The highest hereditary title the king offered was a Baron. But what use was a mere Baron? If he was going to get one, he might as well go big. As for it being hereditary, that meant absolutely nothing to Zenith. In the end, everyone felt like they had made a profit—a win-win situation.
An Earl without territory meant having no private army or tax revenue, but Zenith couldn't care less about that. With the title of Earl, local nobles wherever he went would have to treat him like their own revered ancestor.
So, what to do now? Who knew when he would run into Frieren again. Zenith decided to leave a few more of his own marks on this fantasy world.
Just like in an RPG: defeating the Demon King was the main quest, finding lost cats, walking dogs, and delivering letters were the daily side quests, and exploring dungeons was naturally the instance dungeon content.
And highly lucrative instance dungeons, at that.
After some thought, Zenith came up with a brilliant idea: why not just build a bunch of dungeons in this world? Adventurers loved exploring, didn't they? Then he would give them more than enough to explore.
The architecture had to be grand and majestic, the mechanics difficult and unpredictable, the monsters powerful, and naturally, the rewards absolutely bountiful.
Zenith had unlocked so many new magical items, weapons, and equipment that he had no use for himself. This time, they would definitely come in handy.
*You want powerful magic scrolls and potions? You want legendary swords and armor? I hid them all in the dungeons. If you want them, go challenge them!*
Zenith had already figured out his lines. Next up was selecting the sites and breaking ground.
Having truly learned magic in a practical sense, Zenith found doing many things much more convenient.
For the first dungeon, he decided to keep it traditional. Zenith spun his pen as he brainstormed the blueprints. When people thought of a dungeon, the first thing that came to mind was a dilapidated labyrinth entrance on the surface, descending layer by layer as challengers fought their way through to claim the treasure.
It was a bit too cliché, but since it was the first one, he definitely needed to make it easier for the people of this world to accept. As for the final loot obtained after passing all the trials, Zenith chose the Ring of Seven Curses.
That's right, the very same ring that Zenith would absolutely never choose to wear. This thing had appeared in his inventory the moment the mod was unlocked; it was the mod's starting item.
Once equipped, it inflicted the Curse of Binding permanently. Not even death could remove it, unless one used the power of a god.
This thing carried seven curses: it doubled the damage the wearer took from creatures, caused strangers to inexplicably harbor an initial attitude of disgust toward them, halved their attack damage, and reduced their armor defense by thirty percent.
Furthermore, any fire caught on the body would never extinguish, the wearer could never enter sleep, and upon death, they would face soul fragmentation.
However, powerful curses often came with powerful abilities. After equipping the Ring of Seven Curses, the user would obtain loot much more easily, gain the blessing of Fortune, experience a fourfold increase in cultivation speed, and acquire an independent storage space.
Most importantly, they would be able to use Seven Curses-exclusive relics.
In the shallower levels of the dungeon, aside from placing ordinary items, Zenith planned to add one Seven Curses relic per floor, leaving the Ring of Seven Curses at the very bottom.
Whether to stare at these powerful magical items without being able to use them, or to resolutely put on the cursed ring to gain immense power—that would be left for the adventuring challengers to decide for themselves.
Rumors began to surface.
Among the adventurers in the southern continent, a rumor began to spread at some unknown point in time: at the border between the mountain peaks and the Great Rift, there existed an unexplored dungeon. It was brimming with such intense magic that it could be felt even from kilometers away.
Legend had it that conquering this dungeon would grant power rivaling that of the Demon King.
The Central Kingdom had similar rumors, though their version differed: high up in the invisible sky, there existed a City in the Sky where the power of the gods lay dormant.
The northern continent also had legends of an ocean monument hidden beneath the glaciers.
The Great Age of Adventure had begun. This was the era of adventurers. The scattered dungeon items that made their way into the world drove people into a frenzy, and a single map recording a dungeon's location could sell for the exorbitant price of dozens of gold coins.
Aside from adventurers, wealthy merchants and nobles were also secretly dispatching soldiers to search for them.
Thanks to the dedicated contributions of everyone at the SPW Foundation. Hopefully, they wouldn't pick up any bad habits from this.
It had to be said, the elites of the SPW Foundation were all geniuses. In just half a year, they had mastered a great deal of technology far beyond their era.
Although they hadn't fully grasped the underlying principles of many things, they had no problem using them.
To make it easier for Zenith to monitor the status of the various dungeons, they had even launched seven orbital satellites into this fantasy world to serve as signal relays.
It had to be said, the world of the rich was truly absurd.
"The border between the mountain peaks and the Great Rift... No matter how you look at it, this doesn't seem like a naturally formed terrain. Magic truly is incredible."
A fully armored guard detail of over thirty men stood there. The leader's armor was trimmed with gold, and his breastplate bore a family crest as an identifier.
The accompanying mage, who specialized in mana detection, looked at the distant dungeon entrance and couldn't help but marvel. "What incredible mana. There might even be a divine artifact inside this dungeon."
"Is that so? Then that's for the best. The Demon King's army is far too strong. The Eisenhem family has already lost two cities in a row. If we can find the power to fight back against the demons here, I am willing to pay any price."
Orcini Eisenhem, the second son of the current Eisenhem family, had been ordered to explore this recently rumored dungeon.
The eldest son and the family head were naturally still active on the battlefield. For an unfounded legend like this, committing a second son was already a sign of great importance.
The dungeon's entrance closely resembled an ancient Greek temple. A towering statue of Steve stood in the center, and sitting cross-legged beneath the idol was an old man clad in Netherite armor.
Facing the noble squad before him, the old man didn't even stand up. Instead, he kept his eyes closed and said calmly,
"I am the guardian of this dungeon. Only by passing my trial in a one-on-one battle will the entrance to the dungeon be opened for you."
The accompanying mage narrowed his eyes. He couldn't sense a single trace of mana from this old man. If he wasn't just an ordinary person, it meant this guy was capable of completely concealing his aura without leaking a drop.
*What a terrifying guy.*
"Standing before you is the noble Baron Eisenhem! You should pay your respects to a noble!"
The old man didn't reply—mainly because he couldn't understand a single word. He had practiced those lines for a long time just to say them fluently.
Joseph Joestar. After enduring his wife's stormy, tempestuous wrath, he had finally escaped and contacted Zenith through the SPW Foundation.
*You want to take refuge? Sure, but you're going to have to work for it.* Zenith had cheerfully dragged the second JoJo over to moonlight as free labor.
In terms of strength, Joseph—who had picked up his Hamon techniques again and eaten an Enchanted Golden Apple—was incredibly powerful. He was more than qualified to serve as a dungeon guardian.
And he himself was quite interested in this different world. Or rather, as long as he didn't have to endure a domestic warzone back home, he was interested in doing absolutely anything.
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