The Spriggan Village
After several days of travel, we finally arrived at Moro Mine. Yuri led us to a place untouched by human footsteps.
“A passage in a place like this?” Alma grumbled.
No matter how you looked at it, there didn’t seem to be any kind of passage here. Yuri’s large eyes sparkled as she replied.
“Spriggans have lived underground for ages and formed a deep bond with the earth. I can hear the voice of the Earth Mother Goddess. I’ll open the way using magic that commands the land itself.”
We pushed through the dense forest and climbed a steep valley. When we reached the top of a massive hill, Yuri removed her hood. Her slender face and dark skin were revealed. Just like the setting described, Spriggans had an enchanting appearance. They really were like underground elves.
“I’m going to cast the spell. Everyone, step back.”
We quietly waited until Yuri opened the passage. She chanted the spell in a low, almost singing voice. I closed my eyes and simply enjoyed the sound of her voice. It was as beautiful as music.
Rumble…
Soon after, the ground shook and a staircase leading underground appeared. In Dungeon Overseer terms, it was basically a shortcut.
“Let’s go.”
Even though we had a Dungeon Seeker with us, Yuri took the lead.
“Wouldn’t it be better if Mr. Noman went first?”
Noman complained in a timid voice, “I’m a scholar, not a fighter.”
“But you’re a Dungeon Seeker, aren’t you? All you have to do is hold up the Seeker Lantern.”
But Yuri cut in before he could finish. “This is my home. I know every path here.”
I shrugged. If Yuri said so, then fine. At least we probably wouldn’t get ambushed right at the dungeon entrance.
That’s when it happened.
“Hajun oppa.”
Roa tugged at my collar. Her eyes were glowing with a golden light.
“…I see monsters. They look like… weird mushrooms.”
Roa had also reached Level 3 through leveling up. A Guardian’s future sight grew stronger with each level. At Level 9, they basically became a walking map hack. At Level 3, Roa could at least distinguish monster types.
“Everyone, stop!”
I gave Noman a look. He shuffled forward hesitantly and timidly raised his Seeker Lantern. The lantern emitted a blue glow. At the same time, the forms of the monsters hidden in the darkness were revealed.
Weight: 81 kg
Affiliation: Mycelium Queen
Classification: Living Creature / Plant
This monster is extremely disgusting! A grotesque creature covered entirely in mushrooms and spores. Originally a plant stem, it gained mobility through active mycelium. With every step, it leaves behind fingernail-sized mushrooms instead of footprints.
*This entity is Alive. Various traits that apply to living creatures are in effect.
*This entity is a Plant. It feels no pain, knows no fear, and can regenerate even if parts of its body are severed. Due to its unique nervous system, most poisons are ineffective.
It was a mycelium-type monster—a Walking Fungus. The creature approached while shaking its large mushroom cap. With every step, yellow spores rained down from the cap. Just looking at it made me nauseous.
I drew the sawtooth blade from the sheath on my back. Before I could even give a combat order, Alma shot forward like a bullet.
“Haaat!”
Alma also drew her greatsword from her back sheath. Slayers were a class specialized in two-handed weapons. Unlike the pseudo-melee Necromancer class, they were genuine close-combat warriors.
Her greatsword danced through the air with a whooshing sound. The heavy blade split the Walking Fungus’s cap exactly in half.
The mushroom cap splits cleanly in two!
A cloud of spores burst out from between the severed mushroom head.
“Fuck!”
“Alma! Watch out!”
Alma covered her mouth and coughed violently.
“What the hell is this…”
“Be careful. If you inhale too many spores, you’ll die.”
“…Die?”
Alma stared at me with wide eyes. I swung my sawtooth blade and lopped off the head of a nearby Walking Fungus. With a dull thud, the creature was torn horizontally. I quickly wrapped a prepared cloth around my mouth to block the spores. It wasn’t perfect, but it would help.
You have inhaled a cloud of spores...
You feel mycelium melting into your bloodstream!
You have been infected with fungus.
Fungal Infection (4%)
As the fungal infection progressed, physical abilities would decline. A dry cough would appear, limbs would grow heavy, and reaction speed would slow. Once infection reached 100%, mushrooms would sprout inside the organs, causing fatal damage. If I didn’t want to die, I had to stay far away from the spore clouds.
But Alma and I had to fight in close quarters. Fuck.
“Hajun oppa!”
Roa fired her crossbow. With a sharp whistle, the bolt pierced straight through a Walking Fungus. The creatures collapsed to the ground, still spewing spores.
“Cough, cough! Hey! Stop shooting!”
Alma was surrounded by a burst of spores and sounded like she was dying. A Level 4 Slayer’s combat power was incredible, but once they started taking debuffs like this, they became useless in an instant.
“Haaap!”
I swung my sawtooth blade while being showered in spore clouds. I’d get infected, but there was no choice. We had to tear apart the enemies in front of us if our party wanted to survive.
Before long, we had killed every Walking Fungus that had appeared.
“Fuck… these goddamn mushroom bastards.”
Alma spat out a string of furious curses, apparently pissed off from the fight. I handed her an antidote potion.
“It’s an antidote potion. Drink it all.”
Alma popped the cork and downed it in one go, then casually tossed the empty bottle somewhere in the dungeon. Good thing I’d brought plenty of them. I drank one too. Strangely, it tasted like honey.
Once the battle was over, Yuri and Noman reappeared.
“Mr. Noman. You could’ve at least cracked the whip from the back.”
“I’m not a fighter, I’m a scholar…”
I flipped Noman the middle finger. He made a terrified face and quietly slipped away somewhere.
“We rushed out so fast we ended up bringing every kind of idiot,” Alma said, brutally roasting him.
