Chapter 1

Rokuko’s Perspective

When the light blinding her vision vanished, Rokuko found herself in the middle of a buffet-styled party being held outside beneath the blue sky. The meeting must have already started, as a red wolf-man was stuffing his face with meat while a golden skeleton drank tea, cackling. In the distance a black Dragon gulped beer out of a barrel as a nearby unicorn cheered. It looked like a peaceful party where all manner of species were enjoying themselves in harmony.

However, every single being there was a Dungeon Core. Many of them looked like humans, but the vast majority of them were merely shapeshifting to change appearance. Dungeon Cores like Rokuko and Haku who were human-type from the start were rare, just like Cores of any one particular species were rare.

“Okay...” Rokuko stealthily headed to a corner, as she did every year. She really didn’t like that this year’s meeting was held outside. It just didn’t feel like she was hiding in a corner if there weren’t walls on either side of her.

On her way there, three people (?) walked up to her: A human sized snake, a large frog, and a massive slug.

“Heh, what do we have here? It’s little ol’ Dungeon Core 695. What’re you doing?”

“Geheheh! I’m surprised you’re still alive, really.”

“You didn’t come last year and your DP score was 0. We thought for sure you had died.”

Rokuko jerked and trembled after they called out to her.

“D-Dungeon Cores 650, 651, and 652... I-It’s been a while.”

“HUH?! You forgot the fucking Number!”

“Hiiih?!” Dungeon Core 650 slammed his snake tail against the ground, making a loud noise that made Rokuko stiffen up in fear.

Incidentally, addressing a Dungeon Core with “number”—as in Dungeon Core Number 650—was equivalent to using a respectful honorific. Rokuko would rather die than do that for those three.

“Wh-Why would I do that? We’re all in the 600s group, so yeah.”

“Ahhhh, I can’t hear yoooou. Heheh... Did anyone hear what 695 said from down at the bottom of the rankings?” Dungeon Core 651, the large frog, slid behind Rokuko to block off her escape route.

“You’re being real cocky, y’know?”

“A-Ah...” Dungeon Core 652, the giant slug, plopped a hand (?) on Rokuko’s shoulder. With that, it was done. Three versus one with the three surrounding her. Goosebumps of fear rose on Rokuko’s skin.

The snake brought his face close to Rokuko’s, tongue flitting between his teeth.

“Hssshhh... Heheh. Why don’t you come with us?”

“N-No way, let go!”

“Don’t worry, it won’t kill you. Geheheheh!”

“Alriiight, time for some squiiishy fun.” They were heading to the corner Rokuko had initially been aiming for, but there was a big difference between choosing to go there and being dragged there. She had wanted to go there so these three wouldn’t find her in the first place.

They were dragging her off, but nobody interfered or cared. It was just a bunch of low rank Dungeon Cores fighting among themselves. Just like you wouldn’t care about a piece of candy swarmed by ants on the ground, most Dungeon Cores didn’t care whatsoever about Rokuko or the three Dungeon Cores bullying her. They were all equally worthless to them.

“Hey, got a fuckin’ second?” Suddenly, a red Salamander appeared. It was Dungeon Core 112, Ittetsu. He was the Core of the fifty-one floor dungeon the [Flame Caverns], which comprised almost an entire volcano. Although he wasn’t a top class Dungeon Core, he was solidly in the upper ranks, using his large wealth of DP to live a slow life with his Master and wife Redra, a Red Dragon. As a member of the 100s group, he even had a good deal of seniority backing him up.

“D-Dungeon Core Number 112?! Do you need us for something, sir?”

“Huh? Ah... Nah. Don’t give a fuck about any of you three. I’m here for Core 695. C’mere.”

“Eh? U-Um, her?”

“Yeah, got a fuckin’ problem with that? What’s your number?”

“C-Core 650! E-Er, I’m a big fan of yours, Dungeon Core Number 112!” As a snake, he couldn’t stick out a hand for a handshake, so he held out his tail instead. But Ittetsu ignored him and called out to Rokuko.

“Like I give a fuck. C’mon, 695.”

“Ummm... Okay.” Rokuko followed after Ittetsu and thereby escaped her three bullies. Dungeon Core 650 watched her go in a daze, his tail still held out.

...Rokuko, after casting {Purification} to get the slug’s slime off her, spoke to Ittetsu.

“U-Ummm, Dungeon Core...... Number 112?”

“Number?! Fuckin’ idiot, drop the polite act. The fuck you doing anyway, lettin’ those jerks boss you around?” Ittetsu turned around and barked right into Rokuko’s face, as if seconds away from biting it off. Given his age, Ittetsu was fairly well known among the Dungeon Cores and thus his loud growls drew attention upon them in stark contrast to how the three bullies had been ignored.

“I-I mean, I’m a super low rank dungeon... I couldn’t talk back with all three of them around me like that.”

“For fuckin’ real? You shittin’ me?” Ittetsu jabbed Rokuko with his flaming Salamander tail. He was obviously holding back, but it still hurt a fair amount. Plus, it was kinda hot. Not that she could complain to the Core that just saved her.

“Heheh. You gotta have a little more faith in yourself. ’Cause I mean, you did beat me!”

“...I only won because of Keima. It wasn’t really my win.”

“Bwahah! That ain’t wrong, and I like the honesty... But you still beat me, kiddo. A Core’s strength includes their Master, y’know? Basically, my strength is half Redra and half the power of love,” Ittetsu cackled.

A stir ran through the crowd. People whispered among themselves in disbelief that Dungeon Core 112 had lost to a low-ranking dungeon. It helped that Ittetsu had intentionally spoken in a loud voice. Rokuko heard a few people wondering out loud, “What kinda dirty tricks did she pull to win?”, but as she had in fact pulled dirty tricks to win, she couldn’t argue back. Though it was a specialized battle with unusual rules in the first place.

“...B-But Keima said the battle ended in a tie, remember?”

“Yeah? Wanna have a second go, then? You can be the fuckin’ defenders this time.”

“Sorry, but I’ll pass. Anyway. Thanks for helping me. See you later, 112.” Rokuko tried to walk away. But, before she could, Ittetsu stopped her.

“Hey, hold up now. Won’t be long before Father drops by. How ’bout we eat up in the meantime? Lotsa good meat here.”

“...But we Dungeon Cores don’t need to eat to survive, so...”

“Nobody’s gonna be mixing in poison or garbage on this table. Don’t sweat it. Or what, you still don’t believe me? Huh? Some gratitude you have.”

“...Ngh. O-Okay, I’ll have a little.” Rokuko timidly bit into the meat that Ittetsu held out. The moment her teeth sunk into it, juices spread through her mouth and a thick meaty flavor covered her tongue. She didn’t know what kind of meat it was, but she did know it tasted great. Niku would love it.

“Man, your face’s a mess. Here, {Purification}.”

“Nom, nom. Th-Thanks.”

