Chapter 74
...Let's take our time looking around later. For now, be careful...
At my words, the golem let out a disappointed sound, but soon took the lead and began clearing the way.
The thick moss was slippery, but it also subtly muffled our footsteps, letting us move forward quietly.
How far had we gone like that?
"There..."
In the middle of a small clearing ringed by trees sat an object that couldn't be ignored.
An old wooden chest inlaid with ornate metal decorations.
It was clearly a treasure chest.
"Seriously suspicious."
Treasure chests in dungeons weren't anything unusual; I'd seen plenty before, but what worried me here was how blatantly out in the open it was.
Maybe because I still remembered dealing with those tiny imps that had dug traps the other day.
I cautiously approached the treasure chest, keeping the golem on guard with me.
As I approached with my spear tip dragging along the ground, the treasure chest began to rattle.
"...Huh?"
Maybe the drones and the golem were just as startled as I was, because they started circling the chest.
Creak—bang!
Suddenly, the lid flew open roughly, and instead of treasure, a tongue dripping with sticky saliva and sharp teeth burst out.
I knew this monster.
It was a familiar game monster: a mimic.
Slaaack—!
The mimic let out a bizarre sound and leaped at me, gaping its grotesque mouth wide.
It wasn't very fast.
Slow enough that I could handle it if I had already been on guard.
"Not so fast!"
I twisted my upper body lightly and tried to thrust the spear in my hand straight into the mimic's open mouth.
Bang—! Crunch!
"...Huh?"
Along with the gunshot from beside me, the bullet flew through the mimic's thick bark-like shell as if it were paper.
Creak.
The mimic made a metallic screech, then soon crumbled into ash-gray dust with a rustling sound.
"...Thanks."
It was support from the sniper drone.
I thanked the drone and lowered the spear I'd been straining to thrust out.
Crack! Rumble-rumble!
"What now...?"
The moment the mimic died, a rock in one corner of the clearing started to shake.
The moss-covered rock on one side suddenly began to stir.
Eight thick legs sprang up from beneath the mossy rock, and two huge claws were raised as well.
Like the mimic disguised as a treasure chest, a crab-like creature disguised as a rock appeared as the next monster.
Is this a dungeon full of ambush monsters like that?
It began scuttling quickly toward us sideways.
The closer it got, the more its size really sank in.
"Whoa, damn. It's huge..."
Crab-like was putting it lightly; it was the size of an adult woman.
As I leapt back with a jump to widen the distance, the moss crab, bubbling with foam, swung its enormous claw at the golem nearest to it instead of me.
Clang—!
The moss crab's giant claw and the golem's body collided hard.
Its claw seemed pretty sturdy too, because when it struck the golem's steel body, sparks flew.
But something was a little strange.
"...Normally, it would've dodged. Or blocked it."
The golem stared blankly at the moss crab that had tried to scratch its armor.
It looked shocked.
Then it started bouncing up and down again.
This time, it looked angry.
Ah, I thought it was something like Roundy, but I guess it felt betrayed because it was a monster hiding its claws.
Whiiir—! Bang!
The golem rotated its heavy body and this time brought its own foot down on one of the moss crab's eight legs.
Crack!
Unable to withstand that absurd force, one of its legs snapped and gave way.
The moss crab writhed in pain and tried to retaliate, but the golem mercilessly brought its barrel right up against the creature's shell.
Kwaaaang—!
At close range, the blast shattered the moss crab's huge shell spectacularly.
No, on closer inspection, it seemed the moss and stones covering the outside had been broken away, revealing the gray true shell underneath.
Then it was my turn to move.
"Hup!"
I kicked off the ground and sprang behind it.
I wasn't much of a crab expert, but if it really had a crab-like structure, its claw movements probably wouldn't be as flexible as they seemed, so it wouldn't be able to attack from behind.
Clack-clack—!
As if to prove me right, it noticed me only belatedly, but instead of attacking right away, it frantically moved its legs to try turning around.
However, because the golem had broken one of its legs, it was having trouble rotating its body.
In the end, my spear reached it first.
Thud—! Clang!
My spear cleanly pierced its back, driving all the way through to the ground on the other side.
I had pinned it to the ground.
Bubble-bubble.
Foam spilled out of the crab's mouth.
And its movements stopped.
"Phew..."
A moment later, it turned to dust, and only my spear was left stuck in the ground.
The drone familiarly picked up the loot and mana stone.
"It's a rather large intermediate-grade mana stone..."
It was even bigger than the mana stone the mimic had dropped.
No wonder it was so hard.
As I moved a little deeper inside, I decided to stay even more alert whenever I saw rocks around me.
***
"Ugh... seriously..."
I rubbed my face with my dry hands to calm myself down.
The placement of the monsters in this dungeon was a truly vicious setup that preyed on a gamer's psychology.
