Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 50

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Monster Company Tycoon
Chapter 50
Truth be told, there hadn’t been enough time to set up proper traps, so I’d only managed to install them in the Passage Corridor that stretched beyond the First Gate.
I stared at the screen with desperate hope that the Challenger would spring the trap in spectacular fashion.
At last he stepped cautiously into the corridor, and I watched the ground beneath his foot sink with a soft give.
“He hit it!”
“He hit it!”
Brownie and I cried out in unison, seizing each other’s hands in triumph.
I felt sorry for the Challenger, but seeing the Equipment Team’s first trap function perfectly was thrilling.
Immediately, the mechanism connected to the pressure plate activated, and the floor collapsed in a cascade of rubble.
“Aaaahhhhh!”
The Challenger plummeted with the crumbling floor in an instant.
The Pit, though, wasn’t actually that deep.
Dig too deep and you’d bore straight through to the lower levels.
The trap was engineered so that when it triggered, Fairy Dust scattered everywhere, dampening sensation and making the Pit appear far deeper than it truly was.
The falling person would feel the terror of plunging into an endless abyss.
And studding the bottom of the Pit were sharp Spikes bristling in dense rows.
Those were all counterfeit versions Brownie had crafted from soil.
They looked wickedly sharp, as if they’d skewer a body on contact, but in reality they were nothing but clumps of earth that crumbled harmlessly the moment they were touched.
But with the Fairy Dust diminishing visual acuity, it would be nearly impossible to tell real from fake.
And thanks to Brownie’s rather convincing handiwork with the Spikes, the psychological horror was thoroughly amplified.
“Let go! Jump! Jump!”
Brownie urged enthusiastically toward the screen, and as if answering her plea, the Challenger finally released the grip his hands had on the floor.
A scream pierced the air—and then a dull thud.
“He fell! He fell! We did it!”
Brownie whooped in unbridled delight and flew about the Office in wild loops.
A rush of exhilaration seized me, and I couldn’t help but grin.
“Didn’t even make it to the Second Gate. Took him down in the trap alone.”
Moments later, a voice called to me from beyond the screen.
“Challenger Retirement confirmed. Manager, the situation is concluded.”
Alraune peered down into the Pit below, then looked up into empty space to make her report.
“Should we go take a look?”
I rose from my seat after briefly watching the staff who’d been standing ready at the gate swarm out and haul the Challenger from the Pit.
Brownie quickly fell into step behind me.
“Close the Lobby.”
Since the Dungeon interior was currently under inspection, I needed to prevent any other Challengers from entering before we reopened.
So I decided to shut the Dungeon doors for now.
As the Manager, my command took effect immediately—the entrance from the Lobby to the First Gate sealed itself with a heavy, decisive sound.
“Everyone did wonderful work today.”
The Skeleton and Goblin who’d been stationed at the First Gate were resting with their backs against the wall in one corner of the room.
The Challenger had resisted quite fiercely, leaving all of them with various injuries, large and small.
The Goblin bore bruises and cuts scattered across his body, while the Skeletons had cracks running through several of their bones.
I knew that given time, the power of the Sacred Object would restore them naturally, but seeing my staff wounded made me anxious nonetheless.
“That must hurt quite a bit. Maybe I should establish a Medical Team….”
“This is nothing at all!”
“These are wounds of honor. Clatter-clatter.”
Brownie had once mentioned to me that there were healers who specialized in treating monsters professionally.
If such personnel were stationed here in the Dungeon, they could recover much faster after combat, she’d said.
During training, staff members do get injured, but Luadis lets them off easy enough that there are no serious wounds.
But with Challengers fighting for their lives, the injuries cut deeper.
“Hmm?”
But looking more carefully, I noticed a faint light emanating from all three of their bodies.
“There seems to be light coming from your bodies… Did you all just Level Up?”
“Yes, that’s right! From the recent battle, we accumulated Experience Points, and all three of us have reached Level 3.”
“Oh, congratulations.”
So it seemed that to gain genuine Experience Points, actual combat experience was necessary.
Other Field Team staff members gradually gathered around as word spread.
Each offered their own words of praise and envy as they extended their congratulations.
When they’d claimed their first victory over the trainees, the whole Dungeon had erupted in celebration, but now everyone’s joy seemed measured and restrained.
