The Boulder-Rolling City
“I’ll contact the Dungeon Seekers for you,” Kuro said cheerfully. The underground cavern was currently under investigation by the Dungeon Seekers, and he would handle all discussions regarding our exploration with them. Everything seemed to be falling into place nicely.
We chatted with Kuro for a while. He loved the city of Sokoban so much that he insisted on showing us the tourist spots despite our busy schedule.
“Um… we’re not here for sightseeing…”
“Oh! No matter how busy you are, you still need time to rest! Let me teach you Sokoban’s pride and joy — the boulder-rolling game!”
Kuro showed zero interest in what kind of mission we were on. Which made sense. He was basically just a shopkeeper on the Alchemist Guild’s payroll, selling potions. Dungeons probably didn’t interest him at all. Instead, he enthusiastically offered to teach us the local traditional game. Apparently it involved rolling boulders into circles… or something like that. Honestly, I wasn’t looking forward to it at all.
“Just so you know, breaking the balls with potions is strictly forbidden! You might get cursed by the goddess!”
Yeah, yeah. I already said I wasn’t interested.
We talked about what had happened during the day over dinner. The menu was Dwarven specialty mushroom beer (mushroom beer? What kind of lunatic came up with that?) and Dwarven-style steak. Surprisingly, both were delicious.
“Do dwarves not know what forks are?”
Looking at the charcoal-like steak sizzling on the hot plate made me feel dizzy. From what I heard, dwarves liked everything cooked to death. There was no such thing as medium-rare in their culinary skills. They grilled meat until it was as crispy as a cracker — that was Dwarven style.
I like well-done meat too. Absolutely. Meat should be thoroughly cooked. But you short-legged dwarf bastards — at the very least, give us forks and knives so we can actually eat it. How the hell are we supposed to eat this oil-spitting, sizzling meat with our bare hands?
I wasn’t the only one struggling. The rest of the party was just staring at the boiling grease with hungry eyes, licking their lips.
“Excuse me!”
I called over a passing server. A young dwarf woman — she looked like a woman folded in half — responded.
“Yes?”
“Don’t you have any utensils? Forks or knives?”
“Knives? Don’t you already have one?”
The server looked at me like I was talking nonsense. I suddenly felt like an idiot for asking.
“I mean, not that kind of knife…”
We weren’t communicating at all. After talking it through, it turned out that dwarves genuinely didn’t know what forks were. Wait, is this some kind of isekai fantasy world? Like, “Fork? Whoa, that’s amazing!” or something?
Looking around, the other dwarves were grabbing the steaming meat with their bare hands and just tearing into it. Fuck. What a bunch of tough bastards.
In the middle of all that, Arin had already started eating.
“Is it good?”
“Mm. It’s alright. Except for the burnt taste.”
Arin had brought her own personal fork and knife set. She took them out and was eating by herself. It was absurd on so many levels.
“The more prepared, the better.”
“Must be nice.”
Curious, I asked Roa.
“Roa, what did you have for lunch?”
“I had turtle soup.”
“Did they give you a spoon?”
“No. They gave it in a cup, so I just drank it. But they gave me barley bread too. I used that to wipe the bowl clean.”
Dwarves. Apparently they don’t really use utensils. I decided to leave the meat alone for now and took a sip of the beer. It was a creamy beer that tasted like mushroom soup. Must be because of the mushrooms. It had an insanely savory flavor. The fact that it was so good only made me more annoyed. So this was the famous Dwarven beer I’d only heard about.
Anyway, I explained the request situation to the party.
“We enter the dungeon at noon in two days. Prepare however you need to. I trust I don’t have to nag you about it.”
The party members nodded as if they’d been waiting for that. Roa and Maya both had dungeon exploration experience, so I wasn’t worried about them. Haneul, though, made me a little anxious. No matter how much exploration relied on good gear, her level was still far too low even taking that into account. A Level 1 Ironclad? She was basically just tagging along.
“What should I do?” Arin asked me.
Just looking at her face gave me a headache. Honestly, the most helpful thing would be for her to just stay on the surface. Arin’s explorer level was 0. She knew how to handle alchemy, but I was still uneasy.
“Do you really have to come?”
“Well, you said the only enemies are cavemen or whatever, right? Then it should be fine, shouldn’t it?”
I wasn’t so sure. Even with a thousand hours in Dungeon Overseer, this was a tough call. Could I really bring her along and keep her alive?
