Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 43

Chapter 43

 

Applicants with certifications were in a completely different league when it came to their desired weekly wages.

“2,000 eon per week…”

That was a whopping four times what a low-level monster earned.

Apparently, even that was considered relatively low because they only held Level 3 certifications.

After careful consideration, I decided to hire a total of five monsters for the trap facilities team.

First, three Gnomes from the physical trap team, since installing and maintaining physical traps required them to work together as a group.

Next, one Fairy who would handle illusions and sensory disruption and whose abilities would also be highly useful in emergencies.

And finally, one Alraune, a rare specialist whom Brownie had confidently declared we’d regret letting slip away.

With these five new hires, our fixed weekly labor costs increased by another 10,000 eon.

I agonized over whether to hire the Mimic until the very end, but since I couldn’t think of a suitable use for it in our dungeon just yet, I decided to put its application on hold for now.

I stamped “Hired” on the five monsters’ resumes and immediately summoned them to the dungeon.

With all the existing employees gathered together, the five monsters appeared in a dazzling flash of light.

The newly hired employees were delighted to have secured jobs, while the existing employees sincerely congratulated their new colleagues on joining the dungeon.

“All right, let me introduce everyone. These are the new members of our Facilities Team. They’ll be responsible for installing and maintaining the dungeon’s traps.”

“Woo-woo!”

“Nice to meet you all!”

Later, once the Facilities Team grew larger, I planned to divide it into three separate teams according to the types of traps they handled.

“And these are our field employees. This is Ms. Dullahan, the leader of Field Team 1.”

“Make our dungeon more interesting. It’s way too boring right now.”

The atmosphere was warm and friendly.

Apparently, monsters felt an immediate sense of camaraderie simply from belonging to the same dungeon.

“I’m sorry to ask this on your very first day, but I think you’ll have to start working right away.”

According to Ruadis, the first batch of graduates would be leaving the training center in just a few days. I intended to have all the dungeon’s preparations completed in time for their graduation.

And the Facilities Team began their first day of work by holding a meeting.

Basement Level 1.

Using Brownie’s space-creation ability, I had a new office built for the Facilities Team right next to my own.

The desks were made wide enough for several people to work together, while the chairs were created in different sizes to accommodate each monster’s physique.

The problem was that everything was made of dirt.

‘We can’t keep using furniture made of dirt forever… I should check whether anyone in the village has furniture they’re planning to throw away.’

I looked at the dreary office furniture, which seemed likely to lower productivity just by existing, and tried my best to ignore it.

A dedicated storage room had also been prepared directly across from the Facilities Team’s office. It was intended to store the tools and materials needed to manufacture and repair various traps.

Although it was still completely empty, I figured it would soon become a proper storage room once we started bringing in the necessary supplies one by one.

The Combat Team didn’t need a separate office, since its members usually stood by in their assigned combat zones anyway.

Instead, I created a separate employee lounge where they could relax comfortably whenever there were no battles.

For now, however, it was literally nothing more than an empty space.

‘I guess I’ll have to get everything that goes in here from the village too.’

Finally, I prepared a meeting room next to the Facilities Team’s storage room.

In the middle of the spacious room, I placed a long conference table that could seat up to ten people, with chairs neatly arranged around it.

‘Of course, all of those were made of dirt too…’

And so, the Facilities Team employees and I gathered around the table in our hastily assembled meeting room.

It was time to begin our first meeting about the dungeon’s full-scale renovation.

“Dungeon Keeper, please allocate a budget to our team.”

And the very first item on the agenda was the budget.

“I-I suppose I’ll have to…? It’s not like traps can just magically appear out of thin air…”

To tell the truth, I’d completely overlooked this issue until the meeting began.

I’d been foolish enough to think that everything would somehow work out as long as I hired employees with the right certifications!

‘Was it still too early for our dungeon to start installing traps?’

“Yes. Physical traps, in particular, mostly have to be constructed and installed directly on-site.”

