Reject Humanity, Return to Monke

Entering my Dungeon, both I and Drake strolled through the in-laid dirt path heading towards the Monster Town. When we first entered my Dungeon, though, Drake immediately zeroed-in his eyes at the two portals that led to other Dungeons.

"Oh, so you have connections with other Dungeon Masters, huh?" Drake asked and I looked at him with a confused gaze. He snorted in response as he gave me an answer that, quite frankly, made a lot of sense. "Well, Dungeons that are older tend to have these kinds of portals that lead to other Dungeons, be they anywhere in the world. We still have no idea why this is possible, since Dungeon Masters always tend to themselves, even those who are peaceful, but then again, I will be living in here for who knows how long, so can I please ask how do you all do this? It\'s been bugging my mind for years already… Please?"

I laughed and decided, why the hell not? He would probably need to know this beforehand so that he would know when a visitor or trader was coming.

"It\'s pretty simple really, but it has to do with the Monster Surge every 10 years." I said, and Drake hummed, before he perked up in thought.

"That reminds me, this area has been pretty peaceful so far. No sign of any monster hostility in this area so far." Drake recalled, and he looked at the entrance of the Dungeon. "Care to explain why?"

"… I forgot…" I confessed and he gave me a deadpan. "You see, there is something called a Decennial Dungeon Games for us Dungeon Masters. It also lines up with the date of the start of the Monster Surge. As for how it happens, I\'m thinking the God of Monsters, Chythos, does something to the monsters to make them go into a frenzy during the day to keep the brief amount of time we were gone a secret."

"… That God\'s a dick, and I\'m sure he knows it." Drake deadpanned once more, before letting out a sigh. "I\'ve met with Gods, but at least Chythos isn\'t like some others. Seriously, I\'d rather kill myself before I meet them again."

That got me to raise an eyebrow while we continued walking towards our destination. The topic of Monster Surges was briefly forgotten as we came upon the wall of stone that makes up the outer defense of the Monster Town.

"So, you\'re one of those Dungeon Masters?" Drake said as he stared at the gate where a few monsters were currently stationed. All of them looked ready for war as they were equipped to the brim with our latest batch of armor and weaponry. "The ones that build settlements or towns in their Dungeon to act as a fortress when invaded? Nice armor, by the way. Digging their look."

"Thanks for the complement, and you could say that. Siege warfare in this day and age, not counting those pathetic excuses for technology they call weapons, is easier when you\'re the defender. Couple that with monsters who are physically stronger, and sometimes just all-around better than humans and some demi-humans, then you have a nearly impenetrable fortress." I nodded, and gave him my two cents about the topic. Drake hummed, and stayed silent as we both entered the town, our primate escort now decreasing to a count of one, Gong following and watching Drake like a hawk.

"On that topic though, this is a good town. I can tell you this would be a nightmare to raid for Hunters, Adventurers, and even military alike." Drake commented and I swelled with pride at my work. "How long have you been here anyway? From my estimations, this would\'ve taken at least more than a year."

At his words, I went silent and stood frozen. I looked at him like a robot, which he picked up on and stared at me with narrowed eyes.

"Jionni, just how long did it take to build this place up?" He asked, and I chuckled nervously.

"Oh, I don\'t know… Just under a month?" I replied sheepishly and he looked at me as if I was some kind of monster in gorilla\'s skin.

"What the fuck… Bro… Bro… How the hell did you start from zero and end up with this Dungeon that is somehow bordering on lesser B-rank status?" He sighed exasperatedly and placed a hand on my shoulder, his gaze piercing into the very depths of my soul.

He may be a friend of the past, and a friend of the future, but damn it if I don\'t feel fear from his soul-piercing gaze he had both in our previous world, and our current world.

"Erm… Did I tell you I have a system…?" I said truthfully to the more experienced reincarnate. He then looked at me in silence, before turning around and grabbing something from his satchel. Turns out, his satchel was enchanted to carry stuff bigger than it is, like my inventory, but with a physical property.

What he brought out was, of all things, a motherfucking pillow. He then proceeded to smash it against his face and keep it there, while a muffled scream tore out of his throat, the pillow dampening the noise so as not to bother the other inhabitants.