“Of course, I’m not asking you to escort me for free. I’ll pay you plenty.”
“There might be combat. I can’t babysit you the whole time.”
“I’m an Alchemist, you know? I can handle offensive potions just fine.”
When she put it like that, it was hard to tell her not to come. Haneul was Level 1 and she was going. An Alchemist’s combat power didn’t come from levels anyway. Their real strength was in the potions. Even just throwing offensive potions made them a class that could pull their weight. Thinking positively, having two Alchemists would give us incredible firepower.
“Let’s make this clear. Once we’re in the dungeon, you follow my orders without question. You understand what that means, right?”
“You’re really laying it on thick. I know how expeditions work!”
I thought for a moment. She wasn’t even an explorer — when the hell did she study expedition procedures? Hmm…
“Alright then. Arin will be coming with us… Roa.”
“Yes, Oppa.”
“While preparing for the expedition, could you help Arin out a bit?”
“Understood.”
And so we shook off the fatigue of travel and finished our expedition preparations.
Two days later, in front of the mine, we set off into the depths with the two Dungeon SeekersKuro had introduced us to. The Dungeon Seekers greeted us with bright smiles.
“Nice to meet you! Esteemed explorers!”
Thanks to the lighting work they’d done in advance, the passage was incredibly comfortable. Compared to wandering around the Ant Cave relying on the glow of luminous mushrooms, I almost felt tears of gratitude. Clean paths, bright lights, and even a working ventilation system that kept the air fresh.
“What the… you nagged so much before we came in, but it’s not even that bad?” Arin crossed her arms with a pout.
“Count yourself lucky. This is top one percent for dungeons.”
“…Well. Other places must be way worse, then.”
Less than thirty minutes after we started walking, Arin was already complaining that her legs hurt. It felt strange, like watching a spoiled young lady on some kind of commoner experience tour. Maybe I should just send her home.
BOOM! BOOM!
“…What is that sound?”
A massive rumble echoed through the entire dungeon. It sounded like someone was smashing and carving rock — a crude, brutish noise. It was loud even from a distance; up close it would probably be unbearable.
“They’re expanding the path down to the cavern. No need to worry. We dwarves are masters of civil engineering!”
I shrugged. I figured they could handle their own construction just fine.
“What are those?”
Suspicious statues were placed at intervals along the tunnel. They were a little over two meters tall, shaped like sturdy dwarf miners. When Haneul asked, one of the Dungeon Seekers answered with a smile.
“They’re dwarf holy statues. They prevent cave-ins and ward off evil spirits.”
I wasn’t sure if they actually worked. When I checked with the system, they just showed up as regular statues. Probably placed there for superstitious reasons.
After walking for about two hours, we reached the end of the tunnel.
SKREEEEEE!
A chilling cry rang out.
I tapped one of the Dungeon Seekers on the back.
“What’s that sound?”
“It’s bats. When the giant bats fight over territory, they make that kind of racket.”
At the Dungeon Seeker’s friendly explanation, both Haneul and Arin nodded with interest. Excuse me, is this a dungeon expedition or a safari? Did we come all this way just to listen to bat sounds?
“Alright. From here, we’ll use this gondola. Just a little more effort. The base camp is right below us.”
It didn’t look particularly sturdy, but the Dungeon Seeker stepped into the rickety gondola without hesitation. Below us was pitch-black darkness — an abyss of unknown depth.
When the Dungeon Seeker operated the mechanism, the gondola began to descend with a slight vibration.
“Out of curiosity… what happens if this rope snaps?”
“Hahaha, that won’t happen. Monsters are too scared to touch anything made by dwarves.”
“And if they do touch it?”
“In the unlikely event that it does snap, the emergency brake will activate. It’s designed to slow the descent gradually.”
That was when it happened.
“…Huh?”
Suddenly, the Dungeon Seeker’s Seer Lantern began glowing blue. And it wasn’t just one. Both of their lanterns lit up bright blue at the same time.
“Hey. The lanterns are glowing.”
“…They are. That’s strange.”
“Are they broken?”
“…”
Someone tapped me on the back. I turned to see Roa holding her crossbow, staring into the darkness. Her eyes were glowing golden like a wild animal’s.
“Something’s coming!”
Fuck! You lying Dungeon Seeker bastards! You said it was safe!
SKREEEEEE!
A noise like metal scraping against iron plates rang out, followed by the sound of flapping wings. Everything about it was horrifying.
