Zion turned his attention toward the barn at the far end of the pasture.
The Horned Ram Boss Contract waited inside his inventory, no longer looking quite as disappointing as it had when he first received it.
After seeing how the sheep responded to the terrain and moved together through the pasture, he was willing to give the boss a chance.
He moved his consciousness into the barn.
The interior was larger than it looked from outside.
Thick wooden beams supported the roof, while narrow gaps between the boards allowed pale strips of artificial sunlight to fall across the floor.
Several empty stalls lined the walls, and fresh hay covered the ground beneath them.
It still looked more like a well-maintained farm building than a boss chamber.
At least the shadows helped.
Zion opened the contract.
[Horned Ram Boss]
[Summoning Cost: 50 Essence]
He hesitated.
“Fifty?”
That was more than twelve ordinary sheep.
For a moment, Zion wondered whether the floor would be safer with another dozen monsters spread across the pasture instead.
A large enough flock could surround adventurers from every direction, while the boss was still only one creature.
Still, the floor required a boss before it could be completed.
And the ram had been included as a first-spin bonus.
It had to be stronger than the ordinary sheep.
He selected the center of the barn.
A wide summoning circle appeared across the hay-covered floor.
Golden light filled the carved symbols, growing brighter until it reflected against the wooden walls.
Then the air shifted.
A heavy thud shook the barn, sending dust down from the beams overhead.
The Horned Ram appeared in the center of the circle.
Zion stared at it.
The model had definitely not done it justice.
The ram was nearly as tall as a horse at the shoulder, with a broad chest and thick legs ending in dark hooves.
Dense gray-white wool covered most of its body, while the fur around its neck and shoulders was darker and rougher, almost like a mane.
Its horns were even larger than the model had shown.
They curled back from its skull in heavy spirals, each one thick enough to crush a wooden fence post.
The ridged points curved forward near its cheeks before ending in sharpened tips.
When the ram lowered its head, the horns framed its entire body.
For the first time since opening the Lucky Draw, he felt a genuine spark of hope.
“That could actually hurt someone.”
The Horned Ram lifted its head and looked around the barn.
Its dark eyes moved over the stalls, the hay, and the open doors leading toward the pasture.
Then it pawed at the ground.
The impact left a visible dent in the packed earth beneath the hay.
Zion immediately opened its information panel.
[Horned Ram Boss]
[Classification: Unique Beast]
[Role: Floor Boss]
[Level: 1]
[Threat Rating: Moderate]
[Skills:]
[Ram’s Charge]
[Woolen Guard]
[Call the Flock]
[Pasture’s Pride]
“That’s more like it.”
Ram’s Charge increased its speed and impact power across open terrain.
Woolen Guard temporarily hardened its wool against physical attacks.
Call the Flock drew nearby sheep toward its target, while Pasture’s Pride increased its attributes inside a completed pasture theme.
Zion inspected the boss again.
It was expensive, but if he could summon an entire herd of these, he would feel much safer.
A line of massive rams charging across the open field could probably break through an entire adventuring party.
He opened the contract again and tried to select another placement.
The option was gray.
[Unique Monster]
[Only one Horned Ram Boss may exist within the dungeon.]
Zion wanted to roll his eyes.
“Of course.”
For one brief moment, he had imagined dozens of massive rams patrolling every floor between the entrance and his throne room.
Now, that would never be more than just an image in his head.
I guess one is better than none.
He moved his consciousness closer to the creature.
Without hands, he could not actually touch it, but he imagined placing a palm against the thick wool along its side.
“Well, you’re my only hope, buddy.
Please don’t let anyone through.”
The ram turned its head slightly, almost like it could sense him nearby, then released a quiet cry.
“Baa.”
The sound was deep.
Not threatening whatsoever, but deep.
Zion’s hope dimmed slightly.
Before he could start reconsidering the entire floor again, a notification appeared.
[Floor 1 requirements fulfilled.]
[Floor Boss assigned.]
[Theme completed.]
[Adventurer route established.]
[Floor 1: Sheep Pasture is now complete.]
Another message appeared beneath it.
[First Floor Completion Reward: 100 Essence]
Zion looked at his essence total as the reward was added.
The bonus recovered a large portion of what he had spent creating the pasture and summoning its monsters.
“Oh?
I get essence for completing floors?
That’s useful.”
If every completed floor returned some of its construction cost, he might be able to build more quickly than he expected.
He had barely started thinking through the possibilities when another notification appeared.
[Dungeon entrance will now be unsealed.]
Zion’s attention immediately shifted away from the barn.
His consciousness moved across the pasture, past the creek and rolling hills, until he reached the opposite side of the floor.
A stone tunnel extended beyond the grassland theme, narrowing as it approached a pair of heavy doors set into the cave wall.
The entrance.
For the first time, the doors began to move.
Stone scraped against stone as the seal vanished from their surface.
A thin line of natural sunlight appeared between them, widening until bright afternoon light spilled across the tunnel floor.
Zion moved closer.
For the first time since waking up, he could see outside.
There were trees and grass.
A warm and natural sunlight as well as a narrow dirt path disappearing into the forest.
It looked peaceful.
He pushed his consciousness toward the opening but the moment he reached the threshold, something stopped him.
He tried again but something was clearly holding him back.
There was no wall he could see.
His awareness simply refused to move farther, like an invisible barrier had been stretched across the entrance.
He moved along the edge of it, searching for some kind of opening, however there wasn’t anything.
No matter how hard he focused, he could not see farther than a few steps outside.
“So I’m trapped in here,” he sighed.
He should have expected that.
He was the Dungeon Lord.
The dungeon was his territory, and apparently the limit of where his consciousness could travel.
Still, staring at the bright forest from inside the dark tunnel made it feel more real.
He could see the outside world.
He just couldn’t reach it.
Zion remained near the entrance, watching the empty path.
Part of him wanted someone to arrive.
He had spent hours arranging the pasture, testing the fences, placing the sheep, and trying to make the ridiculous theme work.
He wanted to know if any of it actually did.
Another, bigger part of him hoped no one ever found the dungeon.
But he knew that if no adventurers entered, he would earn no essence.
Without essence, he could not build more floors.
On the other hand, if adventurers did enter, they would test every weakness in his design.
And eventually, one of them might reach him.
Zion watched the empty path with a strange mix of anticipation and dread.
Behind him, the pasture looked peaceful.
Sheep grazed beneath the artificial sunlight, completely unaware that the entrance had just opened.
The Horned Ram waited inside the barn.
For now, there was nothing left to do except wait.