I Will Save the World and Retire Chapter 222

Mud Dungeon (3)

“Oh my!”

I staggered for a moment due to the unexpected vibration. I quickly regained my balance and searched the dungeon.

The cave got wider as we went down. The rainwater and mud pouring in from outside were still there, but the flow slowed down as the space got wider. In addition, because the middle of the passage was hollow, the mud did not invade the sides.

Hong Seok-young rubbed the floor with his feet. The mud stuck to the soles of his shoes, leaving marks.

“I heard that the thing inside here is deeper. The vibrations are this bad?”

“usually….”

Did you say it was severe?

I recalled the dungeon report I had read before entering. It only said that there were occasional vibrations due to things crawling on the cave floor, but it did not specifically mention the intensity or frequency of the vibrations.

It’s not that I didn’t think it was a poor report. But Yu Ji-eun didn’t say anything about them! She didn’t say anything about having a hard time conquering them either… She did grumble that it was hard in a different sense.

I didn’t come in to attack, so you don’t have to worry too much.

“It won’t be able to come up here anyway since it’s so big.”

“but….”

Lurking on the floor of the dungeon is a crocodile.

A giant crocodile rolling around in a pile of mud.

Same with the foxes, I don’t know why there are only so many big ones… Is it because the gravity on that planet or world is weak?

From the perspective of having to catch them, I still don’t know whether it’s better to be small or big. My father used to say that being big is better because you can see better.

After a moment the vibration stopped.

“Let’s go back down.”

“How far do I have to go?”

“Until the mud comes out.”

“I think I’ve already seen my fair share of mud.”

Hong Seok-young pointed to his legs. His thighs were covered in mud from having to wade through the rainwater. It’s no different for me.

I shook my head.

“It’s still a long way to go.”

The main cause of stress for my sister who finished the strategy was not the dungeon or the monsters, but the hunters. Usually, the target was a newbie. She took out her anger by stealing my coffee, just like she had complained about the bug dungeon. Honestly, I think my perception of hunters is at least 80% due to my sister.

However, it’s not like there weren’t any dungeons that Yujin didn’t like.

‘But you still got a good item.’

‘Heejae. They say the world isn’t all about material rewards. It’s more than that…’

My sister looked at me with pitiful eyes. Her eyes made me feel dirty.

‘You must know how to maintain your dignity as a human being.’

My older sister was also my father’s disciple. She would sometimes say strange things like that.

There were a few dungeons that my sister complained about. This was one of them. Aside from the gratitude I felt for giving her good items, there was something about her that I couldn’t forgive.

So, despite his annoying personality, he answered straight up when asked how he got the item. It’s all just venting.

“Usually, hunters who explore dungeons give dungeons nicknames based on what they see and feel.”

“That’s right. There was a lot of mud here, so it was called the Mud Dungeon.”

“Because what fell upon the hunters who crossed the gate was rain and mud.”

“Even after discovering the cave, you still haven’t found any monsters for quite some time.”

“Yes. According to the captain who led the attack team at the time, if we had discovered the monster a little sooner, it would have been given a different nickname.”

“It’s a crocodile, right?”

Hong Seok-young asked, bewildered.

“What other nicknames can you give to a crocodile?”

“There’s a famous legend involving crocodiles.”

Hong Seok-young’s expression became even stranger.

“Is there such a thing?”

“Rather than a legend… an urban legend?”

Hong Seok-young, who had been walking ahead while frowning at my words, suddenly stopped walking.

“Right now… I smell something strange.”

“yes.”

“It smells… just like.”

Hong Seok-young looked back at me with an anxious expression, unable to finish his words. Even for someone who was known as the strongest hunter in South Korea, this seemed to be something beyond his expectations.

I honestly couldn’t say I wasn’t worried because I thought this old man would laugh heartily and tell me to go. Fortunately, he wasn’t that inhumane.

“Is that the ghost story you’re talking about? What I think it is?”

“I’m not good at reading other people’s minds, but I think you’re right.”

“this….”

I passed Hong Seok-young. There is only one way anyway. The way down from the top.

The stench is getting worse. I find myself frowning. It was a good thing I remembered what my sister said and prepared myself.

It was fortunate that Kim Chae-min had a lot of these miscellaneous materials. The kind-hearted great wizard readily provided the necessary items. Now, the title of the great wizard who gives generously may belong to Kim Chae-min.

I took out a handkerchief and a water bottle. The water in the bottle sparkled as if it was mixed with gold dust. It was water that the great wizard had purified himself. I soaked a handkerchief with the water and made a makeshift mask. The stench wasn’t completely blocked, but I would say that it was almost impossible to smell.

“her?”

Hong Seok-young looked at me with eyes filled with betrayal. Was there anything about a foul smell in the dungeon report?

There wasn’t any.

He snorted lightly and took out another handkerchief. Hong Seok-young said with a smile.

“They say it’s good to have a son.”

Hong Seok-young, like me, tied a handkerchief around his head to cover his nose and mouth.

“The smell is getting worse, so there won’t be much left. It’ll be right here.”

“I understand why the guild that took this place abandoned it.”

“Well… This has a different meaning from bugs, so hunters avoid it.”

The end of the long passage was in sight.

“It’s not the hunter’s problem, it’s the human… .”

