TPDGR 02

Chapter 2….

A gorgeous view.

I smiled contentedly as I looked at the peaceful scenery bathed in sunlight.

The thought that all this land was in my name made it even more beautiful.

A peaceful land where no one came to wake me, even after a hundred years of sleep.

Feeling good, I picked up the slime that had approached my feet.

The startled creature squeaked, kkyu, kkyu.

“Well, why not. From now on, you’re Kim Kkyu.”

“Kkyu?”

“You don’t get it, huh? Do you know how glorious it is to share the same family name as the king?”

Feeling elated after my hundred-year-long nap, I bestowed my own surname upon the little blue slime.

Sure, ‘Kim’ might be common in Korea, but in royal terms, it was like the Windsor family granting you their surname.

And now, I was the king here.

The Demon King!

Besides, this land was mine—my territory where I would make a fresh start.

So, as a token of trust, I gave the little slime my surname from my previous life.

Its name would be Kkyu.

Because it kept going kkyu, kkyu.

“I’ll be counting on you, Kim Kkyu.”

“Kkyu!”

Kkyu hopped up and squealed happily.

The first thing I did after opening my eyes for the first time in a century was cut my overgrown hair.

I chopped it off to a neat length just below my neck and changed into new clothes.

Thankfully, the Demon King’s castle was full of stylish outfits.

Thick uniforms, pitch-black cloaks, and even spooky monster-bone masks.

I put on a sinister-looking white skull mask and stood before the mirror.

“Yeah. This is the right look for a Demon King.”

After all, I’d read a fair share of male-oriented web novels.

A Demon King must always wear somber costumes and exude a chilling presence!

Dressed neatly in perfect Demon King fashion, I ignored the dust piling up in the Demon King’s castle and stepped outside.

“Hmph. I’m a king now, I’m not about to start cleaning the house.”

For now, I’d just leave the castle empty and camp out on my land.

Grass for company, wind as my blanket.

This was the true meaning of simple living.

Fully clad in black from head to toe, I walked out to the front of the Demon King’s castle.

There, I spotted a peculiar sign.

A black board with the words “Demon King’s Castle” written in blood-red letters.

The moment I stood before it, an interface displaying the state of my dungeon appeared.

“Whoa.”

[‘Demon King’s Dungeon’

Grade: S-class D-class

Owner: Demon King ‘Anastasios’ (??-class)

Population: 1 (Slime—Kim Kkyu)

Completion: 0 (Unexplored land)

Public Sentiment: 0 (Limit: 100)]

It seemed to be a sign showing my dungeon’s current condition.

But what was this?

“D-class dungeon? Why is the S-class crossed out?”

And why was my own rank displayed like that?

Just then, Kkyu rustled in my arms.

“Kkyu.”

“What? Because I slept for a hundred years, all the monsters left the dungeon? That’s why its rank dropped?”

“Kkyu.”

I stared at him in disbelief.

Before I fell asleep, I had seen a small village behind the Demon King’s castle. That must have been where the monsters lived.

The last time I saw it, smoke was rising from chimneys, probably around dinnertime…

Now, not even a trace of life remained near the village.

So, everyone left because their king slept for a hundred years?

“Then does this mean… to raise the dungeon’s rank, I have to gather residents again, raise completion, and improve public sentiment?”

“Kkyu kkyu.”

Kkyu said yes.

Strangely enough, I could interpret his kkyu kkyu as a multi-layered language.

“Kkyu kkyu kkyu? (So should I be speaking ‘kkyu kkyu’ too?)”

“?”

Kkyu gave me a bewildered look, then said, “Kkyu (Just talk normally).”

I held him up and looked seriously at the dungeon interface.

“…But do I really have to? Raise the Demon King’s castle?”

Honestly, it felt like a hassle.

Here’s how I saw it:

I already had a castle and land in my name. Wanting citizens on top of that seemed greedy.

It’s not that I was avoiding the trouble of recruiting monsters and ruling them. No, of course not.

It’s just that I was naturally modest and humble by birth, so I wasn’t interested in lofty, burdensome—no, I mean, great positions like that…

“Let’s just live peacefully, you and me, Kkyu. Even if we do nothing but space out in the meadow, it’s happiness. Don’t you think?”

“Kkyu?”

Whether he was listening or not, Kkyu hopped up my arm and crawled into my cloak’s hood.

I felt his wiggling weight settle comfortably as he purred inside.

I sat halfway up the hill leading to the castle, chewing on a blade of grass.

“See? Even doing nothing is fun and healing.”

Some people might insist on growing the dungeon even if it was D-class.

Like playing a tycoon game with farms.

But the chronic problem with Koreans was that even in games meant for relaxation, they worked desperately—earning money, paying debts, expanding assets.

And me? I was nothing like that.

In my past life, I’d already lived as an ordinary office worker. I didn’t want to work hard anymore.

I just wanted to live peacefully, simply, and heal in my own land.

I was just starting to think that life could really be a calm, healing slice-of-life when—

“Hm? What’s that…?”

Down the hill, a floating gate caught my eye.

As a strange aura washed over me, a green head suddenly poked out of the black hole, glancing around.

Dark green skin, a hulking body, and thick yellow tusks jutting from its lips.

Whoa.

That was definitely an orc.

Three burly orcs.

This was my first time seeing monsters up close.

Startled, I hid myself while Kkyu squirmed in my arms.

“Kkyu. Kkyu.”

“What? Those guys snuck in while I was asleep to steal fruit from here? Why?”

Apparently, these intrusions had been going on for a while.

But seriously, they already had homes—why sneak into my dungeon?

“Kkuruk.”

I understood even less after hearing Kkyu’s explanation.

“…Because they were hungry? That’s the reason? Out of nowhere?”

What, does their dungeon master not feed them?

Why crawl all the way here?

I narrowed my eyes at the orcs.

“Let’s hurry and steal some fruit, I’m starving. I can’t focus on guard duty like this.”

“The Demon King was asleep last time too, right? He won’t suddenly wake up, will he?”

The three orcs looked around nervously as they stepped out of the gate.

They were low-ranking monsters of the ‘Orc Dungeon.’

The lowest guards stationed at the village entrance, serving under the orc chieftain.

But compared to the typical orc image, they were thin and shabby-looking.

Naturally so—they hadn’t eaten in a week.

Pushed aside by higher-ranking orc generals deeper in the dungeon, they’d been exploited and left without proper rations.

Monsters belonging to a dungeon wouldn’t die of starvation.

Their only death came when an enemy’s weapon pierced their heart.

But that didn’t mean they couldn’t feel hunger.

They wouldn’t die from it, but they’d constantly suffer hunger like death itself.

As a result, theft and raiding by low-level monsters had become a social problem in the Orc Dungeon.

“Still, lucky for us. This dungeon’s master is asleep.”

They staggered down the hill and eagerly picked the red fruits.

The moment they bit into them, crimson juice burst out and filled their mouths. Their eyes lit up instantly.

“Ah, so refreshing, even straight from the tree! So delicious! I wish our village had fruit trees like this…”

“Exactly.”

Though it was someone else’s land, to them, this was paradise—an endless supply of sweet fruit.

As they devoured the long-missed bounty, one of them suddenly asked:

“Hey… you know.”

“Hm?”

“If we’re hungry enough to steal from another dungeon, why not just dig up these trees and take them with us?”

At that, the other two orcs froze, eyes wide.