Chapter 12: Birth of an Overlord — Calamity of Greed
"Oooh, heave!"
The net of ink scraped across the dungeon stone, heavy with its grisly cargo.
"Oooh, heave!"
Once again. Freya braced herself, heels dug into the ground, hauling with all her weight on the ink strands that nearly sawed into her palms.
"Oooh... heave!"
Again, and again, meter after meter, until the Dungeon Heart finally came into view at the end of the corridor, pulsing softly in the gloom. Freya let go of the net and let out a long breath, her shoulders on fire.
Finally made it...
His task done, Kyū didn’t linger. The little Berserker was already scampering off toward the lower floor to rejoin the other Mycofoxes, without a backward glance, true to his temperament of a grumpy fox in a hurry.
The pen, for its part, floated limply at hip height. It hadn’t sent any ink flying on the way, merely holding the net’s shape, yet even that seemed to have worn it out. Freya let it recover at its own pace.
She turned first to sorting. On one side, she set the recovered weapons and the goblins’ meager loot, taking care not to stain herself on all that dried blue blood. On the other, she gathered the harvest she actually cared about.
Then, one by one, she set about feeding the Heart.
Every piece of goblin went in, tossed into the dark mass that swallowed it without a sound. The still-intact corpses followed the same path, including the hulking carcass of the hobgoblin, which she had to drag to the edge with both hands.
After some of the most delightful minutes of her existence, there was nothing left. It had all vanished into the Heart.
[ Absorbing 31 goblin corpses. ]
[ Absorbing 1 hobgoblin corpse. ]
[ Calculating amount of mana harvested... ]
[ The Dungeon Heart has absorbed 134 mana points. ]
Yay~ All that work paid off in the end.
She checked her reserve.
[ Mana: 227/500 ]
Wooow, that much time went by? Already? She blinked, a little caught off guard. Just goes to show, when you keep busy, the hours fly by without you noticing.
The busy day had evaporated, and the Heart had patiently banked its mana the whole time.
Pulled from her sudden daze, she realized she had plenty to do now. Plenty, in fact.
She began with the most obvious thing, the one she’d been waiting on for a while already.
"System, upgrade summons to level two, please."
[ Spend 100 mana points to raise Summon Upgrades to level two? ]
"Yes!!!!" Freya cried, brimming with eagerness, thrilled that this moment had finally come.
[ You have unlocked two new summons! ]
[ Mycofox Researcher — Level 1 (0/2) — Rank E — Cost: 20 mana ]
A little cave scholar. Records, analyzes, and unravels the secrets of mana and materials. Essential to the Research Center, which it runs on its studious little paws. As gifted in theory as it is clumsy in the field.
[ Mycofox Smith — Level 1 (0/2) — Rank E — Cost: 20 mana ]
A little cave craftsman. Hammers, smelts, and shapes ore into tools and equipment. Keeps the Forge running, its cap glowing red with the heat of the anvil. Grumpy at work, but proud of every last thing it makes.
[ Summon count increased! ]
[ Mycofox Worker: limit raised to 10 units. ]
Two new little faces to add to my menagerie...
Freya smiled despite herself. The dungeon was filling out, and with it, the cheerful little troupe that lived in it.
She glanced at her mana once more.
[ Mana: 127/500 ]
It wouldn’t be enough for everything, she knew. She’d have to cut, prioritize, make choices.
After a few minutes of thought, she had her plan.
"All right. First, let’s summon two Mycofox Workers."
[ Summon x2 Mycofox Worker for 10 mana points? ]
"Yes!"
And they appeared, springing out of nowhere as usual, two little balls of fur blinking in the gloom. No playing favorites: Freya took the time to scratch each of them in turn by way of welcome, drawing a few delighted "Kyu ~" out of them, before naming them Jūichi and Jūni.
Then she pointed them to the spot near the Farm, where their big brother, Ni, happened to be toiling at that very moment.
You might be wondering how she told them apart from one another?
She had no idea herself.
"Jūichi, dig me out a space for a second farm, please."
The little one set off, all chipper.
Freya, for her part, didn’t waste a second, already pointing to the far end of the room for a second worksite.
"And you, Jūni, a space for the Research Center, over here."
"Kyuuu!" He darted off in turn, as gleeful as his younger sibling.
By the time they cleared the two spots, she’d have plenty of leisure to occupy herself otherwise. And she felt it, the hour had come. The hour of her third pull.
