Cathulhu Online, MUNYA!

Chapter 193 – Cat Dad Invites Mary

Mary was surprised, "Um, sir. Your guild?"

"What is your guild name?"

"MUNYA guild, munya!"

"…"

Mary was unsure if she could entrust her future to Xiaomao. She still had two kids at home to feed, and she needed at least 30,000 gold coins a month for food and rent.

The lifestyle of the NPCs here was similar to a modern salaryman. They got monthly wages, but they had to pay for their rent, food, and taxes.

The only difference between the modern capitalist world's salarymen and the NPC workers was the existence tax – Everybody, including newborn children, had to pay 5,000 gold coins to Yuan Empire every month. If anybody failed to do so, law enforcers from the empire could come and enslave the person.

As Xiaomao was well-versed in the game's lore, he was aware of the common issues every NPC in the game was facing. Moreover, he had countless gold coins and 71 million PACTs to convert into more gold coins. Xiaomao could afford to hire non-combatant NPCs for years.

"How about 100,000 gold coins a month, munya? I'll provide you a rent-free resident as well."

"W-What?!" Mary couldn't believe what she was hearing. The offer was too good to be true. "Are you serious?"

"I'm not kidding, munya. I'm in need of a secretary, really!"

"…"

Mary pondered for a moment, thinking of her kids at home. Then, she solemnly looked at Xiaomao.

"What about existence taxes? How much does your guild take?"

Player guilds could also impose existence taxes on the employees, members, and their retainers. Sometimes, strangers banded together to make a guild, and the guild leader had no choice but to amass funds by imposing this type of tax on the members. However, organized guilds never used it.

"None, munya! My guild is affiliated with the Mermaid Kingdom. You don't have to pay that stupid tax!"

Hearing the name of the Mermaid Kingdom, Mary dropped her jaw, "What country is that?!"

"Do you want to see your working place first, munya?"

"…"

Mary cautiously nodded.

Xiaomao grinned and brought out a flying sword. He switched his character into his human form and quickly wore the cash-shop clothes. Then, he princess-carried Mary.

"E-Eh!?"

Everything happened so fast that Mary couldn't react.

"Hang tight."

Xiaomao winked at Mary and rode the flying sword to the sky. A few minutes later, he entered his dungeon and brought her directly to the boss's room.

When Xiaomao arrived, he found Andrew, James, Peter, and John, sitting cross-legged and meditating. Nymph was also there, watching over the men.

Xiaomao didn't interrupt their cultivation session. He let Mary down and reverted into a catopus.

Before Mary could say anything, Xiaomao cut her off.

"Stay here, munya. Let me create a residential district for employees first."

"Err…"

Mary looked around warily. Then, her sight stopped at Nymph.

Xiaomao dashed toward the treasure room's door, swiped the key card, and entered the room. Without saying anything to Lucky and the cats, he touched the dungeon core.

He still remembered that he could still expand a dungeon floor for free because of his First Overlord title.

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Title: First Overlord

Sometimes, a pioneer doesn't need to build a town. Instead, they can simply take over a dungeon or create a new one entirely. By having a dungeon, you have established your foothold in this world!

Since you are the first to control a dungeon, you can create a new dungeon floor by using the dungeon management menu for free.

Effect: You can create a new dungeon floor for free. (One-time usage)

.

The dungeon core projected a hologram 3D image of the entire dungeon. All floors, rooms, and paths were shown in the 3D map.

DING

<You can create a new dungeon floor for free. Would you like to create a new dungeon floor?>

"Yes, munya!"

<Please choose where you want to place the new floor.>

10,000 ten-cubic-meter blocks appeared in the hologram, linking together and forming a 100x100 large square formation. Xiaomao was puzzled at first as he didn't know how to use this OS. But when he noticed that he could move the block formation up and down to insert the formation between the existing dungeon floors.

"Yes, munya!"

As Xiaomao had planned to create a residential area inside his dungeon to house his slaves and retainers, he moved it to the same floor as the bridge floor, attaching it below the boss room.

DING

<You are creating a new floor between the Bridge Level and the Lake Level.>

<[Yes]/[No]>

"Yes, munya!"

<Please set up your new dungeon floor's traits, layout, and structure.>

Instead of a hologram map, a new system window appeared, presenting Xiaomao with countless choices. He skimmed through it in confusion.

A few minutes later, Xiaomao managed to guess what the OS wanted him to do – It was a setup process that Xiaomao needed to fill in what he wanted to do with the floor.

Most of the required information came with preset choices that Xiaomao needed to tick. Among them, Xiaomao could select multiple options.

With a goal in his mind, it was easy to set up the characteristic of this floor and how it would work.

.

