Sharath had barely completed demonstrating his first batch of defense prototypes before the urge struck again: the dungeon beckoned. Not in some metaphorical, whispery-voices sort of manner, but in the good, plain ol' practical sense that he was low on slime sludge and monster cores to fuel his gadgets.
He stood in the courtyard with his captains gathered, eyes sharp, voice loud enough for the entire garrison."Listen carefully. This expedition will not be like the others. No leisurely camping, no waiting seven days to scoop barrels of slime goo. This is a speedrun. We're going in, killing everything up to the third-floor boss, and we're out. Got it?"
The soldiers looked at each other, confused."Speed… run?" one muttered.Another inquired, "Is that a new type of formation?"Sharath let out a sigh. "No, it is saying we go in quick, clear quick, loot quick. No time-wasting. Think of it as… as a race, but with guns, slimes, and wolves."
In the recesses of his mind, 🐧NeuroBoop chuckled.
"Oh yes, teach medieval peasants the concept of speedrunning. Any moment now you'll be timing split-seconds with a sundial and arguing about 'any percent vs. 100 percent clear.' Truly, culture shock at its finest."
Overlooking the AI's sarcasm, Sharath issued the final command: "Assemble the carts, load the barrels, and sharpen your scoops. The workers will gather every ounce of slime sludge and wolf fur. The army and I will clear the way."
And so, Unnatirajya's first official dungeon farming operation commenced.
Floor One: Slime Splatter
As soon as they crossed the dungeon gates, Sharath did not hesitate. Riding regally on the back of a cargo tricycle like a warlord, he drew out his M16 and fired a hail of bullets.
The slimes had hardly time to jiggle before they were torn apart, their cores bare and broken. Acid spit attacks dissipated in the air as Sharath dodged and fired with cold calculation.
The soldiers didn't even blink anymore. What had once rendered them slack-jawed now didn't even merit a raised eyebrow. They just marched in his wake, spears poised, scooping barrels of goo as nonchalantly as one would milk cows.
A grizzled vet grumbled, "Remember when this used to shock you?"His fellow soldier snorted, "Now it's Tuesday."
The first floor was evacuated in under two hours. The laborers poured onto the battlefield, filling barrels with slime remains, piling them onto carts, and pushing them back toward the exit.
Sharath glanced at his watch—well, not a watch, exactly, but a glowing mana counter he'd cobbled together. "One hour, fifty-eight minutes. New personal best."
🐧NeuroBoop moaned.
"Great. You've created esports in a medieval death cave. Next, you'll be insisting on commentators. Can I give play-by-play?"
Sharath smiled. "Maybe."
Floor Two: Boar Blitz
The second floor brought the ice boars—towering creatures that spat froth-breath and charged as angry bulls.
"Formation split!" Sharath yelled. His troops dispersed, creating a large gap down the center. Sharath mounted an armored trike equipped with improvised mana-shields, speeding straight into the horde. With one hand grasping the steering bar and the other dual-wielding Uzis, he cut through the boars like a demonic circus act.
Ice shards scattered. Boars screamed. Sharath cackled maniacally, yelling, "Who's ready for bacon!?"
Behind him, the soldiers grunted. They had already given up trying to keep up with their young master's tricks. They just did as they were told, stabbing dead boars and sucking out blood into barrels, as the workers pulled carcasses into storage wagons.
When the final boar fell over, the ground was covered in meat, tusks, and broken ice crystals. The whole clearing process lasted four hours—half the time of their inaugural expedition.
Sharath dusted his hands off. "Four hours. Easy. Next floor."
🐧NeuroBoop quipped immediately.
"Oh yes, easy. Except for the twenty-seven carts overflowing with frozen pork. Congratulations, you've speedrun dinner prep for an entire duchy."
Floor Three: Wolf Rampage
The third floor was where things got ugly. Wolves roamed in packs, swift and well-coordinated, their bright red eyes following everything. Slimes dripped off the walls, spewing acid into the mayhem, while loose boars battered through like wrecking balls.
It should have been too much. But to Sharath, it was a chance.
"Guns free!" he yelled.
