In less than three hours,four adventurers cleared Beginner Mode one after another.
They were: Sleeping in the Wind, Lonely Swordsman, Ishida Tetsuya, and Moonlit Snowfall.
"The numbers are finally right!"Sleeping in the Wind's face was filled with anticipation.
"Stage Mode! Let's do this!"
Ishida Tetsuya laughed wildly, smug and unrestrained."Hahaha! Lord Kanzaki Ren, your dungeon's difficulty is honestly not up to par at all. Watch us tear through your Stage Mode!"
"There might even be a chance to drop higher-tier essences," Moonlit Snowfall said, her eyes flashing."We won't accidentally farm the lord into bankruptcy, will we?"
Lonely Swordsman frowned."That wouldn't be good. Dungeons with real character are rare these days. Apocalypse Frenzy basically has no substitute."
Ishida Tetsuya nodded seriously."We should protect a treasure lord. Sustainable exploitation, that's the way. I suggest we submit any essences we obtain for recovery so the lord can recover some losses. Wouldn't be good if he went bankrupt after just a few runs."
The surrounding adventurers immediately approved.
"Good idea!"
"Brother Hammer is righteous!"
"Even fishing has off-seasons."
"Miracle City is still a delicate newborn."
"With such a small frame, it can't withstand all of us taking turns beating it up."
"Protecting seedlings is everyone's responsibility. A high-quality lord should be fattened up first, then whipped hard so he can make even better dungeons for us!"
"…"
Listen to that.Are these people even speaking human language?
Kanzaki Ren nearly rolled his eyes into another dimension.
The relationship between adventurers and dungeon lords was always subtle.
Neither could exist without the other, but it was never a loving relationship. Most of the time, it was a game of calculations, schemes, and mutual exploitation.
And these people?
They were worried about whether he would go bankrupt.
They thought clearing Beginner Mode meant they had everything figured out?
A bunch of clueless fools who had never tasted real suffering.
They had no idea—
the true torment had only just begun.
Kanzaki Ren was more than happy to see how these adventurers would survive his carefully crafted apocalyptic slaughterhouse.
In an instant,all the other adventurers waiting in line gathered around the crystal the four were using to spectate.
After Ishida Tetsuya selected Multiplayer Mode, a new interface appeared in front of them, offering Random Matchmaking and Private Room Team-Up. The four quickly chose the latter and successfully formed a team.
The game began.
The four adventurers appeared on the rooftop.
The environment was slightly different from Single Player Mode. For example, the workbench now held four pistols, four axes, and four medical kits—one for each person. Surprisingly generous.
"Even with more people, we can't let our guard down," Ishida Tetsuya warned.
"Old Blade has more experience," Sleeping in the Wind said. "Let him be the team leader this run."
"No objections," Moonlit Snowfall replied.
Lonely Swordsman nodded."First clear the stairwell and loot supplies. Pistols alone won't get us out. And be extremely careful of special infected."
They pushed the door open.
In the dim stairwell below,they saw the familiar smiling-back zombie once again.
"Tch, same old trick. Let me handle it!"
Ishida Tetsuya grabbed his axe and leapt forward, splitting the zombie in half with a downward strike. Blood sprayed everywhere.
"Hahaha! How was that? Was my play clean or what?"
"Nice one!"
Everyone felt a surge of security. More people meant more firepower and higher fault tolerance. Fighting side by side greatly increased immersion and fun, and the lurking threat of special infected made everything thrilling and unpredictable.
The dungeon felt more fun by the second.
Then Ishida Tetsuya heard a faint scraping sound.
"Listen carefully," he said."There's something weird."
The adventurers leaned forward—
and locked eyes with twenty to thirty pairs of glowing eyes in the corridor.
"What the hell?!"
One by one, grotesque, blood-soaked zombies reacted to the noise, surging forward like beasts that had caught the scent of blood.
"Not good!"
"Fall back!"
"There are too many!"
"Open fire! Fire now!"
"…"
Moonlit Snowfall drew her pistol, but her hand trembled from nerves. The shot went wide—straight into Ishida Tetsuya's knee.
"WHAT THE HELL?!"
"Why are you shooting me?!"
Ishida Tetsuya collapsed instantly.
He was swallowed whole by the oncoming zombie tide in seconds.
