Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?
Chapter 88 New Enemy, New Challenge

Chapter 88: Chapter 88 New Enemy, New Challenge

Bed Family workers have priority entry, monopolize the purchase of ores, imposing taxes on adventurers...

Gong Qiying, sensing something amiss, just needed to send an avatar for a stroll in Bed City to learn all this information.

No wonder today, when the Dungeon first opened, those who entered in the first couple of hours were mainly large groups of workers.

These workers headed straight to the Blood Essence Ore resource points upon entering the Dungeon. Only a small portion with some abilities went to the food area, while some adventurers employed by the Bed Family headed to the outskirts of the swamp area to hunt grass men, harvesting various sorts of Detoxification Moss they drop.

Currently, with regards to Sain Dungeon, the Bed Family’s focused development is on these three resources, not only because of their unique effects but also because of their stable yield.

Gong Qiying treated these wares like welfare. After all, they were surprisingly cheap to produce, and they could also attract people, allowing gold farmers and brick movers to make a profit.

Now it looks like...

"I’ve been too lenient," Gong Qiying said with a gloomy face as he flipped through the [Available Monsters].

The Bed Family actually intends to monopolize Sain Dungeon; such behavior is despicable and must be sanctioned immediately.

If there were more than one Teleportation Gate, the order for Count Philip’s workers to have priority access to the Dungeon might also be advantageous, as anyone would welcome the influx of ordinary people dying en masse and bursting with spiritual power.

But the mistake lies in taxing and charging for entry.

The majority of adventurers, in fact, do not have much money. Purchasing and repairing weapons and armor, and buying Potions and other items represent significant expenses.

They might accept the resurrection fees at the Resurrection House and the fees for Teleportation Crystals while exploring the Dungeon, but to expect them to pay extra for admission?

Wishful thinking!

Even though the rewards from Sain Dungeon are unique and tempting, it is also difficult. Adventurers already have to bear more costs for resurrection fees and Teleportation Crystal fees; asking them to pay taxes on top of that...

It will inevitably disgust and drive some people away.

"We need to give the people from the Bed Family a good lesson," Gong Qiying pondered and then added, "Hit them hard, but still keep it within limits. It’s no good if everyone gets scared off."

He planned to give Count Philip a harsh lesson. If the other party remained obstinate, insisting on a monopoly—

Then some of the measures he had previously arranged would have to be utilized.

"Blood Healing Potions, is this thing really that enticing?"

He had drunk one before; its effects were to rapidly heal injuries, briefly enhance physique and strength, and even stimulate the nerves, placing one in an excited state. Overuse could lead to hallucinations and an explosive high.

This effect reminded Gong Qiying of something from his previous world that could not even be mentioned.

Alright, it is indeed tempting.

"As for the Monster, choose the Blast Scale Dragon," his finger tapped on [Available Monsters], and he also added some more ingenious tools to the map that would be utilized later.

What he’s thinking now is to give the Bed Family a knock, to make them come to their senses and stop doing nonsensical things.

However, this was just a current thought.

Soon, he would no longer think this way.

"Rumble rumble rumble..."

The altar beneath Gong Qiying suddenly started making a series of noises, forcing him to jump down and frown as he surveyed the altar.

The contraption was slowly rotating, with light blue runes gradually lighting up, seeming like it was about to perform a Heroic Spirit Summoning, with something forming in the center of the altar!

[Spiritual power reserves have reached the standard, initiating World Renown]

"?"

A map unfolded in front of Gong Qiying with no annotations of mountains, rivers, or cities; just a basic outline.

He had seen this shape somewhere before; it seemed to be the very continent he was on!

Only, the map provided by the Dungeon was more accurate, and the shapes were more detailed.

The entire map was colorful, with various colors randomly distributed. On closer inspection, there could be a hundred, or even two hundred, subtly different colors.

Scarlet, pitch black, and pure white were the most prevalent colors on the map, visible all around.

A sparse light green could be seen towards the central western part of the continent, which stood out significantly.

Comparing with the actual map, it was not difficult to find that the area with the most light green was precisely near Bed City!

Apart from Bed City, the map also had sporadic green glimmers, so faint they were just a few pixels. There’s even green on the far western continent!

"Green signifies my influence, while the other colors represent other Dungeons," with the information flooding into his mind, Gong Qiying grasped everything quickly. As a veteran player, the idea of turning the entire map green took root swiftly in his heart.

