The Sewer of Filth and the Deep Hole
Passing through the foul-smelling pipe, I opened my eyes to find myself in a damp, humid tunnel covered in mold and moss. Red, finger-shaped bioluminescent mushrooms sprouted here and there, looking so toxic that one touch would surely mean death, and the air was thick with visible, yellowish spores. To make matters worse, rusted pipes dripped with rust-colored water and dark, putrid sewage. I couldn't help but think this was where the Black Market dumped its waste.
"Ugh... damn it."
The pipe was incredibly narrow. It was barely wide enough for two people to pass through, and the ceiling was so low that at over 220cm tall, I had to keep my head hunched the entire time. It was cramped, suffocating, and the air was strangely warm... a place filled with unhygienic and repulsive odors. No, "dirty" and "stinky" were understatements. This place was something else entirely—a level of filth and discomfort that those words couldn't even begin to describe. And the bugs. There were so many bugs, it was enough to drive a man insane.
From the moment I opened my eyes, finger-sized vermin began to swarm us, and within a minute, dozens of silverfish-like creatures were clinging to our clothes. What kind of hellish place was this? It wasn't just the variety of pests; the blood-sucking flies were the worst. They were everywhere, trying to crawl into the gaps in our clothes or into our ear canals at every opportunity. It was enough to make my head spin.
"Everyone, spray this on yourselves."
I hurriedly pulled the Insect Repellent from my bag and sprayed it evenly over my companions. I had bought this from a traveling merchant before entering the Forest of the Missing, and it was designed to keep insects at bay. The container hadn't been full to begin with, so I knew it would run out quickly if I used it on everyone, but in a place like this, it was better to be generous. I couldn't do anything with these bugs crawling all over me; saving the spray would be a bigger loss.
"Oh, I bought some of that too."
"That works out perfectly."
Cheshire laughed, pulling out the same Insect Repellent from her pocket. Having known what the third floor was like, she had come prepared. If she had the same thing, there was no reason to be stingy. Since she had three bottles, I sprayed the repellent even more liberally. Having a surplus put my mind at ease. We sprayed each other and the surrounding area with the mist, and the blood-sucking flies and other disgusting insects quickly scattered. The slower maggots and larvae remained stuck to us, but they were easy enough to flick off or crush underfoot.
"Ugh..."
Just then, Han Aram began to retch, clutching the wall. It seemed the disgusting stench that pierced through her gas mask filter and the sight of the vile insects had made her dizzy.
"Aram, use this to rinse your mouth."
I pulled a towel and some Mushroom Water from my bag, handing them to her while gently rubbing her back. It seemed the rotting smell and unhygienic environment of the third floor were taking a heavy toll on her.
"Yeah... thanks. *Ptooey!!* Ugh... damn it, this mushroom water... damn it."
"Uh... sorry. That's all I had."
"*Ptooey.* No, it's fine. *Hoo.* But this tastes so bad..."
Aram muttered in a dying voice and rinsed her mouth again with the mushroom water. Her expression seemed to have soured even further, but she quickly put her gas mask back on, so I couldn't get a good look at her face. Aram is having such a hard time... I wondered if she was just suffering for nothing by following me. She was fulfilling her role by absorbing the Magi, but seeing her suffer more than necessary made me feel bad. For me, pain was a daily routine, so I could endure it, but it wasn't the same for her.
At that moment, Cheshire took a sip of the mushroom water Aram had handed over and began to explain the precautions.
"As you can all see, the bugs and rats here are dangerous. If you get bitten, you'll be infected with parasites immediately, and in the worst cases, you'll catch some unknown disease. Be careful."
The explanation was brutal. For some reason, most curses on the first floor had avoided me, so perhaps that was why the parasites and diseases felt more terrifying than the curses. If a swarm of Alcids were gathered somewhere here, our party would be finished.
"Here, take one of these."
Eila took some bracelets from her robes and handed them out. They were heavy, chain-like accessories.
"These will keep the rats away. The rats here... they travel in swarms."
"Oh, damn it."
The rats on this pipe floor reportedly traveled in groups of hundreds or thousands, attacking any survivors who drifted in. The thought of them being so numerous that there was no end to them even if we killed them sent shivers down my spine. The first floor, the second floor... the underground levels of the Black Market felt like they were constantly hitting us with overwhelming numbers that were impossible to deal with.
"And try not to get close to the rats if you can help it. Kill them from mid-to-long range whenever you see them, and make sure they don't touch your skin. Their fur is crawling with parasitic mites and all sorts of insects. If you ever get surrounded or bitten, you must stop the exploration and return to the base immediately, so be careful."
We nodded at Eila's warning. What kind of creatures were these rats that lived in this insane sewer? They had adapted to such an absurd environment; they couldn't be ordinary sewer rats.
Then, Cheshire spoke up, as if she had forgotten to mention something important.
"By the way, this place is connected to the Black Market's sewer system. You have to assume there's virtually no way out of the first and second floors once you enter, but this place has a definite exit."
"So, if we find your soul fragment on the fourth floor, we just need to come back here?"
"Yep, yep. Once you get out of the fourth floor safely, you can escape the underground entirely through the third floor. Just follow the corpses of the junkies, and you'll find it."
I had been worried that we would have to crawl all the way back up to the first floor, so it was a relief to hear there was an exit from the third floor. There was no entrance to the third floor, but apparently, there was an exit—a welcome piece of news.
"Oh, and be careful, there might be some junkies or drugs washed in from the Black Market sewers occasionally."
"Understood."
