Monster Company Tycoon - Chapter 9

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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 9
I gathered the ten newly hired monsters on the 1st Floor and conducted a brief orientation.
Four skeletons, five lesser goblins, one slime.
It was the result of deliberately choosing a varied roster, and I’d intentionally mixed many of the same species to encourage pack behavior—everyone except the sole slime.
‘These are our company’s First Generation Employees.’
Looking at them all together, they seemed like a ragtag bunch, but there was something almost imposing about the sheer mass of them clustered that way.
“Good morning, everyone. I’m Gong Cho, the administrator of this Dungeon.”
“Woof.”
“Ahem—woof, yes. I extend my heartfelt welcome to all our new employees on your first day at the Dungeon. I genuinely look forward to growing together with this company going forward.”
After finishing the formal pleasantries, I moved straight into practical matters.
“You’ve all been hired as field personnel, and your work area will be the 1st Floor.”
The monsters simply nodded without much reaction. Their expressions suggested they’d already anticipated as much.
One of them had said something to me during the interview.
He said he’d never been beyond the 1st Floor, even in an Instant Dungeon, and that his dream was to visit the other floors someday.
“The 1st Floor is the starting point of the Dungeon and an absolutely critical space that becomes the Dungeon’s face.”
But I didn’t want the new hires to feel discouraged by their circumstances.
Now that I’d decided to bring them on as permanent staff, I genuinely wanted all of them to grow alongside the Dungeon.
The very existence of “Levels” in this world meant that growth was possible, didn’t it?
I straightened my expression and raised my voice.
“There’s a saying: you must fasten the first button correctly. For that reason, you will become the crucial starting point that determines the flow of the entire Dungeon. I ask that you do your absolute best to block the challengers from advancing.”
In any company, there’s no such thing as an unnecessary position.
Not even simple office equipment maintenance. One broken copier or printer throws the entire day’s work into chaos.
“Adapting won’t be easy from your very first day, but you’ll need to jump into practical work immediately. When dawn breaks, our Dungeon’s first challenger will arrive.”
They all stiffened, their expressions growing tense.
“Um…”
One of the lesser goblins raised his hand.
“Should we just charge at them whenever a challenger appears, the way we did in the Instant Dungeon?”
Instant Dungeon—or ID for short.
From what I understood, it was a place that stronger monsters created whenever they wanted to test out their own power base.
In other words, it was like a company founded by a rich kid just wanting to try their hand at business.
Compared to the other Dungeons run by Demon Kings, they were considered small-time operations, but if one succeeded spectacularly, it could catch a Demon God’s attention and give the operator a shot at becoming a true Demon King.
Given how precarious our Dungeon’s Demon King position is, it’s possible some of these Instant Dungeons have been doing well lately.
‘About nine out of ten of our Dungeon staff have worked part-time shifts in an ID at some point.’
When I’d asked during interviews exactly how they’d worked, every single one said they just charged headlong the moment they spotted a challenger.
To my mind, rather than gaining real combat experience from such work, they’d probably just accumulated a heap of defeat and helplessness.
“No. This isn’t that kind of place. Our Dungeon operates above all by system and strategy.”
If I was Hiring Manager Gong Cho during the interviews, then from this moment forward, I’m Gamer Gong Cho.
Now I have to leverage every scrap of Dungeon strategy knowledge I’ve gleaned from games to make the most formidable possible Dungeon using only these ten monsters.
It’s called Dungeon Defense!
If monsters are all clustered in one spot, they’re sitting ducks for area-of-effect skills.
Bunched up like this, one adventurer who knows a spell or two could shout “Chain Lightning!” and we’d be cleared in seconds.
In fact, skilled players often deliberately grouped monsters together to unleash area attacks and speed-clear dungeons.
I couldn’t let our Dungeon become a stepping stone for speedrun world records!
“Brownie, build walls on the 1st Floor to divide the space into sections.”
To prevent that kind of danger, the simplest approach was to make it impossible to gather all the monsters in one place from the start.
Brownie, the earth spirit bound to this Dungeon, could freely restructure any already-constructed floor’s layout without any compensation.
I explained to Brownie in detail how I wanted the 1st Floor restructured, and Brownie immediately set to work according to my instructions.
“That’s nothing complicated!”
Brownie flew about with eager determination.
