Episode 159.
“Watching?”
“Yeah, I don’t think they’re coming too close. They’re observing.”
Upon hearing Lee Seo-hee, Jung Si-woo greatly expanded the dragon’s senses, which had been confined to the battlefield. Valley leading from the mountains, open spaces in the forest, cracks in rocks…the breathing of the monsters hiding in it was felt by him, too. But they held no sign of a god.
“Now that you’ve defeated the alien species, you’re going for natives.”
“But don’t you think there’s no hostility?”
“There’s no monster that has no animosity against humans…wait.”
Come to think of it…there were some monsters with no direct hatred towards humanity. However, it was unclear if that was specific to Si-woo.
“I can feel it…I think they’re afraid?”
Marina chimed in. If that was true, it was obvious who they’re afraid of. As others looked at him, Jung Si-woo put the hammer on his shoulder, smacking his lips.
“Shall we get close to them?”
“Maybe you can use them as the monsters in the sea.”
“Okay, then keep on cleaning up here.”
As Jung Si-woo stepped out of the perimeter alone, all the monsters in his senses winced and tried to step back. As expected, they must have been very conscious of Jung Si-woo.
“Where do you think you’re going.”
It was the dignity of the dragon that spread out. The monsters stiffened in response.
[Guh, guuuuuuuh…]
“Alright…you.”
Jung Si-woo caught the closest between the canine monsters. Maybe it was meant to be, but he was a lizard man, a.k.a, Lizard Man, with green scales all over his body. It was a bit funny something with green scales was living in the forest.
“If you want to play a game, come on. Otherwise, why are you watching from afar?”
[Does it speak our language!?]
“Yes, yes, let’s say so.”
Now he was already tired of monsters being surprised that he understood them. Jung Si-woo left him alone and caught several more monsters hiding nearby. Each time they trembled and screamed. He had never seen such weak monsters.
“Now, tell me. Are you trying to fight us?”
[Oh, no.]
[No, no.]
[I value my life.]
The monsters waved their hands, recalling Jung Si-woo’s power. At least he had reason enough to step down based on the relationship between forces. Then…Jung Si-woo asked just in case.
“Are you trying to fight the monsters that Paeto called out?”
[Paeto…is that the name of the man who rules those monsters?]
“Yes.”
You’re monsters, too. He stifled the desire to say it out loud. Indeed, the monsters seemed to be buzz a bit at his words, and soon the brightest of them all…a rodent monster who seemed to a large squirrel approached him.
[He’s picking on us, squeak. He’s forcing us to trust a weirdo, squeak.
“What about the others, squeak?”
[No, squeak.]
The squirrel shook its head firmly at Jung Si-woo’s words and continued.
[We just want to live quietly with our gods, but they’ve forced us to believe in ourselves, squeak. I knew they were coming today, and you beat them all, squeak.
“Gods?”
Jung Si-woo instinctively recalled the monsters in the deep sea as soon as he heard them. The place where traces of the player training stations like the Sky Castle remained, which was still unknown, was called the god’s evidence, and Seiraxia, who was called the god’s representative…
Maybe they too.
[Yes, squeak…will you force us to believe in the God you believe in, squeak?]
“All I believe in is myself. And I don’t intend to impose it on anyone else, squeak.”
[That’s a relief, squeak. Then let us go now, squeak.]
Of course, Jung Si-woo couldn’t have let them go just because they wanted to because he needed to accompany them to solve the questions that just arose. Jung Si-woo smiled kindly as he grabbed the squirrel by the neck and lifted it in front of his eyes.
“I’m really curious about your god. Will you teach me, squeak?”
[No, no, I won’t, squeak.]
Jung Si-woo’s benevolent smile shone brightly.
“I’m very curious about the point that holds you together. Will you tell me who it is, squeaks?”
[No, no, I don’t want to…]
“No, squeak?”
[Squeak, squeeeeak…]
A minute later, Jung Si-woo announced it he approached the party, collecting spoils and taking decisive action.
“They’re going to show us their home!”
“You were a conversational monster! Si-woo is amazing!”
Marina was rejoicing, but the party couldn’t smile as they saw the squirrel monster shaking behind him.
“For them, you may be scarier than the monsters that Paeto uses….”
“Oppa may have recognized a talent he shouldn’t have woken up to….”
The group walked deep in the mountains, guided by the monsters hiding in the area. One or two monsters were added as they walked into the mountains. They didn’t try to stick together, but they just crawled out on their own under Jung Si-woo’s keen eyes.
“The air is getting cleaner.”
“It’s not air; it’s probably Mana.”
Although he already knew it, the denser the forest grew, Jung Si-woo realized why Kim Ha-ryong had chosen this place of residence.
