Rare Candy — a tool from the Pokémon world. In the games, feeding it to a Pokémon grants experience points, and once enough experience is accumulated, the Pokémon levels up or even evolves.
But in this world, there is no such thing as "experience points," so its effect transformed into something that directly strengthens the creature that consumes it.
Humans can use it too, of course, but since the Hunting Journal didn't explicitly state that, Antilly simply assumed it was for pets only.
Even so, she was still quite pleased with its effects.
(***)
"Hmm~ quite a lot of items have had their effects altered."
Inside the Lord's chamber.
To this day, Wade still hadn't achieved 100% development of Sein Dungeon.
His previous-life background was far too complicated, resulting in an absurdly diverse range of usable monsters and items — everything felt overflowing with vitality and eager to proliferate.
In simpler terms: there were way too many things he could use. Fully developing everything in a short time was impossible.
Whenever selecting items to distribute as rewards, Wade personally tested each one. Only after confirming no major issues would he release them.
The range of items was astonishingly wide.
There were items like the "Reversal Ring," "Left Bow," and "Throwing Knife," which took game "traits" and manifested them as actual combat techniques.
There were items like the Rare Candy and Bonfire, whose effects had been slightly adjusted to fit this world better.
And then there were items whose effects remained the same, such as the Repair Powder that restored weapons with a single pat, the Alluring Skull, and the Blood Vials.
Before testing personally, who could possibly know which items were safe to release and which absolutely must never see the light of day?
Reversal Ring was manageable — but if adventurers ever discovered how to mass-produce Rare Candy, wouldn't the world be over?
At that point, the entire world would be conquered by Soulsborne players.
Some items must never be released. Some must be restricted even within the dungeon. Just hearing the names alone was enough to know how terrifying they were:
Black Flame. Scarlet Rot. The Abyss. Effects that linger even after death and cannot be purified.
Once those entered the world, everything would become a scorched-earth playstyle — completely opposite Wade's goal of long-term sustainable development.
He looked at a displayed monster:
[Decaying Ekzykes]
A dragon covered in Scarlet Rot — essentially a walking biochemical disaster. Absolutely unusable against adventurers.
But against other dungeons?
The Dungeon War was approaching, and Wade was already selecting suitable forces. Since the Hive Nest Dungeon's main units were insects, the ideal counter was monsters with large-scale AOE attacks.
No need to insist on lightning, the insect weakness — anything effective was good enough.
The battlefield of a Dungeon War was mostly determined by the defender, but the challenger could attach part of their own territory as a base.
Wade planned to go all-out from the very beginning — unleashing the strongest units he had and simply steamrolling the enemy. Only fools would try to match insects in a war of mass-production.
He was running a dungeon, not playing Starship Troopers, Helldivers, or StarCraft II.
He had no idea what strategy the opponent would use. This would be both sides' first Dungeon War — logically, both should still be rookies.
Their Authority should also be Level 3. At that level, their strongest monsters would be around B-Rank. Wade had long been curious what this world considered "strong" compared to things like the Crucible Knight or the Dragonslayer Armour.
"When will this finally light up?"
He glanced at a nameless greyed-out option next to the Available Monsters tab. Ever since reaching Authority Level 3, it had appeared.
Unlock conditions unknown. His inquiry to the Astar Alliance remained unanswered.
"…Could it be related to adventurers somehow?"
(***)
Meanwhile, Darrick stood in the farmyard, surrounded by wolves, utterly bewildered.
Four male wolves in the pack had suddenly learned to change size freely — shifting between normal wolf form and full werewolf form.
Maybe their dormant monster bloodline had awakened? But…
Watching them happily chase butterflies, occasionally rolling over when they tripped, he couldn't see them as violent monsters at all.
Aren't beasts supposed to turn vicious after undergoing monsterization?
There had been a demon attack on the farm, yes, but it wasn't anything like the nightmare Darrick remembered — just two worthless small-fry that popped out of nowhere.
But the werewolves pounced on them, shredded them, and devoured them. After reverting to their ancient form, the wolves seemed to prefer demon meat.
Although demons appearing should've been a major disaster, the moment Darrick realized the attackers were just trash mobs, he felt a strange sense of relief.
