Monster Company Tycoon Chapter 54

Chapter 54

 

When the day Ruadis had announced finally arrived, prospective graduates began visiting the dungeon every single day without fail.

For the first time in ages, the dungeon, which had always been terribly quiet, was operating busily. The employees’ faces naturally brightened along with it.

The more customers we had, the more exhausting the work became, but staying busy was still better than having absolutely nothing to do.

‘It actually feels like I’m going to work and doing a proper job.’

The sound of coins dropping into the offering box had become much more frequent, and Brownie’s mood had been on an upward trend day after day.

The students usually put anywhere from 100 to 500 eon into the offering box.

Even though the amounts were small, I was satisfied enough simply knowing that we were generating a steady income.

‘Even after all the current prospective graduates finish, there’s already another group waiting in line. We’ve finally established a cycle where customers come in regularly.’

I suddenly remembered the day I’d first signed a contract with Ruadis.

Back then, I’d been pretty desperate to establish a business connection that could somehow bring customers to the dungeon.

Thinking that all that effort had finally borne fruit made me feel rather proud.

For a completely inexperienced administrator, I was doing pretty well.

I wondered what the Demon King of Owls, who was probably deep in a peaceful sleep right now, would think if he saw the state of the dungeon.

“Phew, time to get back to work.”

I was in the office checking the schedules of the visitors who were expected to arrive and assigning their entry times.

“Oh dear, this is a problem.”

Alraune’s troubled voice came from beyond the screen.

At this hour, she should have been cultivating Plants in the relatively spacious corridor in front of the Boss Room.

“Ms. Alraune, is something wrong?”

When I spoke to her, she looked up into the air and answered.

“The children have grown so beautifully. At this rate, instead of frightening the challengers, they’ll actually give them peace of mind.”

‘Such a doting parent…’

I shook my head.

Alraune’s plant traps took considerably longer to prepare than the other types of traps.

There was no helping it, since she had to plant them herself and nurture them until they reached a certain level of growth.

Still, by the time the prospective graduates began visiting the dungeon, she’d managed to raise them to a semi-mature stage where they could be used as traps.

I looked at the Plants on the screen, which had grown while receiving Alraune’s abundant affection.

Ivy, a member of the Tentacle Plant family.

The ceiling and walls of the corridor were densely covered in green vines and broad leaves. At a glance, it almost felt as though I’d stepped into the middle of a botanical garden.

However, among the lush leaves, vines that writhed as earthworms lay in wait, ready to catch their prey.

I knew very well how grotesque that Plant became once it revealed its true nature.

I’d once tested it directly on a Field Team employee to see how it worked.

As soon as the prey entered its range, the previously motionless vines shot out all at once.

Dozens of vines tangled together from every direction like a spiderweb, wrapping tightly around the employee’s limbs and torso in an instant. And it didn’t stop at simply capturing its prey. The more the target struggled, the tighter the vines constricted.

If Alraune hadn’t immediately ordered them to release the employee, they might have suffocated.

On top of that, wild Ivy didn’t just suffocate its prey. It even sucked out their blood…

‘It looks disgusting to me… But she’d probably be hurt if I told her the truth.’

Despite being a vine plant, it had an extremely vicious and ferocious temperament. Once it caught its prey, it rarely let go.

That was why some adventurers had even asked whether there was any way to escape this trap at all. After all, we couldn’t use an inescapable trap in an examination intended for beginner adventurers.

At the time, Alraune had explained that plant traps were actually relatively easy to overcome compared to other types of traps. Knowing their weaknesses and how to deal with them was far more important than reflexes or physical ability.

‘She said Ivy is afraid of bright light. If you shine a strong light on it, the vines retreat.’

That was why we’d deliberately kept the lighting dim only in the corridor in front of the Boss Room.

Instead, to ensure that visibility wasn’t completely blocked, we’d installed several light fixtures shaped like glowing purple crystals, providing just enough light to see.

Under the soft purple glow, the shadows of the vines covering the ceiling and walls stretched out across the corridor. Whenever a living vine occasionally writhed, its shadow swayed along with it.

It hadn’t been intentional, but thanks to that, the atmosphere of the final corridor leading to the Boss Room had turned out rather convincingly.

Just as befitted a place right before the final checkpoint.

After seeing several challengers visit, I gradually became confident that the dungeon would operate without any problems even when I wasn’t there.

Thanks to that, I was able to go about my errands in the village with a much more relaxed mindset than before.

