Chapter 49
The cave is mountain-sized, but the entrance is the size of a mouse's dick.
Just say mouse dick. What are mouse genitals? Doesn't fit.
Chase and Groknak found the entrance leading into the cave.
Of course, there was no door.
Peeking inside, it didn't feel like an ordinary cave.
How should he put it.
"It feels like a building, right?"
"Yeah."
Beyond the entrance was a vast lobby.
It had the look of something painstakingly polished by someone's hand, with an unmistakably artificial touch.
A statue shaped like a strangely designed goblin stood right in the center of the lobby.
There were also various pieces of furniture whose purpose was unclear, and a ceiling.
And even stairs leading up to the upper floor.
The interior was excellent, almost like a structure built by dwarves.
"……But seriously, what the hell is that smell? Fucking disgusting."
However.
It was a place with a truly unbearable stench.
It smelled like a corpse rotting away.
Just smelling it made him dizzy.
If the two dwarves had weak stomachs, they would have thrown up right then and there.
"I don't want to go in. Am I the only one?"
"Then starve to death here."
"I'd rather not."
"Then let's go."
Chase, taking the lead, scolded Groknak, who was wincing.
He said a ranger shouldn't be slower than the mayor's aide.
"Stop nagging. That's why you still haven't gotten married."
"Don't bring up marriage when you're in the same boat."
Through detection magic, he already knew the interior layout wasn't ordinary.
This cave has floors from 1 to 80.
Even considering that they were dwarves, the ceiling was extremely high.
Coming in and seeing it firsthand made the sheer size feel real.
It was while the two were observing their surroundings in the lobby.
Clomp, clomp.
Clomp, clomp.
They heard someone coming down the stairs.
Chase froze and went on guard.
He turned toward the entrance and got ready to run at any moment.
"It's a goblin."
A voice like that came from beside him.
Just as Groknak had said, it was a goblin.
Green skin and a long, protruding nose.
Ears drooping like a dog's.
An ugly face that looked plainly cunning and wicked.
A frame smaller and thinner than a dwarf's.
Thirty permanent teeth.
It was the image we usually imagine when we think of goblins.
That creature had an appearance very similar to the goblin image.
But.
"What should we do? Kill it?"
Upon closer inspection, there were strange things about it.
Its nose and mouth were in the wrong places.
The mouth that should clearly have been on its jaw was stuck in the center of its face.
And its eyes, like the tiny button eyes of a teddy bear, seemed like lifeless attachments with no spark in them, making it feel deeply eerie.
"■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■. ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■"
It snuffled and muttered.
Unlike the goblins that went keruk, keruk, that one spoke.
It was shouting something in a chilling language we couldn't understand.
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!"
The goblin let out a scream-like roar.
Even without understanding the language, the meaning in it was clear.
It was unmistakable killing intent.
If we stayed still like this, we'd die.
Instinct.
"Aagh!"
"Run!"
Chase grabbed Groknak's beard and yanked.
The two stubby dwarves started sprinting outside.
Chase turned his head back before leaving.
Then.
It was only a fragment, but.
He witnessed the danger this place was hiding.
He felt vibrations behind him.
Goblins were coming down the stairs.
No, more exactly, they were flowing like a river.
What the hell is that.
How many goblins are in this cave?
Even if you added up every dwarf in Fire Forge.
Could they really create such a bizarre, grotesque crowd?
He couldn't even guess the number.
Those packed shoulder to shoulder overflowed, crushing one another.
That was a wave made of goblins.
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hundreds, thousands, maybe tens of thousands' worth of malice poured into the dwarves' ears.
It seemed like that sound wouldn't leave their minds for a long time.
.
.
.
.
.
"Haa, haa..."
"Fuck, what the hell is this. What kind of place is this? Does that even make sense...?"
The two dwarves were standing far from the entrance, catching their breath.
Groknak, in shock, was enthusiastically offering commentary on the bizarre phenomenon he had just seen.
"It's not like all the goblins in the world are in this dungeon, so why are there so many...? Ugh, seriously, at my age my heart aches just from seeing goblins. No, those aren't goblins at all! They're something that only looks like goblins!"
Chase felt exactly the same.
Dreamland was a bizarre dungeon.
He had expected something that had strayed far beyond the bounds of prediction to lurk there, but he hadn't expected it to this extent.
His hands were shaking violently, like a dwarf with a tremor.
It was probably a mix of emotions, but fear was still the strongest.
"Hoo..."
Chase took a deep breath to calm his pounding heart.
'The dungeon is consistent. Let's not forget that.'
Thinking of the elevator case, this dungeon isn't something you can just kill and smash your way through.
We have to find a way to keep moving forward.
If you don't stick to the elevator's headcount, it kills everyone riding it.
In other words, even though the elevator has the power to kill every passenger aboard.
As long as the headcount was right, it wouldn't harm us at all.
This cave was probably no different.
Subduing an almost infinite number of goblins through combat probably wasn't the answer.
'If combat isn't the answer.'
Chase thought back to what had just happened.
A goblin came down the stairs, and the moment it spotted us, it screamed.
And then countless goblins poured out.
Could I cut its throat before it screams?
No.
