawn. "Just show me my options."
[...Goddesses have feelings too… I was cute…]
"Just show me the list, woman. This is starting to get pathetic." Azuma's tone was dismissive, his gaze fixed on the floating text.
[R-Right. Here's the list, Dungeon Master]
The new red box unfurled with an intricate glow, displaying the options in crisp, illuminated text. Azuma's eyes skimmed over the list, his expression a mixture of curiosity and skepticism.[Points Remaining: 79,999]
[Races]
[Human]:
Cons:
Receive 0.90x Reputation Gains with all Supernatural Creatures.
All Other Non-human Faction-specific Skills and Abilities will be locked.
Pros:
[Sacred Gear] option unlocked.
[Race Change] will be available.
[Races]
[Human]:
Cons:
Receive 0.90x Reputation Gains with all Supernatural Creatures.
All Other Non-human Faction-specific Skills and Abilities will be locked.
Pros:
[Sacred Gear] option unlocked.
[Race Change] will be available.
"Reputation? Is this a fucking dating sim or somethin'?" Azuma asked incredulously, his tone dripping with disbelief as he interrupted the text box before the list had fully appeared.
[N-No! As the Dungeon Master, you must expand the Dungeon's influence to create a cult around me so I can gain as much energy as possible! I, um, thought a reputation system would be helpful… so I took the time to make one…]
Azuma's smirk widened as he nodded, a mixture of approval and mockery in his eyes. "Good thinking."
The goddess's digital presence, the text box, flickered with a hesitant spark of hope.
[R-Really? You like it?]
Azuma's grin was almost predatory as he leaned closer to the glowing text. "Yeah, it'll be great for fucking babes. Does it have obedience and affection?" he asked, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.
[...yes it does…]
Azuma's eyes flickered with a mix of satisfaction and impatience. "Nice. Start showing me the other options now," he ordered, his tone brooking no argument.
The goddess didn't bother to give a response and the red box in front of him expanded downward.
[Points Remaining: 79,999]
[Races]
[Human]: 0 Points
Cons:
Receive 0.90x Reputation Gains with all Supernatural Creatures.
All Other Non-human Faction-specific Skills and Abilities will be locked.
Pros:
[Sacred Gear] option unlocked.
[Race Change] will be available.
[Devil]: 25,000 Points
Cons:
2x Weakness to [Light Damage]
2x Weakness to [Holy Damage]
Receive 0.5x Reputation Gains with [Church], [Heaven], and [Grigori] Faction Members.
Pros:
2x Resistance to [Demonic Damage]
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Devil] Faction Members
Increased Life Span
Access to [Devil] Skills and Abilities.
[Bloodline] option unlocked.
[Angel]: 25,000 Points
Cons:
2x Weakness to [Demonic Damage]
Receive 0.5x Reputation Gains with [Devil] and [Grigori] Faction Members.
Pros:
[Wing-System] unlocked.
2x Resistance to [Light Damage]
2x Resistance to [Holy Damage]
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Church] and [Heaven] Faction Members.
Access to [Angel] Skills and Abilities.
[Fallen Angel]: 25,000 Points
Cons:
Receive 0.5x Reputation Gains with [Devil], [Church], and [Heaven] Faction Members.
Pros:
[Wing-System] unlocked.
2x Resistance to [Demonic Damage]
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Grigori] Faction Members.
Access to [Fallen-Angel] Skills and Abilities.
[Youkai]: 20,000 Points
Cons:
[Chakra-Sickness] and [Chakra-Death] conditions unlocked.
Pros:
[Tail-System] unlocked.
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Youkai] Faction Members.
Access to [Youkai] Skills and Abilities.
Access to [Chakra].
Access to [Aura].
[Neko-
[Races]
[Human]: 0 Points
Cons:
Receive 0.90x Reputation Gains with all Supernatural Creatures.
All Other Non-human Faction-specific Skills and Abilities will be locked.
Pros:
[Sacred Gear] option unlocked.
[Race Change] will be available.
[Devil]: 25,000 Points
Cons:
2x Weakness to [Light Damage]
2x Weakness to [Holy Damage]
Receive 0.5x Reputation Gains with [Church], [Heaven], and [Grigori] Faction Members.
Pros:
2x Resistance to [Demonic Damage]
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Devil] Faction Members
Increased Life Span
Access to [Devil] Skills and Abilities.
[Bloodline] option unlocked.
[Angel]: 25,000 Points
Cons:
2x Weakness to [Demonic Damage]
Receive 0.5x Reputation Gains with [Devil] and [Grigori] Faction Members.
Pros:
[Wing-System] unlocked.
2x Resistance to [Light Damage]
2x Resistance to [Holy Damage]
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Church] and [Heaven] Faction Members.
Access to [Angel] Skills and Abilities.
[Fallen Angel]: 25,000 Points
Cons:
Receive 0.5x Reputation Gains with [Devil], [Church], and [Heaven] Faction Members.
Pros:
[Wing-System] unlocked.
2x Resistance to [Demonic Damage]
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Grigori] Faction Members.
Access to [Fallen-Angel] Skills and Abilities.
[Youkai]: 20,000 Points
Cons:
[Chakra-Sickness] and [Chakra-Death] conditions unlocked.
Pros:
[Tail-System] unlocked.
Receive 2x Reputation Gains with [Youkai] Faction Members.
Access to [Youkai] Skills and Abilities.
Access to [Chakra].
Access to [Aura].
[Neko-
Azuma's expression turned smug as he waved a dismissive hand at the floating text. "You can stop now. I already know what I'm choosing," he hummed.
[There's still 42 other options, Dungeon Master!]
"I'm staying human," Azuma responded, "All the other ones are so expensive. How the hell was I gonna afford them with 100 points?"
[100 points is a good starting amount! You can still choose some of the other powerful races, like goblin! Or hobgoblin! Or-]
"You're so cheap, no one wants to be a fucking gobby," Azuma waved his hand dismissively, "I'm staying a human. What's next? Do I get to choose a sacred gear now?"
[Goblins are cool! You need to be nicer - I could just leave you on your own to figure this stuff out!]
"That would be great," Azuma nodded wisely, "Just give me that last point and go sleep or whatever. I can figure this out alone."
[W-Wait… You can get sacred gears from quests, alright? Now, let's make a deal!]
"Don't wanna."
[Just listen! I don't want to become dormant again, and you'll get something out of it too!]
"You shoulda started with that," Azuma grinned widely, "Alright. What do I get out of this?"
[Summon me as a unit.]
"A unit?" Azuma hummed, "I don't even know what that is, shitty tutorial."
[I'm not a tutorial! I'm a goddess! Hmmph, a unit is the basis of the Dungeon System. You can summon units to help you expand the dungeon, with different types of units being used for different tasks.]
"So… what are you gonna be useful for?" Azuma asked, staring doubtingly at the floating text box, "Getting scammed outta points?"
[You… I'm very useful, I'll let you know! I'm a GODDESS! I have a bunch of awesome magic!]
"I'll think about it," Azuma responded, "How do I summon units?"
[Just think 'summons'!]
Summons.
[Unit Summons]
[Unit List]
[Gacha]
[Unit List]
[Gacha]
"Oh, I like the way you think, Goddess," Azuma grinned at the bottom option, "How'd you know I love gambling?"
[D-Don't use that! Not yet, at least! Just look at the list and summon me!]
"Fine, fine," Azuma conceded, tapping on the unit list. A small array of options appeared in front of him.
[Worker Units]
[Defense Units]
[Offense Units]
[Support Units]
[LOCKED] - More options will be available upon [Dungeon] Rank Up.
[Defense Units]
[Offense Units]
[Support Units]
[LOCKED] - More options will be available upon [Dungeon] Rank Up.
"You're a support unit, right?" Azuma asked out loud.
[Yeah! How did you know?]
"You seem too dumb to do anything else," Azuma hummed, ignoring a red box full of angry text that appeared at his side. He tapped on the support units.
[LVL 1 Dungeon Support Units]
[Special!] [Aphrodite] - 5 Points
[Imp] - 25 Points
[Fairy] - 50 Points
[Fae] - 40 Points
[Dryad] - 50 Points
[Nymph] - 50 Points
[Special!] [Aphrodite] - 5 Points
[Imp] - 25 Points
[Fairy] - 50 Points
[Fae] - 40 Points
[Dryad] - 50 Points
[Nymph] - 50 Points
"So, you're Aphrodite," Azuma hummed appreciatively, "It makes sense why you're so dumb now. Your whole legend is about being an airheaded whore."
[No it's not! I hate that all these worlds portray me like that! I can't help it that I'm hot and all the other goddess bitches get jealous! You use a king as a human throne ONE TIME and instead of being 'the cool awesome goddess who took over a kingdom' you're the-
Azuma looked away from her rant, tapping on the summon option.
[Special!][Aphrodite] has been summoned!
[Points Expended - 5]
[Points Remaining - 79,994]
[Points Expended - 5]
[Points Remaining - 79,994]
"-Goddess who fucked the king because she's too weak! I would never have sex with that old bastard! I should be one of the virgin goddesses! It's not my fault that my tits are so big-"
In front of Azuma was now a small woman - literally. She was only a few inches tall, looking as if she could fit in the palm of his hand. She had an angular and beautiful face, with a pair of breasts that looked far too big for her body. She was the definition of beauty, with her even her curves having curves, and her ass looking plump and bubbly. She had long blonde hair and was wearing a toga that did a poor job of hiding her sexy body - which wasn't the toga's fault, as Azuma doubted there was any outfit that could hide the woman's curves. She had a pair of blue fairy wings on her back, holding her in the air as she angrily ranted, pointing her finger at Azuma as if it was his fault. Her beautiful blue eyes bored into him as she ranted.
[Love Goddess] Aphrodite:
[5 Point-Restricted Form]
LVL: MAX
"-that I need handmaidens to hold them up! It's not my fault that they so enamored Athena's maidens that they begged me for the job! And I mean BEGGED! Like, on their knees, bowing, and everything! How was I supposed to say no?!"
The tiny goddess hovered closer to Azuma, jabbing her finger at him with a mixture of frustration and defiance. Her face was flushed, her voice high-pitched and animated. "Tell me how it's MY fault that a bunch of mortal men left their wives after seeing pictures of me and falling in love! I didn't talk to them! I never even met them! I can't help being this perfect—"
"That was funny at first, but you're getting annoying now," Azuma hummed, raising his hand and flicking the small woman in front of him with two fingers. The tiny goddess went flying backward, disappearing from his view into the darkness of the cave. He turned back to the floating box, looking at the other options.
[LVL 1 Dungeon Offense Units]
[Goblin] - 5 Points
[Rat] - 10 Points
[Orc] - 20 Points
[Slime] - 25 Points
[Zombie] - 50 Points
[Skeleton] - 50 Points
[Kobold] - 250 Points
[Ogre] - 500 Points
[Goblin] - 5 Points
[Rat] - 10 Points
[Orc] - 20 Points
[Slime] - 25 Points
[Zombie] - 50 Points
[Skeleton] - 50 Points
[Kobold] - 250 Points
[Ogre] - 500 Points
"Hey! What was that for!" A high-pitched voice squeaked to his left, and he looked over to see the small goddess glaring at him as she hovered in the air.
"Just felt like it. Your voice was giving me a headache," Azuma said, raising an eyebrow, "What about it?"
"Hmmph!" The goddess made a noise in her throat, a large evil grin forming on her face, "Well, you'll regret making a mockery of me! You summoned me so willingly! Who's the dumbass now?!"
"What are you going on about?" Azuma asked, tilting his head at the tiny flying woman.
"You will regret all those insults you directed at me, the Great Aphrodite! Now, you will become my slave!" The goddess shouted, grabbing the top of her toga and pulling it down to reveal her perky porcelain breasts, "Fall in love, mortal!"
The system flashed an urgent message.
[Love Goddess] Aphrodite has used [MAXLVL Charm] on you!
"Hahahaha!" The goddess laughed victoriously, wiggling her breasts at Azuma as she groped them, "Become my slave! If you're a good boy and lick my feet clean, maybe I'll let you feel these divine breas-"
"Nice tits," Azuma said, poking his finger into Aphrodite's chest. The tiny goddess went flying backward, her outraged squeal echoing as she disappeared from view. Azuma turned back to the units page.
[LVL 1 Dungeon Defense Units]
[Shield Goblin] - 15 Points
[Turtle Guard] - 25 Points
[Golem Wall] - 50 Points
[Gremlin] - 75 Points
[Harpy] - 150 Points
[Kobold Defender] - 250 Points
[Troll] - 500 Points
[Mimic] - 1000 Points
[Shield Goblin] - 15 Points
[Turtle Guard] - 25 Points
[Golem Wall] - 50 Points
[Gremlin] - 75 Points
[Harpy] - 150 Points
[Kobold Defender] - 250 Points
[Troll] - 500 Points
[Mimic] - 1000 Points
"Don't just ignore me so quickly!" Aphrodite shouted, jutting her finger into Azuma's cheek as she flew back up to him, "How did you resist that?!"
Azuma looked at her with a deadpan face, "I thought you were making a joke. You literally made the system."
To showcase his point, Azuma pointed to a small box that was floating to his left, where Aphrodite had shown him her breasts.
[Love Goddess] Aphrodite has used [MAXLVL Charm] on you!
