"A-hahahaha!! It's finished! It's FINISHED!!" - Garami

"It's alive! IT'S ALIVE!!" - Bloom

"No, it isn't, you dolt! If it had been alive, that would have been just freaky." - Garami

"Oh, true. My inner mad scientist took over for a second~." - Bloom

Yeah, no more sci-fi horror stories for her at bedtime.

Still, a place like this DESERVES to be hyped about. What place am I talking about? The latest of MY Dungeon's facilities!

It's been three days since I captured that batty doggo, meaning it's been almost a week since we left the Dungeon to visit Oasis Town. Man, those guys over there didn't spend much time thinking about that name.

Back to my point, thanks to having almost a week's worth of DP recovery time on my hands until today, I managed to prepare some nice stuff for this place. The only downside is that I can't equip the [Dungeon Master] title yet, but I am gaining slightly more DP that way. Spoiling for everyone that I'm the secret ruler of the Sekarot Desert's future ultimate Dungeon would be more than just a rotten move, it would be an idiotic one to boot.

Aaanyway, using the long-range terminal while playing in the Oasis Town (man, they sure went for the direct approach there) I started adding the essentials to the Dungeon. First up was the "Greed Stalls", which extends the Glutton Kitchen's selling area to the 1st and 3rd floors. Plus they give the Dungeon 20 extra points to its natural regeneration, increasing it to 370.

Back then I felt that 370 was an off number, especially since there was lots of good stuff available when you reached the 400 price limit. Therefore, I added a "Fountain of Recovery" to the 1st floor, kicking the natural DP recovery limit to 430! Hmm, that still feels a little off, but eh, whatever. The goal of "reaching 400" was cleared, so that'll do.

The next days I started to add various traps on the 1st and 3rd floors, leaving the 2nd floor free. The plan is to use easy traps on the 1st floor to help defeat invading monsters, use the 2nd floor as a crafting area, and then a final defense line on the 3rd floor. In case anyone was wondering, the hotel where we're staying is still on the 1st floor.

And now, after having placed all the traps the Dungeon can hold, I've finally got the chance to create my very own weaving workshop!!

Well, I could have added it much sooner, but the Kigal-Note took a damn long time to finish analyzing the Werepyre's abilities. But now I can finally upgrade the Nightmare Demon clothes! About damn time. The long wait irritated me so much that seeing the Werepyre, which I released deep inside the Dungeon's 1st floor after the analysis was complete, getting bonked to death by goblin clubs filled me with such pleasure that it might have opened up a new door for me~.

"Master, I think that door was open from the start." - Bloom

"Geh!? Was I talking out loud?" - Garami

"No, but your face was like an open book." - Bloom

Whoopsie. Though it might not be that bad. A good attitude to your job (aka slaying and tormenting monsters) will be good to have when I start hunting down materials for my necro dress.

Speaking of future upgrades, another goal for the future could be to upgrade this workshop. Like the hotel, it's got an "I", as in the Roman numeral for "1", behind its name. Who knows what costumes of catastrophes I can make with a workshop ranked X~.

Oh, and I mustn't forget about the "Demon King's Throne". The bonus item I got from the "Demon King's Starter Pack" when I first created the Dungeon. It was given to me for free, but I had to pay 100% of my DP to deploy it on the third floor. As for its effects... I'll save those until I use them. Thinking of such a time both excites me...and worries me.

"But for now, it's upgrade time! Give me something cool to dress up in, workshop~!" - Garami

With that settled, let's start crafting. There's just a slight problem when it comes to the materials I can use.

The three items I've gathered start with a lantern with a shadowy flame, it's one of the items Iron and I got as loot from the Kheperiktot Quest. The second item is the ball of "yarn" I made from those metal roots from when I helped Flint weed his mine.

The last item is yet another donation from Flint. Before we left yesterday, the Lizardman handed me a special scroll and a rare gem, the latter something that he one day found in the corner of his mine. It seems attuned to the Darkness attribute, so it fits my idea for the finalized product.

The problem comes from what skills I want to use. The [Cursed Nemesis Mantle] thing that was suddenly added to my skill list during the Iron Isle expedition is a no-brainer. I can't use it on my own, so trying to enhance my armor with it is the better option.

As for my second choice, going with the Werepyre creature's analyzed data is a good fit. This upgrade will affect the armor's base abilities, so if I can get my hand on that supreme self-recovery effect, or even something vaguely similar out of this fusion, then it's my win. Using the Curse skill should provide an effect related to counters and/or damage, as long as I don't goof it up.

