Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 44

Chapter 44

 

I could feel that every member of the Facilities Team was silently focused on me.

Their eyes seemed to say that they were ready to make anything I wanted. Wonderful. The thought that I could truly customize the dungeon however I pleased made my heart race with excitement all over again.

“Let’s keep the first gate normal.”

‘In other words, a little taste of battle! We needed a warm-up, after all!’

“I wouldn’t recommend installing traps right from the beginning, either. If we make the difficulty too high from the start, there’s no point in structuring it in stages.”

‘Exactly, exactly. We were still a beginner dungeon, after all!’

“Instead, we’ll create short corridors between each gate. The first floor is quite spacious compared to the number of rooms, so there should be enough room to do that.”

This was something Brownie could take care of in no time.

As befitting the dungeon’s resident fairy, she widened the spaces between the Combat Rooms in the blink of an eye and created short passageways connecting each of them.

The field employees currently waiting in their combat zones must have been startled by the sudden changes to the dungeon’s layout.

“What kinds of traps can the Physical Team implement right away?”

“Woo! There are three types of traps we can construct within the scope of our Level 3 certification, and two activation mechanisms.”

The Gnome began by explaining the mechanisms used to activate the traps.

The first was the Pressure Plate Mechanism.

This was the most basic type, where a connected device was activated when a certain amount of weight was applied to a specific pressure plate installed along a passageway.

The second was the Tripwire Mechanism.

This involved installing a thin, inconspicuous wire across a passageway. When a challenger touched or broke it, the connected trap would activate.

Apparently, once they obtained higher-level certifications, they would also be able to handle sensor-based mechanisms that automatically activated by detecting movement, sound, light, and other stimuli.

However, the Gnomes, who only held Level 3 certifications, were limited to these traditional mechanical devices.

‘That means they’ll probably be easy to spot and disarm, too.’

Perhaps that was actually just right for beginner adventurers.

Next came the types of traps that actually did the damage.

The first was the Downfall Trap.

This was the classic pitfall trap, the kind that most people would immediately think of when they heard the word ‘trap.’ It was designed to make challengers fall into a pit below.

It could be nothing more than a simple pit, but the level of danger could be adjusted depending on what was added inside. Not only blades and thorny bushes, but also swamps or water that could restrict movement were possible options.

In higher-level dungeons, they sometimes even filled the pits with substances like lava or acid, which could inflict fatal injuries the moment someone fell in…

‘Since challengers could get seriously hurt, I need to be careful when choosing the options.’

It was also possible to combine these traps with biological traps. For example, they could release aquatic creatures like piranhas into the pits or cultivate aggressive Plants along the walls and floor.

The second was the Swing Attack Trap.

This involved swinging logs or heavy weights suspended from corridors or ceilings like pendulums to strike challengers.

Its basic function was to inflict damage through impact, but depending on where it was installed, it could also serve other purposes.

For example, if installed near a narrow bridge or a cliff, it could knock challengers off and send them falling below.

The last was the Fire Shot Trap.

This involved embedding multiple launching devices into walls or ceilings, which would all fire projectiles simultaneously when the trap was activated.

The projectiles could range from things that inflicted direct damage, such as arrows and poisoned needles, to substances that covered a certain area, such as gas.

Apparently, it was a trap whose purpose and level of danger varied greatly depending on what was loaded into it.

“Oh…”

There were more varieties than I’d expected, and plenty of ways to put them to use.

“After all, the purpose of traps in a dungeon isn’t necessarily to inflict heavy damage.”

Alraune agreed with me.

“That’s right. Even if they don’t actually get hurt, simply making them aware that ‘they could die if they make a mistake’ is enough to put considerable pressure on them. That’s how we extract fear.”

“Woo! In that case, simply installing fake blades at the bottom of a pit would be effective enough.”

That would certainly be frightening.

After thinking for a moment, I decided to establish one principle first.

“For now, please avoid installing traps in our dungeon that could seriously injure challengers. Our goal is to give them experience recognizing danger and responding to it, not to actually inflict serious injuries.”

