Behind Elligoth, whose face was now fairly familiar, a woman in an extremely revealing outfit stepped forward with a graceful gait. Long red hair cascaded down as smooth as silk. Wrapped in a violet dress over milky skin, she bared her shoulders and neck, and well over half of a bust that looked ready to spill out at any moment. The fabric below her slender waist was slit long on the side, leaving her thighs fully exposed. “I greet the great descendant of Mammon. I am the dungeon merchant, Sitri.” Following Sitri as she curtsied elegantly, or more precisely, following her cleavage as it tilted forward, Yong-ho nearly craned his neck out before barely managing to keep his posture straight. “A pleasure to meet you, Sitri. I’m Cheon Yong-ho, here to take the seat of Family Head of the Mammon Family.” He had to say something, and he couldn’t just recklessly talk down to her, so Yong-ho went with what he considered a reasonably safe greeting. He briefly hesitated over whether to reveal a name that so obviously proclaimed him 'human,' but the moment of indecision was short. After all, if being 'human' were disqualifying, Katarina and Elligoth would never have come looking for him in the first place. At Yong-ho’s even-keeled response, Katarina let out another sigh of relief, and Elligoth grinned with a needlessly triumphant face. Sitri studied Yong-ho for a moment before curving her lips into a bewitching smile. “Perhaps fortune is finally returning to the Mammon Family.” It could have been taken as an insult to the previous Family Head, but Elligoth was simply delighted. Katarina, though not openly laughing like Elligoth, wore an expression that suggested she agreed to some extent. 'Bad feelings toward the previous Family Head?' He didn’t know the full story, but he could understand the sentiment to some degree. After all, it was thanks to the previous Family Head’s suicide that Elligoth and Katarina had been thrust into a crisis of dying along with the dungeon. “Then let us proceed with the ceremony at once. Lord Cheon Yong-ho, please put this necklace on.” Sitri produced a necklace she had been keeping tucked between her breasts. It was a gold necklace set with a green gemstone about the width of two fingers pressed together. Yong-ho had only just learned that Sitri was even coming, let alone what the ceremony would entail. Naturally, he had no idea what that necklace was or what Sitri was about to do. And before any of that, his mind was already on the verge of paralysis thanks to Sitri’s cleavage. Seeing Yong-ho tense up, Sitri tilted her head. Then, with a slightly affected smile, she asked, “My, could it be you don’t know about the ceremony?” Yong-ho was a fine young Korean man who had attended an all-boys middle school, an all-boys high school, and then an engineering college. Faced with a half-naked beauty smiling up at him, he simply didn’t have enough resistance to women, to beauties, no, to the female sex in general, to tell a proper lie. When Yong-ho’s awkward face made it clear he had no idea, Elligoth shot Katarina a look that said he was about to devour her alive. His eyes demanded to know why she hadn’t explained anything until now. Katarina, shifting back into her scatterbrained mode, tried to make some excuse but ultimately had to clamp her mouth shut. Making any more of a scene in front of an outsider like Sitri would only deepen the embarrassment. Sitri, who had stepped in close to Yong-ho, explained. “The ceremony we are about to perform has been stripped of all unnecessary formalities, it contains only the absolutely essential procedures. Once you put on this necklace and the two familiars here and I perform a certain magical ritual, you will awaken as a Demon King, Cheon Yong-ho.” The word 'awakening' made Yong-ho swallow dryly all over again. Sitri didn’t miss that small tremor. She continued in her intoxicating voice. “The master of a dungeon. The Family Head is a special being even among the countless demon races that exist in the Demon World. And you, Cheon Yong-ho, carry the blood of the great Demon King Mammon. You will surely gain a powerful ability. This necklace will not only assist your awakening, it will also reveal what kind of power you have awakened.” By the time Sitri finished speaking, the necklace was already around Yong-ho’s neck. Elligoth chimed in quickly. “A title fitting the power you’ve obtained will appear on the gemstone. Something like Demon King of Magic Power, or Demon King of Magic Power, or perhaps Demon King of Magic Power.” It was perfectly clear which title Elligoth was desperately hoping for. Yong-ho stared at the gemstone at the end of the necklace with somewhat tense eyes. “Then let us begin the ceremony.” There was no dais, the throne simply sat on a flat floor, so Sitri needed only to step back gently to put distance between herself and Yong-ho. Katarina and Elligoth naturally took their places at his left and right. Sitri closed her eyes and began murmuring indistinct words in a low voice, facing Yong-ho. Soon Katarina and Elligoth each raised their own voices, and for the first time since entering the Mammon Family’s dungeon, Yong-ho felt genuine fear. It was the fear of change. The primal fear brought on by the knowledge that he was becoming something different from what he had been until now. His blood boiled. As the three voices swelled, his body grew hot as though matching their tempo. It was hard to hold a thought together. His consciousness drifted away in an ecstasy he was experiencing for the first time in his life. And then, at a certain moment. Yong-ho exhaled. The heat was released all at once, and he felt himself breathing in a way entirely different from before. The light in his eyes changed. They began to take on a green emerald glow, and Light Script rose to the surface. The power obtained through awakening. The phrase that symbolized the Yong-ho of now. “Haa… hah…” Letting out ragged breaths, Yong-ho raised his head. Having ascended to the true seat of Family Head, he could now sense the emotions of his Bound Familiars, Katarina and Elligoth, at least in broad terms. Elligoth was in a frenzy. 'Frenzy' was almost too mild, it was closer to a tremor. This was so even though the “Demon King of Magic Power” he had wanted so badly had not appeared. Katarina harbored a far purer and simpler emotion than Elligoth. It was relief and awe. The relief was easy enough to understand. It was the relief born from having regained a place to return to. But what about the awe? Why was Katarina trembling right now? Sitri entered Yong-ho’s green eyes. He couldn’t read her emotions. But it wasn’t that he failed to notice the gleam that surfaced in her violet eyes. Demon King of Evolution. That wasn’t all. As he awakened as a Demon King, another power revealed a fragment of itself. The true reason Elligoth and Katarina had trembled. The power of Demon King Mammon that had not manifested for a long, long time. Yong-ho looked inward. He wanted to know what power he had awakened. But just as he was about to examine himself, a young girl’s unfamiliar voice rang out in his mind.

