Chapter 190: Dungeon Management

The way to increase one's dungeon rewards was simple.

"You need to expand the dungeon," Teynos said.

"Expand the dungeon..." Kang Oh immediately clicked on the 'Expand Dungeon' option.

"It says I need 'repel points'. What are those?" Kang Oh asked.

"You gain repel points by either killing adventurers or forcing them to retreat. You can also pay for any change to the dungeon using repel points," Teynos said.

Changing the dungeon's topography/environment required a special item or an exorbitant sum of money. However, repel points could be used as a substitute for either.

"Hmm. I guess I can't increase the rewards yet." Kang Oh looked disappointed.

At the moment, he had no way of earning repel points. No other adventurers had come to the Teyno's Cave, after all.

At the same time, he couldn't just tell everyone that a dungeon was here, and draw all of the curious adventurers here.

If he did, someone might steal the dungeon from him.

Ultimately, Kang Oh had no way of increasing his dungeon reward for the time being.

"How much do you get from the dungeon anyway?" Sephiro, who'd been watching beside him, asked.

"Well, it's not bad," Kang Oh said.

"More than 1,000 gold?"

"Yes."

"More than 2,000 gold?"

Kang Oh shook his head.

"So you make more than 1,000 gold monthly. Tch, if I'd have known this would happen, then I would've sold the crystal for more." Eder looked disappointed.

"That's assuming that I'm still this dungeon's master in the future," Kang Oh said.

"Oh, c'mon. Who would find this dungeon when it's this out of the way?" Eder asked.

Teyno's Cave was located on the coast, which bordered the southern sea. In other words, it was a dungeon located in the southernmost region of the Arth continent.

Moreover, there were no villages nearby with intercity transfer gates. Who would manage to find this dungeon when all these factors are considered!?

"People like us, other Dungeon Hunters," Kang Oh quickly countered.

Normal players wouldn't find this dungeon.

But Dungeon Hunters were different; they may come here under the assumption that there was a gold mine down here and stubbornly look for dungeons.

"Mm, I was wrong." Eder quickly acknowledged that he was shortsighted.

"So I need to set up a few security measures."

* * *

First, he needed to change the dungeon's name.

Teyno's Cave! Having Teynos in the name was basically a red flag that said, 'Hey, there's something here.'!

Kang Oh immediately clicked on 'Change Dungeon's Name'.

[You are changing the dungeon's name. You can only perform this action once, so please choose carefully.]

"Moss Cave."

Moss Cave. It was a good fit, as the cave was actually filled with luminous moss.

Not only that, but it was an incredibly ordinary name and wouldn't draw people's interest.

[Are you sure you would like to change the dungeon's name to 'Moss Cave'?]

"Yes."

[The dungeon's name has been changed from Teyno's Cave to Moss Cave.]

"First thing, done," Kang Oh muttered.

"You changed the dungeon's name," Sephiro said. A message had popped up informing him that the dungeon's name had changed.

"Yes. What do you think of the new name?"

"It's very ordinary. It's nice." Sephiro smiled.

Kang Oh nodded his head and manipulated the dungeon management window once more.

He clicked on 'Add and Strengthen Guardians'.

Detailed status information regarding the dungeon's only guardian, Teynos, popped up.

'Mm, as expected...'

Teyno's defensive prowess was overwhelming. However, its offensive abilities were subpar.

Kang Oh clicked on the strengthen tab, and looked through all of the options.

'Hoh.' Kang Oh's eyes gleamed. He could strengthen Teynos by giving him the 'Reflect Damage' skill.

Reflect Damage.

It was a skill that reflected a fixed amount of damage. It'd be amazing if Teynos acquired this skill!

But it was nothing more than a pipe dream.

Bestowing this skill required a ton of repel points.

None of the other options would really have much of an impact.

'I'll strengthen him next time.'

Kang Oh manipulated the dungeon management window once more. He clicked on the 'Add Guardian' tab.

[Adding guardian. Please select a monster/beast that you would like as a guardian.]

[The cost of the monster/beast varies based on what you choose.]

The window displayed a list of the monsters that appeared in Moss Cave, as well as the underwater animals that lived in the lake.

Kang Oh slowly looked through the list.

'Hmm, this is the one.' Fortunately, the list had what he was looking for. It was one of the sea's greatest predators, a shark.

[Adding a shark guardian requires 1,000 gold. Would you like to continue?]

"Yes."

[You have spent 1,000 gold.]

[A shark guardian has been added.]

[The shark has evolved into the Sharp Toothed Sharkrai.]

The birth of the monster shark, Sharkrai!

Kang Oh wasn't going to stop at just one.

He immediately clicked on the octopus. It cost 800 gold to create an octopus guardian.

[You have spent 800 gold.]

[An octopus guardian has been added.]

[The octopus has evolved into the Imperfect Kraken, Monju.]

A true kraken was a gigantic sea creature, so it would fill the entire lake by itself. But Monju, who'd just evolved into a kraken, was only a little over 3 meters long.

Lastly, Kang Oh added a sea snake guardian.

[You have spent 800 gold.]

[A sea snake guardian has been added.]

[The sea snake has evolved into Venomous Skeld.]