“Gahaha! Don’t sweat it.”

Rokuko continued eating to her heart’s content, until eventually, a voice echoed throughout the gathering.

“Greetings, my lovely children. How is everyone doing?” Suddenly, a massive monitor appeared in the sky with a single man on screen. All of the Dungeon Cores looked up at it and the man on it together. That included Rokuko.

“Father... It’s been two years since I saw him.” It was a somewhat dark-skinned man with black hair and golden eyes, known to most Dungeon Cores as Father, though some chose to call him King or God. He wore a priestly blue robe. Half of his face, particularly his eyes, was covered by a mask. His still-visible lips formed a light smile.

Although all the Dungeon Cores knew Father, not a single one of them knew his true identity. The one thing they did know without any doubt was that he had created each of them. That was an unshakable truth. Some Cores suggested that he was Dungeon Core Number 0, the first Dungeon Core, and that all other Cores were merely his Dummy Cores. A surprising many number of them believed it, too. Most Dungeon Cores took human forms precisely because Father himself was a human-type being... or at least, he presented himself as one. For this reason, natural human-type dungeons such as Haku received much jealousy. And truth be told, Haku had intentionally kept Rokuko’s yearly Dungeon Core ranking low partially to shield her from this jealousy.

“Oh dear, there seem to be quite a few of you missing. How sad. Maybe it’s about time for me to make new children. What do you think, Core 1?”

“If you believe that is the right thing to do, Father, then surely it is.” Dungeon Core Number 1, who looked much like a human knight, responded to Father’s question. He was—excluding Father—the oldest, strongest, and most influential being at the Dungeon Core gathering. His status as a Single Number wasn’t for show.

“Mmm. Kind of a boring answer. Does anyone have a second opinion?” As if displeased with Dungeon Core Number 1’s answer, Father asked what the other Cores thought. But nobody answered. Or rather, nobody could answer. Giving a different answer would be equivalent to defying Dungeon Core Number 1. In the first place, few had the audacity to debate with Father, he who was practically a God to them.

“May I speak my thoughts, Father?” But there was one Core who rose their hand. All eyes fell on them, everyone curious to see who valued their life so little.

“Oh? You’ll tell me what you think, Core 89?” Father’s voice beamed with joy. Dungeon Core Number 89... Haku smiled just as brightly.

“Around seventy percent of the 600 batch are still alive. I believe it may be a little too soon for you to make more brothers and sisters. Would it not be better to wait for more to leave us?” Upon hearing Haku’s recommendation, a Core in the ground spat out a sizable ball of black fire into the air.

“You would dare say that, traitor?!” A voice that sounded like a rumbling earthquake filled the air as Dungeon Core Number 5, a Black Dragon, interrupted Haku’s conversation with Father. But Father merely chastised him softly.

“Core 5. I’m talking to Core 89 right now. You can speak your piece next.”

“F-Forgive me, Father! But!”

“I told you to wait your turn, didn’t I? You’re a smart one, Core 5, so you’ll wait nice and quietly, won’t you?”

“A-As you wish...” If he continued to argue despite Father’s suggestion to keep quiet, Dungeon Core Number 5 would be disobeying an indirect order. He had no choice but to back down.

Father spoke to Haku again. “In that case, Core 89, how many Cores do you think need to leave us before I make more children?”

“Perhaps when there are less than half of the 600 batch left. That is how long you’ve waited before gracing us with new brothers and sisters in the past, after all.”

“I see. That’s simple, clear, and concrete advice. That’ll be a big help, thank you.”

“Your praise honors me,” Haku said with a respectful bow.

“Okay, it’s your turn now, Core 5. What do you think?”

“Father! Core 89 over there is a traitor. She hunts her own kind. The majority of Cores that have died fell by her hand. That’s why she knows so much about how many Cores are still alive. I do not believe that you should heed the advice of a traitor like Core 89!”

“Hmm. Is that true, Core 89?”

“Indeed. It is true that I have taken the lives of other Cores in order to survive, Father. Have I done wrong?” Haku spoke without an ounce of fear in her voice.

“No, you haven’t. Sacrificing others for your own sake is a proper way of life. Hmm? For some reason, I feel like I’ve said that before.”

“We have this exchange every year, Father.”

“I see. Well, just remember that all these Cores are my cute little children. Try not to go too far.”

“Certainly, you have my word.” Haku gave a small smile. Indeed, she was disparaged as a traitor every year. And likewise, Father told her not to go too far every year.

“So, what do you think, Core 5? What are your thoughts on me making a new batch of children?”

“Th-That is... I believe that you should do what you think is best, Father.”

“Okay, thank you. I wonder if anyone else has any thoughts on this...” Father, after letting out a somewhat bored murmur, scanned the crowd of Cores for someone to talk to.

“Oh!” His gaze ended up in Rokuko’s direction. She trembled. No way. Was she about to be called on? Her eyes wavered.

“Core 112, what do you think? Do you maybe have some advice for me?” Whew, not me. Thank goooooodness. Rokuko let out a sigh of relief.

“Aaaah... I, er, I agree with, what Dungeon Core Number 5 said. You should, erm... I believe you should do what you think is best, Father. If I had to say, er, I think it’d be fun to have new kids runnin’ around? I’m not in a rush for’m, though.”

“Oooh. You’re looking forward to them, hm? That’s nice.” Father laughed to himself after hearing Ittetsu’s advice, who had spoken while stammering due to his lack of familiarity with speaking formally. Core 5, pleased that Ittetsu had made Father happy, sent him a silent “You did good!” look.

“Okay, while we’re at it, Core 695. What do you think?”

“...Bwuuuh?!” Rokuko froze after Father suddenly spoke to her.

...Please don’t surprise me like that, thought Rokuko as she slowly began to speak.

“U-Ummm... I-I, erm, I-I’m from the newest 600 batch, so... I-I think I’d be happy to have some Cores younger than me around, but um, I’d feel weird if any of them beat me in the rankings.”

“Hahaha. You’d feel weird, hm? That’s very like you, Core 695. I like it.” Rokuko’s cheeks blushed bright red. Father’s statement that her opinion was “like her” meant that he spent enough time watching Rokuko to have a solid impression of her. Maybe being at the bottom of the DP rankings really did stand out that much?

Haku gave Rokuko a warm smile, and in return she let out a sigh of relief. She had been so tense she could feel it herself.

Father continued asking different Cores what they thought, but of course, each suggested that he do as he wished—answers nigh identical to the one that Dungeon Core Number 1 gave. Maybe I wouldn’t have stood out so much if I left it at that, thought Rokuko, far too late for it to matter.

“Okay, I’ll give up on the idea this year. I can think about it again next time.” Father clapped his hands together. The atmosphere relaxed instantly.

