Sewer Floor Two: The Hidden Boss
The second floor of the sewer was far more complex than the first.
Unlike the first floor, which saw frequent repairs and renovations, the structures here were older and left in their original state.
The only source of light in this labyrinth was the occasional flickering light from the Yaminju moss, casting eerie shadows across the walls.
Fafnir slowly navigated the narrow, foul-smelling passage, his metal-coated frame moving with deliberate caution.
“I suppose the torches won’t be of much use anymore,” he muttered as they passed the initial section.
The sewer served as a processing facility for countless bodies and waste, and with its enormous size, pockets of unventilated toxic gas had accumulated. One wrong spark could trigger a massive explosion.
“I have a solution,” said the magician, stepping forward.
“Light.”
A small sphere of light shot out from the end of the magician’s staff, illuminating the dim second floor of the sewer.
‘Do mages really learn such basic utility skills? It actually looks useful.’
Necromancers generally didn’t have many utility skills, but with the vast fields of magic, it made sense they might skip investing skill points on something as straightforward as this.
“Hold on, Magician-nim, you learned the Light spell too?” asked the hunter.
The magician smiled faintly. “The party I belong to specializes in dungeon hunting, so we’ve picked up all sorts of utility skills along the way.”
Just as the hunter was about to extinguish his lantern, he nodded in agreement.
He looked relieved that the price of oil hadn’t skyrocketed.
“How about it? Do they seem like reliable people? I’ve got a good eye for people.”
Kindorhan shrugged his shoulders.
This time there was nothing to argue with.
‘Indeed, the man has a powerful eye.’
While Fafnir was still in awe, they stepped out into a more open area.
“Well then, where should we head next…….”
“The map for this area is probably like this.”
The magician held the light source in one hand and drew a rough semicircle on the floor with the other using his staff.
“We’re roughly here, and we can slowly sweep in a half-circle from here.”
The magician frowned. “The problem, as I mentioned earlier, is that the tunnels here change direction every certain amount of time. This kind of information is treated as top-secret by the magic guild, so even I don’t know all the details.”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll mark the path. Combining the Marker skill and the Pathfinder skill should make it easy to avoid getting lost.”
“Then I’ll have to ask for your help. But…….”
Both the magician and the hunter turned toward Fafnir.
“What exactly are we looking for?”
“……Didn’t I explain it?”
“No, you just said something about making a big score…….”
“Same as before.”
Explaining the quest objective was basic knowledge, and Fafnir had assumed they would have covered it. Yet his earlier assessment of Kindorhan had taken a hit.
“I’m curious about that too. It’s almost time to explain it, right?”
“……”
Upon thinking about it, Fafnir realized he had forgotten to explain to Kindorhan.
“Well then, after gathering the other party members, I’ll explain.”
“The quest is simple. We survey the sewer and check if any orcs have infiltrated.”
“O-orcs? Why orcs in the sewer…….”
“It’ll be a long explanation, so I’ll keep going.”
“This quest is directly under the count’s authority and can help build contributions toward a large-scale event before it even starts.”
“This is a jackpot! Everyone else has to grind contributions during the event season, but we can do it beforehand. So…… isn’t this the cheat everyone talks about?”
“It’s not exactly a cheat. It’s a hidden piece after all.”
The magician explained excitedly, while the hunter nodded slightly.
“Have I explained it now? About what it means to make a big score.”
“Yes, yes! Thank you, Fafnir-nim.”
“Just as my gangster friend said.”
“If I’d known this, I would have brought my underlings too…… tsk.”
True to his loyal nature, Kindorhan looked upward with a sigh of regret.
He wanted to extract one more favor from the subordinates who had worked hard alongside him.
‘A good trait.’
Loyalty.
Once you owe a debt and the relationship is built, betrayal is impossible. It was the most essential condition for recruiting allies.
“Everyone seems to have no complaints. Let’s continue the exploration.”
The exploration went smoothly afterward.
Using the sewer map Fafnir had pulled up as a base, combined with the magician’s light source and knowledge and the hunter’s tracking skills, they navigated the complex tunnels with ease.
