Day 2

“Haah!?”

Isao hurriedly woke up, his heart pounding in his chest while sweat dripped down his forehead. The events of the previous day slowly came back to him, and he realized he was now in his new apartment room in his dungeon.

Isao, the first Filipino dungeon master, is sent to a world where the Philippines has been transported to another world. He summons the Dark Huma Asvarani, who had the skill "Summon Order of Darkness", to save the residents of First and Second Tree Villages and Riverside Area from monster attacks.

However, a group of demons attacks the last group of evacuees, and Isao realizes Ava's group is insufficient. He pleads for help, and the dungeon interface responds, allowing him to teleport the villagers into the dungeon. However, Joanne De Rizal, his childhood friend and the Hero of Kabuyao, was left behind. The Order Faction gods have blessed Heroes with extraordinary skills and powers, so the Neutral Faction dungeon rejected her presence, resulting in her death at the demon's hands.

Isao receives a Gift in exchange for allowing him to resurrect Joanne, moving him from "Tutorial Mode" to "Life Mode." The Gift includes a blessing from an unknown god, new abilities and knowledge he needed as a Dungeon Master, and skills like Limit Break, which increases total experience required per rank and boosts stats, and Devour, which enables him to absorb enemies' skills and heal with their life force.

With these new abilities, Isao faced the hordes of monsters in the dungeon he lured with the War Horn of Chaos, using his new skills to protect the villagers in the dungeon. He died many times in the process, but as a Dungeon Master inside his own Dungeon, he was able to respawn and continue the battle.

I was able to protect them.

"Seems you're finally awake, Isao."

A voice called out from the doorway, interrupting his thoughts. He turned to see Joanne standing there, a warm smile on her face. Isao's heart swelled with relief as he realized that his efforts had not been in vain. The villagers were safe, thanks to his newfound Skills and unwavering determination. Joanne's presence brought him a sense of comfort and reassurance, knowing that he was not alone in this whole new world of Erse.

"Mm. Morning."

"Breakfast's ready; let's eat."

Joanne said, gesturing towards the dining room, where a spread of freshly cooked food awaited them. Isao followed her, his stomach growling in anticipation.

As he entered the room, however, he couldn't help but notice a black-haired figure sitting in a dogeza, a position used to show apology or submission. The figure's eyes were downcast, and Isao could sense a heavy air of guilt surrounding them.

"My lord," the figure spoke, their voice filled with remorse.

It was his first summoned subordinate, the Dark Huma Asvarani, or Ava, as Isao called her. She was the leader of the group that led the last evacuees to safety during the recent attack, which was attacked by the demons who killed Joanne in the process.

Although Joanne was already resurrected thanks to his abilities as the Dungeon Master, it seems Ava still carried the weight of responsibility for the incident. Isao could see that she blamed herself for not being able to protect everyone, despite her valiant efforts. Her downcast eyes and apologetic demeanor spoke volumes about her remorse and desire to make amends.

"Please punish me for my failure," Ava pleaded, her voice filled with guilt and self-blame. Isao could sense the immense burden she carried, but he knew that blaming herself wouldn't solve anything.

"Alright, but first let's eat. I'm starving," Isao responded, trying to lighten the heavy atmosphere. However, as he reached for the chair to pull them out from the table, Ava said something that made the atmosphere cold.

"Then, let me be your chair, my lord!" Ava's words caught Isao off guard, and he paused, unsure of how to respond. He also felt a terrifying pressure coming from Joanne, who was smiling in a way that sent chills down his spine.

"Oh my, Isao, did you really summon Ava just for that reason? You wanted a companion who would be all subservient and stuff?" Joanne's voice dripped with disdain, her eyes narrowing as she continued to smile. Isao's face flushed with embarrassment, and he quickly tried to diffuse the tension.

"Y-you see," Isao stammered, "I didn't summon Ava for my pleasure. I brought her on because she's a skilled summoner and a natural leader. Gender had nothing to do with it." He hoped his words would appease Joanne and clarify his intentions. However, the tension in the room remained palpable, and Isao couldn't shake off the feeling that he had somehow made a grave mistake.

