ULMF – Chapter 014

Audiobook: https://youtu.be/_52upFU5oNo

The sound of two footsteps echoed inside the stone building. It was the sound of Bumpy and Syutaro, who were walking on the red carpet.

“I see. It will be two days before we can go outside—”

“Oh, but I’ve been here for a while, so only one day left.”

Hearing Syutaro’s words, Bumpy muttered, “One more day to go, huh…”

Currently, Bumpy was thinking about particularly concerning movements of Gallarus the giant and Cheerful Bertrand. She stopped walking and looked down.

“What’s it?”

Bumpy looked into his face and turned her head away in the opposite direction – as if determined, she held out his hand.

“Lord. Will you listen to my selfishness?”

“Uh-huh? What’s wrong?”

Shutaro curiously looked at Bumpy, then he noticed her trembling hand and held it.

Bumpy’s body bounced slightly and stared at the linked hands as she tightened her grip.

“Um? is something wrong with my hand?”

“E? No, it’s nothing. I just thought you have small hands.”

“Is that so?”

“?”

Bumpy swiftly removed her hand and resumed walking after hearing Shutaro’s words, and Shutaro followed her while tilting his head.

* * * * * * * * * * *

The room they arrived at was a large space with a jewel floating in the air and nothing around it.

Bumpy pointed to the shiny floating gem.

“This one appeared the day the Lord came.”

In the pitch-black space, a yellow gemstone shone brightly, and Syutaro was relieved to see that the indicator labelled the item as [Dungeon core].

He had requested that Bumpy take him to the jewel-like object that had appeared on the same day he arrived here.

“Yup, this it is.”

“My Lord, what’s this?”

“It’s the dungeon core.”

Everyone will die if this is not defended.

As soon as he discovered the location of the core, Syutaro planned to tell the Demon Lords who shared his fate without hiding anything.

And when he told Bumpy about the dungeon’s mechanism, she stared at the jewel.

“If we destroy this…”

“No, no, no, you can’t destroy it.”

Didn’t you hear what I just said? Syutaro protested.

Bumpy nodded.

Syutaro had read the manual and knew that dungeon monsters could not attack the master or destroy the core, but the memory of Bumpy easily throwing a giant axe sent shivers down his spine, even though he knew she couldn’t do anything to this core.

“I understand, then I will inform the other demon kings, including the date when we could go outside.”

Bumpy bowed graciously.

“I’d be happier if you treat me like a friend, not a master or something.”

Syutaro is not good at being formal.

In the real world, he is not a member of any club and has no good friends or juniors, which makes him feel very uncomfortable about being addressed in honorifics even though he has tried to get along well with them.

“No, our relationship is absolute. All six demon kings have agreed to it.”

Bumpy said without changing her expression.

The demon kings, including Bumpy, not only have a direct master-servants relationship, but they also have no choice but to comply in silence when they are shown how dreadful Syutaro’s ability is.

As a result, in their hearts some demon lords were obedient to Shutaro but never loyal, as if to say, “We will obey you, but we will not get along with you.” – And Shutaro was frustrated by this sense of distance.

“I’ve seen what I want to see for now, so I’m going to explore the castle.”

“Please wait. I’ll go with you, so please don’t go alone.”

Syutaro was a little worried, but then he looked at Punio in his arms and thought to himself, “I don’t mind if I go alone.”

“Then please take me to a location where Bumpy friends are!”

“I don’t have any friends.”

“Well, then, servants?”

“I can take you to my servants.”

“Yes! Then I want to go there!”

“……?”

Syutaro was in a good mood, and struck a guts pose.

Now it’s Bumpy turn to tilt her head.

* * * * *

[Shikai]{Death World}.

It is the final destination of all living things, a place to be feared and called hell or abyss.

Red sky with a black moon.

Dragons like dead trees fly, and bones roam.

All that can be heard is a roar and the sound of something being dragged.

All that flowing water is tinged with red.

There is no life in the water or the soil.

“This is my world.”

“(too scary ……)”

Syutaro was horrified by sight and thought, [What is this world?].

Naturally, since all demon kings are rulers, they have their own realm where they rule. That is what they called [layer].

There are six demon kings and six-layer of worlds in Los Maolas Castle, and if the player were to conquer the castle, he or she would have to go through all layers.

Bumpy is the “King of the Undead” – That’s why she ruled so many undead monsters here. The number of them is, of course, much larger than the ones lurking in her room.

“Would you like to take a look around here?”

“Uh-huh.”

And as soon as Bumpy confirms it, she starts to walk, and Syutaro follows while watched over by a six-eyed raven perched on a dead tree.

“Don’t you have a village or a town here?”

“We don’t need any.”

They walk and walk, but the landscape remains the same.

A skeletal swordsman dragging a battered sword.