‘Once I save up a little more money, I’ll buy equipment for the employees first.’

The recovery room was emergency, too, but preventing injuries in the first place was just as important.

Today’s errand, which I’d chosen after finishing my part-time shift at the restaurant, was fruit gathering. Someone needed fruit to make jam, but they couldn’t leave because they had to look after their baby. So they were looking for someone to gather it on their behalf.

The payment for the errand was 1,000 eon.

I picked up a basket and a map marked with the name and appearance of the fruit I needed to collect, as well as the location of the fruit trees, then headed toward the quest location.

The fact that the destination was to the northwest bothered me a little, but it was a forest quite far from the temple, so I figured it would be fine.

After following the map and walking along the forest path for quite a while, I reached an area where the trees grew thick and dense.

“Red and round, shaped like cherries… Is that it?”

Even when I caught just a glimpse of red between the branches, I went over to check each one individually.

After searching around for quite some time, I finally found a fruit tree that looked exactly like the one drawn on the map. Small, red fruits hung abundantly among its lush leaves, looking absolutely delicious.

“Found it.”

Just as I happily started running toward the tree…

Thump.

Something caught against the tip of my foot.

“Whoa!”

I nearly fell flat on my face, but hurriedly regained my balance.

However, the groan that followed came from somewhere other than me.

“Ugh…”

“Hmm?”

I stopped where I was and looked toward the direction of the sound.

Someone was lying collapsed in the grass.

‘A person? A monster?’

I approached cautiously, tense and alert, and examined the figure.

Their arms and legs were half-hidden among the thick grass, but from their appearance, they seemed to be human.

“Excuse me. Are you all right?”

I moved a little closer and carefully parted the grass covering their body.

Then I was so startled by the otherworldly appearance revealed beneath it that my eyes widened.

A man with pure white silver hair and skin so pale it had not a trace of color. Even his clothes were entirely white, from head to toe. He lay on the grass with his eyes closed, as though he were dead.

Just looking at him lying there motionless, it wouldn’t have been strange to mistake him for a corpse.

I had a vague feeling that I’d seen him somewhere before, but I soon shook my head.

How could I forget someone with such a striking appearance? It must have been my imagination.

“What should I do? Is this an emergency? Should I report it? Or should I go find someone?”

In the outside world, this would have been something I could solve with a single cellphone, but in this world, there wasn’t even such a common means of communication.

First, I tried to check whether he was alive by carefully placing my hand near the tip of his nose. But his breathing was so faint that I could barely feel it.

For a moment, I got goosebumps at the thought that he might really be dead, but I steeled myself and placed my hand against his neck and chest to check his pulse.

Thump, thump.

A faint but unmistakable beat reached my fingertips.

Thankfully, he was alive.

Having confirmed that he was still breathing, I thought I should get up and find someone who could help him.

But just then…

“Eek…!”

How long had it been?

The man had opened his eyes and was staring straight at me. I was so startled that my heart nearly stopped.

Mysterious violet eyes, as beautiful as jewels, gazed at me without a hint of wavering. They stood out particularly vividly against his snow-white hair and pale skin.

‘Wow, holy crap… I thought he was a doll.’

“Are you all right? You were lying collapsed here, so I touched you briefly to check your condition. I’m sorry if that made you uncomfortable.”

He didn’t answer. He simply stared at me with his eyes open.

He was practically like a broken person.

“Would you like to get up? Should I help you sit up?”

“…Who?”

Isn’t that reaction a little too slow? You’re only asking who I am now?

It’s not as though your ping is just ridiculously high.

“I’m just someone passing by. I came into the forest for a little while to gather some fruit.”

“……”

The man once again blinked blankly, like a robot that had run out of power. Then he slowly raised one hand, as though asking me to help him.

I took hold of his arm and helped him raise his upper body.

But contrary to my expectations, the arm I felt beneath his clothes was quite firm. At first glance, it had looked so thin and pale that it might snap at any moment, but surprisingly, his muscles were well-defined.

‘I thought he’d have such a delicate arm because he’d collapsed from being sick…’

The moment I helped him sit up, the man began wobbling like a roly-poly doll, as though he might fall over again at any moment.

“Whoa, whoa… Please get a hold of yourself. Put some strength into your body.”

“Strength…”

Then, as though by magic, his body stopped swaying.

The person who had been wobbling helplessly just moments ago straightened his back in an instant.

It gave me a strange feeling, like watching a robot carry out a command exactly as it had been entered.

Is this guy actually human?