Floor 34: Sewer Cleaning (2)

The truth was, the outcome had already been decided. I had to climb the Tower all the way to the 100th floor. This was hardly the time to start picking and choosing what to avoid just because it was a little dangerous and dirty. High risk, high return. If there was a chance at a hidden mission, going in was the right call.

Yeah, who cares about a little sewage. I can wash it all off in the Waiting Room.

I steadied my rattled nerves. The monster pens might have filled up while I was hesitating, so I raised my hand again.

Lightning crackled above the sewage. I adjusted my magic output so the bolts could reach deep into the passage, and I could feel the electricity stretching far into the dark.

This might take a while? The passage was longer than I'd expected. Checking my notification window, I saw that six more monsters had died.

"Kkeek! Suyeok! No way… you're not actually going in there, are you!"

"Why? Don't you want to?"

Dobby nodded his head like a madman. What was this? Had Dobby's intuition kicked in?

"Why? Bad feeling?"

"Kkeek! N-no, that's not it!"

"You just don't want to?"

Instead of answering, Dobby's eyes wavered violently. Fair enough—judging by how he'd nearly thrown up earlier, sewage didn't exactly agree with his stomach. Still, there was no way around it. I slowly shook my head.

"Then no. We have to go."

"Kkeek! I-I don't want to!"

"Don't want to? And what exactly am I supposed to do about that?"

Dobby was struck speechless, staring at me with eyes full of betrayal. Come to think of it, was this the first time Dobby had ever outright opposed me? That was how much he dreaded going into the sewage. Well, I felt exactly the same way… but what couldn't be helped couldn't be helped.

"Dobby, you have to climb the Tower so you can see Fenrike, remember?"

"Kkee-eek! F-Fenrike! See him!"

"Right. And there's an oxygen tank, so it won't get on your body. The monsters—I'll take care of them myself."

"…Kkeek. Okay."

"Good. Then let's go."

Thankfully, Dobby didn't fuss any further. He needed to grow bigger soon too… He was growing, bit by bit, but compared to how fast the trials were getting harder, the pace was far too slow. At this rate, I'd probably have to send him to the Waiting Room before long.

Well, that might actually be better for Dobby.

It wasn't a bad thought. In the beginning I'd brought him along as a servant, and later out of genuine attachment—but the Dobby of now was really only serving one function: finding hidden missions. Of course, he'd been an enormous help to me. Finding the relic of the Dawn Breeze, Kshatam's Sky Shoes, and so on…

But the problem was that Dobby's level and mine had drifted too far apart. Right now I could fight while protecting him, but down the road, there was no telling how things would go.

Hm. I'll think about that later. It ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wasn't a decision for right now, and naturally I'd have to ask for Dobby's opinion anyway. For now, let's focus on Floor 34.

I took a thin rope out of my mimic and tied one end around Dobby's hand and the other around mine. Inside the sewage, there'd be no visibility. He couldn't swim while holding hands, so I needed to lead him. Then I entered the sewage first—feet first, then legs, then body, easing myself in along the path we'd walked.

There was an air membrane, but the temperature still came through. Not too cold, but not lukewarm either. A comfortable coolness—and yet, because it was sewage wrapping around my body, the whole thing felt deeply unpleasant. I relaxed my body just enough to float on the surface, then called Dobby over.

"Dobby, come on in."

"…Kkeek! Okay!"

Reluctant as he was, Dobby stretched a foot out into the sewage. He tried copying me, settling ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his rear onto the path before flinging himself in—but his form was terrible. He was supposed to catch the path with his hands at the end there…

Splash. The weight of his body drove Dobby's head clear under the surface.

"Kke-heek!"

Thanks to the air membrane, his voice came through perfectly intact. I grabbed the flailing arms of the frantically kicking goblin and hauled him back up above the sewage.

"It's okay. Calm down."

"Kkeek!"

Dobby barely got his head up, his eyes half unfocused. It wasn't just that he hated the sewage—it seemed he simply wasn't used to being in the water. He probably couldn't swim at all. Well, he'll be fine once he settles down. He had an oxygen tank, so breathing wasn't an issue, and there was a rope—he only needed to follow it.

"Okay, we're going into that passage over there, so hold the rope tight and stay close."

"Kkeek! Got it."

Even with an air membrane, dunking your head straight into raw sewage is the kind of thing that turns your stomach. I moved as far along the passage as I could, then dove under.

Black sewage filled my vision. The air membrane made keeping my eyes open no problem at all, but as expected, there was nothing to see. It didn't matter. I could pass through with my presence detection. I gripped the rope bound to my left wrist hard in my palm. Time to move again.

I cut through the sewage and pushed forward.

Getting through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the passage itself was no trouble. There were monster corpses from the lightning I'd fired earlier, but I just shoved them aside and passed. I widened my presence detection in case a monster appeared, but nothing attacked. The monsters that had survived the initial lightning seemed to have fled somewhere far away.

About five minutes passed like that? I could feel the end of the passage through my presence detection. Phew, finally. I picked up speed and lifted my head—and my view opened up all at once. Except the grime clinging to my air membrane made it blurry. I wiped the muck away with my hand, and a great cavern-like passage came into view.

The walls were rough and unworked—so not a sewer at all. Someone had made this artificially. Real sewers were built from neatly fitted brick. The odds of this being the hidden mission just went way up.

