TPDGR 04

Chapter 4….

They always looked bewildered whenever they finished cleaning and received their pay.

After all, they had just cleaned this enormous castle and were walking away with nothing more than a basket of fruit.

Well, I’d heard the Orc Dungeon Chieftain wasn’t the type to hand out even a single grain of rice.

That Orc Dungeon Chieftain—what a bastard.

If you’ve worked slaves to the bone and stocked up piles of grain in your warehouse, shouldn’t you at least share some?

But perhaps because demons don’t die even if they starve, he worked them like slaves yet didn’t even give them food.

Still, how could anyone withhold food?

Truly rotten to the core.

I already disliked the Orc Chieftain I had never even seen, but it wasn’t my place to confront him.

Unless he came looking for me himself.

Then, sure—I’d gladly punch him in the face.

But since he was a dungeon master, I couldn’t exactly travel over to his dungeon.

And honestly, it’d be absurd if I went out of my way just to spit in the Orc Chieftain’s face.

Who was I to them, anyway? All I’d done was hire them for cleaning a few times.

So instead, I handed them an extra basket full of fresh demon peaches.

Their eyes widened in shock.

“Lord Demon King, you’re giving us all this?”

“Of course. You’ve worked hard. And I’d like you to keep coming every three days to clean my castle regularly.”

“Y-Yes, my lord! Please leave it to us!”

“Next time you come, I’ll make it two baskets a day… huh?”

I trailed off mid-sentence, staring at the orc standing to my left.

“What’s with your eye?”

“Eh? Ah… it’s nothing, sir.”

The massive orc, easily three meters tall, quickly covered his face under my gaze.

But he couldn’t fool my sharp eyes.

“Your skin’s green like a frog, so I almost didn’t notice… but that’s definitely a bruise.”

“Should I call that keen observation or rude curiosity…”

Looking closer, the orc’s eye was swollen and bruised a dark blue.

“Ah, so an intruder must’ve attacked, huh? You got hit? Maybe by a hunter… or a hunter… or maybe even a hunter…?”

I immediately assumed hunters had shown up and roughed him up.

In modern fantasy novels, hunters were those who dove into dungeons whenever gates opened, beating up monsters.

They leveled up like game characters, bought and sold items among themselves.

Maybe I should’ve listened to those readers back then, the ones who told me, ‘If you die and transmigrate into a novel one day, better read childcare stories instead.’

Who would’ve thought I’d reincarnate not as a hunter, but as the Demon King?

Now that I had awakened after a hundred years, I had to worry about hunters invading my dungeon.

Since I’d woken up, the gate connected to my dungeon would soon open in Korea.

Maybe it had already opened.

Then, just like in the novels, the protagonist would clear dungeons one by one until he reached mine.

“Was it humans from Earth? Is that how you got hurt?”

“Eh? N-No, that’s not it…”

The three orcs fidgeted, none of them daring to answer directly.

What was up with them?

Why couldn’t they just spit it out?

“It wasn’t humans. This was… the Chieftain’s doing.”

“Huh? The Chieftain?”

The Orc Dungeon Master?

I didn’t understand what he meant at first.

“Yes, the Chieftain has a fiery temper…”

“So… the Chieftain hit you?”

The orc silently nodded.

“He often disciplines us low-ranking monsters. It’s just the usual. Like venting his anger on a bad day. Please don’t worry about it, my lord.”

What he said was utterly absurd.

How could I not worry after hearing that? Was I the weird one here? How could he tell me not to mind it when it was absolutely something to mind?

He said he got beaten up—how could I just ignore that?

As I sat there in shock, one of the orcs spoke hesitantly.

“Um, Lord Demon King… by any chance…”

The big guy glanced nervously, as though guilty, sneaking glances toward something in the distance.

I followed his gaze.

There, beyond us, lay a village—empty for a hundred years now.

A place with no inhabitants.

Countless abandoned homes.

The orc stared blankly at it for a moment, then quickly dropped his gaze.

“N-Never mind.”

