The hunters shuddered and everyone’s faces turned pale.

A humanoid monster was smart, but THIS smart to actually move the dungeon gates from one city to another?

Unheard of.

The mayor rolled his eyes, almost fainting, but he gritted his teeth, wiping the sweat from his eyebrow.

"W-we have to investigate this matter! Interrogate the survivors from both cities!"

In less than an hour, the authority from both cities collected enough testimonies.

They started another long-distance video call, their 3D holographic figures appearing in the air.

The Civil City’s mayor looked haggard as he reported.

"The two survivors...one said there is a slime maze and a slime lake inside the dungeon."

"The other said the same but after going deeper— it became a spider dungeon."

Grindhall City’s dungeon management bureau shot up to their feet, his palms slamming the table.

"S-slime and spider? In the same dungeon??"

"That’s impossible! That gate is just an F-rank gate!"

"But our three survivors said the same! They said the portal led to an upside-down spider dungeon— "

"Upside down? Ours didn’t say that! They said the spiders attacked from above— "

The Civil City mayor frowned.

The Grindhall City mayor paused, sweat dripping down his forehead.

If the testimonies were true...

"Did the dungeon...change?"

In less than an hour?

The dungeon management bureau from both cities fell silent, their faces darkened, pupils quacking.

"T-this is bad. T-that dungeon— might be a mutated dungeon."

A mutated dungeon— an unknown, chaotic dungeon where anything could happen.

An F-rank mutated dungeon could produce an E-rank boss or the monster type changed entirely.

The last one had appeared years ago— usually within the Death Zone.

The air grew heavy.

"...report to the Central District. Our small district can’t handle this."

The Grindhall City bureau chief exhaled shakily, as if he had aged a decade.

The others didn’t object.

They sent all the evidence to the Central District and waited in tense silence.

At the same time, a pair of crimson eyes stared at the computer, effortlessly hacking onto the bureaus’ private reposts and information.

The crimson eyes blinked.

"Hmmm. A humanoid monster? Mutated dungeon? How fun~ "

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The youth manipulated holographic interfaces and extracted the data with practiced ease.

Then, they opened the public network, eyes gleaming.

"Hehehe. Everyone deserves to know how amazing this boss is!"

That night, information spread like wildfire across the Fringe Continent—bypassing all local restrictions.

[Shocking! First mutated dungeon in five years appears in Frontier District!]

[Humanoid boss discovered. What rare item will it drop?]

Netizens and hunters alike went into an uproar.

[This is fake, right??]

[I’m from Civil City—it’s real! Hunters confirmed it!]

[Sh*t. We’re doomed.]

Citizens from the Central District were skeptical.

[Must be that backward district’s hype and exaggeration.]

[Surely no one will believe this, right? Right??]

But pictures of the gate spread all over the internet, alongside the survivors’ interview videos and other "evidence".

The Dungeon Management Bureau almost fainted in anger.

"Who leaked the news??"

Now, those greedy hunters would definitely flock over to find the humanoid boss monster just for the so-called rare item drop!!

Indeed.

After confirming the news, hunters from Frontier District flocked to both Civil City and Grindhall City.

Even Central District’s guilds went to the Border City, about to enter Frontier District— a place they wouldn’t even glance at before.

But the hustle and bustle outside didn’t have anything to do with a certain landlord.

The moment the gate closed, the green fog slowly turned white, the poison disappearing.

Inside Lucien’s mind, the three aligned balls separated.

[Dungeon Raid Mode has ended.]

The house shook, the fog slowly slithered out of the hall, returning to surround the exterior.

The hall twisted like a dough before settling back to its original form.

The purple crystal vanished into the void in Lucien’s bedroom.

The blue and green crystals drifted away— towards the bathtub and the attic.

As everything reset, the fog clouding Lucien’s mind cleared halfway.

His inner soul blinked, regaining consciousness, yet still a bit hazy.

Crack. Crack.

"Ugh!"

Lucien’s spider legs slowly retracted into his spine.

The tail shrank, the extra two spiders eyes closed, but the claws remained.

Inside his mind, a miniature version of his dungeon boss form appeared—four eyes, six legs, claws, tail.

Pop!