[Goddess] Aphrodite's [MAXLVL Charm] had no effect!
Dungeon Units cannot harm the Dungeon Master!
[Goddess] Aphrodite's [MAXLVL Charm] had no effect!
Dungeon Units cannot harm the Dungeon Master!
"Oh… I forgot about that…" The goddess deflated, having the decency to blush, "No hard feelings, right?'
"Goddesswhosegoingtobeworkedtothebonesaywhat?"
"What?"
"Yeah… I can see why you cost the same amount as a goblin," Azuma said, an overly sweet fake smile on his face, "No hard feelings. None at all."
"I'm way more useful than a goblin!" Aphrodite protested. "It costs points to maintain my form in the world, and I saved them so I could come down when you made a big achievement and reward you! This tiny form is much cheaper than my normal goddess form, which costs millions of points!" Aphrodite pouted.
"Yeah, well, now you cost as much as a goblin," Azuma said dismissively, pulling up the last list of units.
[LVL 1 Dungeon Worker Units]
[Worker Goblin] - 10 Points
[Mole] - 25 Points
[Earth Imp] - 35 Points
[Kobold Miner] - 75 Points
[Myconid] - 250 Points
[Earth Elemental] - 500 Points
[Golem] - 1000 Points
[Worker Goblin] - 10 Points
[Mole] - 25 Points
[Earth Imp] - 35 Points
[Kobold Miner] - 75 Points
[Myconid] - 250 Points
[Earth Elemental] - 500 Points
[Golem] - 1000 Points
"Don't compare me to a goblin! I have awesome magic skills!" The goddess pouted.
"Sure, sure," Azuma said, reaching up his hand and poking her ass, eliciting a yelp of surprise from the love goddess, "Just explain how the monsters will be attacking, shitty tutorial."
"Stop calling me a tutorial!" The goddess whined, "Please?"
"Whatever you say, tutorial." Azuma hummed in response.
"I hate you!" Aphrodite squeaked indignantly, then sighed as she started to explain, "The dungeon has two entrances - one tied to the High School DxD realm, and one tied to the Monster Realm."
"What's the difference?" Azuma asked as he glanced around the small dim room, "Can I get a chair or something? I don't wanna sit on the floor again. I might sit down in some goddess shit by accident."
"Don't act like I'm some kind of dog!" Aphrodite said, poking her finger into his cheek again, "But, you can summon a worker unit if you want a chair."
Azuma's hand reached up, selecting the top option of the worker class.
[Worker Goblin] has been summoned!
[Points Expended - 10]
[Points Remaining - 79,984]
[Points Expended - 10]
[Points Remaining - 79,984]
A flash of green light filled the room, and suddenly there was a small ugly creature staring up at him.
[Worker Goblin] - LVL 1
[Upgrade with Points]
[Evolution Tree] - LOCKED
[EXP: 0/100]
The goblin was small, looking to only be roughly 3 feet tall. It had green skin, a big nose, and an ugly face that synergized with its bald bumpy head. It was clearly out of shape - with skinny muscleless limbs but a thick stomach. The goblin was naked except for the small loincloth over his crotch, and he had a pickaxe thrown over his shoulder. The pickaxe had a wooden handle and a metallic top.
"Yo, goblin," Azuma waved down at the little creature, "Can you make me a chair? Or, better yet, a couch!"
"He can't make you a couch! He doesn't even know what a couch is!" Aphrodite said as she floated next to his ear, planting her soft and plump ass on his shoulder.
Contrary to Aphrodite's words, the goblin raised his hand to his forehead and gave Azuma a salute.
"Gerbbhleh!" The noise that came out of the little goblins mouth was far from intelligible, sounding like a jarbled mess that came from the back of his throat.
He turned away, walking toward the eastern rock wall, his legs rising in falling in a stiff motion as he marched.
"He can figure it out," Azuma nodded approvingly, then turned his head to look at the goddess perched on his shoulder, "Now, tell me what this whole 'realm of monsters' is about."
"It's the 'Monster Realm'," Aphrodite corrected, "And, just as it sounds, it's a realm of monsters. It'd be more accurate to say your dungeon is split in half, with one side residing in the Monster Realm and the other in the High School DxD realm. Most of the Monster Realm is composed of the 'Wildlands' where mindless beasts roam. These monsters can attack your dungeon at any time, either in packs or alone."
A clang rang out, and Azuma looked over to see the small [Worker Goblin] swinging his pickaxe into the rock wall, chipping away at it.
"'Most' of the realm," Azuma said, focusing on why she specified that, "What's the rest of it?"
"Well, I'm not the only god who's trying to resurrect," Aphrodite continued, blushing as she looked away innocently, "I also, maybe, possibly, might not be the one who designed the Dungeon System. The Monster Realm is full of gods and acient beings who want to resurrect, and all of them are using the same system."
"BUT!" She shouted, holding up a finger as she saw Azuma open his mouth, ready to make a quip about how useless she was, "I'm a step above the rest! From what I've seen, none of the other gods have Dungeon Masters from other worlds, and none of them are connected to another world! Since you're not technically a race from this universe, you can summon all types of monsters instead of just specialized ones!"
"So, the other Dungeon Masters are intelligent monsters?" Azuma assumed, getting confirmation as Aphrodite nodded.
"Yup! Though, their level of intelligence varies," She explained, swiping a finger across her nose as her face grew increasingly smug, "I picked a pretty great spot for your dungeon! The only other Dungeon Master within a few days' travel is this stupid F-Rank orc! And! And! There are only weak monsters around, so you won't need to worry about anything higher than E-Rank monsters until you've expanded the dungeon a lot!"
The tiny bombshell goddess had jumped onto her feet in her excitement, standing on Azuma's shoulder as she looked at him expectedly, stars in her eyes.
Does… she want to be praised or somethin'?
"Um… good job?" Azuma started, resulting in the goddess blushing as she bounced on the soles of her bare feet, "You're not completely useless, I guess. Maybe you should've been the cost of two goblins."
The goddess's excitement dwindled at the second part of his statement, and she sighed as she plopped back down on his shoulder, her fat tits swinging as she did, "Close enough."
"About the ranking system," Azuma started, bringing the goddess's attention back to him, "How does the dungeon rank work? Why is the orc a F-Rank dungeon master?"
"Oh! It's simple!" Aphrodite said, her face brightening, "It's based on your points! When you defeat a monster or someone from the DxD realm, you'll get points based on how strong they were! And, if you defeat another Dungeon Master, you can either destroy their dungeon and take the points they used on it, or claim their dungeon as part of yours! There's other ways too, but… um… I don't remember…"
"Since I'm in an area with only weak monsters around, I'll be able to farm them for a while and gain points, then take down that Orc for even more points," Azuma hummed, ignoring her trailed-off confession, "You've actually put me in a pretty good starting spot. Maybe you're not so useless."
"I did!" The goddess said proudly, then frowned at the backhanded compliment, "...thanks? I guess?"
"But, if the other gods don't have a connection to other worlds, how'd you get connected to the DxD realm?" Azuma asked with a raised eyebrow, looking down at the small goddess, "Is there some 'Dungeon God' who pitied you for being so useless?"
"No!" She squeaked again indignantly, "I planned that out! I'm the [Goddess of Love], so I can gain a lot of energy from my Dungeon Masters doing love-related things! I figured that any Masters I summoned would be all about building a harem, so I chose an over-the-top ecchi world! This way, I'll be swimming in energy!"
"Though," Aphrodite's face squished in worry, "Since you're so rude, I don't know how you're going to get a harem. You're handsome, but your attitude is awful."
"Don't worry," Azuma waved her concerns away dismissively, "Women love when you're mean to them. If the relationship is going too well then they get bored. You gotta keep it interesting. Start a few arguments. Make em' jealous every once and a while."
"That… sounds like an abusive relationship," The tiny goddess deadpanned.
"Does it?" Azuma raised his finger to his chin, thinking dramatically, "Oh, I guess it does. Oh well, I'm about to be committing literal murder to expand the dungeon, so no use in trying to change now."
"As the Goddess of Love, I think you should at least try-" Aphrodite started, but was cut off as Azuma interrupted her.
"How'd you connect the two realms anyway? Must've been a huge feat if the other gods couldn't do it," Azuma said, dragging the goddess's attention to another topic as he stroked her ego a little.
"I forced a connection to the realm myself! No other god could do that!" Aphrodite continued, puffing out her ample breasts proudly, "I'm pretty awesome, right?!"
"What if," Azuma spoke, raising his voice as if he was talking to a child, "They could, but they didn't, because they realized that both them and their Dungeon Master could die instantly from someone in the other world? Like, you know, if I was a bit dumber and picked Rias, and then Sirzechs showed up and murdered us?"
Aphrodite's face fell at his words, her face conflicted as she tried to think of a comeback.
"Or," Azuma continued before Aphrodite could respond, "what if someone powerful, like, I don't know, Lord Phenex, showed up after his daughter mysteriously disappeared? He might not believe she'd suddenly fallen for someone like me. And if I only had 100 points to defend the dungeon... yeah, that would be a nightmare."
Aphrodite's face fell even further.
"But! That won't happen, since a Goddess so graciously and willingly gave me 100,000 points!"
"I get it," Aphrodite huffed, "Maybe starting with 100 points wasn't a good plan."
"It's alright," Azuma lifted his hand, smiling softly at the small woman as he patted her head with two fingers, "You might be a dumb Goddess, but you're my dumb Goddess!"
Aphrodite's face brightened as she bristled under his touch, blushing as she looked up at him with stars in her eyes, "Really? That so swe- Wait!"
Aphrodite reached up, pushing his fingers off her head as she pouted angrily, "T-This! Y-You! You're trying to manipulate me! You're pulling me into one of those abusive relationships!"
"Aphrodite," Azuma said, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, casually pushing his fingers back onto her head despite her swatting them away, "how could we be in an abusive relationship if we're not even dating?"
"Oh," Aphrodite blushed as she stopped swatting at his fingers, letting him pat her head again, "I guess that's true. Sorry, Azuma."
Such an airhead. But, a hot airhead goddess.
Azuma's attention was drawn away from the goddess as something tapped on his leg, and he looked down to see the short goblin staring up at him.
"Garblhh!"
The goblin gestured behind him, then fell into a salute. Azuma followed his finger, spotting an object now sitting in the previously empty cave.
A pile of jagged rocks were haphazardly crammed together, forming what could only be described as the world's most uncomfortable couch. Sharp armrests jutted out dangerously, threatening to tear into anyone daring enough to use them. The backrest was crumbling and uneven, while the seat—though not exactly inviting—was the only part that seemed somewhat usable, with a few irregular bumps scattered across its surface.
"Good work, solider!" Azuma saluted dramatically at the goblin, whose eyes filled with pride as he straightened his back and saluted again, "Go… um… mine a wall or something. We need some actual light, so, uh, figure that out."
"Geelbh!"
The goblin took his vague orders to heart, hurriedly marching over the dented-in wall he'd been mining to make the couch and swinging his pickaxe into it.
"So, what's next, tutorial?" Azuma asked as he walked over to the couch, sitting down on the flattest end of it, "I've still got 80,000 points. There better be some more shit to use it on."
The tiny goddess followed behind him, plopping her thick ass on the top of his head this time as she hummed happily, clearly in a good mood from the previous compliment considering she ignored his 'tutorial' comment, "Yup! There are still a few more steps. Next, you should choose your abilities!"
"My abilities?" Azuma asked, resisting the urge to tilt his head as the busty goddess sat on top of it, her feet dangling just above his eyes.
"Yup! Just think 'ability shop'! As a Dungeon Master, you can choose one major and one minor ability!" The goddess explained, "During the tutorial, you'll get to pick from the signature category, which you can only choose from right now! After that, you'll have the chance to obtain another one every time your dungeon ranks up, but only from that rank category. So, if you upgrade to E-Rank, then you can buy an E-Rank ability!"
Ability shop.
[Tutorial Ability Shop]
Choose One Major Ability!
[Signature Abilities]
Choose One Major Ability!
[Signature Abilities]
A list scrolled out in front of him, the text box shining a bright blue color that illuminated the entire cave.
[Strong Punch] - 10 Points
[Strong Punch] - A powerful punch!
[Flying Kick] - 15 Points
[Flying Kick] - A kick that uses the entire force of your body.
[Commanding Tone] - 20 Points
[Commanding Tone] - Speak in a commanding tone that encourages others to listen to you
I'm not picking any of this useless shit.
Azuma jutted his finger forward, scrolling down the list past all the cheap abilities.
[Gravity Manipulation] - 10,000 Points
[Gravity Manipulation] - Control the strength of the gravity around you.
[Gigantificantion] - 20,000 Points
[Gigantificantion] - Increase the size of your body at will.
[Adreniline Boost] - 25,000 Points
[Adrenaline Boost] - Flood your body with adrenaline, allowing you to push beyond your body's limits.
[Vibration Control] - 35,000 Points
[Vibration Control] - Create vibrations within anything you make contact with.
That last one seems pretty good. I could make earthquakes n' shit.
"What else am I gonna be using points on?" Azuma said out loud to Aphrodite, debating if he should scroll down further and look at the more expensive options.
