AN: Sorry for the late post, as a newbie I'm not used to write such action packed novel, although I'm not sure I actually managed to. 

9:00 am

 

bwo~on-bwo~on-bwo~on

 

Multiple war horns being blown resounded from outside the dungeon. Unlike the earlier wave, when only a single War Horn of Chaos—a monster attracting item—was used, this time there were more of them. And as a result, a monster stampede dwarfing the previous one appeared.

 

The villagers of First Tree had intuited—since they weren’t able to witness the monster extermination in the second wave due to the walls—the full extent of the Order of Darkness’ abilities. However, sensing a much, much greater horde of monsters, the evacuees felt despair once more.

 

And then, all of a sudden, something flew out of the medical facility on the other side of the dungeon. Like a bird, it flew, and yet it had a humanoid silhouette. Due to its speed, they were unable to discern more of its features.

 

BOOM!

 

A sound similar to a meteor crashing to earth echoed. When the dust cleared, the soldiers from the order found out its true identity. It was their master—the Dungeon Master Isao.

 

The soldiers had yet to see their lord in person, as they had just been summoned. But from what their leader and summoner, Asvarani, had shared with them, Isao was a humble and competent individual, albeit cowardly. What they felt from the man on collision course with the incoming stampede, however, was leagues apart from their expectations.

 

The dungeon master, who had activated his dragonization, was a dragon in human form. His dragonized form stood there like a warrior. But not a fearless one; this one was a resolute warrior who tries to overcome his fear, even at this moment. Even as he stood from afar, the soldiers on top of the walls could see with their superior vision his trembles.

 

::My Liege, allow me to—::

 

::From now on, I’ll be the only one to face the horde. Focus on eliminating those I miss and protecting the civilians.::

 

Asvarani, or Ava, tried to offer her lord support in facing the oncoming tsunami of monsters. However, with a deeper and beastlier voice and a commanding tone trying to hide his fear, Isao cut her off, instead giving Ava a succinct order.

 

::My Liege, is this because of my failure to protect the hero? If so, allow me to pay with my death! ::

 

::No. You have your orders, soldier; concentrate on them.::

 

Then, no matter how many times Ava tried to reach out with telepathy, her lord never bothered to reply to her again. Feeling a mix of frustration and hurt, Ava wondered if her lord's silence meant that he no longer trusted her abilities or if he simply had more pressing matters to attend to. She resolved to prove herself worthy of his attention and respect once again.

 

***

 

Finally, the berserking monsters clashed with their dragonoid dungeon master, who stood alone and unarmed. Isao's eyes gleamed with a mixture of determination and fear as he faced the onslaught of the monsters. Despite being outnumbered and without any weapons, he stood his ground, relying solely on his fangs, claws, and tail.

 

 

I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to die! 

 

Isao's heart pounded in his chest, and tears threatened to fall from his eyes as he fought for his life against the ferocious monsters. Every instinct screamed at him to run, but he refused to give in to fear.

 

Even so, I can't run away! I have to be the one to fight them if I want to save everyone!

 

For every strike he unleashed, the rampaging monsters responded with equal ferocity, their roars reverberating through the air. Isao's movements showed his lack of combat training, but his determination and will to protect the villagers fueled his every action.

 

Smile! Like Deku! That kid who aims to be a hero even though he's quirkless! 

 

Summoning all his courage, even if he wanted to just run and cry due to the injuries he got, Isao forced a smile onto his face, drawing inspiration from a fictional character's unwavering determination. He knew that heroes never backed down, even in the face of seemingly impossible odds. 

 

However, the dungeon master faced a never ending horde of monsters, each one seemingly more powerful than the last. With each passing moment, Isao's exhaustion grew, his body covered in cuts and bruises.

 

Isao's injuries dulled his movements and senses as he struggled to keep up with the relentless onslaught of the monsters. Punches and kicks, claws and fangs, all seemed to blur together as Isao fought desperately to stay on his feet. And then the inevitable happened.