I was thinking they’d grown not just in skill through training, but in composure and maturity as well—when suddenly they burst forth with all the victory cheers they’d been holding back.
Yes, victory never gets old—it feels good no matter how many times you taste it.
“What, that’s no fun. They never even came close to where I was.”
Sabira, who’d been waiting in the Boss Room the whole time, came over grumbling.
Today, like yesterday, her shoulders were bare—she’d misplaced her head somewhere again.
Just yesterday, the Equipment Team had found Sabira’s head several times while setting up traps.
“He wasn’t a Training Institute graduate—looked like an outsider. It seems Manager Luadis recommended our Dungeon to him as a learning experience.”
“Tsk, with that level of skill, he’d die just breathing the air of the Demon Realm.”
I sidestepped Sabira, who was trying to lean against me, and headed toward where the Challenger was lying.
In the Combat Room, a Slime from the Equipment Team was moving busily about.
I passed by as it swept up the blood stains and debris from the battle with its body, absorbing them cleanly, and entered the First Gate corridor.
Thanks to my Manager authority, the trapped floor was glowing red before my eyes.
The Equipment Team was busy repairing the collapsed trap while keeping the Challenger off to one side.
Yet even as they worked hurriedly, all of them wore broad smiles.
Their traps had worked perfectly on their first live test—they had every reason to be pleased.
As I drew closer to the fallen man, a crimson Aura shimmered above his body like heat haze.
The Sacred Object was drawing fear from him.
‘Take much, take much.’
“Yip yip! Time to get looting!”
“You got it.”
In fact, among the resumes I’d reviewed last time, there’d been monsters with Looting certifications.
But once I’d hired the physical trap team all at once as a full unit, the roster filled up, and I never had the bandwidth to think about other roles.
And so, at last, came the final stage of Dungeon management.
Shaking down the pockets of a fallen adventurer!
“You said we only get one Looting chance. What should I take?”
“Yip yip, here, here! I saw with my own eyes when he pulled out his Wallet right here!”
Brownie pointed at the man’s chest and shouted in unbridled excitement.
How on earth did he manage to see that…?
This Challenger really was unlucky.
“If he threw 1,300 Language into a prayer box, this bastard must be loaded!”
“Um… I’m sure you can’t hear me, but I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what? The rule is, you don’t bring valuables into a Dungeon challenge. This is his mistake.”
“It’s the fault of anyone who brings anything worthwhile into a Dungeon!”
“When you fall, everything gets taken—that’s the unspoken rule.”
Brownie gave me the same speech as always, staring at me as if I was being dense.
“Fine, fine. I’ll do it. What else? And keep your voice down. What if he wakes up?”
Looting had to be done covertly and swiftly, with minimal contact with the adventurer’s body.
I crouched down and carefully slipped my hand inside the man’s clothes.
I focused all my senses on my fingertips and felt my way slowly along the inside, careful not to disturb him.
Soon my fingers brushed against the thick feel of leather.
I tugged gently, and a heavy Wallet came free.
“If I turn out to have a talent for pickpocketing, what then….”
I’d retrieved the Wallet on the first try. Its weight was considerable.
“Manager, shall we move the Challenger to the Respawn Room now that Looting is complete?”
A Field Team staff member who’d been waiting nearby asked.
“Oh, please do.”
So the Challenger, defeated and robbed, was carried off by the staff into the Respawn Room.
“How much? How much did you get? Open it! Quick!”
At Brownie’s urging, I opened the Wallet at once.
“Oh, there’s quite a lot of Coins.”
“Hehehehe, I knew he looked prosperous.”
I counted all the Coins inside: a total of 44,000 Language.
The amount was surprisingly large.
Since he was an outsider, he’d probably brought plenty of travel money.
But was this really okay?
If I took all his money, how would he pay for lodging or meals…?
But if I suggested giving it back, Brownie would never let me hear the end of it.
“Sigh… why did he have to bring a Wallet into the Dungeon in the first place…? Or better yet, why did Brownie have to see him pull it out?”
“Eehehe, looks like we opened the treasure chest, doesn’t it?”
The money was already in my hands—no point worrying about it now.
I’d just use it well for the Dungeon.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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