The finals were over, and
This meant the rankings were now decided up to fourth place.
Come to think of it, I still needed to decide on positions and titles.
For the time being, the Four Heavenly Kings would do.
Speaking of the Four Heavenly Kings, that meant
*'Kukuku, he's the weakest of the Four Heavenly Kings! What a disgrace to the title!'*
...Something like that, probably?
It was way too fitting, and honestly kind of scary.
Against Gobta when he wasn't synced with
Well, it'd still be tough to beat Gobta when he wasn't being careless, though.
Setting that aside, the organization was likely to expand, so I needed to think about positions.
I made a mental note.
With the awards ceremony over, the dungeon viewing tour would now begin.
It was open to volunteers only, but I wanted as many people to participate as possible.
Veldora, standing beside us, also wore a somewhat proud look.
"Hey, are you sure about this? You can't go overboard during today's tour, you know?"
"Hehehe. I'm fineee! Leave it to me! I've activated all the safety mechanisms today."
"Kukuku. Indeed, but starting tomorrow, the day of the awakening of this fearsome dungeon shall dawn!"
Ramiris and Veldora exchanged glances and grinned at each other with an evil air.
Was this going to be okay? I couldn't help but feel a little uneasy.
Maybe I shouldn't have left everything to them in the end.
After the lunch break, the spectators returned to their seats in the arena.
The dungeon viewing tour was about to begin.
Given the scale of around ten thousand people, guiding them all through at once would lead to far too much congestion.
So the idea was to have a single party take on the dungeon on everyone's behalf.
Fortunately, it seemed no one had left after the lunch break.
This would serve as sufficient promotion.
Myormail stepped into the center of the arena, megaphone in hand, and gave a greeting.
Then he called out:
"Now then, is there anyone brave enough among you to challenge the proud dungeon of our nation?"
His voice rang out across the arena.
As we listened, we too made our way toward the center.
On my shoulder, Ramiris summoned the temporary door to the dungeon right in the middle of the arena.
*'Ooooh!!'*
A ripple of excitement spread through the crowd.
Incidentally, if no volunteers had stepped forward, it would have been Masayuki's turn.
We had coordinated everything properly, and he was waiting backstage.
Yes! The challengers' progress would be displayed on the big screen, allowing the spectators to view the dungeon safely.
If even one VIP got injured, it would be a disaster. That was why we'd adopted the plan of having proxies experience the dungeon firsthand.
If volunteers showed up, they'd go. If not, it would be Masayuki's group.
The issue was that experiencing death was part of the plan.
But if they got instantly killed right at the start of the first floor, it would discourage future challengers.
So I wanted them to put up a decent fight.
The first floor was quite vast, so I didn't think they'd clear it entirely... This time, we'd equipped the accompanying Souka and the others with a group teleportation item.
If anything went wrong, they could return immediately.
The ideal would be roughly two hours of exploration at a pace enjoyable for the audience.
Naturally, we'd prepared treasure chests containing decent weapons and such as souvenirs.
My only worry, as I'd mentioned earlier, was whether Ramiris, Veldora, or Milim had set up any absurd traps.
"Hehehe, Demon Lord! We're gonna expose you for the fraud you are!
Putting on that big show with a martial tournament and whatnot, trying to intimidate us—nice try, but it won't work!
That was all some kind of illusion, wasn't it? You don't even have to say it.
And this so-called dungeon of yours—we'll see through that bluff too!"
Hm?
It seemed a volunteer had stepped forward.
Convenient, I guess? Though he seemed pretty stupid...
Apparently, those who had fought in this arena considered it some kind of illusion.
Without a certain level of ability, you couldn't even begin to understand what was happening.
Because of that, some people simply enjoyed the spectacle, while others—like this guy—suspected illusions or trickery.
In fact, those who could actually understand it had gone pale, unwilling to believe what they'd seen.
When I say "understand," I meant they recognized it as a battle on an entirely different level.
But that was fine.
The goal was more or less achieved, and as long as no one came to pick a fight after seeing this battle, we were good.
Among the strong fighters brought by officials from various nations, there was surely at least one or two who understood.
As long as those people reported the truth to their employers, that was enough.
Having skeptics was expected.
Well, since a volunteer had appeared, let's make use of them.
As this was a trial run, we naturally distributed the Resurrection Bracelets free of charge.
Thanks to Ramiris's ability, they would revive within about ten seconds of death.
We had since improved them so that pain and suffering would be cancelled at the time of death.
With high-level Recovery Magic or a Full Recovery
I gave these instructions, making sure to explain everything so they wouldn't mistakenly think they could revive outside the dungeon too.
