Chapter 60
Chapter 60
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 60
Chapter Title: Old Sewer (2)
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Today's lesson.
Sewers are full of flammable toxic gas, so no smoking.
Ha, fuck.
I never thought it'd come to this.
Sion sneaks a glance at me, then turns her head away.
"Pfft..."
"......"
The fake True Ancestor, who'd been trembling faintly at the shoulders, burst into roaring laughter.
"Kyahahaha!!!"
"Quit cracking up!!!"
"Look at the master's, m-mess...! H-how could your concubine not laugh?!"
The resonator on Sion's gas mask hummed with vibrations.
This was fucking infuriating, but I had no excuse.
I'd been strutting along with a cigarette in my mouth, thinking I was hot shit.
Suddenly, flames erupted right in front of my face like a torch.
I freaked out thinking I'd burn to death again, but thankfully, nothing major happened.
Just that my silky bangs turned into a frizzy, whimpering mess like some pathetic gay dude calling out for big bro.
And worst of all...
My eyebrows got singed off like Sandy's!!!
"Ha, fuck..."
"Kyahahaha!!!"
"Every time you laugh from now on, that's one fart coupon redeemed. Got it?"
Anyway.
With Sion clamping her trap shut, we began exploring the sewer.
One thing to note here.
This sewer has levels too.
You might think that's bullshit about dividing shitwater into upper and lower, but...
The old sewer is clearly a Depth 2 rift.
For fixers, it's a dungeon that drops loot—in other words, a hunting ground.
Unlike the mushroom factory you enter via random portal, this one's surfaced and fixed in reality.
What happens when a fixed map sits there for decades?
Strategies and optimizations naturally develop.
Just like in long-running RPGs, the sweet honey spots get divided from the unpopular, cost-ineffective dumps.
"I get why this one's unpopular."
Among them, the sewer under D Sector was hellish enough to explain why it'd been abandoned.
Slippery shitwater where falling in means instant death?
No biggie. Just don't slip.
The godawful stench?
I'd factored that in.
Plus, your sense of smell dulls quick anyway.
Sion was dry-heaving nonstop at first, but now she's keeping up fine.
"...? What are you staring at?"
Her hair poking out from the gas mask sides looks ridiculously cute, like some spiky sea urchin.
The real problem was the terrain being way more fucked than expected.
I'm no newbie anymore, so I didn't expect the sewer to be a paved promenade funded by taxes.
"Poksoon, can we even get out of here?"
"Didn't the master remember the way?"
"I didn't memorize shit."
But as a rift, the inside was a brain-melting maze of twists, like some modern art backrooms abomination.
"You climb first."
"Y-your concubine is wearing a skirt."
"That's why you go first."
Climb ladders up, ladders down.
"Lady Fake True Ancestor! Jump!"
"I-I can't! How am I supposed to jump this?!"
Some sections had the walkway completely cut off, forcing jumps.
Fall, and you'd become "sewer stuff."
At least the walls had markers midway.
Without those sector and section labels, we'd have been spinning like tops.
Still, not all bad.
We're not here to hunt.
Main quest is finding the slush fund hidden in the settling tank under D-13 sector.
The more fucked up the place, the less human hands have touched it in 200 years, right?
Then.
-Rustle rustle!
"Wh-what..."
"Shh."
At the sound of footsteps from somewhere, I pressed a finger to my lips and stuck Sion flat against the wall.
I lowered the headlamp shutter and drew up mana.
Closed my eyes, focused on hearing, waiting for dark adaptation.
Sion caught on from my stance and held her breath, tense.
"......"
Two reasons.
One.
This is a rift.
Like the mushroom people supplying Necropolis with daily bread, the old sewer has "cleaners" as mobs.
Those footsteps could be them.
Two.
Even an unpopular hunting ground might have prior visitors.
Necropolis users are turf-heavy; instead of "this spot taken?", they prefer PK.
It's a city where everyone's fighting everyone by default.
No need to overstress.
Depth 2 rift means 7th-grade fixer entry level.
After killing Sunming, I'm the king of 7th-grade fixers. No sweat unless it's 6th-grade or higher.
I peeked around the corner nice and slow.
-Clack clack clack.
A corpse lay on the floor.
And the cat-sized critters chowing down on it were...
The sewer's star attraction: sewer pillbugs.
I ate those at Hongseon Market.
Five thousand BIOS per bug, and they taste worse than crab sticks.
Would've been better fermented into crab sauce.
"Poksoon. Breathe. It's nothing."
"Hoo... ha... hoo... ugh... f-feels like I'm gonna puke after holding it so long..."
As we approached, the pillbug swarm scattered like roaches.
"Gross."
"Urk."
Humans adapt, though...
No thrill anymore even seeing a severely decayed corpse riddled with cheese-like holes.
The night I first beat a homeless guy to death, I couldn't sleep.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
"Farming."
I squatted and rummaged the body for goodies.
"Doesn't that turn your stomach?"
"You know how you can eat sticky rice cakes? This is how we make the money, bitch."
"Hmph, humans serving your concubine is only natural."
"You really think that?"
"...I was about to say that. Is there nothing your concubine can help with?"
Rifled through thoroughly, but zilch.
"Something's off, though."
"What is?"
"Even for an unpopular spot, no cleaners at all? They all take vacation today?"
Should be the opposite—regen mobs left uncleared and overflowing.
"It's a 200-year surfaced rift. Not weird."
