“Please wake up, Lord Evilham.”
Someone is shaking my body. That movement wakes me up.
“Ugh… who are you…?”
My vision is still blurry as I address the child in front of me. The child’s skin is a deep reddish-brown, far from what a human’s would look like.
“How mean. Did you forget? It’s me, Littleham!”
“Ah, right… You’re Littleham, and I’m Evilham… right?”
Evilham. The name does sound familiar. It’s probably because it’s my own name.
But, the information feels more like an objective fact rather than something I personally recall.
Ouch. My head still hurts, and I feel dazed. Instinctively, I hold my head.
“You drank a lot of the alcohol we took from the villagers last night. Maybe the hangover is making your memories all jumbled.”
“My memories… jumbled?”
Is that so? Maybe… My memories seem all mixed up… Ah!
“I remembered!”
Now’s not the time to be dealing with a hangover headache!
“Littleham! Listen to me. We’re going to die!”
“Huh? What are you talking about? Are you still half-asleep? Haha.”
Littleham didn’t believe my words, thinking it was just my hangover talking.
Well, I did panic, given the sudden realization. Even when faced with death, I shouldn’t lose my composure.
After all, even if we were to die, I’ve already died once before—if my memory is correct.
Let’s check if I’m really just groggy from the hangover.
◇
First, I’m a man who was born in Japan, a country on the planet Earth.
I was a fan of a certain game. The title was God Buster 6.
It’s the sixth installment in a series where players become heroes and defeat monsters.
By the sixth game, the developers had added new elements to avoid it becoming repetitive.
For one, there are many characters you can recruit. The total number exceeds 100, necessary due to a particular feature of the game.
The new feature allows players to use conquered dungeons as bases to strengthen their characters.
While players go on adventures, the companions staying behind live in those dungeons.
As they live in the dungeons, they can discover items, craft, and produce or refine things to help with the adventure.
This aspect became highly addictive, and I played the game so much that I maxed out my playtime at 999 hours.
It only takes about 20 hours for a regular playthrough, and speedrun reports indicate that it can be beaten in 6 hours. But the game is packed with replayability.
There are even secret dungeons that appear after clearing the game, like the Dungeon of Remembrance, where you can fight all the bosses you’ve previously defeated.
I was so obsessed with this game that I cleared it dozens of times.
I even had a speedrun time of 6 hours, 34 minutes, and 22 seconds—a record better than the world record at one point, though the current record is under 6 hours.
I frequently uploaded challenge runs on video sites, like completing the game with only equipment found by companions or using only non-human allies. Those videos became somewhat popular as a series.
Because of this, I know one thing for sure. In fact, anyone who’s played the game would know.
The character Evilham—an ogre with distinctive red-brown skin, a well-built body, a single horn, silver hair, and fairly handsome features.
But he’s weak. Hopelessly weak.
He’s the boss of the game’s initial tutorial dungeon, meaning he’s the weakest of all the bosses.
Honestly, even a child could win against him by mashing buttons. Compared to later, more difficult dungeons, it’s almost laughable.
And even if you train him, he remains weak. How do I know? Evilham is the only enemy character with a max-level cap coded into his data.
In the post-game Dungeon of Remembrance, where stronger versions of all past bosses appear, Evilham is included, but despite being max level, his stats barely improve. His HP increases by just 100 points, to be precise.
It’s clearly a joke by the developers, capping his level without actually making him stronger. Even with training, Evilham can’t beat the first hero.
If my suspicions are correct and this world is actually the game’s setting, then I’m destined to be killed by the hero sooner or later.
If nothing changes, I’ll be killed… No, I’ll die no matter what I do. Let’s think rationally. It’s not like I can just train to get stronger—this world doesn’t work that way.
Why would I have to grind to max level just to gain a measly 100 HP? The secret bosses in this game have HPs that exceed ten million.
Still, even weak Evilham is a threat to ordinary villagers, so he steals food and alcohol from nearby settlements.
Because of that, the villages around this dungeon are facing starvation.
Additionally, the region is described as having poor soil, making food even more valuable.
The hero is supposed to hear the pleas of the nearby villagers and come to defeat Evilham.
That’s the game’s story. Now let’s recall my own story.
I don’t remember the exact cause of my death, but I know I died in modern-day Japan.
And my soul somehow reincarnated into Evilham’s body, though I had forgotten about it until the alcohol brought my memories back. Is that right?
Well, that’s about all I can remember.
◇
“Lord Evilham! Let’s steal more food from the humans and have a party today!”
Littleham suddenly suggested. In the past, Evilham would have eagerly agreed to such a plan. But I can’t do that anymore.
“Stop. We can’t steal food anymore.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
Littleham looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“Stealing food from humans is off-limits. No matter how hungry we get, we can’t take from others.”
“But… Lord Evilham, you’re the one who started this! Why are you saying this now?”
Littleham protested. Indeed, it might seem too late to change now.
“Listen, Littleham. The humans are suffering from starvation. They need food to survive, just like we do.”
A writer who created a certain hero once said that a true hero is someone who can share bread with a hungry person.
I was deeply moved by those words. I even wanted to become a person like that.
But Evilham is the complete opposite. He mercilessly steals food from starving villagers, making him truly evil.
That’s why this can’t go on. Even as the villainous Evilham, I want to prove that he can change and become a hero.
“If humans die, there’ll be no one left to steal food from. It’s best to keep them alive but weakened.”
Preaching heroism to Littleham probably won’t work. It’s better to use a more practical explanation for now.
“Wow, as expected of Lord Evilham. Your thinking is devious!”
However, Evilham’s body is known for its large appetite, needing five meals a day at minimum.
If I don’t find a way to secure food, I’ll end up starving.
“Hmm… What should I do… Ah! I’ve got it! Let’s produce food within the dungeon!”
“Inside the dungeon? Is that even possible?”
“Yeah, if my memory serves me right…”
I left the bedroom and headed to the depths of the dungeon. There, I found a solemn chamber with a red crystal at its center. I touched it.
[Access confirmed. Dungeon Master, you may now manage the dungeon.]
Just as I thought. As the current dungeon boss, I have the right to manage this dungeon.
If I get defeated, the dungeon master’s rights will pass to the hero, but for now, I can manipulate the dungeon freely.
I’ll modify the dungeon to create a way to produce food.
First, I need to create farmland. I should turn part of the dungeon into farmland—maybe convert an area near my bedroom.
[To convert Area A3 into farmland, 300 Dungeon Points (DP) are required. (Currently 5000 DP)]
Modifying the dungeon requires something called DP.
There are two ways to gather DP:
One, through battles within the dungeon. Two, by the number and types of creatures living in the dungeon, which automatically generates points.
The former isn’t an option. Battles between monsters won’t help. So, I’ll have to rely on the automatic generation.
This means DP is valuable, and I can’t waste it. But I need to create farmland for survival, so I have no choice.
“I’ll spend 300 DP to develop the farmland.”
I spent the precious DP to create farmland. But just having a farm isn’t enough—I need to plant seeds.
“I’ll spend 100 DP to plant wheat seeds in the farmland!”
Now, I just need to wait for the wheat to grow and be ready for harvest. That’s the first step completed. While waiting, I might as well tend to the field.
Tending the field can speed up the harvest or increase the yield. It’s a crucial part of this process.
