Dungeon Designer: Bringing Smiles to the World!

"This should be it."

Outside the dungeon, a blonde girl wearing a pointed hat, a mage's robe and cloak raised her simple staff and cast a spell—[Light]—illuminating the dimly lit gate.

"The dungeon designed by the Tauren shouldn't be too difficult. It's perfect for practicing spells and gathering some video footage. I hope it's worth coming here first thing this morning."

The girl took out a crystal ball from her bosom, fiddled with it for a moment, and then lit it up.

Then, she began to introduce herself as if she were facing a camera.

"Welcome to the adventurer's dungeon exploration channel, I'm the mage Elisa."

Elisa pointed one side of the crystal ball at the entrance gate of the dungeon.

"The dungeon we're going to explore this time is called the [Dorn Dungeon]. It's said that the dungeon's lord is a minotaur."

Haha, I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of dungeons the Tauren will design.

After saying that, Elisa walked towards the door.

As she drew closer, she noticed the proverb on the door.

"A gigantic treasure chest lies ahead; witness it!"

"A giant treasure chest?" Elisa asked, puzzled. "What do you mean? Was it left behind by previous adventurers?"

The adventurer profession is a mixed bag, with all sorts of people. Elisa thinks this message was probably left by some bored guy.

As for the "giant treasure chest," Elisa was skeptical. The Dorne Dungeon was just a low-level level 1 dungeon, so even the most precious treasures wouldn't be that valuable.

However, Elisa had heard that there was a small pyroxene vein in the Dorne Dungeon.

For magicians, sapphire crystals are the best resource to replenish their magic power.

So she specially carried an iron pickaxe on her waist, preparing to dig up some ore to take back while exploring the dungeon.

Elisa was different from those high-ranking sorcerers who came from prominent families, lived in luxurious mansions, and were worshipped by noble grandfathers.

She was just a low-level mage from a commoner background, and she had to earn all the money for her food, clothing, shelter, and magical research herself.

That's why Elisa chose to become an adventurer and took a different approach, using a crystal ball to record dungeon exploration videos and selling them to non-adventures who were afraid to enter dungeons but wanted to seek thrills.

Elisa took a picture of the message with the crystal ball and was about to push open the door.

"Rumble..."

The originally closed door opened inwards on its own, and a cold wind carrying the smell of decay rushed in, the deep tunnel seemed to devour one's soul.

"Alright, viewers, I'm about to officially enter the [Dorn Dungeon] now."

After talking to herself in front of the crystal ball, Elisa cast the Light spell again, using the light to begin descending deeper.

"Thump..."

The gate behind me had been closed at some point.

In the pitch-black environment, only the faint light from the staff in her hand illuminated the area within a few meters around Elisa.

The howling wind sounded like the wailing of a banshee, and just the sound of it brushing against the skin was enough to send chills down one's spine.

"Is this the kind of dungeon that minotaurs could design?"

Elisa was somewhat puzzled.

The dungeons designed by the Minotaur are mostly very simple in structure, regardless of level, with only a large number of monsters.

Adventurers only need to prepare for battle and fight from beginning to end without even needing to use their brains, making it suitable for men, women, young and old.

But now, this [Dorn Dungeon] is completely different.

Elisa even felt as if she had entered an ancient tomb rather than an underground city.

After recording this bizarre scene with the crystal ball, Elisa continued downwards.

After walking for more than ten minutes with gritted teeth, just as Elisa began to doubt whether the tunnel had any end,

Ahead, a faint glimmer of hope came into view.

"Very good."

Elisa breathed a sigh of relief. Although there were no traps or mechanisms on the way through this eerie tunnel, the atmosphere alone created immense pressure on her.

It felt as if a monster might leap out of the darkness at any moment and bite off its own neck.

Elisa quickened her pace and soon burst out of the tunnel.

However, what appeared before them was not the monster-filled arena they had imagined, but a dark underground prison that seemed to have existed for hundreds of years.

A few scattered, pitiful torches were stuck in the cracks in the wall, providing negligible light.

"A prison?" Elisa gripped her staff tightly and recast the [Light] spell.

The prison was eerily quiet; Elisa could even hear her own breathing.

Before this, Elisa had never seen a dungeon like this before.

"Is this really the [Dorn Dungeon]?"

If Alyssa hadn't repeatedly checked before entering, she would have even doubted whether she had accidentally entered some high-level dungeon.

"However, this uniquely designed underground city should be perfect for filming footage; it would definitely be a huge hit!"

With the idea of ​​making a fortune in mind, Elisa fixed the crystal ball above her head and then took a step to begin her exploration.

The cells closest to the tunnel were dilapidated, some even without doors, with only recognizable human-shaped corpses on the ground, emitting a nauseating stench of decay.

Stepping over the corpses, Elisa tried rummaging through the cabinets in the cells and soon found several pyroxene crystals, which were of fairly high purity.

Feeling the weight of the money, Elisa felt more at ease, and her motivation to explore increased considerably.

Satisfied, she turned to leave, but after taking only two steps, Elisa felt as if her cloak was caught on something.

He reached out and tried to tug at it, but the cloak remained completely still.

