Chapter 60
#060
1.
Today's lesson.
The sewer is full of flammable toxic gas, so let's not smoke.
Ha, fuck.
I didn't know I'd end up like this either.
Sion glanced sideways a few times before turning away.
“Pfft….”
“…….”
Jjapjo, whose shoulders had been trembling, burst into peals of laughter.
“Kya-hahaha!!!”
“Stop fucking laughing already!!!”
“M-Master, look at your state…! H-How could your concubine not laugh!”
The resonator panel on Sion's gas mask hummed with a buzzing vibration.
It's seriously fucking irritating, but there's no excuse.
I was walking with a cigarette in my mouth just to look cool.
Then suddenly flames spread in front of my face like a torch.
I freaked the hell out, thinking I was about to burn to death again, but thankfully it wasn't a big deal.
Though my once-silky bangs had gone all limp and cutesy, like some goddamn queen who looked ready to whine, 'Big bro, big bro,' any second.
More than anything….
My eyebrows had turned into Sanji's!!!!
“Ha, fuck….”
“Kya-hahaha!!!”
“From now on, every time you laugh, you're earning one belly-fart credit. Got it?”
Anyway.
I began our sewer exploration with Sion, who kept his mouth firmly shut.
There's one thing we need to point out here.
This sewer has tiers too.
You might think that's just bullshit about dividing the shitwater into upper and lower levels, but….
The Old Sewer is clearly a Depth 2 fissure.
For troubleshooters, it's a dungeon that drops loot—in other words, a hunting ground.
And unlike the Mushroom Factory, which you have to enter through a random portal, this is a hunting ground that's anchored in reality once it's manifested.
What happens when decades pass with the map fixed in place?
Strategies and optimization happen naturally.
Like a long-running RPG, the split between god-tier hunting spots and unpopular ones that get abandoned because the cost-performance sucks becomes crystal clear.
“I see why it isn't popular.”
Among them, the sewer beneath Sector D was a goddamn hellscape bad enough to make it obvious why it had been abandoned.
Sewage that counts as instant death if you slip and fall in?
Fine. Just don't slip.
A fucking horrible smell?
I had accounted for that too.
Besides, the sense of smell dulls fast.
Even Sion, who had been gagging nonstop at first, was following along just fine now.
“....? What are you looking at?”
By the way, the hair sticking out through the gas mask made him stupidly cute, like a spiky little goblin.
The problem was the terrain was way more fucked up than expected.
I'm not a newbie anymore, so I wasn't expecting the sewer to be as smooth as a taxpayer-funded walking path.
“Boksun, can we actually get out of this?”
“Hadn't Master remembered the way?”
“I didn't memorize it.”
But despite being a fissure, the inside was ridiculously convoluted, like the Backrooms turned into a single piece of modern art through sheer overkill upon overkill.
“You go up first.”
“M-My concubine is wearing a skirt.”
“That’s why I’m telling you to go up first.”
Up one ladder, down another ladder.
“Jjapjo-nim! Jump!”
“I-I can't! How am I supposed to jump this?”
There were even sections where the ledge was completely cut off, forcing you to jump across.
Naturally, if you fell in, you'd become 'property of the sewer.'
At least, here and there on the walls.
[D-11]
If the sectors and districts hadn't been marked like this, I'd have busted my ass trying to find my way around.
Still.
It's not all bad.
We didn't come here to hunt.
The main quest is finding the slush fund hidden under Sector D-13, in the settling tank.
The more fucked-up the place, the less human hands have touched it for 200 years, right?
Then.
-Rustle!
“W-What….”
“Shh.”
Hearing movement from somewhere, I immediately raised a finger to my lips and pressed Sion flat against the wall.
I lowered the headlamp visor and drew up my mana.
I closed my eyes, focused on hearing, and waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark.
Sion, reading the mood from my expression, also held their breath tensely.
“…….”
“…….”
There were two reasons.
First.
This place is a fissure.
Just like the mushroom people who supply Necropolis with daily bread, the Old Sewer has a monster called a 'cleaner.'
That sound of movement could've been those things.
Second.
Even an unpopular hunting ground can have visitors already inside.
And Necropolis players, who are insanely territorial, prefer PK over saying, 'Mind if I take this spot~?'
It's a city where the war of all against all is the default, so it can't be helped.
No need to get too tense.
A Depth 2 fissure is usually the level where a Grade 7 troubleshooter enters.