First, we made the path leading to the 2nd Floor a one-way passage.
Then we divided the 1st Floor with walls into several smaller zones.
Between each zone stood a single door, locked behind specific conditions.
The condition was simple.
Defeat every monster stationed in that zone.
Challengers had to clear one zone to advance to the next.
Our Dungeon didn’t yet have an automatic progression system that activated once conditions were met.
But instead, we had a very convenient method.
Give each zone’s monsters a single key that could unlock the door to the next zone.
“You will each become a Guardian of the Gate, holding the key that leads to the next gate.”
A Key was something Brownie could fashion from earth without much difficulty!
The monsters looked suitably impressed.
“Guardian of the Gate…. That sounds incredibly cool!”
“It’s an honor to take on such a grand responsibility. Clatter.”
Giving them the title of Guardian of the Gate was, in corporate terms, essentially bestowing job titles upon new hires.
The sense of responsibility one felt when called simply “employee” versus when called a “specialist in charge of a specific area” was decidedly different.
I nodded with satisfaction and continued.
“And I’ll be forming teams to guard each gate. Three monsters per team.”
Ten monsters divided into threes left one extra.
The skeletons all shared identical stats—Attack 100, Defense 50—varying only slightly in Level.
The low-tier goblins had Attack 50 and Defense 100.
The only slime possessed Attack 10 and Defense 200.
I assembled the teams by carefully mixing the monster types.
Two skeletons and one goblin—an offense-focused team.
Two goblins and one skeleton—a defense-focused team.
Grouping the same species together would make their weaknesses far too obvious.
Skeletons alone crumbled quickly due to weak defense, while goblins lacked the attack power to deal a finishing blow.
“Um… Manager, I don’t have a team.”
The solitary slime bounced frantically and called out to me in distress.
Its proper name was Small Slime.
Roughly the size of a soccer ball, its translucent body barely revealed a marble-like core within.
It had been the only slime among all the monsters who came for the interview.
When I hired the slime, I’d paid special attention to its specialty.
The special attack skill was
Acid Spray (C).
It was the only monster equipped with a ranged attack ability.
“Brownie, carve a narrow passage inside the wall that only the slime can pass through. And drill small holes in the walls too.”
Brownie immediately carved out narrow passages connecting each sector within the wall.
“The slime will be a solo team, but it serves the role of a Hidden Card.”
“A solo team! A Hidden Card!”
The slime bounced excitedly in place, practically trembling with joy.
“Do you see the holes in this wall here?”
“Yes! I can see them!”
“If our staff members find themselves in danger, you’ll spray Acid through those holes to support them.”
I’d essentially created a trap mechanism using the monster itself.
If the slime provided support from out of sight, the flow of battle would become far more troublesome for challengers.
“Our combat philosophy isn’t about striking down challengers in one blow, but rather gradually wearing down their stamina over time. Even if they somehow slip past their designated gate, the next gate will leave them more exhausted, and so on.”
“Ooh…”
I’d been deeply impressed by the skeleton’s story—how even after its entire body was shattered, it still clung to a challenger’s ankle with its jawbone.
“Team compositions will differ slightly, but the core principle remains the same: while the goblin holds the line in front, the skeleton strikes! We must move with this kind of strategy.”
The goblin’s special attack skill was Feint Attack (F).
When I asked it to demonstrate, it suddenly poked me with precision, catching me off-guard.
Though the raw attack power was weak, its ability to exploit openings looked fairly impressive.
“From now on, think of me as the challenger. Of course, I’m not really—my combat ability is basically nonexistent, so please don’t attack me in earnest!”
I picked up a Wooden Branch and clumsily mimicked an adventurer, explaining combat tactics to the monsters.
“So when I attack like this, you fall back and then….”
Of course, this strategy had a fatal flaw: it assumed the challenger would always be alone.
Most real dungeons are conquered by parties. But given our current circumstances, this was the best we could manage.
“All of you, please practice what I’ve explained with your teammates until you’ve become familiar with it.”
“Yes! Understood!”
Only after I’d stationed the monsters at each gate could I finally catch my breath.
“Wow, not bad at all? You’ve cooked up quite a plausible plan with such weaklings!”
“I’m still not sure if my approach will actually work.”
All I could do was hope things would go smoothly.

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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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