 

A gray wolf's fangs sank into his neck, causing blood to surge like a fountain from the wound. Isao's vision blurred, his body weakening as he felt the life draining out of him. With his last ounce of strength, he managed to deliver a final blow to the wolf before collapsing to the ground, unconscious and defeated.

 

The Order of Darkness' soldiers witnessed this scene, their faces twisted in sorrow, from the walls protecting the evacuees far away, unable to do anything to save Isao. Ava, his first and likely last summon, howled mournfully, cursing her powerlessness as she watched her summoner fall.

 

Would this be a repeat of what happened just earlier? Would her lord die just like the Hero? The thought of the previous incident happening again made Ava's heart ache. A hand stopped her as she was ready to dash to his side. 

 

When Ava found out who had stopped her, her face turned from anger to surprise. It was none other than the Hero, the young lady, who died because of her incompetence.

 

"How!?"

 

Her mind was full of questions, but before Ava could voice it out, the Hero cut her off.

 

"I seriously died, you know. But Isao resurrected me because of his abilities as this Dungeon's master. And look." 

 

The Hero pointed towards the place where Isao had fallen. His body dissolved into polygons of light, disappearing into thin air. The next moment, new polygons of light gathered, forming Isao's body once again.

 

"Isao managed to separate his dungeon's core, which is his other true body, and no matter how many times his flesh and blood body dies, so long as his core is safe, he won't permanently die. Furthermore, even if his dungeon core gets destroyed, it will regenerate over time if there are sources of DP and mana inside his dungeon's territory."

 

Seeing the monsters approaching Isao, the Hero, Joanne De Rizal, shouted to the soldiers, "Provide covering fire for Isao!" The soldiers quickly followed Joanne's command, unleashing a barrage of bullets of light on the encroaching monsters.

 

***

 

I'm.. alive? Isao, whose head was still reeling from his sudden death and resurrection, thought to himself. I don't want to die again! Isao's heart raced as he remembered the pain from the wounds he suffered in battle and the darkness he fell into as his life flashed before his eyes.

 

He crouched down on the spot, and he broke down crying. Isao couldn't stop the tears from flowing as he desperately tried to push away the terrifying thought of the monsters getting closer. The fear of confronting death again was too much for him to bear.

 

But his surroundings turned quiet, and Isao could hear nothing but the sound of his own sobs echoing in the empty space. Curious, he raised his head and witnessed the Order of Darkness providing cover fire for him. He only knew their summoner's name: Asvarani, his subordinate, and she saw her alongside them firing with her Mana Rifle from afar.

 

As well as the reason he decided to fight by himself: Joanne, his childhood friend and the one he holds dear in his heart. Joanne had always been his source of strength and motivation. He was inspired to conquer all of his obstacles by the unwavering assurance of her unconditional faith in him.

 

Biting his lip strongly enough to draw blood, Isao tried to remember Subaru, who died numerous times, sometimes in a brutal and agonizing manner. But still, because of his love for Emilia, he found the strength to keep going. Trying to emulate the character's perseverance and determination, Isao stood up on trembling legs.

 

Looking at the wall he erected to make a safe haven for the civilians in the surrounding area, the faces of the people Isao had seen every day rose in his mind. He remembered the troublesome children who bugged him at the shop; the teenagers trying to seem tough; his friends from the vicinity; and even those locals whose names he was not familiar with but who he was committed to safeguarding. Isao was aware that as long as he had people relying on him, he would struggle regardless of how many times death visited him.

 

Trying to smile once more, although whether it could be called a smile was debatable, Isao dashed towards the monsters with a renewed sense of determination. Baring his fangs, claws, and tail, the dungeon master utilized his draconian strength once more. 

 

As he fought with all his might, his blood and sweat mixed with the monsters' blood and flesh. For every monster he killed, a new injury appeared on his body. Once his body reached its limit, his vision darkened, and his body turned into polygons of light and disappeared. And then, for the second time, polygons of light gathered to form the dungeon master once again.

