【You withdrew from the Darkest Dungeon without completing the mission. Converting the proceeds from this dungeon trip.
Emerald x1, topaz x1, ruby x2. Conversion in progress.
You received 2,250 gold coins.】
【You completed one dungeon expedition. Construction materials detected in your possession. Unlocking Camp construction.
You received a Camp Pouch (50 slots with unlimited stacking, separate from your dungeon pouch) and one set of Camp construction blueprints.】
Loulan changed into his newly purchased clothes while reviewing the information his cheat provided.
He was currently inside a small military camp, having just finished receiving treatment from an army priest.
The results were excellent. His injured hand had fully healed.
The price was also steep, but he could put it on credit for now and take the promissory note to the Adventurers' Guild, the lord's castle, or a church to pay later.
By now, Loulan had completely discarded his nearly unusable clothing and changed into a silk coat from this world. It was expensive, and they only agreed to sell it to him on credit because he had completed the Darkest Dungeon commission.
Still, it was far more comfortable than linen clothes, and Loulan had no intention of making himself suffer.
Before long, Loulan finished organizing his belongings, placed them in a leather bag bought at the camp, and departed, heading toward Coldiron City in the distance.
Along the way, he inspected the two pieces of loot he hadn't examined inside the dungeon.
【Life Stone
Quality: Normal-grade relic
Effect One: +15% Life】
It was an accessory-type relic resembling a necklace, except a spiked, sixteen-sided red garnet hung from it.
Loulan hung it around his neck beside the noble girl's amulet.
Pactmancer's Blood, another amulet-type relic, was imprinted upon his chest like a tattoo.
He could sense a limit to the number of relics he could equip. It might have something to do with the "separate six accessory slots, plus weapon and armor slots" mod included in his cheat, allowing him to equip eight related supernatural relics. Or perhaps more? Maybe fewer?
Loulan didn't know. He would only find out later.
"I feel... um, more energetic?"
The fifteen-percent Life bonus wasn't particularly obvious. At least, Loulan couldn't clearly feel any changes in his body.
Perhaps that was because Life was such a broad bonus?
Life encompassed vitality, endurance, resistance, recovery, and more.
【Fungus-Corpse Dynasty Records (Part One)
We came from the water. We grow from the cracks. We crave survival, so we prey upon intelligence and give birth to the self.
War is the inevitable result of intelligence. Conflict is necessary for survival.
We yearn to walk, and flesh is our carriage. We cannot fight, and flesh is our spear and shield. We take root here, and flesh is what we depend upon.
Order is the inevitable result of intelligence. Division is necessary for survival.】
"I don't understand it."
Everything that couldn't be taken into the dungeon had been moved into the Camp Pouch. Loulan took out the Fungus-Corpse Dynasty Records. The parchment was covered in crooked writing that looked like a jumble of several different languages.
Fortunately, he possessed an unknown divine power that allowed him to understand anything, but he still couldn't make sense of what the records were saying.
He only knew they might concern the evolution of fungus and be related to Coldiron City's three Darkest Dungeons.
He carefully put the records away. He might spend a long time in Coldiron City, so perhaps he could collect the remaining parts.
There might even be some grand prize or treasure hidden inside!
Coldiron City was still some distance away, so Loulan began examining his cheat's new function—the Camp.
It allowed him to use three special resources—ancient medals, ancient paintings, and ancient artworks—to construct various buildings, each of which provided a special effect once completed.
The building Loulan cared about most and wanted to construct first was this one.
【Star Crystal Farm
Materials: Gold coins x100,000, star crystals x100, ancient medals x88, ancient paintings x88, ancient artworks x88, designated relic {Tear of the Star} x1, designated relic {Crystal Planter} x1.
Effect: Plant star crystals on the farm, wait for a while, and they will grow from the ground in great clusters!】
In short, once he had a Star Crystal Farm, he would never lack star crystals again!
However, this was one of the most expensive buildings in the entire set of Camp construction blueprints, far beyond Loulan's current reach.
"Let's set a modest goal: build the Star Crystal Farm first!"
With a goal came motivation and direction.
At that moment, Loulan truly found the driving force that would propel him forward in this otherworld. His story was only just beginning...
***
"Oh! My dear Mr. Loulan, you will be my lifelong friend. I sincerely thank you for agreeing to work with me. A toast to our friendship!"
Night. A fortified manor. A dining table. Red wine. Two men sitting across from each other.
After half a day on the road, Loulan finally reached Maven's home before dinner and completed the commission handover and supernatural relic transaction with him.
To celebrate their friendship, Maven invited Loulan to an impromptu dinner and also extended an invitation to a banquet at the earl's castle in Coldiron City several days later.
There, Maven would help Loulan accept commissions from other nobles and introduce him to Coldiron City's aristocratic circles.
This was Maven's reward for Loulan's willingness to sell him a supernatural relic, and it would provide Loulan considerable convenience and privilege within Coldiron City.
Loulan naturally had no reason to refuse such good fortune, so he gladly accepted both of Maven's invitations.
"Big Brother Loulan, this is prime pork skin. It's so crispy. Try some~"
The dining table wasn't large, only a simple round table laden with sumptuous dishes. Maven's younger sister, Sia, sat to the left of Loulan and Maven.
As a young noblewoman, Sia was quite attractive. Her build was Loulan's favorite type—145 centimeters tall, flat-chested, and with an older-sister aura.
If she were a monster girl with a tail, broken wings, shoulder spikes, fangs, heterochromatic eyes, and hooved legs, as well as a slender waist of sharply defined bone and flesh, long ears joining face to ear, and pale skin, Loulan would undoubtedly propose to her on the spot.
(Image attached: unapproved first-draft cover.)
Unlike when they first met, Sia was now excessively warm toward Loulan. To an outside observer, the two looked like an intimate couple.
Loulan gently pushed away the piece of pork skin Sia held to his mouth with her knife and fork, then shook his head with a smile.
"Thank you, Miss Sia, but please forgive me for declining your kindness and affection. My heart already belongs to another."
Loulan rejected Sia's advances bluntly. His words left her looking incredulous, as though she had begun to doubt her own charms.
Even Maven, seated nearby, wore a regretful expression.
Loulan's abilities were beyond question, and Maven was a very traditional noble heir.