My Tamed Beast Returned with a Dragon – Chapter 51 – System Window

Author: Asternkm

The moment they entered the dungeon, a towering wall appeared before them. It looked like a battle had already taken place—beast corpses and bloodstains were scattered around.

While nervously surveying the area, Eunsae and her team suddenly saw a strange window appear before their eyes.

Dding!

[Hello, Hunter! Welcome to the dungeon: Akula’s Maze. Would you like to register the following members as Team C? Y/N

▶ Yoo Eunsae
▶ Park Doyoon
▶ Lee Yena
▶ Oh Jonghwan
…
▶ Seo Horang
▶ Beast 1 (Joryong)
▶ Beast 2 (Blackhorn Leopard)
▶ Beast 3 (Unknown)
▶ Beast 4 (Unknown)
▶ Beast 5 (Chuntien De Yaoqing)]

“Wh-What is this?!”

Eunsae swiped at the floating text with her hand, but it didn’t disappear.

Recognizing the style of the text, Seo Horang’s eyes sparkled as he rushed over.

“Isn’t this just like a system window?”

“System window? What’s that?”

Eunsae asked, and Seo Horang eagerly explained.

“You see it a lot in modern fantasy novels! Usually it explains skills, alerts you when you level up, that kind of thing. In fiction, it’s common to visualize the protagonist’s stats numerically. This dungeon must have that kind of system!”

“No way. Something that convenient really exists?”

Eunsae was amazed. Park Doyoon and the others, who seemed to have a rough idea, nodded calmly.

“If there’s a system window, this dungeon must have some kind of anomaly. Either way, shouldn’t we register? The screen won’t move otherwise.”

At Doyoon’s suggestion, Eunsae carefully looked over the message.

[Would you like to register the following members as Team C?]

“If we’re Team C, then Teams A and B must be Gold Star Guild and Sol’s group?”

“Looks like it.”

“And uh…”

Eunsae’s eyes wavered as she scanned the member list. Two of the beasts were listed as “Unknown.”

Since their names weren’t among the human members and Chuntien De Yaoqing was clearly listed, those two unknown beasts were probably Belquior and Star.

‘Wait—if that’s true, couldn’t Belquior’s identity be exposed?’

It would be a disaster if people realized he wasn’t human. Before anyone could catch on, Eunsae shouted in a hurry.

“YES! Register! Do I say it, or is there a button?!”

Dding!

[Registered.]

As the alert sounded and the list disappeared, Eunsae wiped the cold sweat from her brow. Whew, that was a close one.

Luckily, it didn’t seem like anyone noticed the weirdness in the member list. Just as Eunsae let out a silent sigh of relief—

The system screen changed.

[Let us explain the rules for first-time entrants. Akula’s Maze Dungeon converts each individual’s performance into “points,” which are required to “clear” the dungeon. In other words, you must accumulate a certain score to complete the dungeon. So, hunters, do your best to rack up achievements! ∠( ᐛ 」∠)＿]

“What the heck is that emoji?”

“Who designed this system window? It’s like a modern patch—it’s too accurate.”

“Wow, I’ve never seen a dungeon like this. Yoo Eunsae Hunter, are we going to be okay? This format is really unfamiliar…”

“We’ve got no choice but to deal with it. Other teams are already ahead.”

Now that they were in, there was no way out. Eunsae, determined, asked the system a question.

“How do we earn points?”

Dding!

[Points can be earned through the following:

▶ Beast Hunting (10 points per beast)
▶ Stage Clear
▶ Special Quest Completion
▶ Become King in the “King’s Game” and steal points from other teams]

“King’s Game…? Is that the King’s Game we all know?”

“If we can steal other teams’ points, wouldn’t that put Gold Star at a huge disadvantage? Both our team and the Vice Guild Leader’s team will be targeting them.”

“You think it’s that simple? There’s probably a trap.”

“What trap? Be serious.”

Seo Horang adjusted imaginary glasses like a famous anime detective, only to get roasted by his teammates.

But the system backed up Seo Horang.

[Correct! The points needed to clear the dungeon are the total team score, but points stolen during the King’s Game are individual points.]

“So that means if someone with a high score is targeted, their points can be stolen no matter what. We’ll need a solid strategy.”

Park Doyoon said seriously. A few teammates looked confused, so he added an explanation.

“For example, if I have 10,000 points and Seo Horang has 500, and Gold Star targets me, our team will lose 10,000 points.”

