Dungeon Maker

[Kangsok! Chicken delivery man is here. Go get it...]

Yong-ho heard a husky voice over the speakerphone. He waited for the front door to open, manipulating the card reader that he handled after a long time. Catalina flapped her invisible tail behind his back.

Shortly afterward, the front door opened, and a handsome and strong young man appeared.

Although it was midwinter, he was wearing short-sleeved shirts and shorts.

"Hello. The chicken's price is 13,000 won ($11)..."

As soon as the door was opened, the young man, who spoke in a friendly manner, took a card out of his wallet. This man, whose name must be Kangsok as heard over the speakerphone, was dumb founded.

He looked at Catalina over Yong-ho's shoulder blankly.

Yong-ho turned up his mouth slightly again. He skillfully manipulated the card reader after receiving it from the man. Then he gave the chicken bag and the card to the man who was still resting his dreamy eyes on her.

"Enjoy!"

"Uh, thanks. Goodbye."

At that moment, the man came to his senses and returned Yong-ho's greetings with a smile.

He wistfully looked at her again, but he closed the door in no time.

"It looks like he had a crush on you."

When Yong-ho whispered, getting on the elevator, Catalina slightly narrowed her eyes.

She said in a very serious voice, "He is obviously a fragile human being, but he looks unusual. Maybe he has great potential."

By evolving several times, she came to cultivate a great sense of discernment. So, given her statement, it seemed that the man was really a man of unusual strength.

'I wish I had examined him more closely. Something like his mana.'

However, Yong-ho already left the man's house, who was only a young man in his twenties that ordered chicken. Since the man didn't inherit the blood of the demon king like him, Yong-ho didn't have to care much.

Yong-ho climbed on the motorcycle again. A stream of news was appearing on the large outdoor monitor of the broadcasting station across the street.

[Recently, there are more and more people going into a coma while playing online games.]

[This is happening in several games, not any specific game. For this reason, experts present various views on it.]

[Most experts point out various harms such as addiction to online games, but some experts have completely different opinions.]

[Reporter Hye-rim Jeon is going to report in detail. Reporter Jeon?]

The sound of the broadcast news faded away.

Yong-ho went out for seven more deliveries after that, and it wasn't until eleven o'clock at night that he could meet his father at home. Fortunately, his father closed the store earlier than usual.

His father sat down on the floor of the main bedroom and asked Yong-ho and Catalina to sit down. He listened to his son's story relatively calmly.

Yong-ho did not make the mistake of telling him honestly what he had suffered. Not only did he skip anything about the battles, but also he greatly glorified the condition of the House of Mammon. He didn't want to make his father worry about him uselessly.

After hearing all of his son's story, his father let out a heavy sigh and looked at his son and Catalina alternately.

Shaking his head in no time, he said in a low voice, "Dang it. I should have been there."

He almost murmured to himself, which made Yong-ho smile. It befitted his typical reaction.

As if he said it as a joke, his father also giggled.

"Anyway, you solved my long-cherished wish instead. I would like to congratulate you on becoming a demon king. Um, is it okay for me to celebrate you? I don't think there is somebody like a warrior in the demon world, right?"

Yong-ho barely held the urge to laugh at the word 'long-cherished wish.' As expected, it was not Yong-ho alone who had delusions when he came to find out the secret of his family.

'Come to think of it...'

Adjusting his posture, Yong-ho looked at his father. Then he triggered the power of evolution right away.

[Name: KiJa Cheon (Male)]

[Race: Human]

[Property]

[Individual nature]

[Smart / Whimsical / Sly.]

[Individual aptitude]

[Intellect / Stamina]

After all, like father, like son.

Yong-ho, who laughed at his slyness first, let out a mixed and subtle sigh. It wasn't because of his father's extremely low stats. In fact, he could evolve his father quickly even without collecting evolution EXP.

'Is he the same grade as a skeleton worker?'

After all, his father was as good as a human being.

What Yong-ho could evolve with the power of evolution was only those who had a certain level of relationship with him. Only then could he make them his dungeon spirits and evolve them.

However, Kija Cheon was different. He was Yong-ho's father. He could evolve his father even without making him his dungeon spirit.

"Daddy, close your eyes and stay still. I'll do something good for you."

"Your eyes are glittering so intensely. I don't think I need a flashlight in case of a blackout. You're different from me."

"Because I am a real demon king."

When Yong-ho approached him, chattering lightly, his father looked somewhat anxious, but he soon closed his eyes. Yong-ho put his hand on his shoulders and activated the power of evolution.

"Oh my…"

When Yong-ho chose the specialization of his physical strength, he got the expected results.

