Chapter 126
-Aaaagh!
A piercing scream spread throughout the cave.
Three of the arachne's spider legs were torn off as easily as sheets of paper.
-Hiss!
The arachne immediately launched a counterattack.
A ball of spiderweb shot from its hand and flew rapidly toward the gallery doctor.
This was inside a dark cave.
Since he couldn't see the attack, he naturally couldn't dodge it either.
-Aah?
But the gallery doctor effortlessly dodged even this.
-Bang!
Another bullet flew out and struck the arachne's body squarely.
The arachne couldn't understand it at all.
How had he dodged that, despite being human?
And what the hell was that thing?
-Aaaaaah...!
It required no preparatory movement whatsoever.
An unavoidable attack flew toward her in a fan-shaped spread with nothing more than a twitch of his finger.
The arachne writhed in agony, as if her entire body had been covered in flames.
-Thud!
The gallery doctor soon approached the arachne, who had lost her balance and fallen forward.
The arachne desperately flailed her hands, but it was useless.
-Aaaagh!
What a fucking bullshit game!
Only when she screamed in outrage did the arachne finally realize it.
That human was different.
He was holding a round piece of black scrap metal in front of his eyes, with something resembling a mirror at the end.
Through it, the man was staring straight at her.
“Surprised?”
Click. Having finished reloading, the gallery doctor smiled down at the arachne.
That wasn't prey.
The moment he put that over his head and held the fire-spewing iron rod, she had no chance of winning.
Just then, the gallery doctor slowly removed his hood.
The arachne saw his half-mad, laughing expression.
“I, too, agree that this is astonishing. This is like an artifact of a transcendent being.”
-Aah?
“and i also like Head Mod.”
-Bang!
When the final gunshot rang out, the arachne could no longer move.
*
“This actually works?”
Looking at the post uploaded to the gallery, I confirmed that the arachne hunt had succeeded.
Amazingly, the gallerybro who succeeded in hunting it wasn't a bounty hunter, but the gallery doctor.
[Title: This Is a Magnificent Artifact]
Author: Excellentdoc
(GIF of the gallery doctor showing off his arm muscles)
Hello, gallery assholes.
I am Excellentdoc.
Also, bounty hunting is a good side job.
(GIF proving the arachne hunt)
Head Mod is like the sky.
Be grateful to Head Mod, who has always loved gallery assholes.
[Upvotes 9999+] [Downvotes 0]
- The upvote/downvote ratio is fucking incredible lol
- If anyone downvotes this post, I might actually send them a tuna can, yeah.
ㄴ Really?
ㄴ Yeah, try it.
ㄴ Hehe;
ㄴ Ah lol, how could anyone downvote this post?
- Unpopular opinion) So what's this post about?
ㄴ Take a close look at the first picture.
ㄴ (GIF of night-vision goggles, tiny and obscured by arm muscles)
ㄴ No shit, I couldn't see them because his arms were so thick.
- But there's something... something about the arachne...
ㄴ Ehehehe
ㄴ ?
The arachne had been captured.
In just a few hours, at that.
Based on our earlier failure, I additionally distributed night-vision goggles to the volunteers.
Among them, I gave a pair to Excellentdoc, a well-known gallery doctor.
Head Mod*: How did you catch it?
Even with night-vision goggles, I'd expected it to take several days.
The cave didn't contain only the arachne, either.
So, unlike his behavior on the gallery, Excellentdoc left me a very courteous reply.
Excellentdoc: Oh, are you curious? Of course I'll answer.
Excellentdoc: I entered the cave pretending to be a civilian. And I don't hunt magical beasts. Never.
Head Mod*: ? Was that possible?
Even though he could see inside the cave, he entered pretending he couldn't see a thing.
He didn't react even when spiders approached right up to his face.
Excellentdoc: (GIF of a spider magical beast backing away)
Excellentdoc: Of course. They let their guard down.
And, just as if they'd been told to, the spider magical beasts withdrew.
Instead, they began escorting him to the arachne.
They stood before countless forks, making threatening noises to lead him toward the lower levels.
“Oh, don't tell me they're trying to curse him?”
If they killed him, cursing him would be impossible.
So the spiders began driving him toward the arachne.
Without realizing that he could see everything.
And when he had been safely guided all the way to the lowest level, he reverted to his true form.
-A trap within a trap within a trap within a trap, damn.
He had turned the magical beasts' intelligence against them and captured the arachne.
“Then the rift should quiet down too.”
Since the mutant magical beast had died, I thought I wouldn't have to worry about the rift becoming active for the time being.
[Title: The Problem Still Exists]
Author: Excellentdoc
(GIF of a gigantic rift undulating)
- No, why is it getting bigger and bigger?
But even after the arachne had been captured, the rift showed no sign of stopping.
“No, why?”
Normally, capturing the mutant magical beast should have solved the problem.
But the problem lay in the cave itself.
Excellentdoc: This isn't a cave. It's like a living creature.
After exploring the area around it, Excellentdoc sent me several GIFs as well.
(GIF of the interior gradually expanding)
(GIF of the cave occasionally moving and changing shape)
“So it wasn't a cave after all.”
I'd thought the arachne and the other magical beasts had intentionally expanded it, but I was mistaken.