"For the tutorial, just the major and minor skills," Aphrodite said from above him, "But, any points you have left over will be kept. Points are the main currency for the Dungeon System, so they're used for nearly everything: Summoning units, upgrading units, upgrading your abilities, setting traps, making new rooms, using the store…"
"How many points is an F-Rank monster gonna give me?" Azuma asked as he weighed the importance of keeping points leftover from the tutorial.
"It depends on how strong they are," The goddess replied, placing a finger on her chin as she looked upward in thought, "Most of them will probably only give one point. The strongest ones can give up to around five, I think?"
"You think?" Azuma echoed.
"Well, I've never killed one before, so how would I know?" Aphrodite responded innocently.
"Then… why did you even bother answering?" Azuma asked incredulously.
"You asked!"
Whatever, even if they only give one point these abilities are too good to pass up on. I won't have another chance at them, but I'll always be able to farm more points.
Azuma scrolled down, going all the way to the bottom of the list.
[Time Loop] - 1,000,000,000 Points
[Time Loop] - Upon dying you will revive at a save point.
Ok, scrolled a bit too far. What is this pay to win ass shit? What rich-ass god is giving their dungeon master a billion points in the tutorial?
Azuma swiped his hand up again, scrolling to the abilities that were at the top of his price range.
[Invisibility] - 55,000 Points
[Invisibility] - Become completely invisible - both to the naked eye and tracking abilities.
[Forecefield] - 65,000 Points
[Forecefield] - Create a barrier that protects you from attacks.
[Clone Creation] - 70,000 Points
[Clone Creation] - Create a clone of yourself at will.
[Time Dilation] - 75,000 Points
[Time Dilation] - Reverse or accelerate time.
Azuma stared at the few options that looked promising, his mind whirling.
"Which one are you picking?" Aphrodite asked, now lounging on his head. She was laying on her stomach, her large breasts, which weren't actually that large considering her miniature form, were dangling in front of Azuma's eyes as she looked down at the ability screen.
"Not sure," Azuma hummed, "Invisibility is cheap, so I'd be able to get a more expensive minor ability, but I don't think it's worth it. It's good for offense and gathering info, but it's not a defensive ability. I'm supposed to be the last line of defense for the dungeon, yeah?"
"Yup!" The goddess confirmed, "Your units should do most of the work, but if they can't hold out then it's up to you to defend me!"
"Defend you?" Azuma repeated, "How are you still the dungeon core if you're right here?"
"Well, technically, I'm not the dungeon core," Aphrodite explained, "My life force is tied to it, and so is yours. As it grows stronger, I'll also grow stronger, be able to utilize more of my power, and eventually resurrect into my original form. In the same way, if it's destroyed, then we'll both die. This mini-me is more like a medium for my conscious that has life energy supporting it."
"Got it," Azuma hummed, looking back at his options, "Forcefield's got the opposite problem. It's too defensive, and I don't know its limitations. If I could just place an unbreakable forcefield over the dungeon, then it'd be OP as fuck, but I doubt it's that good. It'd also be situational if It'd be useful for offense."
"Um, yeah," Aphrodite spoke, sounding unsure of her own words, "I don't think it's unbreakable. I've never heard of a forcefield that awesome."
She's not really a good source, but whatever.
"The cloning one looks amazing," Azuma said, the possibilities flooding his head, "Especially for managing a dungeon. I could train more efficiently - hell, I could do everything more efficiently. I'm just worried it's gonna be some Naruto-ass bullshit where they're all one-shots and they're only decently useful in battle. Or, that they'll cost points to maintain or somethin'."
"So, you're going with the time one?" Aphrodite asked, her breasts squishing into the top of his head as she lay on it.
"Anything time-related is just always good," Azuma hummed, "The description doesn't make it sound all that appealing with how vague it is, but it's expensive as fuck and lets me control time. Having any control over time is always going to be OP as fuck. It's gotta be good."
Azuma tapped his finger on the [Time Dilation] option and selected it.
[Signature Ability Chosen!]
[Time Dilation]
[Points Expended - 75,000]
[Points Remaining - 4,984]
[Time Dilation]
[Points Expended - 75,000]
[Points Remaining - 4,984]
"Can I get some more concrete info on it now?" Azuma asked, poking his finger into the screen.
"You can check your abilities by thinking 'abilities.'" Aphrodite supplied helpfully from above.
Abilities
[Abilities]
[Signature Ability - Time Dilation]
[Signature Ability - Time Dilation]
[Time Dilation LVL1] - Reverse or fast-forward time for an object or person within 5 feet of you for 1/10th of a second.
Cooldown: 60 seconds.
A shit-eating grin formed on Azuma's face.
Oh, this is even better than I could've hoped.
"You seem happy with it," Aphrodite said from above.
"Very," Azuma smirked, "This is like every broken time ability squished into one. I can do a lot with this."
"Well, I'm happy that you're happy," The goddess on his head hummed with a smile, apparently having done a complete 180 on her opinion of Azuma after he complimented her.
One compliment and she forgets that I scammed her outta a hundred thousand points.
"Let's hope the minor ability is decent at least," Azuma hummed, unconfident in finding a good ability for less than 5000 points.
Ability shop.
[Tutorial Ability Shop]
Choose One Minor Ability!
[Minor Signature Abilities]
Choose One Minor Ability!
[Minor Signature Abilities]
A lighter blue box appeared in front of him, another list of abilities being showcased.
[Sprint] - 1 Point
[Sprint] - Running, but a bit faster!
Azuma didn't even finish reading the first option before he swiped down, not bothering with the cheapest choices.
[Fire Elemental Magic] - 3,500 Points
[Fire Elemental Magic] - Gives you access to Fire Elemental magic.
[Water Elemental Magic] - 3,500 Points
[Water Elemental Magic] - Gives you access to Water Elemental magic.
[Earth Elemental Magic] - 3,500 Points
[Earth Elemental Magic] - Gives you access to Earth Elemental magic.
Cool, but… not that cool.
[Emotion Reading] - 3,750 Points
[Emotion Reading] - Read someone's emotions at a glance, giving you insight into their intentions and mindset.
Decent for diplomatic shit, but useless in combat.
[Double Strength] - 4,000 Points
[Double Strength] - However much you can lift - double it.
[Double Speed] - 4,000 Points
[Double Speed] - However fast you can move - double it.
Very nice, but there's gotta be better.
[Intimidation Aura] - 4,250 Points
[Intimidation Aura] - Give off an intimidating aura - enemies and allies alike will be intimidated.
[Enhanced Reflexes] - 4,500 Points
[Enhanced Reflexes] - However good your reflexes are - double it.
[Healing Container] - 4,750 Points
[Healing Container] - instantly heal all injuries until a damage cap is surpassed.
"That's the one," Azuma said instantly.
"Which one?" Aphrodite's high-pitched voice came from above.
"The healing one," He replied, "I don't know what the cap is, but it's good either way. Either I'm immune to attacks that don't go above a certain damage amount, or I heal through all damage up to a certain point. Both are great."
Azuma tapped [Healing Container].
[Minor Signature Ability Chosen!]
[Health Container]
[Points Expended - 4.750]
[Points Remaining - 234]
[Tutorial Complete!]
[Remaining Points have been added to your account!]
[Health Container]
[Points Expended - 4.750]
[Points Remaining - 234]
[Tutorial Complete!]
[Remaining Points have been added to your account!]
Abilities.
[Abilities]
[Minor Signature Ability - Healing Container]
[Minor Signature Ability - Healing Container]
[Healing Container LVL1] - instantly heal all injuries until [5000HP] is lost.
Damage Remaining: [5000/5000]
Cooldown: 1 Day.
"How much HP do I have?" Azuma asked out loud, trying to figure out how good the ability was.
"You can think 'stats' to see your health," Aphrodite supplied, finally floating off his head as she down next to him on the bench.
Stats.
[Azuma Kaito]
[Dungeon Master]
Dungeon Rank: F (15 D-Value)
Level: 1 (0/100)
HP: 100/100
MP: 100/100
STR: 5
AGI: 5
END: 5
INT: 5
CHA: 5
LUK: 5
HPREG: 5
MPREG: 5
Abilities: [Time Dilation], [Health Container]
Dungeon Boosts: None
Points: 234
"So I can just die fifty times a day and be fine? For this cheap?" Azuma asked incredulously, staring at the abilities description.
"Looks like it," Aphrodite said from his side, staring up at the levitating light blue box with him, "It might've not been that many points, but it's still a signature ability. It'll be harder to level up than normal abilities, so you'll probably have more total health than the ability heals soon enough."
"How much harder is it gonna be to level up?" Azuma questioned her.
"I think… 10 times more points?" Aphrodite thought out loud, placing a finger on her lips, "But! You can take the points other Dungeon Masters used on their abilities and apply them to your own when you beat them! Oh, but that's only if you don't want to take their ability."
Azuma blinked as he stared down at the goddess, "Take their ability?"
"Yeah!" She nodded innocently, "If you beat another Dungeon Master, you can claim their abilities!"
"Wish you said that earlier…" Azuma sighed.
That would've changed my strategy a bit. If taking down other masters is that good, then I should've saved more points and gone on the offensive right away, but it's whatever.
"I forgot!" The bimbo goddess said, looking only slightly apologetic.
"So, how does ranking up the dungeon work? Is it just all the points I've spent?" Azuma questioned, looking at the '15 D-Value' sitting beside his dungeon's rank.
Aphrodite smirked, "The tutorial's over, so you should have to figure this out on your own. Glad you have me now, huh?"
"I can figure it out on my own," Azuma deflected her question, "I was just trying to get some use out of my 5-point unit, but I should've bought a gobby instead I guess."
"I'm more useful than a goblin!" Aphrodite whined again with puffed-out cheeks, "Fine. Your dungeon rank depends on how many point-costing things are in it. So, if your Worker Goblin dies, then you'll lose 10 points of value. If you buy another one, then it'll go up by 10."
Azuma glanced back at his stat page, tapping on both his abilities.
[Signature Ability - Time Dilation]
[Time Dilation LVL1] - Reverse or fast-forward time for an object or person within 5 feet of you for 1/10th of a second.
Cooldown: 60 seconds.
[Upgrade Ability] - 25,000 Points (0/25,000)
LVL2: -1 Second on Cooldown.
[Minor Signature Ability - Healing Container]
[Healing Container LVL1] - instantly heal all injuries until [5000HP] is lost.
Damage Remaining: [5000/5000]
Cooldown: 1 Day.
[Upgrade Ability] - 10,000 Points (0/10,000)
LVL2: +500 Damage to Damage Cap.
That's pretty expensive. I could buy 5000 gobbys with that amount.
Azuma almost made himself laugh with his own thoughts. Even 5000 goblins wouldn't be that useful in battle.
Azuma blinked as he looked around, realizing something, "I finished the tutorial, right? Where's Ravel?"
"She won't be summoned until she's completely alone," Aphrodite supplied, "If she randomly disappeared at the dinner table then there would be an uproar. This way you'll have some time before anyone she knows starts looking for her."
"That's actually smart," Azuma hummed.
"Right?! I'm a genius, huh?" The goddess smirked at him, looking overly smug.
"No, whoever made the system is," Azuma deadpanned at her, "You already told me it wasn't you, remember? You can't just take credit for it."
"Oh, yeah," Aphrodite said, looking more disappointed than embarrassed that she'd be caught.
"Now, where are the entrances?" Azuma asked, looking around the cube-shaped cave, "I thought this was just a waiting room or somethin' until I finished the tutorial. I don't see how anyone's gonna invade the dungeon when I can't even get out."
"It's right there!" Aphrodite answered, pointing at the north wall, "That's the entrance to the DxD world, and the Monster Realm one is on the opposite side!"
"Aphrodite," Azuma started, his tone matching that of a parent speaking to their child.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know what a wall is?"
"Of course I do!" Aphrodite said, staring at him questioningly.
"Just making sure, because what you're pointing at right now is most certainly a wall." Azuma deadpanned.
"No! It's behind the wall! Look!" The tiny goddess shot forward, her ass jiggling as she slammed a fist into the wall. The wall stood standing, nothing coming from Aphrodite's movement.
"Are… Are you okay?" Azuma asked incredulously.
"I'm serious! Look!" She paused for dramatic effect, then slammed her fist into the wall again. Once again, nothing happened.
"Did you hit your head as a child?"
"N-No! I'm perfectly fine! These tiny arms just can't break through!" Aphrodite whined, sending a series of punches at the wall, all of which did nothing but create a smacking noise.
"Aphrodite, this is a dungeon," Azuma said slowly, explaining to the goddess, "Not a mental ward."
"I-I'm not crazy! Just- um, push your hand into this wall!" Aphrodite shouted, gesturing for him to come over.
"Look, if you can just remember where the actual entrance is then I can pay for your thera-"
"Stop! Seriously!" The goddess whined, her face drooping.
"Fine," Azuma gave in, stopping his teasing as he walked up to the wall. He placed his hand on it and pushed forward lightly. The wall gave away instantly, crumbling into a pile of rocks and revealing a bright light.
"Wow, it looked so real," Azuma mused as the ultra-thin layer of rocks gave way to a tunnel leading to the outside world.
"See! I told you!" Aphrodite said smugly as she flew beside his face.
"All I saw was you struggling to break the wall," Azuma countered, "I put no force into that. Literally none. Like, I think even a baby could've broken through."
