Luluwo declared that the knockoff Crucible Knight standing before them was the greatest "surprise" Cangyin Dungeon had prepared.
No—
a shock.
This thing… this thing—
"Pfft—!"
Luluwo was the first to lose it. She nearly spat out her saliva as the corners of her mouth shot upward into an uncontrollable grin.
"What is this thing?!" she blurted. "My god—how did it manage to be this ugly while still looking kind of similar?!"
She laughed loudly—so loudly it bordered on outright rudeness. Realizing that, she hastily covered her mouth, trying to look a little more polite.
"HAHAHAHA—"
The unrestrained laughter turned into muffled snickering instead.
With her setting such a terrible example, the rest of the Group soon followed. In moments, Cangyin Dungeon had turned into a sea of laughter.
The giant toads imitating Basilisks and the plant-men mimicking Skeletons earlier hadn't made them laugh—but this fake Crucible Knight was genuinely hilarious.
Part of it was how ugly it was.
The other, far more amusing part was that every single detail about it screamed stereotype.
The iconic axe-shaped helmet of a Crucible Knight had become a literal axe completely wrapping its head. The armor was a crude, polygonal mess—delicate engravings replaced with leaf veins. Rather than a Crucible Knight, it looked more like a plant-man wearing an axe for a head.
It felt as though the creator had only heard a vague description of a Crucible Knight from someone else, then relied entirely on imagination to cobble this monstrosity together.
Much like how Wade, as a child, once imagined "Yellow Monkey" from the Three Admirals as an actual yellow monkey—only to realize after growing up that what he'd imagined should have been called the Golden Lion.
Cangyin Dungeon was far too lively.
Perhaps provoked by the laughter, the fake Crucible Knight swung its greatsword and charged forward. Its running posture was surprisingly convincing, and its combat strength was at least that of an elite monster—
An elite monster by normal standards, of course. It couldn't be compared to Sein.
By Sein's rating system, a typical elite monster hovered around D-rank. A fight at this level would end instantly for the Group.
Bang!
The fake Knight crashed heavily to the ground. The vines forming its body writhed, struggling to reassemble its severed legs—only for a mid-tier fire spell to land squarely on it. Flames erupted, and it began thrashing violently.
"Pretty fire-resistant."
One fire spell wasn't enough.
So they used two.
Then three.
Only then was it finally reduced to ash.
Compared to what they'd faced earlier, this monster did have some real strength. It could probably block a fair number of adventurers.
But what was the point of blocking people here?!
Was it expecting powerful adventurers to fight their way into the valley just to squeeze tree sprite juice for fertilizer?!
Luluwo rubbed her temples and let out a long sigh.
If Sein Dungeon's design scored a ninety out of a hundred, then Cangyin Dungeon was a flawless ten.
"Does a dungeon like this even need a guide?" she muttered. "If we just leave it alone, no one will be coming here in two years."
Even two years felt optimistic.
Charon had said they could make a name for themselves here. Now, Luluwo was seriously questioning the count's judgment.
That said, setting her disdain aside, as a self-proclaimed veteran speedrunner, she still noticed a few useful details.
The fog gates that appeared during elite or boss fights were a specialty of Sein Dungeon. Other dungeons either lacked them entirely or relied on barriers and special terrain.
This valley had no such obstruction.
Meaning adventurers could lure the knockoff Crucible Knight away—then slip into the valley unnoticed.
Thinking further, perhaps there were traps in the swamp that could immobilize monsters, buying even more exploration time.
"I'm a genius," Luluwo said confidently, stepping into the valley.
The scenery opened up abruptly.
The air turned fresh. A lush green forest spread out before them—soft grass, blooming flowers, sunlight evenly bathing every plant.
"No wonder the townsfolk miss the old Cangyin Dungeon."
True to their professional instincts, the Group searched carefully, wary of traps hidden beneath the beauty.
But reality defied expectations.
There were monsters, but their style was completely different from earlier sections. The giant toads were gone, replaced by tree sprites shaped like trees, palm-sized forest fairies dancing through the air, cabbages with chubby dog-like faces, and tiny birds that exploded into fireworks when killed.
Luluwo didn't even know what to say.
This scene belonged in a fairy tale.
And the more she thought about it, the more she wanted to complain.
If the scenery was this beautiful, why not just commit to aesthetics?! People would come just to sightsee!
Who exactly was that swamp meant to disgust?!
If this dungeon had a consciousness, Luluwo would have loved to drag it out and interrogate it properly—why imitate Sein Dungeon instead of sticking to its own strengths?
But another question followed.
Why had Cangyin Dungeon mutated in the first place?
No one truly understood how dungeons functioned, but one theory had broad support: external stimuli caused dungeons to react.
The clearest evidence was dungeon rampages. Every recorded rampage had been triggered by outside factors.