“Listen, everyone. If you have any requests or questions for me, let me hear them before this party’s over. I can’t involve myself with you all outside of brief opportunities like this one.” Father gave a bright smile, visible due to his mask not covering his mouth. In response, a Dungeon Core—one morphing into the form of a middle-aged man—raised his voice.

“Oooh, our Lord and God! I have a prayer that I hope you can answer.”

“That was fast. What is it, Core 380? Ask me anything you want. But I’d really prefer it if you called me Father.”

“I would never dream that a lowly being such as myself is the son of a deity... I am merely the servant of God.”

“Aaah, okay. What’s your request?” Dungeon Core Number 380 kneeled to the ground and spoke his request.

“Indeed! May the might of God bring about miracles! My request involves the revival of the deceased!”

“Oh? Didn’t I already do that? Revived that girl you liked?”

“My current, humble request is that you revive my elder brother Dungeon Core 379! Last winter, he was targeted by the cowardly Core 89 and ended up devoured by Soldiers of God.”

“Ahhhh... Core 379. You were twin Cores, right. But sorry. That’s no good.”

“Why not?! With your divine powers, it should be possible!” Father had never said he couldn’t do it. He just said that it was no good. There was a big difference between those two. It was likely possible that Father could use his powers to revive destroyed—dead—Cores at will. But Father mercilessly shot Core 380 down.

“Those are the rules.” In other words, even Father was being restricted by some rules.

Suddenly, Father slapped his hands together, as if he had just had a brilliant idea.

“Oh, I know! I’ll make it so that you can make a monster that looks just like Core 379. He was able to morph into human form too, right? I’ll give the monster that power too. It’ll cost a little DP, but it’ll be a monster that looks so much like Core 379 you won’t be able to tell them apart. And... done. Now you won’t be so sad, right, Core 380? You can make as many copies of the monster as you want when you get home.” Core 380 briefly looked shocked, but soon bowed his head reverently.

“That is... rather, thank you, Lord. Your compassion is wasted on me.”

“I’m just glad you’re happy.” 380 pressed his head against the ground, shaking. Was he really happy and grateful? It was impossible for Rokuko to tell.

“Well, I imagine you all can’t wait to know, so I’ll put up this year’s DP rankings.” The party’s atmosphere tensed up once again.

“Okaaay, attention please. First up is the top ten! Well, none of these really changed, so let’s just get this over with.” A large window appeared in the air, displaying the top 10 DP rankings all at once. They were unchanged from the last time Rokuko saw them, two years ago.

First through third place were held by Core 1, Core 2, and Core 3 respectively. Fourth place was Core 7, fifth place was Core 9, sixth place was Core 6. And finally, seventh place was Haku also known as Core 89, eighth place was Core 5, ninth place was Core 10, and tenth place was Core 8.

Core 5 roared with frustration, spitting fire into the air. The top ten was almost completely dominated by Single Number cores. The fact that Haku had worked her way up through them just reinforced her admiration of her. Their DP scores were displayed as well, but since Rokuko didn’t know any units of measurements above the trillion mark, she couldn’t read the numbers—she just knew they were staggeringly large.

“Mmm, uh-huh, you really are all talented children, Cores 1, 2, and 3. That makes me really happy. Keep on gathering more DP, just like you have been.”

“Your praise is the greatest reward I could ask for, Father.” Core 1 got on his knee and bowed like a knight. Cores 2 and 3 lowered their heads the same way, as if copying him. Core 2 was a silver knight and Core 3 a bronze knight, so they made a nice trio. It was said that even among the First Lot of Dungeon Cores, from 1 to 99, Father had put the most amount of care and effort into making the first three. It made sense that they would then be at the top of the rankings. But the fact he would ask them to gather even more DP, even after they got so much that Rokuko couldn’t even count them, just blew her mind.

“Cores 7 and 9, you’re both doing really well too. Could you try passing Core 3 before the next gathering?”

“As you wish, Father.”

“I shall do my best.”

Cores 7 and 9 were both beautiful women, one with green hair and the other with blue hair. They were apparently called the Goddess of the Mountains and Goddess of the Oceans, respectively. Rokuko figured the reasoning was similar to why Haku was called the Ivory Goddess.

“Cores 6, 89, and 5. You all spend a lot of time helping Cores lower in the rankings. Helping others earn DP is sometimes just as important as earning DP yourself. Thank you all.”

“I do not deserve such praise.”

“Your gratitude is my utmost joy.”

“Father, as with Dungeon Core 5, it is my great pleasure to be of use to you.”

Dungeon Core Number 6. A sharp-faced older man with harsh eyes, covered from head to toe in twisted black armor. He was commonly known as the Great Demon King—the Demon Emperor—and he ruled the Demon King Faction, also known as the Demon Army.

Dungeon Core 89. Obviously, that was Haku. She founded the Laverio Empire and was Rokuko’s older sister. She was known among the Cores as a traitor.

Dungeon Core 5. As a Black Dragon, he was the only Core among the top ten not taking a human form. That was a deliberate choice, reflective of his belief that he had no reason to hide his true form and instead took pride in the body Father had given him. He was known as the Dragon King. Many lizard-type Cores, including Ittetsu, were members of what was known as the Dragon King faction.

“Core 10, Core 8. I see you two are working hard too. Keep up the good work, and don’t die on me anytime soon, okay?”

“As you wish, my King.”

“I’ll serve you as best I can, my Father.”

Dungeon Core 10. A somewhat older man who wore a priest’s robe just like Father, though his was more richly-designed and gaudy.

Dungeon Core 8. In contrast to Core 10, he was an elderly man clothed in a simple shirt and pants, keeping himself upright with a walking cane.

“Okay. Now I’m going to show all the ranks down to 699. I’m not the only one who loves how much these always change, right?” A window much larger and wider than the first one appeared, though its text was smaller. If Keima were there, he would have mentioned that it looked like a school’s list of test results. All Dungeon Cores from 11 to 699 had their ranks displayed. Even dead Cores like Core 379 had their rank displayed, though it only showed their DP at time of death and never changed thereafter.

Rokuko went to the rightmost side of the monitor to look at the bottom rankings. Though she was hoping that she had gotten out of last place, since she had been earning a lot of DP since Keima joined her. She started at the bottom. First, she passed all the Cores that died right after being born, and the Cores that died using all of their DP stores as a last ditch effort for survival, leaving basically nothing behind... but she didn’t find herself anywhere, not even after reaching the 400s. She kept on looking through the 300s. There were a lot of Cores from the 600 batch in the 300s, and since most of them hadn’t yet earned the power to morph into human shape, there were quite a variety of beings clumped together. Core 629, an orange rabbit, called out to Rokuko after seeing her. He was visibly confused.

“Nmm? What’sh you doing here for, 695? The bottom rankingsh are thattawaysh.”

“Eh? Ah, um, actually... My number wasn’t over there. I can’t find it.”

“...Maybe Daddy’sh finally forgot you?”

