Kaiden opened his Dungeon Master Interface again, curious to see how much he had left after all his recent construction.

The transparent window blinked into existence before his eyes, shimmering with abyssal light.

At the very top, a simple line greeted him:

[Dungeon Master Points Available: 10000]

… or rather, that was what it used to say.

Now, the number had drastically changed.

The interface shimmered as he expanded the expenditure log. A sleek new tab unfurled beneath the total, listing every purchase he'd made so far.

[Dungeon Expenditure Summary]

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

▶ Landscape Modifications

[Abyssal Cavern Terrain] – 600 DMP/km²

[Magma Vein Expanse] – 600 DMP/km²

Subtotal: 1,200 DMP

▶ Creature Summons

[Slime] – Level 1 – 1 DMP (10 units)

[Abyssal Salamawyrm] ×3 – Level 99 – 500 DMP each → 1,500 DMP total

Subtotal: 1,501 DMP

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Total Expenditure: 2,701 DMP

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

[Remaining Dungeon Master Points: 7,299]

Kaiden nodded in quiet satisfaction.

"Not bad," he muttered. "Still plenty left to secure the other pathway."

His eyes lingered on the Salamawyrm entry.

Three apex predators at level ninety-nine. That alone made up more than half his total costs so far, but it was worth every point. Their presence would allow him to sleep at night in peace. He seriously doubted anyone would be able to traverse that hellish magma expanse with those three brutal predators prowling there.

The mere memory of how he couldn't even see Melty's frame when she was an inch from the surface made Kaiden shiver. These creatures were truly the apex in that environment.

Speaking of, he wondered why he couldn't move the slider further. The max level he could select for them was level 99.

[The Dungeon Master must reach level 100 and his dungeon must hit rank 4.]

"Hm? Rank 4? This is the first time I'm hearing of this. Expand on it, please."

The dungeon interface flickered again as Kaiden's question registered.

A new window materialized in front of him.

[Dungeon Information]

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Owner: Kaiden Grey

Theme: Abyssal

Tier: Low

Dungeon Master Points: 7,299 DMP

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Then, the line beneath Tier split into three neat segments. A glowing white line stretched across the interface, carved cleanly into thirds, each labeled in a crisp font.

Low – Mid – High

Then, each third was subdivided further, smaller lines appearing between the divisions.

Nine total.

Rank 1–3 = Low Tier

Rank 4–6 = Mid Tier

Rank 7–9 = High Tier

Kaiden nodded slowly.

"So, to summon stronger things… I need to rank this place up, as well as reach level 100 myself."

But that raised another question.

"How do I actually rank it up?"

The system pulsed in reply.

Text began to scroll.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

[Dungeon Ranking Criteria]

Ranks are determined by multiple factors:

– Quantity and levels of creatures under control

– Terrain complexity and traversal difficulty

– Strength, placement, and synergy of traps

– Resource distribution and environmental hazards

––––––––––––––––––––––––––

"So basically… how hard it is to conquer the dungeon," Kaiden murmured.

He gave a short nod of understanding. "Makes sense."

"What's my current rank?"

The window flickered.

[No Data Available.]

Then, a line of text appeared beneath it.

[The Dungeon Master must complete dungeon creation before rank evaluation.]

Kaiden rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Alright. So finish the layout first. Then it'll tell me how good it is."

His mind was already racing ahead. If ranking up unlocked new tools, reaching Mid-tier could snowball his progress. But even so, just how was he supposed to push this place that far with only 10,000 points to his name?

As if already aware of his question, the interface shimmered again.

[Methods to Increase Dungeon Master Points]

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

1️⃣ Defeat Enemies.

– DMP gain scales with the strength and origin of the slain.

Kaiden tilted his head. "Any enemies?" Could he rank his dungeon up by killing humans?

The interface pulsed in acknowledgment.

[Entities sustained by another Dungeon's Core yield greater DMP rewards than ordinary awakened.]

"Figures," Kaiden muttered.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

2️⃣ Conquer Rival Dungeons.

– Slay another Dungeon's Dungeon Master or demolish its Dungeon Core, depending on the setup.

– The defeated dungeon will be absorbed by the victor's Dungeon Core, granting substantial DMP.

– Conversion efficiency is not one-to-one: approximately 20% of the defeated dungeon's total DMP is absorbed.

– Once a dungeon reaches Mid-tier, DMP can only be earned from defeating other Mid-tier dungeons. The same rule applies to High-tier.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kaiden gave a slow nod. "So no preying on the weak."

Still, something didn't sit right. "This whole 'Mid-tier' and 'High-tier' thing," he murmured. "They don't match the human classifications. We rank dungeons just like our awakened, going from rank F to our highest observed one, B rank. Humans are the same, from F to S. We just use the word 'tier' for awakened instead of 'rank' to make the distinction clear."

The interface responded immediately. A new string of text appeared beneath the list.

[The denizens of Earth have never encountered a Mid-tier Dungeon.]

[Had a Mid-tier Dungeon broken containment when the decade-long Trial Period ended, Earth would have been annihilated.]

Kaiden froze, and a chill crawled down his spine.

"I see…" he whispered.

The interface pulsed again.

A third line of text slowly appeared beneath the previous two, glowing with a darker, crimson hue.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

3️⃣ Vanquish Invaders.

– Should invaders fall within the dungeon, the Dungeon Master will gain DMP.

– DMP will be extracted automatically by the dungeon's essence.

– DMP gain scales with the invaders' strength.

– Unlike Method 1, Awakened DMP gain is not restricted.

– In fact…

It is multiplied a hundredfold.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Kaiden's breath hitched. The tremor in his spine and limbs ceased.

For a moment, he said nothing, just stared at the glowing words, and saw his reflection mirrored faintly in the transparent window. His previously worried and shocked expression twisted with the edges of his lips curling upward as a low, dark chuckle escaped him.

He had already looked questionable while designing those cruel death tunnels, grinning as magma consumed the entire slope. But now?

Now, his expression no longer carried even a hint of innocence.

A slow, wicked grin spread across his face, and his eyes gleamed with a sharp, predatory excitement. Shadows seemed to thicken around him as he leaned closer to the interface, reading over the magnificent lines over and over again.

Then, his voice dropped even further, whispering,

"So… you're saying I need to have others invade my home and then murder them."

The words left him like a prophecy.

Then came the laughter.

Controlled at first. Then louder, rising into full, unrestrained laughter that echoed across the abyssal cavern.

Ideas flooded his mind.

Baiting techniques. False rumors. Treasure lures. Hidden artifacts.

Every spark of imagination grew darker, sharper, more deliciously malicious by the second.

His laughter only deepened.

Then, as if the system itself felt the need to intervene, another pulse rippled across the screen.

A final note appeared at the bottom of the interface:

[⚠️ Note: Forcibly capturing or transporting awakened into the dungeon will not generate DMP.]

Kaiden exhaled through his grin. That glint of dark excitement in his eyes didn't fade in the slightest. "I wonder how ironclad that rule is. What if they invaded my home, my actual house on Earth, and they just happened to fall into the dungeon's gate? What if 'someone' gave them a little helping push? I mean, they were there to invade my home… They are invaders already."

The system did not respond.

That only made Kaiden chuckle darkly.

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