Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 50

Chapter 50

 

In truth, there hadn’t been enough time to install proper traps yet. We’d only just managed to finish installing them in the passageway following the first checkpoint.

I stared intently at the screen, praying that the challenger would fall for the trap in a spectacular fashion.

At last, he cautiously stepped into the corridor, and I saw the spot he stepped on sink.

“He stepped on it!”

“He stepped on it!”

Brownie and I shouted at the same time, enthusiastically grabbing each other’s hands.

I felt a little sorry for the challenger, but watching the first trap the Facilities Team had worked so hard to create function properly was incredibly satisfying.

A moment later, the mechanism connected to the pressure plate activated, and the floor came crashing down.

“AAAAH!”

The challenger’s body plummeted downward in an instant along with the collapsing floor.

But in reality, the pit wasn’t all that deep.

If we dug it too deep, we’d break through to the underground floor.

The trap was designed so that when it activated, fairy dust would scatter and impair the victim’s senses, making the pit look much deeper than it actually was. Thanks to that, anyone who fell would experience the terror of plummeting down an endless cliff.

And then there were the dozens of sharp spikes densely packed across the bottom of the pit, all pointing upward. Those were also fake, made entirely out of soil by Brownie. They looked sharp enough to pierce someone’s body at any moment, but in reality, they were nothing more than clumps of dirt that would crumble helplessly the moment someone touched them.

However, with their visual perception impaired by the fairy dust, it would be difficult to distinguish the real thing from the fake. On top of that, Brownie had made the spikes look quite convincing, which went a long way toward amplifying the sense of terror.

“Fall! Come on, fall already!”

Brownie shouted enthusiastically at the screen, and as though responding to her expectations, the challenger finally let go of the edge he had been holding onto.

A scream rang out, followed by… Thud!

“He felllll! We won!”

Brownie cheered in an ecstatic voice, flying wildly around the office.

Overcome by the exhilarating sense of accomplishment, I couldn’t help but chuckle, too.

“In the end, he didn’t even make it to the second checkpoint. I never thought he’d be taken out by a trap.”

A little while later, a voice calling out to me came from beyond the screen.

“Challenger’s retirement confirmed. Administrator, the situation has ended.”

Alraune reported as she peered down into the pit, then looked up into the air.

“Well, shall we go take a look?”

I watched for a moment as the employees waiting at the checkpoint rushed out and pulled the challenger from the pit, then got up from my seat.

Brownie quickly followed behind me.

“Close the lobby.”

Since the dungeon was currently undergoing an inspection, we had to prevent any other challengers from entering before it reopened.

So I decided to close the dungeon temporarily.

As soon as I, the administrator, issued the order, the entrance connecting the lobby to the first checkpoint was covered by a wall with a heavy rumble.

“Good work, all three of you.”

The skeletons and goblin who had been assigned to the first checkpoint were sitting in a corner of the room, resting with their backs against the wall.

Since the challenger had put up quite a fierce resistance, all of them had sustained injuries, some minor and some more serious.

The goblin had bruises and cuts all over its body, while several of the skeletons’ bones had developed cracks.

I knew they would naturally recover over time through the power of the sacred stone, but seeing the employees injured in person still made me worry.

“Does it hurt a lot? Maybe we should establish a medical team…”

“It’s nothing we can’t handle!”

“These are our glorious battle scars. Rattle.”

I’d once heard from Brownie that there were medical professionals who specialized in treating monsters. Apparently, if such people were stationed in the dungeon, employees could recover much faster after battles. The employees did get injured during training, too, but Ruadis held back appropriately, so they never suffered any serious injuries.

Challengers, on the other hand, fought as though their lives depended on it, so it was only natural that the wounds they inflicted would be deep.

“Hmm?”

But when I looked more closely, I noticed a faint light emanating from the bodies of all three.

“It looks like your bodies are glowing… Did you perhaps level up?”

“Yes, that’s right! We gained experience from the battle just now, and all three of us have reached Level 3.”

“Oh, congratulations.”

As expected, it seemed that actual combat was necessary to gain proper experience.

The other Field Team employees who heard the news gradually gathered around us, one by one. They offered their congratulations, saying things like how hard the three had worked and how envious they were. Back when we’d won our first victory against the kids, everyone had cheered so loudly that the whole dungeon seemed to shake. But now, they were content with a moderate celebration.

I’d just started thinking that perhaps they hadn’t only improved their skills through training, but had also become more composed and mature…

When they all suddenly let out the victory cheers they’d been holding back.