There are definitely goblins in there.
And if they encountered another goblin, they would clearly repeat the same behavior.
The fundamental problem wouldn't be solved.
While Chase was thinking that hard.
"Ugh, I have to smell this disgusting stench even outside. What the hell is causing it!"
Groknak grumbled, clutching his nose.
Noses are sensitive and adapt quickly, so by now it should've gotten used to it.
But this damn stench showed no sign of going away.
At that moment, lightning flashed through Chase's head.
'The stench...?'
He jumped to his feet.
If it's inside, why can I smell the stench outside too?
"Maybe this stench is the clue that leads to the answer."
"All of a sudden?"
"Shut up and get up too. Let's look around."
Just as the two were about to move.
Clink-clink.
Clink-clink.
A woman with a large backpack approached.
By her attire, she was clearly a merchant.
There was no way she was an ordinary human.
This is a dungeon full of unknown things.
That woman was probably the dungeon's minion.
Chase examined the merchant cautiously.
She was a beautiful human woman.
Although dwarven standards of beauty differ from human ones.
she had such a mysterious charm that even dwarves could be dazzled by her.
Chase swallowed and pinched his own cheek.
'Don't get dazzled. That woman is just another bizarre phenomenon, same as the goblins.'
Unlike the wary Chase.
Groknak was staring at the merchant, dazed, like someone who had fallen in love.
"Uh, hello..."
What the hell was this idiot doing, greeting a dungeon minion?
Chase let out a small sigh.
He shook Groknak's shoulder and told him to snap out of it.
"Ah, ah, ahem."
When his friend glared at him, Groknak scratched his head awkwardly.
It wasn't that he couldn't understand.
Chase also felt his head go weird when he looked at the merchant.
So he tried his best not to look at her face.
This woman was absolutely not an ally.
Chase's caution, after experiencing the goblin wave, was at its peak.
'Could we escape again?'
While Chase was preparing for the possibility of danger.
the woman awkwardly took a glass bottle from her pocket.
There was liquid sloshing inside the bottle.
It was a perfume bottle.
The scent of perfume was familiar.
It was the same stench currently stinging Chase and Groknak's noses.
Chase had just been thinking.
Maybe the goblins' hostility toward us is due to the smell.
The goblins were bizarre, but they did have noses and mouths.
Their eyes, however, were hard to call normal, so though it was only a suspicion, he judged they probably couldn't see.
Crucially, before calling other goblins, the goblin had sniffed the air.
As if trying to check the smell.
It would need to be tested, though.
he thought they might distinguish enemies from their own kind by smell.
So the reason Chase had been looking around was.
to find a way to get that stench onto their bodies.
And whether or not this mysterious merchant had somehow seen through Chase's thoughts.
she was offering them a way to get that stench onto themselves. Why?
There's an old saying.
Never swallow medicine given to you by a stranger.
To Chase, that perfume looked like a deadly poison.
"Thank you..."
"What?"
Groknak accepted the perfume with both hands, politely.
'Why the hell is this bastard suddenly acting like this?'
Chase was dumbfounded.
Even if Groknak was a bit airheaded, he wasn't usually this careless, was he?
Before Chase could dwell on it, the merchant took a small amount of food and water from her backpack.
Those were the things we had brought.
'She's not a merchant; she's a thieving bitch...'
Unlike Chase, who was busy sorting through his thoughts.
Groknak just stared blankly at the merchant.
The merchant took a note from inside her clothes and showed it to the dwarves.
【I am selling food and water. They're things you need, right?】
This wasn't it.
Something was dangerous.
Instinct was warning him.
Chase's gaze naturally went to Groknak, but.
"Yes. I'll buy them."
Groknak blurted it out much faster than expected.
Then the merchant smiled.
She forcibly pried Groknak's mouth open with both hands.
Groknak was talking.
But his mouth was fixed, and only meaningless sounds leaked out.
The merchant grabbed Groknak's front teeth.
And then she pulled out the eight front teeth one by one.
No blood spurted out.
Groknak having his healthy teeth pulled out also looked bizarrely calm.
After collecting Groknak's teeth.
she maintained her smile and shook the note.
【I am selling food and water. They're things you need, right?】
Groknak seemed not to feel any pain at all.
Even though they'd known each other for many years.
It was the first time Chase had seen him wear such a blissful expression.
At this rate, Groknak looked ready to give the merchant everything he had.
Unable to bear it any longer, Chase walloped Groknak in the face.
Smack!
With a crisp sound, Groknak's body toppled sideways.
It was an impulsive action.
He might have to pay the price for interrupting the merchant's sales pitch.
But he couldn't just let Groknak die like this.
"What a waste."
Contrary to her lovely appearance, the merchant's voice was horrifying, like metal scraping against metal.
The sound of flesh writhing could be heard from her face.
He didn't have the courage to face her directly.
Lowering his eyes and keeping his composure was the best he could do.
"What a waste. Truly such a waste."
Fortunately, the merchant didn't take any further action.
After finishing her words, she gathered up Groknak's teeth.
And leaving the perfume bottle, food, and water behind, she drifted away.
"……."
This voice also seemed like it wouldn't leave his brain for a long time.