Dungeon Hunter

Similarly to the fire spirits, the water spirits were in the form of water droplets. They were frightened and didn’t come closer.

There was a strong atmosphere in the surroundings.

-Don’t be scared. I am Rei.

-Sera! Your unni.

Rei and Sera extended their hands.

After a while, the five droplets slowly approached and took their hands.

-Father! Please name these children. It is bad to have no name.

-That’s right.

Name. Another name.

Just a few days ago, I had spent time thinking of almost 100,000 names. It was just five more, but I didn’t want to go through the process of naming again.

“Water-One, Water-Two, Water-Three, Water-Four, Water-Five.”

Yihi had given me a very helpful way of naming.

Yihi might be a seer.

At first I had laughed, but Fire-One, Fire-Two and Fire-Three weren’t disobedient.

-...Pretty names.

―......I won’t say anything.

The two spirits replied shortly but I didn’t care.

I made a contract with the born spirits but it was too early to release them. They needed more capabilities to adapt to the world.

My influence there was necessary. The spirits were particularly sensitive to my mood.

But I was always cynical so it was difficult to change my attitude. A majority of demons had this attitude, and I had always lived my life my own way.

‘Normally people would move to meet me.’

It was better than adjusting myself to match someone else.

However, the spirits were very sensitive so I needed to handle them subtly.

As time went on, Rei and Sera became increasingly difficult. It was a bad omen.

’Changing the way I am for others.’

Was that possible?

If it helped then I would become more friendly. I’d actually done it many times. However, the spirits would recognize it as ‘acting.’ They would notice it was false and keep an even greater distance.

I was busy thinking about this.

At that moment, a few messages appeared in front of me.

-The Origin Fairy ‘Yihi’ has suffered a great blow to the soul.

In the past few years, ‘Yihi’ has been supporting the ‘dungeon’ and the ‘Tree of Origin.’ The aftermath has caused a depletion in the soul.

-Be careful. The fairy is the foundation of the dungeon. So if she disappears, the dungeon won’t be safe.

I frowned. It was an abrupt message. It was related to Yihi so I couldn’t do nothing. Yihi hadn’t said anything.

I could somewhat tolerate it, but Yihi’s nature meant that she wouldn’t be able to hide this. Somehow it was all over her face.

In other words, it meant that Yihi hadn’t anticipated this would happen.

‘Her soul is lacking...’

The area of the soul wasn’t fully explored. Magicians, alchemists, etc., all tried. I only had a vague understanding of it.

It was surprising that I hadn’t noticed after entering the realm of transcendence.

-The soul depletion is becoming severe. 28.2% -> 28.1%

‘There is no time to be playing around.’

I shook my head and immediately moved. Yihi’s location was obvious.

The garden.

It was a place that Yihi had secretly made.

It was on the very outskirts of the 32nd floor. It wasn’t a burden for me so I hadn’t paid attention to the garden. In my previous life, I had gotten rid of the garden without stepping into it.

It wasn’t inspiring so I never needed to enter.

But it couldn’t be helped now that there was a problem.

On the outskirts of the 32nd floor, a small forest spread out for 100 metres. There were rare trees, grasses and flowers from Earth. Several bugs and deer caught my eye.

Normally I would say ‘she managed to gather all this.’ However, my eyes were directed towards the heart of the forest.

The Flower of Eternity. The item obtained from the Demon World Auction was planted in the heart of the forest. Yihi was collapsed next to it.

Three fireballs were flying around Yihi. They were the fire spirits that Yihi took.

’It isn’t too late.’

Yihi’s appearance was blurrier than usual. It was like she was lacking in several areas. It was a sign that her physical power was lost and her presence was fading.

But that would only happen if I couldn’t resolve it in time.

I hastily approached Yihi and immediately injected magic power into her.

I was the master of this dungeon and she was the fairy. If she was weakened then she could recover through my magic power.

However, there was no reaction. She seemed to come back for a moment, but soon became transparent again.

Why?

What should I do?

I agonized over it in my head.

I held Yihi in one hand and headed to the top floor.

She was a fairy of the Dungeon Core so it could help her.

‘No...’

I placed her on the Dungeon Core. However, the light from the core was weak. Once the light disappeared, I had a strong feeling that Yihi would be gone as well.

“Chrisley, Julliom...Oswen. And all the lich and shamans.”

I used the function of the core while injecting magic power into it at the same time.

"Come to the top floor right now.”

500 talented creatures gathered.

Some of them were hostiles creatures who met for the first time on the top floor.

Kobold priests, orc shamans, lich, goblin magicians, etc...

The thing they all had in common was that they studied ‘magic.’ Magic and spells. A power to make things not exist. The soul was in a similar area of study.

In particular, there were very few that became experts in the area of the soul. Even if they read and studied the ‘soul’, the results were very different.

Still, I summoned all of them.

I had the right as the Dungeon Master.

“Do you recognize these symptoms?”

I lifted Yihi up and asked.

Yihi was still breathing but she wasn’t conscious.

She looked like she was just sleeping, except for the blurriness.

I was ignorant about research into the soul. I hadn’t studied it. I had never felt the need. I humbly admitted it and gathered all of them together.

I wasn’t stupid enough to hold onto my pride. I couldn’t afford to lose my fairy. There would definitely be those who could read more deeply than me in this area.