“I-I don’t think so. I mean, he spoke to me earlier.”

“Why not look at your DP shtoresh and find it that way? He for shure jusht forgot you.” Oh, right, I could do that. Rokuko thought back to how much DP she had while looking at the rankings in front of her. 300th place, Core 629. 351,200 DP. Wait... How much DP do I even have right now? I should have a lot, since Haku always gives me so much whenever she stays at the inn. Right? Rokuko checked the DP display on her menu. She had locked it to displaying how much DP she could personally use on her own, so it had been stuck at around 100,000 DP for a long time. For the first time in a while, she checked her total DP.

729,359 DP.

“...Wha?” She rubbed her eyes and checked again. The counter remained at 729,359. Um... No, no, no. No way. Most of our DP is actually stored as gold coins. Keima told me just a few days ago that we’d more than double our DP if we converted all our gold coins into DP. I remember that.

Wait, wait, hold on. Doesn’t that mean my rank should be even higher...? And even without that, I have twice as much as rank 300, with its 350,000 DP?

“What’sh wrong? Why you shtaring at all the preshioush DP I shaved up? I know you jealoush, but you gotta earn it on your own.”

“Ah, no, I... Mmm. You’re right.” Rokuko walked over to the higher rankings. Rank 250 only got up to about 500,000 DP. Eh?! Um, how far did I go up? Amid her confusion, Rokuko finally found her own number.

“...Rank 210, Core 695...?” She checked again, and Core 695 was unmistakably written right there. She turned around then looked again. As expected, there it still said Rank 210, Core 695. Cores past 200 had around 1,000,000 DP, and it kept shooting up such that Rank 150 had over 10,000,000 DP.

“...Eheh!” Rokuko couldn’t help but grin. She grinned so wide that the deadly trio of 650 Cores came walking over.

“Oooh? What’re you doing here, 695?”

“Geheheh. What’s a low ranker like you doing way over here?”

“For real. Don’t you know your place by now, c’moooon.”

Rokuko turned to look at them, still grinning. “Oh my, oh my. I think I’m the one who should be asking that. Why are you three over here? What are you ranks?”

“Oof, that’s one nasty grin. You that smug cause Father talked to you? We came over here ’cause you got mixed up in the wrong place. Me? I’m Rank 321. Heheheh. I went up three whole spots.”

“I was 322, bwuhuhuh. 650 beat me.”

“310 for me. I’m the best outta all of us!”

“Heeey, don’t get too cocky, 652. Hmph. So, 695. What about you?”

...Rokuko let out a mocking laugh. Then, with a smug expression, she dropped the bomb.

“Rank 210.”

“...Mmm? Sooorry, could you say that again?”

“Rank 210! Ahahaha, I beat you all! Every single one of you!”

“Croak? But you’re at the bottom every year. You sure you’re not seeing anything?”

“Don’t believe me? Just look at the rankings! It’s riiight there! Rank 210, Core 695!” Rokuko pointed at the rankings. There indeed was Rank 210, Core 695 written, plain as day.

“Whaaaa?! S-Seriously?!”

“No way! There’s gotta be something wrong with these rankings! How’d little 695 go from the bottom all the way to here?!”

“I’m not little anymore. I’m Rank 210 now. That’s right, I’m above all of you! Address me with Number, Core 650!”

“Not a chance. I won’t accept that you’re Rank 210. Also, isn’t it a little cheeky for you to demand that when you never addressed us with Number?”

“Oh yeah, you have a point. You can drop the Number, then.” Rokuko changed her mind on a dime.

“But for real, what’s up with this? How do you have so much more DP than us when we’ve been saving up every year? Did Father mess up?”

“Father, messing up...? Can’t imagine that. She musta cheated.”

“Croak, croak! That’s right! She cheated! Her score is fake!” Core 651 started screaming about Rokuko being a cheater, croaking non-stop. Rokuko had been the lowest ranking Core every year since she was created, and suddenly she had shot all the way up to 210. Not to mention that these rankings weren’t showing how much DP they had earned in a year. They were showing how much DP they had saved up over their entire lives. It was natural to doubt her success as being the result of cheating.

Soon enough, several other Cores that Rokuko had shot past started questioning things too, spurred on by the shouting.

“But what could she have done to cheat?”

“Maybe she had the traitor Core 89 split DP with her? Like, by holding a fake Dungeon Battle where 89 let her win...”

“That reminds me, didn’t Dungeon Core Number 112 just mention that she beat him? How could the lowest ranking Core beat him in a fight? Does that mean Dungeon Core Number 112 is another accomplice...?” Oh crap. They’re kinda close to the truth, thought Rokuko. Um? Wait, does this mean I did cheat? Did I accidentally cheat? Oh, oh no, I’m sweating now.

“Come on, give it up! Tell us how you cheated, Core 695!”

“N-No, you’re wrong! I-I didn’t cheat, I-I shwear!”

“Wow, talk about making it obvious. You’re being way too suspicious... Shhhlurp.” Rokuko’s head spun as she realized she might have accidentally been cheating. Her eyes got hot. She wanted to cry.

“Be silent, you pathetic bugs.” A clear, sharp voice shot through the air. Everyone fell silent immediately.

There appeared a young girl with long, fiery red hair.

“Core 666...”

“Address me with Number, Core 650. Is that not the proper way of showing respect? I’m a higher rank than you and we are far from friends.” Dungeon Core 666. She was the most talented of the 600 batch and obtained the ability to morph into human shape before anyone else. She was also the youngest member of the Demon King Faction led by Dungeon Core Number 6, the Demon Emperor.

“Ngh! Dungeon Core, N-Number 666! You need to say something to Core 695 too!”

“And why is that?”

“Why?! Because she cheated to beat us!”

“Look again. She hasn’t beaten me.” Core 666 shot a finger towards the rankings, pointing to where it said Rank 180, Core 666. She had pushed past all those around her and gotten into the top 200.

“B-But! She faked her DP to get this high! Like, there’s no way Core 89 didn’t just give her all this DP!” Since Haku actually had given her a lot of DP for the Dungeon Battle and as tips at the inn, that wasn’t entirely untrue. Oh crap, I think I did cheat! Rokuko panicked further. But Core 666 just let out a single cold laugh.

“Pathetic. If she ‘cheated’ to raise her rank, then you just have to cheat and raise yours the same way.”

“Whaaat?! L-Listen to what you’re saying! It’s ridiculous!” Core 650 shouted, considering that option to be out of the question. Core 666 sighed in response, knowing that nothing was out of the question.

“Your stupidity astounds me. Father created these rankings himself, and thus they have his support. None of them, then, are fake. She cheated because she earned DP in a way you couldn’t? Truly pathetic.”

“Ngh... R-Right, my bad. I forgot that Dungeon Core Number 6 is giving you all your DP too, Core 666. You’d be a hypocrite if you got mad at Core 695 here. My bad, haha.”

