"Game... designer?" Silas blankly repeated the term.
He knew that just as human adventurers were divided into classes like warriors, mages, and priests, the professions of each Dungeon Demon King differed as well. For instance, the previous Demon King had been a Dark Paladin. He'd heard that other dungeons had seen Demon Kings who were Black Wizards, Death Priests, or Cursed Assassins. But "Game Designer" was a profession he was hearing of for the very first time.
Not knowing was fine; Silas possessed the commendable virtue of not being afraid to ask his superiors.
"What kind of profession is that?" he inquired.
Lorne pondered for a moment.
The technology tree of this world had already climbed to the Electrical Age, but humans hadn't invented computers yet, let alone smartphones or home consoles. Without these machines, there were naturally no video games, much less "game designers."
Humans cannot imagine things beyond the scope of their own knowledge, and monsters are much the same. Explaining the meaning of a "game designer" to the natives of this world was proving to be a bit of a challenge.
He thought about it and said, "It's hard to explain. In short, once you become a game designer, your parents might as well be dead in the eyes of others."
After all, as soon as a game runs into trouble, the designer's parents are always the first to be "warmly greeted" by the players.
"What? Becoming a 'game designer' requires sacrificing one's own parents?!" Silas's pupils shook. "Even we monsters cherish the bond between parent and child, yet you actually used your own parents as sacrifices just to become a 'game designer'?!"
Serena was so moved that tears welled in her eyes. "This is truly too evil, too dark! As expected of Lord Lorne! It is the honor of our lives to follow a Demon King as ruthless and cold-blooded as you!"
Lorne: "...?"
The two succubi seemed to have misunderstood something, but he was too lazy to clarify. In these moments, explaining often sounds like making excuses. Establishing a persona as a ruthless, heartless Great Demon King didn't seem like a bad idea anyway.
Better to focus on making the game.
What is the essence of a game? It's a program, a pile of code. This world couldn't write code, so it naturally couldn't produce video games.
But that couldn't stop Lorne.
While this world lacked computers, it had magic!
Not only did monsters and Demon Kings possess mana, but humans could also learn magic. The Capital of Academics, Norelia, was originally built around the Wizard's Tower; its inhabitants were initially servants or merchants serving the mages. Today, the city center had shifted from the Wizard's Tower to the burgeoning University Town, but that high tower still stood in a corner of the city, coldly overlooking the rolling smoke billowing from factory chimneys.
As the Demon King, Lorne possessed a vast amount of mana that ordinary monsters couldn't rival. If there was any "transmigration mechanic," it was that the methods for using magic were automatically imprinted into his brain.
Magic formulas are essentially an artificial language, extremely similar to programming code. By mastering these formulas, one can weave exquisite spells or imbue objects with strange effects—and, of course, they can be used to create games.
Magic Games. That was what Lorne wanted to create.
People who play games feel ecstasy when they win and despairing rage when they lose; some will even throw away fortunes for a 2D character. Isn't that exactly what Lorne and the Gloom Catacombs needed?
As long as he found a way to magically link the game medium to the Dungeon Core, the emotions of the players would be absorbed by the Core and converted into mana.
However, games need a medium. This world had no computers or phones. Even if Lorne made a game, he wouldn't be able to sell it to the public. Therefore, he first had to find a material suitable for making "consoles."
Lorne turned to his loyal subordinates.
"I am going to craft a magical item. Tell me, is there anything that can carry magical formulas and be easily cut?"
Silas frowned, agonizing over the question for a long time before saying, "A human brain?"
Lorne: "..."
This guy looks good, but his head really isn't up to par.
Serena glared at her brother, who lowered his head and didn't dare make another sound.
"Do you think obsidian would work? We have some in the dungeon's treasury," the female succubus suggested.
That was perfect; it saved Lorne a trip back to the Capital of Academics.
He immediately led the two succubi back to the Gloom Catacombs. As a side note, to save mana, the three of them walked back.
The main gate of the Gloom Catacombs sat on a nearby wasteland. Long ago, it had been a magnificent gate; even adventuring Heroes would set aside racial animosity to marvel at its superior architectural technique. However, time had flown by, and now only crumbling ruins remained, hidden by wild grass. Without looking closely, one would think it was just a pile of scattered rocks.
Entering the main gate and passing a dilapidated staircase led to the dungeon's labyrinth. Because of years of neglect, almost all the traps had failed. The monsters, who should have been hiding in the shadows waiting for an ambush, had also abandoned their posts—eighty percent of them were likely slacking off somewhere.