The monster stampede was endless, as wave after wave of monsters of varying races charged towards the dungeon master. With each swing of his claws and lash of his tail, he felled countless monsters, but their numbers seemed never-ending. 

 

By now, Isao had already died and been revived several times, but he couldn’t even see any indication that he was getting stronger. If he’s still in the easy mode, “Tutorial Mode” or if he’s been moved to the normal one, “Game Mode”, then he could, but that isn’t the case anymore. 

 

Grimacing, Isao remembered the contents of the “Gift” he had received.

 

Congratulations! Player Isao had been moved from “TUTORIAL MODE” to “LIFE MODE”.


Dungeon Master Isao received “The Dungeon Master Guide Book: Complete Series”.

 

Dungeon Master Isao unlocked a new ability, “Emotion Conversion”. 

 

Dungeon Master Isao unlocked a new ability, “Synthesis”.

 

Player Isao received “ □□□□□□□’s Blessing”. 

 

The Skill, “Limit Break”, had been acquired.

 

The Skill, “Devour”, had been acquired.

 

Starting from the knowledge he had received—or, more like, “shoved” into his brain—which he had used earlier.

 

After finding out the best method to save more lives, which would then cause him to die countless times, Isao hastily separated the dungeon core from his body. The presence of sources of DP—humans and monsters—as well as the Mana Vein underground provided him with the assurance he needed. That, as long as the continued survival of the villagers was guaranteed, Isao wouldn’t permanently die, and vice versa.

 

That is just who Isao was. For him, he wouldn’t mind being the villain or the scapegoat if it meant he saved or helped someone.

 

And then there are the abilities unlocked by receiving that Gift.

 

The first was Emotion Conversion. As a Dungeon Master, Isao finds this ability to be convenient. This lets him convert the emotions felt by the humans in his territory, whether positive or negative—happiness or sadness, for example—into DP.

 

However, ruin only awaits him if he ever decides to earn DP through the negative emotions of humans.

 

And the other one was Synthesis. Isao thought this ability was better suited for a Demon Lord than a Dungeon Master. Using components of living and non-living things, he could create a new monster for his dungeon.

 

Those components could be from the hair or fur, blood or saliva, or any part of a living or non living specimen, for instance, although their whole body’s more preferable because Isao had to compensate with his Mana for the missing volume.

 

And the source of Isao’s grimace, his transfer to “Life Mode”, and the unknown entity’s blessing.

Whoever designed this system of having three modes in Erse, Isao finds them to be incredibly malicious.

 

Those who were in the easy and normal modes—"Tutorial Mode” and “Game Mode—had a smaller total amount of EXP needed to level/rank up. And skills, which would increase EXP gain, decrease the total amount of EXP required for Level/Rank ups instead. All of the skills that would make it easier to become stronger were riddled with landmines in this system.

 

Meanwhile, those in “Life Mode” were in a much worse place, in his opinion. The moment Isao got transferred to this mode, his rank returned to I-rank, and except for his name and skills, all of his stats were forever hidden. This mode certainly lived up to the phrase, “Life’s a crappy game”.

 

Isao, of course, was grateful for this if it meant he would be stronger than other players in the long run. However, Isao would prefer to not have “Limit Break” which increased the total amount of EXP needed per Rank Up to “Maximum”.

 

Normally, with the staggering amount of EXP he gets from every monster he kills, Isao should at least be H-rank by now, even if he’s in Life Mode. However, he sensed through intuition that it would take at least 100 days of grinding for EXP because of Limit Break. 

 

So, if it is like this, Isao decided to finally use the other skill he got, Devour. This skill won't help him Rank Up faster, but it would allow him to gain additional skills and strength from the monsters he devoured.

 

Setting his sights on a goblin who jumped at him, Isao's draconian hands flew, and he grabbed the monster. Like a starving beast, Isao activated his Devour skill as he literally devoured the goblin, flesh and all. Wiping the blood from his mouth, Isao had only one thought.

 

Urk, goblins taste disgusting. 