"It's not my fault! This body is so tiny, and I was always a magic user anyway!" The goddess's smug face fell as she lamented her failure.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say," Azuma hummed, walking down the hallway.
"I'm serious!"
Azuma ignored the Goddess of Love's whining as he continued down the small tunnel, approaching the light. The light continued to grow brighter, and Azuma blinked as he stepped out of the entrance.
All around him were towering trees that partially blocked out the shining sun above. Azuma glanced around, seeing tall messy grass surrounding the cave opening and the occasional pile of rocks. A squirrel hung from the top of a tree, looking down curiously at him.
"So… just a forest?" Azuma questioned with a raised eyebrow.
I was expecting a plot twist - like that I would be in the underworld or heaven or something. This just looks like a normal-ass forest.
"Not just any forest!" Aphrodite said as she flew around the side of him, floating by his shoulder, "Does it look familiar?"
Familiar…
"The familiar forest?!" Azuma asked, blinking in surprise as he looked at the goddess.
"Uh, no," Aphrodite deadpanned, "I didn't mean that literally. I meant, like, maybe you've seen it before?"
"Aphrodite," Azuma stared at the forest surrounding them, "How the fuck would I recognize a forest? You think I can tell these trees a part or somethin'? It's just a fuckin' forest!"
"It's the forest next to Kuoh Town!" Aphrodite said with a huff, "It was in the show!"
"When?" Azuma asked simply.
"Um…" Aphrodite put a finger to her lips as she thought, "It was… um… in the background a couple of times, I think?"
"Good one." Azuma deadpanned, "You might be stupid, but hey, this is actually a pretty good spot. This is only where, I don't know, every bad thing ever in the show happens?"
"B-But!" Aphrodite started, seeing where he was going with his statement, "It's where the main girls are! I thought you'd love that, for your harem and all! My research showed that all males from your world want a harem!"
"I mean, I do," Azuma conceded, "But not every guy is like that. What kind of research did you even do?"
"Well, I saw that males from your world being summoned to different worlds is a normal thing, so I just looked at those cases!" The goddess explained.
Azuma stared at her incredulously, "No, that's definitely not normal. Where'd you even get that idea?"
"I couldn't observe your world completely, so I used fragments!" Aphrodite continued, "I watched the lives of those who were summoned to different worlds! I think they were called… um… isekis?"
"Isekai?" Azuma deadpanned.
"Yes! That's it!" The goddess confirmed excitedly, "Isekai's, and they were contained in ancient recordings called animes! Just like this world's history!"
"...sure. Let's go with that," Azuma said, choosing to not question the goddess anymore, "The main cast being here is fine. Honestly, it's good. Great, even. The issue comes with, oh, I don't know, Kokabiel showing up here eventually? Or, maybe when the leaders of the Three Factions show up here for a nice little meeting? That totally won't put the dungeon in jeopardy or anything!"
"...I feel that you are being sarcastic," Aphrodite said in a conflicted tone.
"No shit."
Granted, there's no guarantee any of that happens. I'm here now, so this little thing called 'the butterfly effect' will change everything. On top of that, this universe has already changed anyway. Still, Kuoh just seems to be where a bunch of supernatural shit happens, so I'd rather not be here.
"I'll probably have to defend this side pretty heavily," Azuma hummed, staring at the forest around him. He turned around, walking back into the tunnel, "But I'd like to see the Monster Realm too."
"I think that'll be the harder part to defend," Aphrodite advised him as she floated beside him back through the dark tunnel, "The mindless beasts from that side will be a constant problem. At least on this side, someone will have to have a reason to attack you."
"Yeah, but it's mostly weak ones, right?" Azuma asked as he continued into the darkness of the cave… except it wasn't as dark anymore. As Azuma walked back into the square room, which now only had three walls, a large white light illuminated it from above. The goblin came scurrying over, saluting him as the pickaxe was slung over his shoulder.
"Gelh!" He spit out, his eyes looking up to a white gem hanging above them and then back to Azuma.
"You… actually found light," Azuma said, genuinely surprised as he stared at the glowing gem that was wedged between two stalactites in the ceiling.
"That's a glowy ore!" Aphrodite supplied, pointing up at the glowing ball.
"Yes, little Aphrodite, that ore is glowy," Azuma nodded, speaking to her like a toddler again.
"No, like, that's what it's called!" She said, doubling down at his doubtful look, "It is! It's a pretty common ore in the Monster Realm.."
Azuma turned around, seeing the goblin still saluting as he looked at him expectantly.
"Alright, you did find light. Good job, little gobby. As a reward, I shall give you a name!" Azuma said, raising his hand victoriously. The goblin's back stiffened as he stared at Azuma, pride filling his ugly little eyes.
"From this day onwards, you shall be known as Gobby! With a capital G!" Azuma shouted, placing his hand on the goblin's shoulder, then his others, as if he were knighting him. The goblin stared at him pridefully, and Azuma swore he saw a single tear roll down his cheek.
"Glbeh!" Gobby cried out in affirmation.
[Worker Goblin] has been renamed to [Gobby]!
"Now, Gobby! As my first and most important unit," Azuma started, ignoring an indignant whine from Aphrodite, "I shall give you the important job of… um… mining that wall! Expand my kingdom, humble Gobby!"
Gobby nodded, marching with a purpose as he walked back to the eastern wall, swinging his pickaxe again.
"Now, let's go check out the Monster Re-" Azuma cut himself off as a flash of blue light filled the cave. In front of him, a short blonde girl with drill-like ponytails appeared from the flash of light. She had a petite body and was wearing a business suit, fit with a flat skirt and buttoned up shirt.
Honestly, those are more impressive than I thought they'd be.
In the show, Ravel had been a part of the small-breasts team, but that seemed to only be the case because she was being compared to people like Rias and Akeno. Despite having a rather skinny body and being 'petite,' the girl still had a rather large pair of breasts on her chest that poked through her suit as one of the middle buttons popped open, failing to keep them contained.
"Wh…Where am I?" Ravel looked disoriented, blinking as she looked around the dark cave. She spotted him, opening her mouth and raising a hand as she looked like she was about to shout, but then closed it again.
[MAX] Affection has been reached with [Ravel Phenex]!
[MAX] Obedience has been reached with [Ravel Phenex]!
[MAX] Obedience has been reached with [Ravel Phenex]!
"Master…?" Ravel finally said, still looking a bit disoriented.
"Yo." Azuma held up a hand in greeting.
"Your secretary has arrived, Master!" The girl said, abruptly dropping to one knee.
"Actually, you're technically my atten-"
"Your SECRETARY is here, Master!" Ravel repeated, blushing as she talked over him.
"...Do you have a workplace fetish?"
"..."
"Is that why you're wearing a suit?"
"..."
"I'll take that as a yes. Fine, you're my secretary." Azuma said, staring down at the blushing kneeling girl.
"Thank you, Master!" Ravel said, seemingly accepting that he was her master instantly as she glanced around the cave, "Where are we?"
"This is my dungeon," Azuma gestured around, "Pretty nice, huh?"
Ravel glanced around, then looked back at him with a deadpanned stare, "This place sucks, Master. Are we going to be living here?"
"Yeah, so get used to it," He hummed.
"I'll get to improving our living conditions, Master," The girl chirped, looking around in thought as she pointed to a rather dry corner, "That will be a great spot for the bed."
"You're… taking this rather well," Azuma said, staring at the girl as she started floor-planning the tiny cave room, "You're just fine with being here?"
"Of course, Master," She said simply, "I'll go anywhere you go."
She's just ok with this? I guess this is a good time to learn how the reputation works.
"You know you just met me, right?" Azuma asked, wondering if it'd changed her memories.
"Yes, Master," Ravel confirmed as she continued walking around the cave, holding her hands up as she judged the size of each area.
"And you're just ok with me being your master, even though we just met?" Azuma asked, "How'd you even know to show up in a suit?"
"Of course," Ravel said, not seemingly the least bit bothered by his questions, "I was in a meeting regarding the Phenex clan before you summoned me, Master. It was a well-timed coincidence."
"Why am I your master?"
This time, Ravel blinked as she stopped to think for a minute. She was silent for a moment, and then finally said, "...Master is Master. That's just how it is. It's like how I need to breathe. It's just a part of life."
"I told you she'd be completely loyal to you," Aphrodite said as she looked at the girl.
"Can I see her stats?" Azuma asked her, and Aphrodite nodded in confirmation.
"Just think 'unit stats!'"
Unit stats.
[Unit Stats]
[Aphrodite]
[Ravel Phenex]
[Gobby]
[Aphrodite]
[Ravel Phenex]
[Gobby]
Azuma tapped on Ravel's name.
[Ravel Phenex]
[Dungeon Attendant]
Level: 15 (0/40,000)
HP: 8,000/8,000
MP: 55,500/55,500
STR: 75
AGI: 120
END: 50
INT: 550
CHA: 100
LUK: 75
Abilities: [Phenex Regeneration], [Flame Magic], [Demonic Magic]
Dungeon Boosts: None
"She's a lot stronger than me," Azuma observed as he watched the small girl berate Gobby for mining unevenly.
"Yup," Aphrodite hummed, "She's a High-Class devil, though she's on the weaker side as far as children of 72 pillars go. You'll catch up to her soon."
"Yo, Ravel," Azuma called out, "Wanna go see the Monster Realm with me?"
"Of course, Master!" Ravel said, overly excited. She spun around, her ass smacking into the back of Gobby's head and knocking him into the wall as she skipped over to Azuma.
"You good, Gobby?" Azuma hollered, watching as the poor goblin staggered from the impact.
"Gbleh."
"He's fine," Azuma said dismissively, walking over the southern wall and pushing on it. Similar to the northern one, it crumbled instantly under the force, but this time there was no light that came shining in. In front of the pile of rocks was a dark tunnel, stretching out a couple feet before it became too dark for Azuma to see anymore.
"Make a light for us, Ravel." He commanded, and the blonde-haired girl nodded in affirmation. She held out her hand, and a small flame appeared on her plam, lighting up the tunnel around them as they walked through it. The tunnel was very similar to the cave room: Stalactites hanging from the ceiling, puddles on the floor, and rock walls on each side. Azuma continued forward, Ravel walking next to him and Aphrodite sitting on his shoulder.
He walked forward, seeing more rocks and stalactites.
Then, more rocks and stalactites.
After 5 minutes of walking, he finally saw some more rocks and stalactites.
Did Azuma mention that there were rocks and stalacitites?
"When does this tunnel fucking end," Azuma groaned after nearly ten minutes of walking, "I thought this eterance was right next to the Monster Realm?"
"It is!" Aphrodite said helpfully from his shoulder, "We're in the realm already."
Azuma blinked, "Aphrodite, this just looks like a tunnel to me."
"A tunnel in the Monster Realm!" She replied unhelpfully.
"Is the dungeon in a mountain or somethin'?" Azuma asked her, "Where the hell can there be a tunnel this long."
"Nope! The dungeon's on the 10th floor!" Aphrodite said, not explaining further.
"The 10th floor?"
"Yup."
"No, like, I meant for you to explain what you meant by that." Azuma said, pushing away a headache from dealing with the bimbo goddess.
"The Monster Realm is more vertical than horizontal," Aphrodite started to explain, "While your world was very horizontal - with the inhabitants all living in the same vertical plane - the Monster Realm is the opposite. The vertical distance of each floor is much smaller, but the realm is broken up into numerous layers."
"The surface," She pointed up at the ceiling, "Is 10 floors above this. The average monster on the higher floors is weaker, but the surface is where many of the strongest Dungeon Masters reside. The surface is more similar to your world, so many Dungeon Masters from the lower floors relocate up there."
Aphrodite then pointed to the floor, "There are another 90 floors below us. The average monster becomes stronger the further you go down, and stronger Dungeon Master's will also have their bases lower down. The majority of the Monster Realm is a series of connected tunnels - almost like an underground cave system. This tunnel will eventually lead to something else - either another Dungeon, an entrance to a lower or higher floor, or a monster den."
"...Why are you suddenly smart?" Azuma asked incrediously.
"I've always been smart!"
"No, no," Azuma shook his head, "You explained that well. Like, how a good tutorial would, not a shitty one. You even put the dungeon in a good spot. Close enough to the surface to have weak monsters, but not close enough to have to fight with the strong guys up there."
"Right?! I set you up with a good start! I'm pretty awesome, right?" The goddess asked smugly.
"...This time, you actually are pretty awesome. Do you know how many other Dungeon Masters are on this floor? Or roughly how big it is?" Azuma asked, his mind planning out how to act upon his new knowledge.
"Watch out, Master!" Ravel shouted loudly in a panic from next to him, holding her arm out to stop him dramatically. Azuma looked down to see a puddle where he was about to step, and side-stepped around it.
"Thanks."
"Um, like, 10, maybe? Or 5. It could've been 5," Aphrodite said, her face wrinkled as she thought hard. She held up her hands, placing them on either side of her in the air, "It's like, this big?"
Yeah, there's the dumbass goddess I know.
"Whatever," Azuma sighed, "Is there a map feature? Or do I have to make an actual paper one?"
"Oh! Think 'map'!"
Map.
A large rpg-like map appeared in the corner of Azuma's vision. It was square that was mostly blacked-out except for a small section on the left side. A small square was lit up, followed by a straight line and a dot at the end to show his location. At the top of the map was a label, reading [Monster Realm - 10th Floor].
