Chapter 50
I Have No Minions : What's that dwarf's name again?
ㄴCowhead : Chase.
ㄴI Have No Minions : Wasn't that the bastard who cried and threw a fit last time??
ㄴCowhead : Yeah, that's him.
ㄴI Have No Minions : This is seriously ironic.
ㄴCowhead : That's gourmet in its own way.
ㄴCowhead : It's his karma, but whatever reason he came in, he has to deal with it lol.
ㄴI Have No Minions : I'm not trying to defend him, but I kind of feel sorry for him.
ㄴI Have No Minions : He has no memories, so he's doing the same shit all over again. Sigh...
ㄴI Have No Minions : But honestly, I do think he's someone who deserves to die ㅇㅇ
ㄴCowhead : The moment he set foot in here? He's already?
ㄴCowhead : I think that dwarf's fate was decided from the start.
ㄴCowhead : A wave is ultimately a mak'gora ㅇㅇ
ㄴCowhead : It's when the Dungeon Master and the intruder have a life-or-death showdown.
ㄴCowhead : Dreamland feels like it keeps the mak'gora going even after you leave the dungeon.
ㄴOrange★ : ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ
ㄴI Have No Minions : Why are you suddenly laughing??
ㄴOrange★ : I suddenly realized I could predict the newbie's trolling.
ㄴI Have No Minions : ????
ㄴOrange★ : That demon bastard feels like he'd 100% do it.
ㄴI Have No Minions : No, what are you talking about???
ㄴOrange★ : Hmm... Should I say it or not...
ㄴOrange★ : Nah, just watch.
ㄴOrange★ : You'll find out soon anyway ㅇㅇ
***
"You mean it doesn't hurt after they yanked out your healthy teeth like that?"
"Yeah. I told you it doesn't hurt. Take a look at the cross-sections. They were pulled out fucking cleanly. There's no blood or wounds, either."
Gronak's speech was slurred, but not so much that it was hard to understand.
Chase checked the state of Gronak's teeth while stroking his shortened beard.
There were no wounds or bleeding. It was strange in many ways, but it was a blessing in disguise.
Come to think of it, even if he'd been distracted by a minion, it was strange that he hadn't screamed while having his healthy teeth pulled out.
'Is this that woman's ability?'
Chase let out a sigh.
"So what the hell was that crazy stunt? She was obviously dangerous. No matter how pretty she is, you have no idea what might happen, so saying 'yes' was fucking ridiculous."
"I told you, I don't know why I acted like that either... It was like I'd been bewitched by a beautiful ghost."
To summarize the characteristics of the minion they had just encountered:
1. She's mysteriously beautiful to the point that you can't take your eyes off her. Staring at her face seems to enchant you.
2. After initially incapacitating her target, she takes all of that target's belongings.
3. She sells those confiscated belongings to intruders and takes the payment.
4. She gives you a perfume bottle as a gift. (I don't know what her intention is.)
Putting it all together, she wasn't a merchant at all, but an incredibly beautiful highway robber.
"We have to be careful not to get enchanted."
Judging by Gronak's condition, if they had continued trading with her, he would have had to wear dentures, and might even have had to live with a disability for the rest of his life.
"The next time that woman appears, don't look at her face under any circumstances. You could die, got it?"
"Got it, got it. But she has our stuff. That means she has the escape scroll too, so what the hell are we supposed to do? She pulled out eight front teeth for one bottle of water and two pieces of bread, fuck..."
This was definitely a serious problem.
The same went for their food, drinking water, and other supplies.
Even if they were lucky enough to find an elevator leading to the next area, failing to retrieve the escape scroll would put them in the worst possible situation.
There were two more areas ahead that showed this kind of ruthlessness.
Whether or not they had the escape scroll would clearly have a tremendous psychological impact.
They had entered this dungeon for the purpose of investigation, after all.
'Trading should be a last resort. Let's leave it until the very end.'
It would be better to think of a method slowly.
They weren't exactly at leisure, but rushing wouldn't accomplish anything either.
There had to be a way to get it back.
"Chase."
"Yeah."
"But why have you had such a shit-eating expression since earlier? Are you really that worried about my teeth getting pulled?"
There was one thing that bothered Chase.
Suppose he had come to this cave during the previous raid.
But what if he hadn't found any proper method besides trading?
What price had I paid the merchant back then to get the escape scroll back?
'It couldn't have been my beard.'
Chase ran his fingers through his short beard.
"Hey, take a look at this. I can chew food just fine even without front teeth."
"You crazy bastard. Eat sparingly."
They should get some rest today.
Encountering bizarre phenomena was incredibly exhausting mentally.
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Dungeon Exploration, Day 2
Chase opened his eyes.
When he looked up at the sky, the sun was rising.
Morning came even in Sector 3 of Dreamland.
Not metaphorically, but literally.
Their sleeping bags and other belongings had all been confiscated by the merchant.
The two of them had slept on the bare dirt.
Fortunately, it wasn't very cold.
The temperature was mild, and there was no wind, so there was no need to worry about catching a cold.
Anyway.
"Grrrr..."
Unlike Gronak, who was sprawled out asleep and snoring, Chase stretched and diligently loosened up.
Starting today, they would investigate the inside of the cave in earnest.
The cave stretched from the first floor to the eightieth, and was enormous, so they had to keep moving diligently.
It was just as he was about to wake the sleeping Gronak.
Seven goblins were walking toward them from the entrance in the distance.
Chase's expression stiffened.
Can those bastards come outside the cave too?
I thought the outside was a safe zone, but apparently not.
