Now that she was gone from here, it was time to start my training. And to start, I must check my status to get an idea of where I should start.

Name: Vincent Anderson

Species: Human (otherworlder)

Sex: Male

Age: 20 years old

Height: 175 cm

Occupation: Programmer student

Title: [Humanoid] Dungeon Master

Vocation: [Programming] [Developer Interface]

Stats:

STR: F (7) AGI: F (8) VIT: F- (5) MAG: F (10) SPR: F (7)

Accumulation Points: 7 [F]

Wait a minute, I’m pretty sure that my stats weren’t this high previously. However, I had a good speculation about why my stats had improved; it appeared that becoming a Dungeon Master came with its own perks.

Prior, it was my MAG that went from zero to ten, then now all the others got a one stat bonus. I concluded that my stats grew alongside the dungeon, and I suspected that Crowned Monster would have the same incremental as me.

“Heh. An increase or not, it’s not dependable.” What was most important was raising my own power with training, since there was no guarantee that the stats would increase again by themselves later.

I immersed myself in thought for a bit, thinking about how to do the training. This wasn’t a gym, and while it wasn’t impossible to make gym equipment — in the Artificial Realm or not — I was limited to simple equipment. Moreover, it might take a while to make.

All of a sudden, I recalled a certain “show” about how doing one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and a ten-kilometer run would make me overpowered. But the first three aside that I could barely do, the last one… maybe not.

Still, it was the best option to go for the basics for now. And so, I did this set of muscle training except for the ten-kilometer run.

Firstly, I went for one hundred push-ups in four sets of twenty-five with a thirty-second break between sets. Secondly, the sit-ups were done exactly the same as the push-ups with the four sets. Lastly, there was nothing to be said here.

I huffed and puffed, lying on the ground while drenched in my own sweat. Before I was able to do much, I had exhausted myself quickly… I remembered the macho muscle builders in the gym back in my world; they must have gone through a lot to get those bodies.

Uh, if only there’s something that can recover my stamina quickly, I whined inside my heart, crawling to get up.

It was at that point that something crossed my mind: the Dungeon Core. One thing to note, the monsters that inhabited this dungeon could recover from their injuries quickly, and since I was a Dungeon Master, I should be able to use it as well. Plus, the act of muscle training was basically tearing my muscles which was the same as being injured.

With this brilliant idea in mind, I immediately tested it by opening a portal straight to the Core Room. By sitting next to the pedestal, I was instantly filled with endless vitality as if I’d just taken steroids or something.

My muscle tears that had been caused by intense physical activity began to mend. While it hadn't been long since I began my training, I could already begin to feel some changes. Really, the combination of the recovery ability of the Core and constant training would be the key to improving my strength quickly.

Ten minutes later, I sensed that my body was as good as new without a single trace of tiredness. Excellent! I could begin another set of muscle training. Slightly lazy as I was, I’d been given a wake-up call, and it was very effective in keeping me focused.

Hah! What a genius I am. With this, I just need to rinse and repeat. I raised a confident smile, stood tall, and did a fist pump.

After the moment of respite, I returned to the Artificial Realm and repeated the training set. Once I got tired again, I went back to the Core Room. This went on and on, with each set increasing the total amount of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats.

“Ahh! Five more! Phew…” I pushed both of my hands on the ground, lengthening them to raise my body. Beads of sweat trickled down my forehead like there was no tomorrow.

How much time had passed? Hours… days, or even weeks? I didn’t know because I only stopped when I was inside the Core Room, needed to go to the bathroom, or got strangely hungry and had to eat.

And before I even noticed, I could now do two hundred of each of the exercises. If it was me from a week ago, I would’ve doubted myself capable of doing this… or more like having a long-lasting will for this.

Since the problem was that even while the Dungeon Core amplified my regeneration rate, it didn’t completely return all the energy within my body. Over hours to days, the stress and fatigue piled up, from something speck-of-dust small to now like a mountain were put on top of me.

“Geez. You’re still going?” Lorelei’s grumbling voice was heard nearby. “You’re just a normal human Dungeon Master. There’s no need for you to get stronger.”

“…Yeah, but… It’s just like a routine at this point…” The constant training spanning so long that I didn’t know the word “time” had made me accustomed to doing this. I was dog tired, yes… but… “I have to work… my legs… at the very least.”

“Is that right?” She strolled to my side, and unexpectedly two bumps weighed down on my back. “So having a girl sitting on you wouldn’t even be a bother, yes?”

“Wha! No…” At that moment, my already spaghetti arms liquified as I fell to the ground with a thud. Ugh… heavy. “Sorry, I just can’t...”

“Agh! How rude.” There was a mild annoyance hidden behind her words.

“No… I just… reached my limit… Haaa.”

“But… that’s just fine. You have me to rely on since we are partners in crime, no? I’m here to protect you. To defeat your enemies,” she muttered, spreading the fingers of her hands on my back. “My Dungeon Master.”

It wasn’t something that someone majoring in computer science like me could answer, and it was pretty awkward too, so I diverted the conversation, “…Yeah… Um, how long has it been since I began training?” I didn’t have any spare energy to take out my phone.

“It has been three whole days. You have been doing this nonsensical thing for three days in a row,” answered Lorelei, enunciating each syllable. I heard it loud and clear, okay. There’s no need to repeat.

“So, have you finished with the information extraction?”

