Around two hours after the first contact with the minor ley line, I got a confirmation. For the first few days, we'd get 10DP/hour, or 200DP/day, completely for free. Once the connection stabilised it would increase to 300DP/day, completely for free aside the initial costs. Unfortunately, this wasn't the actual passive income though since we also had operating costs - extremely low for the current Floor 1, but noticeable for the monsters under my command.

"Well this isn't good."

"What's wrong, Czara?"

I showed her the screen, so we sat a little closer.

"Look at this graph. This is a prediction of our future DP based on passive generation from the ley line, assuming we start getting 300DP/day when we're at around 800, which would be in about 2 days."

"Well 300DP/day is a lot, isn't it?"

"It's not. Look here."

I pointed at the graph going up in a steady line."

"This is the optimal case, so even if we get 300 every day, it'll take over 160 days to reach 50,000DP for the [Dispel Curse] scroll."

"That's... oh, I see..."

"And it gets worse. We're actually bleeding around 40DP/day from operating costs. I think this shoots up every time we fight, too, because energy is being spent by monsters. Typically this wouldn't be a problem since enemy casualties turn into far more DP than we use, but that kinda means fighting all the time or we'll stall... So I'm not sure what to do here. Malfissa, you got an idea?"

"You want my advice? Let me see... hmhm, yes, I understand the problem. You need to reduce daily costs while increasing your income both passive and active. You could try converting material into DP for starters. People also provide it if the dungeon considers them to be invaders."

(Well I knew about invader DP already, but considering we want to stay hidden right now, it's not really a viable option, is it? So that leaves converting material. How would a Lazy Dungeon Core do this?)

I closed my eyes and thought about it until I was surprised at Mimissa shoving a stick of chocolate into my mouth while poking my cheek.

"Uwah!?"

"Tehe. You always get so serious about problems."

"I-I do...?"

"At least I think you do. Just go with the flow. Rock can be made into DP too, right?

Mimissa's smile made me start to think chocolate really could bring happiness. I nodded, a possible solution forming in my mind.

"Alright, I got an idea. This is a mountain, so there ought to be an ore vein or something. What I'll do for now is two things: look for ore and have Mr. Imp mine it with a pickaxe... err, that's alright with you, yeah?"

"Issss finnnne. Borrrred."

(Imagine being bored enough to want to mine rocks. I'd rather shoot aliens- err, yeah, gotta focus.)

"Okay, thanks a lot. Here's your pick. Anyway, I think claiming material costs a fractional amount of DP which is why extending the mana field costs, but if I'm right about us mining it first and then converting manually, maybe that'll turn a profit."

"And if I may be so adviceful as to point out the flaw... what if it is not?"

"Errr... then we might be royally screwed regardless. But that's where the second idea comes in to possibly unscrew the situation. I'll carefully sneak a thin line from my mana field to the village nearby and go under each house. It'll form a net so people give us DP as passive invaders. Since they'll be in closed rooms, that means we'll get double the DP income whenever they're home."

My knowledge from the prison cell I'd dropped Anastasiya into came in handy here.

"A decent plan. I shall disguise myself and scout around a little."

"And I'll help with converting the material!"

"Then I shall..."

We all turned around. Anastelle had come out of the core at some point, none of us even noticing until she had done so.

"Anastelle? You shouldn't walk around with that wound."

(Why's she up again? Didn't I tell her to lay down and not stress herself? What if the wound goes worse and she loses even more HP and stats?!)

"I understand your concerns, which is why I intend to sacrifice myself."

We were all shocked by her declaration and tried to speak all at once!

"What!? No, you-" "Why, y-you can't, what if-" "You would throw your life away-"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Please, *Cough, cough* please everyone, hear me out before you start objecting."

We managed to calm down, at least a little, and let her speak.

"I am a Dungeon Monster, and as such I am replaceable even with the name I was granted-"

"You aren't replaceable to-"

She held her hand out. I quieted down.

"I am replaceable. I am a tool of the Dungeon Core and my, like any monster's, ultimate purpose is and will always be to lay down my life for the sake of the dungeon and its inhabitants. In truth, the wound has already gotten worse and I cannot stop it."

Name: Anastelle

True Name: Anastelle the Dracubus

Species: Dungeon Monster; Demon; Dragon; Mutant; ???

Class: Demon Lv.8

HP: 387/750; MP: 568; STR: 39/57; AGI: 43/71

Status Effects: Cursed wound

Equipment: Demonic Armour; Dragon Claws of Rending+1

Skills: Charm Rk.3; Summon Slave Rk.6; Glow Rk.2; Suggestion Rk.2; Healing Balm Rk.4; ???

