Chapter 45 Hidden Quest Released

Sharlock finished the letter, tucked it away, and asked:

"Bru, what do you think?"

"My lord, I think this is a good thing," Bru said. "On the manpower side, we've got the other world's enormous player base to build on — a hundred players to start isn't much, but that's already way better than most dungeons' early development, and once I get the chance to upgrade later on, we can recruit even more players. Talent is another story, though. Skilled trades like blacksmiths and carpenters we can hire straight out of Frostlake City, but people versed in magic-item crafting, alchemy, enchanting, gem work and so on are nowhere near as easy to recruit. Which is exactly why it might be worth checking out this Dungeon Lord Experience-Sharing Conference Frostlake City is hosting."

Bru finished advising; Sharlock said:

"And they've got loan-and-collateral services too. Definitely worth a look."

"Since you've already decided to attend the conference, my lord, some preparations are in order. To show off the Eternal Kingdom's class, a sharp, brand-new formal outfit is a must."

Once Bru finished, Sharlock looked down at his clothes — they were, admittedly, getting a little worn.

"Also a wild beetle beast — Your Lordship can hardly walk there. And three presentable servants. If you're hoping for some financial backing, my lord, then on appearances alone, we need to be giving people serious 'this operation has a bright future' energy. That's the ticket."

Bru's advice was solid. Sharlock had a little over four thousand magic stones on hand — a new outfit befitting a high-tier demon was no problem; buying a beetle beast was a bit of a stretch, but renting one? Totally doable. The only genuinely tricky part was the three presentable servants.

Show up without servants? How humiliating is that? I mean, when you're out and about, somebody's gotta carry the bags and play gofer, right? If you sign a contract on-site, you can't be fishing a pen out of your own pocket — that's low-class. Dust lands on your shoes — you can't just crouch down and wipe it off yourself. You finish in the bathroom — you can't pull up your own pants?!

Inside his own dungeon, sure, whatever — free and easy. But when you're out in the world, you've gotta mind these things, or people will take you for a deadbeat. And deadbeats aren't welcome anywhere.

As for three presentable servants — the blacksmith Goldmane, the carpenter Ironmane, and the newbie trainer Moros made exactly three. But as for how worldly those three were? Sharlock wasn't buying it.

This Frostlake City conference — one look at the name and you knew it was a big-league scene. Rich-demon ragers with some freaky after-hours "entertainment"? More than likely. Those three would be scared stiff just standing there. What presentable?

Thought about it that way, and those fearless players — the ones who'd do anything to finish a quest — actually made a pretty solid option.

Sharlock decided to pick his three servants from the otherworld players. As for the selection method: in five days, the top three players by reputation would follow him to the conference. Of course, he'd also need to keep them leashed with a quest for the duration — otherwise, with those players' curiosity, they'd absolutely wander off in every direction.

Picking the top three by rep was also to motivate the players to work their tails off — you know, do their part for the great construction of the Eternal Kingdom.

The author's NovelPhoenix publication contains this chapter, but this copy was unauthorized; reading their version supports continued writing.

With that settled, Sharlock quickly got to work on the official site drafting the quest to recruit three attendants, and Bru promptly published a server-wide quest announcement to all the players:

The moment the quest went live, it was another front-page takeover, obviously, and the players online in the dungeon threw themselves into their work even harder.

Sharlock wasn't in any rush to buy the new outfit and rent the ride in Frostlake City, either — he could just buy everything on day five with the three chosen players in tow.

As for right now? Obviously: browse the forums and watch the otherworld players sing his dungeon's praises.

After a lap through the comments, most of them were players dying to join his dungeon. Sharlock was satisfied — seemed his dungeon's reputation in the other world was riding high. People really did love the place.

He closed his own announcement thread and went back to browsing. Threads like 【Locke Fan Art Collection】 and 【The Dungeon's Newest Couple: Blacksmith Goldmane × Carpenter Ironmane】 were flooding the boards — Sharlock didn't even feel the urge to click. But the ones like 【Lord Sharlock Is Handsome Again Today】, 【A Brief Analysis of Lord Sharlock's Movements Today】, 【When Are We Getting Lord Sharlock Merch?】...

Now THOSE were nice to look at.

But when he ran into a thread titled 【The Eternal Kingdom Dungeon's Setting Is Kinda Like the Dungeons Series by the German Company Realmforge Studios!】, Sharlock blinked and asked:

"Bru, what's the Dungeons series in the other world?"

"Why is Your Lordship suddenly interested in otherworld games?" Bru asked, a little puzzled.

"Just curious. The other world's dungeon is awfully similar to my Eternal Kingdom, so I feel a little investigating is in order, that's all," Sharlock said.

"Then one moment, my lord." With that, Sharlock watched a program called Discord Cyclone open up on his computer, which began downloading an archive titled 【Dungeons Series Game Pack — Unzip Password: 1337】.

The download was quick — done in no time. Then, following Bru's instructions, Sharlock unzipped it step by step, installed the game, and opened it...