Occasionally swarms of zombies or rats appeared, but Fafnir and Kindorhan quickly cleared them out.
“So there are three things we need to find. A relic fragment, stolen jewelry by the bandits, and…… orcs hiding in the sewer.”
As they walked down the narrow corridor, the magician suddenly spoke.
“Aside from the miscellaneous quests that don’t matter, these are the big ones.”
“But are you sure orcs are actually there?”
The magician looked at the floor. “Besides figuring out how they could have entered the sewer from outside, the monsters in here aren’t ordinary. Could orcs really be holding out in that mess?”
The guards and passages of the sewer, plus the filthy environment inside, made it hard to believe orcs had entered at all.
However, Fafnir shook his head. “On the contrary, it’s more likely because it’s the sewer.”
“Eh?”
“In complex, narrow passages, a large single entity is actually weak. Especially since the zones change every hour, as you said.”
“Ah, yes, yes. According to the data I heard from the tower…….”
“If the orcs can use that, it’s 100% certain.”
Just like real-world ant swarms or rat packs.
If the outer area was vast, you might not care, but in narrow, trap-filled terrain, pushing with numbers!
Even some ants could hunt despite predators like the fire ant.
“For now, let’s take out the bandits first. We’ll get items and level up too.”
“It sounds fun to raid the gang den.”
Kindorhan slammed his fists together.
As they reached the marked spot on the map, they saw a wide room and barricades in one corner of the sewer.
“My role is tank, right?”
“Yes, please wait a moment. I’ll check the pattern first and we’ll move in.”
Fafnir answered.
Since they had seized full control of the territory, Kindorhan was now under the combined effects of stat debuffs and skill locks.
But his raw Gangpae toughness remained intact, so he could handle the tank role properly.
“Seriously, if only my patrol skills worked, I could sweep through everything.”
Kindorhan grumbled.
At that moment, Fafnir narrowed his eyes and stared at the barricade.
“Something feels off. Vera-nim.”
“What is it?”
“Please do a scout.”
“……Give me a second.”
Mana gathered in Vera’s eyes as the hunter.
Search Human.
A hunter skill that detects only human presence.
“Eh?”
“Is something wrong?”
The hunter tilted his head.
“There’s no one there?”
“Wha……”
“There’s no way! Could it be a trap?”
Kindorhan and the magician widened their eyes.
Instantly, Fafnir crossed the alleyway toward the base.
‘……As expected.’
The base was empty inside, as the hunter had said.
No, more precisely, no people.
Sshrrrrr.
Sshhrk!
The floor was littered with countless corpses and meat scraps.
Over them, numerous cylindrical lumps of flesh were burrowing into the bodies.
[Corpse Licker]
[Corpse Licker]
‘Those monsters…….’
Worm-like creatures the size of pet bottles slithered around, devouring the corpses.
After eating one piece of meat, they would shoot up at incredible speed to the next.
‘Just one of them looked like it could give a tank a hard time.’
Seeing them everywhere suggested the bandit force had already been completely wiped out.
But the real problem wasn’t these things.
Fafnir shifted his gaze to the center of the base.
Shlick, shwing.
In the center, surrounded by a hill of piled corpses, stood a single Corpse Licker the size of a grown man, its body covered in multiple magic runes.
[Rune-Engraved Corpse Licker King]
‘To obtain the treasures the bandits stole, they’d have to kill this thing.’
A few gold and silver coins visible beneath the Corpse Licker King confirmed the conclusion.
At that moment, something slightly protruding among the piled corpses caught Fafnir’s eye.
‘……!’
After staring for a moment, Fafnir narrowed his eyes.
‘It seems there is a definite reason to eliminate this place.’
Fafnir slowly backed away.
Once he was sure he had created enough distance, he immediately returned to the group.
Kindorhan, who had been waiting, asked, “How was it?”
“No bandits, just corpses and Corpse Lickers everywhere.”
“Corpse Lickers? Those guys are in a big group over there?”
“Do you know them well?”
Upon the magician’s reaction, Fafnir asked while turning his head.
“Of course.”
“Then please explain it as you know.”
“Basically…… they’re like hyenas or flies. Their size is around…….”