“And since it’s a place like this, there’s a lot of home for native Earth monsters.”
[Our favorite is mana, squeak. It seems to be a common misconception, but we can live with mana and a certain amount of physical energy, so people who don’t have much mana don’t eat well, squeak.]
“Is it good?”
[I, I’ve never tried it in my life]
As expected, the squirrel was smart. When the man who hurriedly answered Jung Si-woo turned his head and opened his eyes, the other monsters hurriedly added a word.
[I’ve never tried it either! I’m sure it must be dry and tough and tasteless!]
[I love grass! Long live grass!]
“Yes, keep that healthy eating habit.”
The party decided not to respond. After walking for a while, they soon faced a huge waterfall that hadn’t existed before entering the New Age.
“Hmm?”
Among them, Jung Si-woo, the most aware, wriggled his eyebrows when he noticed something.
“No way, a subspace in a place like this…wait.”
Wasn’t this similar to when he entered the deep sea temple? Was there a place to nurture players on the ground other than the Ant Cave? As expected, the god they believe in was sane. Jung Si-woo was lost deep in his thoughts, but Marina shrugged and denied it.
“It’s not the same pattern as to when you go in there. And apparently, the deep sea somehow became a shelter for monsters in the process of building dungeons. I don’t think that’s the way it is here.”
“Well, I guess so…?”
Analyzing the subspace beyond the waterfall, Jung Si-woo was gradually convinced. The subspace wasn’t created with special intention but was like a natural dungeon created by mutations in some areas where excessive mana was concentrated during the New Age process. Unless he were determined to find it, even if he were a high-level player, it would be difficult to notice it. He even thought there might be similar places all over the world.
‘But that doesn’t mean nothing is bothering me at all…it’s still not enough Mana concentration to create a subspace. It’s no wonder that there’s a system involved in the middle of the Sky Castle, Ant Caves, and Abyss.’
[Are you scared, squeak? He threatened us, but he didn’t kill us, so our leader won’t kill you, squeak.]
The monsters seemed relieved as they entered their hideout. The trust in the leader seemed to be quite deep. Indeed, if a man like Pui was established as a boss here, it wasn’t unconvincing to hold such infinite trust. Of course, Jung Si-woo was confident that he would deal with two of them simultaneously.
[This is it, Squeak]
They soon escaped into the open space. The natural environment wasn’t much different as it was a subspace in Hallasan Mountain. Still, it was filled with taller hills and dense trees, giving the group a feeling of entering a more mana-developed world than Earth.
“It is. It’s about two and a half stages, according to what the gods said.”
“This is…”
Jung Si-woo was convinced that his hunch was right. It was a dungeon Oppated under the influence of the system but was not constrained by it. The difference was that this space had made it a hiding place, not a prison, for monsters.
[This is it, squeak]
“Yeah, I get it.”
From now on, he didn’t have to be guided. If he recognized this place as a dungeon, he could get a rough idea of how to proceed. Jung Si-woo, who saw off the monsters who were coming back to their place with relief as they came inside, led the party.
“I don’t think their boss has any animosity against us.”
“That’s a relief.”
“Just in case, Seo-hee, please prepare it.”
“Yes.”
The space was very large. It was about the size of 100 dungeons combined, which was already beyond the territory of Jeju Island. Jung Si-woo grinned when he realized something while walking in the dungeon.
“It’s not just one entrance, is it?”
[Ah, squeak.]
The structure of the dungeon, the atmosphere, the monsters filling it. The dragon’s senses gradually expanded, scanning the dungeon, navigating the passageways of several other places connected to the outside, except for the waterfall passage they had passed through. Moreover, it was…
“It also connects to other places, not just Jeju Island, right?”
[You know everything, squeak.]
“I don’t.”
“Well, that’s a joke…wait a minute, oppa.”
After hearing Jung Si-woo’s words, the party realized the mystery possessed by the dungeon and asked him in dismay.
“Not Jeju Island, but somewhere else?”
“Is it similar to the Warp Gate?”
Jung Si-woo shook his head firmly at the words. At least that’s not what he figured out. Warp Gate was a two-way form of magic engineering, but there was no sign of such a thing in the various channels he detected.
“It’s totally different. Manna flow at the moment of entry into the New Age, and the puddle of mana…finally, the unidentified forces that built the sky, the ant cave, and the system intervened.”
[That’s right.]
The voice that answered them didn’t belong to the squirrel. It was a rich, dignified voice that came from above. Jung Si-woo raised his head.
“Were there tigers in our country?”
[I’m not a tiger, man. Also, this isn’t Korea.]
A giant white-furred tiger measuring 15 meters in length and 4 meters in height stood before him.
[Call me Erieu, king of mankind.]
The Boss Monster, the strongest force in this dungeon, was there.
