The Way to Absolute Dungeon Administration – There Is No Reason To Meet With the Opponent!

Volume 02 Chapter 26: SS – Leveling Up Is Fundamental

Side: Yuki

Phew. After Rocheur’s overbearing Royal Guard pulled back from the dungeon, I was striking a victory pose.

Alright, alright. That loud drill-haired woman is finally gone, so I can start building up our forces.

Yes, Selaria, Elju’s gung-ho sister, took her army and left.

Well, “went back” is more accurate, but when she’s around, it’s noisy as hell.

I get what Selaria’s saying, but we’re just too incompatible.

Who the hell would follow some cliché pattern like a Demon King waiting for a hero?

From what Selaria said, the previous Dungeon Masters and Demon Kings in this world sound like idiots, don’t they?

Fighting head-on against someone who’s come to conquer your dungeon? Are they suicidal or what?

That’s just what Selaria said, though, so I don’t know the real story.

I need to gather my own intel.

But I can’t go outside yet, and I don’t know how effective that doppelgänger is.

Elju’s doppelgänger is out there, so it depends on how that goes.

Depending on the results, I might finally get to adventure in this fantasy world.

“Gobu?”

“Piki?”

The goblin and slime subordinates beside me seem curious about my pondering, letting out their (questionable) voices.

They seem to understand words to some extent, but as expected, they can’t really speak.

We’ve only been together a short time, but we’ve worked side by side. I can kinda tell what they mean from their gestures.

I’m not so cold-blooded as to ignore my worried subordinates.

“Nah, I told you before, right? Once we save up enough DP, I can go outside. We earned a ton this time, so I might finally be able to use the doppelgänger and head out with you guys.”

“Gobu, gobu!!”

“Piki!!”

The two of them raise their voices, sounding thrilled.

There’s something heartwarming about their pure, unfiltered joy.

“So, I’m thinking this is a good chance to start combat training. I’m not about to head out into the wild with monsters everywhere if I can’t even swing a sword. You never know what dangers are out there, and you guys won’t always be by my side.”

Exactly. Even if I use a doppelgänger as a stand-in, it’s pointless if I can’t fight.

Plus, my own level doesn’t carry over to the doppelgänger.

So, I need to make the doppelgänger itself stronger.

Should I just make a stand-in that looks exactly like me for going outside?

A normal Dungeon Master or Demon King would probably pour tons of DP into summoning something powerful like a dragon or a lich, but I need to move discreetly. I can’t bring some flashy bodyguard along.

I could summon a dragon, but it’d be tough to use inside the dungeon.

I mean, there’s a ceiling. A dragon that flies around would be inconvenient, right?

Not saying it’s useless, but there’s no reason to stuff a dragon in a birdcage.

A pitfall trap would do the job. It’s more cost-effective and efficient.

“And it’s not just me—you guys need to level up too.”

“Gobu?”

“Pi?”

Both of them give me a look like, How do we do that?

The monsters outside are strong, but until Rocheur’s army showed up, we hunted plenty for leveling and practical research.

Right now, the nearby monsters aren’t enough for my subordinates. The enemy types are limited, and they’ve all gotten strong enough to take them down easily.

Going forward, we won’t be able to level up or improve without a convenient hunting ground.

The two beside me get that, so they’re puzzled.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a plan for leveling up. First, you need to learn how to use this.”

I hand them something.

The two stare at it from every angle, trying to figure out what it is.

Yeah, makes sense they wouldn’t get it.

“Watch. This is how you use it.”

I hold the weapon and pull the trigger.

Bang.

With that sound, the head of a wooden dummy set up as a target in the distance cracks open.

“!?”

I don’t know if they’re shocked by the sound or the power, but both are freaking out.

Gotta teach them properly so they don’t blow themselves up.

It’s way easier to mess up than a sword.

I mean, you don’t swing it—you just pull the trigger.

“Listen up. I don’t know what’s got you so shocked, but as you saw with that wooden dummy, it’s got enough power to punch through and shatter it. If you handle it carelessly, you won’t just get hurt—you could die. I’m gonna teach you how to use it, so go call the others.”

“Gobu!!”

“Pii!!”

And that’s how we started firearms training.

Of course, it’s a secret from Elju and Oriel. No reason to tip them off about our combat strength.

Man, I didn’t expect to get guns this soon.

Ammo costs DP separately from the gun, but we’ve got plenty of DP. Thanks to Rocheur’s Royal Guard, we earned over 700,000 DP. I spent about 100,000 on guns and gear, 500,000 on dungeon upgrades, and the remaining 100,000… well, that’s my stash.

This massively boosted the goblins’ and slimes’ capabilities.

Maybe when we remodel the dungeon, I’ll add a long, straight corridor for shooting from a distance?

It’d make it easier to set up live targets and get safe combat experience.

But seriously, it’s wild that slimes can use guns.

Goblins are humanoid, so it’s not surprising, but slimes?

That squishy body has enough dexterity and strength to pull a trigger.

Monsters are awesome!! Or rather, slimes are awesome!!

I don’t get how slimes work, but if they can manipulate their bodies freely, they could probably dual-wield pistols—or even three or four at once.

Grenade launchers, rocket launchers—simultaneous use would be handy.

For regular gunfire, they’re fine as long as the core isn’t hit. The more I think about it, slimes are seriously incredible.