"Ah... I'd noticed..."
If a treasure chest came into view, you couldn't just pretend not to see it and walk past, but if you went to open it, eight times out of ten a mimic pretending to be a treasure chest would pounce.
But if you ignored them, real treasure chests with actual items were sometimes mixed in, so in the end the golem had to check each one by putting its body on the line.
...At first, we'd had the drone shoot at them to check.
But after seeing the equipment and items inside getting smashed to pieces, we decided to just let the golem handle it.
The mimics weren't the only problem.
If you stepped on what you thought was just the ground, a moss-covered rock would suddenly spring up and ambush you, so both the golem and I were on edge.
Thud-thud!
The golem, having just smashed a moss crab to bits, was irritably stomping around and swinging its barrel.
It looked thoroughly irritated too.
Just as our fatigue was piling up, a strange sight unfolded in the damp forest.
"...Found it."
A dazzling golden light was pouring out from between the dark thickets.
When I got closer, a vending machine was standing there alone, glowing.
"...A thing—"
[Constellation Vending Machine]
A dazzling holographic message floated over the top of the vending machine, and the items visible through the transparent glass were anything but ordinary.
"What is all this?"
I narrowed my eyes and looked over the displayed items.
1. Message Card - Price: 500 credits
Effect: When used, you can forcibly deliver a message to one random Constellation.
2. Sparkling Stardust Candy - Price: 1,000 credits
Effect: Can increase a Constellation's interest in the location.
There were also consumables for communicating with Constellations and items offered to them as tribute.
They were items you couldn't even hope to see in ordinary shops.
Of course, the urge to buy them was—
"They're interesting, but... I don't really want to buy them."
I propped up my chin and fell into thought.
Then I noticed the item at the very bottom.
"Random Box..."
The box radiating golden light looked far from ordinary.
It even said only three could be bought.
This dungeon definitely knew how to toy with people.
Only three, huh.
Since I happened to have the credits I'd received from the old man, I boldly pressed the purchase button.
Clunk! Thud.
Clunk! Thud. Thud.
The moment I drew out three boxes in succession.
Beep—!
With a cheerful alert sound, the vending machine's golden glow went out and it stopped working.
"It just completely stops working?"
I clicked my tongue in disappointment, but the fact that it stopped after just three might mean the contents were that special.
I carefully entrusted the boxes to the drone, planning to ask Jiwoo to deal with them when we got back on the train.
Leaving the vending machine behind, I moved into the deepest part of the forest.
And there, something blatantly suspicious was exuding an overwhelming presence.
"That's shameless to an absurd degree."
What was sitting in the middle of the clearing was a giant treasure chest the size of a passenger car.
Its flamboyance didn't fit the drab moss forest around it at all.
There were even jewels studded all over the outside of the chest. It was openly advertising how suspicious it was.
...If you looked closely, it even seemed to be shaking slightly.
This time, I didn't even feel like going up to open it.
I pointed at it with my chin and ordered the golem.
"Shoot it."
Whiiir—! Clack!
The instant my command fell, the golem fixed its legs firmly in place and extended its barrel.
And a merciless shell flew straight toward the giant treasure chest.
Kwaaaang—!
With a powerful explosion, fragments sprayed everywhere.
Kyaaaak—!
A bizarre scream burst out from the smoke.
The giant treasure chest, instead of being destroyed, opened its huge mouth wide and revealed its true form.
As expected, that chest's identity was a giant mimic, presumably the boss of this dungeon.
With its sharp teeth bared, the mimic snarled at me and shrieked as if it were terribly wronged.
It was practically protesting, as if asking how I'd figured it out.
Wouldn't it be strange if I didn't know?
Thud, plip-plip.
"Huh?"
When the giant mimic bared its teeth, something started streaming out of its mouth, unlike with the other mimics.
Jewels, weapons, and even things that looked like backpacks and water canteens.
It was as if the contents of a household were being spilled out.
I was wondering how it was so fully stocked when a frantic shout came from far away.
"@#&^%!!"
Startled by that sudden interruption, I raised a hand, and the golem also froze, withdrawing the barrel it had been about to fire again.
The intruder who cut through the thick dust and blocked our way was a goblin with green skin and pointed ears.
But its appearance was different from the goblins I'd met until now.
Unlike the goblin monsters I'd met before, who wore beast hides or rags, it was neatly dressed in a crisp shirt and suit vest that humans would wear.
It also had something trumpet-like in its hand.
Every time the goblin shouted into it, the sound came out transformed into something like Korean.
"Please don't do this to our Tongtongi! Please, I'm begging you!"
The goblin in the suit vest spread both arms wide and threw itself in front of the giant mimic.
"...Tongtongi?"
I stared blankly back and forth between the goblin and the mimic.
...Then my gaze moved to the horn.
The goblin flinched and clutched the horn to its chest protectively.