The void around him pulsed faintly, waiting to be molded.

Kaiden folded his arms and thought aloud.

"Before I start designing kill corridors and lava rivers, I need to know where the entrance is. That's where all the invaders come from."

He turned his gaze around, scanning the blank horizon. Nothing but darkness welcomed his sight. Then, after a minute of searching, something flickered at the very edge of his vision.

Kaiden floated toward it, gliding through the black expanse. The deeper he moved toward that glow, the more the shimmer sharpened. Soon it was clear: a door-like outline suspended in the void, a gate-shaped distortion of reality.

"Found it."

He could now finally see the light where the outside world would connect to his domain.

Hovering close to it in the air, Kaiden could feel it. That force of dimensional energy, the threshold where invaders would one day set foot.

He grinned in excitement before even getting started; he was already having great fun. "Alright, let's see what I can do to make their welcome memorable."

A simple thought summoned the interface again. Layers of text and icons spun around him like a digital storm until one menu caught his attention:

[AUTOMATIC DEFENSES]

Turrets, glyphs, traps, barriers. These were defenses meant to protect key choke points.

Kaiden began scrolling. The list was long, but one entry made him instantly pause.

[Lava Turret] – 500 DMP

Automated defense that launches molten projectiles at invaders. Effective against large groups. Medium-range. High destruction and armor penetration. Low recharge rate.

"Oh, hell yes," Kaiden grinned devilishly, already picturing it in his mind. The look on the invaders' faces as the gate erupted in waves of liquid fire made him grin from ear to ear.

"A warm welcome."

He tapped the icon.

[Confirm placement: 1 Lava Turret.]

[Cost: 500 DMP]

"Confirm," Kaiden said. He only had 10,000 DMP, or Dungeon Master Points, to work with. This meant that 500 for a single turret was quite the steep price, but he was willing to pay it.

Kaiden thought setting up a brutal kill zone right at the entrance was the best use of his points. Because after leaving the entrance, they could go on different routes. Thus, anything he placed here would have to be tackled by the invaders, while other defenses might be skipped simply by not going toward them.

This was thus the most effective use of his points.

For a second, everything seemed fine. Then the interface flashed red.

[Error: Locked Structure.]

[Low-Tier Dungeons have no access to Lava Turrets.]

"…What?" Kaiden blinked, then frowned. "Then why the fuck are you showing it to me in the first place?"

The interface didn't respond.

He groaned, rubbing his temple. "Ugh, fine. I'll have to work with what I've got."

He swiped again, scrolling through the cheaper list of low-tier traps. His eyes landed on a simpler and much cheaper option.

[Spike Trap] – 50 DMP each

Simple, reliable, and painful. Deployable in any terrain. Can be concealed under false flooring or an illusory cover.

He selected one, intending to place it right in front of the gate entrance.

But as soon as he confirmed the placement, another red alert appeared:

[Error: Restricted Zone.]

[Low-Tier Dungeon Rule: The first 100 meters (328 feet) beyond the entrance are designated as a Safe Zone. No traps, monsters, or hazards may be placed within this radius.]

Kaiden's grin faltered. He stared at the message, then sighed heavily. "Of course there's a damn rule."

He crossed his arms, staring at the shimmering gate with mild irritation. "That's fair, though… every dungeon I've ever been in had a safe start area." There was only one exemption to that, namely the monsters camping at the entrance. However, that only rarely happened and only when the weak monsters somehow traveled there on their own.

They were likely not placed there by design. Kaiden didn't know the intricacies of how this mechanism worked.

The frustration melted into reluctant amusement. "Alright. I'll play nice… for now."

He tried again, this time with a lava pool instead of a turret. As it was not a defense but just a landscape feature, he hoped it might be possible. But it wasn't. The lava was also treated as a hostile element.

Kaiden hovered in front of the shimmering gateway. He frowned as the last red alert faded from his interface.

"Lava's too hostile, spikes too close to the gate, and the damned turrets are there just to tease me."

He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to think. The problem wasn't just the safe zone. The problem was the open space beyond it, granting too much freedom to the enemies for his liking.

If he left things as Calypso did, intruders could fan out however they liked, pick routes, regroup, set up camps further in the dungeon, and more. Just the thought of allowing them such luxury made Kaiden shake his head. That would not be permitted.

Kaiden opened the interface again. Rows of biomes and material presets scrolled by, each tagged with DMP costs per square kilometer. His eyes moved from one to the next.

[Obsidian Ravine] – 250 DMP/km²

A jagged expanse of volcanic glass. The ground reflects crimson light, and every footstep echoes sharply. Ideal for open battlefields and ambush zones.

[Twilight Sink] – 400 DMP/km²

An eerie open basin where bioluminescent mist drifts through the air. The terrain undulates like the surface of a breathing beast. Limited visibility and sound distortion make this ideal for psychological warfare.

[Magma Vein Expanse] – 600 DMP/km²

An unstable landscape of basalt and exposed magma rivers. Constant heat distortion warps sightlines. Perfect for high-risk, high-reward kill zones where the terrain itself burns the weak.

[Hollow Peaks] – 450 DMP/km²

Towering abyssal mountains with hollow interiors and narrow ridges. Perfect for layered vertical combat and flying or ranged defenders. Collapsing cliffs and echoing winds enhance the sense of desolation.

[Black Dunes] – 350 DMP/km²

Shifting terrain of dark, ash-like sand that swallows light and deadens sound. Ideal for burying traps or creating deceptive movement zones that confuse enemy tracking.

[Chasm of Echoes] – 500 DMP/km²

A vast open drop with winding ledges and broken bridges suspended over bottomless black. Perfect for midair ambushes, boss arenas, or dramatic encounters.

As he kept reading, one in particular made his scrolling stop immediately.

[Abyssal Cavern] – 600 DMP/km²

Dense, naturally fortified rock layer. Suppresses penetration. Enhances echo and pressure effects. Suitable for ambush-based layouts.

A slow grin crept across his lips. "Now this… this is just perfect."

Unlike Calypso's sprawling network of open corridors and split routes, this would be tighter, heavier, suffocating. He imagined invaders stepping into a tunnel where the air itself felt like it wanted to crush them. His version of hell would start not with a fight, but with oppression.

Still, 600 DMP per square kilometer wasn't exactly cheap. With 10,000 DMP, that gave him some room, but he'd have to be careful. After all, he still needed to purchase traps, defenses, and, of course… badass abyssal monsters. Just thinking about them filled the Paragon of Sin with excitement for the moment where he would select them and they would spawn before his very eyes, ready to protect his domain for eternity.

"Let's get to shaping, shall we?"

He started by defining the safe zone.

The interface automatically marked a sphere of 100 meters of inviolable space around the entrance, pure and untouched. But he quickly noticed something.

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