The mini Lucien slapped his tail irritably, staring at Lucien’s inner soul with a foul face.

—Eat...

Lucien’s inner soul rolled his eyes and scolded weakly.

Eat, eat, you greedy bastard!

Despite that, Lucien’s heart hung high, his mind flashed with Mumu and Lurenzo’s images.

Are they...okay?

They were poisoned...and attacked...

Lucien endured the pain of the surplus energy wrecking his body and swept his vision throughout the house.

He found Mumu and Lurenzo in the bathroom.

Their blue and green faces slowly turned rosy.

The poison was cleaned.

Then, the two tenants were thrown to the bed and the wounds on Lurenzo’s body slowly regenerated.

Lucien’s hanging heart finally dropped.

They’re fine.

That’s...good.

But the relief didn’t last long.

[Warning! Warning! Dungeon energy overload!]

"Ughhh!"

Lucien felt that tearing pain again, threatening to tear him to pieces.

The system immediately flickered into existence.

[Slime dungeon level up process:

1. Key monster level up (Achieved)

2. Dungeon energy 100% (Achieved)

3. Evolving the natives (Not yet attempted)]

The third line flashed in red.

A new system panel appeared.

[Dungeon Landlord innate skills:

Dungeon Management Skill Set]

[Native Evolution (Myth)

Description: Evolving one’s natives is the landlord’s duty!]

[Duration: 1 hour

Estimated skill time recovery: 24 hours]

Is the system...urging him to use the skill?

To deal with the energy surplus?

Lucien’s claws trembled as he clicked on the panel.

In an instant, the pain all over his energy was suppressed to the minimum, turning into a dull pain.

Lucien felt the same state as when he was designing the dungeon and a new panel popped up.

[Slime Evolution Path:

1. Assassin Path (Easy) (-10% energy)

2. Healer Path (Difficult) (-30% energy)

3. Mixed Path (Near impossible) (-50% energy)]

50% energy— enough to open a new gate.

But energy wasn’t the problem.

He had too many!

With trembling claws, Lucien chose the third option right away.

Woongggg.

The blue crystal that was at 100% instantly dimmed, the energy dropping by half.

Lucien hurriedly transferred his main dungeon’s excess energy into the blue crystal.

[+ 50% energy]

[Slime dungeon’s energy reserve: 100%]

[Main dungeon’s energy reserve: 100%]

The tearing pain vanished completely.

His claws retracted, his sharp fangs dulled into his normal teeth.

The slimy liquid coating his skin dried up and slowly disappeared.

The mini dungeon boss in Lucien’s mind slowly curled up at the corner, listless.

Lucien’s body felt lighter, like a feather.

The dark, murky thoughts receded— going dormant.

Simultaneously, the memories of when he was in a dungeon boss mode came crushing like a tide, suffocating Lucien.

Lucien subconsciously gasped for air, his face pale.

"Haaa! Haaa! Ugh!"

The man heaved, but nothing came out of his mouth.

"Huuu...huuu..."

Lucien’s heart thundered for a few seconds until he slowly gripped his cheeks tightly, his eyes flickering.

...damn.

Did he almost turn into a monster with no way back??

Lucien’s inner soul instantly kicked the air and glared at the listless dungeon boss Lucien at the corner.

That monster! That bastard! Ahhhh! He killed so many people—

Lucien’s inner soul paused before murmuring,

Well, he didn’t regret that...

It was necessary.

...right?

Lucien shook his head and slapped his cheek.

Okay, let’s not think about that

There was still this—

DING! [You have chosen the Mixed Path Evolution!]

Lucien’s mind flashed and the image of the most common acid slime appeared.

[Mob Slime Evolution]

1. Acid Slime—> Potent Acid Slime (10% failure)

2. Acid Slime—> Medicinal Gel Slime (30% failure)

3. Healing Crystal Slime (NEW) (RARE)

(80% failure)

[Elite Slimes Evolution]

1. Giant Acid Slime—> Barrier-Breaker Giant Acid Slime

(30% failure)

2. Assassin Slime (NEW) (RARE)

(80% failure)

[Warning! Failure results in death!]

[Total slimes: 100]

[Please start the evolution!]