 

And the surge of power he felt was minuscule. Plus, he didn't even get new skills. That was par for the course since goblins were one of the trash mobs in games. Although devouring that goblin healed some of his wounds and energized his fatigued body, Isao couldn't help but feel disappointed.

 

Nonetheless, Isao faced the monster stampede with renewed determination. In his peripheral vision, he noticed a bipedal dog monster, a kobold, trying to attack him from the flank. Using his tail, Isao swiftly countered the kobold's attack, knocking it off balance and giving himself an opening to strike. Picking up the kobold by its leg, he used it as a weapon.

 

From the front, a forest wolf who had the ability to hide its presence emerged, lunging towards Isao. Reacting quickly, Isao swung the kobold with all his strength, hitting the wolf mid-air and sending it crashing into a nearby monster. The impact stunned the wolf momentarily, allowing Isao to seize the opportunity and deliver a decisive blow.

 

Player Isao acquired the skill, “Presence Concealment”

 

After Isao used Devour on the forest wolf, he felt a flow of energy coursing through his veins once again, rejuvenating his tired body. The forest wolf's skill, "Presence Concealment", was added to his arsenal of skills, granting him the power to move undetected by his enemies, albeit for a few seconds.

 

Making use of the monster's sheer numbers, Isao hid behind a boar monster and used his new skill before pouncing on an unsuspecting orc. Isao used his strongest weapon, his bite, sinking his teeth deep into the orc's flesh. The orc let out a blood-curdling scream as Isao's powerful jaws tore through its flesh, leaving a gaping wound. His Devour kicked in as Isao felt a burst of vitality coursing through his veins, replenishing his health and strengthening his attacks.

 

However, as Isao was reveling in his kill, he felt a sudden jolt of pain in his chest. Stabbing him with its horns was a horned rabbit, a creature known for its agility and deadly strikes. While Isao disappeared into polygons of light, he swore to find a monster with presence sensing skills.

 

Isao perished and was resurrected, continuing his fight against this tsunami of monsters that seemed to never end. Spotting a black bat monster, Isao leaped into action, determined to avenge his previous defeat. With a swift swing of his claws, he severed the bat monster's wings, leaving it defenseless. As the creature screeched in agony, he used Devour to gain the skill "Presence Detection".

 

Player Isao acquired the skills, “Keen Hearing” and “Echolocation”

 

Expecting to get the "Presence Detection" skill, he was left feeling dissatisfied because what he got was “Keen Hearing” instead, while the other one was currently useless. Isao decided to hunt other beast-type monsters that would give him skills to enhance his other senses in the meantime. His decision stemmed from the belief that by acquiring all five sense skills, he would obtain “presence detection.”.

 

 A brown, rabid dog monster trying to bite him was his next target. Isao swiftly dodged its attacks, using his newfound "keen hearing" to anticipate its movements. With a spearhand strike, he incapacitated the rabid dog monster, then used Devour to gain its skill "Keen Smell" to further augment his sensory abilities.

 

Player Isao acquired the skill, “Keen Smell.”

 

With both of his skills working in tandem, Isao detected a green eagle monster diving towards him. Predicting its trajectory, he jumped and did a somersault to bash the eagle with his tail. As the eagle’s corpse bounced due to the attack’s force, Isao devoured it in mid-air with a hearty bite.

 

Player Isao acquired the skill, “Keen Vision”

 

The skill “Keen Vision”, which he obtained from his previous foe, immediately proved vital. An ogre was currently his opponent, but a poisonous looking snake intruded on their fight. Launching itself towards Isao, intending to sink its venomous fangs.

 

But Isao’s hands grabbed its mouth shut and used the snake to whip the ogre. While the ogre was stunned by the unexpected counterattack, he used Devour to swallow the snake and was assailed by two opposing effects. The poison from the snake and the surge of energy that worked to detoxify it

 

Player Isao acquired the skills “Thermal Vision”, “Keen Taste”, “Poison Creation”, and “Poison Resistance”

 

Smirking at the blessing in disguise in the form of a snake, Isao boldly approached the ogre. Roaring at him, likely annoyed at the arrogant but weak dragonoid, the monster punched with all its might. Evading the intimidating attack, Isao let his claws slide at the ogre’s arm.