A giant sea snake, which was as long as an anaconda, had been born! What's worse, it was venomous too.

"Guardians, assemble." Kang Oh called for his new guardians: Sharkrai, Monju, and Skeld.

A short while later...

The three guardians poked their heads out of the water.

"You three have one job. Don't let any adventurers approach," Kang Oh ordered.

Kyaa!

The three guardians shrieked in reply.

"Go on."

Kyaa, kya!

They sank back into the deep recesses of the lake and disappeared.

"Do you think those three will be enough to stop people from coming here?" Sephiro asked.

The three guardians might look threatening, but they didn't look very strong.

Honestly speaking, they weren't very strong; they were barely over level 200.

Still, Kang Oh could count on them. Why? Because they were underwater guardians!

"There are almost no players that are used to underwater combat, so the guardians will have a huge advantage. And I'm going to gradually strengthen them too," Kang Oh said.

"Do as you wish." Sephiro shrugged his shoulders. After all, Kang Oh was the dungeon master, not him.

"I will," Kang Oh replied absentmindedly, and focused on the dungeon management window once more.

'Now that I've worked on the dungeon's defenses... Will this make me any money?' Kang Oh suddenly thought.

There was a variety of fish that lived in the lake. Could he catch them and sell them?

Moreover, he could use the dungeon management tab to create plankton or small shrimp in order to feed them.

He believed that he could use this method to either quickly expand the amount of fish or cause them to grow quicker.

Of course, creating all that food would cost a ton of money, so he couldn't use it without thinking it over first.

Anyway, would catching fish and selling it really be profitable?

'I need some help with this.'

Kang Oh specialized in killing monsters and conquering dungeons, not business.

"Mr. Sephiro," Kang Oh said.

"Yes?"

"Do you know any competent, trustworthy Merchant class players?"

"My information brokers are competent, but... They're not trustworthy."

"Hmm. How about..."

He was about to ask Eder, but he quickly thought against it. Eder had been a ghost for so long that there was no way he'd know anyone that could help him.

'What about her?'

Kang Oh opened a message window.

- Hello.

- Hello. What's the matter?

He'd messaged the TGN producer, Shin Hye Rim.

She was a producer who worked for the #1 gaming network! She had to have a vast network of connections.

- Do you know any merchants that are tight-lipped, trustworthy, and competent?

- You don't care how rich they are, right?

- No.

- Do you know who Mr. Man Bok is?

- I do.

Generous Man Bok. He was once the owner of the successful Man Bok Merchant Group.

In the past, he competed with Wang So Rim, a member of the Numbers and the wealthiest player in Arth, and her Geumsan Store, and lost. As a result, his merchant group was ruined and he was reduced to operating a small shop.

'He's indeed skilled.'

There were three major merchant players. One of them was Man Bok.

- Please introduce him to me. Ah, do you know anyone that's knowledgeable about fish and its market price?

- I know someone. He's called Mr. Fisher, and he's known as the Fishing Maniac. Why do you ask? Do you want me to introduce him to you?

When you thought about fishing, there were three people you thought of. One of them was called Fisher and his nickname was Fishing Maniac. He pretty much had no interest besides fish.

'Fishing Maniac, Fisher... He's known for fishing the master of the Dumitens River.'

He would know more about fish than anyone else.

- Please introduce me to him too.

- For free?

As expected, nothing was free in this world.

- What do you want?

- A one-on-one interview with you. There'll be cameras there too.

Oga, or Kang Oh, had become extremely popular as of late. Several people would be interested in an interview with him.

- I'm going to cover my face. You can't reveal my private life either. Please give me the questions in advance. Also, please don't ask me anything aside from those set questions.

- Ok.

- Then you have a deal.

- I'll contact Mr. Man Bok and Mr. Fisher, and message you back later.

- Alright.

- If I ask you why you need to see them, you won't tell me, will you?

- You know me so well.

- Tch.

- Keep up the good work.

Kang Oh closed the message window and grabbed the floating soul stone.

Then, the white light that compromised the square screen dwindled, and returned to the center of the soul stone.

"Teynos, store the soul stone."

Storing the soul stone was a guardian's most important duty.

"Understood." Teyno's shell split open. Tentacles popped out and grabbed the soul stone. Then, its shell shut as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

"You said if I become the dungeon's master, then I'd have an easy way of coming and going, right?"

Teynos had definitely said that.

"That's right, Master."

"What is it?"

"You and your companions can use the transfer magic circle. If you use that magic circle, then you can teleport to whatever destination that you select," Teynos said.

Kang Oh chose Altein as his destination.

"Can I use the intercity transfer gate to come back here?"

"That's right. Just select 'Teyno's Home' as your destination."

"Activate the magic circle."

"Understood."

Then, a magic circle appeared in front of Teynos.

'I think I'm done here...' Kang Oh stared at Eder and Sephiro. "We'll end things here for today. I'm returning to Altein, so..."

"I'd like to return to Altein too."

"Me too."

Sephiro and Eder said.

"Then let's go. Teynos, take good care of the dungeon."

"Understood."

Kang Oh's party entered the magic circle. A short while later, the three of them disappeared.