"So, as I explore the map will fill out?" Azuma hummed as he stared at the map.
"Yup! Any where you or any of your units go will light up." Aphrodite responded.
"...So, since this path is in the Monster Realm, there's not point in walking further down, right? Actually, we could run into monsters, so it's dangerous if anything." Azuma brought up.
"Yup."
"...It would've been nice if you said that before we spent ten minutes walking." Azuma deadpanned at her.
"Oops. I forgot."
"Of course you did," Azuma sighed, placing a hand on Ravel's arm as she led them down the path, "Let's just go back."
They turned around, heading back down the way they came as Azuma silently lamenting about the wasted time. As they walked, Azuma decided to question the goddess more.
"Are there a lot of different ores in the Monster Realm?" He questioned.
"Yup."
"...Mind telling me about them?" Azuma grit out at her one-word answer.
"Sure!" Aphrodite agreed easily, "On this floor, theres the glowy ore! And also a few others… probably. The glowy ore is pretty easy to find, so it won't sell for much, but the rarer ores probably will!"
Azuma blinked at her words, "Sell?"
"Yup."
"Fuck you. Explain what you meant by that." Azuma said, pushing away a headache.
"Oh! You can sell stuff for points," Aphrodite explained, "Whoops. I was meant to say that during the tutorial."
"Stuff?" Azuma echoed as the light of the glowy ore filled his vision again, the trio walking into the cave room.
"Yup."
Azuma pinched the bridge of his nose, "No, that one was my fault. I should've known. What I meant was: what stuff can I sell?"
"Hmm," The Goddess hummed, "Pretty much anything, I think. You just hold something in your hand and think 'sell.'"
Azuma walked forward, grabbing Gobby from behind as he avoided his swinging pickaxe..
Sell.
[Shop]
Would you like to sell [Worker Goblin]?
Price: 5 Points
Would you like to sell [Worker Goblin]?
Price: 5 Points
I get not letting me sell him for the same amount I bought him for, but damn, half price?
Azuma placed down the goblin, walking over to a small pebble sitting on the ground. He reached down and picked it up.
Sell.
[Shop]
Would you like to sell [Tiny Pebble]?
Price: 0.0001 Points
Would you like to sell [Tiny Pebble]?
Price: 0.0001 Points
Absolute steal.
Successfully sold [Tiny Pebble] for 0.0001 Points!
This is good. I thought grinding monsters was the only way to earn points, but my options just increased drastically.
Azuma stared at the small goblin as he swung his pickaxe into the wall again, a clanging sound ringing out as he worked.
I get the type of game this is now. This should be easy.
A small grin filled Azuma's face.
There's never been a hard farming simulator, right?
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: Not sure how often this story will be updated, but if you guys really like it then I'll try to update it often. So, if you do like it, feel free to support me on Patreon (Patreon.com/Koyon) or just leave a comment letting me know!
I'll also add an option to read the next chapter early on Patreon if I do continue writing this story frequently. Thanks for reading, and I hope y'all enjoyed chapter 1!
Also also - feel free to suggest any ideas you have for abilities or units. I have a bunch in mind, but this story will feature a TON, so suggestions are always welcome!
Experimenting
New
Game
Thoughts
"Talking"
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)" A voice called out.
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)" A chorus of voices emulated.
"Glarrrbleh! Guyet Gbleh! (All damn day!)"
"Glarrrbleh! Guyet Gbleh! (All damn day!)"
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)"
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)"
"Glarrrrrblet glar ble! (For no pay!)"
"Glarrrrrblet glar ble! (For no pay!)"
"Gbletttt glar gle gle! (Working to the bone!)"
"Gbletttt glar gle gle! (Working to the bone!)"
"Gyblattt gle blar glba! (To get Master paid!)"
"Gyblattt gle blar glba! (To get Master paid!)"
"Aphrodite?"
"Yeah?"
"Am I a slave owner?"
"No! You're a Dungeon Master!"
"Ravel?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Am I a slave owner?"
"Looks like it to me."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Azuma sighed, staring at the crowd of [Worker Goblin]'s as they swung their pickaxes, singing a song as they worked.
"They're not slaves! They like working!" Aphrodite said indignantly to this left. The goddess was still wearing a toga that did a poor job of hiding her bimbo-y body.
"Then why are they singing like that?" Azuma asked, watching as Gobby sang another gurgle of words, the rest soon following his lead.
"...They want to be musicians?" Aphrodite said, sounding doubtful of her own words.
"They're also working without pay." Ravel said helpfully from his right, "Definitely slaves."
"They're goblins! They don't have a use for money!" Aphrodite responded.
"Good work, fellas!" Azuma yelled from behind, eliciting a cheer from the goblin crowd as they started mining with renewed vigor. Azuma turned to Ravel, "How is the scouting team doing?"
"The second squad will be returning shortly, Master!" Ravel said, nodding at him. The blonde-haired girl wore a different suit than she'd arrived in, but you wouldn't know it from looking at her. She fit the look of a secretary perfectly.
Two days had passed since Azuma was summoned to this new world, and they'd been largely uneventful. He had used the majority of his points on his abilities and Ravel, so he'd been forced to take a slow approach. After learning about the shop mechanic, Azuma promptly used all his points to summon [Worker Goblin]'s and ordered them to expand the dungeon to the east. That's where the trio was standing now - at the end of a long mining tunnel that stretched roughly a hundred feet away from the main room. The ceiling was lined with Glowy Ore, allowing the goblins to see as they worked.
Glowy Ore was the only ore the goblins had stumbled upon so far in their construction, but Aphrodite hadn't been lying about them being common. The goblins had found roughly 50 gemstones so far, and they sold for a decent amount of points depending on the size. The tunnel was rather smooth, as Azuma had quickly realized he could spam sell all the random rocks and pebbles that came from the goblins mining.
"Gerrbleh!" Speaking of Glowy Ore, Gobby ripped one out of the rocky wall in front of him, turning around and bypassing the crowd of goblins as he held it up to Azuma. The gem was decently sized, being roughly a foot in diameter.
"Good work, Gobby," Azuma said, taking the gem as the small goblin saluted at him. As the first goblin summoned, Gobby had gotten a headstart over the others and became the leader of the "Goblin Mining Squadron." He had leveled up naturally to level 3 as he mined, gapping the other goblins, as only two of them had recently leveled up to level 2.
Sell.
"Ravel."
"Yes, Master?" Ravel responded, looking up at him.
"Summon two more worker goblins," He ordered, and the blonde-haired girl nodded in confirmation. She raised her hand, seemingly tapping the air, and a moment later two more goblins appeared.
"Find a place to start mining, and get to work," Ravel ordered, "Bring any ores you find directly to me. Other than that, listen to Gobby."
The two newly summoned Goblins saluted and turned around, marching over to the others.
Azuma's starting strategy had been simple - just do what you'd always do at the start of a simulator game: Find a way to make money and expand that method exponentially. Azuma had purchased 23 more [Worker Goblin]'s with his remaining points from the tutorial, and then set them and Gobby to work. They weren't the quickest miners, being the lowest costing [Worker Unit], so Azuma had spent most of the previous day just planning and experimenting while they mined. As they found ores, Azuma sold them, and then spent the points on more goblins. More goblins meant faster mining, which meant more ores, which correlated to more points, which led to more goblins. Through this method, Azuma had grown the goblin mining squad to just over 200 men strong.
Along with the goblin mining squad, Azuma had also purchased two sets of 10 [Goblin]'s - the normal ones, not the miners. He'd sent them down the tunnel toward the Monster Realm with the order to return back if they came across any monsters or openings in the cave. The first squad had expanded his map a fair bit - the short line extending from the main square room becoming triple in size - before they'd reached a fork in the road. The long tunnel broke into two paths, so Azuma created a second squad. The straight line on the map quickly turned into a Y-shape as the two squads went opposite ways, and the second one had started returning recently. Their half of the Y led into a wider square, letting Azuma know that they had reached an opening in the tunnel system.
"Why don't you ever summon anything but goblins?" Aphrodite asked as the two goblin workers fell in between the other goblins, swinging their pickaxes into the wall.
"They're cheap," Ravel answered for him, "Until we map out the area around the dungeon, it would be unwise to use expensive units."
Ravel had proven to be a good choice as a Dungeon Attendant over the past two days, as the short girl was remarkably intelligent and dutiful. She followed all of Azuma's orders efficiently, but her real worth came from her adaptability. Anybody could follow orders, but Ravel built and expanded upon them instead of constantly going back to Azuma for approval. On top of that, Ravel's access to the large funds of the Phenex Clan allowed for the goblins to be fed without the need for hunting monsters. This was especially necessary, as the scouting goblins had only encountered a few monsters despite scouting for the entirety of the previous day.
Aphrodite did a good job placing the dungeon away from danger, but she did a little bit too good of a job. If we didn't have access to food from the DxD world, we would all be starving.
"Why?" Aphrodite asked, the still-tiny goddess floating forward a bit to peek around Azuma at her.
"Because they're expendable," Azuma spoke up this time, "I know you said the monsters around the dungeon are weak, but I don't have a reference for how weak that is. Sending a high-costing unit might be quicker, but it'll also be a greater loss if they die while exploring, or even while mining. For all we know, there could be a massive cavern nearby. If a goblin digs into it and falls, then it's only a loss of 5 points. If I summoned a [Kobold Miner] and they did the same, then it's the same as losing 7 goblins."
"Oh, so they're like guinea pigs!" Aphrodite said, and Azuma nodded as he turned around.
"Yup. I'll start buying some better units when I have more points to spare."
The experimenting the last two days had taught Azuma a lot of things - mainly about the shop system. He'd ventured out into the world of DxD again with Ravel as a bodyguard and attempted to sell everything he could find. Through that he had discovered two requirements: He had to be able to physically hold the item in his hand, and he had to have some type of ownership over it.
The 'ownership' aspect was still rather unknown to him. He could sell things that he didn't technically own - like random rocks and leaves - but couldn't sell anything that someone else owned. He and Ravel had journeyed into Kuoh Town and gone to a restaurant to test this, resulting in Azuma not being able to sell any of the plates or cups, though he had been able to sell the food itself after he bought it. He'd also tried to sell an animal that he found in the forest but hadn't been able to.
I can sell living things as long as I own them, like Gobby, but not just anything I touch.
In hindsight, it was stupid for him to even consider trying to sell a random living creature, but he had to at least try. If it had worked, then he could've essentially won any battle by just touching his opponent and selling them.
Azuma turned away from the army of goblins miners as he headed back down the tunnel, walking into the main cave room as Ravel and Aphrodite followed behind him. The square room looked much different from before, courtesy of Ravel. The girl had been distraught about spending so much time in a dreary cave, so she'd done a lot of decorating. Curtains hung over the three tunnels extending from the room - one where the goblins were mining, one into the Monster Realm, and one into the DxD world - and blue wallpaper lined the once stone-colored gray walls. The floor was also smoothed out, as she used a combination of goblin labor and her flame magic to smooth it out.
In the center of the room was the couch, looking far different from before. As a member of the Phenex Clan, Ravel had no shortage of money and had gone out to buy actual furniture. The once rugged and uneven stone couch was now a luxurious leather one, with a coffee table sitting in front of it. A TV hung on the wall - it wasn't connected to electricity, but it seemed that Devil TVs didn't need to, as it worked anyway. A King bed lay behind the couch, pressed into the only unmined wall to the west. A fridge and sink stood to the side of the bed.
Unfortunately, the conversion rate from Yen to Points was rather pitiful. While Ravel had access to near-infinite amounts of Yen, trying to convert said Yen to points was very inefficient. Roughly 100 Million Yen was equivalent to 1 Point - meaning that even if Azuma sold the entirety of the Phenex family's fortune, his Point return would likely only be in the thousands.
Granted, I don't actually know how deep their pockets are, but I'm not eager to bankrupt her family. The Yen itself is much more useful than some decent amount of points.
"Are you leaving soon, Ravel?" Azuma asked the girl, and she nodded sadly at his words.
"Yes, sorry Master. I can't sleep here yet," Ravel said as she looked at the bed, looking overly distraught that she couldn't sleep in the same room as him yet.
"It's fine," Azuma waved dismissively, "It'll only be for a few weeks."
Ravel had been forced to return to the underworld when the sun started to set in order to keep her family satisfied. They had no issue with the girl disappearing every day, as it wasn't uncommon for devil children, especially those of the 72 pillars, to spend their days away from home having fun in the underworld's many cities or even visiting the human world. However, she was adamant that they would become suspicious if she was gone for multiple days at a time.
"What's the ETA on the Phenex Tears?" Azuma asked as the girl prepared herself to return home.
Upon finding out about the shop system, Azuma's first idea was to try selling Phenex Tears. He was sure they'd sell for a lot, given their near-instant healing of practically any injury, and the Phenex clan had a monopoly over them.
"I think it'll be about a week until the next batch is ready, Master," Ravel responded, "They're in very high demand, so I can't take any without a good reason. I've requested for some to be set aside."
