"I will be heading to the basement now, so if anything happens, contact me through the Crystal Sphere."

He always left me alone with those words.

Whenever that happened, I would stand blankly in the hallway, waiting for my previous master.

Sometimes he returned within a few hours, but other times he wouldn’t come back even after the sun had set.

Each time, curiosity would tug at me, urging me to go down to the basement, but I deliberately held myself back.

As a homunculus, such behavior was unacceptable.

I never found the answer before the day my previous master passed away, but I still wondered about it from time to time.

Just what was he doing down there?

I fell silent.

An abyss of unknown depth was pulling me in.

No, to be exact, the demonic energy inside the hole was calling out to me.

"This won’t do. Arin, step back."

"Understood."

After pondering for a moment, Taehyun approached the hole.

I briefly hoped he might summon someone new like he did with Grai, but according to what he had just explained, he couldn’t summon anyone else for the rest of the day.

For some reason, I felt disappointed.

’...I’m disappointed?’

Where did that thought come from?

Startled, I quickly snapped back to my senses.

I cautiously checked their reactions, worried my expression might have given me away, but fortunately, both of them were entirely focused on the hole.

"Phew. This is going to be annoying. I’ll have to digest it for a while after absorbing it."

"If it is you, my liege, you can surely do it!"

"Shut up. Back off, punk."

"Understood!"

Like a well-trained dog, Grai obediently stepped back.

Taehyun took a light breath and stretched out his hand.

I tilted my head, not understanding what he meant to do, but I soon found out.

A heavy rumble shook the entire basement.

I lost my balance for a moment and stumbled backward, but I saw it clearly.

"This tastes a bit weird. Is it rotten from sitting around too long?"

Taehyun was directly absorbing the demonic energy from the rift.

"Ah, I’d give this one about a four out of ten."

"Ooh, a highly underrated demonic energy!"

He was left speechless.

Of course, his critique of the demonic energy’s flavor was just a bonus.

---

A few hours later, the demonic energy that had been fluctuating throughout the basement finally vanished.

The rift quieted down as if it had never been there, and Taehyun’s complexion turned a sickly pale blue, as if he had an upset stomach.

"Damn it. I think I have indigestion."

"My liege, the demonic energy seems to have dissipated. I can no longer see the blue light."

Just as Grai said, the inside of the hole was pitched in darkness.

Regardless, my eyes kept drifting back to Taehyun.

What Dungeon Master in the world could directly absorb demonic energy?

Even if it were possible, it was a miracle his body remained intact.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"It won’t hinder my movements. I’ll just have to release the undigested demonic energy separately later."

"What do you mean by ’release’?"

"Ah, you don’t need to know. Sigh, they say you suffer in your twilight years."

For a moment, a surge of emotion welled up inside me.

I clenched my fists without realizing it, but I masked my reaction and simply nodded.

Meanwhile, Taehyun let out a long sigh and looked down into the hole again.

"Hmm. I just need to wrap this up now, right? Grai."

"Yes, my liege!"

"Come closer."

"Yes!"

Like a well-trained dog, he wagged his imaginary tail and quickly ran over.

The way his eyes sparkled, as if waiting for a treat, was almost pathetic.

Taehyun must have noticed, as he promptly positioned Grai in front of him.

And then, with a bright smile, he kicked Grai into the hole.

"Go finish it up."

"Aaaaaaah! Long live my liege!"

His voice gradually faded into the depths.

Panicking, I hurriedly peered into the hole.

Just then, a blast of smoke and a streak of red light surged up from inside.

I hadn’t been able to dodge in time. Suddenly, a hand grabbed my waist, and I looked up to see Taehyun smiling beside me.

"Don’t worry. He’s not dead. He’s just doing his job and going back home. Don’t mind him; let’s get out of here."

"...Understood."

After that day, Radik’s basement was completely sealed off.

---

Day 4. The commotion in the basement was over, but Taehyun still hadn’t told me what the previous master had been doing down there.

I tried asking him directly once, but his answer was the same as before.

"There’s nothing good about knowing. Just forget it."

I didn’t know the reason, but since it was my master’s order, I obediently followed it.

Around the time Taehyun’s stomach finally settled, the gems and soldiers promised by the merchant guild arrived.

A whopping 100,000 gems and various kinds of soldiers.

Acutely aware of our current financial situation, I became extremely anxious, but Taehyun was whistling and in high spirits.

"Sir, no matter how successful the contract was, to go this far is..."

"Ah, it’s fine. There’s no interest anyway, so we can just pay it back later."

"Aside from that..."

"Now, what kind of dungeon should I make this time? Oh, they even sent slimes that I couldn’t summon back in Balak. This is going to be fun!"

Was this really okay?

The abilities he had shown before were certainly amazing, but dungeon management was a different beast entirely.

That was why I was so worried, but I was slowly growing tired of fretting over it.

’Still, he said he had been a Dungeon Master before...’

If there was any hope, it lay in that fact.

I decided to just watch for now and assisted Taehyun by his side.

Originally, Radik was a C-grade dungeon.

