Dungeon Maker

The first thing Yong-ho did after eating was accessing the virtual space of the Dungeon Market because his conversation with Sitri was cut off because of the King of Gluttony's intrusion.

'I wonder if she was worried about me a lot.'

For some reason, however, he felt she wasn't. He felt like she would welcome him with a relaxed expression, as always.

'You have defeated the King of Gluttony.'

Yong-ho felt strangely excited at what he achieved by himself, namely getting rid of one of the six kings who coveted Yong-ho's Greed.

He slowly opened his eyes and faced a totally white world.

As always, Sitri was standing there. Wearing a dark purple dress that revealed her shoulders under the white sky, she was standing there to face him.

Somehow she looked different this time. Yong-ho couldn't open his mouth thoughtlessly, and Sitri only looked at him.

Awkwardness made him feel time pass very slowly.

After all, Sitri stepped forward, and he looked at her. Now, there was only one step of distance between Yong-ho and Sitri.

"My dear client."

"Sitri?"

She was tall for a woman but much smaller than Yong-ho, who grew up by going through a double changeover. Because of this, she looked up at Yong-ho. She asked in a voice filled with warmth, "Can I just hug you once?"

"Sure, anytime," he replied in embarrassment.

Sitri slowly closed her eyes. Then she took one step further and hugged him tightly.

She was warm. She was smaller than him, but he felt like he was held in her arms.

"The King of Greed."

She whispered. There was some sadness in her voice, which was hard to describe.

He knew what the strange feelings he felt were. He felt different from when he held Catalina or Kaiwan. Scathach came to his mind at that moment. Obviously, he felt something like her warmth, who hugged him like a mother.

He closed his eyes and hugged her, too. Again, time passed slowly this time, and Sitri pushed him away gently.

"Thank you. It's only a moment, but I could recall him."

She was moved to tears. Then she took one step back and said, "Well, you're different from him, though. You look like him a lot, but you're my client, anyway."

He knew who she was talking about. That was why he felt some more sadness in her voice.

Sitri stepped back a few more steps. Yong-ho, at a loss about what to say first, opened his mouth finally, "Well… I defeated that King of Gluttony."

When he said that, Sitri blinked without replying. He felt a bit awkward, so he blushed.

Come to think of it, he felt like he was asking for her praise of what he had done. He recalled the time when he got perfect scores in a test at the school as a boy.

Sitri kept blinking without a word. When he got even his earlobes red, embarrassed, she burst into laughter and said, "Dear client, do you know how cute you are right now?"

Actually, Sitri knew it the moment she realized that he had defeated the King of Gluttony.

He cleared his throat in embarrassment, and Sitri didn't bother him.

"Let me tell you this..."

There were already cozy and fluffy chairs arranged behind them. Sitri, with her back buried deep against the back of the chair, waited until he sat down. She then said, "Dear client, do you remember what I said shortly after I saw you first? I told you to be wary of those who valued pure blood."

At that moment, he tilted his head, not knowing what she was talking about, but he could soon remember what she meant. When he nodded, she said again, "As you may know, this demon world is a mess. There are not only those born in the demon world but also a lot of people from the alien world like you, my dear customer."

When she fidgeted with her fingers, there was a picture of light drawn in the air. A round circle symbolized the demon world, and the small people in the circle and the new people following the big arrow outside the circle represented the demonic natives and the aliens, respectively. "Purists are those who claim that only pure demons are masters of the demon world. They have a radical idea that everyone who comes from the alien world should be enslaved."

Their idea could also be called a kind of fascism. Similar thoughts were found in the human world where Yong-ho used to live.

"Are there so many here from the alien world?"

"A lot. Right now, the people of the Queen of Fury, the eight-clans, are from the alien world. So is the King of Gluttony."

The King of Gluttony was a Preta, the lowest demon who came to the demon world with the eight-clan people. That was why he chose the Afsaras, who had a deep connection with the eight-clan people, as his pleasure girls.

"Of course, it's been quite a while since the eight-clan people came from the alien world. It's already been a few hundred years since they came. However, from the perspective of the purists in the demon world, they are no more than an inferior race to be enslaved."

When Sitri moved her fingers again, a simplified dragon shape was drawn in the air.

"The dragons, belonging to the clan of the King of Violence, are also from the alien world. Of course, there are also some dragons from the demon world. They are called the demon dragon race. Anyway, it's a situation where the stone that just rolled in takes out the embedded stone, but that's the current situation. In fact, dragons came down here so long ago that they are hard to be called an alien race."

The dragon's shape changed to a map of the demonic world this time.

Sitri said, adding a new line in the middle, "There are more powerful purists in the north. The King of Pride and the King of Envy are the typical purists. In particular, the King of Envy is also notorious for not recognizing anybody as a king, except for the King of Pride, the King of Lust, and the King of Sloth. They were all born in the demon world like him."

Just under the line drawn by Sitri was the territory of the Queen of Fury.

Sitri pointed to that area and said, "The eight-clan people were originally enslaved in the north for a long time. It wasn't until the Queen of Fury appeared that they started enjoying a stable life. It's natural that the Queen of Fury was called the "King of Defender."

The light was scattered. Sitri looked at Yong-ho instead of the empty space.

"No one can be sure of how the situation of the demon world will be in the future. However, if the Queen of Fury gets what she wants, there is a high possibility that there will be a confrontation between the north and the south. And the core of that confrontation is the fight between the purists and the outsiders."

"In that respect, it's essential to form a southern alliance front."

"Well, that's possible when the King of Pride successfully occupies the north."

Sitri crossed her legs in reverse. She usually helped him indirectly, but it's very rare that she took the initiative to tell him about things in detail like this voluntarily. The fact that he defeated the King of Gluttony might have moved her for some reason.

"Let me draw your attention to this."

Again, an entire map of the demonic world drawn in the air. But this time, different emblems were embedded in each area. He soon realized that each emblem represented the six kings who ruled the demon world.

The emblem representing the King of Gluttony among them disappeared. Sitri bit her lower lip slightly and said, "A country created by a king is strong and organized beyond comparison with the southern area. Probably, the King of Gluttony's subordinates can hide the secret about their boss's death for some time, but not forever. Once the secret is revealed, the land of the King of Gluttony will turn into a battlefield. And it's my personal wish, but I hope that you can play a big role in such a situation. You still have some time to strengthen your forces."

There were clearly expectations for him in her gaze. He did not want to betray her expectation.

"Let me stop talking about this difficult topic. Oh, our conversation last time was cut off when I told you I obtained the gift you asked me for, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well, let me conclude it this time. Please choose one."

She snapped her fingers at the same time. Then two catalogs appeared in the air. Each contained a magic device and dungeon spirits.

"The magic sword with the secret of necromancing and a lich specializing in necromancing.

"It's up to you which one you want to choose."

The two catalogs that automatically opened turned to him.

***

Yong-ho returned.

Sitri was left alone in the whole white space.

"The King of Greed."

Sitri closed her eyes. Her bright smile with which she saw him off turned into sadness.

Hundreds of years ago there were five kings during Mammon, the great King of Greed's days.

King of Greed.

King of Pride.

Queen of Sloth.

King of Lust.

King of Envy.

At the last minute, the King of Pride, the King of Lust, and the King of Envy betrayed the King of Greed. The Queen of Sloth did not actively betray him like the other three kings, but that was it.

"The King of Greed."

He was different from Mammon back then. Now it was the thing of the past.

Sitri closed her eyes. On the day Mammon died in her arms, she remembered what the great King of Greed told her.

The white world turned black. Darkness enveloped Sitri.