Author's Note: A trifecta of apologies before I begin.

First of all, I apologize to Oeiltheend, A Simple Necromancer, and fanobody.

I did not want to go with Gundarion or Uun; they are not as well developed at this point in time.

Secondly, I go into what some may consider 'Heavy' stuff within this chapter.

Although I listed only four works as my inspiration for this story, but there were others right here on RoyalRoad.

'Regarding my time being a God, it was fun', 'Black Titan', and  'Soul of the Academy.exe' were prime motivators. I love dungeon/city/realm management but there seems to be a dearth of such works.

Initially, I wanted this to be a light read focusing on management aspects only.

While the above will remain a prime facet of the story, I feel like anything goes now.

Third and finally, the chapter is a tad on the shorter side.

I wanted to get something up by the end of the day, so please excuse me for this.

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I surmised that the location of my dungeon would turn out to be a make-or-break proposition, hence I decided to ponder over this issue carefully.

I found that I could select each continent tab for more detailed information.

After playing around for a bit to see how the options worked, I discovered an interesting function.

“System, overlay map function in my visual field, please,” I said.

As I was looking down, I could now see the countries and the continents outlined on the landmasses below.

http%3a%2f%2fi.imgur.com%2fXDMWOpK.jpg%3f1 [http://i.imgur.com/XDMWOpK.jpg?1]

I was unsure of how the number of other Dark Lords would affect my quest: would they be competition, would they be hostile, or would they be friendly and perhaps even become my allies?

That was a mystery.

But it seemed to me that ‘numerous’ for continents such as Hwasten or Centralia might actually have a lower population density than ‘few’ for Teavis or ‘very few’ for Gundarion when considering the difference in landmass.

Though on an important side-note, what was my quest anyhow?

I wasn’t really given any missions or objectives apart from being given another chance at life and to be careful whilst having fun.

And apparently, governing my dungeon would be an extremely important aspect of my being a Dark Lord.

I had to consider that most likely, I would be cast as an antagonist in this world.

I’ve already experienced lowlife scum considering themselves as heroes and being vindicated in their murdering and pillaging if it was against a Dark Lord.

Well, being brought to a fantasy world could evoke all sorts of ludicrous objectives, from world domination, attaining divinity, and acquiring unmatched fame and power. After all, if coming to a fantasy world is possible, this raises the question as to what the actual limit may be on what is possible.

Then again, there would be those with simple hopes like simply surviving and returning home.

As I really didn’t know what being a Dark Lord entailed, for now I decided to survive and become powerful enough not to be on the suffering side of pain. I’d set some concrete goals once I started getting to know more.

In any case, I brought my attention back to the matter at hand.

Hondon is out; Too many others, no starting bonuses, and low chance of advancement.

Uun is also out, I wasn’t going to take the risk of being cast into the center of the maelstrom known as ‘suicidal’ difficulty.

The Waklands seemed to be an interesting place: most of it was no different from Hondon, but on the Easternmost Island there was an ongoing stalemate with an enemy that had seen skirmishes on-and-off for centuries.

But I wasn’t going to risk having to go to war.

While Gundarion and Teavis seemed like decent opportunities, I didn’t like that my dungeon would have to be situated within the borders of a country, and besides this they were simply much smaller ponds than the three of Hwasten, Centralia, and So-Limia.

The prospects for advancement were High to Very High for the three larger continents and Medium for Gundarion and Teavis.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“I’m going with Hwasten,” I told the System.

Hwasten had the possibility for the lowest difficulty rate whilst simultaneously offering up a decent bonus and chance of advancement.

Granted, I wasn’t sure what ‘advancement’ meant as it wasn’t explained and I had no idea how important it would be because the stat wasn’t even listed on the initial selection list.

Taken altogether though, I thought that Hwasten would give me the best chance to make something of myself.

What’s this then?

I now had a choice of going to one of four regular spawn-points: the Great Quvara Konigforest, the Nambu forest of Ente, the Rayforest situated between Haztaria and Aftshine, and the Hwasten-Low Wastes.

If I wanted, I could forego the starting bonuses to specify an exact location for my dungeon.

However, I wasn’t too keen on this option; it’s not like I know enough about either the world or the continent to take this opportunity.

