{Ragnar's POV}
The bat was gone.
But its memory haunted me.
I stood in the vast, empty darkness of the second floor, a colossal cavern of undeveloped potential.
Chloe stood beside me, a silent, seven-foot-tall statue of lethal perfection.
"It saw us," I hissed, my voice echoing in the gloom.
I pointed a shaky finger at the spot where the tiny winged spy had fluttered.
"It saw me designing our private suite. It saw the blueprints for the hot tub."
I grabbed her arm, my paranoia flaring up like a bad rash.
"It's going to tell the others. Gary the kobold will hear the news. He'll form a committee. They'll petition for visiting hours to the Sex Bunker."
Chloe just tilted her head, her amethyst eyes filled with a serene confusion that was both beautiful and deeply unhelpful.
I pushed the feeling of 'Paranoia. Spies. No horny goblins allowed.' through our bond.
She gave a slow, understanding nod.
Then she glanced at my blueprints, then back at me, and a tiny, almost imperceptible smile touched her lips.
She was probably just happy about the soundproof walls.
I had spent an obscene amount of Domain Points on those walls.
More than my entire goblin army was worth.
But privacy was priceless, especially when your entire workforce consisted of peeping toms with pointy teeth.
Still, the Sex Bunker was a long-term project.
Right now, I had a business to run.
This new floor was prime real estate, and it couldn't just be for my own degenerate pleasures.
It had to be a new, more terrifying attraction for my customers.
"Okay, new plan," I announced, turning my attention back to the holographic map on my phone.
"The first floor is now the 'Kiddie Pool.' It stays as the farm. We keep churning out the D-Rank sword, give the student heroes a little thrill, an 80% chance of survival, and a story to tell their friends."
I swiped the map down to the new, empty second floor.
"This," I said with a deep, booming voice that I was getting rather good at, "is the 'Meat Grinder'."
"This is for the pros. The real heroes. The ones with actual armor and more than two brain cells to rub together."
I needed to lure them down here.
The farm on the first floor was great for consistent, low-level EXP, but it was like trying to fill an ocean with a teaspoon.
I needed bigger fish.
And bigger fish required better bait.
I cracked my knuckles and opened the hero forums on my phone. It was time for my favorite sock puppets to make another appearance.
User: DungeonDelver_Dan
Subject: RUMOR: Second Floor Unlocked in Sector 7 Farm?!
Hey guys, has anyone heard this? My buddy's cousin went into the Farm today, and he swears a new staircase has opened up near the entrance. Said it led down into total darkness. They were too scared to go down. Is the Demon King expanding? Could there be better loot?
I let that simmer for about five minutes.
Then, I logged in as SwordGal_Suki.
@DungeonDelver_Dan OMG it's true! My party just saw it! We didn't go down either, but you could FEEL the power coming from it. It felt… high-level. Definitely not for us newbies. But I bet a real party could find some C-Rank stuff down there!
The forums exploded.
The allure of the unknown, the promise of better gear, was an irresistible drug to these people.
They were so predictable.
Within the hour, my system chimed.
[Invaders have entered the Domain. Invader Count: 8.]
Not twelve.
A smaller, more confident group.
I pulled up the feed.
They were clad in mismatched but decent-looking iron armor, led by a cocky bastard with a flashy helmet and a sword that was trying way too hard.
He was talking to a floating camera drone.
He was a streamer.
"Alright, Vindicator Squad!" the leader, Zephariel, announced to his audience. "You heard the rumors, and Zephariel is here to confirm! We're the first to venture into the second level of the Sector 7 dungeon! Smash that like button and subscribe, because we're about to get some epic C-Rank loot!"
I wanted to vomit.
"Okay, Chloe," I said, pointing at the screen. "That one. I want him to suffer."
I didn't have much on the second floor yet. It was still just a big, empty cave. But my C-Rank Creation had unlocked a new, wonderful toy.
Orcs.
They cost a whopping 25 CP each, but they were big, dumb, and full of hate.
Perfect.
I spawned a squad of ten of them in the center of the cavern, right in the path of Zephariel and his Vindicator Squad.