Was this that rumored phenomenon… where a man trying to protect his windows eventually compromises with someone tearing down his roof?
A moment later, Roger arrived and explained everything.
Darrick's expression turned extremely complicated.
That day, while waiting for him to come home, Antilly discovered the wolves had monster bloodlines. By chance, she was researching the Rare Candies she'd gotten from the Gourmet Zone. A few male wolves chasing her around accidentally ate the ones she dropped.
After that, they underwent Atavism, their combat ability skyrocketing.
Antilly had fed Rare Candies to her own pets as well — their strength increased, but none of them experienced atavism. After much thought, she concluded the wolves just happened to have the perfect concentration of monster blood.
This was also why she subtly tested Darrick about the wolf pack back when they explored the dungeon together, even offering free training techniques.
Aside from finding them interesting, she believed Darrick had the talent of a Beast Tamer.
"I thought she was acting strange back then, but I never found the right moment to tell you…"
Roger wiggled his eyebrows.
"If you're upset, how about I help you go beat her up? I tie the top, you tie the bottom."
…What kind of phrasing was that? And how inappropriate could one sentence be?
But Darrick understood now — Roger only said that because he knew Darrick wasn't actually angry.
Darrick shook his head.
"It's fine. I should probably thank her. If not for her…"
The wolf pack might have suffered heavy casualties today.
Relief washed over him — and with it, an urgent sense of crisis.
He survived this time. But what about next time? What if stronger demons appeared? What if even the werewolves couldn't win?
He couldn't stay here anymore. They needed to move. At the very least, they had to leave the southwest. Renting land in the city… might be possible.
No — that wouldn't work. What if demons invaded the city?
The chance was small, yes. But if the demons were indeed being led by that person…
Their only hope would be Sid taking action — or Sein going berserk again.
The former was still within reason. The latter… why would a dungeon help adventurers for no reason?
Relying on others was foolish. The powerless were like insects — easily crushed by calamities, like civilians killed by Abyss infections, or masses wiped out by a Tiger's explosive roar.
"Hah…"
Darrick exhaled softly and made up his mind.
"Can you go with me to Sain again tomorrow?"
"Huh?"
Roger blinked. This guy wasn't going to rest at all? Was he some kind of ascetic monk?
But when he saw Darrick's unwavering eyes, Roger stopped questioning. It was the look of someone who had already made their decision — a look men instinctively understood. Roger grinned.
"Sorry, I'm busy tomorrow."
Seeing Darrick's confusion, he added:
"The Guild summoned all Silver-rank adventurers for a meeting tomorrow. It's about the demons. Attendance is voluntary, but I heard there are rewards."
Roger shot him a very "bro-I-can-sign-your-attendance-if-you-wanna-skip-class" style wink.
---
The next day, in the Adventurers' Guild conference room—
As expected, Darrick was absent. All other Silver-ranks were present, filling the room. One missing person hardly mattered.
The Guild issued a request exclusively for Silver-rank and above:
[Investigate demon activity southwest of the City]
Party size was restricted, with a minimum of four members to prevent unnecessary casualties.
The Holy Light Church would provide support—holy tools, and priests if needed.
The Bedford family would increase patrols and immediately deploy their fighting forces if anything was detected.
Count Charon's mercenary company would act as the family's strongest card.
After the meeting, Sid privately called over the Raid Team and Roger's group.
"There is a confidential request I want to entrust to you — an unofficial commission issued under my name."
Sid unfolded a map on the table. It showed the layout of a certain city, even marking guard shifts and patrol routes. If someone wanted to invade the city, this map was practically a cheat code.
"This is the map of Val City. Take it."
Sid continued:
"I need you to infiltrate Val City quietly and record anything unusual."
"That city… has been strange lately."
Everyone's expressions hardened. Thinking back, there truly hadn't been any news from Val City recently — almost as if it had been erased.
While the Adventurers' Guild was under grim tension—
One person stepped into Sein Dungeon.
After countless battles, Darrick dragged his battered body through the gates of Farron Keep. Four blood-stained werewolves followed behind him.
Inside an abandoned structure, he finally saw the thing he had been longing for—
The Old Wolf of Farron!