A Stir in Forgotten Knowledge

What were all these ants? Scouts? No. Most of the creatures wandering the interior of the ant cave weren't scouts at all. They were simply worker ants—young ones that had been assigned various tasks inside the nest. In truth, the difference between worker ants and scout ants was only in name; their combat strength was virtually identical. The sheer number of workers, however, made fighting them feel cumbersome. As long as we avoided the soldier ants, we could manage. The moment we clashed head-on with soldier ants, our party would be overwhelmed. Those things had both numbers and solid fighting power. Twenty worker ants, though, were only slightly stronger than twenty goblins. The monsters in the ant cave didn't possess high individual combat strength. They were simply troublesome because of their overwhelming numbers.

Jangcheok's recurve bow announced the start of the battle. Thwang! The bowstring sang like a plucked instrument, vibrating sharply. One of the many advantages of the Raider class was the ability to craft items directly through events. That was a handmade Raider bow. True to its reputation as a versatile all-rounder that could wield swords and bows while maintaining decent morale, it performed beautifully.

Shiiiing... Jangcheok's arrow buried itself precisely in the neck of an ant that had been stretching upward to bask in the sunlight. It tore through the thin membrane, pierced the nape, and turned the ant's neck into a gruesome skewer of meat. Struck in the neck—the vital point for insects—it died instantly.

Next came Roa's crossbow. Ping! Just as it had shattered an ant's carapace and lodged in its head before, a Guardian's crossbow packed tremendous power. Guardians, one of the few true long-range classes in Dungeon Overseer, delivered overwhelming ranged firepower when built along the crossbow path. Their signature armor-piercing capability was so terrifying that the overseers had nicknamed the weapon the "death spear."

The Guardian concept was that of an archer who could foresee the future. A Guardian who relentlessly delivered unavoidable, confirmed damage was an unrivaled long-range powerhouse. They could output physical damage that bow-using Raiders or long-range stalkers could never hope to match. In terms of pure damage, they were genuinely strong... but Guardians had a clear weakness. After firing their primary weapon—the crossbow—the reload time was painfully long. A Guardian built exclusively for crossbow work needed at least three or four of them on hand. The result was a walking turret that simply repeated the cycle of shooting, reloading, shooting, and reloading. Low utility, all-in on damage.

Yet the crossbow Roa carried was only one. Sure enough, she had dropped to one knee and was loading the next bolt. We had taken two ants with our surprise attack, but the creatures didn't panic. They charged toward us with alarming speed.

If these had been goblins, they would already be trembling in terror. The giant ants, however, charged without the slightest concern for their dying comrades. It was a typical ant-style assault—creatures for whom the concept of "individual" barely existed. Dozens of black ants, each weighing around twenty kilograms, swarmed across the floor. The one who halted their charge was an Ironclad standing behind a steel shield.

True to his class, Sion had covered his entire body in plated armor. He swung his shield mercilessly, repelling the swarm no matter how fiercely they came. Watching him hold the line with sword and shield reminded me of a scene from the movie 300. A few ants tried to leap onto Sion's arm.

"Haaap!"

Jangcheok, who had already discarded his bow, drew his sword and sliced the head off one of the ants.

A sour stench spread in all directions. I swung my newly purchased saw-sword as well. I couldn't slice as cleanly as a proper blade, but when the tip struck the ant's chitinous head, it landed with a heavy thunk like a blunt weapon and slammed the creature to the ground. Once again, the saw-sword was a two-handed weapon weighing two kilograms. It was heavier than it looked, and the serrated edge along the blade prevented the ant from moving. I dragged the saw edge vertically across the prone ant's head, splitting it open like a watermelon. As expected, the expensive new saw-sword performed brilliantly.

In that time Roa finished loading her second bolt and fired. The angle looked slightly off, but she had done it on purpose. Her bolt punched through the first ant's chest and exploded the abdomen of the one behind it. One ant crawled pathetically across the floor, its belly ruptured by the steel bolt. Sion crushed the spilled innards beneath his spiked boot.

Roa tossed her crossbow to the ground and drew two daggers from her robe before charging in. She didn't want to attempt the feat of firing a crossbow in the middle of a tangled melee. A chaotic brawl erupted. The giant ants swung their raised mandibles. The explorers held formation, supporting one another. Though the numerous ants seemed overwhelmingly favored at first, the number of ants rolling across the ground increased steadily as time passed. Severed, sliced, torn, and burst ant corpses piled up. The explorers refused to yield. Madmen who had entered the dungeon of their own free will for greed and glory would not fall so easily.