[An intruder has appeared in the dungeon!]

Yong-ho squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again. The moment he awakened as a Demon King and became Family Head, the 'Dungeon’s Soul' that linked with him told him what he needed to do. When he spread his hand wide, a large Light Window formed before his eyes. Inside the window, which looked like a computer screen, a bird’s-eye view of the dungeon spread out. Demon King Mammon, who had held one of the seats among the Seven Deadly Sins, was undoubtedly a great being. Because of that, no matter how far the family had fallen, the Mammon Family’s dungeon was truly vast. 'Useless.' More than half of the dungeon’s grounds were unusable space. Ceilings had caved in, walls had collapsed, floors had crumbled, things like that. Even the remaining areas were far from normal. Nearly four-fifths of the territory was 'deactivated.' Rooms of nothingness that had gone without magic supply for so long they contained absolutely nothing. They were different even from the empty stone room Yong-ho had first seen. That empty stone room, though rated the lowest, was at least an 'activated' space. 'Deactivated' spaces couldn’t even be accessed. If you divided the Mammon Family’s dungeon grounds into one hundred tiles, the usable space amounted to a mere eight or so. And even those were almost entirely worthless empty stone rooms. Suppressing the feeling of having been scammed, Yong-ho zoomed in on the spaces that were at least usable. Whether this was how the system originally worked or whether it had been adapted to Yong-ho, it felt just like operating a smartphone. Eight tiles lined up in a straight row. The room Yong-ho was currently in was the second from the left end, and the right end was the dungeon entrance. The enemy that had infiltrated the first tile on the right end was a single entity. “Crimson Ogre!” It seemed the Light Window was visible to Katarina and Elligoth as well, not just Yong-ho. At Elligoth’s frustrated shout, Yong-ho furrowed his brow. Then the Dungeon’s Soul delivered new information.

[The room located at the far left of the current screen contains the 'Dungeon’s Heart.' If the Dungeon’s Heart is destroyed, the dungeon will lose its life.]

He didn’t voice the objection that a lifeless thing like a dungeon 'dying' made no sense. After all, the very reason Katarina and Elligoth had come looking for Yong-ho was that without a Family Head, “the dungeon dies.” The Crimson Ogre passed through the first tile and reached the second. Whether it actually intended to invade or had simply taken a wrong turn was impossible to know, but left as it was, it would surely reach this room before long. The Mammon Family’s shabby dungeon was a single-path layout. “D-don’t worry! Various types of traps are installed throughout the dungeon’s interior!” Elligoth cried out hastily. Sure enough, as he said, the dungeon summary map displayed on the Light Window showed the traps installed in each tile.

[Pit Trap, The most basic and classic trap, consisting of a deep hole covered with a straw mat to deceive enemies.] [Arrow Trap, A trap that fires dozens of arrows without warning to slay enemies.] [Flame Trap, A trap that annihilates enemies with flames created by mana.]

These were the traps installed in each tile starting from the second tile on the right. Now this, this was what a Demon King’s dungeon should look like! But Yong-ho’s admiration lasted less than five seconds. The Crimson Ogre fell into the pit trap. But the pit came only up to the Ogre’s waist, and after a brief struggle, the Crimson Ogre climbed out. “W-we ran short on manpower while digging the traps…” Letting Elligoth’s excuse wash over him, Yong-ho looked at the third tile. Contrary to the description, not a single arrow had been fired. “We were out of arrow stock…” This time it was Katarina’s excuse. Yong-ho endured. And when the Crimson Ogre finally passed through the fourth tile without any issue, he let out a sigh that rose from the depths of his heart. “No magic to activate the traps…” The Crimson Ogre reached the fifth tile. Rather than covering his face with both hands, Yong-ho looked at Katarina, the Family Head’s bodyguard, with his last remaining hope. “Katarina, can you beat that thing?” Talking down to her had felt slightly awkward before, but now that he had formally ascended to the Family Head’s seat, it came naturally. Katarina glanced nervously at the Light Window, then, as if steeling her resolve, clenched her fists tight and spoke. “I-I’ll lay down my life…!” Her face was on the verge of tears. The Crimson Ogre passed the fifth tile and was about to enter the sixth. There was no time left. Instead of looking at Sitri, who wore an innocent expression, Yong-ho stared hard at the Light Window. He instantly synthesized all the information the Dungeon’s Soul had given him and formulated a plan. He demanded the necessary information from the Dungeon’s Soul.