It would be a success if anyone recognized her symptoms.

But no one opened their mouths.

"Is there really no one? It is fine even if it is a story.”

"Soul...chwiik! Weak."

One of the orc shamans opened its mouth.

I gave it a look that said ‘I know.’ Still, one of the 500 creatures had started speaking.

"The soul is weak? Is that all?”

“Chwiik! I don’t know.”

The orc shaman’s answer missed the mark. I couldn’t help but feel disappointed.

The silence lasted for a while. No one could carelessly come forward.

They all knew that my mood was bad.

In case they didn’t know, I decided to reveal more details.

"The dungeon fairy is now in a critical condition. She is fading due to her soul being weak. Are any of you aware of a method to restore the soul?”

I didn’t care if they didn’t recognize it, as long as they knew something.

Yihi was in this state due to soul depletion. If I could solve this then Yihi would return to normal.

But the reaction was the same. Indeed...it seemed like not many magicians and shamans studied the soul.

In the meantime, I had neglected to invest in the field of magic. I had thought it was better to raise their strength. However, it certainly was shocking that everyone except for one orc shaman was silent.

"How terrible.”

I bitterly muttered.

I thought I could solve this, but I was stuck here.

South Korea’s dungeon was important. My main base was here. With my strength, it would be simple to occupy another dungeon. But it wasn’t that simple. The Tree of Origin, the higher dungeon rating and other benefits from the South Korean dungeon would evaporate.

The heavy atmosphere weighed down on the creatures’ shoulders. All of them hastily stared at the floor.

The moment that I was about to turn away, Oswen came forward.

"Your Majesty. The soul is the final goal of the creator of a homunculus. Maybe Gaparam would have an idea.”

Ahh. It was like that. Oswen was right.

It was the job of an alchemist to create a fake soul for the homunculus. The lich who was making a homunculus would know the soul better than anyone.

So why didn’t he come out?

Gaparam had an unsure expression on his face. He glared at Oswen.

“Gaparam.”

“...I can’t heal a weak soul.”

"Is there really no way?"

"The soul that has accumulated for a long time is unique in itself. It can’t be replaced or filled. It might be destroyed if forcibly refilled or something other than the fairy will be made.”

"I am connected to the fairy’s soul.”

In order to make it more clear, dangerous words emerged from my mouth.

The fact that a fairy was connected to a Dungeon Master’s soul was top secret information.

It meant the Dungeon Master could be hurt through the fairy.

But now wasn’t the time to think about that. Rather, it was better to explain it.

Gaparam just shook his head.

"It is a pity but...soul exchange is impossible. There are no possibilities. If it is possible, it would be in an area completely different from established alchemy and science. It might be possible for a god?”

This was why he didn’t want to come forward.

Only negative words were heard.

Gaparam actually looked sorry.

I understood his mindset.

-The soul depletion is becoming severe. 27% -> 26.9%

“Nothing is impossible. I just haven’t found it. One of the 500 minds here might come up with a way.”

"...It isn’t a request but an order.”

All the creatures including Gaparam closed their mouths and watched me anxiously.

"I will give you three days. Find out as much as you can. If you need anything then tell me immediately.”

I turned around and left.

-Father is very sad.

-I want Father to laugh.

-He isn’t laughing.

-Sometimes good feelings emerged from him. I liked that.

The spirits. In particular, the fire spirits became sulky.

-Is there something we can do?

-Father will be happy.

The spirits hurriedly flew to the side of their ‘Father.’ They tried all sorts of charms, such as singing and body kissing, but Father’s feelings didn’t change at all.

It was similar to a feeling of grief. The spirits couldn’t stand this. They became depressed.

-The fairy called Yihi is important to Father.

-We need to fix the fairy to make Father feel better.

-Her soul is weak.

-What is the soul?

Unfortunately, not a lot of time had passed since the spirits were born. No matter how fast their growth, their knowledge was still lacking. Besides, the soul was a complex and difficult matter.

In the end, Rei and Sera who had been listening quietly came forward.

-We need to fill the empty spot left by Fairy-nim.

-Clean the dungeon.

-We need to manage the creatures...

-Play with the Tree of Origin.

The work that the spirits could do was extremely limited.

However, the almost 100,000 spirits decided that taking action was better than staying still.

I was improvising while following a set ‘criteria.’ I could handle most things.

However, this situation wasn’t expected at all. It was like a natural disaster where I couldn’t do anything.

-The soul depletion is becoming severe. 8.2% -> 8.1%

At this rate, wouldn’t she disappear when it reached 0%?

As Yihi’s body faded, features of the dungeon also stopped functioning. If Yihi died then the dungeon would shrink just like Pakan Griolli’s.

‘It is related to the soul.’

I didn’t stay still.

I searched through the normal store and the Achievements Store.

I summoned several creatures and asked for their opinion, but there was nothing good.

There didn’t seem to be any items to restore the soul.

‘Surely there must be a way?’

I gritted my teeth. I hadn’t felt this helpless in a long time. Yihi and the dungeon. If I could save at least one of them then I would. But I couldn’t come up with anything.

Just as I was frantically thinking.

-Some lost features of the dungeon have returned.

The flow of magic power is normalizing.

-The Origin Fairy ‘Yihi’ has recovered by 0.1%.

8.1% -> 8.2%