If some fool got the wrong idea and thought they could come back to life outside, that wasn't our responsibility.
I wasn't about to take the blame for everything.
In my previous world, it always felt like too much responsibility was pushed onto the organizers.
Even if an idiot who broke the rules and went berserk ended up dying, I figured that was their own fault.
However, if I neglected the explanation, then it would be our responsibility. So I made sure to give a thorough briefing.
"Hmph, no one dies inside the dungeon, you say? Interesting.
Hey, you—go in there and die for us, will you?"
Trying it on someone else rather than himself.
Well, that was a reasonable request. Nansou, the one who was pointed at, put on the Resurrection Bracelet with a "here we go" expression and entered the dungeon.
At the same time, the challengers also went inside.
The large bald man who had been doing all the talking—the apparent leader—took out a hand axe.
"Then, please, go ahead!"
At Souka's signal, he leapt at Nansou as if he'd been waiting for this.
"Yaaaaah!!"
He shouted with all his might, slashing at Nansou again and again.
Nansou didn't fight back, taking every hit without resistance.
The bald man was apparently quite sadistic—he didn't kill Nansou with a single blow, instead targeting different spots to inflict as much pain as possible.
Nansou, who looked like a humanoid dragon, was being beaten without mercy now that his opponent knew he was a monster.
Well, it was also possible that the bald man's attacks simply couldn't penetrate Nansou's scales.
Covered in sweat, the bald man threw in dozens of strikes before finally calling for help from his companions.
Magic and arrows rained down on Nansou, and after about ten minutes, they finally brought him down.
I should probably apologize to Nansou later. I'd saddled him with an awful role.
The fallen Nansou's body dissolved into particles of light and vanished.
The equipment he wore similarly transformed into light particles and disappeared.
This scene was being recorded through the crystal balls held by the accompanying Souka and the others, and displayed on the arena's big screen.
And the very instant the light particles faded, Nansou reappeared beside the temporary entrance at the center of the arena.
*'Ooohhh!!'*
The crowd erupted in cheers.
I'd be in trouble if they suspected this was a trick too, but the only way to convince them was through firsthand experience.
So I figured we just had to wait for adventurous challengers to try it and spread the word.
Even if a curious soul took the plunge, cautious people wouldn't be convinced without testing it themselves.
Regardless, the bald man and his group seemed satisfied and began their exploration.
*'And now, the dungeon exploration has begun!*
*A world of the unknown unfolds before us. What awaits beyond this point...?'*
Souka's face appeared on the big screen as she relayed the interior in real time.
They'd styled it like a documentary.
The group advanced through the first floor, constructed neatly from stone.
I'd assumed one person would map things out as they went, but it seemed none of them had prepared a map.
Were they going to be okay? I was pretty sure cave exploration was a thing in this world too...
"Tch! It's just the same kind of road over and over!
What is this, nothing but four-way intersections?!"
"Boss, didn't we pass through here already?"
"Baston, this is bad! This dungeon's even bigger than we thought!"
While I was worrying, they'd already gotten lost.
I'd explained the size to them beforehand, but apparently they hadn't listened.
Well, that was about what I expected.
At worst, they could use the death-rewind feature, and the bracelets also had an SOS function.
If they activated it, the Treant Spirits like
Though in practice, they'd just be forcibly teleported back to the surface.
Baston, the bald man, was looking increasingly displeased as his companions' panic added to the tension.
No, this wasn't a difficulty problem.
The challengers were just too incompetent.
If I'd known it would come to this, I should have prepared Sakura...
As I was lamenting this,
"Baston! There's a room over here!"
One of his companions noticed a door.
"Hey, Ramiris. What's in that room?
There aren't monster rooms on the first floor, right? Does it actually have something worth showing off?"
"It's f-fine. That group of challengers is a bit much, even for me...
I hate to say it, but their recklessness was beyond our expectations.
But that room just has one monster and a treasure chest. No problem!"
Good, then we were fine.
They'd really had me worried. I couldn't believe our plans might go sideways over something like this...
That adventurer's party was around B-rank, I figured.
And they had six members making up a full party—to stumble on the first floor was beyond ridiculous.
Well, it was unlikely they'd clear it in about two hours, but getting wiped out would be bad for publicity.
I watched the footage with my heart in my throat.
One of them opened a door cautiously.
Inside was a single Giant Bear.
It was fine. A C-rank monster—they could definitely handle it.
"It's a monster! A Giant Bear! I'll draw its attention—find an opening!"
Baston burst into the room and confronted the Giant Bear head-on.
