Our First Customers

The dungeon's been remodeled, so it's finally time to start running things for real.

That's what I told myself, full of enthusiasm, but it's not like adventurers are going to come flooding in right away.

By the way, we named the inn [Dancing Doll's Pavilion]. That way, even if anyone spots the golems working the fields, we can just say, "Oh, that's the kind of inn this has always been." The "setting" is that the owner, Rokuko, is a golem user.

… I mean, she does actually give them orders, so it's not really a lie. And once we have some DP to spare, if Rokuko learns [Create Golem] too, it'll become completely true. We should probably slap some kind of crest on the golems we use at the inn as a mark of ownership.

"Man, this is borin'…"

Ichika complained from behind the counter, but there's nothing we can do if customers don't show up.

… Hmm? Wait, now that I think about it, does someone really need to be sitting at the counter all the time?

If someone enters the dungeon's territory, either Rokuko or I will know anyway, so couldn't we just head over when that happens…

Ah, but I'll be sleeping, so maybe we do need someone on standby after all.

And right as I thought that, our very first customers appeared.

A pair of men. I decided to hole up in my room and observe them through the monitor.

… Their meals are C-Rank and D-Rank, huh. The C-Rank is the [Steak Set (10 DP)], and the D-Rank is the [Beef Stew Set (6 DP)].

For reference, the taste is about family restaurant level. If you think of 1 DP as 100 yen, it's pretty reasonable pricing.

Honestly though, selling them for five silver coins and one silver coin feels pretty expensive. I mean, converted to yen, that's 50,000 yen and 10,000 yen, you know? Ichika's saying we could charge even more, though.

Oh, and D-Rank and above get pudding. The kind sold in sets of three at supermarkets, [3-Pack Pudding (1 DP)].

The plastic containers are valuable materials here, making them a hidden gem since we can even recycle them as golem components. Ah, wait. If there are two customers, there's one pudding left over. Wha— Ichika, don't tell me that's what you're after…!?

 

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Well, the meals were a given, but they seemed very satisfied with the hot spring, massage chair, and futons as well. After taking a morning bath, they headed into the dungeon at a rather late hour for adventurers.

"Goshujin-sama～. If yer gonna use beef and spices like that, ya gotta either charge more or lower the quality. They're gonna get suspicious, y'know?"

… Yeah, I can't argue after seeing their reactions. One of them passed out for several seconds with a creepy grin on his face after eating the pudding.

I'll bump up D-Rank and higher. Next time, D-Rank will be [Ginger Pork Set (5 DP)]. E-Rank and below can stay with [Deli Bread] and [Butter Rolls]. Incidentally, the hard, black [This World's Standard Bread] is available at 3 for 1 DP. Meanwhile, [Butter Rolls] are 1 DP for a bag of six. So the black bread is more expensive. I don't get it.

"Looks like they accepted a dungeon investigation quest from Tsuia. They're C-Rank adventurers, the Uzoh Muzoh brothers."

"They're brothers doing adventurer work together?"

"Nah, they ain't blood related, y'know? Just from the same village, apparently."

Right, let's not think too hard about what kind of "brothers" they are.

So these two customers stayed one night, earning us 8 silver coins and 1 copper, plus 125 DP. Since silver coins convert to 10 DP each as offerings, even excluding the meal costs, our actual profit was 188 DP.

Still, I was surprised that we got as much as 120 DP from a single overnight stay, and wondered if they were really that strong as adventurers. But apparently they're about Ichika's level, maybe even weaker.

What's up with that?

While watching the red dots showing intruders on the map, I discovered I could now see how much DP each individual generates per day. I don't know when this feature got added, but the system seems to have more functions now… Come to think of it, I can also roughly see DP income by location now. Was building an inn the trigger for this?

Looking at the details, Uzoh was [61 DP] and Muzoh was [59 DP]. Combined, that's 5 DP per hour.

But that would only apply if they stayed a full day. One night, from 6 PM to 8 AM, is fourteen hours. That should only be 70 DP. There's a 55 DP discrepancy.

So I watched the map closely for a while to figure it out.

It was at the remains of the prison I'd had built for the bandits back then. Only the iron bars remained.

The moment Uzoh stepped into the cell, his daily DP display jumped to [183 DP].

… So the DP you get can increase based on location and conditions. At the very least, I should verify this [Triple DP in Prison] thing later. If Ichika's [65 DP] could become [195 DP]… Yeah, Uzoh-kun and Muzoh-kun have brought me some valuable information here. As thanks, I'll splurge and give them a [Mana Potion (150 DP)].

Oh, by the way, Niku is [10 DP] per day, while Rokuko and I are [0 DP]. Well, we are the Dungeon Master and Core, so that makes sense… Niku, did you grow? Or maybe recover? She was on death's door before, after all…

Wait, so does that mean our dungeon's base income from the earth vein is only 90 DP? Huh, that feels pretty low… Come on, earth vein, work harder.

Meanwhile, the Uzoh Muzoh brothers trampled through the goblins as they discovered the staircase and descended to the first basement floor.

… I set up quite a few traps, but they got through surprisingly easily. Should I make them tougher?

From the underground floors, it was combat against golems.

They encountered Clay Golems wandering around after spawning from spawners several times.