As the magician explained the information he knew, Fafnir recorded it.
The flickering lantern light against the background made the scene rather eerie.
“That’s all…… is there anything else to say?”
“Yes, yes. I’ve told you everything I know. If there’s anything lacking, please…….”
“No, it’s sufficient. Thank you.”
Thanks to this, they could skip the process of fighting once to obtain the information.
Fafnir stored the paper and said, “Then from now on, let’s create a strategy to eliminate these guys in one fell swoop.”
***
[Rune-Engraved Corpse Licker King]
Classification: Beast (Insect, Larva Type)
Attribute: Physical
Type: Melee, Speed Type
Level: 90+
Danger Level (for same level): ★★★
Pattern:
Leap: Massive charge at incredible speed using mana and muscles. Reduces tank user’s HP by at least 2/3 or more on hit.
Poison Spray: Poison spray that melts metal equipment. Must be burned with purification magic or fire attribute attacks.
Fire Breath: Uses runes on the upper body. Spits fire from its mouth.
Blink: Uses runes on the right side, instantaneous 10m teleport.
Iron Skin: Uses runes on the left side, temporarily boosts defense dramatically.
Caution: No vision, but extremely developed hearing and smell. Continuously summons normal Corpse Licker packs nearby. Very brutal and fast pursuit speed. If you turn your back and run, it’s dangerous. Flexible movements allow it to fight well even in narrow paths.
Corpse Lickers.
In reality, they were maggots that could fly through the air and charge quickly.
But if those maggots had teeth strong enough to chew through iron, they were no longer to be underestimated.
The leader of such monsters was the Corpse Licker King.
It was powerful, but the Corpse Licker King didn’t differ much from ordinary Corpse Lickers in appearance, basic attacks, or habits.
It was only a mutated variant ruling the same species, not a different species.
‘Then the strategy should be simple.’
At some point, smoke began rising from the base where Corpse Lickers were gathered.
Thick, pungent smoke poured in from the side passages or gaps in the walls.
The Corpse Lickers that had been devouring corpses rushed to the entrance all at once.
At that moment, Kindorhan and the skeleton soldiers blocked the gap.
“Now!”
As soon as Fafnir’s signal dropped, the hunter’s and magician’s skills swept through the passage.
Flames, arrows, and wind.
The Corpse Lickers packed tightly into the narrow space were incinerated in large numbers by the fire.
At that moment.
Fwoosh!
A massive Corpse Licker appeared in the center of the group along with a flash of light.
Sshrrrrr!
For the Corpse Licker, fire was the most fatal.
Naturally, the Corpse Licker King used its Blink skill to rush at the magician first.
It was sudden, but the movement was as expected, so it was manageable.
One, two, three swords, spears, and an axe were driven into the Corpse Licker King’s body before stopping.
Iron Skin.
He had used the skill to make its body temporarily as hard as metal.
Sshrrrrr!
The Corpse Licker King was about to breathe fire straight ahead.
Instantly, Fafnir tossed a chunk of meat dripping with blood into its mouth and activated the skill.
Blood Explosion.
The meat chunk exploded, triggering a chain reaction of blasts along with the breath.
Every step of this process happened at an astonishingly fast pace.
Experience gained.
Level up!
45 silver obtained.
“Is it over? Can I step back now?”
Kindorhan, who had been dodging the hit on his arm, asked hurriedly.
“Yeah.”
Fafnir said while rummaging through the body of the fallen Corpse Licker King.
“Now we just need to hold out until we eliminate all the others there.”
“Craaaack!”
Kindorhan’s scream rang out, but there was nothing to be done about it.
‘You chose the Gangpae.’
Endure with evil and force!
‘Then while I’m at it, shall I open the gift box?’
Fafnir rummaged through the Corpse Licker King’s body with his hand.
Collecting the materials from the body meticulously, separate from the dropped items!
Obtained Lizard Warrior’s Kukri (Magic).
As Fafnir collected various materials and items, his expression turned bizarre.
‘Look at this?’
Lizard Warrior’s Kukri?
It seemed like there were orcs in the sewer, but not only orcs.