“.........” Swoosh! Core 666 thrust her blazing Magic Blade forward, stopping right before Core 650’s eyes. It took a solid second for Core 650 to realize what had happened.

“If you dare scorn Grandfather again, I will cut you down where you stand. Understand?”

“Ah?! Wh-What? Y-You’re saying you’ll kill me? J-J-J, J-J, Just try it!” So said Core 650 while stepping rapidly backwards and hiding in Core 651’s froggy shadow. Core 666’s sword disappeared into thin air.

“I wonder if a snake is just a kind of weak caterpillar. What do you think, Core 695?”

“Wha?! Ah, ummm, I think that sounds right?”

“I see. Did you hear that, caterpillar?”

“Gyaaaah! You sure are being cocky today, Core 695!”

“Wait, what?! You’re going to act like I said that?”

Core 666 let out a hmph. Her taunting had gotten Rokuko yelled at, but for some reason, her cold sweat had disappeared. Perhaps she had been saved.

“...Oh?” Core 666 suddenly looked at Rokuko, as if she had seen something. Her gaze fell on the ruby-adorned orichalcum ring resting on Rokuko’s left ring finger. “...Core 695. That is quite the splendid ring you have.”

“Eh? Oh, this thing? Ahaha, the truth is, I have a Master now. And like, he gave me this ring as a present.”

“Oh, your Master did, hmmm? It looks expensive. If my eyes aren’t mistaken, that’s an orichalcum ring, is it not?”

“Ummm, right. It is. For sure.”

“May I take a closer look?”

“S-Sure, is this good?” Rokuko ignored 650’s shouting and held her left hand out towards Core 666. She took her hand softly and looked at the ring.

...It was indeed an orichalcum ring with a pure, flawless ruby attached. Core 666 took it all in. If converted to DP, the ring would be worth at least 50,000,000 DP, though all things considered a value of 100,000,000 DP was more likely.

“Do you plan to turn this ring into DP?”

“Eeeh?! N-No way, my Master gave me this ring. It’s really important to me. I’d never do that.”

“But you would be much, much higher in the rankings if you sold it.” Higher than even me, thought Core 666 as she glared as Rokuko. However, Rokuko knew that Keima had thrown it together using a minimal amount of DP, so she didn’t expect it to be worth that much. Not that she had any intention of ever selling her precious ring.

“I don’t really think so.” Core 666 let go of Rokuko’s hand after hearing her answer.

“That’s certainly arrogant of you, Core 695. You’ve made me want to ever so slightly... destroy you.”

“Wait, what?! That doesn’t sound like a joke when you say it, Core 666!” Despite how Rokuko had just addressed her without Number, which could be considered rude, Core 666 didn’t chastise her. Instead, she gave a bright smile, and said...

“Therefore, Core 695. I challenge you to a duel.”

Rokuko looked at Core 666, questioning whether she had heard that properly. She got the feeling she had heard the word “duel.” “U-Ummm. Sorry, could you say that again?”

“Core 695. I challenge you to a duel.”

Apparently, Rokuko hadn’t misheard. “A duel...? Ummm, is that different from a Dungeon Battle?”

“I am merely suggesting that we draw our swords and battle where we stand, here and now.”

“Merely...?”

“Oh, could it be that the sword on your hip is just for show?” Core 666’s tone was sharp and imposing, as she didn’t want Rokuko to look down on her.

Indeed, Rokuko had a sword on her hip. And indeed, it was just for show. She had honestly forgotten that she was even wearing it until Core 666 pointed it out.

“...Now, draw your sword.”

“Um, it actually is just for show.”

“Are you suggesting that I am so beneath you, fists will suffice to defeat me? I do not know what inspires your empty confidence, but very well. Do as you wish.” Core 666’s blazing Magic Blade re-materialized and she entered a combat stance. Um, please listen to me.

Rokuko looked around for help. She made eye contact with Core 629, who promptly looked away. Gr, you stupid orange rabbit... Actually, I don’t know if you’d even be a good shield.

“Heheh, that’s the spirit, Core 695! Let her cut you down!”

“Oh my, Core 650. Would you like to duel as well?”

“N-Nah, I’ll pass! Duels are for violent, uncivilized weirdos!”

“...What was that? Duels are uncivilized?” A split second later, Core 666 had moved from in front of Rokuko to in front of Core 650, Magic Blade thrust right at him.

“Guh?! I’m telling you, quit it!” Once again he backed away, this time hiding behind Core 652, the slug.

“Hmph. My blade would be wasted on a weakling like you anyway. Now then, Core 695. Let us begin our duel.” Rokuko thought about what to do as Core 666 gave her a bright smile.

Her options were:

1. Accept the duel.
2. Run away.
3. Go eat some melon rolls.

...She wanted to ignore reality and take option three, but that’d probably just make Core 666 mad. But she’d be cut down from behind if she took option two, and she had no chance of winning option one. Darn it, I should have made Keima turn these clothes and this sword into Golems too. But it was too late for that.

“Oh my, oh my. I see you’re having fun, Core 666.” Suddenly, Rokuko’s savior arrived. Haku, wearing a tight white dress, walked up to them with a warm smile.

“...Dungeon Core Number 89. Yes, I thought it best to use this opportunity as a chance to grow closer to Core 695.”

“Even so, isn’t dueling a rather violent way to form a friendship?”

“Perish the thought. Have you not formed a friendship with Grandfather, Dungeon Core Number 6, through similar means? I believe it is natural that Core 695 and I do the same.”

“Ahaha, how cheeky. Have you not been disciplining her properly, Core 6?”

“Heh. You have it backwards, Core 89. Seems like Core 695’s the one that needs disciplining.” Right behind Haku was the Demon Emperor himself, Core 6, clad in twisted black armor. Sparks flew between Haku and Core 6 as they looked at each other.

“I wonder about that. The children of your faction have been quite a tedious thorn in my side lately. I would truly appreciate it if you pulled back on their reins a little.”

“Oh, that’s the first I’m hearing of this. I will inform them to keep me more updated on their efforts.”

“Ahahaha.”

“Heh heh heh.”

Core 6 drew his pitch-black sword. In turn, Haku readied her ivory spear. At some point, Rokuko and Core 666’s duel had turned into a duel between Haku and Core 6. Sparks flew in the air.

“GRAAAAAH! You twoooo! Let me joooooooin!” Core 5, the Dragon King, soared through the air with his massive Black Dragon body, heading directly for Haku and Core 6. He slammed into the ground, causing what felt like a miniature earthquake, and let out a ferocious roar. The force of the roar was so great that the nearby Rokuko’s knees gave in and she fell to the ground. Although she couldn’t say so with confidence, she was fairly certain she managed not to pee herself. On the other hand, Core 666 remained on her feet completely unfazed. The bully trio had all passed out.

