After facing a virtual enemy with the spirit of a warrior, I felt incredibly pumped up.
But once I'd taken down all the virtual enemies that appeared in this theme, a major problem came to mind.
It was right here! The location itself was the issue!
"Too... bland."
In the games from my past life, the places where you encountered bosses were all cool spots, with a few exceptions.
But this place... it was just a cave with lights embedded in the walls!
I recalled the final bosses from the games I'd played.
The sword saint in a swaying reed field, granting his grandson's request.
The great demon performing a ritual on a massive hellish altar.
The young girl ascending to her true form amid an uncountable pile of human corpses.
The heart of the world in a grotesque place made entirely of flesh.
The half-human, half-demon sitting on a plastic chair at the top of a towering white tower, waiting for his brother.
That's right! Bosses need locations worthy of them, but what the hell was this?!
Even if I were the strongest hero, I'd be hugely disappointed fighting me in this bland dump.
And the path to get here was a problem too.
You need to traverse a grueling path before defeating an awesome boss for the ultimate experience!
The way here was a maze, sure, but it was kinda small. No, really damn small!
This was just an awkwardly spacious cave!
"Damn it! This won't do!!"
Before I could even start remodeling right now... there were too many issues.
The virtual enemies would keep interfering with my remodeling, so how was I supposed to handle that?
Plus, combining my past and present lives, I'd never done any design work even once.
That was like asking someone who'd never learned drawing to paint a picture!
It'd end in total disaster!
Ugh! Should I give up?!
Was I really going to meet a disappointing end in this bland cave-like place?!
"Graaaah!!!!"
Balrak's scream echoed throughout the entire Abyss Pit Dungeon.
*****************
Balrak's single tantrum in the Abyss Pit shook the whole dungeon, and the beings who'd been guarding the first floor until now started panicking.
"What the hell's wrong with that guy?!"
"W-What do we do?! Should we check the first floor?!"
"No way! We'd probably die if we mess around!"
"That's the monster who tore apart those heroes in seconds. Don't do anything stupid."
These were the other bosses deployed in the Abyss Pit, just like Balrak.
The entities currently on floors 90 through 100 had seen the message that they'd be thrown into the dungeon.
Before being assigned here, they'd scouted the beings for each floor and recruited them into their alliance.
They'd dug up records from the Mythic Age, crafted their divine weapons and tools, and so on.
After preparing everything for survival, they'd entered this place.
Once inside, they'd quickly built communication devices linking the floors—a true pinnacle of competence, the Floor 100 Alliance.
Now that the alliance bosses had the hierarchy of each floor locked down tight, they planned to sacrifice floors 1 through 10—the dungeon's gateway—as offerings.
They'd identified the heroes from the current era who needed special attention and prepared to block the endless waves of heroes... but what was this?
The first-floor boss, who they'd thought was weaker than a snail, turned out to be a total freak.
Right when the dungeon opened, he shredded over a hundred heroes and hundreds of their companions in under an hour...
A chilling death star crashed down from his fist...
He went out of the boss room—the safest spot in the dungeon—for a damn jog...
He was an utterly incomprehensible unknown entity.
And just now in that fight, he'd one-shot one of the dangerous figures they knew about.
"What was that hero who charged at the guy called Balrak at the end? He didn't even get to do anything before getting sent flying in one hit?"
"Ahem, we didn't expect that guy to be that strong."
"To think the Celestial Warrior Hero would lose like that... But then why drag us all here?"
The Celestial Warrior Hero, Herim.
Famous for dodging every enemy attack with insane reflexes, fighting like he was dancing in the sky.
He collapsed after Balrak's mindless axe swing drained all his health, unable to do a thing.
This made the bosses rethink Balrak deeply...
[Grrrrraaaah!!!!]
Rumble rumble!!!
"Kyaaah!! The walls?!"
"If we screw this up, won't the dungeon collapse and crush us all?! What's the plan—"
"I-I'll step up!"
"You?"
The one boldly volunteering to handle the situation was a being who'd dedicated everything to uncovering the world's truths, reduced to mere bones: a lich.
Caught in the shockwave of power mixed into Balrak's scream, his bones were shattering.
He frantically cast protective spells on his subordinate, then teleported him to the first floor with magic.
*************
Damn it!! Damn it!!
Was I ultimately unable to fulfill my father's dream and my own?!
"Sniff... Grandpa, I'm really sorry for being such a disappointment."
Sorry for being a worthless son with no talent except for fighting!
"Gran... grandpa?"
"Sniff... He's the benefactor who raised me from childhood."
"But why are you crying like this?"
"He taught me about the warrior's life... Huh?"
What? Who's that?
I stopped crying and glanced sideways at the voice.
There was a busted-up skull head stuck to the wall in a weird pose.
"You're... what?"
"Well..."
"N-No way!!!"
Right! I'm a boss, and this is a dungeon!
So there's one thing that naturally shows up.