"Here we gooo~~ Today’s the jackpot, I can feel it!!"
She rolled her shoulders, blew into her cupped hands like a casino player before a roll of the dice, and jabbed a theatrical finger at empty air.
"System, it’s tiiime, send me that gachaaa!"
[ Initiating Gacha! ]
The wheel materialized and began to spin, round and round, churning its symbols and letters in a dizzying whirl. Then it slowed. Slowed further. And came to rest on...
... the letter F.
Freya crumpled to the floor, as devastated as if she’d just blown the money for her mortgage.
A rank F... System?! Why are you doing this to me? Why me? Why?!
[ Gacha pulls are not influenced by the system. They are entirely subject to chance. ]
A hundred percent chance?
[ A hundred percent. ]
Aaaaaah... Nothing to be done about it, then.
She lifted her head anyway, curious to see what fate had handed her. A capsule sat there, in the middle of the floor.
A... capsule?
[ Congratulations! You have summoned a Luxury Capsule Room, Rank F. ]
Huh? What’s that supposed to be?!
[ Luxury Capsule Room — Status ]
[ Description: Break the capsule open in a clear space of 10 meters by 10. A luxury room will take its place. ]
Oh. Actually, that’s not so bad?
She was already turning the thing over in her mind when the sound of footsteps echoed down the corridor.
She turned. Aria was approaching, the two sisters’ belongings neatly coiled in her tentacles, the girls themselves at her heels.
So... they didn’t say a word.
A quiet relief spread through her chest, sharper than she’d expected. The test had passed. They’d held their tongues, and the village still slept soundly, oblivious to what it sheltered just outside its doorstep.
"Welcome to your new home, girls. Make yourselves comfortable."
"It’s... it’s pretty," Naïa breathed, a little unsettled, her eyes wandering over the bare stone and the bluish glow of the mushrooms.
Freya bit back a laugh. She scooped up the capsule and tossed it to Aria, who caught it midair.
"Aria, take a few little Mycofoxes with you, and see to it they really feel at home with this."
The demon examined the object for a second, then nodded, having grasped what it was.
"Very well, madam. I’ll get them settled. Don’t trouble yourself over it."
"Thank you."
And they vanished once more, leaving her alone.
Silence fell back over the room. Freya stood there a while, arms hanging at her sides, listening to the distant scratching of the Mycofoxes at work. She looked for something to do, anything. There was nothing. Everything was already turning, everything was set in motion, and all that was left was to wait. Again.
Aaaaaahhh... She let out a long sigh, head tipped back. If this keeps up, I’m going to end up conquering the world just to keep busy.
She was right there, in the depths of her gloomy, bored little urges, casting about for an outlet to these ambitions that itched at her a bit too often, when several windows burst into her field of vision all at once.
[ A premature special event is underway! ]
[ Conditions for early activation met. ]
[ The majority of Dungeon Lords have placed themselves under the authority of another. ]
[ 7 Dungeon Overlords have been born! ]
Freya froze.
Huh? The Dungeon Lords rallied under others’ banners? Since when? How?
The chat.
And all at once, it came back to her. The bombs she’d dropped. Lucas, whom she’d methodically dismantled, his skill thrown to the wolves, the trust she’d knowingly blown to pieces. Of course, a shock like that must have fractured the chat, turned the Lords against one another, driven the weakest to seek shelter under the strongest.
But to this extent? Her mind was already racing. What could possibly have happened in there, to come to this so fast?
She had no leisure to dwell on it. More windows opened in succession.
[ Congratulations! You have been designated as one of the 7 Dungeon Overlords. ]
[ You obtain the title "Dungeon Overlord." ]
What—
[ Calculating the 7 Dungeon Overlords... ]
[ Analysis complete. ]
[ Congratulations! You have been designated as the Dungeon Overlord bound to Greed. ]
[ You obtain the title "Calamity of Greed." ]
Reeling from this avalanche of titles and promotions whose full weight she hadn’t yet grasped, Freya clung to the one clear thought she had left: to see, at any cost, what this Overlord status changed for her.
But in a corner of her vision, the notifications, for their part, kept climbing. Before her very eyes.
1...
14...
67...
89...
135...
210...
...
What in the world is this bloody mess? The counter spiraled, out of control. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON, GODDAMMIT?!
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