"Is that so?" Joanne replied, her voice laced with skepticism. Isao's explanation did little to alleviate Joanne's doubts. She crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow, clearly unconvinced by his words. The silence that followed only intensified the tension between them, leaving Isao desperate to find a way to salvage the situation.

Why the hell am I in a harem protagonist scenario!? Isao screamed to himself, feeling a mix of confusion and discomfort. He had never expected his day to take such a bizarre turn.

***

In the end, the breakfast that started with chaos and confusion turned into a surprisingly pleasant meal—for the two women, that is. However, Isao's mind was too occupied with his problems as the Dungeon Master to fully enjoy the moment.

* The true identity of the God who gave his blessing to Isao

* The threat posed by the demons somewhere in the city and the Chaos Faction as a whole might come back again if they knew Joanne was resurrected.

* The threat posed by the heroes from the Order Faction, who deem the Dungeon Cores of the other factions to be evil and thus aim to eliminate them

* The threat posed by the other neutral faction members who might take advantage of his inexperience

* The threat posed by violent armed groups likely formed during these times of trouble.

* The threat posed by “wild” monsters roaming aboveground and spawning at places without human presence also came from animals, plants, and non-living things like stone that morphed due to the mana in the air.

* The threat posed by rebellious residents in the evacuation area

* The scarcity of information coming from outside of the dungeon’s territory

* The absence of monsters for the dungeon’s defense, mainly monsters spawned through Monster Houses

* The lack of manpower for the dungeon’s management and the evacuation center’s governance, safety, and welfare

* The lack of dungeon facilities for the sake of his subordinates and civilians

* The absence of a Church that could grant the villagers’ the “player” classification and earn a system that could help them in their day-to-day lives in this whole new world

* DP insufficiency and the urgent need to expand his dungeon’s territory and interior

* His new Dungeon Master abilities: synthesis and Emotion Conversion, and the malicious traps hidden within the latter

* The Dungeon War and Throne War he would commence

* And the “Tea Party” of Dungeon Masters worldwide and the “Banquet” of municipal leaders to national leaders,also worldwide. These gatherings were hosted by the Creator God, the God of Games, and would happen three months and one year from now, respectively.

For now, as much as Isao knew, this is the complete list of all his problems, barring any unforseen problems cropping up in the future.

On the topic of his first problem, when Isao saw the notification informing him of acquiring the blessing of a god, the entity’s name was censored. In the meantime, all he could do was wait, as only time would reveal the god’s name.

“Hopefully, it wasn’t an evil god…”

He murmured, realizing what he’d done only at the last moment, as he closed his mouth with his hands in panic.

Fucking hell, aaargh. I went ahead and jinxed myself…

Isao thought to himself, his hands cradling his head in dismay. Anyway.

On the topic of threats his dungeon faced—information scarcity and manpower deficiency—Isao could solve those by using his Dungeon Master interface and ability, Synthesis.

I’ll do that later.

Next was his urgent need for DP for D-Territory Expansion, dungeon facility construction, and other expenses. And these are facilities Isao prioritized purchasing: Church, a command center, an administrative building, Barracks, resource-generating facilities such as Farms, Fisheries, Mines and Forests, Weapons Factory, and Research Facility.

There was already a solution for these problems: Emotion Conversion.

Though there was a problem using it, positive emotions provide small amounts of DP at an acceptable rate, while negative ones supply tremendous amounts of DP at a terrifyingly fast rate. It was as though the system was tempting dungeon masters to descend to the dark side.

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Isao won’t fall for it, however. Right now, the Emotion Conversion ability is set to only convert positive emotions.

And finally, the main source of his problems: Dungeon Wars, Throne Wars, Dungeon Masters’ Tea Party, and Lords’ Banquet.

According to the knowledge shoved into his brain, there would always be at least a Hero, Dungeon Master, demon lord, and lord candidate in each city. Sometimes there are Saints and Champions as well.