I carefully shined my glow stick over the flowing mud. The ground disappeared right in front of my feet. But the mud was still sliding down the slope.

Chul-chul.

Mud flowed down the wall. No, it fell. The end of the passage was a cliff. A pile of mud mixed with rainwater from above was falling into the darkness.

I took the glow stick that Hong Seok-young was holding and threw it down. The small light briefly lit up the darkness like a firefly. The space was too big for the glow stick to light up. In addition, the glow stick that fell didn’t stay afloat for long and was buried in the mud below.

But in that split second, I could see what shape it had below.

It is a deep passage like a valley between mountains. Instead of water, there is mud, and crocodiles are moving slowly in the mud. They do not even notice the small lights, and only their orange eyes are slowly blinking above the water. Every time the crocodiles move, the mud is pushed out. The pushed mud hits the wall and returns as waves.

Iron Buck.

There was no noise from the crocodile, only the creepy sound of mud churning.

…I’m not sure if that’s pure mud though.

A stench that was stinging my nose was coming from that mud.

“I think Mud Dungeon is too polite a nickname.”

“Is that what I think it is?”

“I don’t know about the monster’s… vegetation, but its smell is just like that.”

“Rather than a crocodile, it’s probably a pig.”

“They say that pigs are actually clean animals.”

“Not even crocodiles on Earth live in water that dirty.”

“… … .”

“… … .”

Hong Seok-young asked with a worried face.

“I don’t think we should go in there, right?”

“… … .”

“No?”

I laughed meaningfully.

By the way, my older sister called this place a shithole.

‘Oh, it’s dirty.’

When I saw him, he laughed loudly, holding his stomach. I hated seeing him.

‘Okay, then the sewer? The dungeon structure is similar to the sewer… and the smell… .’

And then he said something. He said there was an urban legend about an alligator living in the sewers.

It was a remark that seemed quite intelligent for an older sister.

‘No, if you say it like that, it sounds romantic.’

Although I did say something that made me sound like I had low intelligence.

‘…the sewer?’

‘Are you crazy? I said it sounded plausible if you called it an urban legend!’

By the way, the core of this dungeon is inside that… mud or crocodile excrement… that’s hard to tell.

Yujin, there was a reason why your older sister was so jealous, right?

“You said you wanted to conquer here?”

“Huh? No, I don’t think you have to do that.”

“The nuke is somewhere in there.”

“You said it wouldn’t explode for several years? I guess it’s okay to leave it alone for a while.”

Hong Seok-young tied the handkerchief tightly again. So that it wouldn’t come loose.

I laughed again at the sight.

Should I have gotten a promise to somehow conquer it? But I’m not that bad of a guy. And even if I destroy the dungeon, the… filth on my body won’t go away. I was the one who had to ride home in the same car.

“So. Looking at you like this, I don’t think you’re going in there.”

I shrugged my shoulders and took out the things I had brought one by one.

Even so, there isn’t much to prepare. Just a few large stakes and a rope. Incidentally, this rope was also provided by Kim Chae-min… .

‘What are you going to use this for?’

‘Thank you, I will use it well.’

‘… Even if it is purified water, this is made from Arachne’s thread.’

‘Please leave this in front of Mr. Hong. It’s guild business.’

It’s fortunate that Kim Chae-min has a lot right now. If I had tried to get it, it would have taken quite a while. It was also easier to go through Kim Chae-min than through Hong Seok-young or Lee Mi-seon.

I tied the rope tightly to the stake. I pulled on it several times to make sure it wouldn’t come loose.

I did the same thing with the other stakes. Hong Seok-young, who saw the stakes and ropes, seemed to know what I was doing and silently helped me with my work.

“Where is it?”

“I only know roughly.”

“It’s hard to tell because it’s dark.”

Even though Hunters have great physical abilities, they can’t create something out of nothing. They’re not magicians, so they don’t have the ability to see through the darkness where there’s no light.

… Should I have brought Kim Chae-min? But there was no good excuse for why there was an identical sword in this dungeon. Thinking about it that way, it was short-sighted to bring Han Tae-kyung here.

“So I prepared it separately.”

“Your preparation is very thorough and good. But it would be better if you told this dad in advance.”

“surprise?”

After answering calmly, he tied a long piece of paper to a rope. He pulled one end out long, and it looked like a gold chain hanging on a sacred tree. There was nothing he could do. He clicked his tongue, grabbed his magic pen, and drew a rune on the paper.

Runes drawn on paper tend to get ruined quickly, so I have no choice but to draw them on the spot. I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve done each one by hand like this.

The completed rune began to glow. Hong Seok-young stared intently at the rune I had drawn with sparkling eyes.

“If I have that pen, can I draw runes too?”

“Can I have one?”

“Is there anything left? … No, later. I won’t be entering the dungeon alone for a while anyway.”

It’s something you can’t use in front of others.

I drew runes while exchanging idle words with Hong Seok-young. It wasn’t as bright as daylight, but the ropes with dozens of glowing runes hanging from them served as a fairly usable light source.

“What about the crocodile?”

“Those eyes are for decoration.”

“good.”

Hong Seok-young held the stake, weighed it in his hand, and then threw it toward the other side without any special preparation.

The ropes crossing the air glowed like fairy lights on a Christmas tree.

Fantasy, contemporary,