Unfortunately for Azuma, Phenex Tears weren't actually just tears from a member of the Phenex Clan, so Azuma couldn't just ask Ravel to cut an onion. To be made they required intense focus, an empty mind, and an absurd amount of energy. Ravel might've been a High-class Devil, but she didn't have enough energy to make them casually, and she had never tried making one before. She estimated that the energy backlash would leave her near-useless around the dungeon for a few days, and Azuma weighed that losing his attendant for the next couple of days for one bottle of Phenex Tears wasn't worth it. He could just wait the week and get a whole batch.
"The scouting team should be back in roughly two hours, Master. Should I remain here until they arrive?" Ravel said, looking up at him questioningly, "I'll be arriving home a bit later than usual, but it should be fine."
"Just head back, there's not much more to help with today," Azuma said dismissively, sitting down on the couch for a moment, "I'm just going to train a bit more than head to sleep anyway. I'll handle their return."
"Yes, Master," Ravel nodded, a red magic circle appearing under her as she snapped her fingers, "I'll be back right when the sun rises, Master!"
"Oh, yeah," Azuma said, holding up a hand to stop her from leaving, "Bring a couple of beds with you tomorrow. Small ones. Also, if you have any especially expensive jewelry, bring that too."
"May I ask why, Master?" The girl asked with a tilted head.
"The beds are for the goblins," Azuma clarified, "They'll be more productive with a good night's sleep. I doubt the floor is very comfortable. I'll try selling the jewelry, though I doubt it'll be any different."
The goblins had been being worked to the bone the last two days - which wasn't even Azuma's doing. It was Gobby's. Letting the small goblin be in charge of the mining team was both a great and terrible idea. Great, because they were widely efficient. Terrible, because the small goblin was obsessed with his work. The small army of pickaxe-wielding goblins slept in the cave they were mining, not taking any breaks except to eat.
As for the jewelry - Azuma had unfortunately found out that most items from the DxD realm were rather underpriced. While a Glowy Orb sold for 25 Points, a massive diamond Ravel had brought only sold for 10. The system seemed to heavily favor items from the Monster Realm, but Azuma was hoping he could find a mineral or type of item from the DxD realm that sold for at least a decent amount. After he figured that out, he could use some of Ravel's limitless funds to buy a shit ton and sell them.
"Ah, good idea, Master!" The girl said brightly with a nod, "I'll bring enough for all of them. I'll see you in the morning, Master! Bye, Aphrodite!"
"Bye Ravel!" Aphrodite said with a smile.
"See ya," Azuma said lazily, stretching his arms as he prepared himself to train again. He stood up off of the couch, walked over, and grabbed a small glowy ore that he'd been using to train with. He cocked his arm back, throwing it across the room.
"[Time Dilation]" Azuma said the name of the ability for dramatic effect, but he didn't really need to speak to activate it. It was like an extension of himself - he could activate it just by feeling it.
The glowy ore flew across the room, then seemingly skipped forward as it disappeared from its trajectory in the air and appeared an inch from the wall, slamming into it. Azuma had been testing his ability over the last two days and had quickly realized just how useful it was. It was very versatile overall, but the combative aspects of it were amazing. Azuma could use it to either make himself, or an object, faster or to make his opponent slower. He could even make specific parts of a person or object faster or slower, leading to Azuma thinking of multiple creative uses for the ability.
"Turtle," Azuma hollered, speaking to the only other unit he had summoned. Azuma walked over to the tunnel that led into the Monster Realm, pushing aside the curtains to see a large turtle standing on two legs in front of it. Azuma had summoned the [Turtle Guard] to block the entrance in case any monsters showed up, doubling as both a guard and an alarm to notify Azuma of attackers. However, as no monsters had shown up yet, his main use had been as a punching bag.
"Let me use your shell," Azuma ordered, and the roughly 4-foot-tall standing green turtle nodded, turning around and showing the back of his hard shell to Azuma. That was the quick version, as in reality it took the turtle nearly two entire minutes to fully turn around, moving absurdly slow. Azuma shifted his body, getting into a fighting stand as he jabbed his fist forward, slamming into the turtle's shell.
The training system was pretty simple: Complete an action enough times, and you'll gain a stat boost. As you do more of one thing, it becomes harder to reach the next milestone and get the stat boost.
Stats.
Azuma idly looked over at his stats as he slammed his fists into the turtle's rock-hard shell.
[Azuma Kaito]
[Dungeon Master]
Dungeon Rank: F (2,115 D-Value)
Level: 3 (220/500)
HP: 650/650
MP: 900/900
STR: 22
AGI: 11
END: 8
INT: 21
CHA: 5
LUK: 5
HPREG: 8
MPREG: 8
Abilities: [Time Dilation], [Health Container]
Dungeon Boosts: None
Points: 9
Through his minor amount of training over the past two days, Azuma had reached the stats equivalent of a decently-weak low-class devil, or a two-winged angel/fallen angel.
Still don't know what a dungeon boost is, or how the level up the dungeon and get better units. It can't mean rank up, right?
Azuma continued idly punching the turtle shell as the curtains behind him opened up, allowing Aphrodite to float into the room.
"Your form is awful," She said blandly, watching him train on the turtle shell, "And I'm not comparing you to some of the Gods or Demi-gods I've seen. I think you're worse than the average low-class devil."
"Yo, chill. I've never fought a day in my life. Did you think I was just gonna show up and suddenly be an expert martial artist?" Azuma deadpanned as he continued sloppily jabbing at the shell, "I'm considering getting one of the Phenex's trainers to train me, but I was holding back until the dungeon leveled up. Hopefully that's soon, but I don't know because someone forgot."
When Azuma had asked Ravel about getting someone from the Phenex clan to train him in hand-to-hand combat, Aphrodite had chimed in that he would unlock a 'trainer' unit section when his dungeon reached level 2. Of course, to the surprise of no one, the bimbo goddess had no clue on how to level up the dungeon.
"Hey! I do remember! It's, um, by buying more units! Or, maybe it was defeating monsters?" Aphrodite hummed as she put a finger on her cheek, "Maybe it's based on how many other dungeons you conquered? N-No! It's based on your level! That was it! Wait, maybe that wasn't…"
I'll just continue trying shit until it works.
The urge to just get a Phenex Clan trainer was high, but Aphrodite was strangely insistent that buying a trainer unit was better. Considering that the airhead goddess never seemed certain about anything, Azuma was inclined to trust her just this once time.
"Yeah, yeah," Azuma hummed dismissively as he continued training. Time started to fly by as he idly made conversation with Aphrodite until the goblin unit on his map started closing in.
Good enough for now. I'll finish it off after talking with the goblins.
"Glblarrr!" A throaty nose rang down the dim tunnel as a collection of goblins headed towards him. They stopped in place, lining up as they snapped into a salute.
"Welcome back, scouting squad!" Azuma said, returning the salute lazily, "There's only nine of you. One of you didn't die, right? I didn't get a notification…"
A goblin stepped forward from the line, opening his mouth, "Gblehh yar gablrh gleh!"
The goblin looked at him expectedly, as if his job was complete.
"...You know sign language?" Azuma asked blandly, not understanding a word the goblin said. The goblin nodded, his hands flashing into a series of symbols.
"Ok, stop, I don't actually know sign language," Azuma sighed, "Why the fuck does a goblin know sign language? Just, like, act it out."
The goblin nodded again. He looked back at the line of goblins, pointing at them and them holding up his palms. He held up all his fingers, then dropped one down so only nine fingers were raised.
"Yeah, I get that," Azuma nodded, "There were ten, and now there's nine."
The goblin nodded excitedly, pointing to his chest and then back into the dark tunnel behind you.
"He's alive, but he's back in the tunnel," Azuma communicated, the goblin nodding in response. The goblin then pointed to the turtle standing guard at the door, and then into the tunnel again.
"Oh! I know this one!" Aphrodite butted in excitedly, "He got kidnapped! Kidnapped by a family of giant turtles, and we need to go on a quest to save him!"
"No," Azuma corrected, "He means that the other goblin is guarding something."
The little goblin pointed at Azuma and nodded rapidly as Aphrodite deflated. Then he held his hand out, raising both his hands and pointing forward. He wrapped both his fingers around and then connected them - drawing a circle in the air.
"A ball?" Azuma questioned with a tilted head, and the goblin shook his head quickly.
"Oh! A slime! It's a slime!" Aphrodite said, pointing excitedly at the goblin. She deflated again as the goblin shook his head.
"Oh, you mean the opening," Azuma realized, "You walked into an open cavern, and the goblin is guarding it."
The goblin nodded rapidly, then stepped forward and pointed up the sole Glowy Ore wedged into the ceiling as it illuminated the turtle's guard post.
"Glowing! No, Glowy Ore! Um, um, the sun! There's a sun! A sun in the cave! Wait, no, no, a giant finger! A giant finger pointing at the sun!" Aphrodite shouted, playing the world's worst game of charades as the goblin continued jutting his finger at the Glowy Ore.
"The cave has a bunch of ores, and the goblin stayed behind to guard it?" Azuma figured out as the goblin pointed at him and nodded excitedly. Aphrodite deflated again, pouting at Azuma as he 3-0'd her in charades.
These guys are actually kinda smart. Only kinda. Leaving one goblin behind isn't gonna do shit. They're literal shitter mobs.
"Alright, it's time for you to shine, Aphrodite!" Azuma said, turning to Aphrodite and looking at her with a dead-serious look in his eye, "Mission: Saving Private Goblin! As my most trusted unit, you're the only one I can entrust to this essential mission, Aphrodite! Go, save Private Goblin and bring back the ores!"
Aphrodite perked up, staring with stars in her eyes as Azuma gave her a mission. Her hand flung up, slapping and jiggling her large breasts in her excitement as she gave a salute, "Y-Yes! Leave it to me, Master!"
The small goddess turned away, shooting down the dark tunnel with a speed Azuma didn't know her fairy-like wings could carry her.
"How long do you think it'll take her to realize she's not a worker unit and can't mine the ores?" Azuma asked, glancing down at the goblin he'd been playing charades with. The goblin raised his hand, holding up 10 fingers.
"10 seconds? You have too much faith," Azuma deadpanned, and the goblin hurriedly shook his head, pointing his finger up and then holding up his fingers again, "Oh, 10 minutes. Yeah, that's probably about right. I'll say 15."
Azuma hummed, turning back to the turtle as he gestured for him to turn his shell at him, "You guys did well, Goblin Scouting Squad #2! Go get some rest! Just remember, no sitting on the couch or bed. Those are human onl- well, I guess human and devil on-, well, I guess human and devil and bimbo goddess only. There's water in the fridge. Oh, and Ravel bought some more juice boxes for you guys."
The small line of goblins hurried past him, heading into the furnished room as they headed for their juice boxes. Azuma turned back to the turtle, idly jabbing his fists into it as he waited for the goddess's return. Apparently, both he and the goblin had too high of expectations, as it was nearly 30 minutes before Aphrodite returned.
"AZUMAAAAAAA!" Aphrodite yelled, flying up to him in a panic, "Azuma! I found the cave, but I can't get the ores! These little hands are too small to pull them out of the wall."
Azuma stared at the goddess disbelievingly as she panicked.
I kinda feel bad now. I didn't think she'd actually go all the way there. How did a literal goddess not pick up on a bit of trolling?
"Aph," Azuma said, using his nickname for her as he spoke placatingly, "It's fine. We'll just head there tomorrow with Ravel and some worker units."
"B-But what about Gobert?! He's all alone down there!" She said, waving her hands at him.
Gobert? Isn't that a basketball player?
"...Did you name the goblin guarding the place Gobert?" He asked incredulously.
"...He looked like a Gobert," She said, blushing slightly.
"Whatever. Gobert will be fine until tomorrow. If he dies before we get there, then he dies a Hero," Azuma hummed, going back to punching the turtle shell.
"Oh! A Heroes death! There would be nothing more honorable! Gobert would love that!" She said, nodding with a wistful look on her face.
Whatever you say.
Azuma continued sending jabs into the turtle's shell for the next hour a notification finally appeared.
"Damn this shit takes forever," Azuma groaned, stopping his training as he stared at the milestone, "All that for one strength. Whatever, I'll do kicking next. Then pushups. Then get some running in. But that's tomorrow's problem."
Azuma turned away, walking back into the curtains, "Good work, sturdy turtle! See ya tomorrow!"
The turtle saluted in response, walking over and standing guard at the door again. Azuma stretched as he walked back into the room, tearing his shirt off as he flopped onto the giant bed. Around the TV was the squad of goblins, all sitting on the floor as they drank juice boxes and stared up at the TV.
"We need to get a shower in here," Azuma hummed as he sunk into the bed.
"The system keeps us clean," Aphrodite said, landing on his chest, "It casts [Auto-Clean] on us at midnight every day. Whoever made it thought about this. Can you imagine how terrible it would smell in some of the deeper floor dungeons if it didn't?"
"Yeah, I'm not complaining about that, but a shower would still be nice," He hummed, looking up as he stared blatantly at the huge melons on the goddess's chest, "Can I make you bigger somehow?"
"Yeah! Every time your dungeon ranks up, you can summon me with more power," She responded, tilting her head as she looked at him, "Why?"
"I wanna sleep on those," He responded bluntly as he stared at her tits.
Aphrodite's face turned red as she looked away, her hands folding over her breasts, "S-So forward…"
"You're the Goddess of Love," He deadpanned at her.
"I-I'm still a virgin!"
