#126
I wondered if the writer had also played Limitless Nine. While it was possible, something was bothering me.
‘There weren’t dungeons like this before.’
Previous dungeons felt a bit different from those in the game. If it was a lava dungeon, there would be fire sprouting everywhere and lava flowing – a general appearance based on elemental attributes.
Since this story focused mainly on romance, I thought the fantasy elements were implemented in a way that an ordinary person might imagine, generalized. It was certainly different from the dungeons in games where a lot of effort was put into the concept.
I wondered why now, but there was no way to know the reason. Although I felt a bit of dissonance, the immediate priority was to get out of this underground area with the unconscious Han Nari and complete the dungeon.
‘This conquest video… probably can’t be used.’
No matter how I resolved the situation, publishing such a messy conquest wouldn’t be helpful.
Moreover, the Awakened Management Center had a policy of not informing the public about dungeon anomalies. They thought it would only cause social confusion to instill fear in civilians when awakened individuals were already conquering the dungeons.
So if I didn’t reveal it was an anomaly, public opinion would likely say my dungeon conquest went wrong. To uninformed people, it might look like my handling was inexperienced.
‘I should ask them to share the video with me instead.’
If I could watch the video again, I might be able to better sense the subtle points I noticed now. It seemed better to think about it later, as I couldn’t consider it deeply right now.
‘If this dungeon is what I think it is… we shouldn’t make any noise.’
[Underground Babylon] was a dungeon with countless giant earthworms like that. It was so complex with tunnels dug by the worms that users nicknamed it the “ant colony”.
If these worms are like those in the game, they would detect enemies through sound and vibration. The key was to move carefully using wings or mount items and kill monsters as quietly as possible.
The fortunate thing was that while those monsters were crawling around, their vibrations and noise were louder, so they wouldn’t detect sounds as small as people moving. That’s probably why the noise from our fall wasn’t noticed.
‘Maybe it’s better for Ms. Han Nari to stay asleep like this…’
Just as I thought that, I suddenly heard a groan from the unconscious Han Nari. Then her eyes suddenly opened.
“Ugh… Hup!”
As she woke up and was about to scream at the sight of the worm crawling on the ceiling, I quickly covered her mouth. We couldn’t let them attack us in response to the sound.
‘Be quiet.’
I mouthed the words to convey the message, and Han Nari, her face pale with tension, closed her mouth.
‘If there’s noise, those things will chase us.’
After warning Han Nari as slowly as possible, I removed my hand. I didn’t want to silence her forcefully, but in my urgency, my hand had moved first. I wanted to apologize for that, but Han Nari had already turned her head and seemed to be thinking about how to get out of this situation.
For now, it seemed better to choose wing items over mount items. The entrance looked too narrow for anything but single-person mounts. Since I was already wearing gloves that increased strength, it wouldn’t be a big problem to hold Han Nari for a long time.
‘Excuse me for a moment.’
I whispered softly to Han Nari and then attached the ‘Tinkling Fairy Wings’ to my back and spread them. In that state, I embraced Han Nari with one arm and lifted her. Her eyes widened and she inhaled sharply. It seemed like she was about to make a sound but remembered my earnest request and stopped with a “hup”.
Her gaze fell on my arm. She seemed amazed that such a thin, long arm could lift her so easily.
But I couldn’t explain in detail here, so I held her, retrieved the ‘Boing Boing Trampoline’, and flew towards the cave entrance.
Inside the cave lit by the lantern, there was a dull, heavy sound of something brushing against the floor. As I expected, there seemed to be a lot of worm monsters.
‘First… we shouldn’t leave enemies behind us.’
After encountering the dungeon anomaly, I had felt anxious and chased the whole time. But now that I found similarities to the game dungeon, I recalled the feeling of playing the game leisurely.
I took out a bow and arrow item with a homing function, attached a salt pouch to the arrowhead, and shot at the worm above our heads. These were special items used only in the Underground Babylon dungeon. A large amount of salt would cause the worms to shrivel up and die instantly.
‘If this is really a similar monster… it should definitely die.’
The salt arrow hit the worm’s body. The worm silently contracted and fell to the floor.
The dungeon design was similar, and the strategy for defeating monsters was similar too. I was convinced that this place was very much like the dungeon in the game.