Titles: The Protector; The Executor; The Slavemistress; ???

Affiliation: Dungeon 'NULL'

Allies: Constanze Czarina; Mimissa

Semi-Allies: Mr. Imp; Malfissa the Grand

"Even if I were to stick around, it is doubtful aside from a miracle happening that you will gain the [Dispel Curse] scroll before my health runs out and I die anyway. I refuse to be a burden!"

I didn't know what to say. None of us did, except Mr. Imp because he understandably didn't like Anastelle very much. Not like he said anything, having enough sense to just stay quiet and look away.

Honestly I wanted to say something, anything, because Anastelle had helped us both directly and indirectly, and she'd taken the brunt of things. And now she was asking us to let her die! I started crying because who wouldn't?

"I... I don't want to! No, no, NOOOO!!!"

I hadn't known her for long, and it made no sense since I was the Dungeon Core that technically owned her, but dammit I still considered her a friend!

"Czara..."

Mimissa held me close, crying just the same.

"Goodness me, nobody has to die outright!"

Words that should come from an angel came from a demon.

Everyone, even Mr. Imp, looked at Malfissa.

"I advise you to look at the Monster List and select Anastelle's entry." She smirked. "See for yourself."

I was honestly getting a little confused by how much Malfissa actually seemed to know about dungeon features, but I still followed along.

"Okay, [Menu]! [Search List: Monster, Anastelle]!"

The list seemed strangely short.

"Uhm, Mimissa, is this list correct? I don't see Dolores or some of the other entries."

She looked, nodding.

"It's shorter than before. I count, uhm, 15 entries even though the upper right corner- oh, it updated. How weird."

Yet another mystery to figure out, but I had something to do.

"Okay, so, I clicked on Anastelle's entry. Hourly cost: 1.82DP. Huh, so fractional DP is a thing, good to know."

For comparison, Mimissa's hourly cost was 0.07DP. Contracts and critters had no hourly costs, but in turn they had other restrictions, which is why critter spam can be useful in a pinch if you put out the sheer numbers needed to actually make a dent.

"If I understand this right, there is a way to make a monster hibernate. This kinda works like what some animals do, shutting down their life signs to near-nothing in a sort of fake sleep. 'The minimum DP needed per hour cannot go below 0.01DP, but nearly no monster requires power input to go above this value.' So if we do this, Anastelle's DP upkeep will be only like half a percent of the current amount."

"That's it! Anastelle, will you please reconsider outright dying? If we use [Turn Off] on you, you get to live. Nobody has to die, okay?!"

She actually grabbed her head, or tried to because she flinched - that wound must have become incredibly painful to boot so no wonder she wanted to end herself - but our stares were clear so she eventually capitulated.

I read the red text that followed.

"'Restriction: A hibernating monster cannot remain inside Dungeon Core room[...].' Ugh, whyyyyyy?!"

"I accept the conditions. Please put my body where it will not bother anyone as I... rest."

I decided to create a sarcophagus in the style of the great revolutionary Lenin at a later point, but not too long after. If Anastelle was to rest motionlessly, the least I could do was make it comfortable for her.

After she laid onto the ground, which I covered with some furs, the [Turn Off] command shut her down. It was just like an electric device turned off but still plugged in, drawing a miniscule amount of energy. The look was rather creepy for the first time.

Then, with new determination to get things underway, I focused on the mana field again. My entire being in fact focused so much, everything around me went quiet, as if I had shut off my hearing. All that mattered at that moment was finding useful minerals and/or some ore.

My mind projected something not unlike a holographic, three-dimensional space that I could rotate around as if I was looking through some sort of intangible camera. It was much like the camera views my dungeon could project, but without the need of a screen.

Something faintly yellow-orange pulsed in the distance, giving off a slightly different vibe. A tendril bore its way to that spot, thin as a wire and extremely fast. Within seconds it had covered 10, 20, 40, a 100 metres forward into the depths, more, then abruptly stopped when it hit the orange material. I hollowed out a little space, just enough for Mr. Imp to experimentally strike with his pick, and placed him.

He began swinging the pick a couple times, managing to break off a roughly fist-sized chunk of the stuff, and placed it beside him. I felt its energy, learning its name. I opened my eyes, my mind back on Floor 1.

"...Would anyone happen to know what bornite and tyuyamunite are?"