Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 42

Chapter 42

 

When we first recruited employees, we pretty much accepted anyone who came along.

This time, however, we set a requirement: Applicants had to possess a certification.

And apparently, using this kind of filtering system meant… the Wind Fairies charged us extra.

“Give us another 1,000 eon.”

“Aren’t you just a bunch of extortionists? You’re doing the exact same job as before!”

“We practically have to do twice the work now! Take it or leave it!”

Brownie got into a scuffle with the Wind Fairies, but the outcome was already decided. We were the ones at a disadvantage, after all.

‘We couldn’t advertise without their help.’

“Grrr…! Once our dungeon becomes famous, we won’t need those guys anymore! Monsters will be lining up just to apply for a job if we put up a recruitment notice at the dungeon entrance!”

“Sure. Good luck with that.”

The Wind Fairy collected the silver coins with an aloof expression before promptly disappearing.

“Those guys are seriously infuriating. Fairies who are obsessed with money!”

‘As if she wasn’t just as obsessed with money herself.’

Why was everyone in this world, whether human, monster, or fairy, so crazy about money?

In any case, the Wind Fairies certainly did their job well enough to justify the payment. Before a single day had passed, monsters who wanted to join the dungeon started showing up.

I sat in the office and began looking through the resumes Brownie had collected.

“Hmm… Just having certifications seems to have raised the overall quality of the applicants quite a bit.”

Previously, all we’d gotten were skeletons and lesser goblins, who were practically just fodder monsters.

This time, however, even monsters whose names I vaguely recognized from playing the game had come to apply.

In other words, if the previous applicants had mostly been common-grade monsters, the overall quality now seemed to have jumped all the way up to around rare grade.

“There’s quite a variety of trap design certifications…”

Following the purpose of our recruitment drive, I first filtered out applicants who possessed trap-related certifications. Then I narrowed the list down further by selecting those with particularly unusual qualifications.

The first field of trap design: Physical Traps.

These referred to the basic types of traps people commonly thought of when they heard the word ‘trap,’ such as pits where the floor suddenly collapsed or volleys of arrows shot out from gaps in the walls.

“Your species name is… Gnome?”

“Woo!”

It was a tiny monster, about the size of a dwarf. It was only about knee-high, so even climbing onto a chair was difficult for it. It needed a footstool just to sit down.

Its pointed hat, pulled low over its head, was particularly striking, and its appearance was as adorable and cute as a little Christmas ornament doll.

In particular, its nose and cheeks were bright red, almost as if someone had applied rouge, so my eyes kept drifting to them.

“You hold a Level 3 Physical Trap Design Certification.”

Apparently, Level 3 was the lowest grade, followed by Level 2, Level 1, and then Expert.

“Woo!”

Aside from its certification, its other qualifications weren’t much different from those of the lesser monsters. Since this wasn’t a field position anyway, there was no particular need to consider things like attack power or defense.

“Could you explain how your certification would benefit our dungeon?”

“Woo!”

The gnome suddenly stood up, bowed deeply, and greeted me.

“First of all, thank you for giving me this opportunity to interview. It is an honor to apply to your esteemed company.”

“Whoa! You startled me.”

‘So you could speak perfectly well all along?’

I was taken aback by its deep, dignified voice and polite manner, which were completely at odds with its adorable appearance.

While I struggled to hide my surprise, the gnome continued speaking fluently.

With an extremely professional attitude, it explained which traps would be suitable for our dungeon and carefully outlined the types of trap designs it specialized in.

“Hmm, you certainly seem to be the kind of talent our dungeon is looking for. We’ll review your application and get back to you.”

“Woo!”

After that, I interviewed several more gnomes who were quite similar. As it turned out, physical trap designers usually worked in teams.

Installing and maintaining traps alone naturally took a considerable amount of time.

I wondered why they hadn’t simply come to the interview together as a team from the beginning.

“Wouldn’t it be better for at least one of us to get hired rather than having all of us rejected together?”

That was the answer I received when I asked.

‘What a cutthroat job market.’

Next came the second field of trap design: Distraction Traps.

These were traps designed to attract adventurers’ attention and cloud their judgment, making it more difficult for them to overcome the dungeon.

The first applicant was practically the poster monster for this particular field. I didn’t even need to check its certification to know that.

“I heard you’ve been working in the field of distraction traps for generations after inheriting the family business…”

“Yeees…”

The applicant’s species was Mimic.

The Mimic conducted its interview while hiding inside a round jar.

Whenever it came and went, it simply rolled around inside the jar. Even during the interview, it only kept the lid slightly open, so I couldn’t see the Mimic’s actual body hiding inside.

It was shaped much like a hermit crab or snail, carrying its body around inside a shell.

Through the narrow gap, I could barely make out a pair of red, gleaming eyes.

Perhaps because of its tendency to hide, it also had a rather timid and shy personality, which made interviewing it quite a challenge.

