Why had the gate to the Dungeon closed?!
The ruins of the ancient city above ground were packed with adventurers. Mixed among them were many ordinary people—those who had woken before dawn just to spend a little extra time inside, gathering materials to earn a living.
And then—
The dungeon shut down.
Buffeted by the chilly morning wind, everyone stood there in confusion. Frustration hovered on the edge of anger, yet there was nowhere to vent it.
Pessimists immediately began shouting that this was a sign the Dungeon was about to go berserk again.
Before such panic-inducing rumors could spread, however, they were swiftly cut off.
A blond young man stepped onto a raised platform.
It was Leon.
Using amplification magic, his voice rang out clearly:
"Don't worry. This is normal. Dungeons have days like this."
To those with broader knowledge, this truly wasn't strange. Every year, a handful of dungeon portals would close—sometimes for a day or two, sometimes for months. Once they reopened, they could usually accept adventurers again without issue.
As Leon calmed the crowd, his brow furrowed slightly. His thoughts had drifted elsewhere.
Historically, there had been cases where a dungeon closed for months, only to reopen with its contents drastically altered—almost like an entirely different dungeon. There were even examples of dungeons remaining sealed for years before reopening.
Such cases hadn't appeared in nearly a century. Most people had long forgotten them.
But what if the Sein Dungeon experienced something similar?
Leon wasn't being overly paranoid. The number of special circumstances surrounding this dungeon was simply too great.
The first mutated dungeon in a hundred years.
The only dungeon in recent times to go berserk.
A dungeon that recorded the history of unknown eras.
A dungeon that recreated legendary heroes.
Layer upon layer of extraordinary attributes had wrapped Sein in mystery.
Everyone wanted to uncover that mystery. Yet the deeper they dug, the more was revealed—making one wonder whether the knowledge hidden within was truly endless.
If the Sein Dungeon reopened with its contents changed as well…
Should they be happy?
Or—
Leon shook off the thought. Right now, crowd control was the priority. More and more people were gathering, and a stampede would be disastrous.
First, he needed to persuade everyone to return to the City. As for when they could come back—that would be left to fate.
Whether adventurers or civilians, everyone present looked dispirited. Many people depended on Sein to make a living. If it stayed closed for ten days or longer, who could endure that?
Leon's expression remained calm, but his gaze flickered as he looked toward the teleport gate.
He, too, was praying for Sein to reopen soon.
Because—
"Just one day without going in makes my whole body feel uncomfortable," he muttered.
Unfortunately, he forgot that the amplification magic was still active.
In an instant, countless strange looks turned his way.
Leon froze—then smiled awkwardly.
He had considered everything—
Except one thing.
The Sein Dungeon was about to reopen.
(***)
Bed City
News of the Dungeon's closure spread rapidly through the streets and alleys.
In taverns, people who had just sobered up from their hangovers ordered another round of beer the moment they heard the news, eagerly launching into gossip.
At the innermost seat, Stella brushed the crumbs from the corner of her mouth and stood up.
"Sigh… I was planning to relax in the dungeon," she murmured. "Didn't expect it to close."
She wandered the streets aimlessly. Even at three in the morning, the City wasn't quiet. This was normally the hour when the dungeon opened, when countless people scrambled to get inside.
Cities built around dungeons inevitably became synchronized with the dungeon's "schedule."
This place was no exception.
As she walked, Stella stopped in front of a shop and softly read the sign hanging above the door:
Maldro Magic Item Shop
It was a very familiar name.
Yet it stirred no emotion in her.
She had known of this shop for a long time, but had never once gone inside.
The first time she heard about it was from Leon. Back then, she had even imagined she might encounter the kind older brother who had once helped him.
Later, however, she learned that the shop owner was a young man with black hair and black eyes—gentle-looking, polite, kind, and seemingly harmless.
Slim, too.
Nothing like a battle-hardened warrior.
This wasn't the Maldro she had in mind.
Probably just a coincidence of names.
When would she meet that person again?
The shop door was open. Stella peeked inside—but there was no one there.
Strange.
She remembered hearing that the owner was almost always present.
"Maybe something urgent came up," she murmured.
(***)
Inside the Sein Dungeon
Wade had indeed run into something "urgent."
Because today—
Was the day war would be declared against the Hive Dungeon.
He had been waiting for this day for a long time.
The Mana he had stockpiled churned restlessly, filled with anticipation. A part of him wanted to throw the entire Farron Undead Legion at the enemy and give this world's dungeon lords a Lord of Cinders–level shock.
In the end, the frugality carved into his bones suppressed that impulse.
[The Hive Nest Dungeon is approaching. Fusion imminent.]
Once a battle between dungeons began, an independent space would be formed.
Within this space, centered on the challenged dungeon, the challenger could pull a portion of their own dungeon into the battlefield and fuse it with the area.
That portion became the challenger's base.
If the base was captured, all monsters eliminated, Mana exhausted, or the dungeon lord slain—any of these would constitute defeat. The same rules applied to the defending side.
Both dungeon lords would exhaust their imagination in deploying monsters, all in pursuit of victory.
Compared to Ganago—the lord of the Hive Dungeon—who had only a small base to work with, Wade could mobilize the portion of the Sein Dungeon that would connect directly to the battlefield.
When fusion occurred, certain rules automatically divided the usable area based on the enemy base's size—usually granting the defender two to three times the challenger's area.
Thus, the bases of both sides were established.
Because he had no way of knowing where the enemy base would collide, Wade had only heavily reinforced the dungeon lord's room and made minimal structural changes elsewhere.
His strategy was simple.
Three words:
Block the front door.