“How…! Hup…”
Han Nari, surprised, started to speak with a bright smile but quickly covered her mouth. Seeing her eyes wide like a rabbit’s, I frowned and then took out two pairs of ‘Love-Love Earphones’ from my inventory.
The ‘Love-Love Earphones’ were, as the name suggests, earphone-shaped items. They were used for private conversations with others in the game, and as the ‘Love-Love’ name implied, voices could be heard as if whispered into the ear, so they were often used by in-game couples or spouses.
They weren’t used more widely partly because of the item’s appearance, covered in hearts, but also because you couldn’t speak out loud while using them. While wearing them, your words would only be transmitted to the other wearer, so you couldn’t communicate with anyone else in-game.
‘I didn’t want to use these because of the name…’
But we couldn’t prevent people from being surprised, and if we made a loud noise and several worms gathered, that would be chaos in itself. The scariest thing about this dungeon was that worms detecting noise and vibration would rush in all at once, causing the cave to collapse and suffocate us under the debris.
Thinking about that, it seemed better to let Han Nari speak freely and for me to be the only one to hear it. After all, it’s just the two of us here.
I handed the earphones, which looked flashy with all the hearts attached, to Han Nari. After moving my mouth energetically to give a brief explanation, she brightened up and put the earphones in her ears.
– Love-Love Earphones, activated.
– Phew! I thought I was going to die from frustration!
Along with the initial activation sound, a cheerful voice was immediately heard. It was as if someone was whispering directly into my ear, making my ear feel ticklish somehow.
‘If Haejun and Dowoon knew about this, they’d go crazy.’
If they knew we were sharing an item with a name like Love-Love…
‘They must never find out.’
Anyway, I didn’t explain it in detail to Han Nari, so it probably won’t get out.
– Ms. Nari, we need to defeat these worms one by one. Hold onto me tightly so you don’t fall. If there’s a loud noise, they might all move towards us at once.
– Of course! I can stay as still as possible! By the way, you’re really amazing! I’ve never seen such incredible items before! And you’re so strong! Are all unranked awakened ones like this? Oh right, there’s no other unranked except Guide Lee Jaeha! Ahaha!
After a bit of caution, Han Nari poured out words. It felt like listening to rap right next to my ear.
But I already knew Han Nari meant no harm, and I just needed to endure a little, so I didn’t intend to say anything. I just wished Hyun Dowoon had found someone… less talkative.
Inwardly sighing, I carried Han Nari and headed inside. With the lantern floating in the air following us, there was no difficulty in looking around.
– Wow, is that black diamond? Wouldn’t it sell for a high price if we took some?
– The worms would come and destroy everything before that.
Han Nari asked in an excited voice, looking at the crystals covering the cave. But hearing my rebuttal, she sighed, “Hiyuu.”
– I’m sorry. Since I don’t go into dungeons, my allowance isn’t that much… Eek!
Ack, my eardrum!
Han Nari screamed when she saw a worm appearing in front of the passage and moving with a “seuseuk” sound. It was a good choice to have her wear the earphones, but I had a feeling my hearing would be significantly worse when we get out of here.
Still, thanks to her realizing her mistake and covering her mouth, I was able to continue moving forward, shooting salt arrows at the worms.
‘There should be a device around here…’
Since we needed to get out anyway, I headed uphill at every fork in the road.
If this was really like the game, there should be a special device somewhere in the middle of the uphill path. It was a special area where seawater could be drawn from underground to eliminate all the monsters at once.
The downside was that we had to rush upwards like crazy before the seawater filled up completely, but in [Underground Babylon], where all monsters had to be eliminated to complete the dungeon conquest, it was a necessary course.
That’s why I didn’t use the wings to go straight to the surface earlier. To use the dungeon portal, we had to wipe out all the monsters.
– What’s this place?
– Well… we’ll know if we press it.
While walking and closely observing the wall, I found a wall without crystals and pressed it firmly. Sure enough, a secret space appeared. Unable to explain to Han Nari how I knew about this space, I simply pressed the button in the center of the room. There was a rumbling sound from below.
All that was left now was to quickly go up.
‘But really… why is it exactly the same as the dungeon in the game?’
I felt somewhat conflicted. Originally, [Underground Babylon] was set near a coastal area, so there was a setting about drawing seawater, but this dungeon didn’t seem to have any connection to the coast at all.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