‘Mimics. They were famous, all right.’

They were monsters that disguised themselves as treasure chests and lay in wait before attacking unsuspecting, defenseless adventurers who approached without knowing any better.

Mimics primarily specialized in hiding inside objects that piqued adventurers’ curiosity. With enough experience, they could even transform their own bodies directly into everyday objects.

The Mimic in front of me held a Level 3 Luring Trap Design Certification.

Apparently, it wasn’t experienced enough to transform itself into an object just yet, so it could only use the method of hiding inside objects to lure adventurers.

“An 82% success rate for luring is quite impressive. We’ll review your application and get back to you.”

“Yeees…”

Another type of distraction trap involved the use of illusions. And once again, a monster I’d encountered several times in the game came to interview.

It was small in stature, with translucent insect-like wings growing from its back.

A Fairy.

It was quite far removed from the beautiful fairies people usually imagined. Its skin was bright blue, its teeth were sharp, and its fierce expression made it look rather creepy.

‘Actually, perhaps ‘mean-looking’ would be a better description?’

The Fairy specialized in using fairy dust to disrupt the senses and create illusions.

It could induce hallucinations in adventurers to lure them toward dangerous places, distort their sense of direction and make them wander down the wrong paths, or create fake doors and passageways to confuse them.

“Has the fairy dust you use passed the required safety inspections?”

The Fairy had even attached a separate inspection certificate to its resume.

“Mm-hmm.”

[This certifies that the fairy dust used by this Fairy has passed both the tests for addictive substances and the tests for bodily retention and accumulation.]

“Nowadays, you can get arrested for using the wrong stuff, y’know. Our fairy dust is safe even if your kid eats it!”

‘They really did check every little thing…’

Well, if the fairy dust used by Fairies was dangerous, then not only would I be at risk, but all the other monsters living together with me would be in danger too.

“Your work experience is rather unusual. Instead of working in dungeons or field raids, you’ve worked as an assistant at festivals and special holiday events…”

“Mm-hmm. The hourly pay is better.”

I see… Since fairy dust had so many uses and their small size made it easy for them to disguise themselves, they could work in those kinds of places too…

“We’ll review your application and get back to you.”

“Mm, thanks for your time!”

Finally, the third field of trap design: Biological Traps.

In hard-difficulty games where bloodshed was commonplace, even the types of traps were on a completely different level.

Schools of piranhas lurking underwater before attacking intruders, carnivorous plants that ensnared unsuspecting opponents with their tentacles and dragged them away, swarms of insects that disrupted adventurers’ rest by sucking their blood, and so on.

All methods that involved placing living organisms to attack intruders or interfere with their actions fell under the category of biological traps.

I remembered that Brownie had been quite surprised by this particular applicant, saying that it was a specialized professional who wasn’t easy to come by.

“Your species is… an Alraune.”

If this were a gacha game, the Gnomes, Mimics, and Fairies would be rare cards, while the Alraune would be a rare-plus card, wouldn’t it?

“And you hold a Level 3 Plant Cultivation Certification.”

Unlike the other fields, biological traps didn’t have a separate certification specifically called ‘Trap Design.’

Instead, the certifications were divided into related fields such as breeding, cultivation, and farming, depending on the type of organism being handled.

Among them, the Alraune was a cultivator specializing in plant-type biological traps.

“Yes, that’s correct.”

The Alraune, along with the Gnomes and Mimics, was another monster I could look at without having to take off my glasses.

Its upper body resembled that of a woman, while its lower body consisted of a large flower intertwined with a mass of roots.

Its speech and gestures were quite refined, and it possessed a level of dignity that made it difficult to regard it as just an ordinary monster.

“Could you tell me about Plants?”

“When mana permeates a plant, it mutates into what we call a ‘Demon Plant.’ And when a Demon Plant absorbs enough mana and evolves into a monster, that individual is called a ‘Plant.’”

The Alraune continued its explanation in a gentle voice.

“However, unlike ordinary monsters, Plants possess neither self-awareness nor intelligence. They also retain their characteristics as plants, which means they cannot leave the spot where they’ve rooted themselves in the ground.”

“Then they’re not particularly dangerous for monsters, are they?”

“If we’re talking about Plants growing naturally in the wild, they’re little more than easy targets for extermination. Since they cannot move, adventurers can simply determine their attack range and go around them as they please.”

The Alraune smiled faintly.

“But dungeons are different. In an enclosed environment where movement paths are restricted, we can deliberately arrange the positions and types of Plants. We can block passageways, guide intruders in specific directions, or even combine them with other traps.”

I see. So their inability to move wasn’t much of a disadvantage inside a dungeon.

“At present, there are three types of Plants that I can reliably cultivate and manage. I can select and position them according to your dungeon’s terrain and intended purpose.”

What would it look like if plants started growing in our gloomy dungeon?

Of course, they wouldn’t be ordinary plants.

‘That actually sounds pretty cool.’