Chapter : 6
“There are two ways to do it. We can make them come to us of their own accord, or we can go out and scout them ourselves! But realistically, the second option is impossible, so we’ll have to make them come to us. We need to put out a recruitment notice.”
“How do we post an announcement?”
At my question, Brownie flew high into the air. Then, out of nowhere, it began shouting loudly into the empty space.
“Fairies of the Wind! I have a job for you!”
I quietly watched Brownie.
A moment later, a breeze swept around us, and small creatures that looked as though they were covered in thin cloth began appearing one after another. They were the same size as Brownie.
“We’re recruiting new employees. Spread the word for us.”
“Pay us.”
“H-how much?”
“How far do you want the rumor to spread? The farther it goes, the more expensive it is.”
The Wind Fairies had rather prickly personalities.
Brownie turned to me.
“How far should we spread the word? If we leave it to these guys, they’ll spread the news that we’re recruiting employees. Of course, the farther they spread it, the more it’ll cost.”
So these fairies were basically going to act as a recruitment platform.
“What’s the cheapest option?”
At my question, the Wind Fairies looked at me as though I were beneath their notice.
“Just the surrounding area. Within an hour’s walking distance from the dungeon. That’ll cost 1,000 Eon.”
“What determines an hour’s distance?”
“How far you can walk in an hour.”
If I walked for an hour… I could probably cover about four kilometers. So they were saying they would spread the word only within that range. Maybe that was about twenty laps around a school track?
Our dungeon’s current budget was only 100,000 Eon. We had to spend it as frugally as possible.
“Then let’s start with the one-hour range.”
“Pay us.”
Among the coins Brownie had given me, there were several with different materials and engravings.
They were probably coins of different denominations, but the problem was that I had no way of picking out exactly 1,000 Eon’s worth.
With no other choice, I placed all the coins I had on my palm and spoke to the Wind Fairy.
“Take whatever your fee is.”
The fairy flew over with an annoyed expression, picked up a single silver coin, and hugged it to its chest. Despite its expression, the way it clutched the coin made it clear that it treasured it quite dearly.
A silver, octagonal coin was worth 1,000 Eon. Noted.
“Next time you hire us, spend a little more generously. What’s 1,000 Eon supposed to be?”
“Of course we’ll spend more once our dungeon becomes successful! Besides, didn’t you say it’s hard to make money these days? Stop grumbling and go do your job!”
After the grumbling Wind Fairies left, Brownie flew over to me, fuming.
“Those guys are low-ranking fairies who can only get jobs like this themselves! And yet they look down on us!”
“Do you think they’ll spread the word properly?”
“Fairies always work exactly as much as they’re paid for. They’ll spread the word, at least.”
But then something occurred to me.
“Is it really okay not to make the recruitment notice more detailed? We only told them that we’re hiring employees. What if someone hears the announcement and comes here, only to be disappointed because the conditions don’t suit them?”
“Anyway, the only ones who pay attention to rumors spread by low-ranking Wind Fairies are low-level creatures.”
Brownie said this while pretending to cross its arms with its little arms.
“If you want to lure in truly impressive monsters, you need to place a request with at least a high-ranking fairy. Those guys would probably charge a million Eon for an hour’s range.”
“So money really is everything…”
“Now, all we have to do is wait one day, and applicants will come pouring in!”
I looked at the exterior of the dungeon. At least its appearance was perfectly fine.
A dungeon that looked impressive on the outside but was completely hollow and lacking substance on the inside…
If I were to describe this dungeon as a company, it was no different from a newly established startup.
It was even smaller than a small or medium-sized enterprise.
I had run away from a shitty company, only to end up at a startup…
‘No! Even all the major corporations started out as startups, didn’t they? It’s too early to be disappointed.’
I mentally organized the dungeon management manual I had learned from the fairy so far.
The dungeon needed to gather two kinds of resources.
One was money to use for actual operations. The other was fear, which would increase the dungeon’s infamy and strengthen the Demon King.
Both resources could be obtained from adventurers who challenged the dungeon.
Therefore, I needed to come up with ways to lure adventurers into the dungeon.
“Will monster applicants really come pouring in?”
“Of course! This is a major dungeon directly managed by none other than the Demon King! It’s nothing like those mediocre, instant dungeons!”
