Chapter 193
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 193
Chapter Title: Gollun the Grave Robber
-----------------------------------------------------------------
One of Kang Seol's horses, and the entity that first imprinted the name Snowman on the gods who enjoyed the game together with him.
Gollun started out as just one of Kang Seol's ordinary horses. At least until he began to stand out in bizarre ways.
You have acquired the trait: Compulsive Kleptomania.
You will steal others' belongings without realizing it.
You realize you are a tomb enthusiast.
You won't feel satisfied until you've excavated every tomb.
Only after awakening these two fatal abilities for any adventurer—no, for any normal horse—could Kang Seol decide on Gollun's path.
From that day on, Gollun became a grave robber who dug up tombs.
While Lian, another of Kang Seol's horses, awakened an extraordinary innate talent, Gollun awakened a peculiar acquired ability that gave Kang Seol endless headaches.
The Compulsive Kleptomania trait made it impossible for Gollun to enter villages.
He couldn't rest or resupply properly anymore.
He'd wander into a village without thinking, only to find himself dangling with other people's belongings without realizing it, chased day and night by the guards.
Pursuing normal quests became impossible too.
If he spotted traces of a tomb during a quest, he'd ignore the quest constraints and dig it up anyway, like a single-celled organism.
But does every situation have only shadows?
You can now smell the scent of money.
You can quickly find hidden treasures.
You have acquired the trait: Hoarding Maniac.
Instead of selling collected items, simply storing them in a designated place increases your stats.
New abilities acquired while excavating tombs for a long time.
These were the abilities that allowed the horse named Gollun to leap from a larva to a butterfly.
The Scent of Money didn't activate constantly, but once it did, that tomb was a jackpot. Digging it up revealed treasures clinging like barnacles under rocks.
This let Gollun acquire far more treasure, much faster than before.
And the long-awaited Hoarding Maniac.
He couldn't enter villages anyway, so he'd sold treasures to peddlers or on the black market, never getting full value—but he'd swallowed his tears and sold them.
Hoarding useless items served no purpose.
But after gaining Hoarding Maniac, that reason vanished. In fact, he needed to hoard as much treasure as possible.
Dig up tombs, stuff the treasures from them into a designated place.
This led to stat increases. And with higher stats, he could tackle bigger tombs.
With a clear path to growth, Gollun rocketed to success.
His warehouse swelled, and he grew strong enough to crush other horses at his level.
But it didn't last.
The not-so-secret secret that he stored treasures in a specific place spread among players, drawing hordes who coveted his loot.
Not just fellow grave robbers and ruin hunters, but regular adventurers too.
And among them were brutal murderers who deliberately disrupted adventures or stole other horses' spoils.
It didn't end there—infamous Pandea residents eyed his treasures too.
‘Grave Robber's Tomb’
You have coincidentally discovered the entrance to someone's tomb. With no guardians and scant evidence it's even a tomb, you step inside.
A dark, damp smell weighs on your feet. What will you find here?
For now, that future remains unclear.
📍 Goal: Make a meaningful discovery
⏰ Time Remaining: About 3 days
Kang Seol drew a deep breath into his lungs.
A smell different from the Gatip household basement filled his nose and lungs.
Damp but not stifling, dark but not unsettling.
'Feels familiar, huh?'
It was a place filled with structures and traps he'd made himself, so there was no reason to feel anxious.
"Long time no see."
Have you been here before?
"Just a feeling."
Not that he had fond memories of the place, so he'd let it fade from mind. Even after his death, players hunting Gollun's treasure invaded, but it meant little.
'No special items here anyway.'
He hadn't fought them directly, so he wasn't certain, but Kang Seol guessed even peak Gollun wasn't as strong as him now.
And this was a dump for items even that Gollun found awkward, so if Kang Seol found even one useful thing here, it'd be a miracle.
Of course, those items would still be valuable to other adventurers.
But that didn't mean they'd come here.
'Not worth the cost.'
What Gollun—no, Kang Seol—had stored here weren't just treasures.
For theft prevention, he'd relocated guardians from other tombs, and placed treasures dangerous without knowing how to use them.
If overcoming all that yielded little value, no one would bother coming.
'Only I would. To reclaim Gollun's legacy.'
Crackle...
Bones crumbled finely under Kang Seol's boots.
He slowly advanced.
Mid-level Detection activates.
A trap is nearby.
I know.
The first welcome would likely be the time-honored arrow trap. Nothing impressive, just effective at filtering out amateurs.
'No way it's still working...'
It had been ages since he'd raised Gollun; no way those traps still functioned.
Whirr...
Ping-!
"......"
As Kang Seol stepped through the trap section, arrows fired.
He tilted his head briefly, then continued.
Whirr...
Whirr...
Ping!
Phewwwt!
Too intact for coincidence.
Swish...
Kang Seol used Shadow Hand to retrieve an arrow from the wall.
Confusion spread across his face upon inspection.
'This... isn't one of mine.'
Someone had tampered with the arrow trap.
That disconcerted him.
Disarming it would be understandable—Gollun had diligently reset them back then.
But maintaining it and refilling spent arrows?
