โPlease wake up, Lord Evilham.โ
Someone is shaking my body. That movement wakes me up.
โUghโฆ who are youโฆ?โ
My vision is still blurry as I address the child in front of me. The childโs skin is a deep reddish-brown, far from what a humanโs would look like.
โHow mean. Did you forget? Itโs me, Littleham!โ
โAh, rightโฆ Youโre Littleham, and Iโm Evilhamโฆ right?โ
Evilham. The name does sound familiar. Itโs probably because itโs 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.
โYou drank a lot of the alcohol we took from the villagers last night. Maybe the hangover is making your memories all jumbled.โ
โMy memoriesโฆ jumbled?โ
Is that so? Maybeโฆ My memories seem all mixed upโฆ Ah!
โI remembered!โ
Nowโs not the time to be dealing with a hangover headache!
โLittleham! Listen to me. Weโre going to die!โ
โHuh? What are you talking about? Are you still half-asleep? Haha.โ
Littleham didnโt believe my words, thinking it was just my hangover talking.
Well, I did panic, given the sudden realization. Even when faced with death, I shouldnโt lose my composure.
After all, even if we were to die, Iโve already died once beforeโif my memory is correct.
Letโs check if Iโm really just groggy from the hangover.
โ
First, Iโm 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.
Itโs 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 youโve 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 secondsโa 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 whoโs played the game would know.
The character Evilhamโan ogre with distinctive red-brown skin, a well-built body, a single horn, silver hair, and fairly handsome features.
But heโs weak. Hopelessly weak.
Heโs the boss of the gameโs initial tutorial dungeon, meaning heโs the weakest of all the bosses.
Honestly, even a child could win against him by mashing buttons. Compared to later, more difficult dungeons, itโs 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.
Itโs clearly a joke by the developers, capping his level without actually making him stronger. Even with training, Evilham canโt beat the first hero.
If my suspicions are correct and this world is actually the gameโs setting, then Iโm destined to be killed by the hero sooner or later.
If nothing changes, Iโll be killedโฆ No, Iโll die no matter what I do. Letโs think rationally. Itโs not like I can just train to get strongerโthis world doesnโt 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.
Thatโs the gameโs story. Now letโs recall my own story.
I donโt remember the exact cause of my death, but I know I died in modern-day Japan.
And my soul somehow reincarnated into Evilhamโs body, though I had forgotten about it until the alcohol brought my memories back. Is that right?
Well, thatโs about all I can remember.
โ
โLord Evilham! Letโs steal more food from the humans and have a party today!โ
Littleham suddenly suggested. In the past, Evilham would have eagerly agreed to such a plan. But I canโt do that anymore.
โStop. We canโt steal food anymore.โ
โHuh? What do you mean?โ
Littleham looked at me with a puzzled expression.
โStealing food from humans is off-limits. No matter how hungry we get, we canโt take from others.โ
โButโฆ Lord Evilham, youโre the one who started this! Why are you saying this now?โ
Littleham protested. Indeed, it might seem too late to change now.
โListen, Littleham. The humans are suffering from starvation. They need food to survive, just like we do.โ
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.
Thatโs why this canโt go on. Even as the villainous Evilham, I want to prove that he can change and become a hero.
โIf humans die, thereโll be no one left to steal food from. Itโs best to keep them alive but weakened.โ
Preaching heroism to Littleham probably wonโt work. Itโs better to use a more practical explanation for now.
โWow, as expected of Lord Evilham. Your thinking is devious!โ
However, Evilhamโs body is known for its large appetite, needing five meals a day at minimum.
If I donโt find a way to secure food, Iโll end up starving.
โHmmโฆ What should I doโฆ Ah! Iโve got it! Letโs produce food within the dungeon!โ
โInside the dungeon? Is that even possible?โ
โYeah, if my memory serves me rightโฆโ
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 masterโs rights will pass to the hero, but for now, I can manipulate the dungeon freely.
Iโll modify the dungeon to create a way to produce food.
First, I need to create farmland. I should turn part of the dungeon into farmlandโmaybe 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 isnโt an option. Battles between monsters wonโt help. So, Iโll have to rely on the automatic generation.
This means DP is valuable, and I canโt waste it. But I need to create farmland for survival, so I have no choice.
โIโll spend 300 DP to develop the farmland.โ
I spent the precious DP to create farmland. But just having a farm isnโt enoughโI need to plant seeds.
โIโll spend 100 DP to plant wheat seeds in the farmland!โ
Now, I just need to wait for the wheat to grow and be ready for harvest. Thatโs 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. Itโs a crucial part of this process.