The Underground Factory

I returned to their house after tracking down my comrades' whereabouts and woke the bastards up by beating them. Then I asked about the pension they visited every weekend. They clamped their mouths shut, insisting they couldn't say anything. 'Figures.' Their stubborn silence only confirmed my suspicions. Thud—!

I struck them a few more times until they passed out again. They were a hassle to drag around, so what should I do with them? I could just kill them and forget about the extra reward, but something told me I should at least give their missing loved ones a choice.

'Storing them in the subspace feels like a waste, and flying around with them attached would be inefficient. Hmm... Maybe I should just load them into the car?'

Summoning Black Dragon in the middle of the city would draw too much attention. In the end, I chose to drive.

I hoisted the unconscious men onto my shoulders, carried them down to the underground parking lot, and roughly stuffed them into the back seat and trunk. As I started the engine, Yeonhee—who had been quietly watching me—jumped in surprise.

"Huh...? Ilwol, you can drive?"

'...... Is it that weird for a skeleton to know how to drive?'

I didn't have time to dwell on such trivial thoughts. I tapped the passenger seat, urging her to get in quickly.

'I thought I might have forgotten how after so long, but it looks like I still remember. Thank goodness.'

Vroooom— The sensation of pressing the accelerator felt strangely fresh. Yeonhee stared at me in fascination as I drove with one of the men's hats pulled low over my face.

'I'd love to show her how cool I look driving in human form using Mimicry, but I might need it for something important later.'

Mimicry could only be maintained for thirty minutes right now. I really wanted to increase its duration soon. The best way to do that was probably by maxing out the information gathering on one of my current targets. The most promising candidate was No Hayun—her information gathering had already surpassed eighty percent.

Strangely, it had increased by one percent even during the two days I hadn't seen her. I had no idea why, but anyway. I was excited because I'd come up with a way to push her information gathering even higher.

'I don't know if this will work, but...'

After my class change, my ability to manipulate bones had grown significantly stronger.

'It means I can now separate bones from my body.'

I'd already confirmed that any bones I expended would regenerate as my magic power recovered. Thanks to that, I could now fire bone daggers—the attack I'd been envisioning for a while.

Using that ability, I thought I could reverse the ridiculous deal No Hayun had proposed to me in the Hidden Dungeon, but in a modified form. She must be frustrated from holding back her desires for so long. My proposal would surely appeal to her.

Of course, since it wasn't exactly a normal transaction, I'd have to do it without Yeonhee knowing. If it succeeded, I expected it would raise No Hayun's favorability to the maximum.

"Hmmm..."

Yeonhee seemed a bit excited watching me drive at first, but as time passed, her expression grew serious again. It was probably because our comrades' situation was so grave.

In truth, I hadn't spent that much time with Song Jin-gyeong and Lee Jiu, so while it was a shame, I wasn't overly worried about what might happen to them. But Yeonhee had a tendency to grow attached to people she'd partied with, even if she didn't show it openly. So for her, it was different.

After driving for nearly an hour, we arrived at a pension standing alone on the outskirts. It was located partway up a mountain slope, with absolutely nothing around it.

"Can you sense anything?"

I nodded. A sign saying they were no longer accepting guests was posted in front of the pension, along with a barricade. And absurdly, beneath the building was an enormous underground space I never would have imagined.

After thoroughly scanning the entire area with my senses, I felt as if I'd been struck in the head with a hammer.

"What's wrong? What is it?"

Yeonhee shook my body, urging me to explain quickly.

'These bastards... So this is how they've been obtaining materials for the Evolution Stones.'

I hesitated over whether I should tell Yeonhee. The malevolent energy filling the underground space was so nauseating that even I—with my Cold Judgment trait—found it difficult to endure.

'Still... I should tell her.'

We first moved into the forest where we couldn't be seen from the pension. After ordering the Lizard unit to keep watch over the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠three still-unconscious hunters, I sat Yeonhee down and explained everything I'd sensed.

After hearing the full story, Yeonhee's face filled with horror. She repeated the information to herself, as if trying to process it.

"Underground... there's something like a factory... producing babies...?"

"Clack clack."

"And the women giving birth to those babies... are the missing female hunters..."

"......"

"Goblins and female hunters... Haah—"

It seemed she'd finally pieced together the horrifying picture. Yeonhee looked at me with a face full of despair. The method was so shockingly vile that her lips twisted, her face crumpled, and her eyes quickly turned red.

Goblins, known for their rapid breeding. Female hunters who'd grown stronger by taking Evolution Water over a long period. And an underground factory located far from the city.