A good few seconds of screaming later, he stopped and placed the pillow back in his satchel, before regarding me with a very deadpanned glare.

"You motherfucking lucky bastard. Of all the things you got on your reincarnation, it was a fucking system." He snarled out. Jealousy tinged his voice as he glared at me. "All I got were these gauntlets, and they are fucking legendary, but that doesn\'t compare with a motherfucking system!"

He looked at me like he was crying tears of blood, the monsters around us looking at him like some kind of crazy person while he was clinging to my leg like a damned infant.

\'Right… I forgot how silly he was back on Earth. It seems like it carried over here, even with his experiences that would cause a regular soldier to retire at the tender age of 18, or even 17 if you\'re pushing it.\' I mused in my head as I looked at the scene with both nostalgic and annoyed eyes.

"Alright, enough. You\'re causing a scene." I grabbed him by the hood and forced him to stand up. "And also, this system isn\'t what the novels back on Earth tend to make out. It\'s been nerfing me, for fuck\'s sake."

"… Oh, then you aren\'t an OP bastard like I thought." He stopped his shameful behavior as he was prompted to chuckle loudly. "That said though, how the hell did your Dungeon get this strong in just under a month?"

"Well, both luck and extremely good coincidences." I laughed and he gave me another jealous look. "Hey, don\'t look at me like that. My luck will wear out soon enough. That\'s why I\'m doing my best to upgrade my Dungeon to the best of its capabilities. Plus, I have three floors, so it will be harder for invaders to- why the hell are you looking at me like that?"

"… The more I hear about your current situation, the more I feel like you\'re some kind of anime or novel protagonist made by a two-bit writer." Drake commented and I felt insulted by that comment. At least make the writer a first-rate one… No? Any-takers? Okay, two-bit writer it is.

"Why? Is a floor really that important in Dungeons?"

"Are you kidding me? You\'re a Dungeon Master yourself. How the hell can you not see its advantages?" He sighed, exasperated that I was still downplaying my achievements in this world. Well, I can\'t help it. I don\'t have a rough guideline on how other Dungeons operate, and Drake here is my best bet without sounding too invasive to the other Dungeon Masters.

I shrugged in response and he facepalmed.

"You know what? I give. Just give me the tour and I\'ll go to wherever you want me to set up shop and sleep. I\'ve had a long day." If I had a penny for every sigh he uttered, I would probably be a few pennies richer.

"As you wish." I nodded and I quickly gave him the tour of the Monster City. I just gave him the brief rundown, since as he said, he was getting tired and I didn\'t want to drag out this tour for that long. I still have some more work to do.

So, it started just like that. Me, Drake, and Gong strolling around the town, giving Drake the most well-known sights in the area, such as the Meeting Hall, the barracks, and even a brothel that, for some reason, evaded my sights even when I held power over this place.

Not that it wasn\'t a bad idea. Making sure that the residents were happy and content in this place was my main goal, so that I could gain some free workforce, other than the primates, of course.

Also, the workers working in the brothel seemed to be the Alraunes… Yep, at least they\'re getting their sustenance without causing any trouble, and is that Krag?

Yes, that\'s definitely Krag. From what Lara kept on talking about the exotic gnome, he was a frequenter of that place. At least he\'s happy.

After the tour was done with the Monster Town, we then made our way to the Human Town, which was now more populated than earlier.

"Damn, did you really have to break the medieval style of buildings? Not that I mind. It\'s finally good to have modern plumbing." He said this with a yawn. "Trust me, those houses that look modern in some places aren\'t modern houses at all. They\'re just made to look like that, even if the inside were completely medieval in style."

I raised my eyebrow at that, storing that piece of information in my mind.

\'So, technology isn\'t that advanced as opposed to what I thought. That\'s good for me.\'

After giving him another brief tour of the place, with humans and demi-humans alike giving us greetings here and there, I guided him over to the place where he would be staying. He gave me his thanks and we both parted ways for the moment.

\'I think it\'s time I opened those rewards I got from the final event of the Dungeon Games.\'