"Click Click."

The sound of the door lock being opened attracted Stargaze's attention. He was lying on his bed, staring at the dull dark ceiling of his room.

The door was pushed open as two boorish men stepped into the room. They snorted and spat on the ground. "Come. We need you to summon a few more monsters."

Stargaze's lifeless gaze shifted to the two barbarians. He internally sighed. How could the situation have changed so much? Things were going so well but overnight, he lost everything.

About two weeks ago, his plans of taking over several tribes failed. The other dungeon he used as a bait foiled his plan and the backlash could not have been worse. The dungeon master sent his strongest monster to seek revenge, causing a lot of damage. Almost all Stargaze's monsters perished and if it was not for the rare artifact he acquired at the auction, he would have died too.

Although his dungeon was in ruin, he was still alive. Given enough time, he could rebuild it properly. Unfortunately, the situation did not turn in his favor. The barbarians of the Bramble Deer Tribe stopped coming to his dungeon and instead requested for his help in defending their village against the combined attacks of the surrounding tribes.

Without the barbarians visiting his dungeon, Stargaze did not generate any DP. Instead, he was losing DP from his monsters consuming their daily need. As much as Stargaze wanted to help the Bramble Deer Tribe, he did not have the resources to do so; he himself was in a desperate need for DP. His mentor promised to send some help from the Central Plains but the reinforcements had yet to arrive.

Before long, the Bramble Deer Tribe crumbled under pressure. They sold themselves to the Swift Gazelle Tribe, gaining a new umbrella to hide under. The Swift Gazelle Tribe migrated, taking over the area and repelling the hostile tribe. It should have been good news to Stargaze but he did not expect things to get even worse from there.

The Swift Gazelle Tribe was not called the strongest tribe of the region for nothing. It went all out, sending one thousand barbarians into the dungeon. They brought along their totem spirit, the Winged Gazelle and conquered the dungeon in one go.

Stargaze did not hesitate and spent all the DP he had on his monsters and defense mechanisms but although many barbarians perished, in the end, his dungeon was conquered. However, the barbarians did not kill him. Instead, they imprisoned him.

They took over the dungeon but did not destroy the dungeon core. Instead, they forced Stargaze to do their bidding. As the barbarians were still hostile to him, they generated a lot of DP and with almost three thousand barbarians staying in the dungeon during an entire day with their mounts, Stargaze's DP count skyrocketed.

He gained more than ten million DP in just a few days but he could not use any of them. The barbarians of the Swift Gazelle Tribe observed all his movements carefully; they did not give him the chance to escape or to trick them. If he ever tried something, he would be instantly killed and revived after a day.

The situation looked grim. Stargaze was forced to purchase items for the Swift Gazelle Tribe. He purchased several Grade 5 equipment under the barbarians' supervision. All the precious items ended up in the barbarians' pocket. Furthermore, he even had to summon monsters for the Swift Gazelle Tribe to play with.

He summoned a Flame Belle, the Boss Monster of the Flame Sisters. The Flame Belle was a beautiful female monster. She excelled at fire magic and her bloodline was quite pure; her level cap was level 55 but she was summoned at level 20. Unfortunately, despite all her magical talents, she would be unable to use them.

She was captured and used as a comfort woman by the rough barbarian. The Flame Belle was unable to fight back; she was too weak and even if she had the strength, with Stargaze and the Dungeon Core being held as hostages, she could only suffer in silence. Several Flame Sisters were also summoned and all suffered the same fate.

Stargaze was forced to observe the rape scene while being restrained. He felt his heart being torn apart as he watched the treatment received by the Flame Sisters. He was their master but was unable to protect them.

He blamed himself for everything that happened but at the same time, he held hope that help was on its way but soon his last hope shattered. While he could not use the Dungeon Core without being carefully watched by the barbarians, he could still communicate with his friends using the player system.

While alone in his room, he contacted the members of the Storm Alliance and they relayed his message to the old dungeon masters. Unfortunately, no one was able to help him. The old Dungeon Masters were not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the players and among the players, the closest member of the Storm Alliance was two full days of horse ride away. Furthermore, that player did not have the resources to displace a powerful tribe like the Swift Gazelle Tribe.

Stargaze was on his own. He could only hope that the delegation sent by his mentor would arrive soon. However, almost two weeks have passed now and there was still no signs of help.

Stargaze got up and followed the two barbarians to his previous throne room. Several other barbarians could be seen in the corridors. They were all watching closely to avoid any mishaps from happening. His dungeon expanded considerably since he was imprisoned. The barbarians added many comfortable rooms for them to sleep in and as they were passing near these new rooms, Stargaze inadvertently heard the moans and grunts of the Flame Sisters.

He clenched his fists as he stepped into the throne room. On the side, he saw a group of twenty young barbarians standing straight in line. He internally cursed.

Stargaze already knew what was going to happen. After all, it had been his routine since the day he was captured.