Of course, as usual, there was an option to randomly select my location.

First off, I could have my location selected randomly from the four starting spawn-points, but selecting this choice did not include any extra bonuses.

Next, there were tiered random-select options:

Random Start, but at a minimum, nearby a loose cluster of other Dark Lords and at a location where there is some form of concealment and occlusion – extra + 25 starting gold and mana.

Random Start, minimum of nearby Dark Lords only – extra + 50 starting gold and mana.

Random Start, minimum of concealment and occlusion only – extra +75 starting gold and mana.

True Random Start, anywhere on Hwasten including defeated dungeons – extra + 150 starting gold and mana.

I decided to go with the extra +25 random option. For me this entire location selection process was a crapshoot anyways. Sure I prioritize safety above all else, but not to the exclusion of growing my dungeon and levelling up to get stronger. And I have a pretty strong suspicion that to get better, I’d need either some opposition or fodder in the form of adventurers. If this backfires on me and a cruel and unopposable bunch appears, worse comes to worst I will end things myself.

I mean I’ll simply resurrect anyways, although it is possible that this would mean game over.

Not that I would treat this life as a game or as mere entertainment mind you.

I’ve seriously pondered in my previous life about the possibility of reality being a simulation. My conclusion was that everything was real enough even if it were a mere simulation. Within the simulation itself, what was occurring was simply what was actual.

I mean, I’ve read a lot about conspiracy theories as well, and one of the more odious ones includes the power-elite of the Earth actually being devil-worshippers offering child sacrifices to the likes of Moloch. There’s no end to the amount of theories speculating on the cruelty and malevolence committed by some of those in power.

It made me wonder, do they really believe in something different from the masses?

If so, is this because they know otherwise from what we are taught?

If reality was a simulation, maybe they felt like life was a game. A person could do things in a game they would never actually do such as committing a horrendous crime.  

I won’t dwell on this topic any longer, I feel like I’m going off on a tangent here.

All I am saying is that I am determined not to lose myself. I want to remain who I am. I’m sure that I’ll have to do some horrible things; lie, act, pretend, maim, kill… who knows what else I will be faced with? I believe that I am a good person.

But does my definition of good have to change to be in line with Nietzsche’s concept of the Good? Namely a Good unrestrained by morality, noble in of itself because it has the strength and power to do what it wants unabashedly?

Even if I do get stronger, and right now I like my chances of that happening due to the Overpowered acquisitions attained during the incorporation procedure, I don’t want to lose sight of my beliefs, my values, and my ideals.

Really, perhaps none of this matters in the grand scheme of things, with one sect of Eastern philosophy stating that this was the case. Again, if reality was a simulation, then perhaps nothing really mattered. Okay, I’ll stop for real.

I finalized my selection.

All of a sudden, I felt myself being sucked downwards with great force and velocity. The sensation of falling down at faster than terminal velocity got me pretty frightened, especially as I zoomed down closer and closer to the ground.

“Darn it, I hope I don’t die from this!!”I yelled as I plunged into a mountainside.

“Whoooooo…” I let out a sigh of relief as I finally found myself snapped into stationary normalcy.

I was within what seemed to be a spacious cavern room. There was a wooden bed on one side and a set of closed large wooden doors situated in the front wall of the room. There was a desk and chair, bookshelf and closet, as well as a full body mirror spaced out throughout the room. The place was well lit, but I got the sense that my current body would see equally as well in the dark as in the light.

Oh that’s right, I have a body now! I looked at my hands and my arms, they looked powerful – large, strong and toned with muscle. Excited, I walked over to the mirror to take a look at myself. Overall, the base for my appearance was what I used to look like back on Earth when I was last alive. However, my current form was like an upgrade to my old self. Lean but muscled; sinewy would be the word. I could also feel the power coursing throughout my body.

There was, however, one immense difference. I had a pair of bull-like horns now. Each horn emerging from one side of my head. The horns were smooth and shining black, ending in sharp points pointing towards the heavens. I loved it, I thought the horns were elegant and commanding appendages.

Finally, my adventure had begun!

And any start to a fantasy adventure has to begin with the checking of one's personal status screen.