Gamers of the Underworld

When Simba and Mufasa arrived at the Dungeon Lord Main Hall, the other employees were already waiting.

Once everyone was present, Sherlock stood up and announced, “I would like to express my gratitude to you for your contributions over the past half a year. The contracts of Simba and Moroes are ending. However, I have prepared new contracts. We can sign them in two days…”

“Wait, Lord Sherlock, I…”

Simba stood up as he drummed up his courage. Sherlock glanced at Simba and said, “Simba, there’s something that I want to inform you of. I asked Dungeon Lord Nicholas about the leader of the Merchant Alliance’s Professional Blacksmith Union, and they have a close relationship. You’re now an Intermediate Blacksmith. To upgrade to an Advanced Blacksmith, you have to take a difficult exam that costs a ton. Don’t worry, as long as Dungeon Lord Nicholas helps you say a few good words, you shouldn’t have much of a problem.”

Simba immediately replied, “I feel that I should sign the contract now. I’m sincere in working for Lord Sherlock. It’s the greatest honor for me to work for Lord Sherlock.”

“Me too! Me too!” Moroes stood up and shouted, “Even if it’s a Soul Contract, I’d be willing to sign it! Let me be the soul partner of Lord Sherlock!”

Sherlock said happily, “The signing of the contracts isn’t urgent. We’ll sign them after the end of the meeting. The main purpose of the meeting is—service upgrade.”

Seeing the bewildered expressions, Sherlock explained calmly, “We have more and more citizens, but our services haven’t caught up. We can’t sustain this for long. I feel that it’s necessary to define and upgrade everyone’s scope of service. The first item is that the education of Mana Engineering has to start. Yoda, don’t just research with Hemp Rope Technology. I know that he’s intelligent, knowledgeable, and interesting, and if you weren’t married, you would follow him in Mana research for the rest of your life, but take a look around. There are many citizens who are also interested in Mana Engineering. Besides you, I also need thousands of Mana Engineers who can operate my assembly lines in my factories.”

“I understand, Lord Sherlock. Don’t you worry,” Yoda said as he recorded his thoughts in his notebook.

“Number two, Brainiac, I have reduced your workload to the minimum. In the Dungeon, your workload is the lightest.”

Brainiac lowered his head as he recalled that he hadn’t slept for a few months. Sherlock quickly said, “For Magical Items creation, I feel that it’s time for you to start enchantment classes. In addition, Winterfell has given us some raw materials for Magical Items. It’s time to use them as they won’t increase in value.”

Sherlock took out a large map that depicted details of a city.

The title of the map read, “Cross City”.

“Everyone, please take a look. This is the construction blueprint for Cross City.”

Everyone gathered to take a look. The middle of the blueprint was the Living Quarters. The other areas were the Mana Engineering Industrial Area, Potion Concoction Factory, Magical Items Factory, Sewing Factory, and other factories. The hi-tech buildings were the Mana Engineering, Potions, and Magical Items Factories. The low-tech buildings were the crockery, furniture, and handicraft factories. It was a comprehensive blueprint.

“Our goal is lofty. Everyone has to work diligently,” Sherlock said to everyone.

…

“It’s too difficult.”

Peasant walked on the street of Small Distant Town. He held a Lava Spar, which was taken out of the lava caves in his hand. He wanted to see if the Lava Spar could be sold for Magic Stones.

He was unable to do so.

Nobody wanted to buy the Lava Spar because it wasn’t a rare item and wasn’t being used in Small Distant Town. Even if it was used in Winterfell, it would be supplied by specialized units.

After the gamers defeated the Lava Scouts with great effort, the obtained Lava Spar couldn’t be used to trigger missions or exchanged for Magic Stones. The Lava Spar could only be sent to Eternal Kingdom to be exchanged for rewards, kept for personal use, or stored for future equipment improvement.

Most of the gamers preferred to exchange the Lava Spar at Eternal Kingdom. The gamers had gained experience. The price offered by Eternal Kingdom was a floating one. The greater the supply of an item, the lower the price. The lower the supply of an item, the greater the price. Of course, the final sale price to the gamers would be higher.

Eternal Kingdom was always making a profit no matter what.

Peasant shopped around and discovered that the Lava Spar couldn’t be sold, so he intended to exchange it in Eternal Kingdom.

When he turned around, he saw a Gnome carrying a large bag and collecting dropped letters on the ground.

As a new age nice guy, he decided to offer his help.

Peasant walked over and saw a letter. He held it in his hand and was stunned.

“Hey! Why are you taking my letter? I’m sending the letters!” the Gnome shouted at Peasant furiously. He didn’t turn violent because Peasant was a tall Orc. It wasn’t hard to see that the Gnome wanted to slap Peasant.

“Wait, are you a postman? Is there a letter that can’t be sent out? Or the receiver is Cherry?” Peasant shouted abruptly.

“Ha? What are you up to…” The Gnome was about to scold Peasant, but when he saw the Magic Stone offered by Peasant, he said righteously, “There is a letter that arrived a few days ago, but the receiver can’t be found!”

The eyes of Peasant lit up. It was related to the incident two days ago!

…

While Peasant was triggering a new Plot, “Dungeon” had another new update.

The night that the lava caves of the Black Volcano were opened to the gamers, they discovered new updates on the discussion forum.

[Version 0.38 Update Log]

“Warriors of Eternal Kingdom! To encourage you to find Winterfell’s lost cargo, we have introduced new content to improve the gaming experience. We also prepared a large upgrade.

Added new Life Skill, Mana Engineering: It was already available, but the NPC Yoda wasn’t in the best condition to teach. He was only interacting and giving missions to certain gamers. As such, he triggered the hidden prop, Gundam. However, the behavior has been rectified, and Yoda will be back to normal.

Added two new Life Skills, Magical Items Creation and Enchantment: Magical Items Creation and Enchantment are two inseparable skills. Gamers are able to learn the skills from Brainiac in the Lich’s Burial Hall. The materials can be bought from Brainiac or Winterfell.

Added new Combat Level, Intermediate Combat Techniques: Beast and Moroes are able to conduct lessons on Intermediate Combat Techniques. Gamers may find out more details from them.

Added new map, Black Volcano: Beware of falling boulders!

Added new map, Black Volcano, Small Distant Town: We have opened the Small Distant Town map. Gamers are able to enter Small Distant Town freely.

Added new map, Black Volcano, Lava Caves: The temperature in the caves of the Black Volcano is very high. They are also filled with Fire Elementals. We don’t know what’s inside. A Dungeon Core could be inside. All gamers, please look out for it.

Added Lava Caves Monster Bestiary: We have updated the Monster Bestiary. If new monsters are encountered, they will be updated as well.

Added new Enchanted Item, Attributes Enhancing Runes: Created by both Hemp Rope Technology and Yoda, the Runes are applied to the body to enhance attributes. It’s currently in the testing stage, and volunteers are being recruited for testing. The registration fee is 100 Magic Stones.

Added new item, Equipment Enchantment: Brainiac created the Enchantment Scroll, which can be used to enhance equipment attributes. For example, an Enchantment Scroll to make your equipment look more formidable, Enchantment Scroll to make your equipment appear as a piece of high-level equipment, and Enchantment Scroll to make your equipment look more expensive.

Added new merchandise, Small Distant Town souvenir: Gamers are encouraged to take a look at the souvenirs, though they don’t have much functional value.

Added new BUG, Missing Customer Service: Due to some special reasons, the Black Dragon who was performing customer service will be missing for a period of time. The period of time depends on when you find the Dungeon Core.

I’m leaving a blank wild card. If I think of a new update, I will immediately add it.”