Alraune, who had the most experience among the Facilities Team members and had therefore been appointed team leader, continued explaining everything step by step.

“First, we’ll need to secure raw materials such as lumber, stone, and metal components for construction. Even after installation, the traps will require regular inspections and maintenance, so we’ll also need to keep a certain amount of replacement parts and repair materials in stock.”

“Woo!”

“After all, traps have to be rearmed every single time they’re triggered.”

The Gnomes nodded along rhythmically every time she spoke.

“The same applies to the Plants I’m responsible for. We have to start by crossbreeding Demon Plants to obtain seeds, so we’ll need seedlings, cultivation soil, and fertilizer. However, unlike physical traps, Plants don’t require restoration work every time they’re activated.”

The more I listened, the more I realized this wasn’t simply a matter of installing a few traps and calling it a day.

To properly operate even a single trap, we’d have to cover all the costs associated with its construction, installation, inspection, and maintenance.

“M-me too! I need supplies to make fairy dust!”

“This is my first time collaborating with someone from the distraction trap field, so I overlooked that. What do you need to produce fairy dust?”

“I need to eat lots of sweet things, and I need sparkly jewels and fluffy yarn, and alsooo…”

Every single thing she mentioned seemed rather questionable as a production material, so I couldn’t help but interrupt.

“Are those really necessary for production? Aren’t they just things you personally want…?”

“Fairy dust only comes out when a Fairy is happy!”

If you took away her wings, she looked more like a vampire bat than a fairy from a storybook, yet every single thing she asked for was ridiculously adorable.

“Anyway, what you’re saying is that material costs are essential to operating the Facilities Team. Could I get a rough budget estimate?”

“This is my first time overseeing facilities in a dungeon of this size, so I believe we’ll need to examine the internal layout and movement routes first. Dungeon Keeper, how would you like the traps to be arranged?”

“I’ve designated the aboveground floors as combat zones, and for now, we’re only using the first floor.”

At my request, Brownie drew a cross-sectional diagram of the dungeon’s first floor on the meeting room table.

“This is the current layout of the first floor.”

It consisted of three gates arranged in a straight line, each guarded by three monsters.

The entrance to each room was blocked by a locked door, and challengers had to defeat the monsters and obtain a key before they could proceed to the next area.

After breaking through all three gates, they would finally reach the boss room.

“It’s quite a simple layout.”

We’d been trying our best to make the place resemble a proper dungeon with our limited number of employees… This was the best we could manage.

“I’d like to design the dungeon so that the difficulty increases with each gate the challengers overcome.”

That way, challengers would gradually come to understand their own limits as they progressed.

“In that case, there are two main ways we can arrange the traps. We can either install them inside the Combat Rooms, where battles take place, or place them along the routes connecting one room to another.”

The small Gnomes and the Fairy climbed onto the table one by one and carefully examined the cross-sectional diagram.

They seemed to be considering where to position their respective traps to make them as effective as possible.

“First, if we install traps inside the Combat Rooms, we can operate them in conjunction with the monsters. For challengers, the traps would serve as obstacles that restrict their movement, while for our monsters, they would become terrain features that give them an advantage in battle.”

Alraune pointed to one section of the diagram.

“However, since these are areas where actual combat takes place, there’s a high chance that the facilities will get caught up in the fighting. That means damage and malfunctions will occur more frequently, and we’ll have to schedule inspections and maintenance at shorter intervals.”

So, in other words, we could give each Combat Room its own unique battle concept?

“On the other hand, traps installed outside the rooms are effective for maintaining tension between battles. They can also be used to drain a certain amount of the challengers’ stamina or resources before they enter their next fight.”

The problem was the dungeon’s current layout.

The rooms were connected almost directly to one another, leaving hardly any space where traps could be installed.

To properly operate traps outside the rooms, we’d first have to increase the distance between the gates.

We would need to redesign the movement routes themselves, deliberately adding buffer zones such as corridors or empty rooms and distributing the traps throughout those spaces.

“Hmm…”