Dungeon Designer: Bringing Smiles to the World!

"【Thailand Underground City】! Here we come!"

On the Catachan wasteland, Elisa stood with her hands on her hips and shouted to the sky.

Nearby, Grace noticed the other adventurers staring at her like she was an idiot. Feeling a little embarrassed, she slightly distanced herself from Elisa and stood with River, who was at the back of the group.

"Phew... It feels so good to shout it out. I've been holding it in for the past two days."

Elisa raised her staff high and stretched languidly.

"It's only been two days, is it really necessary to make such a fuss?" Joel shook his head helplessly. "Shouldn't magicians be used to staying in their rooms doing research?"

"That's a stereotype! Only an old man nearing his grave would do that." Alyssa rolled her eyes. She had run away to become an adventurer precisely because she couldn't stand the lifeless atmosphere at the magic academy.

Joel didn't say anything more, and just kept his head down and kept going.

Elisa, however, noticed Grace, who had distanced herself from her, as she turned her eyes to her.

After revealing a rather "wicked" smile, Elisa slowed down, seized the opportunity to grab Grace's head, and began to frantically rub it.

As she rubbed, Elisa laughed and said, "Oh dear, oh dear, we'll be counting on you when we go into the dungeon, little Grace. You'd better teach those undead creatures a lesson!"

"Ugh..." Grace nodded, but her words were somewhat slurred from being rubbed: "I...I know..."

Behind the two, Rivera, who was practically invisible, paused for a moment as she watched this scene.

It's hard, it's hard, my fist is hard, I want to pat the young lady's head like that too...

Grace broke free from Elisa's attempt to rub her head and ran to Joel at the front of the line, peering over to ask, "Mr. Joel, how much longer until we arrive?"

"We're not far now, watch your step," Joel said, pointing around.

Grace then realized that as they moved forward, the tenacious weeds that had grown on the wasteland had completely disappeared, and an imperceptible aura of death permeated the air.

Grace quickly approached and explained, "Starting from level 2, the energy emanating from the dungeon can alter the surrounding environment."

As they spoke, the group crossed a sloping earthen hill, and in the distance, a forest of trees covered with a large number of gray, twisted, and dead trees came into view.

Clearly, the [Taifa Dungeon] is nestled within that forest.

"If a level 2 dungeon can affect the surrounding environment, then what about higher-level dungeons..." Grace wondered.

"How do you think the Katachán Wasteland came to be?"

Joel pointed to the center of the map of the Cataclysm, to the level 4 dungeon.

After saying that, Joel rolled up the map and put it away, then led the group toward the woods.

Contrary to its desolate appearance from afar, there are actually some temporary camps set up by adventurers inside the forest, and you can occasionally see some adventurers resting.

"There seem to be too few people," Grace blurted out instinctively.

"After all, not everyone is willing to fight disgusting undead creatures." Joel shrugged. "So there aren't actually that many people exploring the [Tifah Dungeon], below the average level for a level 2 dungeon."

As they spoke, the four of them saw the entrance to the underground city—a huge tombstone.

Before they even got close, several beams of light, representing resurrection, flew out from the entrance and drifted towards the city of Leman.

"This seems to be the second batch, right? What happened today? Not a single one came out alive?"

The whispers of the other adventurers reached their ears, and a bad feeling arose within them.

Joel stopped at the entrance, turned around, and was about to say something when Alyssa spoke first: "Since you're already here, don't even think about running away! I refuse to believe this dungeon has changed its lord!"

Joel looked at Grace, who was excitedly preparing her prayers and hadn't heard the other adventurers at all. But even if she had, Grace wouldn't have given up exploring.

Joel could only look at the last person, River.

"Just a level 2 dungeon." The assassin's answer was very concise.

"Alright."

Joel drew his longsword from its sheath, took a deep breath, and led the way toward the dungeon entrance, with the other three following closely behind.

……

"Rumble..."

The massive tombstone slowly descended, blocking the last ray of light.