One ant suddenly lunged at Roa's forearm.

"Kyaaak!"

Both Sion and Jangcheok were too slow to react. The ant scrambled up her torso like a dog. Even a dog of that size would be terrifying, but a massive insect with glossy black compound eyes charging straight at you was pure horror. Roa forgot to fight back and frantically waved both hands, trying to block with her daggers. She couldn't shake it off alone.

"Roa!"

I hurled my saw-sword like a spear and managed to wedge it between the ant's mandibles. You crazy ant bastard! I pressed the serrated edge against its left mandible and yanked as if sawing wood. With a sickening crunch, the entire left mandible tore free. I recovered the saw-sword, raised it overhead like splitting firewood, and brought it down on the ant's head.

Slash!

As the clinging ant fell away, Roa hurled one of her daggers at the next creature crawling from behind the corpse. She struck the joint connecting head, thorax, and abdomen—precisely between the thorax and abdomen. The dagger sank deep. The ant convulsed once and died.

"Hoo."

That ant had been our final opponent. Looking around, the floor was littered with ant corpses. Not one still had all its limbs attached. The scene spoke of how fierce the battle had been. Aside from one still twitching, no ants moved. Our victory.

"Anyone hurt?" Jangcheok asked. No one answered. That was fortunate. Everyone was safe.

"None," Sion finally said after an awkward silence. Most of the aggro had fallen on him, so no one had been injured. Thanks to Sion holding the front line with his shield, the ants had been unable to bypass the iron wall of a man. As a result, we had been free to pour on the damage. Sion's shield was now caked in ant fluids and blackened in several places.

"Then... let's rest for a bit," Jangcheok groaned, flopping onto the ground. I lay down as well. I felt like I was going to die from exhaustion.

Ant Cave entrance. We had engaged twenty ants that had been sunbathing in the underground plaza. Zero casualties. Twenty ants slain. An excellent start.

"If we investigate this properly, we might make some decent money," I muttered. While Jangcheok lay sprawled out and Sion sat sweating with his helmet off, Roa and I explored the plaza. It was supposedly part of an ancient underground kingdom. Now I understood why the Dungeon Seeker guild had put up money for an investigation request. If we cleared out the ant swarm, the ruins would be perfectly suitable for study. An underground city. Sunlight pouring through skylights in the ceiling was already astonishing, but the ventilation system was even more impressive. The walls were covered in bas-relief murals, and the floor—laid in precise grid-like blocks—looked almost modern.

I sometimes wondered how the ancients had created objects that still looked refined by modern standards. How had they managed it so long ago?

"Isn't it amazing?" I asked casually.

Roa had pushed back her hood, revealing her bare face. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠She was staring at the murals as if entranced. She really did look young—somewhere between teenager and adult. Eighteen at most. Nineteen at the absolute highest. Flowing, glossy purple hair. Neatly trimmed bangs. Eyes close to sky blue. Because she always kept her hood up and rarely met anyone's gaze directly, opportunities to see her face were rare.

"Ah..." Roa let out a soft sigh of wonder and gently touched the mural. "I've heard of this before."

To be honest, I could tell it was an old painting, but beyond that I understood nothing. What was that? An animal? That one had limbs, so it must be a person.

"Long ago, the subterranean people dug into the earth and built cities," she explained.

"Subterranean people? You mean they were born underground or something?"

"No. The subterranean people were humans just like us. Ordinary humans who once sang of the gods' greatness on the surface. But one day, monsters appeared on the land. The monsters devoured humans indiscriminately... so in the end, they fled underground to escape them."

"And that's why they built all this?"

Roa shivered as if sighing, then stepped back from the mural. "Probably. I haven't learned the full details yet."

She pulled her hood back over her head with an anxious expression. "My knowledge is still lacking, so..."

No. The trait didn't need to trigger here. Thinking about it, the whole thing was absurd. What kind of secrets did Guardians share among themselves that investigating underground ruins would make them feel bad?

"Roa, are you okay?"

"..."

Still wearing her hood and staring at the ground, Roa said nothing. She clearly didn't want to talk anymore. I couldn't force her. With no other choice, I left her alone and studied the murals more closely by myself. The drawings looked crude at first glance, but upon closer inspection they seemed to follow a repeating pattern.

It would have been nice to have a Dungeon Seeker with us at a time like this... but that was a useless thought. Then it happened.