Dungeon

Biodata

Feature	Information
Name	Dungeon (地下城); its control panel initially lists its name as “None” 1
Species/Race	Void-born living dungeon 1
Affiliation	Luo Ao and the monsters created within it 1 2
Occupation/Role	A self-governing dungeon that lures, tests, and harvests adventurers while developing its own ecosystem 7 92
Status	Active 112
First Appearance	Chapter 1: “A Living Dungeon”

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Level 2	1	Newly formed with 500 Primordial Power, two layers, the Adaptive Fungal Strain, and the talents Monster Creation, Flesh and Soul Absorption, and Layer Shaping 1
Level 3	1	Luo Ao spends 100 Primordial Power to open the Third Layer; his core relocates to its deepest point 1
Level 4	8	Adventurer deaths and magical equipment provide enough Primordial Power to form the poisonous Fourth Layer 8
Level 5	15	The Fifth Layer opens after the deaths of Mark’s knights supply sufficient Primordial Power; reaching this level later enables customized monster abilities 15 17
Level 6	27	Deaths in the Venomous Swamp, including a sunken adventurer vessel, raise the dungeon to level six 27
Level 7	37	Nearly 1,000 Primordial Power and growing resource amplification allow Luo Ao to open the Seventh Layer 37
Level 8	49	Luo Ao spends 800 Primordial Power to create the Eighth Layer, relocating himself and the treasury into a volcano 49
Level 9	80	An Advanced Professional’s death brings the total near 1,500 Primordial Power; Luo Ao spends 900 to create the Ninth Layer 80

Background

Luo Ao awakens after his apparent death as the consciousness inside a floating sphere of light—the Dungeon Core. The entire dungeon is his body, and he has only three days before it emerges into the world and becomes vulnerable to adventurers seeking control of the core. He immediately expands from two layers to three, reshapes passages into mazes, and creates the Fungus Lord as his first defender 1.

The dungeon emerges near the border settlement of Marguerite, its opening marked by a major earthquake and a colossal stone gate near the forest and swamp. Adventurers, the Adventurers’ Guild, and Viscount Korien Os quickly treat it as a source of wealth, resources, and political power 3 8.

After absorbing the bodies and souls of fallen intruders, Luo Ao recognizes that indiscriminate slaughter would eventually deter future adventurers. He begins operating the dungeon around controlled risk and reward: monsters and traps kill intruders, while repaired equipment, magical items, rare materials, and skill scrolls are placed in chests to keep new parties coming 7 47 92.

As its layers multiply, the dungeon develops from a defensive maze into a self-sustaining realm. Its monsters establish food chains, industrial production, trade routes, research, and eventually external intelligence and merchant-guild plans 52 60 98 112.

Known Layers

Layer	Environment and notable features
First Layer	Low, damp stone caverns illuminated by glowing mushrooms; initially populated with template monsters, Puchi, traps, and treasure chests 1 3 8
Second Layer	Cavernous terrain containing magical iron ore; home to Steel Slimes and Death Iron Skeleton ambushes 2
Third Layer	A large maze-like cavern system containing a magical spring; originally housed the Dungeon Core and treasury 1 2 7
Fourth Layer	The Venomous Swamp, filled with poisonous fog, deep mud, mutated life, Mana Mushrooms, and the Giant Tree Guardian’s forest territory 8 10 13
Fifth Layer	A life-filled layer inhabited by Nature Flower Fairies and other developed dungeon ecosystems 60 70
Sixth Layer	Death Mountains, bone wastelands, desert, lava, Necrotic Crystals, Magic Gems, and Themos’s shifting undead ruins 28 57
Seventh Layer	A volcanic labyrinth of lava caverns, lava seas, concealed pits, pressurized lava traps, and Flameburst Rock islands 38
Eighth Layer	A volcanic wasteland of lava rivers, erupting volcanoes, poisonous Fire Venom, falling meteors, and fire-aligned monster societies 49 52
Ninth Layer	An underwater realm divided into the Sunlight, Twilight, and Lightless regions; defended by currents, whirlpools, crushing pressure, volcanoes, and high-pressure water blades 80

Authorities and Systems

Dungeon Core and Embodiment

The Dungeon Core is a floating sphere of light containing Luo Ao’s consciousness and soul. Every layer, corridor, resource, and monster is part of his greater body 1.

• The core moves to the deepest available layer after major expansions 1 49 80.
• More layers directly increase the dungeon’s overall strength 1 37.
• If invaders seize the core, they can take control of the dungeon; this is why Luo Ao avoids personally confronting adventurers whenever possible 1 37.

Monster Creation

The dungeon can consume Primordial Power and available materials to create monsters. At lower levels, a created monster’s maximum level is limited by the dungeon’s own level 1 2.

• Materials determine a monster’s traits, such as magical spring water and iron ore producing Steel Slimes 2.
• At level five, Luo Ao gains the ability to add and customize abilities during creation, allowing monsters to be designed for particular environments or intruder weaknesses 17.
• As the dungeon’s ruler, Luo Ao possesses the skills of its monsters, with those skills rising alongside the dungeon until reaching their individual caps 2 37.
• Created monsters are absolutely loyal to Luo Ao, including conscious guardians such as the Giant Tree Guardian and Themos 10 57.