His father wasn't as much rejuvenated as Eligos, but that was enough. Not only the fine wrinkles around his eyes have disappeared, but his build has grown stronger than before.

'He doesn't have a horn yet.'

Yong-ho thought about goblins for a moment then shook his head quickly. He felt he should not think about more than now.

Regardless of his son's reaction, Kija Cheon was amazed by his thick arm muscles. Then he glanced at Catalina who was smiling softly as if she enjoyed watching them all along.

He told Yong-ho again, "Son, I have something for you, too. It's a family treasure that I was going to pass on to you someday. I think now is the time."

After telling him about it directly, his father opened a small safe inside a chest. He pulled out a box the size of his palm and presented it to his son.

"This is our family treasure. According to our ancestors, it is said to be the object of the man, the very demon king whose blood is flowing in our family members."

According to him, this had been kept for over a thousand years.

"It's a mysterious item. It looks like an ordinary antique, but it certainly has some power. Over the past thousand years, our family lost this item several times. But it was handed back to our family in one way or another, I hear."

Then he opened the lid of the box. There was a black, round metal plate inside the box.

Yong-ho had never seen it before. However, Catalina's expression changed.

A smile disappeared from Yong-ho's face.

It was composed of a metal plate.

God's metal Brigada reacted to Yong-ho's mana. It shined brightly on its own.

The fragments of memories that had been kept for over a thousand years were just revealed. He was holding a woman in his arms.

The woman with dark hair and purple eyes was by no means ordinary.

But he didn't care. Although the woman was considered alien to humans in this world, she was just a woman to him.

She was beautiful, wise, and kind. And she loved him, above all.

That was enough.

He himself.

He blinked his eyes. The woman disappeared. He saw a man covered in a lion's skin.

So heavy and tall, the man was meeting her eye level even when he sat down.

The man said something to her, which made sense. Unlike his savage appearance, the man was always rational.

The man wasn't eloquent , but she nodded at the man's short but powerful words.

But in the end, she didn't follow the man's words.

The man wasn't angry. He sighed once as if he also expected things would end up like this.

As always, the man stood up.

The man took a few steps again. The surroundings changed completely.

Two women stood far away. They stood side by side. Then one of them was hugging the other, but their expressions were different.

The blonde woman, who covered her eyes with red leather, was angered by the red-haired woman who kept trying to stick to her. But the woman didn't push her away. The red-haired woman smiled brightly at the blonde woman. She pretended to be extremely friendly to that blonde woman.

It was a familiar scene. When he covered his eyes, more things came to his mind and disappeared again.

What appeared lastly was a red-skinned man and a woman with watery hair. The red-haired man's head had a horn like a bull's.

He said something, holding the woman's waist tightly. It was what he used to say, something like 'I would follow you wherever you go.'

This time, again, she nodded. But she did the same to the man wearing the lion's skin.

He could not accept it. He could not allow her to share his last moment.

He turned around. There was an endless staircase under the blue sky.

He looked down from there.

Their images overlapped, and their visions were mixed.

Yong-ho looked up from the bottom of the stairs at the man who was introduced as "he, himself" a moment ago.

"Hello."

"Mammon."

There came out a voice, unwittingly. The man on the stairs, Mammon, the King of Greed, smiled brightly. Instead of looking down from above, he flopped down on the stairs.

Yong-ho instinctively felt that this was not a conversation. It was a unilateral notification. Those standing there now were the same illusions until now.

Mammon rested his chin on his hand. Two large horns replaced his crown. The rest of the horns were hidden, so it was not known how many horns he had originally.

It was an illusion.

Obviously, it was no more than an illusion.

However, there were mixed feelings reflected in Mammon's eyes, something like affection or kindness.

"The fact that I'm facing you here means that you are special among my descendants. You're a special guy who not only has the power of greed but also comes from an alien world. I wonder how many years passed after I died until you were born. I'm also curious about how much you resemble your founding grandma 'Yon.' I wonder if I can find any trace of your resemblance to Yon since your blood has been mixed for numerous generations."

The woman with black hair and purple eyes.

Mammon took his hand off his chin with a regrettable expression.

"Unfortunately, you are still not qualified. I'm afraid I can't tell you everything. But it looks like it won't be long before I will lower the bar for qualifications."

Yong-ho wanted to ask what the heck he was talking about, but he couldn't say anything.

He could not even climb the stairs. He just got fixated on the spot, and Mammon stood up and opened his arms.

"Boy, keep this in mind. I have always been faithful to my desires. That's why I do not regret my 'choice' at all."

That was why he did not listen to the man in the lion's skin or Gusion. He rejected Scathach's wish because he loved her. He didn't need to share his last moment with her.

"Boy, the new King of Greed. I hope you can do the same."