Like pretending to be the owner after the real one vanished?
Whirr...
Ping-!
Whirr...
Ping-!
Kang Seol handled the arrows leisurely while pondering.
'No way Gollun's alive, right?'
No.
Kang Seol, a party to his death, knew best.
Then who was maintaining this place?
Passing the arrow trap, Detection triggered again.
Mid-level Detection activates.
A trap is nearby.
'This was the collapsing floor trap.'
He recalled it being a hassle to maintain.
"......"
The tiles were all reset.
'Someone tampered here too, like the arrows.'
Returning to reclaim an inheritance, Kang Seol grew intrigued by this mysterious foe.
He lightly tested a tile.
Trap!
The footing collapses!
Rumble...
A wide section collapsed, but Kang Seol emerged unscathed.
He wasn't clumsy enough for such traps.
From solid footing, he peered into the pit. Deep and dark—ordinary folk couldn't see inside, but Foresight let him scan it.
"...Hm? A corpse?"
Steel spikes jutted densely from the bottom, surrounded by old intruder corpses.
What caught his eye was a fresh one beside them.
'...Recently killed.'
Decay had started, but not advanced.
Dead not long ago.
"...Interesting."
Interesting declaration!
Crazy lol what’s so interesting?
Ugh... chills;;
Whether that corpse was a transmigrator's or a native's didn't matter. What did: recent uninvited guests.
Pop-!
Pop-pop-pop-!
Rumble...
Trap!
The footing collapses!
Pop-!
Kang Seol leaped across the tiles like a leopard, seemingly ignoring the traps.
He blitzed through the floor trap, smashing subsequent ones with momentum.
Boulders rolling, ceilings descending.
Even traps sealing him in poison mist rooms.
'All properly maintained.'
He'd passed many traps already.
Kang Seol eyed the next.
An open expanse: the king of traps, a labyrinth.
Ooh, maze! So nostalgic lol
In a maze, keep your left hand on the left wall to avoid getting lost.
But he won’t.
Why not?
That’d be no fun.
A guy who knows how to have fun?
Oddly, seeing the maze brought back memories of designing it.
The gods occasionally paid attention to Kang Seol adventuring solo after raising Gollun.
What’re you doing alone?
Setting traps.
Traps? Why traps... What’s this?
A maze.
A maze? Wow... it’s huge?
What do you think?
...There are plenty of traps besides the maze, right?
Yeah? Oh... yes.
How do you maintain them all?
Oh... I have just the thing in mind...
Shaking off the flashback, Kang Seol advanced boldly into reality.
You stand in a maze. Which way?
1. Right.
2. Left.
3. Forward.
4. Turn back.
...
"Right..."
Pop!
Trap!
Pew-pew-pew!
Crunch!
Kang Seol deflected the arrows and pressed on.
"Left this time."
Left led to a dead end.
This is a dead end.
"......"
Confidently all wrong!
Life is confidence!
Somehow... somehow... it’s cringy but cool!
As if realizing something, Kang Seol navigated the maze.
Pop-!
Trap!
Pop-!
This is a dead end.
This is weird;;
Wasn’t this open earlier?
Lol;; no scary stories.
This...
He reached a conclusion.
'The maze... is moving.'
The current maze's structure was utterly different from the one he'd designed. Kang Seol laughed in dismay.
"Figures..."
Glancing around, he called out.
"Come out, you rats."
Silence.
"I know everything. Come on out."
Rats?
No way! Other adventurers!
The goats already made a move?!
Then, squeaks echoed.
Squeak... squeak-squeak...
Rumble-rumble...
The maze walls vibrated, reshaping.
What!
The maze is pissed!
Rumble-rumble...
In this reshaping moment, Kang Seol recalled the past.
So you’re raising tomb rats here?
Yes, they’re smart and maintain it like their own home. They appear often in ruins too.
They think it is their home. Creepy monster... And they eat treasures to grow? Won’t that be a headache later?
That’s why I prepared other countermeasures!
The transformed maze enclosed Kang Seol like a boxing ring, blocking all sides. The tile he stood on crumbled.
Trap!
Rumble-rumble...
Falling, Kang Seol gripped the wall to slow his descent.
Rumble-rumble...
Thud.
Kang Seol landed. Not too deep underground.
Squeak... squeak-squeak...
Waddling rats approached.
Man-sized giant rats glared at Kang Seol.
Behind them, a grotesquely obese rat wheezed foul breath.
Squeak... squeak-squeak...
Surrounded by the rat horde, Kang Seol said calmly.
"Out of business, and you’re still taking customers?"
Squeak-squeak...
Tomb rats didn't normally grow this large.
'Probably devoured the treasures across the way.'
The massively swollen tomb rats drooled at Kang Seol.
Swish...
Kang Seol summoned Karen.
‘Like Master, Like Rat’
Zzzzt!
As the rats charged, Kang Seol ordered her.
"Burn them all."
Karen gripped her sword hilt.
Whoosh-!
Karen's Persistent: Bestie activates.
Persistent: Surprise Appearance activates.
Happy Coco influences Karen's abilities.