A tall muscular man riddled with scars was standing next to the dungeon core. His name was Chad; he was the second in command of the Swift Gazelle Tribe.

Chad smiled upon seeing Stargaze. "My friend. You are finally here. The day is really beautiful outside. I hope you are enjoying your time in your room as much as we are."

The barbarians broke out in laughter; they naturally knew what he meant by spending time in the rooms.

"The temperature is slowly dropping outside. I hope you do not mind summoning a few more Flame Sisters to keep us warm in here. These twenty men are coming to age; it is time for them to become real men," said Chad with a wide smile.

Stargaze bit his lips. Nevertheless, he stepped forward and under the barbarians' close supervision, he summoned twenty Flame Sisters.

Summoning circles appeared as the beautiful fairy-like women appeared but before they could identify their environment, the Flame Sisters were violently pinned on the ground next to the twenty young barbarians.

"Listen up girls. You better obey us or something might happen to your dungeon master and his dungeon core," declared Chad. He paused for a moment, allowing the Flame Sisters to understand the situation they were in.

Stargaze lowered his head, avoiding the gazes of his monsters. His ground his teeth as he spoke, "Do as he says."

The Flame Sisters were taken aback but they were unable to disobey Stargaze. They felt let down but not longer struggled.

Seeing that the monsters stopped resisting despite their incensed gaze, Chad waved his hands. "Alright, the men next to you shall be your master until the end of the day. Obey every single one of their word."

A young barbarian asked hesitantly. "Can we really do what we want with them?" He looked at the beautiful Flame Sister next to him. She was totally his type; compared to the cute and frail girls of the tribe, the Flame Sister looked cheerful and rebellious. She would prove to be a challenge to fully conquer.

"Anything but don't kill them. Now hurry up, Desir will guide you. We have specially built rooms for this occasion but naturally, keep this a secret. We don't want the women of the tribe making a scene." There was nothing wrong in a barbarian having several partners; it would often happen when a tribe would conquer another. The winner would seize the women of the loser, resulting in the chief usually having many women. However, that did not mean that the female barbarians liked to share their husband.

The barbarians laughed as they left with their female partner for the night.

"Haha. Now that we have this out of the way, let's get down to business. As long as you do what we want you to, you will be able to live well and comfortably for a long time," said Chad as he turned his attention to Stargaze.

"This time, we want you to summon a few Gazelles. We don't have enough mounts; three hundred should be enough."

Stargaze reluctantly complied and after a few seconds, hundreds of Gazelles appeared in the throne room before being escorted to the lower floors.

"Haha! This life is really the best! We don't even need to work now," exclaimed a barbarian.

"What are you talking about? We are working hard by being in the dungeon; if we weren't, we would not be able to get all these things," said another barbarian with a wide grin.

The barbarians laughed among themselves. Only Stargaze was fuming. They were looking down on him and using him as a slave. The relationship between a dungeon and the tribe was supposed to be symbiotic. Yet, their relationship now was that of a master and a slave; he could not disobey their words or it would mean the end of his adventure in the game.

"I am horny now. How about summoning new monsters for us to play with? I am already bored of the Flame Sisters."

Chadd smiled. "Soon. I have not been using all the DP we generated over the past few days. Soon, we'll be able to summon succubi. According to their description, they are the perfect partner to have. Be a little patient and we will all be rewarded."

"Alright, but can you summon a few more Flame Sisters for us right now? How I wish I could get the Flame Belle but she is the personal toy of the chief," said a barbarian.

"Don't ask me about her. Even I cannot touch her. You've heard them right? Summon more Flame Sisters!"

...

A few minutes later, Stargaze was once again locked in his room. There was a small tray of food placed on the table for his daily meal.

'D*mmit! How can I be that useless? Is there really nothing I can do? Almost two weeks have passed and still no sign of the tribes from the Central plains.'

Stargaze clenched his fists. There was nothing he could do. His monsters were going to suffer even more if he did not make a move soon. He was surrounded with enemies and each one was more oppressive than the other.

'There is nothing I can do; I cannot fight on my own and with the Dungeon Core being monitored, I can forget about tricking them. The Storm Alliance is unable to help me. D*mn.'

'I stayed silent about the third trial taking place. If I don't destroy anything outside of the dungeon, it would be game over. I would be out of the game but the barbarians will also lose the dungeon. So what should I do? I don't want to lose this opportunity at regaining my freedom in the real world."

Stargaze stared at his plate of food in silence. He was racking his brain for a solution and after a few hours, he finally opened his interface.

'This might be my one and only chance. If I can lure him here, he might be strong enough to take care of the barbarians. I might have a small window where I'll be able to regain control of the core.'

'As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'

Stargaze opened his interface and searched through the options. 'If I remember correctly, that's his name.'

[System prompt: A friend request was sent to the player: 'Five']