The city was busy with post-stampede cleanup the next day, so the newbie training was canceled. The adventurers and trainees were helping with the city's reconstruction, but Ryu wasn't among them. Secretly, he was conquering the dungeon.

Wairago dungeon was dangerous. It had already caused considerable damage to the surrounding area. Conquering it and turning it into a managed dungeon would eliminate the danger, eliminating the need for high-rank adventurers.

Only E-rank and above adventurers were allowed to enter the dungeon, but he went in without permission. His actions were rather free, but it was fine since he had planned to conquer it.

Just in case, he wore a silver metal mask. If he were seen, he could insist that it wasn't Ryujeen who had entered the dungeon without permission, but Silver Mask.

Ryu knew his identity was obvious, but if things got tough, he would simply use "adult influence" to make them agree. (Or force.)

Ryu secretly entered the Wairago dungeon and used his time magic to store the magic stones, eliminating the monsters on each floor. Even the floor bosses were no exception—instant kills.

Of course, he also stored all the monster corpses as materials. A considerable amount of monster materials had accumulated in his subspace, and he didn't even know what kind or how many were there. He could sell them whenever he needed money. Although he already had a considerable amount of cash stored, too much to use.

He continued through the floors, finally reaching the dungeon boss on the lowest level.

The dungeon boss was a Catochrists King.

It was three times the size of a normal Catochrists, and it looked really dangerous. What surprised him was that normal Catochrists were flightless chickens (with snake tails), but this Catochrists King could fly...

However, after scanning its body with the Divine Eye and transferring away the magic stone he found inside, it was an instant kill.

It was anticlimactic compared to the Hydra, which had regenerated even after its magic stone was removed.

But, as expected of a king-class boss monster, the removed magic stone was quite large. It would fetch a considerable price. He might need to organize his storage sometime soon.

Ryu scanned the lowest level's boss room with the Divine Eye and found a room with the dungeon core inside the wall. He broke through the wall and touched the core. He received confirmation of the dungeon conquest, and was recognized as the dungeon's new master.

He first minimized monster generation on each floor and forbade monsters from leaving the dungeon. Then, he changed and adjusted the types of monsters in the dungeon, making them harmless. It would be a tedious job for a large dungeon, but his experience setting up a beginner-friendly dungeon in Mirmul's "Earth Dragon's Lair" had helped.

The types of monsters that appeared would change dramatically, but Ryu hadn't had time to research the ecology of the monsters in this dungeon beforehand, so it couldn't be helped. He could adjust it later if there were any problems.

After setting up the dungeon, Ryu transferred to the guildmaster's office. He was going to inform Nerina that he had conquered the dungeon and that its nature had changed. (Of course, he was wearing his silver mask.)

"Oh, Ryujeen?"

"I am the mysterious Silver Masked Warrior, not Ryujeen."

"Oh, my apologies. So, what is it that you, Silver Mask, want?"

Ryu felt a little embarrassed being treated like a child playing pretend, but he couldn't back down now.

"I'm here to inform you that I've conquered the Wairago dungeon. There's no more danger, you can rest easy."

"Oh, my, my...that's incredible...

...What?"

(She was surprised, as expected.)

"Uh, seriously? Not just a game?"

"Not a game!"

Ryu's reply was a little too sharp.

"But...it's true that if you could easily wipe out the Catochrists, you might be able to conquer the dungeon.

But it's only been a day...you're not saying you conquered it in one day, are you? Huh? Really?!"

"It's possible for me."

"Well...I've seen your strength with my own eyes, but I still find it hard to believe, honestly...Do you have any proof?"

"Proof...

...Is this alright?"

Silver Mask took out a magic stone from his subspace storage.

"This is the magic stone of the dungeon boss, the Catochrists King. I also have the body, but since I haven't disassembled it yet, I can't show it here."

"My, my, what a large magic stone. I've never seen one this size. I need to have it properly appraised, but it seems to be true.

That means I have to give you a reward."

Nerina's childlike demeanor lingered, but Ryu had to see this through.

"No, I don't need a reward, Silver Mask is not an adventurer. I'm just here to tell you that the dungeon has changed."

"Just to confirm, I understand that you've become the dungeon master?"

"That's right."

"And that you've changed the dungeon to be safe."

"That's right."

"By the way, what is the dungeon boss now?"

"It's still the same. The monsters on the lowest level are Catochrists, and the dungeon boss is still the Catochrists King. However, I've set it up so that they can't leave their respective floors."

"I see. So if there's anything you need to adjust, I can just ask Silver Mask?"

"It is possible."

"Possible...?"

"Oh!"

Ryu had started acting without really thinking about the setting, and his character was starting to crumble...

"In that case, how do we contact...

...Right, should we tell Ryujeen? Then he can tell Silver Mask?"

"That's right, that's fine."

The improvisation completely crumbled, and Ryu blushed a little, but luckily, Nerina couldn't see it through his mask.

Nerina believed him, but since she still needed to investigate the difficulty level of the dungeon and the types of monsters, she said she would send some adventurers to check. After the confirmation, she would report and propose to the lord to change the alert level and lift the entry restrictions.

Having completed his business, Ryu decided that he couldn't take it anymore and disappeared from the office.

Next Episode

I can't take it anymore, you're a disqualified instructor!

Stay tuned!