“I’ll crush you, Core 89! Lend me a hand, Core 6!”

“You would dare give me an order? I’ll destroy you first.”

“Wha?! C’mon, why wouldn’t you take the traitor down first?!”

“Feel free to team up. It would save me the time of destroying one of you later.”

“Fool.”

Haku swung her spear back and forth, warming up while taunting the two of them. The atmosphere was so tense the surrounding Cores all ran away to avoid being caught in the crossfire. I want to run away too, thought Rokuko. But she was personally involved in this. Though it felt like she was pretty much out of the picture by this point. Either way, though, she couldn’t run away with legs as wobbly as hers.

“Okay, stop. That’s enough, you three.” Father’s sudden interjection made all three of them freeze on the spot.

“I hate to be a buzzkill, but you can’t fight here.”

“Oh my. Forgive me, Father. I got a little carried away.”

“Ngrrr... This was the perfect chance...”

“I did nothing wrong, Father.”

They sheathed their weapons, each defending themselves. The atmosphere loosened up in no time. Though of course, only superficially.

“You know, Cores 6, 89, and 5, I really think you three should be more friendly with one another. All of you take good care of younger Cores, so there’s a lot of children learning from your examples. Now, shake hands.” At Father’s urging, the Demon Emperor and Haku shook hands with cold, fake smiles. The Dragon King rested a claw on top of their hands. It was a truly blood-curdling sight. But Father seemed satisfied by it.

“That said, it might be a good idea to settle this rivalry once and for all. I mean, in a way outside of the Dungeon Point rankings.”

“...I suppose that you have an idea regarding how to do that, then?”

“Sharp as always, Core 89. That’s right.” Father beamed.

“Your younger Dungeon Core followers will have a Dungeon Battle. I see that your friends in the 600 batch are already here, after all... Aaah, Core 650’s the only one without a master, so as a handicap, Cores 651 and 652 can join him.”

“...Bwuh?”

“Hm. It’s not a duel, but it shall suffice.”

“...Wha?!”

“Huh?”

“Awww...”

The bully trio had apparently woken up. Welp... I don’t know how this happened, but it looks like we’re having a Dungeon Battle. I really need to talk to Keima about this, thought Rokuko as she rubbed her temples.

Day 360 — Keima’s Perspective

“...And that’s what happened. Essentially, we’re having a Dungeon Battle.” Rokuko, after being gone for about three days, came back out of nowhere talking about some Dungeon Battle. Who the hell is that Father guy? Is he a god? He’s definitely some kind of god.

“...By the way, all that happened on the first day, right? What about the other two?”

“Wha? Well, obviously, I ate a lot and drank a lot and partied and had tons of fun! I mean, I’m Rank 210, y’know? I even beat Dungeon Core 112 in a fight, and he’s Rank 63! Eheheheh.” Man, she sure got cocky fast. Is Rank 210 really that high of a rank? Either way, right now the main problem is that Dungeon Battle she’s talking about.

“So, why do we have to fight a Dungeon Battle in Haku’s place?”

“Because Father wills it. What choice do we have?”

“...What’ll happen if we say no?”

“We’d be making Haku our enemy. I definitely don’t want that. No way.” Uh, yeah, that’ll be a no way from me too. Haku would kill me on the spot.

“...Anyway, it’s going to be a three-way team fight, right?”

“Uh-huh.” According to Rokuko, there were three teams: Core 6 and 666 forming the Demon King Team, Core 5, 650, 651, and 652 forming the Dragon King Team, and finally us and Haku forming the Human Empire Team. Each team will build a new dungeon and place a single Dummy Core within it. Those who had their Dungeon Core destroyed lost—not touched, but destroyed. We were limited to spending 500,000 DP, including the Dummy Core.

The battle would begin in one month. We had that long to prepare the dungeon. However, the worst rules were yet to come. We had to work with the higher ranked Core in our team—we needed to build the dungeon on their land, with their DP, and with their direct involvement. If I wanted to go all out making our dungeon, I needed to expose all my trump cards to Haku. Otherwise, I’d have to make a dungeon without using {Create Golem}.

...I had been hiding my advanced {Create Golem} as a safety measure, but continuing to do that here would force me to design a dungeon fundamentally different from anything I had made previously. 500,000 DP would be enough to do quite a lot without Golems, but the same went for my opponents. The key to victory here would be taking that DP and going as far with it as possible, cutting corners here and there to ultimately make a longer and more dangerous dungeon than the others. Also, the higher ranked Cores weren’t allowed to bring special items, but the lower ranked Cores could.

Guess that’s them saying not to rely on Haku too much. I probably can’t just ask her to accidentally drop Magic Blades around the place for me to coincidentally find and pick up. Yeah, probably not. Anyway. Maybe I should just have Rokuko roll that 1,000 DP gacha about two hundred times. With luck like hers, that should end up being a net benefit. Yeah.

“Wait. What’ll we do with our own dungeon while the Dungeon Battle’s going on? It’d be pretty dangerous to just leave it completely on its own. Not that we won’t leave someone behind to keep an eye on it.”

“Don’t worry. Father said he’d connect space-time for us while this is going on. We’ll be able to come back to the dungeon every day.”

“Connect space-time...? Oh, like what happens during Dungeon Battles?” Man, this Father guy really is fishy. That’s not the kinda thing someone should be able to just casually do.

“Actually, it turns out that Father’s always the one connecting dungeons during battles.”

“Your dad’s, uh, really something. I wanna meet him one day.”

“Well, I’m sure you’ll get a chance to during the Dungeon Battle.”

By the way, our menu now showed various new statistics, like how much DP we’ve used on the new dungeon and how much we had left. He works fast.

“So, what two places are going to get connected? It’d be a big problem if a giant portal to the Imperial Capital suddenly appeared in the middle of town.”

“He said he’d connect the coliseum in our dungeon to Haku’s royal villa in the capital. Once you start making the new dungeon, Keima, he’ll switch to connecting ours and that one.” He’s really making this easy for us, huh?

I let out a sigh. With him being this accommodating, we had no choice but to go with it. I had no intention of running away, but honestly, he was making me want to.

“So, what do I have to do?”

“Haku’s coming over here and then we’ll go to the Imperial Capital together.”

“...Do we have enough employees to manage the place while we’re gone?”

“If we don’t, why not just summon more?” Oh right, I forgot we could do that. This is exactly why I summoned our three monster girls in the first place. Mmm... We’ve saved up a ton of DP by now. It might be smart to just go ahead and summon a monster dedicated solely to running the dungeon.

“Ahaha, I mean, I am Rank 210 after all. We have plenty of DP to spare!”

“That’s true. Alright, I’ll give Rei about 50,000 DP and let her summon whatever subordinate she wants.”

“...Why Rei?”