Applying that theory to Cangyin Dungeon…
Was it because the number of entrants had plummeted?
In other words—because Sein Dungeon stole its "customers"?
Luluwo shook her head sharply and slapped her cheeks.
"Why am I even thinking about this? I'm not a scholar."
"Break's over. We've got work to do these next few days."
She glanced back toward the valley entrance. With their experience at Farron Keep, handling this "reskinned knockoff" wouldn't be difficult.
As for how long they'd stay—Count Charon had said they'd receive a magic message once traces of the demon race were found. Only then would they leave.
Either way, the Group were allies of the Farrom Guards. Given their current weakness, Luluwo intended to look after them during any future clashes with the demon race.
She bent down and picked a wildflower. A faint fragrance lingered, the closeness to nature soothing her nerves.
Still—one last complaint slipped out.
"Why dump a pile of crap outside such a beautiful place? Cangyin Dungeon's kinda dumb."
(***)
"Hey! I'm not dumb!"
Inside Cangyin Dungeon, within the Lord's chamber, a tiny figure barely over ten centimeters tall shouted in rage. Transparent wings fluttered behind her back.
She was so furious that her delicate features twisted completely out of shape—an absolute masterclass in exaggerated expressions.
This was the Lord of Cangyin Dungeon—Leleniye.
But right now, she preferred her original name—Hainis (From Chapter 2.)
One or two months ago, she had been a noble lady who ran away from home with her guard, Phyllis, just to play outside—only to become one of the first victims of Sein Dungeon's mutation.
After enduring a hellish ordeal, she and Phyllis had been sent back to the resurrection house, leaving her with severe trauma. Just hearing the name "Sein" now filled her with terror.
She had planned to issue a bounty upon returning home, calling for heroes to clear Sein Dungeon.
Instead, her furious parents locked her up immediately. A bounty was out of the question.
After a long stretch of boredom, she woke up one day to find her life completely overturned.
Hainis had suddenly become Leleniye—the Lord of Cangyin Dungeon.
She had been terrified at first—and even now, overwhelming anxiety clung to her.
For some unknown reason, the previous dungeon lord's mind had collapsed, and she had been dragged in as a replacement.
Unable to leave the dungeon.
Unable to communicate with the outside world.
Unable to see her parents—or Phyllis.
She didn't even know how her family reacted to her disappearance.
She had wanted to seek help, but every time she tried to reveal her identity to adventurers entering the dungeon, an inexplicable terror seized her—as if exposing herself would lead to a horrific end.
Fear wrapped tightly around her heart. At the same time, dwindling Mana pressured her relentlessly.
This dungeon was running out of mana.
And once it hit zero—
She would die.
It took Hainis several days to understand how the dungeon lord system worked. During that time, she also noticed Cangyin Dungeon's visitor count steadily declining.
She had to obtain Mana.
But how?
In desperation, she thought of Sein Dungeon.
If she copied its design… wouldn't she gain lots of mana?
But she'd only seen Sein's monsters and terrain firsthand. That shallow understanding wasn't enough to recreate it properly. She could only stitch together the monsters and structures left behind by the previous lord.
She had seen Skeletons and Iron Balls personally—but Basilisk Frogs and Crucible Knights only through adventurers' descriptions. That was why she used giant toads to imitate Basilisks and vine monsters to imitate Crucible Knights, producing something utterly abstract.
At first, it worked.
Her imitation traps caused mana to surge for several days, making her believe she could sustain the dungeon.
Then came the fourth day.
Visitor numbers fell off a cliff.
If life was made of ups and downs, hers was nothing but downs—stacked endlessly, with no sign of rising again.
She was going to die.
Die forgotten in some unseen corner.
She could reclaim the terrain for mana, leaving only a tiny empty space to barely survive a little longer…
But how was that any different from death?
And then—disaster piled atop disaster.
Not long ago, a group of strange beings who didn't disperse mental power when killed came knocking.
"We'll give you mana. You help us craft items."
She remembered it clearly—a "person" with a frog's head speaking to himself within the dungeon. Yet she knew without a doubt—
He was speaking to her.
She was terrified.
Those grotesque figures looked exactly like the demon race from legend.
They threatened her. If she didn't cooperate, they would come every day to wreak havoc, increasing her mana expenditure and accelerating her death.
She hadn't dared respond.
They left behind only a single sentence:
"We'll be back."
From that day on, her mind spiraled into chaos. She drifted through her days in a haze, desperately trying not to think—just like Sein Dungeon's previous lord, Aldwin, as if suffering from dementia.
Only today, when she sensed the powerful mental energy of Luluwo's group entering the dungeon, did Hainis finally regain clarity.
And at the very moment she woke up—
The nightmare returned.
The demon race had come again.