The battle began.
His companions poured in support, and in less than five minutes, the Giant Bear was defeated.
Not a single person was injured. But still...
"Hey, it took six of you five minutes to take down a single Giant Bear?
At this rate, clearing just the first floor might take three days..."
"Yeah, you're right... We should probably place some monsters that drop food too..."
Could it be that the dungeon was even harder than we'd imagined?
No, I wanted to believe they were just that low-level.
Well, the vast map was mainly on the upper floors and near the bottom.
Traps and other obstacles would increase as you went deeper, so the map would gradually shrink.
I'd intended for them to clear ten floors within a week, but it seemed I should set the difficulty level higher than I'd initially planned.
*'Oh! The death match with the Giant Bear has finally concluded!*
*It seems there was a treasure chest in this room. What could be inside...?'*
At Souka's voice, all eyes turned to the big screen.
One of Baston's companions casually opened the chest.
Come on, at least be on guard for traps! Looking at this, even Elen and the others looked like true experts by comparison.
They were so absurdly low-level that it was actually scary to watch.
To my eyes, conditioned by years of gaming, they looked like complete amateurs.
Maybe treasure chests in dungeons weren't a common concept in this world. That could explain their recklessness.
Well, someone like
As hired guards, they just weren't used to this sort of thing.
Anyway—
"O-Oh! Baston, it's a sword!"
Yes! It seemed they'd pulled a good prize.
"No, today I've set it up so that everything inside is a good haul!"
Oh, Veldora! You read the room perfectly.
"Nice judgment. If they don't have a good time today, fewer people will want to come to the dungeon."
We nodded in agreement.
Baston and his group took turns examining the sword, whistling in appreciation.
They seemed quite pleased.
"Alright, guys! Let's keep this momentum going!"
Baston put away his hand axe and switched to the sword.
Three Kobolds appeared, but the sword's quality helped them make quick work of them.
It was a lowest-grade blade forged by Kurobei, but to these guys, it was practically a legendary weapon. They cut down every monster that appeared and pressed forward in high spirits.
They'd also collected a decent amount of Magic Crystals from monster drops.
"This is great! We could make some serious money here!"
They chatted happily, faces beaming.
They continued deeper at a good pace.
And Souka provided live commentary the whole way.
The audience was glued to Baston and his group's progress. More accurately, the massive battle scenes streaming across the big screen had them feeling as though they were exploring the dungeon themselves.
Every time a monster appeared, screams could be heard from the crowd—the reactions were quite entertaining.
They might as well have been watching a horror movie.
Just as the two-hour mark was about to be reached—
"GYAAAAAH!"
One of Baston's companions went down.
It looked like a monster in the room had gotten him.
Inside was a single Skeleton, its bow drawn, shooting at anyone who entered.
The unfortunate soul took an arrow through the forehead and dissolved into particles of light.
A perfect experience of death—you couldn't ask for better.
The Skeleton was quickly dispatched by the remaining five.
That should be enough. The experience was sufficient, there'd been real tension, and all things considered, they'd been ideal challengers.
*'It's about time to wrap up! With a casualty among us, let's call it here and return!'*
Souka caught my telepathic signal and made the announcement.
They looted the treasure chest in the room, and Baston's group initiated their return.
We were forcibly activating the bracelet's ability. Since this was a trial run, we had no intention of letting them keep the bracelets.
The items they'd gotten from the treasure chest were their reward.
They appeared beside the temporary entrance at the center of the arena, where they confirmed the safety of their revived companion and celebrated together.
"That's incredible!! You really came back to life!?"
"Yeah, I thought I was done for, but the pain vanished in an instant and I was fine!"
"No way! Then we can really go for it!"
No, no, you guys were "going for it" from the very beginning.
You didn't even bother watching for traps, and this approach wouldn't work past the second floor where traps start appearing.
I wanted to say all that, but I held back.
"So? Did you enjoy yourselves?
Starting tomorrow, this dungeon will be officially open!
If anyone's interested, I strongly encourage you to take on the challenge!"
With those closing words, the dungeon viewing tour came to a successful end.
It had gone extremely well.
The finals had been exciting enough, but the interior footage of the dungeon had given people a near-firsthand sense of what it was like.
And so, the multi-day debut of myself—the Demon Lord—and our nation, the Monster Country, came to a successful conclusion.
That night, we hosted another grand banquet under our banner.
It was to leave a good impression.
With the event having gone off without a hitch, I was looking forward to seeing what came next.
I could only hope everything would proceed according to plan.
And as thoughts of the coming days filled my mind, the night slowly deepened.