The sky was filled with the sound of gunfire. Sharath ran across the battlefield, firing bursts of mana-tipped bullets into the wolves and slimes. The guards, equipped with rune-rifles, opened fire in practiced volleys. The wolves yelped as cores shattered and blood sprayed.
Thermo, his perpetually frustrating cat, had other ideas and chose this precise moment to jump on a wolf's back and ride it like a madman knight. The soldiers gawked in shock as the cat scratched at the beast's ears until it slammed into a wall.
"Did. did the cat just take down a wolf alone?" one soldier whispered."Don't ask," another said coldly.
After almost a decade of incessant battling and resource ganking, they finally arrived at the boss room. Sharath put up a hand. "Break time. Three hours."
The soldiers collapsed immediately, falling onto the ground in exhaustion. The workers leaned over their barrels, cursing forevers of slime.
Sharath, on the other hand, stayed vigilant. His fingers twitched holding his Uzis. He knew better than to believe in a dungeon boss.
Boss Fight: The Hybrid Horror
The doors of the chamber slammed thunderously shut. Out of the darkness came a horror: a wolf-boar creature, its body a twisted amalgamation of muscle and tusks, veins of glowing energy pulsating with dungeon power.
The soldiers panicked. "That's not natural!"Sharath grinned. "Neither am I."
Before the creature could even roar, Sharath drained both Uzis into its chest. The creature stumbled but did not fall. It growled, moving its glowing core out of the way at the last moment. Sharath cursed, putting away his Uzis and drawing out his M16.
"Time to play serious."
Gunfire echoed through the air. The core disintegrated under the withering onslaught, and the creature fell with a dying scream.
The soldiers cheered. The workers grunted—they knew what followed: loot carrying.
And sure enough, the chest did show up. Sharath found inside:
20 slabs of hybrid beast flesh
20 vials of low-level healing potion
2 common skill scrolls
1 uncommon skill scroll
Sharath did not waste any time. He picked up the uncommon scroll and applied it to his chest. Light flashed, and a new term appeared in his mind: Appraisal, Level 1 → Appraisal, Level 2.
"Finally," he whispered. "Better data."
🐧NeuroBoop snorted.
"Congratulations, you've leveled up your bureaucracy. Truly, the pinnacle of heroism."
Sharath ignored the jab. "Now… let's see my character panel."
And there it was, glowing before him:
[Sharath Virayn Darsha — Lord of Unnatirajya]
Level: 17
Health: 1350/1350
Mana: 2100/2100
Strength: 95
Agility: 120
Endurance: 110
Intelligence: 140
Wisdom: 130
Charisma: 150
Skills:
Appraisal (Lv.2)
Item Box (Lv.1)
Firearms Mastery (Lv.3)
Rune Engineering (Lv.2)
Leadership Aura (Lv.1)
Titles:
Young Master of the Darsha Line
Dungeon Speedrunner (🐧NeuroBoop Approved)
Bureaucrat of Doom
Sharath smiled. "Great. Now, back to Unnatirajya."
Aftermath: From Dungeon to Fortress
The journey back was near-anticlimactic. The collection teams, old hands now at slime scooping, loaded barrels with mechanical ease. By the time Sharath's team left the dungeon, they had collected:
50 barrels of slime sludge
20 barrels of boar blood
30 wolf corpses
1 hybrid beast corpse
Lord Darsha personally inspected the haul, eyebrows shooting up. "This… this is enough resources for months."
Lord Bassana, always the trader, almost swooned at the prospect of so much potential gold. "Do you know what these hides and tusks will bring on the open market? Gold, boy. Gold!"
But Sharath was in his own world. His head was whirling with new ideas. Cold storage for meat. Wolf-core powered defenses. Healing stations with potions.
He gestured to someone. "Sort the spoils. The plans for the fortress start now."
And so, as the workers removed barrels and the soldiers crumpled into their bunks, Sharath retreated to his laboratory. His fingers ached for instruments, his mind racing with plans.
The speedrun had provided him with what he required. Now it was time to render Unnatirajya inviolable.
Deep within his brain, 🐧NeuroBoop whispered darkly:
"Oh yes, build your fortress. Because with this much power and wealth, you've painted a target so large that even the blind could hit it. And won't that be fun?"
Sharath only grinned wider. The game had changed, and he was ready.