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I Became A Zombie Chapter 18

Chapter 18: First Labyrinth Remodeling Conference ①

Kinu was clinging to my arm when I woke up. As I pet her head, Kinu slowly opened her eyes.

「Good morning, Aun.」

「Good morning. Sorry, did I wake you?」

「No. I woke up a while ago. I realized that it… was not a dream.」

「I see. I’m glad to hear that. I have something to discuss with Ars and Irs. Do you wanna come along Kinu?」

「Nn.」

Then the two of us walked to the core room.

「Good morning to the both of you. Did you sleep well?」

「Oh, good morning! Hey, there’s something I want to talk to you and Irs about. I want to gather everyone here. Can Irs come here too?」

「Yes, clone cores can teleport too. I just called him. He should be here soon.」

「I see, thank you.」

「Aun, Kinu! What are we discussing about?」Irs arrived in the core room.

「I want to talk about the future. For now, please listen to me first.」

「Alright.」Ars said.

Everyone nodded in response.

I told them about everything that had happened so far and my plans for the future.

「To tell you the truth, I was originally a human. I was a solo adventurer.

Before I became an adventurer, I was raised by my grandfather. He taught me various things, such as how to fight, the type of monsters, etc.

Shortly after becoming an adventurer, I was betrayed by my friends. Since then I have been adventuring alone.

I don’t know how or why I became a monster, but I was deceived by an adventurer’s party and turned into a zombie after being killed.

Thereupon, I ended up in this dungeon after defeating other monsters to survive.」

「I see now. So after that you absorbed Ars-dono, met Kinu, and then absorbed me as well, correct?」

「Broadly speaking, yes. And after meeting the three of you, I finally understood that I’m not alone.

I no longer feel the loneliness that I always felt when I was human.

That’s why I wanted you all to gather here today, and tell you my future plans.」

「That’s right. Both I and Ars are one and the same with Aun, so to speak. We will never betray or deceive you.」

「Yeah, thank you.

So, from now on, Kinu and I must become stronger.

In order to protect this happiness, I have decided to become the strongest of all living beings.

This is my and Kinu’s goal and promise.

One other thing is that I want to achieve my… dream.」

「Aun’s dream?」

「The human adventurer’s guild has a system that allows you to create a community called a “Clan”. My dream is to gather trustworthy people and create the strongest clan. I want to gather people who will do their best for their friends, people who will give their all for their friends. That is the kind of clan I want to create.」

「Aun’s dream is Kinu’s dream.」Kinu said.

「That sounds interesting!」Ars said.

「I am super excited to hear this, even though I’m a core! So what should we do?」Irs asked.

「About that, I will be diving into the functions of the dungeons, so I’d like to explain while asking some questions for clarification.

To start with, I would like for this Foret Noir Labyrinth to function as a “clan house”. A safe base, so to speak.

In that respect, I thought that this dungeon was likely to be the place with the highest safety.

This is where I have a question. Is it possible, for example, to make this dungeon into a function that prevents intrusion from the outside?」

「Hmm, well, it is certainly within the realm of possibility, but there are various hurdles…」Ars said.

「Does this hurdle overlap with what Irs was trying to explain yesterday?」

「That’s right. Since we’re talking about it, is it okay if I explain the role of a dungeon and its detailed functions?」Irs asked.

「Yeah, please go ahead.」

「First of all, dungeons exist everywhere in this world.

The reason is that a dungeon is responsible for the circulation of magic essence.

In the first place, this world — which can also be called a “star”, this star maintains its life activities by circulating the energy of magic essence.

All flora and fauna, such as humans, monsters, and plants, use this magic essence as energy, to no little extent, to operate. When these flora and fauna perform activities or die, the magic essence flows out.

Dungeons are places that exist to absorb this flowing magic essence and release it into the star.」

「I can’t believe that dungeons had such a function…」

「Thereupon, dungeon points will be generated when this absorbed magic essence is released into the star.

The purpose of using these dungeon points to enlarge the dungeon and to create items is to allow magic essence to flow efficiently on this star.

The magic essence that flows out when one is fighting or dies emits dozens of times more magic essence than when one is not doing anything.

In addition, the amount of magic essence absorbed is greater inside the dungeon. Humans desire rare items and strong equipment, right? That’s why dungeons use those items as bait to induce them to fight inside the dungeon.」

「In that case, I was the first to enter Foret Noir, right?」

「Regarding that, it has something to do with the Forest of Eternal Darkness, which is under the jurisdiction of the Foret Noir Labyrinth.

This land was originally full of undead. No humans come in. That’s why I didn’t have enough magic essence to absorb, and I didn’t accumulate many dungeon points.

If you don’t have points, it will be difficult to summon strong monsters and create items. Furthermore, the entrance was generated at the basin of a waterfall. No one could find it at all, and I was stuck in this vicious cycle…」

「Ah, so that’s how it was… So, what does that have to do with the hurdle?」

「It is linked to the fact that magic essence must be circulated in no small amount.

If the entrance is closed, it will be difficult to absorb the magic essence, so it’s basically not possible.

However, there is a method to make it possible.」

「Oh? What kind of method is that?」

「The method itself is not that difficult.

You simply use dungeon points for the Foret Noir labyrinth.

Magic essence is used even when the dungeon points are used, so if the points can be used regularly in the Foret Noir dungeon, it is possible to close the entrance, but…

It’s impossible if you can’t earn points.」

「Is that so… No, wait a minute.」

From this moment, the course of our Labyrinth Remodeling Plan came together.