Naturally, I remembered how the rift in Fron had lowered the temperature.
The rift was changing the surrounding environment to match the environment inside the rift.
- So it was a dungeon, not a cave, ah lol.
- Then what do we do about that?
- Let's just ignore it, yeah.
ㄴ Then won't the dungeon keep expanding until it eats up everything underground?
ㄴ Didn't you play territory-grab as a kid? If you leave it alone, it'll screw you over.
“Hmm...”
If left alone, that cave—no, dungeon—would continue expanding the rift.
It would continue until the wave eventually erupted and we killed the mutant magical beast that emerged.
If it were above ground, we could at least do something about it, but being underground doubled the problem.
“Still, now that we've cleared out the area around it, we only need to prepare in advance...”
The problem was, who would do that?
- Then we can just go there and stand by, lol.
ㄴ Right, that should do it lol.
ㄴ Lol...
ㄴ So who's going?
It was on the outskirts, even in Ellad.
The dwarves naturally had difficulty reaching it because of the distance, and it was far from Adrian Kellierton as well.
Still, expecting the elves to hold it back...
- My back, my back hurts...!
- Hee-eek, huff, I've been getting winded lately...
- Don't worry, Head Mod,,,@!! We elves will guard the rift,,,!!@@
ㄴ Ugh, fucking boomer vibe.
ㄴ Damn, these long-eared, low-HP parasite bastards.
ㄴ Nothing but a World Tree one-trick... JOAT.
“These guys seem a little off.”
The World Tree had left the elves.
It had started a new household with the dark elves.
The elves had lost the overflowing mana they normally enjoyed and were now barely hanging on.
They were no longer physically superior.
“No wonder they've been less active on the gallery lately.”
These days, the elves rarely left comments either.
Since most of them looked like emoticons, I thought it was a trend, but they simply didn't have enough energy to leave individual comments.
[Title: Upvote if You Don't Trust Elves lol]
(GIF of an elf leaning on a staff)
If we leave the dungeon to these guys, upvote if you think Ellad will be destroyed the moment the wave erupts lol
I'll start with myself lol
[Upvotes 6421] [Downvotes 3121]
- For real, this is right.
- Who the hell are they supposed to guard something like that?
- They'd probably wrench their backs going down to the lower levels of the dungeon and die right there.
ㄴ Fuck lol, for real.
- Humans are even worse at that^^
ㄴ Why are you commenting now?
ㄴ I could probably take you in a fight now, for real lol.
“No, they really can't defend it.”
Elves without the World Tree were merely young and pretty old-timers—no, ancestors.
So that's why they'd only used elf emotes in the gallery lately.
At this rate, it'd be faster for them to injure their backs and collapse on the way to the rift.
- Your delusions are something else^^ Still, [00:13]
ㄴ Our elves could take those humans easily [00:14 ago]
ㄴ We'd win, so stop talking nonsense...^^ [00:15]
ㄴ Damn, how long is it going to take to type out the whole chat [00:15]
ㄴ This is so fucking frustrating lol [00:15]
ㄴ Elf muscles get their staffs confiscated for a month [00:15]
ㄴ For real, just keep using gallery emotes [00:15]
I entered the comment section, which was still fighting.
I felt sorry for the elves, but if they went in on a pointless impulse and the number of gallerybros decreased, that would hurt us more.
- Head Mod*) I appreciate the thought, but elves, just clear out the magical beasts around the surface for us hehe;
ㄴ Head Mod...?
ㄴ (Elf emote trembling after being betrayed)
ㄴ So you're saying the elves are low-HP trash without the World Tree, right? That's what you're saying!!!
ㄴ Head Mod*) No, that's...
ㄴ Head Mod*) Yeah, that's right. Just guard the surface.
ㄴ !!!
ㄴ Hee-eek!!!
I tried to put it tactfully, but ended up saying it bluntly.
If I didn't say it strongly, they might stubbornly enter the dungeon just to prove themselves.
Leaving the shocked elves behind, I fell into thought.
“The only manpower I can gather is hunters... How do I bring them here?”
Hunters made their living roaming around and hunting magical beasts.
Naturally, they mostly hunted beasts that were safe and offered good dango yield.
But a dungeon was almost entirely new territory, and both dangerous and poor in dango yield.
- Honestly, I'm not sure I want to go there hehe;
- Still, if Head Mod tells me to go, I'll go.
ㄴ Oh... what a cool bastard.
ㄴ Isn't that obvious? After everything we've received.
ㄴ Great. Then want to go together? What kind of hunter are you?
ㄴ I'm a stay-at-home security guard.
ㄴ ?
ㄴ Fuck.
“A way to gather hunters voluntarily... Ah.”
That's when a realization flashed through my mind.
A method game companies often used to attract players.
I immediately wrote and uploaded an announcement.
[Announcement: Double-Profit Event Begins]
Author: Head Mod*
You'll receive double the dango for every magical beast you catch inside the dungeon.
Who knows, since it's a dungeon, there might even be a treasure room?
Have fun looting.
[Upvotes 9999+] [Downvotes 102]
- Double profits?
- Two tuna cans...?
- So if you catch one, you get an extra amount of dango equal to one beast's worth...?
- Fuck yeah!!!
I opened a double-profit event.