When the light faded and my vision returned, I was standing on the border between a vast grassland and a dense forest.

"Good, looks like you made it here properly this time."

Apparently, when she missed her mark earlier, she spent about two hours wandering around looking for me. Peak idiot behavior.

The surroundings were quiet for now, but based on the briefing, this place has a level of civilization roughly equivalent to Medieval Europe—where slavery is fair game and monsters are a constant threat. I couldn't exactly relax.

"Hmm, let's make a place where we can sit down and talk first. You should already have the skill, so try saying: 'Dig Here, Woof Woof'."

"..."

"..."

Silence stretched between us.

"Why aren't you saying it?"

"Don't give it such a ridiculous name!"

My anger was entirely justified.

But staying like this wouldn't get us anywhere. Wait, she said the skill was already "equipped". In that case, maybe...

"!?"

Luna looked shocked. No wonder—the window had appeared in front of me even though I hadn't said "Dig Here, Woof Woof."

"Hey, you're using it without chanting? Read the room!"

"You're the one who needs to read the room!"

Apparently, magic and skills in this world are usually activated through chants and calling out the skill name. Without chanting, it's harder to tell, but something like a standard fireball requires a whole line like "O flame, feed upon my magic..." before it finally activates.

It's peak chuuni nonsense.

To break down the casting ranks simply:

No-Chant > Incantation Skip (5 Levels) > High-Speed Casting (5 Levels)

Skills work on a five-tier system. Luna mentioned she could show more granular numbers, but she kept it simple for me. Think of it as a user-friendly UI.

By the way, if I actually used the full chant for "Dig Here, Woof Woof," it would have taken at least four hours. That's into "you've got to be kidding me" territory.

Anyway, [Dig Here, Bow-Wow]... forget it, I'm calling it [Dungeon Maker]. Using it wasn't hard since it came with a tutorial. Perhaps it was tailored to me, but it functioned exactly like using a PC, pulling images from my thoughts and projecting them as 3D holograms. A touch-panel PC projected in mid-air—the future is now.

"How boring. Anyway, this is your first paycheck from me."

A ping sound rang out, and a display popped up in front of me.

[1,500 DP (Dungeon Points) have been added.]

Don't call it a paycheck. I'm in another world, but this feels like I'm at work... Well, I guess it's basically the same thing... still, you could've dressed it up a bit.

Anyway, I pulled myself together and started building the dungeon. Maybe because Luna was nearby, monsters didn't come anywhere close.

But this Dungeon Maker turned out to be a real pain.

First, you have to spend DP to "seize" the land. What does that mean? It's basically buying property rights, like "X amount per square meter."

When I complained to Luna that this system clearly wasn't meant for easy building—

"What? You can't even handle this level of management and you think you can run a dungeon?"

She had a point, but it still pissed me off.

Apparently, this system has been around for ages, but most managers used to just expand the dungeon to a certain point and then abandon it. No wonder. Give me a spreadsheet software, for crying out loud!

Also, there are maintenance costs. Apparently, you can eventually buy the land outright, but... at that point, it's no different from Earth.

Anyway, let's list the expenses. This Dungeon Maker apparently has a bookkeeping function.

200 DP: Land Area (2 sq km @ 100 DP per sq km). Annual maintenance: 10 DP per sq km.

100 DP: Depth (1 km @ 100 DP per km). Annual maintenance: 10 DP per km.

300 DP: Dungeon Structure (100 DP per floor).

150 DP: Dungeon Customization (50 DP per floor). Changing terrain/layout.

150 DP: Trap Production (Manufacturing only). Costs vary by trap.

30 DP: Trap Customization (Placement). Flat rate of 10 DP per floor.

300 DP: Monster Summoning (Details later).

150 DP: Personal Room Furniture... The "Mail-Order" system.

Total: 1380 DP

Remaining: 120 DP → 90 DP after maintenance

It's a cold, hard world.

If I just hole up and do nothing, I'll be bankrupt in four years. I feel like I have less savings now than I did back on Earth.

Still, I went ahead and built it without mercy.

Oh, one prerequisite: "All rooms must be connected." My plan to completely isolate my room and be left alone was shot down. Well, I found a workaround for that too.

Then there's the "Dungeon Core"—the classic trope.

My job includes protecting this. In this world, they're high-value mana stones that can store DP. I was given three of them. If all three are taken, I can't run the dungeon anymore. It's not exactly "Game Over," but things get ugly.

Since maintenance is deducted from the active core, if you don't have enough DP after a year, the dungeon shrinks according to the deficit. It's annoyingly high-tech. On the bright side, this means I could technically manage multiple dungeons if I wanted.

By the way, Dungeon Cores are also sold in the "Dungeon Management Shop." 5,000 DP each. There were also plenty of "???" items. I bet that's where the Mobile Suits and Armored Cores are... Probably those ones listed for 10 million DP...

"Hey, if you're done, let's go to your room."

Luna spoke up with a pout, looking bored.

...Whose fault do you think that is?

I wanted to see the state of the dungeon on the way to my room, so I took the shortest route down to the third floor.

Luna managed to walk straight into every single trap. Seeing that even lethal traps did nothing to her, it really hit home that she is, indeed, a being close to a God.