 

And then, although the cut was shallow, the poison accompanying it managed to weaken the formidable foe. Not letting this chance pass him by, Isao used his tail to sweep its legs, then pounced to devour his new prey.

 

Player Isao acquired the skill, “Herculean Strength”

 

Just one more, and Isao could finally have all five senses. The next instant, although faint, the dungeon master could feel someone targeting his head. Pretending not to notice, he stood there, waiting for the right moment to counterattack.

 

THUD!

 

Leaning forward slightly, Isao opted to headbutt his assailant. Turning around, he finally saw what the monster looked like. It was a bipedal rabbit, whose leg was broken due to his counterattack.

 

Making sure it didn’t escape, Isao generated poison in his claws, forcefully broke it, and threw it at the rabbit. Cautiously approaching it, he trained his eyes on it while his other senses were focused on his surroundings. Once the poison had taken effect, Isao knew it was safe to use Devour.

 

Player Isao acquired the skills “Swift Foot” and “Danger Detection”.

 

As soon as he got the skill "Danger Detection", his senses warned him of an impending danger. Stifling his panic due to the sudden warning, Isao got visual confirmation of his new opponent. A giant tarantula emerged from the shadows, its hairy legs skittering across the dungeon floor.

 

Going all out because he felt that this creature, despite being "Berserk," had the mental acuity to survive because it didn't attack aimlessly, as could be seen in its pristine condition. Isao quickly used his "Swift Foot" ability and watched it sprint in his direction. Isao was able to avoid the tarantula's attack because of his quick reflexes, narrowly avoiding its poisonous fangs.

 

Generating poison in his claws, Isao endured the pain of breaking them to use them as throwable weapons. With "Herculean Strength" and "Swift Foot" working in tandem, Isao launched the poisoned claws towards the tarantula with pinpoint accuracy. The monster screeched in agony as the venom seeped into its body, weakening its movements. Isao seized the opportunity to strike, unleashing a mighty blow with his tail that sent the tarantula crashing to the ground. The impact was so powerful that it shattered the monster's exoskeleton, leaving it defenseless and at Isao's mercy.

 

Player Isao acquired the skills “Camouflage” and “Keen Touch”. The skills “Keen Hearing”, “Keen Smell”,
“Keen Vision”, “Keen Taste”, and “Keen Touch” had merged to form a new skill called "Enhanced Senses".

 

Isao might not have acquired the skill, "Presence Detection", but his newly acquired skill "Enhanced Senses" made up for it, in the meantime. With his heightened hearing, smell, vision, taste, and touch, Isao could detect even the slightest presence or movement in his surroundings. With the skills he had acquired with "Devour", Isao's deaths became fewer and fewer, until...

 

After hours of never ending battles and countless cycles of death and rebirth, while using Devour to energize his body, acquire new but weak skills, and heal his wounds, the clock had finally reached 6:00 p.m. The monsters from the last wave were finally defeated, and Isao stood victorious on the battlefield. As he caught his breath, he couldn't help but feel a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction.

 

Seeing that the wall hadn't been breached because his subordinates covered for his ass, Isao collapsed to his knees, and the dam burst once again. Through blurry eyes, he saw Joanne, Ava, and the Order of Darkness approaching. In their place, the villagers from the First and Second Tree and Riverside Areas were standing on top of the walls.

 

I’m glad. I wasn’t able to save Pa before, but now I won’t let anyone die anymore. I swear, I’ll save more people, even if it means I’ll die repeatedly for their sake.

 

With relief coursing through his body, Isao felt his eyelids grow heavy. As the adrenaline from the battles wore off, his weary body demanded rest. Obeying his body’s need, Isao closed his eyes, and he fell asleep.