Even the Demon King's bedchamber was so dilapidated it could be described as "four bare walls," containing nothing but a stone bed, a stone table, a wobbly wooden chair, and a dressing mirror.
According to Serena, this place was originally decorated with gold and splendor, and the bed was made of solid gold. But after the previous Demon King fled, the golden bed was sold by the monsters to the dwarves in exchange for food. Lorne sincerely thanked the monsters for this; he didn't want to sleep on such a gaudy bed at all. Just thinking about it gave him nightmares.
Not long after he sat down at the stone table, the bedchamber door was knocked upon. Serina and Silas entered respectfully, carrying several pieces of obsidian.
"You may leave," Lorne waved them away. "Do not disturb me before dawn. Also, go find five monsters—of different races, ages, and genders. I need them to test some things."
The two succubi bowed deeply and backed out of the chamber.
As the door slowly closed before them, Silas whispered to his sister, "Why does the Lord Demon King want five different monsters?"
None of the previous Demon Kings had ever done such things. Silas didn't understand his master's intentions at all, which made him, the "Demon King's Right Hand," feel both frustrated and anxious.
Serena's golden eyes darted around. "I think the Lord Demon King is inventing something to deal with humans, so he needs to perform live experiments!"
"Hiss! That is truly terrifying and cruel!" At the thought of what cruel methods the Lord Demon King would use on his subjects, Silas's pale face flushed with a faint blush. "Sister, can you add my name to the list? I can't wait to contribute my meager strength to the Demon King's evil plan!"
"...What are you blushing for?"
Inside the bedchamber, Lorne picked up a piece of obsidian and scrutinized it.
If he was going to make a game, he definitely needed testers. The customs and culture of this other world were vastly different from Earth; simply copying games from home wouldn't work. He had to perform "localized improvements" based on the habits of the natives here.
He didn't know yet if the natives could accept the concept of a "magic game," so he had to find several people of different ages and genders to experience it and improve the game based on their feedback.
He channeled mana into his fingertips. With a "shua" sound, the edges of the obsidian turned into shattered powder, leaving behind a perfectly neat rectangular stone tablet.
It looked remarkably like a smartphone from Earth.
Lorne closed his eyes, sketching the image of a chibi character in his mind while infusing mana into the obsidian tablet. He could feel the mana turning into thousands of fine threads, flowing through his limbs and weaving into complex runes—just like a programmer's code.
When he opened his eyes again, a chibi character identical to the one in his mind appeared on the tablet, automatically converted into a pixel art style.
Lorne smiled; it seemed manipulating mana wasn't as difficult as he had imagined. Since he could make images appear on the obsidian, creating a complete game wasn't just a pipe dream.
However, for his first magic game, Lorne didn't intend to bite off more than he could chew. Asking a group of natives who hadn't even played Snake to jump into a AAA masterpiece would be too big a leap.
Furthermore, the more complex and exquisite a game, the more mana it would consume. Just like games on Earth, the more beautiful the graphics of a AAA title, the higher the development costs. Plenty of companies had gone bankrupt due to spending more than they earned. In recent years, aside from a few top-tier, wealthy giants, almost no developers dared to touch the AAA field.
Lorne wasn't sure how much mana he had yet. If he died of "mana exhaustion" before the game was even finished, that would be bad.
So, it was best to start with the most basic games. Gradual progress and slowly cultivating the users' payment habits was the right path.
Of course, the game could be simple, but it couldn't be crude. It had to make the native players' eyes light up.
Lorne couldn't help but recall his home. After a moment of thought, he smiled slightly.
On the obsidian tablet, the chibi pixel character grabbed its head and ran to the edge of the screen, revealing only half a face. Countless multicolored gems began to fall from the sky, filling the entire screen.
The next morning, Serina brought the five selected monsters to the door of the Demon King's bedchamber.
Among the five, aside from Silas who had volunteered, the others were forced there by Serena. A slime, a skeleton, a siren, and a lizardman—perfectly matching the Demon King's requirements.
"Wooo, Lady Serena, what did I do wrong? Please let me go! I have a family and children to support; I don't want to die!"
The skeleton wailed the whole way, its entire frame rattling and creaking.
"Shut up! Didn't your family die out ages ago? And you've already died once, you can't die a second time!" Serena snapped at it. "It is an honor to be the Lord Demon King's experimental subject. Others don't have this luck!"
"Do you want this 'luck' then?!"
