Chapter 30: New Game

Chapter 30: New Game Karl stood in the dungeon core room, the holographic diagnostic panel still floating before him, a stark reminder of the dungeon’s broken components and his own limited resources. He despaired, a dry, rattling sigh escaping him. I have so much to do, yet I can’t do anything.The dungeon was finally activated, which was good, and it told me, it had 97 more levels deep, yet it needed vast amounts of dungeon mana to access them. I also unlocked magic-integrated industry, but that also needed magic stones, and a lot of NP for the necessary infrastructure.I guess I can only rely on my researchers to make the magic refined materials, but even then, I need a lot of magic stones to begin with. Then, a thought, sharp and brilliant, pierced through his despair. Wait a goddamn minute... He remembered the slaughterhouse, the F-rank magic stones they had been dumping like trash. Maybe... maybe I can build a cavern, a separate ecosystem, that contains monsters. Since I’m going to guess monsters have their own magic stones, like a farm or something. That’s right, a fucking farm! On Earth, they farm cows for milk. Here, I’m going to farm magic stones from monsters! The idea, so audacious, so perfectly aligned with his corporate mindset, filled him with a renewed, dark energy. As the concept solidified in his mind, the System responded, never betraying his most ambitious ideas. [ You created another custom structure ] [Structure Name: The Hollow Cradle ] ???? Category: Magical Industrial / Ecosystem Generator ???? Function: Passive Monster-Based Magic Stone Farming & Dungeon Mana Cultivation ⚙️ Build Time: 10 hours ???? Description: The Hollow Cradle is a vast sealed subterranean biome, magically carved and stabilized to replicate a living, breathing ecosystem—teeming with manavores, cave beasts, and elemental vermin. Fueled by ambient dungeon mana, the cradle sustains itself without external input. Monsters absorb, generate, and excrete residual magic over time, creating clusters of raw magic stones. The stronger the predator-monster population, the richer the magic density. When overpopulated, it triggers natural culling events—which are harvest opportunities. ????️ Core Features: ???? Auto-Generating Magic Stones → Based on number of monsters, mana saturation and monster tier → Passive growth: Based on number of monsters in the ecosystem ???? Dungeon Mana Bloom → Slowly pulses ambient mana into surrounding areas → Boosts dungeon mana regeneration depending on the number of monsters and monster tiers. ???? Monster Herding & Baiting System → Baiters lure mana-sensitive monsters into dens → Trapmasters direct overpopulation into harvesting zones ⚰️ Culling Events → Periodic "harvests" where powerful monsters are culled → Yields rare stones or shards → Skeleton Reapers automatically deploy for combat/collection ♻️ Closed Mana Ecosystem → Self-sustaining, zero input cost after construction → No decay, no maintenance → One-time optional upgrade: Ecosystem Seed Catalysts (cost: 75 NP) ???? Skeleton Specialist Required:[Eco-Cullers] Track population thresholds Cull apex beasts using necro-efficient techniques Convert slain creatures into harvestable magic stones [Mana Trappers] Lay invisible bait and traps imbued with compressed dungeon mana Funnel monsters into high-density zones ???? Construction Materials: x50 Shaped Stone x20 Refined Bone Plating x10 Ironwood Frames x5 Tempered Chains x1 "Hollow Core Beacon" (Included in build) [ You earned +720 NP ] Karl threw back his skull, a booming, maniacal laugh echoing through the core room. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH, how’s that?! I’m a fucking genius!" His laughter was loud, triumphant, a sound that vibrated with unbridled ambition. Near him, the three skeleton researchers, who had been meticulously examining a magic stone, paused their work. One skeleton, its head tilted, its voice a low, synthesized murmur, spoke to the others. "Do you think our lord is going crazy by the second? His laughter... it grows more pronounced with each new blueprint." Another skeleton, its empty eye sockets fixed on the glowing blueprint, responded with a whirring sound that might have been a sigh. "You cannot comprehend what our lord thinks. His mind operates on a different plane. Even if he’s a little bit... up there," it gestured vaguely, "let’s just be glad that he gave us an opportunity to serve him in such a fascinating capacity." A third skeleton, scrolling through the Lich-Network Uplink, its internal processors rapidly analyzing the recent blueprints they had received, chimed in. "Anyway, what do you make of this? The ’Elemental Infusion Crucible.’ How does our lord even think of ideas like this? Is he a genius, or is it... something else?" "Let’s dissect it," the first skeleton replied, its voice sharp with renewed purpose. "Our task is to repurpose the processes into a new structure, or a product our lord can use. We need to understand the underlying principles." "Until we can have a reliable resource of crystals," the second skeleton added, its voice tinged with frustration, "we cannot even start how we make prototypes. The magic stones are raw, unrefined. We need elemental crystals to truly experiment with elemental infusion." As Karl was about to lose any hope of sanity, lost in the vastness of his plans and the immediate limitations, the System popped up with another interesting idea, a new holographic panel appearing before him, shimmering with possibilities. ????️ [NP Challenge Console v2.1 – Earn Necro Points, Evolve Your Power] ???? Status: Arch Lich: Initiate Tier ???? Mental Capacity Sync: 89% ???? Current NP Balance: 320 NP ???? Daily NP Cap: Unlimited ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ???? Select Your Trial Complete challenges to earn Necro Points and evolve your necrotic potential. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ ???? [1] Mana Flow Challenge Untangle unstable leyline paths in the proper sequence under time pressure. ???? Trains: Focus + Mana Control ???? Rewards: ⏱<15s: +70 NP ⏱ <30s: +45 NP ⏱ >30s: +20 NP [▶️ Enter Trial] ☁️[2] Dark Mana Density Trial Control and stabilize volatile dark mana clouds before overload. ???? Trains: Corruption Handling + Control ???? Rewards: ⏱ <20s: +100 NP ⏱ <40s: +60 NP ⏱ >40s: +30 NP ???? Bonus: 5 clears = +5% Dark Mana Resistance [▶️ Enter Trial] ⚔️[3] Command Protocol Trial Tactical control over simulated undead forces under pressure. ???? Trains: Command Flow + Strategic Deployment ???? Rewards: ⏱ <90s Full Clear: +90 NP ???? No casualties: +20 NP ???? Bonus Item Chance [▶️ Enter Trial] ???? [4] Trial of Shifting Bones Quick-reaction puzzle: align animated skeletons in proper defensive formations. ???? Trains: Reflexes + Pattern Recognition ???? Rewards: ⏱ <60s: +65 NP ⏱ <90s: +40 NP ⏱ >90s: +15 NP [▶️ Begin Simulation] Karl laughed once again, a booming, delighted sound. "HAHAHAHAHA, Looks like it pays me by playing games! Gamers are gonna cry if they saw this. How hard could it be? I could play all day!" His skeletal fingers twitched, eager to begin. The prospect of earning NP by simply engaging his mind, by playing what amounted to strategic puzzles, was an unexpected and welcome boon. His financial woes, for now, seemed a distant concern.