Darkness swept in.

Just as Elisa raised her staff, preparing to cast the [Light] spell, an aged voice entered the ears of the four. At the same time, the darkness churned and turned into a gray mist.

In ancient times, before the world was divided, it was shrouded in a great fog.

All around were gray rocks and towering trees…

The gray fog slowly dissipated, revealing trees as tall as the legendary World Tree standing on the earth.

"What... is going on?"

This sudden turn of events left the four of them momentarily confused, even the well-informed Rivera.

It gives me a feeling of "What did I do here? Is this still a dungeon?"

But regardless of their thoughts, the voices continued to tell their story.

"And that immortal ancient dragon."

As soon as the words were spoken, a massive, majestic ancient dragon with scales resembling rocks suddenly appeared before the four of them.

Gu Long closed his eyes slightly, as if he disdained to look at the few ants at his feet.

"But one day, the first fire was lit."

All the differences arise from this.

The scene before the four of them shifted, as if they were delving into the deepest part of that world, with sparks appearing around them.

"Cold and hot."

Life and death.

And then there is light and darkness.

Finally, a raging inferno seemed to engulf the four of them completely, and except for River, the other three subconsciously took a few steps back.

Beside them, several dark figures rose from the ground and staggered toward the flames.

"However, several species born from darkness were lured by the flames and found the king's soul around them."

The four of them suddenly felt a darkness before their eyes.

"The first to die—Nite."

Clad in a black feathered cloak, seemingly composed of countless skeletons, and exuding an aura of death, a bloated skeletal giant rose from the ground, a ball of flame burning in its hand.

"The Witch of Izalith and Daughter of Chaos".

The witch in the cloak also held flames in her hands, both palms burned, yet she still gazed down at the First Flame. Around her, the daughters of Chaos formed a circle.

"Gwyn, the Lord of Sunshine, and his knights."

Behind the tall, crowned old man with his hair and beard bristling in anger stood countless armored knights, while in front of him was the most dazzling ball of light and fire.

"And dwarves that no one has ever seen..."

Before the waning flames, a thin, dark figure held up the faintest flame.

The voice faded away after that.

Just when Elisa and her three companions thought this somewhat inexplicable scene was finally about to pass...

Suddenly, rousing music, unlike anything I'd ever heard before, began to play.

"They gained the power of the king and challenged the ancient dragons."

The silver-armored knight drew his greatsword and faced off against the roaring, outstretched wings of the ancient dragon, showing no fear whatsoever.

The king named Gwyn conjured a massive lightning spear in his hand and hurled it into the air, causing countless ancient dragons to crash down, their wings broken.

"Gwyn's lightning spear pierced through the rock-like scales."

The witch's flames formed a storm.

NEET released the death gas.

The storm of fire destroyed towering trees, and the swamp gas of death corroded the ancient dragon's body.

The war between the king and the ancient dragon was so brutal that the four bystanders, including Elisa, felt as if they were witnessing it firsthand, and even their breathing slowed down.

"And the scaleless white dragon Seath betrayed the ancient dragons, causing them to retreat."

Without scales, his pale skin bathed in the blood of his brethren, Heath roared to the sky, crushing an ancient dragon scale in his hand, as if filled with endless hatred.

Beneath it, countless ancient dragon corpses piled up like mountains.

The war is over; the immortal ancient dragon died from the power of the king and from internal betrayal.

"The Age of Fire begins."

A flash of white light appeared, and the magnificent city of Anor Londo seemed to endure until the end of time.

The group felt they were witnessing the birth of a glorious civilization.

But unexpectedly, the scenery quickly dimmed.

"But the fire will eventually go out, and then only darkness will remain."

Mars drifted away again, and the world seemed to turn gray. The glorious civilization seemed to have lasted only a moment before vanishing in an instant.

"Now, the fire is about to go out, the light will not be able to shine on the world, and the night will continue endlessly."

A cursed ring of darkness began to appear among the people…