“Mm.”

“…You’re not going to ask what I was about to say?”

“Mm.”

“…I see.”

“Take a few extra fruits. A bonus.”

“Th-thank you, my lord.”

“Come again.”

The orcs gave me an awkward look before gathering their fruit and leaving the Demon King’s castle.

After they left, I opened the freshly polished window.

Through it, I watched them shuffle off toward the gate, shoulders drooping like cattle being led to slaughter.

“Kyu-uuu…”

Kyu had crept up beside me, perching on my shoulder with a pitiful cry.

I scratched under Kyu’s chin—yes, surprisingly, it did have a chin—while sighing heavily.

“Kyu, this bothers you too, right?”

“Kkuruk.”

The orcs disappeared into the gate.

“……”

I inhaled the soft scent of fresh laundry soap from my clothes, lost in thought.

At that same time, in Korea—

A hundred years had already passed since the first gate opened in Seoul.

Exactly a century ago, mysterious doors called “gates” appeared worldwide, and monsters from beyond flooded through them.

Along with the gates, certain humans awakened.

Humans who gained powers beyond mortal limits.

These chosen few were called “awakeners,” or more commonly, “hunters.”

Hunters fought back against invading monsters and rose as the new heroes of Earth.

And now, a hundred years since the first gate appeared, South Korea had transformed drastically.

The government and society had fully adapted to the existence of gates, dungeons, monsters, and hunters.

Over time, intricate laws had been established to regulate everything related to hunters and dungeons.

Naturally, the awakened hunters prospered alongside the rise of dungeons.

At first, there were bitter power struggles between influential politicians and hunters.

Many hunters and politicians died fighting for dominance.

In the end, hunters emerged victorious and rewrote history.

At the center of this new order was the Hunter Association.

The Association, tasked with closing gates daily, had grown to rival national governments in power.

But wherever there is a massive organization, dissatisfaction follows.

“What’s this crap about only registered hunters being allowed to enter dungeons and close gates? Don’t make me laugh!”

A black-market guild leader spat in frustration.

“I awakened as a hunter, thought I could make some money by raiding dungeons… and then they tell me I’ve gotta pay outrageous fees just to join the Association, plus monthly maintenance costs? That’s just a glorified pyramid scheme!”

“Well, the government can’t even rein them in anymore. They’ve grown too big…”

Another guild member replied dryly.

“They said it was all for the people at first, but behind the scenes it’s nothing but shady deals. Classic scam. And with the Association meddling everywhere now, it’s hard to make a living. What are we supposed to eat?”

“It’s all the Association’s fault.”

“Exactly.”

So, once again, they were scouring for gates untouched by the Association’s reach.

For example, a dungeon that had secretly formed beneath a bridge—

An “unrated dungeon.”

The guild leader narrowed his eyes at the dungeon’s readout.

“Unrated? In this day and age? I thought everything got measured. How can there still be dungeons like this?”

Something about it felt… off.

“The boss monster is listed as… the Demon King?”

“Hm-hm-hm~”

Humming a tune, I lay sprawled across the grassy hill below my Demon King’s castle.

Thanks to the orcs, the castle was spotless, so I no longer had to avoid the dust and camp outside.

Still, I came out anyway—because this was my sunlight-bathing time.

I lay there with my mask tilted on my face, soaking in the rays.

Ah… so warm. Sleep was creeping up on me.

I could drift into the deepest nap right here.

Except…

Hmm. Someone just came in, didn’t they?

Instead of sleep, my senses sharpened.

There was a strange presence in my dungeon, one I couldn’t feel from Kyu or the orcs.

I knew it instinctively.

Yeah. Humans.

Humans had entered my dungeon.

And not just one—several of them.

They were creeping closer, crawling toward me.

How did I know? Well… Demon King’s intuition?

Feigning ignorance, I chewed lazily on a blade of grass, looking relaxed.

But I could feel them.

Gripping their weapons tightly in both hands, tense and nervous, they were slowly closing in on me.