Did monsters regard a place as a major corporation simply because it was managed by a Demon King?
Or perhaps, since the Demon King was like the king of monsters… was it more like a state-owned enterprise?
Brownie said I only needed to wait about a day.
In the meantime, although there was practically nothing inside the dungeon, I inspected every corner carefully and made plans in my head for how I would manage the place.
I had to make this work somehow. I would squeeze my brain for ideas while thinking about the ten billion.
My first night on a dirt bed was nothing short of horrifying.
“Ugh… Once I make a lot of money, the first thing I’m buying is a bed.”
Every muscle in my body was screaming in pain.
My room was set up in the back of the office. It was a fantastic arrangement that allowed me to get to work as soon as I woke up.
If my former company president had known about it, he would have given me a standing ovation for my outstanding devotion to the company. But it wasn’t as though I had any other options in the first place.
“I have to conserve the lighting…”
The light sources inside the dungeon were limited. Torches hung at regular intervals, softly illuminating the darkness. Apparently, they had been included as a complimentary bonus when the dungeon was purchased.
Strangely enough, the flames were all created by magic, so they continued burning without any fuel.
However, their light was weak, and they couldn’t illuminate large areas.
I took one of the torches hanging in the corridor and brought it into the office.
And because I needed to use its light in my room as well, I had no choice but to set up my sleeping area in the back of the office.
“Did you sleep well? Hurry up and get ready! The job applicants are waiting outside!”
“What? Already?”
Brownie had said that applicants would come pouring in after a day, but I had never expected them to arrive so quickly.
“If they were waiting, you should have woken me up earlier. Haven’t you left them standing there for too long?”
“Heh-heh, you don’t know anything. This is all part of the test!”
“A test?”
“We’re testing their obedience! If they can wait for a long time without complaining, they’ll also be able to endure overtime, abuse of authority, and unreasonable workloads later on, right? It would be a waste of time to hire someone who would cry and run away just because the job was difficult.”
I stared at Brownie in disbelief.
Is that bastard the reincarnation of my former company president, who died? I feel like I should peel off its outer shell and check.
“And besides, if they endure hardship, that means they’re desperate enough to need the job. Even if we pay them pocket change, they’ll work like slaves.”
The word devil nearly escaped my lips, but I barely managed to swallow it.
“I… want to run a company—or rather, a dungeon—in a thoroughly humane way.”
I was sick and tired of working for black companies. I wanted to work for a normal company!
“What does humane mean?”
“I mean that I want to treat employees properly.”
“Really? But you only have 100,000 Eon in operating funds. You spent 1,000 Eon yesterday, so now you have 99,000 Eon left.”
“…The applicants must be waiting. Let’s hurry.”
“No, you stay here. I’ll bring them in.”
Brownie tapped the desk a few times before darting out.
A little while later, I began hearing the sound of multiple footsteps, accompanied by a murmur of voices outside.
“Everyone, wait here! You’re number one, and you’re number two! I’ll call you in one at a time by number!”
Brownie barked out orders with great authority.
With my heart pounding, I cautiously peeked through the crack in the door. Then I hurriedly shut it and sat back down.
All kinds of hideous-looking monsters were crowding outside… They were enough to make me want to pray to a god I didn’t even believe in.
What would happen if the interviewer fainted after seeing an applicant?
I desperately wished I had some Cheongsimhwan, a traditional calming medicine. There probably wasn’t any Cheongsimhwan in this world, was there?
“Are you ready? Should I send them in? Oh, I also brought the applicants’ résumés. They’ll come in according to the order they’re stacked in.”
Brownie placed a thick stack of papers on the desk. There were quite a lot of them.
“Phew, phew… I can do this. I have to get through this.”
I tried to calm myself down by taking deep breaths…
“Ten billion, ten billion…”
I repeated ten billion like a mantra. Surprisingly, my mind quickly became calm.
“All right. Send them in.”
At my permission, the door opened.
“Good day to you. Clatter.”
A skeleton wearing old, battered armor approached with a creaking sound and bowed politely.
I barely managed to suppress a scream. There was a human skeleton right in front of me, looking terrifyingly realistic.
…If the applicant standing before me had only needed some muscles and skin added, this would have been a perfectly ordinary job interview.
With trembling hands, I picked up the top sheet of paper.