"You just jinxed it."
"What's a jinx?"
"It's a thing."
"Teasing your concubine as dumb again?!"
Anyway.
Unfolded the map, checked direction roughly, headed for D-13.
The deeper in, the noisier the sewer got.
Sticky water flows, sounds leaking from sporadic vents above.
Places with vertical wastewater falls echoed so loud proper talk was impossible.
Turned a casual 90-degree corner.
"Huh?"
"Hm?"
This time, no reaction time—we bumped right into another fixer around the corner.
Our perception-jamming necklaces register as "passing bystander," but it's no invis cloak.
Bumping like this? Game over.
"......"
"......"
We froze in place.
Two of them.
Scar-faced uncle and plump auntie.
Couple?
Decent coats, that confident aura of pros.
Auntie's bulging pouch screams not small fry.
Man's hand already at his waist sword.
Woman scanning us, sizing up.
No mages, probably.
7th? 6th?
That swagger says 6th maybe.
Ha, fuck, tricky.
If even one is 6th, can I fight while guarding Sion?
Signaled Sion with subtle hand: do nothing, stay put.
"Bro! Sis! Nice to meet ya!"
I flashed a grin, rubbing palms.
"Why the murder faces? Couple spat? Ugh, I can tell sis is so stunning, must've drawn some flies. Right?"
Necropolis is wild and savage.
Paradox: look same level, talk first.
They judged me decent too—smirked without releasing sword grip.
"Full of shit. Where you headed, bro?"
"Right down that way."
"Yeah? What's with the girl? Not a fixer."
Can't look too easy.
"C'mon bro, married man prying into another's girl? For what?"
"What?!"
"Just passing through. No blood, let's go our ways?"
Act cocky enough to signal ready for fight if needed.
Auntie chimed in with a gravelly voice.
"Road's blocked ahead anyway. We were turning back empty-handed. Perfect. Cleaners might pop—party up?"
Crazy?
Think I'm dumb?
Party with strangers in Necropolis?
But wait...
Blocked path?
Possible.
Saw plenty of dead ends barred with thick iron grates on the way.
But this reeks suspicious.
Scanned the fixers.
Beads of sweat.
Odd wariness, like determined not to let us through, fight or no.
And insisting on detour...
"Aw, too bad. But partying's iffy. I'll dash ahead—you wait five minutes?"
"Sure?"
"Gotta, right? Rough city."
"Fine, go first."
"Yessir! Take care!"
The moment I turned.
-Boom!
Sound of stomping the ground to shatter it.
Fucking knew it.
Shoved Sion back, spun around.
Sandevistan active, couple lunging into view.
Man with sword, woman with axe.
Cheeks wobbling as they closed fast.
Fast, but 7th-grade.
Ha, chickened out for nothing.
"Die!!!!"
"Haaap!!!"
Drew up mana.
Death Verdict: Burning Death
[Black flames cling and ignite]
"This is self-defense from here, right?"
Maybe from the extra death?
Mana denser now, sloshing through circuits like black pitch.
Black mana oozing from skin like liquid.
First real combat use, but no doubt it'll work.
This death's as vivid as Kisara's slash.
"Death Verdict: Burning Death."
Black flames rose.
Clinging stickily to my body, writhing in dark fire's dance.
"Honey!"
"I'm fine! Hold!"
Coats got protective gear? They charge despite flames...
"Doubt it."
-Rooaaar!!!
Black flames lunged like beasts.
Less flickering fire, more high-pressure flamethrower blasting burning fuel.
Same results.
"Gaaahhh!!!"
"Kyaaahhh!!!"
Black flames swallowed the criminal couple instantly.
They flailed, screaming, trying to shake it off—useless.
That's what Death Verdict does.
-Splash!
The tap-dancing duo dove into the sewage instinctively.
"Nooo!"
I screamed at them.
-Slurp!
Sure enough, tentacles snagged them per old sewer rules, vanishing.
"My drop items!!!!"
7th-graders carry decent stuff!!!
Waste!
Anyway, first real Burning Death use: solid performance.
Thought it'd be a fight against two 7ths—over pathetically easy.
"Poksoon, you okay?"
"F-fine."
Fake True Ancestor dazed on ass, finally grabs my hand to stand.
"Oppa cool, right?"
"Hmph, to your concubine's eyes, just cute antics."
Hm.
If she inherited True Ancestor's memories, yeah.
"Master...! M-master...! I was wrong...!"
I bolted, enjoying her adorable chase.
Playtime over.
"Poksoon, report anything weird immediately."
"Haa... haa... What?"
"Anything even slightly off—speak up right away."
Those fixer couples? Super sus no matter how I slice it.
Scanned passages meticulously, missing no corner.
Found it.
A beat-up massive plywood leaning against the wall.
"This?"
Mold and filth blended it with the wall, but a faint gap showed.
Grabbed the edge, shoved aside.
-Crash.
Plywood toppled, revealing hidden hole behind.
Obviously man-made.
Faint glow leaking from inside.
Dumbasses, this why you blocked passage?
Wouldn't have noticed if you'd let us through.
Tsk-tsked the idiot criminals.
"H-how'd you spot this? Amazing, master!"
"......"
"Why that look?!"
Can't be helped.
Not her fault for being pathetic—I'm just too smart.
"Heh heh."
Drop items lost bummed me, but not bad.
Time to see what they hid to cause that fuss.
Not the True Ancestor's slush fund, right?