Dungeon Renovation ch10-2

The fire breath of Pochi and the others evaporated any slimes that showed up in an instant.
Are those guys Godzilla or something?

Slimes are the only enemies that show up on the first floor,
but apparently in this world, slimes aren't just mere cannon fodder.
Physical attacks practically do nothing, so you have to use magic to attack them.
If you're not quick enough, they'll either erode you from your feet upwards or get on your face and suffocate you.
Countless vanguard adventurers, especially beginners, have died to these things.

Way too hit-and-miss right from the start, right?
Can't we just throw a torch at them?
All it'll do is tick them off a little. You gotta go with magic.

And then there's the second floor.
Gyagyagyagya

Gyagyaa

Ooh~!

How should I put it...
You're actually pretty damn strong, Fiona.
You thought I was weak!?
I did technically make it to the sixth floor all on my own, y'know!

But it's just like they said.
Getting surrounded by ten or so of them did surprise me.
They're no threat when facing them one on one, though.
The main problems are numbers and terrain.

This floor is dark, cramped, and full of paths and little holes,
which makes it easy to get attacked from behind or caught in a pincer attack.
The goblins come out endlessly too.
There's been many a case where the rear guard of mages gets killed before they can even prepare themselves.

This floor in particular requires a vanguard to protect the party...
but they get killed off on the floor above.
Since they're all beginners, they often have shoddy coordination and no scouts to send ahead.

And that's not the only problem.

Hmm...
That's it~...?
The enemy drops are pretty lousy,
just like in gacha games.

You gotta beat about ten of them just to get one measly little magic crystal.
Now I understand why Fiona was so fixated on all those magic crystals back there.

Then there's the treasure chests.
There's a saying that most treasure chests on early floors are either trash or traps,
and this dungeon is no exception.

In fact, most adventurers are so wary of traps that they just ignore them.

The earning's not as bad once you get to the sixth floor, though...
That's what she said,

but people of her skill could make a better earning somewhere else, right?
Monster countermeasures are essential, opening chests is meaningless, and the facilities aren't up to snuff either.
It's too much risk for too little return.
Of course people would lose interest.

That being said, I have a plan to overcome this status quo...
I crushed about a 100 of them, nya~
Uwaaah!!

Oh!

Looks like they took it!
The one over this way is gone too.
Nice. We should restock!

But is this okay...? We're not deceiving them, are we?
It's fine. As far as they're concerned, it's just another dungeon find.

If anything, you sure about having those inside?
The wine's one thing, but gloves and knives...
Yeah. The tools of your world are really high quality, Maho.

The ones made of materials not found in this world might sell for a high price.
Well, it was technically created in the dungeon.

Yep, gotta go with treasure chests!

Not much we can do about the lack of crystal drops on the first and second floors,
so we need to either increase the number of adventurers or entice those with skill to venture into the lower floors for better earnings.
By having valuable treasures show up on the early floors, more people will come to seem them out.

The key is setting bait.
There's just one problem...
Gaah~

We don't have
enough hands.
No good after all, huh?

Clearing the floors in order to make maps is a piece of cake with these guys around,
but the only ones able to set treasure chests are you and I, Maho.

I do plan on recruiting people eventually, but for now,
I want to find someone who can share our secret, not spill it to anyone
and is also pretty strong to boot.
Does someone like that even exist...?

Master, Master.

p10

What is it?
How about using that thing on the floor above, woof.
That "magic circle", was it?

The magical circle!? That's useable?
Now that our bodies are like this, we can see magical qualities, nya~

That thing has magic that can summon monsters from another place, nya.
If you give it something good, it might listen to what you say.
I can't gah-rantee it, though.

You mean an offering...?
That doesn't sound too shabby.
When we went to that floor before, it spawned doppelgangers of us.
If we think of it as making more copies of me and Fiona...

p11

Boss enemies to friends is such an intense development.
Eeh...!? Are you serious, Maho?
Well, if they do attack, we can just beat them again.

Will they even come for things from the home center? They're monsters, aren't they?
We can't exactly offer them humans or animals, right?
If it fails, we'll just give up.

So, what do we do next?
You leave the offerings there and call for what you want, gah.
If it accepts it, it should answer, gah.

p12

Okay then...
...

...Is there like a cool chant or something?
Not really, no, gah.
Ah, right.

Alright, let's take it from the top...
Answer my call!
Doppelganger!

p13

Ooh... It came out... but...
it doesn't look like me...?
...

I am thy shadow. Thou art the true me.
With thy summon, I, Doppelganger, have arrived.

p14

Eh? Wow, it talks!
Erm~... First off, you don't see me as any enemy, right?
Can you understand me?
Of course, Master. As long as you communicate with words.

If it is within my power, you may order anything of me.
Hmm~ Then can you take on my form?
Alright. Could you place your hand on mine?

p15

Woah! It's me!

Can you become other people too?
Of course.
Then can you try becoming Fiona?
Me!?

Oh~

Once I have copied someone once, I can change forms at any time.
There is a limit to how many I can memorise, however.
Wow, that's super convenient!

But I guess the inside? Your personality? Remains the same, huh.
My copying is limited to appearance.
I can, however, read your memory information.

p16

Just now, I took the liberty of reading information relating to the offerings you gave me.
They were quite splendid...! Enough for my main body to share half of its strength to me.
So you're seriously okay with electronics, huh...

Hm? Main body?
Yes, Master. I am a reconstructed clone sent to serve you by my main body, which resides in the demon realm.
Rest assured, I possess the same abilities as my main body.
Just casually dropping that a demon realm exists, huh.

With that said, I do not have a name.
Master, please assign me a simple name.
I guess not having a name would be inconvenient.
How about Shadow... or Doppy?
Doppy it is, then.
That's the one you pick!?

p17

Well, whatever. Okay, Doppy, about your job...
Wait a moment.
I shall read your memory, Master.

...I see. You wish to develop this dungeon,
but lack the manpower to do so.

You preferably want a human-type who can preserve the dungeon's secret while also being a capable fighter.
The work mainly involves material transport, treasure chest placement, dungeon remodelling, maintenance, rescuing explorers...
No need to explain everything...!

I can do that, but I assume you wish for a little more help.
There is another who is even more qualified.
Eh? Seriously? Let's call them!
You're seriously capable!
...

p18

Well then, could you please prepare the priciest items the home center has...
right up to that light truck for company use?
We've got an infinite supply, so sure,
but who are we summoning that requires all that?

We shall be summoning one of the pillars
of a god who resides in the demon realm.

Wow~ A god, huh~...
...

A GOD!?

Warning