“Naturally. For like two days ago, but that’s of little account since I’ve been spending the rest of the time digging more hallways from either side of the Treasure Room #1 or whatever you call it.”

For easy memorization, I had previously named the room before the hallway as “Treasure Room #1” in the Dungeon Management catalog as it had one treasure chest inside, and I’d likely make similar treasure rooms later. From there, Lorelei and I had discussed together and planned to have it branched on two side walls to complicate the dungeon further, one of which would later lead to the second floor.

“Anyhow, wanna hear it straight from my mouth or…”

“Let’s do both. But, uh, wait… Gimme a minute.” My body was screaming in pain, unable to move at all, but what made my strength unable to recover was… “Lorelei…”

“Hm?”

“Please get off me...”

For whatever reason, she sighed and conceded, “Yeah, yeah.”

At length, I was able to relax… and as though a huge load was released from inside me, I exhaled like an open balloon. Yuck. This long training had caused my clothes to be soaked in sweat. Luckily, I had taken off my hoodie and put it to the side when I started, or else…

Coincidentally, I also inadvertently discovered that while using the Core had no drawbacks whatsoever, it only gave a partial result to what I would’ve gotten without. I mean, training muscles should have taken weeks, if not months, and I accelerated the process without having the necessary rest, which would have maximized my gains. In other words, I was doing twice the effort with half the result. Yet I never felt better, having myself set loose for the first time in my life.

Waiting for my body to recover, I used [Developer Interface] on myself to check my current status.

Name: Vincent Anderson

Species: Human (otherworlder)

Sex: Male

Age: 20 years old

Height: 175 cm

Occupation: Programmer student

Title: [Humanoid] Dungeon Master

Vocation: [Programming] [Developer Interface]

Stats:

STR: F (12) AGI: F (9) VIT: F- (9) MAG: F (10) SPR: F (7)

Accumulation Points: 8 [F]

Intuitively, a smile crept up on my face. Yep, it was all worth it!

“What’s up with the creepy smile?” Lorelei chimed.

“It’s nothing.” I forced myself to look at Lorelei to reply, but I was instead curious about her status. Might as well…

Name: Lorelei Argentum

Species: Dungeon Core (human)

Sex: Female

Age: 1 year old (16)

Height: 158 cm

Occupation: A Dungeon Core of an unknown dungeon

Stats:

STR: F- (5) AGI: F- (4) VIT: F- (4) MAG: E (31) SPR: F- (4)

Accumulation Points: 9 [F+]

Gah! She’s still stronger than me… AP-wise.

Nevertheless, this led me to wonder if stats could be increased by constant training, could they also decrease from not using them? I figured that that would be the case; there was no way that a wrinkled old man would be as strong as his prime.

“Ready to go?”

“A minute,” I said, sitting up and sniffing around. “I want to shower first.”

“Fine. Though I don’t mind even if you don’t.”

“No! At this point, it’s more about me than about you.” She wouldn’t understand, being a Dungeon Core used to consuming dead corpses.

Twenty minutes later, once I was done taking a bath, I changed my clothes to the ones purchased through the Dungeon Menu. I’d been using the same set of clothes for like a week, so using it again would be too much even for me.

By the way, it was a [Lavish Set (280 CP)] containing [Lavish Leather Suit (120 CP)], [Lavish Black Leather Pants (50 CP)], [Lavish Dark Brown Leather Boots (70 CP)], and [Lavish Black Gloves (40 CP)]. The suit was a set of a black dress shirt, a long white vest, and a dark brown coat with golden trimmings and tassels, ending with black fur trims. The black pants were embellished with an iron ring belt strapped around it that could be seen between the lower white vest. And lastly were the black gloves and the dark brown boots held by multiple buckles. While it might look a little fancy at first, it was very comfortable to use, like it was purposely made for adventuring — not overly hot nor cold. Perfect.

While adjusting the seemingly loose gloves, I announced, “I’m all set!”

“Oh, don’t be overreacting; you just look a little better in those clothes.”

“Shut it, you.”

“But I must admit, we now match.” She showed her thin black gloves.

“Ah, you’re right. Anyway, let’s go to ‘em.” I believed it was inappropriate to bring those three here into the Artificial Realm even though they were already brainwashed, so Lorelei and I came straight to the room where they were detained.

The room was murky and lacked any sort of light except for some lanterns gotten from the invaders placed at the side. Sitting on the ground were three people that appeared to have lost any sort of logical thought and staring at the wall absentmindedly. As a matter of fact, I noticed that Rowan was getting thinner and was uttering something as if frightened. Would I have experienced the same if I had lost?

“Lorelei, just a quick question: What have you been feeding them for the past three days?”

“Roasted rats, of course,” Lorelei admitted without the slightest indication of guilt “You said that they should at least be hosted with minimal courtesy, so I gave them roasted meat instead of raw.”

Upon hearing the whole matter, I paled in bitterness. She is insane. No, her logic is not at fault here… Uh, maybe rats are a popular delicacy in this world, who knows? Besides, the rats were from the ones that died in the dungeon that I kept for feeding the goblins and kobolds — better make the most from what was available.

“And what did you use to roast them with?”

“The flamethrower golems, what else?” Is she pulling my leg?

I was lost for words, that meant that the roasted rats were already burnt to crisps before being served to them. Or at least, they were burned bitter black…