A translucent old woman clad in a dirty cloth.

A rotten snake crawling out of the ground.

“Eee! Something is coming out of the ground!”

“It is because I, the king, am here. It seems they present themselves to show their loyalty.”

The place that had been a bleak wilderness just a few minutes ago was quickly overflowing with undead mobs – and chaos was quickly taking place everywhere.

“Oh, are they fighting?”

“No. It’s just a greeting.”

The roar and clatter of bones grow louder.

The undead is breaking each other down and rebuilding each other from the ground up. It is a sight that only the undead attribute can provide, but Bumpy calls out shyly to Syutaro from behind.

“It’s an ugly thing, right? They are simpler and less willful than beasts. They attack anything that has life in it on instinct and only exist to make it one of their own. Once they come into contact with each other, they begin to destroy each other without mercy, even their own comrades.”

Bumpy describes undead-attributed mobs as beings made up entirely of instinct. They feel no pain or sorrow, and many players despise them not only because of their disgusting appearance but also because of their eerie appearance and relentless attacking that will not stop no matter how low their LP is.

“They must have lost their emotions as the cost of an immortality.”

And there is no decency in that, that is why Bumpy hated it.

She never wished to be in the position she was in. Nonetheless, she is special simply because she was born exceptionally strong.

“But Dullahan was following Bumpy’s instructions, wasn’t he?”

“He will follow my and Lord’s instructions. Simply because that is what it means to be servants.”

“Hmmm.”

Syutaro looked at the skeletal swordsmen who were breaking each other. What a lonely realm, he thought.

“Bumpy doesn’t like it here?”

“Yes.”

Bumpy answered coldly, but that answer ignited something inside Syutaro.

“Then… Can I give a bit of modification to this place?”

“Modification?”

“That right, like when I broke the chair.”

“Yes, that’s fine….”

Saying this, Syutaro opens the menu and selects the [Build] option.

Build:

Rock 1 P

Puddle 1P

Swamp 1 P

Grass 1 P

Tree 1P (NEW)

(NEW) (NEW) (NEW)

(NEW) (NEW) (NEW)

(NEW) (NEW) (NEW)

Private house 50P (NEW)

Road 5 P (NEW)

Blacksmith 50 P (NEW)

Weapons shop 50P (NEW)

Armor shop 50 P (NEW)

(NEW) (NEW) (NEW)

(NEW) (NEW) (NEW)

(NEW) (NEW) (NEW)

Castle wall 750,000 P (NEW)

Castle 1,500,000 P (NEW)

Fortress 3,000,000 P (NEW)

There was a lineup of new facilities and mobs unlocked by achievement rewards, ranging from practical traps to hobby-like structures like castles.

Syutaro scrolled through them with his finger and selected them at random.

Dozun! Dozun! Dozun!

Boom! BOGOON! Bogong!

Buildings are falling and growing with a rumbling sound. Syutaro used the extra points he got to add one building after another while Bumpy watched him with round eyes.

“If the order is everything for them, then you only need to give a purpose in that order! For example, I’ll appoint one to be the [blacksmith] and the other as  the [seamstress], here!”

Syutaro was building a blacksmith shop, a weapon shop, an armor shop, a sewing shop, a shoe shop, and a marketplace, all of which looked like they could be found in the town where the NPCs lived. He appointed a warrior skeleton or arachne as the shopkeeper and employee, and appointed many roles to the mobs to fill in the stores.

And not long after, a town is formed. The streets are cleared, and streetlights fall at equal intervals.

“You are the shopkeeper. You are a carpenter who develops the town. The rest are all townspeople. Remember there are two main orders you all need to carry! [Attack no one but the intruder], and [Attack no buildings].”

Syutaro gives instructions to the undead-type mobs within his sight, and he designated them to their assigned areas one after another. Syutaro finished up by closing the menu screen after putting out a large warehouse and filling it with plenty of materials.

“The fire ghost wisp can go into the lamppost to rest in his spare time and be a source of light! Nice, I’ve made a busy town by myself….”

After nodding in satisfaction, Syutaro finally realizes.

It is good that he has created a town like his favorite sims game, but the owner of this place is Bumpy. And Bumpy was silently staring at this scene.

From where they stand, they could see a skeletal knight making weapons, a mummy opening a fortune teller’s shop, and a jiangshi cooking Chinese food.

“I’m sorry, I got carried away…” said Syutaro as he bowed his head in apology.

But for Bumpy, this was a miracle.

In a world where there had been nothing but destruction and chaos, a warm civilization was born.

Bumpy, who had neglected ongoing destruction because she felt it was the undead nature, felt tears welling up in her withered body as she watched the undead working so diligently.

“It’s a lovely town.”

Bumpy smiled slightly as she looked at the vibrant town.