Even in this dark cave, the light of salvation shines through?!
All my negative thoughts vanished in an instant, and I shouted the name of the savior.
"Ahem, seems you already know me. No need for me to say it myself, but allow me to introduce—"
"Dungeon Merchant!!!!"
"Yes?"
In a game dungeon, how do all sorts of monsters show up?!
Sure, monsters might naturally wander into caves to form a dungeon.
But dungeon merchants bring the monsters.
How do I know, living on a mountaintop?
Experience.
One of the games I played was a dungeon management tycoon.
And there, the dungeon merchant not only brought all sorts of monsters but also sold items that could change the dungeon's structure.
Crucially, this world was originally a game or a novel!
Which means!
"I'm not exactly—"
"Dungeon Merchant! Can you change this place's structure?!"
"No, listen to me—"
"And I need monsters too, plus all kinds of traps!"
"W-Wait... Graaah!!"
Oops, got too excited and grabbed his shoulder too hard.
"Ahem! Sorry, I got carried away and caused you trouble."
"Ugh... I-It's fine. What did you say?"
"I want to remodel this dungeon's structure."
"No, you were crying that hard just for that—"
"..."
"You can, sure~"
This skeleton guy really was a merchant through and through?
Even as bare bones, his sensitivity was alive—he perfectly understood my feelings, which felt reassuring.
After that, I told the skeleton merchant everything I needed.
"Why on earth do you need a poison swamp over 3km wide...?"
"Is that no good?"
"Practically, maintenance would be impossible, and magically, it seems unfeasible too. I'll check with my boss first."
"Ah, I overordered, so you're heading to the branch manager, huh."
"B-Branch manager?"
The skeleton mage Kariann, subordinate to the lich—the boss of floor 92—had no idea how to deal with this lunatic calling his master a branch manager.
But he'd stopped this powerhouse's tantrum, so mission accomplished?
Plus, passing on all this guy's demands to his master would complete the task.
So, time to escape this insanely dangerous place fast.
Piiing!!!
Puk!
Slice!
"Ah, sorry. The next phase is already underway. Not safe here anymore—get out quick."
"Y-Yes, sir."
Kariann, eager to flee the monster who swatted god-blessed heroes like flies, soon teleported to his master via magic.
***********
Having heard everything from the skeleton mage Kariann, the bosses fell silent.
Then—
"Pfft!!!"
"Don't laugh."
"Heh heh heh..."
"I said don't laugh!"
"Kyahahaha! Our 'branch manager' is pissed~ Hahaha!!"
The bosses couldn't hold back their laughter at the fact that a great archmage, a supreme being who'd lived thousands of years, was now a mere shop branch manager.
"Damn it! I shouldn't have stepped up!"
"Then you'd be the first to die here, so just look at the results."
"Ugh... Fair enough. But what? Dungeon merchant? What's that nonsense."
They had questions about Balrak calling one of the lich's minions—a skeleton mage—a "dungeon merchant."
But the floor 90-100 bosses were near-divine supreme beings, so they quickly pieced it together with their extraordinary minds.
"Hey, branch manager."
"Say that again, and I'll drop a meteor on your head."
"Touchy. Anyway, you know what to do, right?"
"Pfft, guess I really have to play merchant? 'Branch manager'?"
"Grrraaah!!!"
The easiest way to preserve their lives against infinitely resurrecting heroes was to go along with whatever the first-floor Balrak wanted and prop him up.
Everyone knew that, so they grinned at the lich.
"Why are you all staring at me like that!"
"Calm down, lich. You know what we're thinking."
"Sigh... If even you, an ancient dragon, say that, I've got nothing to say..."
"We're beings bound to this dungeon because we're too strong. We can't even leave anymore, so supporting that warrior Balrak is our best bet. But..."
"Hmph! I know better than anyone not to support him all at once, so no worries."
Ordinary folks who get strong fast tend to grow complacent.
That's why most fall, and even exceptional ones often follow suit.
These supreme beings had seen it too many times.
They couldn't afford to lose Balrak—their strongest shield and lifeline—so casually; they had to approach with extreme caution.
Plus, if all problems solved themselves overnight, they couldn't predict how that incomprehensible unknown would act.
Right now, that lunatic had jammed insanely powerful weapons into every corner of floor 1!
"Damn! Why'd he stick those weapons in such stupid spots!"
"Ugh... World Will, why are weapons of that caliber on floor 1...?"
Even the ancient dragon boss of floor 100, who'd lived tens of thousands of years, clutched his neck in agony over Balrak's antics. The bosses had headaches.
Thus, Balrak—who needed help from the versatile bosses of other floors to meet an honorable death in the ultimate battle.
Meanwhile, the other floor bosses—who needed the mighty warrior Balrak's help to survive and preserve their lives.
Two polar opposites with directly opposing desires had met.
But sometimes, opposites attract.
It was truly different dreams in the same bed.