“She knows a lot about our dungeon. Niku and Ichika can’t use DP, Kinue’s focused on the inn, and Neruneh’s got her research to worry about. The process of elimination gives us Rei. Plus, she’s basically the leader of the monster girls.” For some reason, Rei had ended up in something of a leader position over the other two. It helped that she was the first one we summoned, but beyond that, she just liked taking care of others. Though Kinue was still the nosy mom of the group, so to speak.

“Makes sense. She knows the dungeon second best, after me.”

“Pretty sure I know the dungeon better than anyone. Honestly, you’re probably in third place here, being real.”

“...Well, whatever. Keima, I was thinking about going, u-um, shopping once we get to the capital. D-Do you want to go with me?”

“I mean, if you need someone to carry your stuff, Niku can handle that.” You’re gonna try to invite me on a date in Haku’s backyard? Yeah, no thanks. I don’t feel like dying.

“...I want to go with you, Keima.”

“I’m not sure that’s the best thing to do with Haku watching us.”

“Aren’t you a little too afraid of Haku? She’s a really nice person.” Yeah, I bet she a nice person... when she’s talking to you!

By the way, Rei swore even deeper loyalty to me after I gave her the 50,000 DP.

“Master I...! I shall not disappoint you, I-I... I swear it!” said the touched Rei, tears streaming down her cheeks. She looked like a hot mess, but I had intended for the gesture to strengthen our loyalty, so uh... Alright.

Day 361

Tomorrow came. A gate opened in the coliseum and Haku came through it.

“Greetings, Keima... Ahaha. This is quite the stylish room.”

“Hey, Haku. I tried making a coliseum, but embarrassingly enough, there aren’t any monsters in here yet.” The coliseum area was about as large as a few football fields, but was mere inches away from making contact with the [Flame Caverns]. Ittetsu warned me about digging any further, so my plan was to dig downwards in the future.

“In any case, regarding the team battle. You will accept, yes?”

“...Yeah, I’m game. There’s just some things I didn’t hear from Rokuko that I’d like to double check, if you don’t mind.”

“Knowing you, Keima, I imagine you want to know what your payment will be.” Haku cut to the chase, but my payment wasn’t all I wanted to know about.

“That, and what will happen if we lose.” Haku nodded in return with a smile and a smooth “Of course.” The thing about talking to Haku was that each conversation felt like a boxing match where she threw an endless flurry of jabs right at my head, always taking the lead.

“Naturally I expected that you would be concerned about the penalty for losing. Let’s see. I suppose losing the DP and items invested in the dungeon is the only real penalty. As you are indirectly fighting for us older Cores, we will bear practically all of the risk.” No penalty for us? So basically, it doesn’t matter if we lose? No way. That can’t be right. We’re talking about Haku here.

“I personally won’t mind if we lose, so please. Proceed without worry.”

“And what will you do if we proceed without worry and lose, Haku?”

“...Father will grant us permission to temporarily restrain our associated younger Cores and lecture them.” Haku put a hand over her mouth and laughed. Okay, yeah. We gotta win. Haku’s basically saying she’ll get to do whatever she wants with us if we lose.

“As for the reward, Father will grant two rewards for each Core associated with the winning team.”

“...Can we ask for any reward we want?”

“Heavens no, Father himself will be choosing the rewards. It will be an honor to receive his gifts.” I didn’t know Father and thus didn’t really consider that an honor, but if he gave me, for instance, socks freshly removed from the feet of my favorite idol, well, I could understand the feeling. Though I was probably the only one who could understand that.

...I wonder if there’s some divine bed he could give me. If such a thing exists, I definitely want one. My thoughts were interrupted by Haku clapping her hands together.

“Oh, I have an idea. Why don’t we make use of this coliseum and have a duel, as adventurers?”

“I’m gonna have to pass. There’s Dungeon Master work I need to take care of.”

“Oh my, how disappointing. I’ll give you this nonetheless.” With an amused smile, Haku pulled out a card from her cleavage. I took the warm card from her—it was a Guild Card. One with my name on it.

“I had another one made for you.”

“...Uh, I don’t remember losing my first one.”

“As a reminder, I run the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Is it just me or does this say I’m B-Rank now?”

“Congratulations, Keima, and welcome to nobility.”

Yep, the card listed me as B-Rank, which was especially meaningful because adventurers were treated as nobles from B-Rank onward—though not nobles on the level of dukes, counts, or barons. There was apparently a specific low-ranking noble position for B-Rankers, who became known as visads. I, for example, could now be called Visad Keima. It was transient nobility that wouldn’t be passed down to the next generation, but still, it was nobility nonetheless. Those who held such a title had the strength to back up their authority, after all, and apparently those who achieved enough over their lives could attain nobility that their children could inherit.

Wait, what about the Guild exam? Guess there’s no problem with me skipping it if the head honcho doesn’t care. Though I have to wonder about the D-Rank card I still have. Maybe she’s telling me to use both and exploit them however I can?

“Normally, raising to such a rank would incur a yearly gold coin fee, but I will exempt you from it given the circumstances. If my selfless kindness wracks your heart with guilt, I will accept a cream soda as thanks.”

“Riiight... I’ll give you one later. So, why suddenly make me B-Rank?”

“I can’t just have commoners entering my home, you know. There are those who will kick up quite the fuss if you aren’t some form of nobility.” Yeah, makes sense. She is the founder of the empire, Haku Laverio. I remember back in Japan that an elephant was once given a noble rank before being presented to the emperor. Basically the same thing. And I guess being B-Rank will be a big help if I ever want to go into Haku’s own dungeon.

“Here is Rokuko’s card. Ah, and I did make cards for your slaves as well. Make good use of them.”

“Thank you, Haku! Look, Keima, we match now. Like a couple!” Sweet Christ please don’t phrase it like that. Haku just grimaced so hard I could feel my neck about to get snapped.

Haku handed Rokuko her Guild Card, then tossed Niku and Ichika’s over to me. Actually, why does Rokuko need one when she’s Haku’s little sister already?

“Giving Rokuko a normal noble title would cause its own troubles. She is my little sister, after all,” said Haku, as if she had read my mind. Ahhh, right. The imperial family are already nobles by birth. She’d need a pretty high-ranking title to match that, and just her existing is already dangerous enough. I can see why Haku would want to avoid opening that can of worms.

“In any case, now that you’re official nobility... Shall we go visit my home, Rokuko?”

“Yes! Come on, Keima, don’t just stand there! Let’s go!” Haku took Rokuko’s hand and then went through the gate. Guess I’ll get going too. Heeey, Niiiku. Let’s goooo.

We passed through the gate and found ourselves in a storeroom. It was littered with suits of armor, not to mention all the swords and spears and so on hanging from the walls. Boxes were stuffed into shelves and all manner of weaponry and armor were stuffed inside. Uh, even the swords in those boxes are covered with jewels and stuff. They look pretty expensive.

Rokuko and Haku, who had gone through the gate first, were looking back at me and waiting. Niku squeezed my shirt. Infiltration successful.