Perhaps the Lapis Merchant Guild had considered that when sending the soldiers, as slimes, minotaurs, orcs, and lizardmen fitting the grade appeared one after another.

Taehyun first purchased their classes and equipment, then increased the number of rooms in Radik to make space to deploy them.

"Let’s see. How long is the Dungeon Protection Period in this dimension?"

"Moooo!"

"Grunt! Gruuunt!"

While Taehyun was deep in thought, a commotion broke out.

The soldiers began to protest, clearly dissatisfied with Radik’s old and shabby interior.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly tense, I gathered my mana, preparing to stop them.

At that moment, Taehyun hopped onto a nearby rock and yelled at them.

"Hey. You punks. Back in my day, huh? We didn’t even have this. I worked my ass off trying to revive a dying dungeon while eating nothing but kimchi fried rice. You guys have gone completely soft!"

The monsters fell silent.

"Hey, you over there. Have you ever fought a reaper right from the start?"

"...Woof."

"Yeah. What would a gnoll like you know? Tsk, tsk."

After that, Taehyun went on and on about his past experiences.

It seemed I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t understand what he meant; the soldiers all just listened blankly. But since he looked like he was enjoying himself, I didn’t bother interrupting.

He was probably reminiscing about his time as a Dungeon Master in the past.

Thinking so, I listened to his long, long story until the end. By the time he was almost finished, the sun was setting.

"Phew. Anyway, it was that hard. So you guys need to do better. Don’t you agree?!"

A few slimes squished in response.

"Hey, aren’t you punks going to clap?"

Only then did a barrage of applause follow.

The formless slimes even slapped their bodies against the floor to make noise.

Watching from behind, I couldn’t help but marvel at how he had completely overwhelmed the soldiers in such a short time—no, a rather long time.

In a way, eloquence like that was a talent of its own.

The sound of clapping echoed around us.

Caught up in the endless applause, my hands gradually began to clap as well.

---

Day 7. It seemed the Dungeon Protection Period had ended earlier than expected.

Taehyun mentioned in passing that intruders might appear soon, so I decided to strengthen the guard near the entrance.

However, I belatedly realized that my efforts were meaningless.

’The soldiers are gone.’

The minotaurs that should have been guarding the entrance were nowhere to be seen.

It was probably Taehyun’s order.

Realizing this, I hurriedly ran to the previous master’s room.

And there, I saw it.

"Oh, what brings you here?"

He was looking at the unique screen exclusive to the Dungeon Master that the previous master always used to look at.

Taehyun asked casually with a relaxed expression, but I couldn’t share his composure.

"The intruders have invaded again. I pray there won’t be much damage this time. Arin, you are my only hope now. If Radik is in danger, use all your strength to stop them."

Whenever adventurers approached, that square screen would appear.

The previous master would give me orders as if it were a given, and as a homunculus, I participated in the battles, considering it my natural duty.

Whenever that happened, parts of my body would be damaged and pain would follow, but I endured it.

I endured, endured again, and kept enduring, believing that someday someone else would resolve it.

But in the end, I was always the only one left.

’...I don’t want to.’

If I hadn’t been created as a combat-type homunculus, things might have been different.

That thought suddenly occurred to me, but ultimately, Radik’s situation had always been at its worst.

If I hadn’t fought, I would have lost my life earlier, and Radik’s very existence would have vanished.

"What are you doing?"

"...Ah."

"Snap out of it. Our dear adventurers are about to enter. Watch closely."

Belatedly coming to my senses, I returned to reality.

The adventurers must have already reached the vicinity of Radik, as the screen changed by the second.

Taehyun’s eyes gleamed as he naturally checked various parts of the screen.

’It’s a Familiar Summon.’

An auxiliary soldier that shared its vision with the Dungeon Master.

Only then did I realize it was already too late to intervene, so I decided to calmly observe the situation.

There was probably a reason he withdrew the soldiers from the entrance.

Radik currently had plenty of traps, installations, and soldiers, so I believed he had some sort of scheme in mind.

No, I ’wanted’ to believe it.

"Alright. I’ve stocked up well on Exclusive Items. Shall we have some fun?"

’Oh my god.’

’When did he install those items?’

A mark engraved amidst the bushes the adventurers were passing by was magnified and displayed on the screen.

It was an item I had briefly heard of called Position Transfer.

However, perhaps one of the adventurers had a detection-type skill, because the mark was quickly discovered.

"To leave a mark in such an obvious place. Unbelievable."

"It looks like this is a dungeon, not ruins. The intel was completely wrong. Of all things, a dungeon with a Dungeon Master present."

"Let’s all be careful for now. There might be a Familiar Summon nearby, so keep a close eye on the sky too."

They must have been somewhat experienced adventurers, as they heightened their vigilance and moved cautiously.

At that sight, I cautiously opened my mouth.

"Sir, what was your intention with that..."

"Hah. What a waste. If they hadn’t spotted that, I would’ve executed Radik Land right away."

I was rendered speechless.

In the end, I decided to keep my mouth shut.