Next, I turned to the Fairy.

“What kinds of distraction traps can you create using fairy dust?”

“Mm-hmm. Within the scope of my Level 3 certification, I can only implement basic sensory impairment.”

Loss of direction, distorted perception of distance, dulled five senses, induced sleep, impaired sense of balance, and so on.

“Direct perceptual interference, like hallucinations and auditory illusions, is only possible starting from Level 2, and creating actual illusions requires Level 1.”

“So you could make a short corridor feel much longer than it actually is?”

“Mm. I’m really good at wearing people out.”

Fairy dust essentially functioned like a debuff.

“Then lastly, Ms. Alraune, what kinds of Plants can you cultivate?”

“With a Level 3 certification, I’m qualified to handle Tentacle Plant varieties. I can currently cultivate three species. Starting from Level 2, one becomes qualified to handle Gluey and Bucket Plants, while Level 1 grants the qualification to handle Fire Plants.”

Tentacle Plants.

Apparently, these were plant-type monsters that extended their vines like tentacles to grab challengers or interfere with their movements.

There were three types of Tentacle Plants that Alraune could cultivate.

Ivy, which grew attached to walls and extended its vines in every direction. Pumpkin, which spread widely along the ground like a crawling plant and wrapped around people’s ankles. And Kudzu, which grew in wetlands and grabbed its targets with thorn-covered vines.

Each had different habitat requirements and characteristics, so they could be positioned according to the terrain.

“And Plants are a little different from ordinary traps that can simply be installed and left alone.”

“Oh?”

“The key point is that they’re living biological traps. If you consistently take care of them, they’ll gradually grow.”

Perhaps because this was her area of expertise, Alraune wore a slightly proud expression.

“If you continue cultivating and maintaining them over a long period, the Plants can also evolve into higher stages. Once an individual matures sufficiently, its vine range and restraining power will increase, and depending on its environment, it may even acquire new characteristics.”

‘Oh, traps that could be raised and developed. That sounded quite appealing.’

After hearing everything the Facilities Team was capable of, I began to form a rough picture of how the traps should be arranged.

‘Let’s leave everything as it is until the first gate.’

There was no need for beginner challengers to deal with traps and combat simultaneously right from the start.

Instead, we’d gradually increase the difficulty after they passed the first gate.

‘We’ll add traps to all the passageways between the gates…’

Up until the second gate, challengers would simply learn how to avoid and disarm traps.

Starting from the third gate, we’d also install traps inside the Combat Rooms, forcing them to deal with both monsters and traps simultaneously.

And finally, in the boss room, they’d have to use all the elements they’d experienced so far to make it through.

‘Wouldn’t this naturally increase the difficulty step by step?’

Rather than randomly scattering traps everywhere, the idea was to let challengers experience new elements one by one as they progressed.

After settling on the general direction, I explained my proposed layout to the Facilities Team.

Alraune spent a moment calculating the expected material and maintenance costs before speaking.

“I believe an initial budget of around 100,000 eon per month should be sufficient.”

And she immediately followed that with a detailed budget management proposal.

My heart practically dropped into my stomach at Alraune’s audacity in casually asking for 100,000 eon right off the bat.

“First, I think it would be best to receive the allocated budget at the beginning of each month and settle the accounts based on actual expenditures. If the budget proves insufficient, we’ll submit a separate request for additional funds. If there’s any remaining balance, we’ll deduct that amount from the following month’s allocation.”

“Y-yes.”

Alraune pulled a blank sheet of paper toward herself.

“I’ll keep a complete record of all expenditures, including material purchases, consumables, and repair and maintenance costs. At the end of each month, I’ll prepare an expenditure statement detailing where the money was spent and how much was used, then submit it to you, Dungeon Keeper.”

‘How systematic. Appointing Alraune as team leader really had been the right decision!’

After all, keeping track of receipts was the most important thing whenever money was involved.

If I could have it my way, I’d much rather hand the Facilities Team a dedicated corporate credit card instead of making them go through the trouble of having a budget allocated.