"Next time I'll have to cut it shorter," Elisa said, turning her head away.

A rotting, maggot-infested face had somehow appeared right in front of her.

"Aaaaaaah!!!!!"

The undead, gripping Elisa's cloak with its thin, bony arms, opened its mouth and emitted a sharp, explosive sound.

For a moment, Elisa felt her heart stop; the terrifying scene almost scared her out of her wits.

Even if it were just a simple zombie, with its face-jumping frightening effect, it would never have such an effect on an adventurer, especially one whose profession is a mage.

It is precisely because of the atmosphere and preparation laid in the preceding ten minutes that the sudden outburst at this moment seems so terrifying.

Elisa subconsciously chanted a spell, unleashing a level 1 spell—[Magic Missile].

The azure missile shot out at extremely close range and hit its target.

The already frail and rotting body of the zombie instantly exploded, its upper and lower halves separated.

Before Elisa could catch her breath, the lower half of the zombie, which was still standing in place, suddenly surged, and countless fat, white maggots spurted out of the wound like a shower of flowers.

Even though Elisa dodged in time, she still got a few fat maggots on her.

The maggots extended their mouthparts and began to tear at the robe, trying to burrow into Elisa's flesh.

"Damn it!"

Elisa couldn't help but curse aloud, her face turning ashen as she quickly pinched off the maggots from her body and then stomped on them hard.

……

Deep within the dungeon, Rogge, who was observing this scene with great interest, chuckled.

"Hehe, there are many more surprises waiting for you ahead, Miss Magician."

……

Looking at the swarm of maggots crawling all over the ground, Elisa felt a wave of nausea wash over her.

She could imagine that if she had been even a fraction of a second slower, she would probably have been gnawed into a pile of bones by now.

With another wave of his staff, a fire arrow as thick as a forearm exploded in the maggot swarm, burning all the maggots to ashes.

After calming herself down a bit, Elisa continued walking deeper into the prison.

Having learned her lesson, from then on, whenever she saw a zombie lying on the ground pretending to be dead, Elisa would use a fire arrow to burn the zombie and the maggots inside it to a crisp.

This move was a great success; in the next seven or eight cells, no living corpse could frighten Elisa.

They found another piece of pyroxene crystal in a cell, and Elisa curled her lip in disdain: "Tch, that's all?"

As she regained her confidence, Elisa secretly resolved that once she left the dungeon, she would definitely delete the part that had been captured by the crystal ball.

If other adventurers found out that she was frightened by a low-level undead, her reputation would be ruined!

Thinking of this, Elisa's steps became somewhat angry, and she couldn't help but shout:

"You tauren, just you wait! Watch me clear this dungeon in thirty minutes!"

The shouts echoed through the prison, but Elisa was unaware that deep within the prison, some creatures were coming at the sound.

After shouting that, Elisa felt much better.

Soon, she reached the middle of the prison.

At the same time, she also discovered a shiny treasure chest placed in a cell.

"Huh? A treasure chest?"

The treasure chest wasn't locked, and Elisa could see that a corner of a scroll seemed to be peeking out from the gap in the chest.

He reached out and pushed the prison door, and a message appeared on the door.

"It can't be opened from this side; perhaps we should take a detour..."

Her breathing became heavy, and Elisa struggled to hold back from swearing.

Her mood, which had finally improved, began to fluctuate again. Elisa had already mentally "friendly" cursed the dungeon designer a dozen times.

The poor minotaur had no choice but to take the blame.

Elisa impatiently chanted a spell and fired a magic missile, but the cell door remained unmoved.

"Protection from the rules?"

Elisa's eyes lit up. This meant the treasure chest must contain a rare item! Maybe even a spell scroll for learning!

Even more determined to open the treasure chest, Elisa decided to waste no more time and strode quickly toward the depths of the prison.

On the way, because of that shout earlier, many of the zombies in the prison slowly got up from the ground and pounced on Elisa.

Flame arrows flew out as if venting their anger, while Elisa held a staff in one hand and constantly crushed the radiant crystals in her bag with the other to replenish her magic power.

Amidst the bombardment of magic.

"Hiss hiss hiss..."

The barely perceptible sound, like a snake flicking its tongue, was completely drowned out.

The oppressive atmosphere in the prison, the shame of being frightened by mere zombies, and the urgent desire to obtain spell scrolls.

These three factors combined caused Elisa to lose the rationality she should have maintained while exploring the dungeon, to the point that she was completely unaware of the impending danger.

On the ceiling, a scarlet licker had already lowered its long tongue, waiting for its prey to take the bait.

As Elisa rounded a corner, a barbed tongue suddenly shot out from her blind spot, aimed directly at Elisa's head!

The attack was so fast that Elisa didn't even have time to react before she was hit.

As the body with its head pierced fell backward, in the last moment before everything went black, Elisa finally saw the Licker hanging upside down from the ceiling, resembling a skinned frog.

"Damn it, my gear is destroyed..."

With a final thought, Elisa's body vanished in a flash of light.

All his clothes, his staff, and his satchel full of brilliance stones fell to the ground.