"Yeah, yeah. This pillow is decent, but your tits would be better," Azuma hummed as he laid his head back into the high-quality pillow Ravel had brought. He closed his eyes, sleep starting to consume him after his busy day, "Yo, goblins! Don't stay up too late. We're going to get the ores tomorrow!"
"Gbleh!" A chorus of affirmations came in return. Azuma felt Aphrodite shift on his chest, laying down as she got comfortable. As the TV quietly played in the background to a group of goblins, the human Dungeon Master and Goddess of Love silently fell asleep.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: So, kind of an info/set-up chapter. This was originally only the first half of a chapter, but I've decided that I wanna update this story more than once every seven hundred years. Surprisingly (not), it takes a lot of time to write 10K word chapters when you're also trying to update a bunch of other stories frequently.
SO! Instead of once a month publicly, I'll be updating this story probably 2-3 times a month. On top of that, I'll be updating it twice as much at Patreon.com/Koyon , so that'll constantly have more chapters available to read ahead. The next chapter is already up on there!
Future chapters will also have more action - this one was kinda a 'chapter 1 part 2' of explaining more about the Dungeon system, as well as the dynamic within the dungeon.
Also, no specific day it'll be updated. I've realized I kinda don't like following a schedule, so I'm going to start getting away from that with all my stories, and just upload the chapters whenever they're done.
Thank you for reading!
Thoughts
"Talking"
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)" A voice called out.
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)" A chorus of voices emulated.
"Glarrrbleh! Guyet Gbleh! (All damn day!)"
"Glarrrbleh! Guyet Gbleh! (All damn day!)"
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)"
"Glebahhh gleb gleb! (Masters got me working!)"
"Glarrrrrblet glar ble! (For no pay!)"
"Glarrrrrblet glar ble! (For no pay!)"
"Gbletttt glar gle gle! (Working to the bone!)"
"Gbletttt glar gle gle! (Working to the bone!)"
"Gyblattt gle blar glba! (To get Master paid!)"
"Gyblattt gle blar glba! (To get Master paid!)"
"Aphrodite?"
"Yeah?"
"Am I a slave owner?"
"No! You're a Dungeon Master!"
"Ravel?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Am I a slave owner?"
"Looks like it to me."
"Yeah, that's what I thought," Azuma sighed, staring at the crowd of [Worker Goblin]'s as they swung their pickaxes, singing a song as they worked.
"They're not slaves! They like working!" Aphrodite said indignantly to this left. The goddess was still wearing a toga that did a poor job of hiding her bimbo-y body.
"Then why are they singing like that?" Azuma asked, watching as Gobby sang another gurgle of words, the rest soon following his lead.
"...They want to be musicians?" Aphrodite said, sounding doubtful of her own words.
"They're also working without pay." Ravel said helpfully from his right, "Definitely slaves."
"They're goblins! They don't have a use for money!" Aphrodite responded.
"Good work, fellas!" Azuma yelled from behind, eliciting a cheer from the goblin crowd as they started mining with renewed vigor. Azuma turned to Ravel, "How is the scouting team doing?"
"The second squad will be returning shortly, Master!" Ravel said, nodding at him. The blonde-haired girl wore a different suit than she'd arrived in, but you wouldn't know it from looking at her. She fit the look of a secretary perfectly.
Two days had passed since Azuma was summoned to this new world, and they'd been largely uneventful. He had used the majority of his points on his abilities and Ravel, so he'd been forced to take a slow approach. After learning about the shop mechanic, Azuma promptly used all his points to summon [Worker Goblin]'s and ordered them to expand the dungeon to the east. That's where the trio was standing now - at the end of a long mining tunnel that stretched roughly a hundred feet away from the main room. The ceiling was lined with Glowy Ore, allowing the goblins to see as they worked.
Glowy Ore was the only ore the goblins had stumbled upon so far in their construction, but Aphrodite hadn't been lying about them being common. The goblins had found roughly 50 gemstones so far, and they sold for a decent amount of points depending on the size. The tunnel was rather smooth, as Azuma had quickly realized he could spam sell all the random rocks and pebbles that came from the goblins mining.
"Gerrbleh!" Speaking of Glowy Ore, Gobby ripped one out of the rocky wall in front of him, turning around and bypassing the crowd of goblins as he held it up to Azuma. The gem was decently sized, being roughly a foot in diameter.
"Good work, Gobby," Azuma said, taking the gem as the small goblin saluted at him. As the first goblin summoned, Gobby had gotten a headstart over the others and became the leader of the "Goblin Mining Squadron." He had leveled up naturally to level 3 as he mined, gapping the other goblins, as only two of them had recently leveled up to level 2.
Sell.
[Shop]
Would you like to sell [Glowy Ore]?
Price: 25 Points
Successfully sold [Glowy Ore] for 25 Points!
Would you like to sell [Glowy Ore]?
Price: 25 Points
Successfully sold [Glowy Ore] for 25 Points!
"Ravel."
"Yes, Master?" Ravel responded, looking up at him.
"Summon two more worker goblins," He ordered, and the blonde-haired girl nodded in confirmation. She raised her hand, seemingly tapping the air, and a moment later two more goblins appeared.
"Find a place to start mining, and get to work," Ravel ordered, "Bring any ores you find directly to me. Other than that, listen to Gobby."
The two newly summoned Goblins saluted and turned around, marching over to the others.
Azuma's starting strategy had been simple - just do what you'd always do at the start of a simulator game: Find a way to make money and expand that method exponentially. Azuma had purchased 23 more [Worker Goblin]'s with his remaining points from the tutorial, and then set them and Gobby to work. They weren't the quickest miners, being the lowest costing [Worker Unit], so Azuma had spent most of the previous day just planning and experimenting while they mined. As they found ores, Azuma sold them, and then spent the points on more goblins. More goblins meant faster mining, which meant more ores, which correlated to more points, which led to more goblins. Through this method, Azuma had grown the goblin mining squad to just over 200 men strong.
Along with the goblin mining squad, Azuma had also purchased two sets of 10 [Goblin]'s - the normal ones, not the miners. He'd sent them down the tunnel toward the Monster Realm with the order to return back if they came across any monsters or openings in the cave. The first squad had expanded his map a fair bit - the short line extending from the main square room becoming triple in size - before they'd reached a fork in the road. The long tunnel broke into two paths, so Azuma created a second squad. The straight line on the map quickly turned into a Y-shape as the two squads went opposite ways, and the second one had started returning recently. Their half of the Y led into a wider square, letting Azuma know that they had reached an opening in the tunnel system.
"Why don't you ever summon anything but goblins?" Aphrodite asked as the two goblin workers fell in between the other goblins, swinging their pickaxes into the wall.
"They're cheap," Ravel answered for him, "Until we map out the area around the dungeon, it would be unwise to use expensive units."
Ravel had proven to be a good choice as a Dungeon Attendant over the past two days, as the short girl was remarkably intelligent and dutiful. She followed all of Azuma's orders efficiently, but her real worth came from her adaptability. Anybody could follow orders, but Ravel built and expanded upon them instead of constantly going back to Azuma for approval. On top of that, Ravel's access to the large funds of the Phenex Clan allowed for the goblins to be fed without the need for hunting monsters. This was especially necessary, as the scouting goblins had only encountered a few monsters despite scouting for the entirety of the previous day.
Aphrodite did a good job placing the dungeon away from danger, but she did a little bit too good of a job. If we didn't have access to food from the DxD world, we would all be starving.
"Why?" Aphrodite asked, the still-tiny goddess floating forward a bit to peek around Azuma at her.
"Because they're expendable," Azuma spoke up this time, "I know you said the monsters around the dungeon are weak, but I don't have a reference for how weak that is. Sending a high-costing unit might be quicker, but it'll also be a greater loss if they die while exploring, or even while mining. For all we know, there could be a massive cavern nearby. If a goblin digs into it and falls, then it's only a loss of 5 points. If I summoned a [Kobold Miner] and they did the same, then it's the same as losing 7 goblins."
"Oh, so they're like guinea pigs!" Aphrodite said, and Azuma nodded as he turned around.
"Yup. I'll start buying some better units when I have more points to spare."
The experimenting the last two days had taught Azuma a lot of things - mainly about the shop system. He'd ventured out into the world of DxD again with Ravel as a bodyguard and attempted to sell everything he could find. Through that he had discovered two requirements: He had to be able to physically hold the item in his hand, and he had to have some type of ownership over it.
The 'ownership' aspect was still rather unknown to him. He could sell things that he didn't technically own - like random rocks and leaves - but couldn't sell anything that someone else owned. He and Ravel had journeyed into Kuoh Town and gone to a restaurant to test this, resulting in Azuma not being able to sell any of the plates or cups, though he had been able to sell the food itself after he bought it. He'd also tried to sell an animal that he found in the forest but hadn't been able to.
I can sell living things as long as I own them, like Gobby, but not just anything I touch.
In hindsight, it was stupid for him to even consider trying to sell a random living creature, but he had to at least try. If it had worked, then he could've essentially won any battle by just touching his opponent and selling them.
Azuma turned away from the army of goblins miners as he headed back down the tunnel, walking into the main cave room as Ravel and Aphrodite followed behind him. The square room looked much different from before, courtesy of Ravel. The girl had been distraught about spending so much time in a dreary cave, so she'd done a lot of decorating. Curtains hung over the three tunnels extending from the room - one where the goblins were mining, one into the Monster Realm, and one into the DxD world - and blue wallpaper lined the once stone-colored gray walls. The floor was also smoothed out, as she used a combination of goblin labor and her flame magic to smooth it out.
In the center of the room was the couch, looking far different from before. As a member of the Phenex Clan, Ravel had no shortage of money and had gone out to buy actual furniture. The once rugged and uneven stone couch was now a luxurious leather one, with a coffee table sitting in front of it. A TV hung on the wall - it wasn't connected to electricity, but it seemed that Devil TVs didn't need to, as it worked anyway. A King bed lay behind the couch, pressed into the only unmined wall to the west. A fridge and sink stood to the side of the bed.
Unfortunately, the conversion rate from Yen to Points was rather pitiful. While Ravel had access to near-infinite amounts of Yen, trying to convert said Yen to points was very inefficient. Roughly 100 Million Yen was equivalent to 1 Point - meaning that even if Azuma sold the entirety of the Phenex family's fortune, his Point return would likely only be in the thousands.
Granted, I don't actually know how deep their pockets are, but I'm not eager to bankrupt her family. The Yen itself is much more useful than some decent amount of points.
"Are you leaving soon, Ravel?" Azuma asked the girl, and she nodded sadly at his words.
"Yes, sorry Master. I can't sleep here yet," Ravel said as she looked at the bed, looking overly distraught that she couldn't sleep in the same room as him yet.
"It's fine," Azuma waved dismissively, "It'll only be for a few weeks."
Ravel had been forced to return to the underworld when the sun started to set in order to keep her family satisfied. They had no issue with the girl disappearing every day, as it wasn't uncommon for devil children, especially those of the 72 pillars, to spend their days away from home having fun in the underworld's many cities or even visiting the human world. However, she was adamant that they would become suspicious if she was gone for multiple days at a time.
"What's the ETA on the Phenex Tears?" Azuma asked as the girl prepared herself to return home.
Upon finding out about the shop system, Azuma's first idea was to try selling Phenex Tears. He was sure they'd sell for a lot, given their near-instant healing of practically any injury, and the Phenex clan had a monopoly over them.
"I think it'll be about a week until the next batch is ready, Master," Ravel responded, "They're in very high demand, so I can't take any without a good reason. I've requested for some to be set aside."
Unfortunately for Azuma, Phenex Tears weren't actually just tears from a member of the Phenex Clan, so Azuma couldn't just ask Ravel to cut an onion. To be made they required intense focus, an empty mind, and an absurd amount of energy. Ravel might've been a High-class Devil, but she didn't have enough energy to make them casually, and she had never tried making one before. She estimated that the energy backlash would leave her near-useless around the dungeon for a few days, and Azuma weighed that losing his attendant for the next couple of days for one bottle of Phenex Tears wasn't worth it. He could just wait the week and get a whole batch.
"The scouting team should be back in roughly two hours, Master. Should I remain here until they arrive?" Ravel said, looking up at him questioningly, "I'll be arriving home a bit later than usual, but it should be fine."
"Just head back, there's not much more to help with today," Azuma said dismissively, sitting down on the couch for a moment, "I'm just going to train a bit more than head to sleep anyway. I'll handle their return."
"Yes, Master," Ravel nodded, a red magic circle appearing under her as she snapped her fingers, "I'll be back right when the sun rises, Master!"
"Oh, yeah," Azuma said, holding up a hand to stop her from leaving, "Bring a couple of beds with you tomorrow. Small ones. Also, if you have any especially expensive jewelry, bring that too."
"May I ask why, Master?" The girl asked with a tilted head.
"The beds are for the goblins," Azuma clarified, "They'll be more productive with a good night's sleep. I doubt the floor is very comfortable. I'll try selling the jewelry, though I doubt it'll be any different."
The goblins had been being worked to the bone the last two days - which wasn't even Azuma's doing. It was Gobby's. Letting the small goblin be in charge of the mining team was both a great and terrible idea. Great, because they were widely efficient. Terrible, because the small goblin was obsessed with his work. The small army of pickaxe-wielding goblins slept in the cave they were mining, not taking any breaks except to eat.