What he couldn’t understand, though, was why there was a dedicated system for World Renown?

Besides viewing the Dungeon’s influence, what other purpose does it serve?

Just then, the Heroic Spirit Summoning ended. With a "plop," a tattered ancient book fell onto the altar.

Gong Qiying carefully opened this book that seemed as though it would turn to ash at any moment and saw the opening text.

[Sain Dungeon’s Gedwin, hello]

Holy moly, what?!

Gong Qiying made a joke from his previous life, but no one around responded. Even if someone did, they wouldn’t understand the meaning of the sentence.

He laughed at himself, then continued to read, but his expression turned serious in an instant.

[My name is Gedwin, and this is no coincidence. To explain it to you, I am you from the past, and you are a future me.]

[You don’t need to worry about me taking over your body. By the time you read these words, I will have completely dissipated due to the exhaustion of my spiritual power. You will inherit my body and live on under the name "Gedwin" until your spiritual power is used up.]

[Gedwin, this body has been passed down generation to generation, never changing. The only thing that changes is the spirit within it. I am merely one of the many passersby that have occupied this body, and so are you. Of course, I hope that you won’t just be a passerby but will become the true Gedwin.]

[If my guess is correct, you might one day wake up and suddenly find yourself transformed into a horrible Animated Corpse, unable to leave the Dungeon, right? Whether you were a farmer, adventurer, mercenary, knight, or a prince or princess of some country, once you become Gedwin, you can never return to your previous life.]

It appears the owner of this book did not take the existence of transmigrators into consideration...

[The Dungeon, this disgusting thing—in the absence of the City Lord’s spirit, it captures the souls of others and forces them to become the new City Lord. I was once a successful adventurer, with a gentle wife and lively, adorable children. It’s all thanks to this damned Dungeon...]

The amount of information in these words is simply overwhelming...

The author of the book held a deep grudge against the Dungeon. Unfortunately, the content below was damaged, and Gong Qiying could only flip to the parts where there were still legible words to continue reading.

[The Dungeon is sealing something, but as long as the body of the City Lord exists, the seal will never break.]

Another long section was missing.

[If you can read my notes, it means that you’ve met the standard for spiritual power reserves, right? You have a talent for managing the Dungeon. Whether you love this job or not, you are a qualified City Lord.]

[Next, please listen to my advice. Do not repeat my mistakes.]

[Fame map, you can see it already, which is regrettable as this means you are about to enter a cruel struggle.]

[The moment you appear on the map, you enter the sight of other Dungeons. Do not regard others with goodwill—assume the greatest malice.]

[Those who approach you actively will become your enemies; those much stronger than you might pity you and help you.]

[I think you understand what I’m saying. Due to the rules, I can’t be too detailed, please forgive me.]

[Fame is very important for you, extremely important. It concerns whether you can survive in the struggle.]

[Because... the key to victory is never your Monsters, no matter how powerful they are. I made a fatal mistake on this point.]

[Those lives that love you, love the life of this Dungeon, love everything you’ve created, those who formed Bonds with the Dungeon, they are the real—]

The text ended abruptly, and a large portion of the text was damaged beyond interpretation.

"..."

Gong Qiying realized he could understand the content of the ancient book. The puzzling parts were not a problem at all for him.

It’s as though the spirits that once stayed in this body were also helping him understand everything.

As for the part that ended abruptly, he already had a fairly accurate guess.

The struggle mentioned probably refers to battles with other Dungeons.

But since each Dungeon is far from the others and both the City Lord and Monsters cannot leave their respective domains, how could such struggles occur? In what form would they take place?

It was all very puzzling, yet it brought a sense of unknown terror.

It was as if a great Horror that could threaten life might come knocking at any moment, making one’s life uneasy.

So, as soon as the Fame map was opened, Gong Qiying entered into a never-ending arms race.

"Bring it on, I’m not afraid," he exhaled a breath of stale air, his eyes flashing.

But when he turned to the last page that had legible text, he couldn’t help but widen his eyes.

[Do not open any sealed envelopes.]

[Do not touch any sealed envelopes.]

[Do not look at any sealed envelopes.]

[...envelopes!!!]

What made Gong Qiying’s eyes widen wasn’t the text, but something on the altar.

A sea-blue sealed envelope lay there quietly.

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