Flesh and Soul Absorption

Dead beings within the dungeon can be devoured and converted into Primordial Power or monster-creation materials 1 7.

• Souls yield twice as much Primordial Power as flesh 7.
• Professional and Advanced Professional souls are particularly valuable resources 72 80.
• Weapons, coins, magical equipment, and rare materials left by intruders can be kept in the treasury or redistributed as bait 7 47.

Layer Shaping

The dungeon can alter its structure by consuming Primordial Power 1.

• Luo Ao creates false entrances, hidden routes, dead ends, mazes, and relocated passages to delay exploration 1 10.
• Natural terrain is converted into weapons, including lava pits, collapsing stone slabs, sealed chambers, pressure traps, and lethal water blades 38 80.
• The Sixth Layer’s ruins use delayed teleportation, shifting routes, hidden ambushes, curses, and treasure-triggered lockdowns 57.

Mycelial Network

Through the Fungus Lord’s Mycelial Network, the dungeon maintains an extensive fungal surveillance, transportation, and communication system 1 98.

• Puchi and mycelia detect intruders and coordinate through a Hive Mind 1 33.
• The Mushroom Merchant uses network nodes for fixed-point teleportation across the dungeon 99.
• Luo Ao orders the network extended outside the entrance, allowing it to gather information beyond the dungeon itself 100 101.

Treasure and Reward Management

The dungeon uses treasure as a deliberate lure rather than a simple reward system. Luo Ao balances profitable expeditions against enough danger to preserve the core’s security 7 47 92.

Chest grade	Usual placement	Typical contents
Black Stone Chest	First through Fourth Layers	Ordinary equipment; occasional magical equipment or low-level skill scrolls 92
Demon Iron Chest	Fifth through Seventh Layers	Low-grade magic equipment, with chances for intermediate equipment, Elemental Gems, Magic Crystals, and intermediate skill scrolls 92
Mithril Chest	Eighth and Ninth Layers	Higher-quality enchanted equipment and monster skill scrolls 92
Boss Chest	Guardian encounters and future major guardians	Higher-grade rewards reserved for major dungeon bosses 92

Ruins Difficulty Modes

Themos’s Sixth-Layer ruins sort intruding parties by strength to prevent the dungeon from becoming so lethal that adventurers abandon it entirely 92.

Mode	Intended entrants	Estimated clear rate
Adventure Mode	Professionals and weaker parties	About 50% 92
Hard Mode	Parties containing Intermediate Professionals	About 30% 92
Hell Mode	Advanced Professional parties	No guaranteed survival 92

Defensive Ecosystem

• Fungus Lord and Puchi — The dungeon’s first special creation and the foundation of its ecosystem. Its adaptive offspring fill ecological, defensive, transport, and surveillance roles 1 10 98.
• Steel Slimes and Death Iron Skeletons — Early defensive forces created from magical spring water and magical iron ore. The skeletons camouflage themselves as abandoned armor before ambushing intruders 2.
• Giant Tree Guardian — Fourth-Layer guardian capable of nature manipulation, regeneration, shapeshifting, root attacks, and tree-spirit summoning 10.
• Mimic Monster — A level-four chest-shaped predator that exploits adventurers’ assumption that dungeon chests cannot be monsters 17 33.
• Themos, the Undead Pharaoh — A level-six undead ruler created from a mummy, necromancer souls, and Necrotic Crystals; he governs the Sixth Layer’s ruins and undead forces 28 57.
• Fire-aligned life — Flameburst Wyverns, Exploding Slimes, Exploding Flameflies, Blazing Kobolds, fire dragons, Flame Demons, and Molten Iron Golems populate the volcanic layers 40 52.
• Lava Fire Giants — An industrial society that mines ore, forges weapons, researches magical alloys, and preserves knowledge through records and inheritance 60.
• Mushroom Merchants — Neutral Large Puchi merchants with spatial storage, appraisal, treasure detection, and network teleportation. Robbing or killing one results in blacklisting and pursuit by dungeon monsters 99.

Relationships

• Luo Ao — The former human whose consciousness resides within the Dungeon Core. He is the dungeon’s absolute ruler, architect, and primary decision-maker 1 37.
• Fungus Lord — Luo Ao’s first monster creation and the cornerstone of the dungeon’s ecosystem, mycelial network, and merchant production 1 98 99.
• Giant Tree Guardian — Fourth-Layer guardian that possesses self-awareness and unwavering loyalty to Luo Ao 10.
• Themos — Undead Pharaoh and Sixth-Layer overseer; renovates the ruins and commands undead according to Luo Ao’s orders 28 57.
• Nature Flower Fairies — Intelligent Fifth-Layer inhabitants who receive specially forged equipment through Luo Ao’s Sacrificial Ritual 70.
• Faux Humans — Infiltrators connected through the Mycelial Network; they are tasked with building an external merchant guild, intelligence network, and supply chain for the dungeon 111 112.
• Adventurers — Simultaneously invaders, threats, customers, sources of intelligence, and renewable sources of Primordial Power 7 92.
• Oss Family and expedition forces — The dungeon’s largest organized external threat. Their failed Advanced Professional raid leads them to classify it as at least a medium-sized dungeon 88.