Roa pulled her crossbow without hesitation.
Twang!
An invisible something was struck by a bolt and plummeted straight down. A Guardian with future sight didn’t miss with her crossbow unless she wanted to. She could even accurately hit enemies flying at her in complete darkness with no light source.
“E-enemies!”
The dwarf Dungeon Seekers hurriedly hung their lanterns on the gondola. So much for the lanterns being broken. They were working perfectly. The Seer Lanterns burned bright blue, revealing the forms of giant bats.
I used magic to intercept them.
“Poison Arrow!”
The arrow of venom struck a giant bat in the torso. It flapped wildly before crashing to the ground.
I shouted at the bewildered Dungeon Seekers.
“What the hell is going on?! You said it was safe!”
“W-well… we don’t know either!”
“Saying you don’t know isn’t an answer!”
I quickly checked on the party members. Haneul and Arin had little combat experience. They might have panicked at the sudden situation. But fortunately, both were fine. Haneul had her shield up with a slightly flushed face, and Arin was pulling out combat potions with Maya’s help.
Arin shook a bright red fluorescent potion up and down. The potion began to glow as if it would explode at any moment. She hurled it.
“Potion Explosion!”
Wildfire Potion
A massive cloud of flame erupted with heat so intense it felt like it would scorch our faces. It was magical fire created by mysterious power — the Wildfire Potion.
Maya threw her potion as well.
“Potion Explosion!”
Evaporation Potion
Icy cold air spread as ice shards scattered through the air. It was the same evaporation potion she had used against the goblins back in Jerad.
The force of the exploding potions in midair startled the giant bats, causing them to scatter in all directions.
“Well done!”
I didn’t hold back my praise for the Alchemists. Maya and Arin both smiled at almost the same time.
“S-see? It’s nothing!”
It would have been perfect if Arin’s voice hadn’t been shaking.
Right then—
“Watch out!”
A giant bat with its wing on fire came crashing toward us. It fell like a meteor, trailing a long streak of flame. There was no way to dodge in such a narrow gondola.
“Grab onto anything and hold on!”
I gripped the gondola railing and ducked. A moment later, a terrible impact slammed the giant bat’s corpse into the gondola.
CRASH!
“Kyaaa!”
The gondola shook violently. One of the ropes connected to the mechanism snapped with a pathetic twang.
“Maya! Arin!”
Both of them were swaying dangerously, on the verge of falling. I reached out to them. They grabbed my hands and barely managed to hold on.
“Ughhh…”
“Dungeon Seeker! Do something!”
“R-right! Haaah!”
The dwarf Dungeon Seeker wearing a wide-brimmed miner’s helmet completely cut away the broken rope and connected a mechanical device to the remaining line. With gloved hands, he yanked the rope hard and successfully threaded it through the pulley. His hands were small, but his grip strength was no joke. The dwarves quickly patched up the gondola.
“Engaging emergency stop!”
The Dungeon Seeker activated the emergency brake.
SCREEEEEECH!
“Haaaaah! Eshgal, grant us strength!”
Fuck. What the hell am I watching right now?
“Wait! I thought you said it was an emergency brake!”
“This! Is exactly! Dwarven-style braking!”
I was stunned. What the dwarves called a “brake” was actually a massive handle operated by raw brute force. The dwarves clung to it like ship captains, grunting with effort. You insane bastards!
I couldn’t just stand by either. I grabbed the handle and turned it with all my strength.
“Put your back into it, explorer!”
“Hnnngh!”
Amazingly, the gondola — which had to weigh hundreds of kilos — regained its balance and began descending slowly. The design was crazy, but somehow it actually worked. These lunatic engineers.
“The bats are coming! Cover us!”
Roa directed the ranged attackers to drive the bats away. The Alchemists couldn’t throw potions as recklessly as before, but at least no bats managed to land on the gondola.
THUD!
We reached the bottom safely.
“I-I’m alive…” Arin leaned against the wall, staggering. Her face looked like she was about to throw up.
“Hoo… hoo. Thank you for your hard work, explorers.”
The dwarf Dungeon Seeker grinned and flexed his forearm. Muscles as hard as stone twitched beneath skin glistening with sweat from the intense labor. I didn’t have the energy to respond and just nodded.
SKREEEEEE…
The horrifying shrieks of the giant bats echoed down from above like we had arrived in hell.
“Let’s head to the base camp first.”
An ominous feeling slowly began to creep up on me.