Cedric, the king of Grade 7 troubleshooters who killed Sunming, had no reason to be scared now.
As long as whatever's over there isn't Grade 6 or higher, we're fine.
So I slowly peeked around the corner.
“Huh?”
“Hm?”
This time, before I could react, we ran into another troubleshooter around the corner.
The perception-suppressing necklaces Sion and I were wearing only blur us into 'passersby'; they're not an invisibility cloak.
If you bump into people like this, there's no good answer.
“…….”
“…….”
We froze facing each other.
There were two of them.
A scar-covered middle-aged man and a somewhat plump middle-aged woman.
A married couple?
They had decent coats and the aura of people who were fairly confident in themselves.
And judging by that woman's bulging money pouch, they were definitely not nobodies.
The man's hand was already moving toward the sword at his waist.
The woman was scanning us from top to bottom, judging our level.
They definitely didn't seem like mages.
Grade 7? Grade 6?
With that confident aura, they might even be Grade 6.
Ha, fuck, this is a pain in the ass.
If either of them is Grade 6, can I fight while keeping Sion safe?
For now, I gave Sion an imperceptible gesture to stay still and do nothing.
“Big brother! Big sister! Nice to meet you!”
I grinned and rubbed my palms together.
“Why are your faces so murderous? Did you two have a marital spat or something? Krr, I can tell at a glance—looks like your wife is so beautiful that a bunch of shit-flies started swarming around her. Right?”
Necropolis is a world of wilderness and savagery.
Paradoxically, if both sides look about equal, conversation comes first.
They must've judged my level to be fairly high too, because the man smirked without taking his hand off the sword hilt.
“Cut the small talk. Where are you headed, pal?”
“I'm actually heading that way the whole time.”
“Is that so? Who's the woman beside you? Doesn't look like a troubleshooter.”
I couldn't afford to look too easy.
“Hey, big brother, what good is grilling another man's woman when you're already married?”
“What?!”
“We're just passing through. Let's go our separate ways without spilling blood, yeah?”
I put on just enough swagger to make it clear I'd fight if I had to.
The woman beside him cut in with a voice greasy with fat.
“Anyway, the way ahead's blocked. We were just about to turn back after a wasted trip. Works out nicely. A cleaner might pop out, so want to travel together?”
Are you nuts?
Do you think I'm an idiot?
Forming a party with strangers in Necropolis.
But anyway….
The way's blocked?
Could be.
There had been plenty of dead ends blocked by ridiculously thick iron bars on the way here, too.
Still, this smells suspicious.
I looked the two troubleshooters over.
Beads of sweat.
That odd wariness, as if they would somehow keep us from going past this point even if a fight broke out.
And now they're trying to send us down some other route….
“Aw, that's a shame. Still, traveling together is a bit much. I'll hurry on ahead first, so would you mind coming along in about five minutes?”
“Shall we do that?”
“Yeah, that works. This is a pretty grim city, after all.”
“All right, go on ahead.”
“Yep! Then take care!”
The moment I turned my back.
-Boom!
I heard the sound of the ground being kicked so hard it cracked.
God fucking dammit, I knew it.
I immediately shoved Sion behind me and turned.
The couple charging in with Sandevistan came into view.
The man had a sword, the woman an axe.
Their cheeks jiggled as they rapidly closed the distance.
Fast, but only Grade 7.
Damn, I lost because I got spooked.
“Die!!!!”
“Hyahhh!!!”
I drew up my mana.
“From here on out, it's self-defense, okay?”
Maybe because I'd gone through death one more time?
My mana, now even denser, gurgled through the circuit like black tar.
Black mana seeped out like liquid through the skin.
This was my first time using it in actual combat, though….
I don't think it'll fail.
Because this death is vivid enough to rival Kisara's slash.
“Death Sentence: Incineration.”
Black flames rose.
The dance of black fire clung sticky to my body and writhed.
“Honey!”
“It's fine! Hold on!”
As if they were wearing some kind of protective gear under their coats, they kept charging even as they saw the flames….
“I don't think it is.”
-Whoooosh!!!
The black flames shot out like a beast.
It looked less like wavering flames and more like a flamethrower blasting burning accelerant through a high-pressure hose.
The result was the same.
“Kyaaaagh!!!”
“Kyaaah!!!”
The black flames swallowed the criminal couple in an instant.
They screamed and flailed their limbs, trying to shake off the flames, but it was meaningless.
