Good Business

The aftermath of the student invasion was a resounding, terrifying success.

Ragnar Vhagar's dungeon, his little corner of Sector 7, had made a name for itself.

The hero forums, which he now checked with the obsessive frequency of a day trader watching the stock market, were buzzing.

His carefully crafted post by "Adventurer77" had been the spark, but the panicked, greedy testimonials from the survivors of Kenji's doomed party were the gasoline.

The problem was, the fire was now burning out of control.

His dungeon wasn't just popular; it was the hottest ticket in town.

A constant, disorganized stream of invaders poured through his entrance. Small parties of two, ambitious solo heroes, and chaotic mobs of eight all wanted a piece of the action.

They came at all hours, tripping over each other, sometimes even fighting amongst themselves in the entrance corridor for the "first kill" on a bewildered slime.

His monster losses were becoming unsustainable.

Goblins, which cost 5 Creation Points a pop, were being killed faster than he could make them.

His dungeon wasn't a calculated farm anymore; it was a chaotic, 24/7 meat grinder, and he was the one supplying the meat.

"This is inefficient," Ragnar muttered, pacing back and forth in front of his uncomfortable obsidian throne.

He pulled up the system map on his phone. It was a mess of green dots (his monsters) and blue dots (invaders) clashing in the Goblin Playground.

"I'm running a business here, not a charity for aspiring swordsmen. I need to control the flow. I need operating hours."

A memory from his old life surfaced, a core concept from countless online games.

The key to controlling player behavior wasn't a wall; it was a timer.

A slow, wicked grin, the kind that was becoming his default expression, spread across his face.

He wasn't just a Demon King; he was a game developer. And his game was about to get its first patch.

He sat down, cracked his knuckles, and went to work on the hero forums.

He created three new burner accounts: DungeonDelver_Dan, SwordGal_Suki, and LevelUp_Larry.

Then, he began his campaign of misinformation.

DungeonDelver_Dan was the first to post.

Subject: Question about the Sector 7 Farm

Hey guys, does anyone know the respawn timer on the monsters in that apartment dungeon?

My group went in an hour after another party and it was totally empty. We waited around for a bit but nothing showed up. Don't want to waste a trip.

He waited ten minutes for the post to get a few views, then logged in as SwordGal_Suki to reply.

@DungeonDelver_Dan

My party timed it! It seems to be about six hours. We cleared out the goblins, went back to campus for lunch and a nap, and when we came back six hours later, they were all there again. It's super consistent.

Finally, he brought in LevelUp_Larry to seal the deal with anecdotal evidence.

@SwordGal_Suki is right. We saw a big team come out looking beat up. We tried to go in four hours later to scavenge, but there was nothing but slime trails. We gave up.

My buddy went back this morning, about eight hours after, and said it was fully stocked. It's definitely on a timer, probably to keep it from being over-farmed. Pretty smart design, actually.

The effect was almost immediate. The forums lit up with discussion.

The idea of a "respawn timer" made sense to a generation raised on video games.

It was a rule they could understand, a system they could work with.

The chaotic flood of invaders slowed to a trickle. Parties started planning their trips, trying to time their arrival for just after the six-hour mark.

Ragnar watched the chatter, feeling a surge of power that had nothing to do with magic.

This was control. But a rumor was not enough. He needed to provide proof.

His chance came two days later. He spotted a new party on his system map. They were different. They moved slowly, methodically.

They weren't fighting; they were observing. One of them was holding a clipboard. A university research team. They were here for data.

"Perfect," Ragnar whispered, leaning forward on his throne.

He watched them enter the slime corridor. His slimes were currently on "cleanup duty," which mostly involved jiggling over bloodstains until they were less noticeable.

The researchers took notes. They advanced to the Goblin Playground, which was, at that moment, empty.

Ragnar had pulled all his goblins back into the deeper barracks.

The lead researcher, a young woman with glasses, made a mark on her clipboard.

"Okay, subject D-7, designated 'The Farm.' Time is 14:32. Previous clearing was reported at 11:00.

Monster presence in primary chamber is negative. The four-hour theory holds.

We will observe and wait for the hypothesized six-hour respawn event."

Ragnar watched them set up camp in a corner of the empty room, timing the event with a stopwatch.

For two agonizing hours, he held his forces back, the goblins chittering with impatience in the barracks.

The researcher's watch beeped. "Six hours exactly," she announced. "Monster presence is still negative. The six-hour respawn theory may be…"

"Now," Ragnar commanded through his mental link to his minions.

From hidden doorways and shadowed alcoves, fifty goblins swarmed into the room, shrieking and brandishing their sharp rocks.

At the same time, a new wave of slimes oozed into the corridor behind the researchers, cutting off their escape.

The researchers screamed. They weren't fighters. They dropped their clipboards and scrambled away, managing to escape through a side passage, but their data was collected.

That evening, a new, verified report appeared on the hero forums, published by the Aethelburg University Para-Natural Studies Circle.

It confirmed, with academic certainty, that the Sector 7 dungeon operated on a precise six-hour monster respawn cycle.

The theory was now fact. The final phase of his plan could begin.

Using his original Adventurer77 account, he posted one last time.

Subject: We Need to Protect the Sector 7 Farm!

Guys, now that we know the respawn timer, we need to be smart about this.

This dungeon is the single best resource for new Heroes in the city.

It's a safe, predictable place to level up and get experience.

If some high-level party gets greedy and goes in to clear out the whole thing and kill the "boss," they could break the cycle forever. We can't let that happen!

I'm proposing a community rule: The Sector 7 Dungeon is for farming only. We go in, we kill the respawned mobs, we take the loot from the one chest, and we get out.

We protect this place, and it will help all of us get stronger.

He had created the problem, provided the solution, and now, he was building the culture around it.

He wasn't just a Demon King anymore. He was an architect of society. He was manipulating his own enemies into protecting him, into serving his needs.

The fear of being invaded was still there, but it was overshadowed by a profound, chilling realization.

Information was a weapon, more powerful than any sword or spell.

And in this new world, he was rapidly becoming a master of it.