"Wake up. Goblins are approaching."
"W-what!?"
At the mention of goblins, sleepy Gronak sprang to his feet.
"Hey, hey, hey... Aren't we in big trouble? What do we do now?"
"Calm down. They're still a fair distance away. Spray some of the perfume we got from the merchant yesterday."
Pssh, pssh.
The two dwarves hurriedly sprayed the stench over themselves.
"Fuck, this smell is seriously disgusting. Is this enough?"
"Who knows... Just stay quiet for now."
The goblins came within a certain distance of them.
They flared their nostrils, but unlike yesterday, they didn't scream or anything.
They simply ignored the two dwarves and walked past them.
'Where are they going?'
Chase and Gronak exchanged glances.
Then they carefully followed behind the goblins.
There were trees there.
Things resembling fruit were growing on the trees.
But upon closer inspection, they weren't fruit, but rotten meat.
Trees that grew rotten meat didn't exist.
But after everything they had gone through yesterday, it was something they could simply accept and move on from.
The goblins began gathering the rotten meat.
Then they shouted at the two dwarves hiding behind the bushes and watching them.
"■■! ■■! ■■ ■■!"
Chase flinched for a moment, but maintained his composure.
He didn't sense any hostility like he had yesterday.
'Could they be telling us to work...?'
The goblins were pointing at the tree with their fingers.
Chase swallowed a groan.
He had no choice but to think it over.
After all, a mistake would lead directly to death.
What on earth did this phenomenon mean?
Should they do as the goblins told them and continue like this?
Or should they ignore them and enter the cave?
Unlike Chase, who couldn't easily make a decision, Gronak seemed to have already made up his mind and strode confidently toward the goblins.
Then he helped the goblins gather the meat from the trees.
Gronak made an okay sign with his hand, as if telling Chase to come over.
He wasn't eager to do it, but there was no other way, so this time he followed Gronak's judgment.
And so the dwarves
worked alongside the goblins until the sun went down.
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It didn't take long for Gronak's actions to be proven correct.
The sun began to set.
Before long, a goblin wearing a red hat approached the dwarves, who had finished their work.
"■■■■."
The goblin handed each of them a coin embossed with Braille dots.
"......"
Chase blinked.
Working like miners in a dungeon was ridiculous enough, but now they were even receiving coins as wages. It was absurd.
The goblins went inside the cave before the sun had completely disappeared.
Could they not come outside at night at all?
For now, Chase committed the new information to memory.
"I think we have to act like 'goblins' in this place. If they realize we're not goblins, they'll attack us. Something like that, maybe."
Gronak suddenly opened his mouth.
"What's your basis?"
"I have no basis. It's just a feeling. What do you think, smart guy?"
Chase stroked his beard.
Gronak's guess was certainly reasonable.
The goblins had stopped treating them as enemies from the moment they covered themselves in the stench.
"I agree with you. So far, we've figured out that the goblins use language and distinguish things by smell. For now, we'd better communicate as much as possible with hand signals inside the cave."
Gronak nodded.
"Let's go inside before the sun disappears too. We have to investigate the cave to reach the next area."
"Okay."
That was how they entered the cave.
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Nothing as fucked-up as yesterday happened.
The goblins didn't scream even when the two dwarves entered the cave.
At least as long as the stench was coming from their bodies.
It seemed they wouldn't have to worry about being surrounded by countless goblins.
But.
'So we can't just act like goblins.'
Large goblins were moving around the first-floor lobby.
They repeatedly beat goblins who didn't have coins with clubs.
Sometimes it ended with nothing more than broken bones,
but quite a few of them could be seen lying dead with blood pouring from their heads.
'We have to act like diligent goblins.'
There's a famous saying: When in the North Kingdom, obey the laws of the North Kingdom.
The same went for Goblin Cave.
If you've come to their lair, you have to follow their laws.
The outline of the situation was slowly taking shape.
He was beginning to get a sense of what they had to do.
'Let's go.'
Chase signaled to Gronak with his eyes.
He nodded.
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Chase divided the first floor in half.
Then he and Gronak each took one section and investigated the cave.
Along the way, they found a note lying on the floor.
The note's edges were ragged, as though it had been torn from a book.
'What's this?'
He saw handwriting that looked familiar.
Chase immediately realized who had written the note.
'I wrote this?'
Why was this lying on the floor?
He was puzzled for a moment, then picked it up and began reading its contents.
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I can say with certainty that setting foot in Dreamland was the stupidest thing I had ever done.
■■■ or ■■... Those things were nothing more than tiny fragments.
The most horrifying thing was something else entirely.
I thought I could conquer this dungeon.
I thought I should return with plenty of information and then begin the raid.
Only now do I realize how idiotic those thoughts were.
I want to go back.
I want to go back.
I want to go back.
I don't want to go back outside.
I want to go back to before the sixth raid began.
I don't know.
If I go out
side, can I return to the way I was?
I don't have the courage to face the sins I've committed.
At least being able to lose my memories was a blessing.
It was better to live as a coward than die bravely.
That much is certain.
If
just if
I were given the chance to forget everything that happened in this dungeon and live a new life,
I would never waste that life.
God, please give me a chance to set everything right
Just once
...
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"......"
Chase burned the note.
Then he started walking again.
That was fabricated information.
There had to be a trap capable of forging even handwriting.
Even if that really was something I had written,
I saw nothing.
So there was no problem.
Let's not worry about it.
The moment their will broke, all that awaited them was death.
Chase moved forward. =
Let's not worry about it.
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