I started reading this story just because of the artwork. My plan was just to read a chapter at a time every day. But as you know it, every time I sat down to read 1, I ended up reading 2 or 3.

This is a sharp, well executed comedy isekai, and avoids many of the gimmicks comedy isekai writers use to "revitalize the genre." Instead the story relies on its slick pacing and its excellent characters. The characters in this story are where Dungeon Assistant really shine, because the author wastes none of them. All of the characters, and I mean all of them, serve multiple roles throughout the story, and many revealing that behind the trope they wear as a costume is a multifaceted person with their own life and story happening outside of Taro's (and by extension, the audience's) Perspective. There are no wasted characters, there are no throwaway characters. The Author draws their own art, and this shows up even in the text, as there is a clear command of what every character is doing at any time.

The [Initial] premise is fairly straightforward: Angel gets a Kazuma like Japanese boy to help the world's most pathetic dungeon bosses look less foolish. Now with an orphaned Snake girl, a runaway Oni, and a slime that never talks but always listens, Taro tries to make the best of his bad situation while growing closer to his new "boss."

About halfway through the book I might have said that I knew, or at least expected to see where this story would go. Taro would use his "3p1c NEET g@3mr sk11z," and experience playing Dungeon Keeper 2 on Windows 98 to transform the Dungeon into the hottest new destination for heroes to come and "try their luck." That's not where it goes, and at first I was disappointed. But Asephy did something special here, he remembered what a dungeon was.

Dungeon has lost almost all meaning in English since Fantasy became popular. At best it means "underground fighting level," but even the "underground" aspect is considered supercilious by game designers and writers. The term is now "quest/challenge area." But a dungeon traditionally meant a prison, and originally meant a "keep." The Author uses both as the characters move forward in the story.

The dungeon is a prison, the dungeon is a keep. For the characters it is their home, their "hearth" that they must protect from the threats that swirl around them from the outside. But it is also their prison, and part of taro's role as Assistant to The Dungeon Lord is to help her break out of it.

The Author could have made Taro into a Kazuma, Agent 6, or Kirito. He's not. The author takes the initial impression of Kazuma, and brushes away the rest. Taro is an awkward but well meaning boy who wants to help others but usually makes a fool of himself in the process. Its this characteristic that the author builds on as Taro is forced to overcome his own fears and endure his humiliations for those he cares about.

Overall this is a wonderful story, its easy to read, its funny, and has a sweet ending. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a comedy isekai but is tired of that meaning endless meta jokes and obnoxious characters.