“He’s a Dungeon Seeker. It’s fine even if he can’t fight. The real problem is that we’re all in a shitty mood right now.”
“Isn’t that a fucking important problem?”
Even the usually gentle Roa glared at Noman from beneath her hood. Compared to the dwarf brothers from Sokoban Mine, this Dungeon Seeker really was lacking in multiple ways.
“Well, what can we do? We already brought him.”
Yuri kicked aside the scattered pieces of Walking Fungus on the ground.
“They’ve already spread this far.”
“No need to look down below. It’s obvious what we’ll find.”
“They’ll be swarming.”
Yuri resumed guiding us. “Let’s hurry. If we dawdle, we’ll run into even more of them.”
We followed Yuri down to the Spriggan village.
“Is that the village?” Alma muttered, sounding surprised.
The Spriggan village was built inside a vast underground space. It was constructed in terraces centered around the middle—the lowest point was at the bottom, growing higher as it ascended.
A Spriggan guard spotted us and shouted, “Chief!”
Yuri strode confidently into the village. From far away, an elderly Spriggan came running. Was that the village chief?
“Mano. Has everything been alright?”
“Nothing major has happened. However, Chief…”
The elderly Spriggan named Mano looked at us with a displeased expression.
“Let me introduce you. This is Elder Mano, who serves as the village priest.”
“You were the chief?”
Yuri nodded slowly. It wasn’t the old man—it was Yuri who was the chief.
“It was a position I took on by chance. I haven’t been able to do anything yet.”
Spriggans began gathering one by one. Yuri couldn’t hide her exhausted expression. After days of frantic travel, she was also suffering from dizziness after seeing the sun.
“I’ll give you rooms to rest first, then later we can have a meeting…”
At that moment, the Spriggan called Mano spoke up.
“Chief. You still haven’t explained it to us.”
“Explained what?”
“These humans! No matter what, how could you bring humans into the village!”
Yuri narrowed her eyes. Her gaze looked incredibly tired.
“We’ll talk about it later.”
With that, Yuri walked straight to her house. Several Spriggan guards began loitering around us. Mano stared at us quietly before speaking.
“Prepare the guest rooms for them.”
“Understood.”
The guards guided us into the village. They assigned each of us to a separate house as they walked around the village.
It was quite some time later when Yuri called for us.
Inside the Spriggan village, in the chief’s house. Spriggans holding important positions in the village were seated around Yuri. The explorers sat down one by one.
“Now then…”
The moment Yuri opened her mouth, Mano cleared his throat.
“Ahem. Ahem. Chief, let’s begin with the matter of these humans.”
Yuri stared at Mano for a while.
“They are explorers I hired on the surface. That’s all there is to it.”
“However, according to the laws of the village…”
“The fungal infection outside is critical right now. We don’t have the luxury of worrying about laws.”
The moment Yuri finished speaking, murmurs spread through the room. I had thought bringing us here was the will of all the Spriggans, but now that we were here, it seemed to be Yuri’s decision alone.
“Chief! Our ancestors said that no matter what, humans must never be allowed into the village! They are greedy and cruel by nature. They will plunder our village and take our women and children as slaves!”
A Spriggan who looked like a warrior strongly protested. Several other Spriggans nodded in agreement.
“Human greed is recorded in our texts as well. Our ancestors made the mistake of trusting humans, but after the Great Calamity, thanks to our isolation, the village was able to regain peace.”
“That’s right! They will spread rumors about our village on the surface!”
Mano spoke as if representing all the Spriggans.
“Chief. The ancestral gods are angry about the visit of these humans. No matter how urgent the situation is, bringing humans here? It’s like inviting a tiger to catch a fox.”
From what I could gather, the Spriggans’ distrust of humans had reached its peak. Honestly, it felt a bit unfair. What exactly had humans done to them?
The atmosphere was not friendly toward us. The Spriggans were human-hating xenophobes.
“What if they kick us out?” Roa whispered.
Yeah. Fuck. After spending all that money to get here, we couldn’t just get kicked out without even taking the job.
“Everyone, calm down. Do you really think the chief brought humans here without any thought? She must have brought them because she expects something from them!”
Among the green-haired Spriggans, one with strikingly white hair raised his hand to speak. He was the only Spriggan siding with the chief among the human-hating crowd.
“Humans!”
“Please call us explorers.”
“Right. Explorers. What are your skills? If you have the ability and techniques to defeat those mushroom monsters, show us.”
Yuri gave a small nod from the side. She wanted us to demonstrate something impressive enough to calm public opinion, no matter what it was.
“If that’s what you want, I can…”
Alma stood up, using her greatsword like a cane. But I stopped her midway.
“Why?”
“Your impact isn’t strong enough, Alma. I’ll do it.”
There was a perfect spell for this. I stood up and focused my mind.
You have summoned the power of darkness...
Evil magic power spreads outward!
The Spriggans jumped up in shock at the spreading aura of death magic. The power created a thick gray fog. The fog moved like a curtain and began to form a certain shape.
“What the hell are you doing right now…”
Right then.
The figure beyond the fog shouted. At the same time, the white-haired Spriggan’s eyes widened.
“Elder Hwaneung!”
The Spriggans dropped to their knees in a chain reaction like falling dominoes.
“E-Elder!”
“Weren’t you supposed to have passed away?”
Alma, who had been watching, quietly whispered, “What did you just do?”
I grinned at her. “I’m a Necromancer, remember?”
Necromancy. Just as the name suggested, it was magic that called forth souls. Using necromancy, I had summoned the souls of dead Spriggans.
“T-This is blasphemy!”
Priest Mano screamed at the top of his lungs as he stared at the summoned spirit.