I woke up in a bed with nobody else in the room. I have no clue how long it has been since I've passed out. Why am I here? Oh yeah, I remember it. It must be a dream, right? It has to be.

I open the character panel.

-----------Character-Info--------------

Character Level: 1

Chosen Title: Dungeon Master (Lord)

Health Points: 70000/70000

Skills: Lord’s Decree, Talamuth’s Wisdom, Unity, Rebirth

This has to be a joke.

I try to open up the panel for building. Nothing pops out.

I tried the same with the summoning menu. Still nothing.

Also, what happened to my level? I cannot believe I'm back to level 1. And all my skills are gone. For what? I did not even want to sacrifice them, but the panel made me sacrifice all of them forcibly. Is it all worth it?

I remember having an explanation for each of the newer skills. But for some reason I cannot really remember the explanations. Well, I wish I could.

All of a sudden, the explanations appear before my eyes. It was as if the many heard what I was thinking.

Lord’s Decree

You now will only be able to level up as your dungeon improves. You will be able to view your dungeon status on a separate panel.

Talamuth’s Wisdom

You now have access to Talamuth’s Wisdom. You can now use origin magic directly.

Unity

Those under your lordship are glad to be a part of this dungeon. A better sense of community is established as you promote unity. This will increase your dungeon stats.

Of all these skills but stroke me the most is the second one. It states that I can now use origin magic directly. If I remember correctly, it was the origin magic practiced by the previous dungeon masters 70 years ago that shackled the entirety of underworld in an attempt to protect it. No wonder it gives me the chills. It sounds dangerous.

Besides, what is Talamuth anyway?

The first skill tells me that I will be able to view my dungeon status. I assume this is a new panel. Come on, show me.

-----------Dungeon-Status--------------

Dungeon level: 1

Dungeon master: Echo

Dungeon population: 6098

Wealth: ☆☆☆☆☆

Wellbeing: ★☆☆☆☆

Education: ☆☆☆☆☆

Military: ★☆☆☆☆

Research: ☆☆☆☆☆

Ouff…. No wonder why the dungeon level is 1.

No matter how mad I am at the fact that I cannot summon monsters anymore using this menu, I still need to get used to it. This dungeon status panel that now I have access to is totally new. Even Lilith did not mention something like this.

Either way, I need to start thinking about how to improve the dungeon. The dungeon status panel gives me some clues. However, it's just not very detailed. I guess the reason I got one star for the military is because of the population.

But I also figured out is that the dungeon population does not include the slimes. Is it because they're not sentient beings? Or is it because we use them mainly for food? I was looking forward to the moment that they somehow turn into something better and gain consciousness. Because I was able to summon new types of slimes, I thought that this was a possibility. For now, I will store this thought into the depths of my brain.

For the wellbeing indicator, I would assume that the reason we got one star is because everyone is surviving on a full stomach. This was mainly because I was able to summon as many slimes as I wanted to. That also is no longer an option. So, it's a smart to let the slimes multiply. You might also need to go out hunting and start agriculture as soon as possible.

For the other indicators, wealth, education and research, I understand very well why the dungeon received 0 stars. I need to work on them.

While there are no clear outlines how I can increase the level of the dungeon, the stars and the indicators make it obvious how I can improve it. The best guess I can make here right now is that as long as I keep improving the dungeon, it's level will go up.

To increase the population now I am completely dependent upon procreation of the monsters and immigration. One of the former will happen naturally as the time goes by. I need to work hard on the second one.

Immigration can happen one of two ways. The first way is having immigrants from other dungeons. In the light of the latest information I received from Lilith regarding other dungeons, this seems impossible. Still, I am planning to make up a team to raid other dungeons. They might have some treasure.

The latter way, however, is more achievable. Though it still is difficult. You can get immigrants from the outer world. I have seen it with my own eyes that there are monsters who live in the outer world outside this cave. Like those goblins in the goblin village.

I can think of two ways in getting immigrants from the outer world. The first one is making our dungeon famous. If enough monsters learn that there is a safe haven for them, then we would at least be able to get some of them immigrate here. However, this is risky. We need a better military for this or we need to work in secrecy to evade humanoids. Or any enemies at that.

The second way is less risky but is more difficult to coordinate. If we can make up teams to work in secrecy to reach out to monster communities and invite them here, we would be able to increase our population. Secrecy sure is one problem, but there is another problem with this as well. Why would they believe it? We were met with doubtful goblins even in the village I visited with Lilith until I summoned goblins in front of them. It is unfeasible for me to travel with a group to different villages just to find some groups of monsters willing to live here. For how long can I do something like that?

Either way, this is a worry of tomorrow. Before looking into how to attract more immigrants, the first thing I need to do is to improve the dungeon. There needs to be no concerns about food. And just in case, either of the plans to increase immigration go sour, we need to have a better military. Always take caution before taking the risk.

I get up and get out of the house. My stomach is growling. It feels like I have not eaten in days. The moment I leave the outside door, every single monster in the vicinity stops what they do and starts looking at me. Some I see are about to shed tears, while some are already crying.

I really wish these tears are not because they are sad to see me.

“Our Lord has woken up!”

The crowd starts shouting in joy. How long has it been really that I have been asleep?

Soon, many monsters gather around my house and are laughing happily. The atmosphere changes into that of a celebration day. Oh, I wish we could have had a festival.

Cutting through the crowd, Lilith comes forth. Her eyes are watery. It doesn't take too long for some tears to slowly slither through her cheeks.

“Master.” She says as she runs toward me. Her voice is muffed as if her throat was knotted. Tears of happiness. I see.

It is not only Lilith, but the entire crowd. I am at a loss of words. I never knew a crowd of nearly 6000 monsters would be so happy that I woke up one day.

“How long has it been?”

“Three months.”

That explains my growling stomach.