Before the Tea Party and Banquet, Isao intends to win the right to rule the entirety of Kabuyao City as a Dungeon Master and as a Lord. If he didn’t, he couldn’t expand his Dungeon’s Territory and ensure the safety of his fellow Kabuyeños.

The only way to ensure peace is to show your military might to your neighbors. If they knew you were no pushover, they wouldn’t come invading you.

Furthermore, I can’t rest assured if the one to take the helm in the city I live in is some hot-blooded, muscle-bound idiot. Too many Filipinos don’t understand the importance of ambushes, and some even deem them disgraceful. Probably only those in the military understand strategy and tactics.

Anyway, enough of that.

“Ava, Joanne, follow me.”

Isao abruptly stood up and called to the two girls. Joanne was at the kitchen sink, likely just finishing washing the dishes, while Ava was apparently watching him ever since he fell into a thought.

“So Ava wasn’t enough for you? You want to do me too?” Joanne asked in mock disdain, clearly enjoying teasing Isao.

“I-I have no experience, my lord, b-but I’ll do my best!” stammered Ava, whose face was red as a tomato, squirming in embarrassment.

“I-I’m not! Just follow me!” he shouted, clearly frustrated at having been toyed with by Joanne, as he stomped out of the room.

Exchanging glances, the two ladies followed suit. But Joanne immediately stopped and went to question him.

“Has there always been a door there? I'm pretty sure I didn’t see it when I was washing the dishes.”

"I added it just now. I forgot when I was expanding the hidden area and building the needed facilities.”

While Isao was busy with his thoughts, his hands were also busy operating the interface, expanding the area behind the wall, and buying facilities. All of the facilities they needed right now were already bought and standing, except for the church, since it was the residents who needed it.

A ghost town greeted Joanne and Ava as they stepped outside. The area was filled with brand new facilities, but there were no living people nearby.

“My lord, isn’t the medical facility you bought a while ago already equipped with NPC recovery units?” Ava asked with confusion in her eyes.

“Yeah, but units who came with Facilities are often weaker than units directly bought with DP. Furthermore, I already have synthesis, so I could just buy a subordinate’s DNA and synthesize it with my own to create monsters unique to my dungeon. They’re cheaper but stronger that way.”

This way, Isao had found the solution to the Dungeon Point insufficiency that was troubling him.

“We’re here.”

After a bit more walking, the trio finally reached their destination, the research facility.

Two ladies initially thought the facility resembled tofu, focusing on its functions and not aesthetics, with windows, doors, and other furnishings, but ultimately resembling a giant block of tofu.

Truth be told, Ava and Joanne had already noticed that every facility built in the hidden area had the same layout. And now, without uttering a single word, the ladies stared at the Dungeon master, urging him to explain.

“Ah, eh, you see."

Likely hurt by the two stares, Isao finally explained himself. According to the Dungeon Master Guide Book, there were two main ways for the dungeon to earn DP: an active one and a passive one.

Examples of active DP acquisition were waste Conversion, treasure Conversion, and Emotion Conversion. By absorbing waste—the dungeon regards corpses as waste—and treasures, for example, the dungeon could earn DP depending on the value and residual mana of what it absorbed.

On the other hand, the dungeon only absorbs the mana expelled through breathing by the living things inside its territory through passive DP acquisition. And the dungeon could also get DP from the Mana Vein, although only 100 DP a day.

Using his full penny-pinching mastery, Isao searched for ways to save DP and found out that he could buy things in bundles. Buying in bundles offers a 50% discount with freebies attached.

And the discovery of the century was that, by making use of and manipulating the mana from the Mana Vein, Isao could build anything he wanted inside the dungeon’s territory. Be it floors, mountains, hills, the ocean, or what have you? And then, when, for example, Isao built a structure using Mana and designated it as a “Research Facility”, the dungeon would complete it using DP to furnish it with only the necessary equipment and machinery.