Well, a victory feels good no matter how many times you experience it.

“What? How boring. They didn’t even make it anywhere near me.”

Sabira, who had been waiting the entire time in the Boss Room, approached us with a grumble.

As usual, who knew where she’d lost her head this time? Her shoulders were completely bare. Just yesterday, while the Facilities Team was installing traps, they’d found Sabira’s head several times.

“He didn’t seem to be from the Training Center. He looked like an outsider. I guess Lady Ruadis introduced him to our dungeon so he’d get a good taste of what it’s like to be thoroughly beaten.”

“Tsk. With skills like that, he’d die just from breathing the air in the Demon Realm.”

I avoided Sabira, who was subtly pressing herself against me, and headed toward the spot where the challenger had fallen.

Inside the Combat Room, the Slime who had joined the Facilities Team was moving busily.

I passed by as it swept up the bloodstains scattered across the floor and the debris left behind by the battle with its body, absorbing everything cleanly, then entered the first corridor.

Perhaps thanks to my administrator privileges, the floor where the trap had been installed glowed red to my eyes.

The Facilities Team had moved the challenger to one side and was busy repairing the collapsed trap. Even while working frantically, however, everyone had smiles plastered across their faces. It was only natural that they were happy. Their very first real-world test had gone well, and the trap they’d installed had worked perfectly.

When I approached the fallen man, I saw a red aura rising from his body like heat haze.

The sacred stone was in the process of absorbing fear from him.

‘Take lots and lots of it.’

“Chihuahua! We need to loot him already!”

“Right, we do.”

As a matter of fact, among the applications we’d received last time, there had been a monster with a certification related to looting.

However, since we’d hired the entire Physical Trap Team all at once, we’d filled up our staff quota, and in the end, we hadn’t had the resources to consider other fields as well.

And now, at last, we’d reached the final stage of dungeon operations.

‘Prying open the pockets of a fallen adventurer!’

“You said we only get one chance to loot him, right? What should we take?”

“Chihuahua, over here! Right here! I clearly saw him take out his wallet from here!”

Brownie pointed at the man’s chest and shouted in an excited voice.

How on earth had she even managed to see that…?

This challenger really was unlucky.

“If he was willing to throw 1,300 eon into the offering box, that bastard must have plenty of money!”

“Umm… I’m sorry, even though you can’t hear me.”

“What is there to apologize for? You’re not supposed to bring valuables with you when challenging a dungeon in the first place. He’s the one at fault.”

“It’s the fault of anyone who brings nice things into a dungeon!”

“It’s an unspoken rule that if you get knocked out, everything you have gets taken.”

Brownie repeated the exact same things she’d said before and looked at me as though I were being hopelessly difficult.

“Fine, I get it. I’ll do it. I’ll do it, okay? And keep your voice down. What if he wakes up?”

I’d been told that looting had to be done secretly and quickly, while disturbing the adventurer’s body as little as possible.

I crouched down and carefully slipped my hand inside the man’s clothes.

Concentrating all my attention on my fingertips in case he woke up, I slowly felt around inside.

Soon, my fingertips caught the texture of thick leather.

I carefully pulled it out, and a rather heavy wallet came along with my hand.

“What if I’m actually talented at pickpocketing…?”

I’d managed to pull out the wallet in a single attempt. It had quite a bit of weight to it.

“Administrator, should we move the challenger who has been looted to the Respawn Room?”

A Field Team employee who had been waiting beside me asked.

“Ah, please do.”

And so, the challenger who had suffered defeat and been robbed of his money was carried away by the employees to the Respawn Room.

“How much is it? How much did he have? Hurry up and open it! Hurry!”

At Brownie’s urging, I immediately opened the wallet.

“Oh, there are quite a lot of coins.”

“Hehehe, I knew he was a lovely little fellow.”

After counting all the coins inside the wallet, the total came to 44,000 eon.

I was startled by how large the amount was.

Since he was an outsider, it seemed he’d brought plenty of money along for his travels.

‘But still, was it really okay to do this?’

If we took all his money, how was he supposed to pay for lodging or meals right away…?

But if I even brought up the idea of returning it, there was no doubt Brownie would never let me hear the end of it.

“Phew… Well, he shouldn’t have brought his wallet into the dungeon in the first place… No, he shouldn’t have let Brownie see him take it out.”

“Hehehe, it looks like we’re the ones who opened the treasure chest!”

Well, it was already in our hands. What good would worrying about it do?

We might as well put it to good use for the dungeon.