We listened to Cheshire's warnings and moved on to find the Deep Hole that led to the fourth floor. According to Cheshire, there was a deep hole in the third-floor pipe section where the sewage gathered. No matter where we went, we just had to find a stream of water and follow the direction it was flowing. If we followed it, we would reach the Deep Hole, and jumping into the center of that hole would take us to the fourth floor.
"T-the third floor seems like a, a resting section. Hehe."
About two and a half hours after we had moved on in silence, Kesia spoke up while swinging her spear to swat away some rats. As she said, the third floor didn't seem like a major threat as long as we had the proper defenses. If we had entered without these preparations, it would have been harder than the first or second floors, though.
"Found the water stream."
"Now we just have to follow this."
After wandering through the pipes for a long time looking for a water source, we finally discovered sewage flowing somewhere with a trickle. We had spent nearly five hours searching for it, but now that we had found it, we just had to follow it. Since the effect of the insect repellent was about to wear off, we stopped for a moment to reapply it before moving on.
-SKREEEEEEE!!!!
That was when it happened. A monster's cry echoed through the pipe floor, which had been silent except for the sounds of bugs and rats.
"No way..."
"What do you mean, 'no way'?"
"It seems it followed us."
"Excuse me?"
"The Slaughter Beast that swallowed Kekere..."
I frowned at Eila's words.
"Wait, wasn't that bastard fighting the mirror ghosts?"
"That's what I thought. Why? How did it get here... Cheshire, do you know anything?"
"No... I have no idea. Did it erase the mirror ghosts' stigma on its own? Or... no, how is it tracking us in the first place? None of us should have any marks on us. Uh... wait."
Cheshire looked at me and voiced her hypothesis.
"The Slaughter Beast is a creature that flips the master-servant relationship once nine or more curse stacks are accumulated."
"Right...?"
"And it swallowed Kekere, who was its master."
"So that means..."
"And Kekere's master is you."
"What?"
"It's trying to swallow the master of its master. It wasn't satisfied with Kekere. That's why... it's chasing you, Jun."
"What kind of crazy..."
If Cheshire's hypothesis was correct, a monster capable of tearing through mirror ghosts like paper and entering the third floor on its own was currently hunting me.
"We need to move faster."
"Yes. L-let's go quickly!"
The beast was approaching without hesitation, as if it knew my exact location. We ran faster to find the Deep Hole, not wanting to cross paths with it. Before long, the current of the sewage began to speed up, and the pipe, which had been barely wide enough for two people, began to widen.
"We're here. Now just jump!"
A vast, open space like a vertical shaft. I couldn't see the ceiling. And below, there was a massive hole sucking in the sewage in a swirling vortex. Furthermore, holes were bored into the walls all around us, just like the one we were standing in.
"*Hoo...*"
Now, if I jumped, I could finally reach the final, fourth floor. But I couldn't bring myself to jump into the center of that vortex. If even a single drop of that filthy water touched my skin, I felt like I would contract every skin disease in existence.
"Jun, it's okay. If you jump into the center, you'll be transported before you touch the water."
"*Haa...* No, Cheshire. But how on earth did you find out that you could get to the fourth floor this way..."
"Oh... let's just say it's the result of many experiments. Well then, I'm going first!!"
Cheshire patted my shoulder and jumped straight down.
"Cheshire!! Whoa..."
Cheshire's figure disappeared as if she were being sucked into the water.
"Everyone has to hit the center. If you miss... you'll just fall into that shit-water and die."
Eila warned us again. It seemed that if you didn't land exactly in the center, it was truly the end.
"*Hoo...*"
Kesia took a deep breath and jumped toward the center of the water stream, following Cheshire. Fortunately, she managed to jump exactly toward the center and was transported to the fourth floor in an instant. Perhaps because the effect of the Endless Impulse had given her the talent to quickly master most things, she seemed to have gotten good at jumping as well. Well, we had been jumping toward the next floor like bungee jumpers since the first floor, so it was about time she got good at it.
"Aram, can you do it?"
"Yes. I can do it. Let's meet below."
Seeing Kesia's success seemed to give her courage, and Aram jumped down coolly. But...
"Aaaah!!! R'lyeh!!!"
I quickly shot out a tentacle and caught Aram. She had slipped while trying to jump and was about to fall off-center.
"*Haa. Haa. Haa. Haa...*"
Aram was gasping for air and trembling, likely in a state of hyperventilation from the thought that she had almost died. I pulled her up and hugged her.
"It's okay. It's okay. I caught you. It's okay."
"*Hoo. Hoo. Hoo...* Really... I almost died for real this time... Hahaha. Hahahahaha..."
When a person is too dumbfounded or receives a shock beyond their limit, their head goes blank or they start to laugh. Yes, Aram laughed as if she had half-lost her mind.
"Sorry. I won't make a mistake again. *Hoo...* I'll go again."
Fortunately, without getting terrified, Aram jumped again immediately. The second attempt was successful, and Aram landed exactly in the center of the vortex and was transported to the fourth floor.
"For some reason, this place seems more dangerous than anything else on the third floor."
"Hehe... I agree."
Eila nodded, as if agreeing with my opinion. But for some reason, she seemed a little tense as well.
"Eila. I'll watch over you. You go first."
"Hm? Oh, no. I'm fine."
"It's fine. If it's dangerous, I'll catch you with my tentacles immediately."
"Hehehe... Jojun is such a kind child... Thank you. Actually, I was a little scared too. *Hoo*, now that you're watching over me, I've gained some courage. Then, see you below."
"Yes. See you below."
Fortunately, Eila managed to jump exactly into the center on her first try and made it to the fourth floor.
"*Haa...* Now it's my turn..."
I prepared myself to shoot out a tentacle and grab the wall at any moment, then jumped down.