The teammates’ faces hardened. If other teams kept targeting high scorers like Park Doyoon or Eunsae, they could keep losing large amounts of points.

In that case, no matter how much they worked to gain points, it would be meaningless.

Feeling the difficulty level rise, team morale dipped slightly. Eunsae, staring at the system window, asked another question.

They still didn’t know the most important part.

“How many points do we need to clear the dungeon?”

[1,000,000 points!]

“What? O-One million?! Hold on. If it’s ten points per beast, how many do we have to kill? Uh… one hundred thousand?”

“This is insane. So that’s why we have to steal points from the other teams.”

“Evil system! The system was the final boss all along!”

Hearing the required score, the team members grabbed their heads in disbelief. Not ten thousand, but a million points. Who knew how many hours—or days—that would take?

Sensing the team’s energy drop, Park Doyoon clapped his hands and tried to refocus everyone.

“Seo Horang, back to reality. Yoo Eunsae Hunter, let’s proceed. If we delay any longer, the other teams will get too far ahead.”

“You’re right. Let’s get moving.”

It had already been quite a while since Gold Star Guild and Sol’s group entered. Eunsae stroked her chin.

“Can we check the other teams’ scores?”

[You can! Current scores: Team A – 130,780 points! Team B – 8,100 points!]

“What?! That big of a gap?”

“Who’s Team A and who’s Team B? Don’t tell me… even with Vice Guild Leader Choi there, they’ve only got that many points?”

“No way. We must be Team A, right?”

But… what if they weren’t?

Eunsae and Park Doyoon exchanged nervous glances.

What on earth is going on?

****

“Ugh, damn maze dungeon!”

Sol shouted as she slit a beast’s throat with the emergency dagger she carried. Normally, she would’ve swept through enemies with her fire ability, but it was currently sealed.

Seeing Sol struggling in frustration, Mirinae quickly sent an SOS to Yuha.

“Yuha! Help Sol, please!”

“Ugh, that useless wreck!”

“Shut up already! I didn’t expect this either!”

Ever since awakening as an S-rank, Sol had never felt so powerless.

Right up until entering the dungeon, she’d felt good about it. Even if it was a maze, in the end, it just meant beating up monsters like always.

Sure, it had lots of traps and getting lost could keep you looping in place—but with Dochun’s brain, Choi Mirinae, on their side, Sol had no worries.

On top of that, Mirinae had a “Danger Detection” skill that let them avoid most traps.

But then, out of nowhere, the system window appeared—with rules they’d never seen or heard of.

Kyaaaa!

“Urgh! Ugh… seriously!”

Sol barely dodged a beast’s attack, veins popping on her forehead.

“What is this, ○○Monopoly?! What even is a key card?! No, I get that we get a monster wave as a penalty for failing the stage—but why a skill seal?!”

After clearing a stage, she’d received a key card. Thinking it was a reward, she used it—only to find it read: “One-time element seal.”

And that’s why Sol was in this mess now.

[Oh? Do you have a complaint about the system? You can send feedback to this address…]

“Liar! You said the same thing earlier!”

[Did I? ◡( ๑❛ᴗ❛ )◡]

“Ugh, you’re so annoying!”

Sol ground her teeth. This dungeon was unlike anything they’d experienced before.

First, there was the point system needed to complete it. Then there was the structure where all hunters were divided into teams and made to compete.

The tough stages were a challenge—but the “King’s Game” was flat-out evil.

The points that Mirinae, Sol, Inchan, and Yuha had carefully gathered were completely wiped out by Gold Star Guild.

Not even Mirinae’s strategies helped. It was like someone on Gold Star’s team could see into their minds, targeting only the high scorers and efficiently stealing all their points.

Thanks to that, their team was left suffering.

Maybe the system had heard Sol’s swearing—because another window popped up.

Dding!

[Aw, don’t say that. I’m trying my best for you, Hunters. ｡:ﾟ(;´∩`;)ﾟ:｡]

“Stop talking and give me a useful reward!”

[I guess I have no choice… Hidden Stage: ‘Little by Little Adds Up!’]

GUUURROAAA—

KRYAAA!

KYAAAH!

“AAAH! What the hell?!”

Monsters poured out of every corner of the stage like a full-on dungeon break.

The group, already busy handling existing beasts, turned pale as more flooded in. Whether the system knew this or not, another window appeared.