Floor Number: B3

Floor Name: Residential District

Floor Law: Non-Euclidean, Safe, Secured, Non-Environmental Hazard

Floor Boss: None

Floor Boss Accessibility: Entire Dungeon

Elite Mob Respawn: No

Mob Respawn: No

B3 Accessibility (Guests): Yes

B3 Accessibility (Dungeon Bosses): Yes

B3 Accessibility (Dungeon Elites): Yes

B3 Accessibility (Dungeon Mobs): Yes

B3 Accessibility (Intruders): No

External Accessibility: No

Xiaomao immediately put the entrance gate next to the treasure room. However, the door could only be seen by the residents of this dungeon, friendly guests, and MUNYA Guild members.

No-Clip Options: No

Traps: None

.

The list went on. Xiaomao felt like he was setting up a discord channel as there were many things to pay attention to, but it seemed so insignificant. He disallowed all harmful access to the floor and pressed the confirm button.

<Please create an entrance to this level.>

<This floor's law is Non-Euclidean. You can create an entrance anywhere in the dungeon.>

Xiaomao nodded. He understood now why Undine and Nymph made this dungeon a non-Euclidean.

'How convenient. I can infinitely expand the dungeon without worrying about the limitation of spaces.'

Xiaomao immediately put the entrance gate next to the treasure room. However, the door could only be seen by the residents of this dungeon, friendly guests, and MUNYA Guild members.

Creating a new floor and a strict rule had a consequence. By adding a new non-Euclidean floor into the dungeon, the mana capacity was decreased by 10,000,000 points.

.

Slave Dungeon Status

Max Population: 50,000

Total Population: 50,000

Total Floors: 5

Max Mana Capacity: 40,000,000

Current Mana: 40,000,000

Mana Gathering Rate (Per Second): 5,000,000

.

Dungeon Levels

First Floor – Cave Level

B1 Floor – Lobby Level

B2 Floor – Bridge Level

B3 Floor – Residential Area Level

B4 Floor – Mermaid Lake Level

.

The mana capacity dropped, but the mana generation suddenly spiked by a lot. Xiaomao wondered why it increased so much. Then, he remembered that he had already merged the mythic chalice with the OS, and the dungeon was producing sacred water.

'That mythic chalice is such a hax. So, that's why it's a mythic item.'

Xiaomao shook his head, getting rid of the useless thoughts. He resumed his task and modified the newly created floor.

The setup process hadn't been finished yet. Now, Xiaomao could start moving 10-cubic-meter blocks freely, but he still needed to attach them to any block that connected to the main formation.

As Xiaomao was too lazy to create a complicated zone, he left it as a square formation of 10,000 blocks alone. However, he opened the creation menu and noticed that he could purchase buildings.

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Shack (100 Mana)

This humble shack can house two residents. It provides a simple place to rest under a roof, but it's not sustainable in the long run.

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Level-1 Brick House (1,000 Mana)

A simple brick house is a basic residence for retainers and slaves. However, it's not suitable for nobles and aristocrats since it's too shabby and poor-maintained. You will need to upgrade it a few times to satisfy the residents. Can house up to 3 residents.

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Level-1 Cottage (5,000 Mana)

This medium-class cottage is good enough for NPCs or retainers with high demands. It can instantly satisfy the needs of the residents, but it can only house one family or four persons.

.

Xiaomao immediately purchased a cottage with his dungeon's mana. Since the entire dungeon created five million points of MP per second, spending 5,000 was nothing.

He built a level-1 cottage for Mary. Then, he operated other tabs to create roads, decoration trees, a clear river, a garden, streetlights, and more empty cottages.

By the time Xiaomao finished playing the Sim City game and creating a large village, an hour had passed.

'Oh, crap! Mary must have been waiting!'

Xiaomao grumbled, but he purchased and placed a massive mansion to be his guild's headquarters in the middle of the residential area, surrounded by hundreds of empty cottages.

Checking the residential floor one last time, Xiaomao nodded in satisfaction. Then, he rushed out of the room.

"I'm so sorry, munya! Have you waited long?"

Xiaomao's voice echoed before the treasure room's door was completely opened. He hopped out of the room and found that Mary had been jumping around Nymph.

"REALLY, REALLY?! MAKE ME ONE, PLEASE!" Mary screamed like a fangirl.

Nymph rubbed her foreheads and turned to Xiaomao. She pointed at Mary.

"Where did you pick up this woman? She's screaming like an idiot."

Xiaomao was speechless and confused.

"What happened here, munya?"

Nymph shook her head in resignation, "This girl has been asking me if she can mutate into a mermaid and remain young forever. I told her that she could. Then, she becomes like this."

"…"