The problem is that A: the doggo was a Wood attribute Werepyre and B: I'm using a plant-type material as well. If I fail this, the upgrade might end up as something plant-related instead of my intended goal of boosting my outfit's ability to boost my recovery and/or durability.

Hence why I'm including the shadow flame and the darkness gem. The flame's official name is "The Source of Gloom", a material-type item that improves any Gloom-category attribute items that are made by it. For those not in the know, attributes are sorted into "categories", sometimes even multiple ones at the same time. One such example would be Poison, which is part of both the Toxic and Fluid categories.

Back to the point, the Darkness attribute is a member of Gloom, so since I want my equipment to be suited to that, using the shadow flame is a good choice. However, the Curse attribute is also part of that category. Hence, to prevent the upgrade from being something stupid as "power up through the Curse attribute", I'll need to add more Darkness to the mix.

Hence why I wanted the gem from Flint. It's called "Crystalized Dark". It works similarly to the shadowy flame, except it's less rare and only works for the Darkness attribute. Though in this case, that's just what I needed.

To prevent any "accidents" from happening, the last piece of this puzzle, the final skill to use as a material, should be a heavy Darkness-related one. The biggest contenders, Zahhak and AoD, can't be used due to their restrictions, nor did I want to spend them here. Other options include...

Yeah, [Darkness Drain] feels like the best bet here. It's got the right attribute and its draining properties seem like a good fit with the Werepyre's self-recovery effects. I haven't been using it a lot lately, even if it could have been useful for dragged-out battles. Well, I can just buy it back afterward. Nothing is preventing you from re-taking skills you've lost. Though, the level will be reset to 1...

I better start actively grinding skill levels with it after I buy it back. At worst, it will lead to my resistance skills also getting a boost. *Sigh*... But for now, weaving time! Come at me, punk!!

---

6 hours later:

*Wheeze, wheeze*..., I'm dead tired...even if I'm being carried by the dead.

The Gloom Skeleton I had summoned to carry me opened up the doors to the hotel that we were using as our sleeping quarters on the 1st floor. Unlike the dark grey ruined atmosphere outside, the hotel's walls and floor have a soft, warm brown color to them.

The building has a classic hotel vibe compared to the more modern ones from my previous life. The entrance and the lobby were merged into one massive room, around the size and shape of a soccer field. With the entrance door placed to the south, the lobby desks were located southwest. Doors leading to the dining area could be found in the northwest part of the room while stairs leading to the rooms upstairs could be found north.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

As for the eastern area of it, we have a huge bar where everyone can sit down and take a breather. They can even order the food from the hotel's restaurant to be served here. I like to use this open space better than the restaurant, so I often take my meals here. Too bad we've been moving around without getting to use this place properly yet. Except for Alf and Noire...

"Garami, there you are." - Alf

Speaking of the devil. As for the angel, it is nowhere to be seen.

"What? I'm tired and hungry, so if there is something, make it quick." - Garami

"In that case... Congratulations on graduating from...common brands?" - Alf

"Thanks," I responded, never looking away from the food menu. As for the clothes in question..., let's leave the explanation to the [Identification] system menu, er, window.

Name: Nightmare Demon: Tenebrous Regalia [Armor (Set) - Clothing] Rarity: Ex Quality: S+ Durability: --- Item Slot(s): Upper Body, Lower Body, Hands, Feet, Owner:

Garami

Stats:

VIT: +50 RES: +70 SPD: +130 DEX: +90

Effects:

* Immortal Nightmare

* This item cannot be destroyed.

* If damage is taken from an outside source, a slight amount of the user's MP is recovered instead.

* Nightmare Lifeforce

* When recovering MP by a certain amount, a passive increase for inflicting status ailments is granted: [Huge]

* When successfully inflicting a critical hit onto a target, a passive increase for inflicting status ailments is granted: [Huge]

* Tenebrous Lifeforce:

* When inflicting a target(s) with a status ailment, there's a slight chance to drain that target(s)'s HP, MP, and/or SP: [Huge]

* Nightmare Growth:

* [Undead Royal Command]

* Reduces Necro Counters for creating undead through Necromancy by 50%.

* Able to create up to 2 "Undead Royal Guard" tokens using nearby corpses as materials.

* Can treat oneself as an undead-type target.

And this is the new upgraded base form of the Nightmare Demon outfit: "Tenebrous Regalia". Alf hit the bull's eye with that "not common brand" comment.

As opposed to its royal-sounding name, the set is...not so royal-looking. The upper half consists of a top made out of a material that looks like leather from a distance, yet has the texture of normal fabric. The top is sleeveless enough to show off my shoulders, but it also comes with detached sleeves to cover some of my arms, though they're more for the coolness factor than anything else. The last few bits I can comment on this part is that the outfit isn't shy about showing cleavage, and it has a hood to protect my poor head from the sun's death ray. Please show some of that consideration to the rest of my poor, pale body!