“This is my collection room, as it were. I asked Father to have the gate lead here. Unfortunately, lending you any of this equipment would impact our DP limit for the battle, so this all will have to remain here.” Her collection room, huh...? I guess all this stuff in boxes is a part of her collection. Are these swords all Magic Blades...? Is your hobby collecting Magic Blades, Haku? I’m pretty interested in natural Magic Blades that aren’t just Golems. I’d like to take a look at them, even if I can’t take them back with me.

“Oh, I remember this lance. It’s the one Chloe used to cast Flame Wall back in that Dungeon Battle you lost, right?”

“Ngh! Wh-Why, yes... Yes it is.” Rokuko accidentally dug into Haku’s old wounds. Ouch.

“...In any case, I will prepare rooms for you to stay in. Follow me.” Haku forced a smile and guided us out of the room, into her villa. It was entirely white, like a temple of sorts. Yeaaah. People definitely worship her.

“Here we are, Rokuko.”

“Woow... So big!” The bed in her room was as big as the one in our inn’s grand suite. It had a white canopy and a queen-sized mattress. Now there’s a bed I can respect. Those clear, white curtains are like... a veil, right? That gives it a really royal atmosphere. I can dig it. The pillows and mattress and stuff are all filled with feathers, it seems. They’re all fluffy and soft looking. I wanna dive right into that bed and fall asleep on the spot.

What about the rest of the room? Ahhh, right... Uh... Looks nice and expensive? It’s a pretty big room, and there’s some kind of shiny magic tool brightening it. Oh, and there’s one of the massage chairs I sold her.

Anyway, I knew Haku would make sure that our rooms have top tier beds! I can tell just from a glance that this is the best bed money can buy. I won’t regret a second I spend sleeping on top of it. I’m getting sleepy just looking at it!

“Keima, you and that slave girl will be sleeping in this room.” Before I could even blink in confusion, Haku had taken me to a tiny, barren room. Oh geez, it’s basically an empty box. Like a tiny storage room that had all its stuff taken out. There’s not even a bed here. No pillow, either. Reminds me of when I first came to this world.

“H-Hold on, Haku! Keima deserves a lot better than this...”

“Oh my. But wouldn’t Keima come here to avoid work and sleep if offered the opportunity? I believe I recall you mentioning his proclivity for sleeping.”

“...U-Um, well... D-Did I really say that?” Rokuko averted her eyes, silently confirming that she did indeed say that. Okay. I get it. This is your fault, huh, Rokuko? I mean, not that I expected for a second that Haku would treat us equally.

“U-Um, c-can’t you at least give him a bed?”

“If he wants a bed that much, he can go back to his own dungeon every night.” Yeah, it’s pretty obvious that Haku wants me to leave so she can be alone with Rokuko. And I mean, I’m fine with that. I’m fine with it, but, y’know? Couldn’t you at least not make it so obvious, Haku?

“...Honestly, I’m just glad she’s lending me a room at all. I can just take my own bed out of {Storage} whenever I want to sleep.”

“Oh, why don’t you just come to my room at night? My bed’s big enough for three people to sleep in.”

“Sorry, my sweet Rokuko, but that bed can only be slept on by Dungeon Cores.”

“Really?! Awww, well, scratch that I guess...” Rokuko, that’s definitely a lie. Haku’s just saying that so she can get in bed with you.

“Anyway, let’s stop talking about rooms and get to business. Where should we build this new dungeon?”

“I’m glad you’re enthusiastic about this. Shall we go to one of my conference rooms? I have prepared a map.” Thus, we headed to a conference room. It was a white room just as expected, but its center was dominated by a physical three-dimensional model of the entire Empire, plus neighboring territories including the Demon Emperor’s lands.

“...This is a pretty detailed map. Every other map I’ve seen has been a lot more vague.”

“Indeed. Maps are valuable tools of warfare. I created this map with the help of Kuusatsu... a Hero of the past who suggested I use Harpies to fly above my land and take direct records of it.” I took another look at the map, impressed by how useful random modern Earth knowledge was in this world. Tsia Mountain, which contained our dungeon, was within the Empire’s territory. Using the size of the mountain to estimate distance... Yeah, the Empire was pretty huge. How many Hokkaidos could even fit in here? More than a few. Not to mention that there’s dozens of dungeons marked on the map. I could guess that most of the ones near the capital belonged to Haku.

“So. I believe that the dungeon would best be built in this general area. The terrain is quite varied, which will enable a variety of tactics. There’s also quite a few monster nests nearby.” Wait, monster nests? It’s not against the rules to use naturally existing monsters? Or so I thought, but Haku just gave a knowing smile. Guess not.

“I think it’ll be best to narrow down our options and then check them out firsthand to find the best one.”

“Agreed. Personally, I might recommend this mountain the most,” said Haku, pointing at a part of the map some distance off from the capital. “A mountain will allow you to execute familiar strategies when building the dungeon, no?” The mountain was fairly close to Demon territory. Ahh, okay. She wants to build a dungeon that’ll put some pressure on the Demon Emperor. She’ll probably use it as a reconnaissance camp after this is all said and done. That is, uh, if we get to keep these dungeons. Do we?

“You seem to be curious, Keima, so I’ll tell you that the dungeons built for this battle will be kept by the teams. The younger Cores of the winning team will keep the dungeon, whereas the younger Cores of the losing teams will lose their dungeons to their respective senior Cores. I suggest, therefore, that you do your best.” In short: If we lose, you get to have a new reconnaissance dungeon, and if we win, you get to have a new reconnaissance dungeon that I have to deal with myself. This is a sweet deal for Haku whether we win or lose.

“Um, Haku. Can you tell what Keima’s thinking even when he doesn’t say anything?”

“I certainly can. His thoughts are written all over his face. I’m quite used to interacting with humans, you see.”

“I wonder if I’ll learn how to do that someday. I want to know what Keima’s thinking.”

“...Would you really need such a skill for that?”

Rokuko fell into thought with a hmmm.

“Are you saying that we’re connected by body and soul, so I should be able to tell what he’s thinking without such skills...? My thoughts are Keima’s thoughts?!”

“It does seem that you’ve gotten better at reading the thoughts of others, darling...”

“Ahaha. I’ve grown a lot!” Rokuko puffed out her chest with pride. Yep, glad to see she’s as airheaded as always. Haku also gave a relieved nod.

“Anyway, what do you think about this spot, Keima? If Haku’s recommending it, I’m sure it’s good.”

“Eh, hold on. It’s still just a candidate. What kind of dungeon we’ll be making will impact which spot we want a lot.”

In the end, we spent the afternoon poring over the maps, picking the best candidates and making plans to explore them tomorrow. It’ll be a pain, but I really didn’t want to lose this battle.

By the way, Niku and I went back home for the night, whereas Rokuko stayed at the capital.