Opening the Dungeon (6)

The cave wasn't particularly long. Even though the party remained tense, scanning their surroundings for threats, the interior was practically a straight path, save for the traps laid out at the very beginning.

"Something is..."

"Shh."

A massive cavern came into view. It was an open space without even a door, resembling a natural cave, but the party was shocked to see a naked woman lying in the center of the hollow.

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"Look at that!"

"Richard! It's dangerous!"

Richard was already running. The rest of the party had no choice but to follow him. While they agreed on the need to save a person, Richard's actions were nothing short of reckless.

"How could this be...!"

"She's deep in..."

The blonde woman lying in the center of the cavern wasn't wearing a single stitch of clothing. Her body was smeared with green slime, and her breasts were clearly visible through the transparent, viscous fluid.

"A-ahem!"

Richard cleared his throat, feeling unnecessarily embarrassed, and scanned the perimeter. It was clearly a slime dungeon, and it seemed the woman had been attacked by one.

"Then...?"

What about the traps at the entrance? The moment Richard felt a sense of déjà vu, Mary pointed in every direction and shouted.

"It's dangerous! Something is living here!"

Where Mary pointed, there were strange wooden structures that were hard to believe were made by slimes. One looked like an altar that might be used by black mages, and the other was a flat wooden platform lined with neatly cut logs. There were clear traces of human hands.

Richard bit his lip.

"The owner must have been away...! Everyone! Take that woman and run—"

Thud.

Suddenly, something dropped onto the top of Richard's head. It felt too gross and sticky to be water dripping from the cave ceiling. And above all, the smell was foul.

Richard tilted his head up toward the ceiling.

Kuh-hup.

A green mass was hanging from the ceiling in the darkness. Was it a slime? Richard thought its movements were too clumsy for a slime.

"D-dangerous!" Mary shouted urgently. Perhaps due to her unique sensitivity to energy, she intuited that they were in danger and pointed toward the exit.

"R-run! Everyone has to run—"

Koo-woong—!!

A green mass dropped into the only passage leading out of the cave. The giant object, looking nearly two meters tall, had green flesh that writhed.

"Hiiik."

Even compared to the hunters in the village, or the knight beside the reckless lord's son who occasionally visited the village to cause trouble, the muscular build writhing before them looked solid. If it weren't for the belly protruding beneath his firm chest muscles, Richard would have mistaken him for a warrior, not a monster.

Koo-hoo-hup.

But the opponent was not a warrior; he was a monster. A monster that possessed the intelligence to set traps for intruders.

"U-uaaah!!"

Jack screamed and fled. He was busy looking for another exit.

"Damn it! It's your fault! If you hadn't told us to come to a place like this!"

Kai shouted, tears of blood in his eyes. His hand, holding a wooden sword, was trembling with fear.

"Damn it, you pathetic cowards! It's just one! Mary!"

"...Yes, oh Star God! Bless the warrior!"

With Mary's incantation, a silver energy began to flow slowly from Richard's body. Richard cracked his neck from side to side and took a deep breath.

"Hmph! Die, you pig-like monster!"

Richard charged at the monster, holding his sword high. The monster stood still, holding a wooden stick smaller than his own forearm, then took a step forward toward Richard.

Poo-wook!

Richard's wooden sword pierced the monster's belly. The wooden sword, imbued with mana, bounced off and shattered into pieces, and the broken fragments flew toward the monster's flank.

Sss.

Richard found himself looking up. The monster's eyes, looking down at him from the darkness, were glowing red.

"A demon...?!"

Was it an illusion born of fear? Richard couldn't regain his composure. Before he could even steady his mind, the monster grabbed his head with one hand.

"U-uaaaah!!"

The monster lifted Richard into the air by his neck. Richard swung his broken wooden sword at the monster's hand for dear life, but it only sapped his strength.

The monster tucked the wooden stick under his armpit and gripped Richard's torso.

"N-no!"

The moment Mary screamed and thrust her staff forward—

Snap!

Richard's neck twisted 180 degrees. Mary dropped her staff upon seeing Richard's face, his eyes rolled back as he died instantly.

"Ha, ha-uh, hu-aaaah?!"

The young man rumored to be the strongest in the village was dead. The monster who killed Richard in one blow threw him to the floor and picked up the broken wooden sword Richard had been holding.

Pahuu.

Heavy breathing filled the cavern. The monster jumped high, holding the wooden sticks in both hands.

"U-uaaaah! Why is he so fast!"

His speed far exceeded that of the two young men running away. All the young men who had followed Richard into the cavern due to his bravado were caught by the monster. The last thing they saw was Richard's broken wooden sword descending toward their heads.

* * *

"Whew, whew."

It had been a while since I played tag, so I was out of breath. The two humans running around like cockroaches didn't even think to cooperate and fight back against me; instead, they showed their selfish nature by abandoning their comrades to save themselves. In the end, I had to run around and corner all three of them, including the woman who was trembling on her knees. I killed one man and knocked the woman out, but the other guy ran away to the entrance in a hurry.

"Lime, forward!"

I threw Lime at full speed. Even if she was like a water balloon, Lime was a monster, and she possessed an instinct to cover humans.