'There are a ton of civilians down there too. Damn it...'

Even though we'd stumbled upon something almost impossible to believe, we had to act quickly. Since time was of the essence, Yeonhee shook off her panic and steeled her resolve.

'I didn't expect to use Ran's ability this soon.'

The best plan was for me to infiltrate underground, store the victims in my subspace, and sneak out. But if things went wrong and I ended up emerging from one of the four exits alongside the enemies, Yeonhee's job would be to use the summons I'd left waiting to stall them and buy time.

Of course, she'd be riding Black Dragon, and if it became impossible, she'd have to retreat.

'It's a bit cumbersome, but people's safety comes first.'

At first I'd considered putting the people in my subspace and having Yeonhee unsummon me into the Dark Space after a certain amount of time. But if I was unsummoned while they were still inside the subspace, there was a chance they'd be ejected back into the real world. That's why I'd come up with this plan.

What bothered me, though, was something else.

'It's strange that there's no S-grade hunter at a facility of this scale. Could yesterday's events have affected this place too?'

Thanks in large part to Helen, finding this location hadn't been that difficult. The enemy should have prepared for the possibility of being discovered, yet their strongest forces were only A-grade. It felt a little sloppy.

'Five A-grades, plus a bunch of lower-ranked hunters including B and C-grades... Still, it's not an easy opponent. This isn't a composition we can just fight our way through.'

From the flow of their mana, it was clear the hunters were specialized in restraining and subduing enemies.

I pitched a Big Boar tent near the car to block external senses as much as possible, then sat Yeonhee inside and gently stroked her hair. She looked quite unhappy that I'd be infiltrating alone again lately, but she soon gave me a faint smile and whispered, just like yesterday.

"You have to be careful, okay?"

'......'

The moment I saw Yeonhee looking up at me with worry, I imagined roughly claiming her lips. I barely managed to calm my mind before moving closer to the pension and beginning to dig.

Since many of them had detection-type abilities, I planned to start digging from quite far away.

I tunneled through the ground that gave way like pudding. It didn't take long before I easily penetrated the space the enemies had created.

'They never would have imagined someone would come in this way.'

No hunter could imitate ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the way I dug silently while remaining in stealth like this. Ignoring the heavy security starting from the entrance, I headed straight for the deepest area. The moment I arrived, I spread my senses wide.

The place I'd entered was divided into dozens of prison-like rooms. This was where they were keeping the female hunters locked up. The spaces caught by my sensory waves were categorized according to how far along the women's pregnancies were.

'Hoo— Fuck. I can't help but curse.'

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

All the women had dazed eyes and were drooling. Catheters connected to IV drips were inserted into their arms, apparently supplying them with nutrients.

'That unstable energy flowing through their bodies... Could it be 'Inbam'?'

Not long ago, I'd encountered a member of the Blue Eye organization while using Mimicry. The new drug the man I'd dragged into the bathroom and killed had been carrying was called Inbam. I'd thought it was only used as a funding source for the Blue Eye organization, but here it was being used to rob the women of their will.

So the villains were even sharing items among themselves. There really was no hope.

'The world is collapsing way too fast...'

Since this was an area I hadn't fully grasped in my previous life, the decline was steeper than I'd expected. Suddenly, the bead grandfather's words came to mind.

'How the hell do I fix this? No wonder they couldn't save it. Damn it.'

Even as I ground my teeth, I focused diligently on what I had to do. First priority was finding Jin-gyeong and Jiu.

I clung to the ceiling of the underground space using Adhesion and carefully observed the mana flow ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of each person in the prison cells. Fortunately, I was able to locate the two without much difficulty.

'Phew... Thank goodness.'

Thinking that Yeonhee wouldn't have to be hurt made a sigh of relief escape me.

'Am I spoiling her too much...?'

I didn't know. But I still hated seeing the person I loved in pain.

Jin-gyeong and Jiu were in the farthest room. I moved toward that location. The number and quality of the detection barriers were on par with the building where the Evolution Water had been stolen, but they were meaningless to me now.

The only annoyance was the C-grade hunters patrolling at regular intervals. Three of them were alternating patrols in the corridor near the farthest room. I waited quietly for one to come closer. The moment he approached—

Swoosh—!

Without hesitation, I sliced off the man's head. I felt no guilt whatsoever. If anything, I felt a slight sense of accomplishment for exterminating a pest that only brought harm to humanity.

And it even gave me a nice reward.

'Two more and...'

As expected, these guys had also taken Evolution Water. Or maybe just being related to it was enough to drop fragments. Either way, it didn't matter.