Death Sentence is that kind of spell.
-Splash!
The couple, tap-dancing like maniacs, instinctively jumped into the wastewater channel.
“No!”
I screamed at the two of them.
-Gurgle!
Sure enough, the Old Sewer's local rules had them wrapped in tentacles and swallowed them up.
“My loot!!!!”
Grade 7s usually carry pretty decent gear!!!
What a waste!!!
Anyway, this was my first real use of Burn to Death, and the performance's solid.
I had thought it'd be a fight with two Grade 7s, but it was absurdly easy.
“Boksun, you okay?”
“I-I am.”
Boksun sat there dazed, then belatedly took my hand and stood up.
“Oppa was cool, right?”
“Hmph, to this concubine's eyes, that was only a cute little performance.”
Hm.
Well, if she inherited Jinjo's memories too, that would make sense.
“Master…! Master…! I was wrong…!”
The moment I turned and ran like hell, I got to enjoy the adorable sight of Boksun scrambling after me in a panic.
Enough fooling around.
“Boksun, if you spot anything weird, report it right away.”
“Haa… haa… what do you mean?”
“I mean anything even a little strange—tell me immediately.”
Those two married troubleshooters looked off no matter how I looked at it, right?
I carefully checked the passage, making sure I didn't miss a single strange detail in the surrounding corners.
What I found was….
An old, huge sheet of plywood propped against the wall.
“Is this it?”
It was covered in blotchy mold and filth, so it blended into the wall, but there was a tiny gap.
I grabbed the edge of the plywood and shoved it hard to the side.
-Crash.
When the plywood fell over, a hidden hole behind it was revealed.
A hole that was obviously dug by hand.
A faint phosphorescent glow was leaking from inside.
So that's what you were blocking the way for, you idiots?
If you'd just let us pass, I wouldn't have noticed a thing.
I clicked my tongue at the thought of that stupid criminal couple.
“H-How did you notice this? Amazing, Master!”
“…….”
“Why are you looking at me like that!”
Can't be helped.
It's not that Boksun is pathetic; I'm just too smart.
“Heh-heh-heh.”
Still, I was disappointed that the loot dropped outside the map, but this isn't bad.
Time to find out what they hid that made them go to all this trouble.
It can't be Jinjo's hidden slush fund, right?
The man's hand was already moving toward the sword at his waist.
The woman was scanning us from top to bottom, judging our level.
They definitely didn't seem like mages.
Grade 7? Grade 6?
With that confident aura, they might even be Grade 6.
Ha, fuck, this is a pain in the ass.
If either of them is Grade 6, can I fight while keeping Sion safe?
For now, I gave Sion an imperceptible gesture to stay still and do nothing.
“Big brother! Big sister! Nice to meet you!”
I grinned and rubbed my palms together.
“Why are your faces so murderous? Did you two have a marital spat or something? Krr, I can tell at a glance—looks like your wife is so beautiful that a bunch of shit-flies started swarming around her. Right?”
Necropolis is a world of wilderness and savagery.
Paradoxically, if both sides look about equal, conversation comes first.
They must've judged my level to be fairly high too, because the man smirked without taking his hand off the sword hilt.
“Cut the small talk. Where are you headed, pal?”
“I'm actually heading that way the whole time.”
“Is that so? Who's the woman beside you? Doesn't look like a troubleshooter.”
I couldn't afford to look too easy.
“Hey, big brother, what good is grilling another man's woman when you're already married?”
“What?!”
“We're just passing through. Let's go our separate ways without spilling blood, yeah?”
I put on just enough swagger to make it clear I'd fight if I had to.
The woman beside him cut in with a voice greasy with fat.
“Anyway, the way ahead's blocked. We were just about to turn back after a wasted trip. Works out nicely. A cleaner might pop out, so want to travel together?”
Are you nuts?
Do you think I'm an idiot?
Forming a party with strangers in Necropolis.
But anyway….
The way's blocked?
Could be.
There had been plenty of dead ends blocked by ridiculously thick iron bars on the way here, too.
Still, this smells suspicious.
I looked the two troubleshooters over.
Beads of sweat.
That odd wariness, as if they would somehow keep us from going past this point even if a fight broke out.
And now they're trying to send us down some other route….
“Aw, that's a shame. Still, traveling together is a bit much. I'll hurry on ahead first, so would you mind coming along in about five minutes?”
“Shall we do that?”