These guys don't even carry swords and just punch at random, so they're not actually that strong. They got taken out pretty easily.

"… Come to think of it, do golems die when they get cut in half?"

"Askin' that now even though yer a golem user, Goshujin-sama? Let's see, golems can't move if the magical power in their body gets scattered. Well, more than dyin', it's more like they stop movin'? That's what they say. The usual methods are hittin' 'em with strong impacts or disruptin' 'em with magic. Oh, and if ya take out their magic stone, which is their weak point, they die from shock."

Ichika explained the golems' weaknesses to me.

Honestly, [Create Golem] only contains information about 'how to make golems,' so I didn't really understand much else. Using scrolls to make irregular golems probably wasn't anticipated in the first place.

Impacts, magic, and magic stones, huh. Are golems unexpectedly fragile? A Clay Golem is only a third of the DP cost of a Lizardman (150 DP), after all. Oh, maybe equipping them with armor would help.

A golem wearing golem armor… Ah, what is this, I'm picturing some kind of armored haniwa… Oh, oh, I just had a weird idea. Maybe I should base the boss golem's design on a haniwa. They're warriors that protect eternal rest, in a sense, right? Perfect.

Anyway, looking at Uzoh and Muzoh, they'd arrived at the [Trial Room].

Uzoh pulled the magic sword Golem Blade from its pedestal.

Oh. The moment the doorway closed, their daily DP display doubled… So being locked in doubles it?

Maybe I could set up a locked floor and call it a training room for them to use… No, wait, if they just sleep at the inn with their doors closed, their DP would be doubled during that time. Actually, that's probably exactly what happened. I didn't expect to solve the DP income mystery so suddenly!

Looking at him happily brandishing the magic sword, he seemed to be having a great time.

… I never imagined things would turn out the way they did… No, seriously.

 

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Three days after the pair dove into the dungeon. During that time, we had zero inn guests, but we were getting 240 DP daily from the adventurers inside the dungeon (the Uzoh Muzoh brothers). Adding up Ichika, Niku, and the dungeon's base income, we were getting about 400 DP per day total.

Even doing nothing, that's 40,000 yen daily. Multiply by thirty for monthly income, that's 1.2 million yen a month. That's great personal income.

"… But why won't these guys leave the trial room?"

"Maybe they find it comfortable in there! As expected of my dungeon～"

They could leave immediately if they just stabbed the magic sword back into the pedestal… but they show no signs of leaving. What on earth is making them want to stay inside so badly…

Checking on them, they were pacing around the room and hitting the walls.

Oh, he put a regular sword into the pedestal. Close, but no. That's not it.

"… Wait, do they maybe not know how to get out…?"

"Ahh, now that you mention it, they did seem pretty dumb～"

"I don't think Rokuko's in any position to say that."

I wonder if he's unconsciously avoiding the right answer because he doesn't want to part with the magic sword.

… This reminds me of that story about a monkey trying to grab bait from inside a hole and getting its hand stuck.

"… Well, let's watch a bit longer. They'll come out eventually… And even if they don't, the DP is delicious."

"Yeah. Wouldn't it be fine to just leave them locked in there?"

By the way, being locked in with a key doubles DP, and being in a prison triples it. With Ichika's cooperation, I found out that being locked in a prison makes it a whopping six times. However, she said being confined in the prison gradually tired her out. Is it because the DP is being wrung out of her?

… For now, as long as we make sure to properly lock up when people sleep, our basic income will increase.

 

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Day five.

I recall hearing before that if someone stays for a full ten days, you get the same DP as if you killed them.

In other words, with Uzoh and Muzoh's doubled income rate, we've already earned more DP than if we'd just killed them on the spot on day one. Wouldn't it be fine for the Uzoh Muzoh brothers to just stay like this forever? If we just kept feeding them and raised them like livestock, we'd rake in some tasty DP…

Incidentally, some higher-ranking dungeons apparently have human ranches. A technique where they literally treat humans as livestock to farm DP… If it ever got discovered, you'd make a complete enemy of humanity and instantly become a target for Core destruction.

So that's completely impossible for a small-scale dungeon like ours. Maybe if we made deeper floors to keep it secret… No, the risk is too big. There's no way I could sleep peacefully with that kind of danger hanging over us. Rejected, rejected.

Well, since we still weren't getting any new guests, I lounged around in bed while monitoring Uzoh and Muzoh. It seems they'd run out of patience and started trying to destroy the needles blocking the exit with the magic sword.

"… Too bad for you! When attacking dungeon objects, the Golem Blade is no different from a regular [Iron Sword]!"

"Who are you explaining that to?"

Oh, against normal monsters it'll let them fully enjoy its sharpness by cutting through smoothly. The boss? The boss is different. I'm planning to give it an ability that neutralizes magic swords from its own dungeon. Haven't made it yet, though.

And just as I expected, they failed… or so I thought, but they actually broke through one of the blockades. Looks like they gave up since there were two layers though. The trial room's blockade gets considerably reinforced by the dungeon's mysterious power when the magic sword… that is, the key to escape… is inside, making it a [Solvable Puzzle Room] where the walls and doors can't be destroyed.

… Huh, wait?

The magic sword… broke?