So Isao built a bunch of structures and designated the whole place as a “Military Base Bundle,” dramatically reducing the amount of DP he spent as a result.

Though Isao the Dungeon Master couldn’t understand why the Mana Vein was so cheap with DP, Isao knew he couldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.

So he made use of it, as beggars couldn’t be choosers, even though manipulating that absurd amount of mana fried his brain. Isao only survived through non-stop use of Devour on the mana he’s manipulating just to heal himself. Because of this, two notifications appeared when he was eating breakfast.

Player Isao acquired the skills “Mana Manipulation”, “Mana Absorption”, and Auto-Regeneration.”

"Mou, so that’s why your face was so scrunched up on breakfast. I thought you hated my cooking. Isao, it’s not good to work while eating, understood?"

So said Joanne, her tone of voice like a mother scolding her son, while her hands were on her waist and her lips pouting.

“Yeah, yeah. Gotcha. Anyway, let’s go. I’ve got subordinates to synthesize," answered Isao as he walked inside the facility.

***

“By the way, my lord, why did we have to go here to synthesize the others?”

Hearing Ava ask that question made the two gamers look at her in pity.

"W-What is it, my lord, Hero-dono?”"

“Nah, it’s nothing. Isao paused, waving his hands. “To answer your question, Ava, this research facility increases the success rate of anything related to research, like synthesis, which could be biological mutation research of some sort.”

“Uh-huh.” Ava didn’t understand.

“Think of it like this, Ava. It’s easier to kill enemies with a mana rifle, isn’t it?” Isao continued, trying to simplify his explanation. "Well, this research facility is like a mana rifle for scientists. It gives them better tools and resources to achieve their goals in research." Ava nodded, starting to grasp the concept.

“Oh! I finally got it, my lord!”

“Good for you, Ava,” Joanne congratulated her. Joanne smiled, impressed by Ava's progress in understanding the analogy.

“Mm!”

Leaving the two girls aside, Isao opened up the DP catalog and went to the section with Monster DNAs. For his first experiments, he would mix his own Draconic DNA with the DNA of classic trash mobs: goblins, slimes, skeletons, and fluffball rabbits. Isao was excited about the possibilities that Synthesize offered. With access to monster DNA, he could create unique and powerful creatures by combining his own draconic DNA with that of various classic trash mobs.

Operating the Synthesis Interface, Isao dragged the icons for the fluff rabbit DNA and his draconic DNA into the designated slots. As the two DNA strands merged, Isao manipulated mana to provide a vessel for the new creature's creation. The synthesis process was delicate, requiring precise control over the mana flow to ensure a successful fusion of the DNA strands. Isao's heart raced with anticipation as he prepared to witness the birth of his extraordinary creation, a magnificent hybrid of a dragon and a fluffball rabbit.

The mana glowed brightly, pulsating with energy as it surrounded the merging DNA strands. Isao carefully channeled his focus, ensuring a harmonious blend of the two distinct genetic codes. With each passing moment, the mana grew stronger, its power fueling the transformation process.

Synthesis Complete. A Fluffball Rabbit with Baby Lesser Drake DNA was successfully created.

"Kyu!" A high-pitched squeal echoed through the light once it reached its peak intensity, breaking the silence and drawing everyone's attention. Once the light subsided, he saw a small, furry creature emerging from the glowing mana, its eyes wide with curiosity and innocence.

"Wow, so cute!" Joanne and Ava exclaimed in unison, their voices filled with delight. Isao couldn't help but smile at their reaction, feeling a sense of joy and wonder fill the room. The creature was a ball-shaped rabbit with soft, fluffy fur that seemed to radiate a gentle warmth. Its ears twitched with every sound, and its tiny nose wiggled as it sniffed the air.

Although it wasn't what Isao was expecting, he couldn't deny the overwhelming cuteness of the creature. Leaving the two women to fawn over the adorable rabbit, Isao turned to the results displayed in the Synthesis Interface.