"I would ask for nothing more, but since the list already has a succubus, what can I do? The Lord Demon King ordered five 'different races' for his experiments!"
While the two were bickering, the bedchamber door swung open. The monsters immediately fell silent and bowed their heads, kneeling on one knee. The slime, having no knees, could only spread itself out like a pancake to show its respect.
Serena secretly observed the Lord Demon King's appearance from the corner of her eye. He wore the Demon King's ceremonial robes, silver hair draped over his shoulders, and his crimson eyes shimmered with the usual light of wisdom. The darkness under his eyes fully revealed his sinister nature...
Lorne had no idea what Serena was thinking. He had been "grinding" all night and was now so sleepy he could barely walk straight. The shimmer in his eyes was actually tears from exhaustion, and the darkness beneath them was just dark circles. If it weren't for the heavy burden of his Demon King persona, he probably would have collapsed and fallen asleep on the spot.
In his last life, he died from staying up late to work. He wondered what would happen if he stayed up late as a Demon King in this life.
As long as I don't grind to death, I'll grind 'til I'm dead.
"Oh, you've arrived at the right time." Lorne's gaze swept over the five monsters. "Good job, Serena. They perfectly meet my requirements."
"To serve you is my glory!" Serena was overjoyed at the praise, her voice shifting in pitch.
Lorne distributed the five obsidian tablets he had prepared to the five monsters.
"These are 'Magic Game Tablets' I invented. Take them back and try them out. I've built in a tutorial, so you shouldn't have to worry about not knowing how to play. Come tell me your thoughts this time tomorrow."
With that, he retreated back into his bedchamber and slammed the door with a "bang."
Silence descended upon Serena and the five monsters.
The skeleton, who had been fearing for its life just moments ago, scratched its skull.
"Uh, is that it?" it whispered. "I thought we were going to be tied to an operating table and sliced open or something..."
Silas looked miserable. He was a bit disappointed that he hadn't become a "test subject." He weighed the obsidian tablet in his hands, turning it over and over, then looked up at his sister.
"Isn't this just ordinary obsidian?"
Obsidian was one of the most common ores. It was cheap; the previous Demon King didn't even bother to take it when he fled, which was why it had remained in the dungeon treasury until today.
Could a small tablet like this really save the dungeon? Silas was deeply skeptical.
Serena was also a bit uneasy, not quite believing that a mere stone tablet could contain some miraculous power. But the Lord Demon King had worked all night; surely he hadn't just spent the time polishing the stone?
"Since it's a magical item personally crafted by the Lord Demon King, it must be something good," Serena said. "Just try it first—"
A mocking laugh interrupted Serena.
"Ha! You expect to conquer the world with this little trinket?!"
A tall, sturdy figure stepped out from the shadows at the end of the hallway. He was a full head taller than Serena, but his human-like body was topped with a wolf's head. He was covered in silver-grey fur, and his fluffy tail stood high behind him, fully displaying his current fury.
The other monsters stepped back simultaneously, exchanging frightened glances.
This silver-grey werewolf was named Wolf, and he was also one of the high-ranking monsters of the dungeon. The previous Demon King had personally promoted him to Captain of the Guard. Because of this, Wolf was fiercely loyal to the former ruler.
When the other monsters of the Gloom Catacombs agreed to summon a new Demon King, only Wolf had opposed it. Even now, he looked upon the new Demon King with disdain.
"Stupid mutt, what are you doing here?" Serena's brows knitted slightly.
"I am the Captain of the Guard. Why wouldn't I be here?" the werewolf countered.
"That was in the past! Lord Lorne hasn't agreed to let you continue as Captain!"
The werewolf roared, "I don't recognize that guy as the Demon King! The Gloom Catacombs already has a Demon King, we don't need a second!"
"What kind of Demon King abandons his subordinates?!"
"The Lord Demon King has only left temporarily! He must be outside planning a grand scheme to conquer the world! He will return one day!"
Serina sneered, "You said the same thing a hundred years ago. And the result?"
The werewolf let out a low growl, the fur on his large tail bristling. He snatched the obsidian tablet from the skeleton's hand and gave a contemptuous smirk.
"It's just a piece of junk stone. You can buy a whole pile of these from the dwarves for a single gold coin, yet you treat it like a treasure. It's laughable... Ugh!"
He must have touched something, for the obsidian tablet suddenly lit up. Vibrant lights wove together into a brilliant image: a majestic mountain peak soared into the clouds, with flocks of unknown white birds circling the peaks. Below the mountain was an endless green plain dotted with tiny flowers.