The others panicked and opened fire, but even after exhausting all their ammo, they had barely taken down half the horde.
"Fight them head-on!"
The remaining three pulled out melee weapons and continued fighting. They managed to cut down several zombies, but were quickly overwhelmed and dragged to the ground.
They didn't even clear a single corridor.They didn't encounter a single special infected.Total party wipe.
The spectators burst into laughter.
Lone Wolf laughed loudly."Hahaha! Love at first corner!"
Pig King smirked."Brother Hammer, weren't you saying the dungeon was too easy?"
Nekomi Momo added,"More people doesn't always mean more power. Sometimes it just means friendly fire."
Irritable Chick mocked them."That's what you get for bragging earlier. Now you know how brutal it is, right?"
"…"
The four adventurers exited the dungeon.
They hadn't expected to clear it in one go, but dying that fast was humiliating.
Ishida Tetsuya demanded,"Lord Ren, explain this. Why were there so many zombies in that corridor?"
Kanzaki Ren shrugged."Your party size quadrupled, so I multiplied the zombie count. Sounds reasonable to me."
Everyone stared at him.
"Well… that does make some sense."
"Could you maybe design something a bit more humane?"
"Stuffing that many zombies into such a narrow space is insane."
"Calm down!"
"We were careless."
"Yeah, we triggered the horde too early and got ambushed."
"With proper preparation and tactics, four guns plus coordination, using corridor terrain, taking down twenty-plus zombies is totally doable!"
"That run doesn't count!"
"Again!"
"…"
This time, the four planned ahead. They lured enemies in batches, rotated firepower, coordinated melee and ranged combat. They successfully cleared the corridor—but at the cost of all their ammunition.
Only then did the real nightmare begin.
They quickly discovered that Multiplayer Mode allowed coordination and offered richer supplies along the way—but random spawn rates and fixed zombie counts were significantly increased, and new special infected with unknown abilities were far more dangerous.
In addition to Boomers and Smokers,two new zombies appeared: Hunters and Jockeys.
The Jockey resembled a skinny monkey, suddenly leaping onto a person's head, stealing their vision and sense of direction while controlling their movement.
The Hunter looked like a hooded parkour runner—extremely agile, ninja-like, capable of wall-jumping and roof-leaping. If your aim wasn't perfect, you couldn't hit it at all. Its pounce attacks were terrifyingly lethal.
[Adventurer "Lonely Swordsman" has died. Soul Crystal +1, Mental Power +1!][Adventurer "Ishida Tetsuya" has died. Soul Crystal +1, Mental Power +1!][…]
"Ahhh!"
"Dead again!"
"The Hunter is way too fast!"
"The worst are still the Smoker and the Jockey!"
"Why would a lord create such demonic monsters? Is there seriously no mercy-mode content at all?!"
"Hey, if you're bad, train harder. I think the lord's a genius. Monsters this interesting don't exist in other dungeons."
"Looking for group!"
"I cleared Beginner Mode too!"
"Looking for pros to carry Stage Mode!"
"…"
Despite being utterly abused in Stage Mode—and despite all the complaining—the constantly generated Mental Power told the truth.
Their mouths said pain.Their minds said addiction.
Multiplayer Stage Modewas far more fun than Beginner Mode.
Time passed second by second.
After ten hours of operation today, thirteen adventurers had cleared Beginner Mode. Every one of them was stuck in Stage Mode. All adventurers were out of stamina, and the dungeon had reached its reception limit.
Progress was finished for the day.
Kanzaki Ren reviewed the gains.
Today was a harvest day.
Adventurers received: 125
Soul Crystals gained: 636
Mental Power gained: 1222
Additionally, Kanzaki Ren recovered 18 Zombie Essences. Most rookie dungeons wouldn't see that many in half a month.
Current totals:
Soul Crystals: 732
Mental Power: 1370 / 1000
Mental Power was the core resource for dungeon creation—and also the experience used by dungeon lords to level up.
Each rank-up increased territory level caps and the lord's lifespan, and granted a chance to open the Sea of Inspiration and awaken a new Inspiration Crystal.
In other words—
every level-up meant drawing new materials.
The current upgrade required 1000 Mental Power.
His reserves were more than sufficient.
He could upgrade nowand draw a brand-new Inspiration Crystal.
He had been a dungeon lord for less than a week.The dungeon had been officially open for only three days.