That said, I’m not downplaying the goblins. Since they’re closer to human, teaching them to use guns is straightforward, and they can communicate with slimes better than I can, so they helped teach the slimes how to handle guns.

In the end, it took about two or three days for all my monster subordinates to learn how to use guns.

They learned to aim, shoot, and reload. Deconstructing and maintaining them? Yeah, that’s too much for now. I’ll teach that later.

Actually, I’ve never done gun maintenance myself, so I need to learn first.

So, I checked if there was a skill I could buy with DP, and—yup, there it was.

It wasn’t there before, so it probably shows up based on what I want.

“But it’s kinda half-assed… No, I guess that makes sense since guns vary.”

The skill listed was for the knowledge, usage, and maintenance of the S&W M29, the gun I taught the monsters.

A skill that lets you master any gun would be convenient, but that’d make you a super soldier.

For reference, the DP cost for an S&W M29 is about 700 DP.

That’s a bit cheaper than a Blood Minotauros.

I don’t know this world’s money sense, but if 1 DP recovers in an hour, that’s 700 hours. Let’s see… 240 hours is 10 days, so about 30 days. If a month’s work is 150–200 hours, that’s roughly three months’ worth.

If you’re earning 200,000 yen a month, one gun is 600,000 yen.

Yup, this gun’s way too expensive.

You could buy a decent gun overseas for 10,000 yen.

Even the guns officially used by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces cost maybe 100,000 yen.

But bringing modern weapons into a medieval fantasy world? Guess it’s no surprise they’re pricey.

The main reason I picked the S&W M29 out of all the guns is its durability and simple structure. It’s easier to maintain and more reliable than an automatic pistol.

And it can fire magnum rounds.

A lot of people get this wrong, but there’s no such thing as a “magnum gun.”

Magnum refers to the bullet.

The .44 Magnum is a high-powered round that can take down mid-to-large animals. In a certain movie, a gun using magnum rounds was portrayed as super strong, which led to the misconception that there’s a “magnum gun.”

Of course, there are other magnum rounds besides the .44.

The .44 Magnum can blow a human away. The impact site turns to shredded meat. Even if you miss a vital spot, the shock alone can kill. That’s probably why it’s a top-tier weapon in some games against non-human enemies.

So, in a fantasy world crawling with monsters, it’s a damn good weapon to carry.

It can punch through iron armor, so it works against armored people too.

I got sidetracked, but as I said, I tried learning the S&W M29’s handling via skill, and it’s freaking weird.

What’s weird? It’s like the knowledge of the S&W M29—maintenance, shooting, characteristics—just floods into my head.

It’s funny—I have no memory of using it, but I know exactly how to.

It’s like being a book-smart know-it-all.

So, to master the skill, I’ll need training.

If this was a tank or helicopter… I’d be scared to touch it. A helicopter could crash if you screw up. Beyond risks like air currents or flying monsters, I wouldn’t want to pilot one without serious training, even with the skill.

Either way, gun maintenance is a must, so I’ll teach the monsters later.

For now, leveling up and getting combat experience comes first.

No matter how strong your weapon is, it’s useless without the foundation to back it up.

“So, I’m gonna have you guys take down this dragon as a test.”

I pat its scales, and the dragon reacts.

It cost 10,000 DP to summon.

By the way, you only pay the 10,000 DP once, and you can summon it indefinitely—one per dungeon, though. There’s also a rule that you can’t summon it if there are invaders in the dungeon.

If you want to summon more, it’s 3,000 DP each, but those extra dragons cost 10 DP daily for maintenance. In terms of DP, that’s about four times a Blood Minotauros, but their level is only 150—not that impressive. Their stats aren’t four times a Blood Minotauros either, more like three times.

Two Blood Minotauros working together could probably take it down stat-wise.

Still, as expected from a monster considered the top of the food chain in this world, my subordinates freeze up in front of the dragon.

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna make you fight it at your current level—that’d probably wipe you out.”

With guns, there’s a slim chance of winning, but I’m not risking my buddies who’ve been with me this long on such low odds.

“I’ve ordered this guy not to move. It won’t fight back either. So, try taking it down yourselves. Use the guns. If you think you can do it with just swords or bows, go for it.”

Sorry, dragon, but you’re a sacrifice for our survival.

If you die, we’ll eat your meat… Oh, wait, dungeon monsters turn into items when they die, don’t they?

Sigh, maintenance costs aren’t cheap, so you’re gonna have to die the same day you’re summoned.

Sorry, buddy, become our experience points.

And so, the “boot camp” for the goblins and slimes began.

The initial goal: get strong enough to take down a dragon normally.

At first, the two aimed for the dragon’s eyes, blasting .44 Magnum rounds to destroy its brain.

As expected of a dragon—unless you hit the eyes, the scales’ angle deflects the bullets.

This leveled them up fast, and we kept summoning stronger monsters for them to fight, repeating the process until we finally had goblins and slimes that could take down a dragon solo.

“Gobu—!!”

“Piki—!!”

And get this—they pulled off the feat of beating the dragon without guns, using their own unique methods.

I joined in the leveling too, but I mostly just dropped enemies into pitfalls and pummeled them.

Thanks to that, I can probably hold my own against tougher opponents now.

Still, calling them “goblin” and “slime” all the time is getting confusing.

Oh, named monsters, right?

Don’t they get stronger when you name them?

Recalling that RPG cliché, I glance at the slime roaring beside me and think of a name.

The name of a certain legendary slime…