I am the Demon King of the Dungeon!

At dusk.

Greystone Town is even more bustling than during the day.

As Arthas walked back to town, he saw a long queue forming at the town gate in the distance. It wasn't a quest team from the Adventurers' Guild or a level test team from the Appraisal Center; it was a team composed entirely of merchants.

Several horse-drawn carriages loaded with goods were crowded at the entrance, and the drivers were haggling with the guards at the top of their lungs.

"This is the third time! Just a couple of days ago you said the demand for Flame Grass wasn't high, so why has the price gone up again today?"

"It's market demand!" the guard said innocently. "Look for yourself, all the blacksmiths in town are working overtime, and the price of fire-resistant armor has tripled. I'm already being very generous by charging you double the toll."

The coachman cursed as he pulled out his money and drove the carriage into Greystone Town. Arthas followed behind, noticing that the streets of Greystone Town were completely different from when he had left the day before.

At least a dozen new stalls have been added to both sides of the main street.

Next to the bow and arrow stall, a brand-new wooden sign was erected, with the words "Broken Fire Arrow, specifically for killing Flame Slimes, tested and effective on the third floor" written crookedly.

The stall selling potions displayed all the red potions at the front, with a note under each bottle that read, "Essential for lava; drink this and you won't burn your feet even when standing in lava."

Fruit vendors have added several baskets of green fruit to their stalls, and their sales pitches have changed from "Honey Fruit, sweeter than first love" to "Flame Fruit, eat it to reduce internal heat, full refund if you don't like it."

Arthas stopped in front of the fruit stand, picked up a Flame Fruit and looked at it. The fruit had a greenish-blue skin and felt hard to the touch, not much different from a regular green apple.

"Does this really reduce internal heat?"

The vendor, a lean middle-aged man, brightened up when he saw the silver badge on Arthas's waist: "Young man, you just got back from a quest, right? Don't let its ordinary appearance fool you, this little thing was brought all the way from the southern elven kingdom. The elves use it to make tea; one cup and you can stand by a lava pool for half an hour without breaking a sweat. If you're going to the Firelands, bring a basket of Waterflame Fruits; they're more effective than any fire resistance potion."

"How much?"

"Not expensive at all, only three silver coins each, buy ten and get one free, would you like some?"

Three silver coins for a green apple...

Nonsense.

Arthas put down the fruit and continued walking.

The Flame Fruit from the Elf Kingdom is indeed a good thing for improving fire resistance, but that fruit is clearly just a green apple.

But what really surprised Alsace was that people actually bought into this "fraudulent" business.

As he passed by, he saw a Black Iron-level adventurer carrying a Flame Fruit as he left the stall, his face radiating confidence that said, "I'm ready."

The notice board at the entrance of the Adventurers' Guild was covered with purchase requests. Some people were looking to buy fire resistance scrolls, some were looking to buy fire resistance potions, and someone even wrote in crooked handwriting, "Looking to buy salamander scales, price negotiable."

Alsace stood in front of the notice board, his gaze passing over the purchase information and landing on the notice in the corner.

"Joint Announcement from the Blacksmith Shops in Greystone Town: Starting today, we are accepting custom orders for flame-protective plate armor. However, due to the large number of orders, the delivery time has been extended to one week."

Even the blacksmith shop is overwhelmed with orders.

Arthas turned and walked into the guild hall, hoping to see if there was any new news from the Dawn of Light. He had barely opened the door when he heard Raine's loud voice.

"Let me tell you! That Spinning Goblet of Fire has to be ridden in pairs! One person won't get it spinning, and three people will be squeezed into a pancake. Two people are just right, but you absolutely have to find a teammate of similar weight. Today I rode with the heavily armored warrior, and he's as heavy as a rock. When it started spinning, I was completely stuck to the goblet's side!"

The adventurers surrounding him laughed uproariously. Some asked him if the roller coaster was fun, others asked if the Little Fire Demon's Heart of Flame set was easy to farm, and a young mage apprentice cautiously raised his hand and asked, "I can't swim, what should I do if I fall into the lava pool?"

"No need to swim!" Renn slapped his thigh. "There are fire slimes down there that will catch you! They're soft and bouncy, and if you fall in, they'll bounce you back up. But it's hard to control the direction you bounce back. The first time I was bounced onto the platform, the second time I was bounced to the top of the slide, and the third time I was bounced straight back to the door. I wasted half an hour queuing."

The laughter was so loud it made the ceiling lights sway.

Arthas stood on the outskirts of the crowd, a slight smile playing on his lips. Just as he was about to walk over, he suddenly felt a slight warmth emanating from the communication ring on his finger. Dracula's magical energy was emanating from the ring, very softly, like the soft scratching of a pen on paper.

Arthas turned and walked out of the guild hall, turning into a narrow alley next to it. There was no one in the alley except for an orange stray cat crouching on the wall. He activated his ring.

Dracula's voice appeared in my mind, in a formal reporting tone.

"My Lord, the few things you entrusted to me before you left have been taken care of. First, the Black Emerald Dragon Celine sent a reply that she has accepted the interview request on the condition that Dark Hemcas provide her with a letter of recommendation after the contract expires, with the wording provided by her."

Arthas raised an eyebrow.

Celine didn't haggle, but added a letter of recommendation as a requirement. A letter of recommendation personally signed by the Dark Lord Hemcas would be enough for her to get the salary she wanted in any dungeon.

"The second thing is that the other four interviewees have all been notified. The interview is scheduled for 9:00 AM tomorrow. The Mirror Demon King has applied to be the interviewer's assistant, saying that he wants to learn from you how to manage subordinates. I have not approved it yet."

Under the management department?

Arthas unconsciously pictured Carter the Joker and Jooka the Joker in his mind. He could roughly guess why; those two had caused trouble...

"The third thing is that the renovation of the fifteenth floor has begun. The Death Knights are very receptive to the new combat mechanics, and the recruitment of Skeleton Knights and Dark Knights is also underway. It is expected that the configuration can be completed within three days."

"However..." Dracula paused for a moment, "The creation of the resurrection magic circle has encountered a technical problem. The core runes of the magic circle are in Ancient Elvish, and currently Dark Hemkas does not have any monsters proficient in Ancient Elvish. I will find temporary workers from the agency to act as consultants, and the budget will require an additional two thousand magic crystals."

Arthas rubbed his temples. Although he was reluctant to spend more money, he knew he couldn't avoid it. Resurrection was the core selling point of the fifteenth floor. Without the magic circle, the prison for the undead was just an ordinary prison.

"Approved."

"Your subordinate obeys."

The narrow alley was quiet for a moment.

After washing its face, the orange cat on the wall noticed someone watching it, so it alertly raised its tail and jumped onto the roof.

Arthas walked out of the alley and stood at the entrance of the guild hall, looking at the group of adventurers who were surrounding Renn and asking him all sorts of questions. He hadn't expected that the Flame Paradise, which had only been open for a few days, had already changed the economic structure of Graystone Town.

Whether here or on Earth, humans love to follow trends and crave new things...

It's all thanks to those awful voice streamers.