After defeating the Fire Dragon King, Ren Kuroda descended from the ninety-sixth floor into the ninety-seventh floor of the labyrinth.
Compared to the blazing inferno that filled the ninety-sixth floor, the ninety-seventh floor was an entirely different environment.
Jagged mountain peaks rose sharply from the ground, forming steep cliffs and narrow ridges. Through the gaps between the towering stone spires, powerful gales screamed through the air—razor-sharp winds that howled like blades cutting through the atmosphere.
"Challenger… you've done well to make it this far."
A deep, dignified voice echoed through the raging wind the moment Ren stepped onto the floor.
"Not only did you cross the previous ninety-five floors… you even defeated that fool, the Fire Dragon King."
"But even though we are both dragons, that idiot is the weakest among us."
"Defeating him does not mean you will succeed here."
"You must have exhausted yourself defeating him. Turn back now."
"If you do so, then in recognition of the bravery that brought you this far… I, the Gale Dragon King, will pretend I never saw you."
Ren had barely set foot on the ninety-seventh floor when the wind carried that imposing declaration across the battlefield.
Listening to the speech…
Ren couldn't help raising an eyebrow.
The tone.
The style.
Even the dramatic arrogance.
It was practically identical to the Fire Dragon King from earlier.
As expected of Veldora's underlings, Ren thought with a sigh. They've completely been infected with chuunibyou.
Still—
When Ren considered the goal of turning the Underground Labyrinth into a true RPG-style dungeon, he had to admit something.
The Four Dragon Kings' over-the-top, theatrical style actually fit the atmosphere of a dungeon perfectly.
For the Gale Dragon King, Ren didn't spend much time at all.
In the end, the dragon collapsed with a bewildered expression after receiving a single punch to the face—just like his fiery predecessor.
After that, Ren calmly proceeded to the next floor.
The same thing happened on the ninety-eighth floor and ninety-ninth floor.
The guardians there were the Frost Dragon King and the Earthshatter Dragon King.
When they first appeared—combined with the environmental effects of their respective domains and their massive dragon forms—they looked incredibly imposing.
Their entrances were nothing short of spectacular.
However—
When facing Ren, they all delivered plenty of dramatic threats…
Yet none of them managed to withstand a second punch.
Fire Dragon King.
Gale Dragon King.
Frost Dragon King.
Earthshatter Dragon King.
Defeating the Four Dragon Kings took Ren a total of ten minutes.
And most of that time had actually been spent walking between floors.
Because the deeper levels were supposed to contain stronger enemies and more intense battles, Ramiris had taken everyone's suggestions and designed the lower floors to be significantly larger in area.
By the time Ren finally returned to the surface, a total of thirty minutes had passed.
Every floor of the dungeon had been conquered—
Except for the hundredth floor, which was guarded by the Storm Dragon Veldora himself.
Originally, as the very first challenger—and one who had even defeated the four newly recruited Dragon Kings—Veldora had been eager to fulfill his role as the final boss and have an epic battle with Ren.
Unfortunately for him, the moment he suggested it…
His proposal was immediately shut down by Rimuru.
If the challenger had been anyone else, Rimuru wouldn't have worried much.
With Veldora's strength, any normal opponent would be crushed instantly.
But if the opponent was Ren…
Rimuru absolutely refused to let those two reckless monsters fight.
After all, Storm Dragon Veldora was one of the Four True Dragons, a being on the same level as the Star King Dragon—one of the absolute apex existences of this world.
His strength needed no explanation.
But Ren wasn't some ordinary powerhouse either.
If Ren unleashed his full strength, he could even fight Milim on equal footing for a short time.
If those two actually fought seriously…
The Underground Labyrinth they had worked so hard to build would be reduced to rubble.
"Ren, what do you think?"
Rimuru turned toward him with curiosity.
"As the first challenger, do you think this dungeon would be appealing to people if we opened it to the public?"
Ren was an otherworlder from modern society just like Rimuru.
He was also one of Rimuru's closest partners and friends.
And among the many powerful figures gathered here, Rimuru honestly considered Ren one of the most reliable.
That was why he genuinely wanted to hear Ren's opinion.
"Well…" Ren scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"Since a lot of the monsters in the labyrinth know me, I didn't really experience much of the thrill of conquering it."
"But those last four Dragon Kings were pretty impressive."
"The only problem is that they're a bit too weak."
Rimuru's slime face twitched slightly.
"But that's just compared to my strength," Ren added quickly. "If this dungeon is meant for normal adventurers and the general public, I think the concept has a lot of potential."
Hearing that, Rimuru sighed helplessly.
With someone as absurdly powerful as Ren, experiencing the thrill of dungeon conquering was practically impossible.
Unless all Four True Dragons and the other Eight Demon Lords teamed up to create a raid dungeon together…
Only then might Ren finally feel the excitement of a proper challenge.
"There's another problem," Ren continued.
"I think the dungeon rewards are… honestly kind of terrible."
"The early floors are fine—since they're so easy, it makes sense not to give anything."
"But up until the twentieth floor, the reward is just specialty foods from the Jura Forest."
"And from floors twenty to sixty, the rewards are just full-recovery potions you guys developed and some second-rate equipment forged by dwarves."
"Isn't that a little too stingy?"
Ren's point was simple.
If the labyrinth was meant to function as a real RPG dungeon, then rewards were absolutely essential.
Only meaningful rewards could motivate challengers to keep pushing deeper.
But in Ren's opinion, the current rewards were far too underwhelming.
The so-called Jura Forest specialty foods were basically dishes from modern Earth that Ren and Rimuru had recreated.
Sure, they were extremely rare and exotic in this world…
But for adventurers who were focused on becoming stronger, they were practically useless.
Unless someone was particularly obsessed with gourmet food, they wouldn't find them appealing at all.
As for the full-recovery potions and dwarven equipment, those certainly had some appeal for adventurers.
But in the end, they were still items that could be purchased—with enough money—from the Tempest Federation or the Dwarven Kingdom Dwargon.
Yes, they were expensive.
But considering the strength of monsters beyond the twentieth floor, many adventurers would simply prefer hunting monsters in the wild to earn money instead.
Then they could just buy the equipment directly.
"That's definitely a big problem," Rimuru admitted.
"But materials from the Four Dragon Kings and even Veldora himself are supposed to be rewards for floors beyond sixty."
"Other than that… we really don't have any unique items to offer."
"So originally, I was planning to promote the labyrinth as a place where adventurers could gain combat experience."
Rimuru had already realized this issue earlier.
But at the moment, the Jura Forest simply didn't have many exclusive products to offer.
"That approach could work," Ren said thoughtfully.
"But challengers who come here just for training probably won't return a second time."
"After all, the classic RPG formula is growing stronger while clearing the dungeon."
"Since you guys consider me one of the partners behind this project… I guess I should contribute something too."
Ren reached into his pocket.
"Let's add this to the rewards."
"Depending on purity levels, you can distribute them across different floors of the labyrinth."
The items Ren produced were Spirit Power Crystals and Demonic Energy Crystals.
They came in several grades—inferior, low, and medium.
The inferior crystals were the most numerous.
As for the medium-grade crystals…
Ren had only recently obtained them after spending quite a bit of system currency to generate them.