According to the results displayed in the Synthesis Interface, his creation was just a Fluffball Rabbit with Baby Lesser Drake DNA inserted into its genetic makeup. The compatibility between his baby Lesser Drake DNA and that of a Fluffball Rabbit was low, so the creature has no draconian traits or abilities.

Furthermore, Isao found out that his DNA was categorized as a Baby Lesser Drake, which explained why the creature lacked any draconian traits or abilities. This classification also meant that if he somehow increased the concentration of the draconian traits in his DNA, possibly through ranking up, he could potentially become a genuine dragon in the future with all the associated powers and abilities.

However, because he was in "Life Mode" and had the "Limit Break" skill, ranking up would be a difficult task. Ranking up required the accumulation of experience points, which could only be gained by defeating powerful opponents. Unfortunately, with his "Limit Break" skill, Isao had to gain an absurd amount of experience points in order to rank up.

Setting that all aside, Isao thought there might be a loophole he could exploit to increase the concentration of draconian traits in his DNA without having to go through the traditional ranking process. Although he wouldn't use it for himself but only for synthesizing new monsters for his dungeon, he's scared that if the Creator God, who's also the God of Games, found out about his plan, there would be severe consequences.

With that in mind, Isao activated his newly acquired skills, “Mana Manipulation”, “Mana Absorption”, and "Auto-Regeneration,” and wounded himself with his draconized claws to extract large amounts of blood. Using the containers he bought in bundles from the DP catalog, Isao carefully collected the blood and sent it into the Synthesis Interface.

When Isao had bled enough to dry almost a hundred people, he began the process of synthesizing his blood to at least create Baby Dragon DNA samples. This time, he didn't need to use mana since he wasn't synthesizing to create a new monster. The interface would automatically extract and combine the necessary components from the collected blood. Isao eagerly awaited the results, hoping that his efforts would yield successful samples for synthesizing new monsters.

As a quiet fanfare resounded from the interface, a notification appeared before him indicating that the synthesis process was complete.

Synthesis Complete. Lesser Drake DNA sample x1 was successfully created.

Oh well, just like I expected.

Isao thought to himself, feeling a mix of disappointment and determination. He knew that creating new monsters was a complex and unpredictable process, and this result was just a small step towards his ultimate goal.

"Haah," he sighed, closing the notification and preparing to start another synthesis. For now, he would see what would happen if he synthesized Lesser Drake DNA with goblin DNA, hoping that the combination would yield a more powerful and unique creature. If this succeeds, Isao's dungeon will have monsters stronger than any other dungeon.

Repeating the process of putting the samples into the slots in the holographic interface, Isao once again manipulated his mana to create a body for the new creature. The moment the light subsided, Isao's eyes widened in surprise as he beheld the form of the newly synthesized creature.

Synthesis Complete. The Lesser Draconian Goblin was successfully created.

The Lesser Draconian Goblin was small in stature and seemed even smaller as it stood like a beast ready to pounce. Its scaly green skin shimmered under the light, hinting at its dragon lineage. With razor-sharp claws and a set of fangs protruding from its snarling mouth, it exuded an aura of ferocity. Isao couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement as he realized that this creature would indeed be a formidable addition to his dungeon.

Releasing mana and posing in a commanding stance, Isao beckoned the Lesser Draconian Goblin to come closer.

"Congratulations on your birth, my new monster," Isao said with a hint of pride in his voice. When the draconian goblin approached, it showed its fealty by bowing its head and emitting a low growl.

"Good, you understand your place," Ava said, nodding approvingly.

"Looks like you succeeded, Isao," Joanne remarked with a smile while she held the Fluffball Rabbit in her arms.

Isao's experiment had been a success, but he still had to create new monsters with different abilities and characteristics. His dungeon's defense and offense couldn't afford to rely solely on one type of creature. Isao knew that diversifying his dungeon's inhabitants was crucial for maintaining a strong defense against potential intruders.

And to do that, Isao had to bleed himself dry countless times and synthesize it to extract Lesser Drake DNA.

"What a pain in the ass~" Isao complained as he prepared for another round of blood extraction.