Livelihood Dungeon! (English Version)

Even before the sun had risen, our protagonist was already awake.

He planned to head to their meeting point at daybreak.

He had realized that they never actually set a specific meeting time, since he and the young monkey could not truly understand each other in the first place.

But before all that, he first spoke with Peach about several important matters.

He no longer wanted situations like what happened to Felipe to happen again.

Learning from his previous mistakes, Peter prepared several countermeasures.

He gave the dungeon guide a series of clear instructions.

And from this point onward, those instructions would remain in effect unless he issued new ones.

The main objective of the new orders was simple:

If something unexpected were to happen to him—like the incident with Felipe—and he became unable to move or disappeared entirely, Peach would temporarily take over his responsibilities.

At the first light of dawn each day, Peach would release the chickens.

And before sunset, or whenever bad weather threatened, Peach would return them to their coop.

Part of Peach's duties also included watering the crops every morning, noon, and afternoon.

It also needed to keep the inside of the dungeon clean, especially by regularly removing weeds.

And if there were crops ready for harvest during that time, Peach would also need to harvest them and place them in the proper storage area.

There were still other instructions left unmentioned, though most of them were minor and not particularly important tasks.

"Sorry about this," Peter said sheepishly while scratching the back of his head.

"I promise, I'll find people who can help you as soon as possible, Peach."

Peter felt genuinely guilty toward the dungeon guide.

As a man, he felt it was wrong to place most of the work inside his farming dungeon on the shoulders of a young girl.

But he had no other choice.

He had far too many things to take care of.

And above all else, strengthening the battle prowess of his personnel was far more important.

That way, he could better protect everyone under his care.

Although a part of him pitied Peach, he knew he could not take back the orders he had already given.

Not if he wanted all of them to survive.

...

Peter drank heartily while sitting comfortably on his wooden chair.

After emptying the wooden cup, he gently placed it on the small table beside him.

He then leaned back against the chair, using his folded arms as a pillow.

Whistling casually, he gazed at the sky while patiently waiting.

From time to time, he pushed against the ground with his foot to make the chair sway gently.

He also took a bite from the bread he had picked up from the table.

Meanwhile, right in front of him, Ichiro and Iyashi were happily wrestling with each other.

If you did not know Peter's true situation, it would be easy to misunderstand what you were seeing.

You would think that the master and his companions were simply relaxing in a peaceful garden—

And not inside the dangerous Eternal Forest.

In fact, the passage leading to his dungeon remained open behind him.

Iyashi approached Peter.

"Kyū!"

The Regeneration Slime seemed to be asking for permission to leave.

The little slime bounced excitedly after receiving a nod from its master.

It immediately slid toward the large wooden basket in front of the small table, as if afraid Peter might still change his mind.

It energetically rummaged around for something to eat.

"You can eat as well, Ichiro," Peter said to the wolf.

All the wooden furniture around them had been purchased from the travelling merchant during his second return to the village.

Truthfully, there were already far better household furnishings inside his master's lodge.

But he had no intention of bringing those items out of the dungeon.

These wooden items were merely a few of the many sets he had bought from Thomas through their repeated transactions.

In other words—

They were disposable.

If things took a turn for the worse and they needed to flee, he could simply leave those things behind.

Their lives were far more important than mere furniture.

"I'm going to sleep for a while," Peter said as he slowly closed his eyes.

"Just wake me up when the young monkey arrives or if you sense any danger."

The two nodded alertly in response.

"Hmm..." the sleeping Peter scratched his cheek.

"Hmm!" He scratched it again, this time with a frown.

Smack!

The crisp sound of Peter slapping his own face echoed through the area.

"Gwihehe!" a tiny voice struggled to hold back its laughter.

The young monkey continued carefully tickling Peter's cheek.

The sleeping man's brow was already deeply furrowed.

The itching on one side of his face still refused to go away, and he was beginning to grow irritated even in the middle of his deep sleep.

Pak!

Peter jolted awake in shock from the force of his second slap to his own face.

"Gwahaha! Gwahaha!"

The monkey could no longer hold back its loud laughter.

Peter's irritation immediately vanished when he saw the young monkey trying to hide behind Iyashi, even though it was obviously far too small to conceal itself properly and clearly dying to laugh.

"Cute..." he muttered softly.

"Come here," Peter called.

The young monkey hopped toward him while looking at him with eyes full of anticipation.

Peter handed the monkey a bunch of bananas.

The monkey's eyes widened in shock.

"They're yours. Go ahead and eat."

With teary eyes, it looked at Peter as though it had just seen an angel.

It immediately plopped down onto the ground and happily devoured the bananas.

Peter sat beside it.

The monkey did not flinch at his approach.

Peter smiled.

His plan was progressing incredibly smoothly.

He continued the taming process that had been interrupted the day before.

He gently patted the innocent creature's head.

The monkey flinched slightly before continuing to eat again.

A few moments later, Peter touched it once more.

He patted its head again.

This time, it showed no reaction at all.

Because of that, he became bolder.

He slowly stroked the monkey's head from front to back.

"Grr..." the young monkey let out a pleased little groan.

Peter grinned.

He continued petting it repeatedly until it finished eating.

Just like before, the monkey once again bid him farewell before heading back to wherever it had come from after finishing the bananas given by its strange friend.

The next day, it returned at the same time.

And as had already become their routine, Peter fed it bananas again before continuing to tame it.

This time, he even managed to hug it.

Iyashi had also grown close to the young monkey.

But for some unknown reason, it remained hostile toward Ichiro, much to the wolfdog's disappointment.

That routine continued for several more days—

Until the monkey eventually became friends with Ichiro as well.