As for the jewelry - Azuma had unfortunately found out that most items from the DxD realm were rather underpriced. While a Glowy Orb sold for 25 Points, a massive diamond Ravel had brought only sold for 10. The system seemed to heavily favor items from the Monster Realm, but Azuma was hoping he could find a mineral or type of item from the DxD realm that sold for at least a decent amount. After he figured that out, he could use some of Ravel's limitless funds to buy a shit ton and sell them.
"Ah, good idea, Master!" The girl said brightly with a nod, "I'll bring enough for all of them. I'll see you in the morning, Master! Bye, Aphrodite!"
"Bye Ravel!" Aphrodite said with a smile.
"See ya," Azuma said lazily, stretching his arms as he prepared himself to train again. He stood up off of the couch, walked over, and grabbed a small glowy ore that he'd been using to train with. He cocked his arm back, throwing it across the room.
"[Time Dilation]" Azuma said the name of the ability for dramatic effect, but he didn't really need to speak to activate it. It was like an extension of himself - he could activate it just by feeling it.
The glowy ore flew across the room, then seemingly skipped forward as it disappeared from its trajectory in the air and appeared an inch from the wall, slamming into it. Azuma had been testing his ability over the last two days and had quickly realized just how useful it was. It was very versatile overall, but the combative aspects of it were amazing. Azuma could use it to either make himself, or an object, faster or to make his opponent slower. He could even make specific parts of a person or object faster or slower, leading to Azuma thinking of multiple creative uses for the ability.
"Turtle," Azuma hollered, speaking to the only other unit he had summoned. Azuma walked over to the tunnel that led into the Monster Realm, pushing aside the curtains to see a large turtle standing on two legs in front of it. Azuma had summoned the [Turtle Guard] to block the entrance in case any monsters showed up, doubling as both a guard and an alarm to notify Azuma of attackers. However, as no monsters had shown up yet, his main use had been as a punching bag.
"Let me use your shell," Azuma ordered, and the roughly 4-foot-tall standing green turtle nodded, turning around and showing the back of his hard shell to Azuma. That was the quick version, as in reality it took the turtle nearly two entire minutes to fully turn around, moving absurdly slow. Azuma shifted his body, getting into a fighting stand as he jabbed his fist forward, slamming into the turtle's shell.
[Punch] training started!
[12,570/25,000] Until Milestone!
[12,570/25,000] Until Milestone!
The training system was pretty simple: Complete an action enough times, and you'll gain a stat boost. As you do more of one thing, it becomes harder to reach the next milestone and get the stat boost.
Stats.
Azuma idly looked over at his stats as he slammed his fists into the turtle's rock-hard shell.
[Azuma Kaito]
[Dungeon Master]
Dungeon Rank: F (2,115 D-Value)
Level: 3 (220/500)
HP: 650/650
MP: 900/900
STR: 22
AGI: 11
END: 8
INT: 21
CHA: 5
LUK: 5
HPREG: 8
MPREG: 8
Abilities: [Time Dilation], [Health Container]
Dungeon Boosts: None
Points: 9
Through his minor amount of training over the past two days, Azuma had reached the stats equivalent of a decently-weak low-class devil, or a two-winged angel/fallen angel.
Still don't know what a dungeon boost is, or how the level up the dungeon and get better units. It can't mean rank up, right?
Azuma continued idly punching the turtle shell as the curtains behind him opened up, allowing Aphrodite to float into the room.
"Your form is awful," She said blandly, watching him train on the turtle shell, "And I'm not comparing you to some of the Gods or Demi-gods I've seen. I think you're worse than the average low-class devil."
"Yo, chill. I've never fought a day in my life. Did you think I was just gonna show up and suddenly be an expert martial artist?" Azuma deadpanned as he continued sloppily jabbing at the shell, "I'm considering getting one of the Phenex's trainers to train me, but I was holding back until the dungeon leveled up. Hopefully that's soon, but I don't know because someone forgot."
When Azuma had asked Ravel about getting someone from the Phenex clan to train him in hand-to-hand combat, Aphrodite had chimed in that he would unlock a 'trainer' unit section when his dungeon reached level 2. Of course, to the surprise of no one, the bimbo goddess had no clue on how to level up the dungeon.
"Hey! I do remember! It's, um, by buying more units! Or, maybe it was defeating monsters?" Aphrodite hummed as she put a finger on her cheek, "Maybe it's based on how many other dungeons you conquered? N-No! It's based on your level! That was it! Wait, maybe that wasn't…"
I'll just continue trying shit until it works.
The urge to just get a Phenex Clan trainer was high, but Aphrodite was strangely insistent that buying a trainer unit was better. Considering that the airhead goddess never seemed certain about anything, Azuma was inclined to trust her just this once time.
"Yeah, yeah," Azuma hummed dismissively as he continued training. Time started to fly by as he idly made conversation with Aphrodite until the goblin unit on his map started closing in.
[19,269/25,000] Until Milestone!
Good enough for now. I'll finish it off after talking with the goblins.
"Glblarrr!" A throaty nose rang down the dim tunnel as a collection of goblins headed towards him. They stopped in place, lining up as they snapped into a salute.
"Welcome back, scouting squad!" Azuma said, returning the salute lazily, "There's only nine of you. One of you didn't die, right? I didn't get a notification…"
A goblin stepped forward from the line, opening his mouth, "Gblehh yar gablrh gleh!"
The goblin looked at him expectedly, as if his job was complete.
"...You know sign language?" Azuma asked blandly, not understanding a word the goblin said. The goblin nodded, his hands flashing into a series of symbols.
"Ok, stop, I don't actually know sign language," Azuma sighed, "Why the fuck does a goblin know sign language? Just, like, act it out."
The goblin nodded again. He looked back at the line of goblins, pointing at them and them holding up his palms. He held up all his fingers, then dropped one down so only nine fingers were raised.
"Yeah, I get that," Azuma nodded, "There were ten, and now there's nine."
The goblin nodded excitedly, pointing to his chest and then back into the dark tunnel behind you.
"He's alive, but he's back in the tunnel," Azuma communicated, the goblin nodding in response. The goblin then pointed to the turtle standing guard at the door, and then into the tunnel again.
"Oh! I know this one!" Aphrodite butted in excitedly, "He got kidnapped! Kidnapped by a family of giant turtles, and we need to go on a quest to save him!"
"No," Azuma corrected, "He means that the other goblin is guarding something."
The little goblin pointed at Azuma and nodded rapidly as Aphrodite deflated. Then he held his hand out, raising both his hands and pointing forward. He wrapped both his fingers around and then connected them - drawing a circle in the air.
"A ball?" Azuma questioned with a tilted head, and the goblin shook his head quickly.
"Oh! A slime! It's a slime!" Aphrodite said, pointing excitedly at the goblin. She deflated again as the goblin shook his head.
"Oh, you mean the opening," Azuma realized, "You walked into an open cavern, and the goblin is guarding it."
The goblin nodded rapidly, then stepped forward and pointed up the sole Glowy Ore wedged into the ceiling as it illuminated the turtle's guard post.
"Glowing! No, Glowy Ore! Um, um, the sun! There's a sun! A sun in the cave! Wait, no, no, a giant finger! A giant finger pointing at the sun!" Aphrodite shouted, playing the world's worst game of charades as the goblin continued jutting his finger at the Glowy Ore.
"The cave has a bunch of ores, and the goblin stayed behind to guard it?" Azuma figured out as the goblin pointed at him and nodded excitedly. Aphrodite deflated again, pouting at Azuma as he 3-0'd her in charades.
These guys are actually kinda smart. Only kinda. Leaving one goblin behind isn't gonna do shit. They're literal shitter mobs.
"Alright, it's time for you to shine, Aphrodite!" Azuma said, turning to Aphrodite and looking at her with a dead-serious look in his eye, "Mission: Saving Private Goblin! As my most trusted unit, you're the only one I can entrust to this essential mission, Aphrodite! Go, save Private Goblin and bring back the ores!"
Aphrodite perked up, staring with stars in her eyes as Azuma gave her a mission. Her hand flung up, slapping and jiggling her large breasts in her excitement as she gave a salute, "Y-Yes! Leave it to me, Master!"
The small goddess turned away, shooting down the dark tunnel with a speed Azuma didn't know her fairy-like wings could carry her.
"How long do you think it'll take her to realize she's not a worker unit and can't mine the ores?" Azuma asked, glancing down at the goblin he'd been playing charades with. The goblin raised his hand, holding up 10 fingers.
"10 seconds? You have too much faith," Azuma deadpanned, and the goblin hurriedly shook his head, pointing his finger up and then holding up his fingers again, "Oh, 10 minutes. Yeah, that's probably about right. I'll say 15."
Azuma hummed, turning back to the turtle as he gestured for him to turn his shell at him, "You guys did well, Goblin Scouting Squad #2! Go get some rest! Just remember, no sitting on the couch or bed. Those are human onl- well, I guess human and devil on-, well, I guess human and devil and bimbo goddess only. There's water in the fridge. Oh, and Ravel bought some more juice boxes for you guys."
The small line of goblins hurried past him, heading into the furnished room as they headed for their juice boxes. Azuma turned back to the turtle, idly jabbing his fists into it as he waited for the goddess's return. Apparently, both he and the goblin had too high of expectations, as it was nearly 30 minutes before Aphrodite returned.
"AZUMAAAAAAA!" Aphrodite yelled, flying up to him in a panic, "Azuma! I found the cave, but I can't get the ores! These little hands are too small to pull them out of the wall."
Azuma stared at the goddess disbelievingly as she panicked.
I kinda feel bad now. I didn't think she'd actually go all the way there. How did a literal goddess not pick up on a bit of trolling?
"Aph," Azuma said, using his nickname for her as he spoke placatingly, "It's fine. We'll just head there tomorrow with Ravel and some worker units."
"B-But what about Gobert?! He's all alone down there!" She said, waving her hands at him.
Gobert? Isn't that a basketball player?
"...Did you name the goblin guarding the place Gobert?" He asked incredulously.
"...He looked like a Gobert," She said, blushing slightly.
"Whatever. Gobert will be fine until tomorrow. If he dies before we get there, then he dies a Hero," Azuma hummed, going back to punching the turtle shell.
"Oh! A Heroes death! There would be nothing more honorable! Gobert would love that!" She said, nodding with a wistful look on her face.
Whatever you say.
Azuma continued sending jabs into the turtle's shell for the next hour a notification finally appeared.
[Punch] Training Milestone Reached!
+1 STR!
+10XP!
[0/50,000] Until Milestone!
+1 STR!
+10XP!
[0/50,000] Until Milestone!
"Damn this shit takes forever," Azuma groaned, stopping his training as he stared at the milestone, "All that for one strength. Whatever, I'll do kicking next. Then pushups. Then get some running in. But that's tomorrow's problem."
Azuma turned away, walking back into the curtains, "Good work, sturdy turtle! See ya tomorrow!"
The turtle saluted in response, walking over and standing guard at the door again. Azuma stretched as he walked back into the room, tearing his shirt off as he flopped onto the giant bed. Around the TV was the squad of goblins, all sitting on the floor as they drank juice boxes and stared up at the TV.
"We need to get a shower in here," Azuma hummed as he sunk into the bed.
"The system keeps us clean," Aphrodite said, landing on his chest, "It casts [Auto-Clean] on us at midnight every day. Whoever made it thought about this. Can you imagine how terrible it would smell in some of the deeper floor dungeons if it didn't?"
"Yeah, I'm not complaining about that, but a shower would still be nice," He hummed, looking up as he stared blatantly at the huge melons on the goddess's chest, "Can I make you bigger somehow?"
"Yeah! Every time your dungeon ranks up, you can summon me with more power," She responded, tilting her head as she looked at him, "Why?"
"I wanna sleep on those," He responded bluntly as he stared at her tits.
Aphrodite's face turned red as she looked away, her hands folding over her breasts, "S-So forward…"
"You're the Goddess of Love," He deadpanned at her.
"I-I'm still a virgin!"
"Yeah, yeah. This pillow is decent, but your tits would be better," Azuma hummed as he laid his head back into the high-quality pillow Ravel had brought. He closed his eyes, sleep starting to consume him after his busy day, "Yo, goblins! Don't stay up too late. We're going to get the ores tomorrow!"
"Gbleh!" A chorus of affirmations came in return. Azuma felt Aphrodite shift on his chest, laying down as she got comfortable. As the TV quietly played in the background to a group of goblins, the human Dungeon Master and Goddess of Love silently fell asleep.
—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AN: So, kind of an info/set-up chapter. This was originally only the first half of a chapter, but I've decided that I wanna update this story more than once every seven hundred years. Surprisingly (not), it takes a lot of time to write 10K word chapters when you're also trying to update a bunch of other stories frequently.
SO! Instead of once a month publicly, I'll be updating this story probably 2-3 times a month. On top of that, I'll be updating it twice as much at Patreon.com/Koyon , so that'll constantly have more chapters available to read ahead. The next chapter is already up on there!
Future chapters will also have more action - this one was kinda a 'chapter 1 part 2' of explaining more about the Dungeon system, as well as the dynamic within the dungeon.
Also, no specific day it'll be updated. I've realized I kinda don't like following a schedule, so I'm going to start getting away from that with all my stories, and just upload the chapters whenever they're done.
Thank you for reading!