The lower half is made up of a pair of shorts that seems to share the upper half's lack of disregard to protect my skin from getting sunburned. Also, a pair of boots and thigh highs. Nothing special here. The outfit's color scheme as a whole leans to black with golden trims. Some purple-colored gem accessories are decorating the outfit, a gift from the "Crystalized Dark" material I used for the upgrade.

Other than that, the outfit comes with a pair of black gloves, not fingerless this time for some reason, and...that's it. Strange as it may be, this Nightmare Demon Outfit seems to have...lost some components.

The original version was a set consisting of six parts. The "Upper Body" slot (for the top), the "Lower Body" slot (the shorts), the "Hands" slot (the gloves), the "Feet" slot (the boots), the "Back" slot (for capes and, surprisingly, stuff like jackets that can be treated as this or for the "Upper Body" slot), and one "Accessory" slot that was used for the different stuff attached to the outfit.

The new outfit, however, has cut off the need for using the last two slots. This means that now, I can use one more accessory, plus maybe add a cloak or cape to my outfit as a bonus. Great news for me, as I have been thinking about stuff like invisibility mantles. For quest-like official businesses and stuff, obviously. There's nothing naughty in this demon's mind. *Innocent whistling*...

Other things seem to be missing other than those two slots. Before, the Nightmare Demon outfit was classified as "Light Armor", but now it's a "Clothing"-type equipment.

A quick review for people who don't know, but armor is classified as either these two or "Heavy Armor". The last one would be stuff similar to what Iron possesses, the Light-version is simple armor that provides mobility, while Clothing is just clothes and robes as in stuff that magicians would want to equip, as Clothing gives better RES values compared to Heavy Armor which sacrifices mobility and magical affinity for toughness.

Due to that, the Tenebrous Regalia has lost a lot when it comes to physical defense values...but honestly, that was never an important stat for me, so whatever. Besides, its high speed and easier movements make it so much better than the original version.

"*Snap, snap*, hello? Terra Sol to Guild Master? Your food's getting cold?" - Alf

"Huh? Oh, cr-, I mean, oh snap!" - Garami

Damn, I've been daydreaming too much again! Enough to not notice that I'd already ordered AND received my well-deserved dinner. Not to mention I almost caused myself to lose my appetite. Phew, that was close. A tired mind equals a distracted mind. Time to refuel to prevent that from happening again.

"...I am starting to think you didn't hear me the first time, so I'll repeat myself." - Alf

"Whasshah? (Whazzat?)" - Garami

"Swallow before you speak! *Cough*, I've finished deciphering the treasure map that this Mr. Solrah gave you." - Alf

"*Gulp*, right, that one." - Garami

Alf's talking about the scroll that Flint gave me along with the dark gem before we left Oasis Town. It's a quest from him, with the gem being a pre-payment of sorts.

In short, it's an exploration quest. Treasure maps are often found in unexplored areas on Terra Sol, gifted to the mortals by the various gods of adventures and discoveries. The maps lead to different types of haunts, Chaos Dungeons, or former settlements of civilizations long passed. It's a monster-filled world, making the idea of the extermination of a whole populace not as impossible as it sounds.

Fake maps often pop up, so there's a risk of ending up empty-handed, if not worse. Therefore, people who find these maps tend to hire adventurers to go and do their dirty work in exchange for a percentage of the treasure, or a monetary reward from the map owner.

"So, what's the verdict?" - Garami

"It's real. We should be able to reach it with the Marauder." - Alf

Not bad, Flinty. It would have been depressing if our first treasure hunt turned out to be a wild goose chase, so I had Alf check the treasure map scroll's authenticity when we returned to the Dungeon yesterday. Glad I scooped up some volumes about treasure map decryption from the various bookstores from Velantas.

"Then no need to drag our feet. Let's gather who wants to join this trip tomorrow." - Garami

Iron could have been a good choice, but he decided to stay in Oasis Town for a while longer. Something about "it being crucial to his growth" or something. Which leaves us with 5 members to choose from. We could all go, but someone has to watch over the Dungeon...

"About that, I have already prepared a plan regarding who needs to join this treasure hunt." - Alf

Talk about efficiency. I'll have Alf do all the paperwork from now on then. Except when it's fishing season. I'm smart enough to predict that there will be a tower of Babel left behind if I expect Alf to do it during those times. Speaking of which, I wonder what Blot and Co are doing now? Eh, they're probably fine. Mmm, fries...yummy~.