"Kke-heek! The end! We made it!"

"Shh. Let's get up, quick."

Dobby let out a shout of joy, but this was no time for celebrating. At the end of the passage, out of the darkness, a monster's red eyes were glistening at us hungrily. I scrambled up onto solid ground.

"Ker-rulk."

"Kkik-kik!"

Two monsters lurked in the dark. I was too busy hunting a hidden mission to waste time brawling with filthy monsters. I sprinted forward using Flash Step. The monsters moved to match me, but they couldn't keep up with Flash Step's speed. Two axe strikes. Two monster heads slammed into the ground.

I beckoned to Dobby, who was hanging back.

Seventy down now. If I'm thinking about the hidden mission, maybe I shouldn't kill any more monsters? The hidden mission—monsters would clearly come swarming out of it. If I mindlessly killed my way through monsters and got sent back to the Waiting Room, all this agonizing would've been for nothing. Better to mute my presence as much as possible and move under the Shadow Veil.

"Dobby, from here on we move quietly. …Shh!" I pressed a finger to Dobby's lips before he could answer. He nodded.

At the same time I cast the Shadow Veil and threw my gaze forward. Since we'd come through the sewage, our air membranes were smeared with grime. No need to worry about the monsters catching our scent, at least…

Now, until I found the hidden mission, all I had to do was move without touching any monsters. But not even a minute had passed before I was forced to stop. A fork in the path had appeared.

Of course. If we just popped out on the other side of one stretch of sewage, it wouldn't be a hidden mission. So—which way? The left passage was brimming with sewage; the right was simply a dry path. My heart wanted to go right…

Just as I was deliberating, Dobby spoke up flatly.

"Kkeek! We have to go left!"

"Left?"

Dobby nodded with a resolute face. The fact that he'd pointed left despite hating the sewage meant his intuition had kicked in again. But there was worry too. In a narrow waterway packed with sewage, dodging monsters would be hard. Which meant I'd have to kill them, one way or another… and my kill count was already awfully high. All I could do was hope I found the hidden mission before hitting my quota.

Roughly an hour had gone by. Even after crossing the first stretch of sewage, we'd come across plenty more forks—three branches at times. Every choice of path was left entirely to Dobby's judgment. Sometimes we waded through sewage; sometimes we walked dry ground. And the farther we went, the more certain I became that this really was the hidden mission. This place is way too big to be just a monster den. Unless there was something here, there'd be no reason to carve out a colossal secret passage between the sewers like this.

That said… I'd only killed monsters while crossing the sewage, and I was already at eighty-four. Killing more would only get more dangerous from here. Just as my worries were deepening, we finally spotted it: a rusty iron door at the end of one passage.

"Grrrrr…"

And in front of it, a massive monster. It was three times the size of any monster we'd seen so far.

Ignoring the notification window that popped up, I focused on the monster's appearance. Tentacles sprouted from all over its body, and a massive tail coiled around it. It looked exactly like the creature from the movie The Host. Luckily, it doesn't seem to have noticed us? We were still inside the Shadow Veil, and the monster was asleep. I had to take it out as quietly as possible. I had no idea what was behind that iron door—but this hulking beast was clearly a sentry guarding it. If I made a racket for no reason, whatever's inside might notice.

Dobby was clumsy at muffling his presence, so I stepped forward alone. As I walked, I weighed my weapons. The axe packed power, but pain could squeeze a scream out of the monster. The dagger, on the other hand, was too thin… Hm. I need to kill it as cleanly as possible.

After much deliberation, my choice was the Shadow Arm. I shaped the Shadow Arm into a sharp cone the size of my torso. Using Flash Step, I drove the Shadow Arm straight down into the monster's skull. A single flinch. That was it. Not even a scream escaped. Stay down. Then I signaled Dobby to hold position from far back. I didn't know what was behind the iron door—it was better for Dobby to stay as far away as possible.

Dobby nodded, and I approached the iron door cautiously. Thankfully, it wasn't locked. Focus. I had no idea what was inside, but odds were high there'd be an enemy. Floor 34, a personal floor. Nobody here would be a pushover. I re-gripped my axe and tensed every muscle in my body. Rather than opening the door slowly, yanking it open fast would throw the enemy off balance. A moment of deep breathing. I drew in as much air as my lungs could hold, then kicked the iron door open with everything I had.

Keeik—BANG!

As the rusted iron door swung wide, the scene that greeted us… was utterly baffling.

"You damn brat, I told you not to come in. I've raised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you for years and you still can't understand a word I say. Maybe I should put a lock on this thing. Out!"

Unlike the filthy sewer outside, the room beyond was a pristine, immaculately organized… laboratory. Yes, "laboratory" was the right word for it. It looked like one of those enormous science labs you only ever saw in movies.

And in the center of the laboratory, a shabbily dressed scientist stood with his back to us, fiddling with a transparent jar. When we didn't say anything, he seemed to sense something was off and turned his head. Blue skin. Eyes the size of fists. And then, astonishingly, those fist-sized eyes grew even bigger. He looked thoroughly flustered.

"Y-you! Who are you! Wait, are you from the security team… no, no. Where's my Rakas?"

Rakas. That was definitely the name of the monster we'd passed a moment ago…

The scientist's gaze swung past my shoulder. Uh… was I not supposed to kill my way in?