The heroes descended the stairs, their flashlights cutting through the oppressive darkness.
"Whoa, this place is huge!" one of them said.
"More room for epic loot!" Zephariel declared. "Stay sharp, team. We don't know what's down here."
Then their flashlight beams caught the orcs.
Ten green-skinned mountains of muscle turned their ugly, tusked faces toward the light, their small, pig-like eyes glowing red with instant fury.
"ORCS!" Zephariel yelled, a tremor of fear finally entering his voice. "Holy crap, they're huge! Formation! Hold the line!"
The orcs didn't wait for a formation. They just charged.
BOOM!
The ground didn't just tremble; the entire cavern floor shook as ten tons of angry green meat stampeded forward. The air itself was ripped apart by their advance, a wave of pressure blasting ahead of them.
The wind shrieked as the lead orc, a particularly large one holding a crude stone axe, raised its weapon.
"Tank, hold them!" Zephariel screamed.
The party's tank, a burly man with a tower shield, braced himself.
The orc's axe came down, transforming into a gray blur of impossible speed.
BOOM!
The axe collided with the shield. It wasn't a clang; it was a visible explosion of pure, concussive force.
A massive, white, circular shockwave blasted outwards from the point of impact, kicking up a storm of dust and rock.
The tank was launched backward like he'd been hit by a truck, his shield arm shattering with an audible CRACK! He slammed into the cavern wall and didn't get up.
A force ran through his very bones, and his health bar vanished from my screen.
One down.
The rest of the Vindicator Squad panicked. Their formation broke.
"They're too strong!" a mage shrieked, fumbling with a spell.
Zephariel, to his credit, charged forward, his fancy sword held high. "For the stream! For glory!"
An orc simply backhanded him.
BOOM!
The impact sent another sonic boom cracking through the air. Zephariel flew sideways, his helmet crunching, and landed in a heap.
The battle was a ten-second massacre.
It was brutal. It was efficient. It was deeply, deeply satisfying.
When the dust settled, only one hero was left, a rogue who had hidden behind a rock. She was staring in abject terror at the scene of carnage.
The orcs, having finished their rampage, were now sniffing the corpses for snacks.
I gave the rogue a gift.
I made the orcs ignore her.
I let her crawl away, back up the stairs, whimpering in fear.
She would be my best advertisement.
But I wasn't done. The bait needed to be set.
My B-Rank Alchemy had been itching for a real project.
I had my minions spend two days mining the silver veins I'd discovered in the new floor. I smelted the ore in my makeshift furnace, hammered it into shape, and imbued it with a fraction of my own chaotic energy.
The result was a C-Rank Silver Spear.
It was beautifully crafted, perfectly balanced, and it hummed with a soft, murderous light.
I placed it in a chest right where Zephariel's body had been.
The next day, a new party of heroes, brave and stupid in equal measure, ventured down. They fought the orcs. Two of them died, but they won.
And they found the spear.
The news spread like wildfire.
The Sector 7 Dungeon wasn't just a farm anymore. It had a hardcore raid zone. The risk was high, but the reward was real.
My plan had worked.
Too well.
A notification flooded my phone screen.
[Massive invader influx detected! Threat Level: A!]
[You have defeated multiple C-Rank Heroes!]
[You have gained 1200 Experience Points!]
[You have Leveled Up!]
[You are now Level 3!]
[Your Creation Point (CP) Cap has increased to 300!]
[Your Creation Point (CP) Recovery Rate has increased!]
[You have gained 5 Bonus Points (BP)!]
A wave of power surged through me. It was intoxicating.
I was about to celebrate, to start planning how to use my new points, when my phone's screen went black.
Then, a single, massive, unskippable pop-up appeared.
[Congratulations on reaching Level 3!]
[A new path is open to you. Your evolution has begun.]
[Please select your new racial form. System functions will be locked until a choice is made.]
Below the text were six glowing icons.
I stared at them, my blood running cold.
I couldn't access my map.
I couldn't command my minions.
I couldn't see the army of high-level heroes that were, at this very moment, pouring into my dungeon.
I was locked out.
I was flying completely blind until I made the most important decision of my new, monstrous life.