The dungeon, a truly mysterious existence.Full of traps and monsters, it should be a place any sane person would avoid.But the treasure chests inside contain amazing things: lost ancient magic, armor from legendary heroes, swords that cut through iron like butter... you might even find a sealed vampire girl!That's why adventurers from all over the world are obsessed with them.
In the deepest level of the Saen dungeon, inside the hidden dungeon lord's chamber...Gong Qiying sat on a dust-covered altar, staring at his withered, shriveled body.Just an hour ago, he was at his job as a video game developer.His coworker in charge of map design quit, and although he knew nothing about it, he was forced to clean up the mess.He closed his eyes for a moment at noon… and woke up in another world.Now, he was the dungeon lord of Saen: the living corpse Godwin.And he had only one month left to live.
After absorbing Godwin's memories, he understood why.Because the dungeon was too easy!Other dungeons: endless monsters, deadly traps, powerful bosses, chests filled with junk.His: weak, scattered monsters, obvious traps, a straight path to the final boss, and real treasures with no challenge.The result: his dungeon became a theme park for beginners. Everyone cleared it without dying. Too much success!
But that was a problem.Dungeons need spiritual energy to function, and that mainly comes from adventurer deaths.If no one dies... the dungeon dies."Was Godwin an idiot or what?"
Using his dungeon lord ring, Gong Qiying visualized the miniature model of the dungeon. Horrified, he began to completely redesign it.He wasn't a designer, but he had a trump card: he had played thousands of games, and his favorite was Dark Souls.
Inspired, he started the overhaul:
He divided the dungeon into three levels: upper, middle, and lower.
He shrank the map, reusing structures to save energy.
He placed venomous monsters and well-planned ambushes.
He replaced useless creatures with skeletons that played dead and revived.
He swapped out ghosts for blood-sucking mosquitoes that weakened enemies.
He designed toxic swamps and dead ends, making everything creepier.
But still… it wasn't enough energy.He had 631 spiritual energy points left, and daily upkeep required 77. He could only survive one more week.And he still couldn't afford complex traps."I need someone to die... now…"
Still, he left some intriguing rewards. Items only a gamer would recognize: weapons with special skills, minerals, healing moss. Maybe that would lure people in.
DONG—The dungeon bell rang. A new day had come, and adventurers were about to enter.Thinking they'd find glory, they had no idea what awaited them was...The malice of another world!