The Hive Dungeon's units were insects that grew stronger over time and through combat. Against such an enemy, allowing time for development was fatal—you had to block their entrance and slaughter them immediately.
Even blocking a door required finesse.
Low-level monsters wouldn't work. If they were eaten, the insects would still evolve. At minimum, C-rank monsters were needed—preferably B-rank—with wide-area damage skills to ensure not a single bug escaped.
But considering the chimera insects' "eat anything" trait, Wade devised an even more vicious—
And cheaper—
Strategy.
The core of this tactic was adventurers.
Or rather—
[Hero].
He opened the Hero module and scrolled straight to the bottom. Those listed there had abysmally low bond values and pitiful combat strength—true bottom-tier fodder.
Why would he need people like this?
At that moment, a purple landmass drifted through the void.
No—rather than land, it was terrain completely blanketed in purple fungal growth.
This was the Hive Dungeon's base.
Ganago was there.
Through the crystal ball, Wade saw it packed densely with insects—a writhing ocean of bodies.
And it was drifting toward—
Farron Keep.
[Hive Nest Dungeon fusion complete]
Even within the dungeon lord's room, Wade felt the tremor of the impact.
From his perspective, Farron Keep had forcibly connected to the enemy base. An invisible barrier separated the filthy swamp from the purple fungal land, preventing either side from crossing.
The insects roared and surged forward, only to be stopped by the barrier.
The battle had not yet begun.
Wade felt his position shift. When he regained awareness, he found himself forcibly transferred into Farron Keep.
The Farron Undead Legion stood before him, frozen in rigid poses like machines without power.
"So that's how it works," he muttered. "I get transferred to the 'base' defined by the rules."
He smiled wryly.
All that reinforcement in the dungeon lord's room had been completely pointless.
[Incoming communication request from Dungeon Lord Ganago]
Wade raised an eyebrow.
What did that bug want?
Surrender negotiations?
Or the classic pre-battle trash talk?
Out of curiosity, he accepted the call.
A giant mantis appeared in the crystal ball—its grotesque form pure nightmare fuel.
The moment it opened its mouth, profanity poured out—so vile it couldn't even be written down.
It could actually swear.
"Tap."
Wade slapped the crystal ball shut and immediately ended the call.
"As expected of a dungeon raised alongside the demon race," he said calmly. "That mouth is filthy."
He had briefly thought the other side might have something insightful to say—perhaps even offer tempting surrender terms.
Instead, it was just wrestling-style trash talk.
Small fry.
[Incoming communication request from Dungeon Lord Ganago]
"Reject."
[Incoming—]
"Reject."
Ganago sent request after request, refusing to give up.
If he'd grown up on Earth, he'd probably be an expert in doxxing and online harassment.
Inside the Hive Dungeon, Ganago jabbed furiously at his interface. Each rejection felt like punching cotton—infuriating and utterly pointless.
"Coward!"
His massive body trembled with rage. A dungeon lord living in human territory had no manners at all!
Before slaughtering each other, you were supposed to exchange passionate trash talk—that was the rule. That was demonkind's way!
"Crude… rude… human…"
Just as Ganago was about to console himself with a bit of spiritual victory—
[Incoming communication request from Dungeon Lord Aldwin]
Ganago's eyes lit up.
"Finally came to your senses?" he sneered, clearing his throat and accepting the call.
He would become the king of verbal combat.
Instead—
[Small fry. Small fry. A useless small fry raging impotently.]
A cardboard sign filled the entire screen, displaying mockery Ganago could perfectly understand.
Ganago froze.
Then—
He exploded.
"You—!"
[Call ended]
"I'll kill you!!"
"Heehee."
Wade smiled in satisfaction.
It was a pity Ganago wasn't inside his dungeon—otherwise, he might've harvested some of that explosive mental power.
"Small fry" wasn't the real damage.
The real damage was ending the call before Ganago could even speak.
On the internet, this tactic was known as hit-and-run.
Weak against veterans.
Devastating against pure-hearted natives of another world.
Wade shifted his attention to the battlefield.
The insects on the other side were growing increasingly restless.
These were all base-form chimera insects. Aside from sheer numbers, their combat power was mediocre. To evolve, they had to devour other lifeforms.
Why had Ganago produced so many base forms?
Did he plan to evolve them by consuming Sein's monsters?
As if Wade would allow that.
Compared to the frantic tension on the Hive side, Wade's territory was eerily calm.
Not a single monster was visible.
Was he preparing some ultimate move?
It didn't seem like it.
This unnatural calm made Ganago uneasy.
"Victory… will be mine," Ganago muttered, assuming the enemy had learned of the chimera insects' traits and didn't dare deploy monsters.
He gazed toward the fortress deep in the swamp, convinced Wade planned to rely on fortifications for a defensive war.
"Foolish."
Ganago's mouth split into a horrifying grin.
"You think… I have no way… to evolve? A fatal mistake."
[Battle will begin shortly]
The system prompt appeared before both dungeon lords.
Wade sat atop the altar, resting his cheek against his hand, an expression of amused anticipation on his face.
Ganago sharpened his metaphorical knives, cackling nonstop.
Farron Keep remained tranquil—not even a cursed frog in sight.
The fungal lands seethed as insects surged like tidal waves.
[Battle Start!]
At the instant the battle began, countless streaks of light descended upon the Hive Dungeon's territory, transforming into members of the demon race—
Or rather—
The Hive Dungeon's Hero.
"…Hm?"
Wade pulled the crystal ball closer, genuinely surprised.
He had assumed Hero were a dungeon's ultimate trump card. He hadn't expected them to be deployed so early.
Had he misjudged?
Suddenly, screams echoed across the fungal plains.
The insect swarm went berserk—
They were devouring the Hero?!