[Activating one tile requires 10 mana.] [The path from the Dungeon’s Heart to the entrance must always be connected.]

Yong-ho moved his hands quickly. The mana he had obtained upon awakening as a Demon King was displayed in a new Light Window. A mere 100. But compared to the current dungeon’s balance of 10, it was ten times as much. Installing a new trap in the sixth tile was impossible at this point. Setting aside the mana needed to install a trap, there was no familiar to install it and no time to do so. What was the advantage of the Mammon Family’s dungeon? An unnecessarily vast grounds. Spaces that contained absolutely nothing and were deactivated. Yong-ho placed his finger on the tile directly below his current room, a deactivated space. He spent magic to activate the room and simultaneously dragged his finger all the way to the room right next to the entrance, activating a total of seven rooms. 70 mana was consumed in an instant. But he wasn’t done. Without pausing for breath, Yong-ho deactivated the sixth tile, the only room between the Crimson Ogre and himself. And as if by magic, the door directly in front of the throne vanished. Because the sixth tile had been deactivated. He rolled his eyes toward the Light Window. He could see the Crimson Ogre, confused by the suddenly disappeared door. 'Please, please!' The Crimson Ogre didn’t choose to turn back. Instead, it roughly threw open a new door that had appeared on the left wall. And right at that moment. Yong-ho moved his fingers again. He reactivated the deactivated sixth tile and simultaneously deactivated the 'new sixth tile' that connected the newly created passages. He upheld the rule that the Dungeon’s Heart and the dungeon entrance must always be connected. Truly a hair’s breadth. Failing to notice the door disappearing, the Ogre stepped into the new room, looked around, and ultimately moved toward the other door, the one leading to the dungeon exit. Katarina and Elligoth’s eyes went wide. Yong-ho forgot even to breathe as he watched the Crimson Ogre’s movements. “Oh! The Crimson Ogre is retreating!” Retreating? It’s just leaving! But Yong-ho didn’t scold Elligoth, who was jumping for joy. He was too busy slumped over the throne, exhaling ragged breaths. He’d been lucky. The Crimson Ogre had simply taken a wrong turn with no intent to attack the dungeon, so he’d been able to lure it outside. Because the vast majority of the Mammon Family’s dungeon grounds were empty, unusable space, he’d been able to carve out a path through instantaneous activation and deactivation. If the sixth tile had had even a pretend trap installed, this method wouldn’t have been possible. The Crimson Ogre completely exited the dungeon. Then, as if it were contagious to Katarina and Elligoth, the Dungeon’s Soul spoke in a bright voice.

[First Victory] [You have repelled the enemy that invaded the dungeon!] [Loot acquired: -] [Magic acquired: -]

Naturally, he had gained nothing. In fact, he had consumed nearly all of his mana. But regardless, it was a victory. As the master of the dungeon, he had secured his first victory. 'A truly peculiar victory, though.' Already slumped over the throne, Yong-ho shifted to slump even more dramatically. That was when Sitri finally caught his eye. She was smiling. A bright, innocent smile that didn’t suit her bewitching beauty at all. Sitri looked at Yong-ho. Setting aside the brightness and bringing the bewitching back to the forefront, she said, “My dear customer, I look forward to seeing you again in the near future.” Sitri didn’t expect a reply. She gently took one of Yong-ho’s limp hands and pressed her lips to the back of it. She turned away so naturally and smoothly it was startling, and left the Mammon Family’s dungeon like a passing breeze. And in mere seconds. Katarina and Elligoth knelt before Yong-ho as if they had planned it together. With sincere voices, they spoke. “Katarina pledges loyalty to the master of the dungeon.” “Elligoth pledges loyalty to the master of the dungeon.” A scatterbrained bodyguard and a hopelessly devoted butler. A dungeon so hopeless that even a Crimson Ogre out for a stroll could bring it to the brink of ruin. 'I just want to quit being Family Head.' But once again, he didn’t say it out loud. And now that he had awakened as a Demon King, he understood. He was the master of the dungeon, and this dungeon was a part of Yong-ho himself. It was not something he could easily cast aside. And so Yong-ho laughed, if hollowly. He accepted the sincerity of his two subordinates' oaths of loyalty. Demon King of Evolution, Cheon Yong-ho. The one among the Seven Deadly Sins who inherited the Power of Greed. He took the first step on a path both great and perilous.