WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 48: Designing the Door

Ben kept working, expanding the base. He laid down three blocks in width, stretching them all the way toward the gemstone mine. On the sides, he built five-block-high walls—just in case. No accidents. It also gave him some kind of basic defense, something he could expand later. As he placed another block, he let out a heavy sigh. "Ironically, this is way too similar to the games I used to play."

He had played a bunch of crafting games before. Every single one, he had the same habit—envisioning a grand, majestic base. And the result? Always disappointing. Just like now. He had a perfect plan for this place, but in the end? Just a square base clinging to the tunnel wall, hanging over molten white lava. 'One of these days, I'll redecorate.' He thought, dropping another block in place. Not today, though. That was way at the bottom of his priority list.

After some time, he finally reached the mine again. Behind him, five Krell workers were busy layering the floor on top of the blocks he just put down. He glanced ahead and sighed, stretching his arms. "Alright... time to dig."

A pickaxe appeared in his hand, and he started tidying up the entrance to the mine. "Pick strikes stone, deep in the night, chips fly off, swallowed from sight." Ben started humming to kill the boredom.

The natural entrance, shaped like a half-circle, slowly transformed into a square as he worked. "Thunk, clink, crack, the cavern hums." He struck the stone in rhythm, feeling the vibrations travel up his arms.

[Ding! You got 1 Grimslate Block!]

[Ding! You got 1 Grimslate Block!]

"Digger digs deep. The treasure comes. Dust to stone, and stone to ore—"

[Ding! You got 1 Grimslate block!]

Ben stopped, looked at the notification, and sighed. 'Yeah, no treasure this time. Just more Grimslate.' He shook his head and kept going. Once the entrance was done, he started placing more blocks, forming a makeshift gate. After setting up the frame, he took a step back, dusted off his hands, and exhaled. "Alright... now for the door."

Ben open the creation interface, He needed something simple but effective. A door mechanism that only opened from the inside—nothing fancy, just reliable. "Alright, let's keep it basic." His hands moved instinctively, selecting materials and sketching out the structure.

A lever system powered by a counterweight mechanism. No fancy magic, no delicate gears—just raw stone and weight doing the work.

First, he reinforced the door frame with customized thick Grimslate slabs, making sure they were properly fitted into the rock wall. Stability was everything. If this thing collapsed, he'd be drowned into the white lave.

Then came the door itself—a massive slab of Grimslate, three thick block enough to withstand force but not so heavy that it'd be impossible to move. He cut grooves into the ground and ceiling, installing simple guide rails to keep it from shifting awkwardly.

The mechanism? A makeshift chain, not rope. Rope would fray, burn, or snap under enough stress and not like he have the material to make one. But Grimslate? That stuff was dense, tough, and perfect for the job. He forged crude interlocking links from Grimslate, each one thick as his wrist, linking them together into a chain. Not the smoothest thing in the world, but it'd hold.

The chain connected the door to a counterweight system—more Grimslate blocks stacked in a separate chamber above. When the lever was pulled, the weights dropped, yanking the chain and lifting the door. Let go, and the weight would slowly settle back, pulling the door down with a solid thud. Ben stepped back, rolling his shoulders. "Let's see if this works."He grabbed the lever and pulled.

Clank.

The Grimslate chain groaned as the weight chamber activated. The heavy stone slab lifted slowly but steadily, rising just enough to let someone through. He released the lever, and the door eased back down, sealing the entrance once more. Ben crossed his arms, nodding. "Not bad. Ugly as hell, but it works." He gave the chain a firm tug, making sure nothing was loose. It rattled but held firm. "Alright, that's one problem solved."

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With the door in place, the mine entrance was secured. Now, Ben needed to start digging inside to carve out a proper chamber for the workers.

His eyes swept across the mine, scanning for the best spot. Then his gaze locked onto the caretaker dungeon entrance again. He lingered, staring at it for a moment before exhaling a heavy sigh. That damn door. It reminded him of that knight—the asshole who had left a deep impression on him.

After all, how often did you get a boss that gave you the middle finger?

"Tch. That guy..." Ben muttered under his breath. He scratched his head, rolling his shoulders before making a decision. "I should set up the chamber close to the dungeon—just in case something happens. That way, they can react fast."

With that in mind, he opened the creature creation system. His fingers moved fast, spending resources to summon more workers. Five more Krell Workers. Six Krell Logistics. The total number under his command rose to 41 Krell. 'Not bad.' He still planned to summon more Krell Soldiers, but he

needed space for that first.

"Alright, time to work! Guys!!!" A wide grin spread across Ben's face as he pulled out a Grimslate pickaxe, tossing it to the workers.

The five new Krell grabbed their tools and got to work right away, chipping away at the stone with steady, heavy strikes. The rhythmic thunk, thunk, thunk echoed through the cavern, and Ben's grin stretched even wider.

"So this is what it feels like to delegate all the work and just sit back to enjoy the results." He had always wondered how his old boss felt—spending all day in his office, fooling around with womans while he and the other workers did everything. It wasn't like the guy had any special skills, aside from being born into a rich family with stupidly good luck.