Kwaduk!

Lime landed on the back of the fleeing young man's head and swallowed it. The young man struggled to pull Lime off, but he couldn't tear off Lime, who had become stronger—perhaps level 7 or higher—through cannibalism.

'That's good in its own way.'

I had intended to throw Lime like a baseball to hit the back of the guy's head, but it seemed Lime preferred to land directly and eat from the head down.

Crunch, crunch.

The sight was so extreme that even I, who had been rolling around in the dungeon like a dog for three years, felt nauseous. I turned my gaze away ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from Lime and wrapped the unconscious woman in vines, clothes and all.

Pop! A treasure chest appeared in front of me along with pink smoke. I didn't know by what principle this appeared right in front of me, but if I worried about it, I'd lose. What was the point of questioning the principles of the system? I should just utilize the system well. Yes. System utilization. I wanted to check the information on this E-rank knight order I had subjugated.

"What the. Only the woman is 3-star?"

Is this a world where women are superior? How could only one person out of four grow to 3-star, and that person be the woman who fainted in fear as soon as it started? 'Come to think of it, stars and gender don't really have a relationship.' I hadn't seen that many enemies, but wasn't I born a 5-star and Tral a 6-star? Before worrying about gender, it was a matter of whether or not an orc was superior to a human.

"Tsk. Well, they died without me even having a way to find out information."

They were too weak. No matter how much it was a tutorial dungeon, there was a limit. But the enemies weren't even worth a single punch, to put it mildly. Getting caught by Lime in the first place said it all.

'But there is a way to get information.'

One, this dungeon is exposed in a place easy to discover, enough for a knight order of village youths to appear. If it was originally a slime dungeon, it must have been left alone because it was just annoying. Two, I haven't killed Mary yet. As it happened, there was one prisoner spot left after Eila and Ryun, and Mary was now a 'prisoner'.

Crunch, crunch.

Lime was even making smacking sounds as she ate all the humans she had caught. Seeing her eat a slime dragon and now humans without a trace, I was curious about how Lime's internal body was composed.

"Lime, is it you?"

Lime was the only subordinate monster I had. When I lifted Lime up, she struggled in a panic, but I didn't care and pressed her down firmly.

"1-star just ends if you max out the level? That's easy. You're 2-star now, Lime."

I poked Lime with a joyful heart, but Lime hated it. What is this, a rebellious phase?

"So the Slime Dragon was the head of you guys."

No wonder the 2-stars seemed big. They popped in one hit, so I hadn't even noticed. "Then what is a Slaine...?"

"Kuh." This is human-stuff. 'If I'm going to stick it in, shouldn't I stick it in a human-shaped slime?' Since I'm going to be the king of the dungeon anyway, I should try sticking it in various places before I die so I have no regrets. I ordered Lime to eat the other young men, and I stripped the unconscious Mary of her clothes. Like a country girl, her large breasts were perfect for grabbing.

"Uhehe." Eating three as soon as I escaped Forneus's dungeon. I couldn't help but laugh. Foreplay wasn't necessary. Just as I was about to apply a suitable amount of slime fluid and push it toward her genitals—

"Huu... uh... am I alive..."

Ryun woke up. Ryun looked at me, who was about to stick it into Mary, with a dazed face, and I froze on the spot.

"......Hu, huaaang?!"

Ryun scanned the surroundings with teary eyes. Not even thinking about what I had done to her, she scanned the surroundings and burst into tears.

"P-please don't eat meee!!"

Ryun's gaze was directed behind me. Lime was busy eating the young man who had fallen to the floor.

"P-please...!"

"......."

Does she still think I'm going to eat her? It was absurd, but at the same time, I felt a stinging sensation in my lower abdomen. At the same time, my head spun quickly. I opened my mouth wide and bit into Mary's shoulder.

"Hiiik?!"

Tsu-jeo-jeok. Blood flowed profusely from Mary's shoulder. Blood was dripping from my mouth, and Ryun was trembling like a frightened rabbit.

"Hehe, since you asked me not to eat you, I brought other prey."

"......Huk!"

I grabbed the unconscious Mary and shook her in front of Ryun. Drops of blood splattered ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠on Ryun's face, but Ryun closed her eyes tightly and turned away from Mary.

"This girl is sacrificing herself for you. Huh? Don't you have anything to say?"

"......I don't want to die, huk!"

Ryun sobbed with her head turned. Sensing Ryun's voice trembling, I grabbed Ryun's head and lifted it up.

"Then you become my subordinate from now on. Instead of you, you'll catch other prey, not you. How about it?"

Just as it was with Lime, couldn't I make her a subordinate by threatening her life? Ryun rolled her eyes in all directions, and eventually closed them tightly.

That's it. I cheered inwardly and stroked Ryun's ears.

"Good. From today, you are my subordinate."

"...Yes, huk!"

"T-then, am I not going to be eaten anymore—"

Thud.

I struck the back of Ryun's neck to knock her out. I hit her neck just enough not to kill her, and Ryun fell to the floor with eyes full of betrayal.

"I have to finish what I started."

It wouldn't do to throw Mary to Lime without even trying her, right? I laid Mary completely on the floor and got into position.

Jji-geok.