Adaptation (3)
As expected.
Lee Hyun let out a cold chuckle at the confirmation that the flute had a new owner, exactly as he had predicted.
And if his guess was right, then the hidden boss’s true identity was…
“How did you get here?”
The man wore his robe pulled low over his head, making it impossible to guess his gender or age. Yet there was something oddly youthful about his voice.
Of course, anyone who let themselves be fooled by appearances would never survive dungeon raids. Lee Hyun offered no reply. He simply kicked off the ground and shot forward with ferocious speed.
“What—!”
The hidden boss hastily retreated, hands already weaving signs.
The Hidden Boss activates a curse. The filth in the sewer surges into waves!
The stench that had merely stung his nose now became overwhelming. At the same time, black filth began oozing from the sewer walls, instantly forming a violent torrent.
A dark mage. And a curse specialist at that?
Lee Hyun analyzed the enemy’s nature in an instant using his Hwaan Geumjeong.
Malodor Resistance (F) has been created.
The torrent spat out arrows of condensed filth in rapid succession—poison arrows brimming with deadly toxin.
But,
Dueogsini’s Collar activates, raising your defense to its maximum!
The blue-white lightning now wrapped around Lee Hyun like tightly woven fabric, far more durable than before. The poison arrows burned away in the lightning before they could even touch him.
The toxic mist that bloomed from the chemical reaction stung his nose, yet,
Poison Resistance (E) has rapidly increased in proficiency and reached D-rank.
Malodor Resistance (F) has risen to E-rank.
The effects only served as fuel, spurring even greater growth within him.
Before the hidden boss could react, Lee Hyun was already in front of him. The twin axes—Sikcheol and Galyuk—crossed in an X-shape.
The hidden boss slammed his hand downward in panic. Filth carrying vicious acid poured from the ceiling like a waterfall, aiming straight for Lee Hyun’s head.
This one I dodge.
Instinct told him Dueogsini’s Collar wouldn’t be enough. Lee Hyun hurriedly pulled back.
Chiiiiik!
The ground where he had stood melted away. He caught the faint sigh of relief that slipped from beneath the hidden boss’s robe.
Lee Hyun didn’t miss the opening.
Now!
He hurled Sikcheol with all his strength.
The axe spun through the air and sank dead-center into the flute with a heavy thud.
Then it split cleanly in two.
The flute has been destroyed.
The flute’s curse has been forcibly terminated.
“The flute…! Uncle’s flute— AAAAAAHH!”
Bloodshot eyes filled with rage flashed from within the hood.
“I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
The filth had already risen to the hidden boss’s ankles. It surged into massive waves. Arrows, spears, and blades of every kind erupted from the giant whirlpool and rained toward Lee Hyun.
At the same time—
Squeak! Squeak!
Rats that had been hiding in pipes and gaps between bricks poured out and began to swarm.
The Hidden Boss has entered Phase 2!
Lee Hyun swung his remaining axe to smash away the filth that managed to slip past Dueogsini’s Collar. He could feel the poison and acid growing progressively stronger.
Crackle!
Kim Min-jung’s voice came through the King of the Bamboo Forest’s Ears he had kept in his ear. Through his expanded senses, he could feel the newly awakened citizens gathering around the sinkhole in the city center.
Lee Hyun knocked aside another poison arrow that had flown right in front of his face.
He could sense the hidden boss’s intention to push him deeper into the lightless part of the sewer.
The space here is too narrow. My movement range is too restricted.
Lee Hyun’s strength lay in overwhelming destructive power and wide-area attacks. The fact that the enemy was deliberately limiting that advantage proved he knew how to fight.
“You who broke Uncle’s flute. You will never, ever leave this place. I’ll bury you in filth until not even your bones remain.”
Moreover—
There are more curse sorcerers deeper inside.
The Sacred Relic Hwaan Geumjeong has detected roughly a dozen curse sorcerers rushing this way.
Be careful!
At a glance, these new arrivals seemed just as skilled as the hidden boss he was currently fighting.
Of course. There was no way only one person could keep blowing that flute nonstop. I figured as much.
The curse sorcerers who had been scattered throughout the sewers, carrying out their own tasks, must have noticed the emergency above and were coming to provide support.
If they all gathered together, the situation would become truly dangerous.
For a moment Lee Hyun considered moving the battlefield to the surface, but—
No. That would let the filth spill aboveground. The entire city would be devastated.
The quest condition to save as many citizens as possible made that option impossible. The filth carried not only acid and poison, but curses whose nature was difficult to identify.
Therefore—
I’ll take them down one by one, right here.
Fortunately, Lee Hyun was nearly immune to curses.
That left only one method.
Transforming from a fire goblin into a night goblin.
Crackle…!
Shadow of Eoduksini activates. You conceal yourself within the shadows using stealth techniques.
Lee Hyun vanished into the darkness.
The Hidden Boss can no longer detect you!
The hidden boss, who had believed victory was certain once his comrades arrived, now wore a look of pure bewilderment at losing his target right before his eyes.
“Where are you?! Stop hiding like a rat and come out!”
Come out… come out… out…
The echo reverberated through the sewer, but no sound came in return.
What was going on?
Where had he gone?
The hidden boss frantically scanned his surroundings. Yet even with eyes and senses long accustomed to the pitch-black sewer where no light had entered for nearly a decade, he could not detect even a trace of Lee Hyun.
“Damn it…!”
The hidden boss felt his mouth go dry.
He kept activating tracking curses, but—
Curse failed due to Curse Resistance (S).
Curse failed due to Curse Resistance (S).
……
They all fizzled out.
The hidden boss grew increasingly anxious, unable to predict how the unseen Lee Hyun would strike.
Bubble, bubble!
The filth linked to his mind began to boil. At that exact moment—
Splash.
From far away, deep within the sewer, came the sound of footsteps treading across the water’s surface.
No way!
The hidden boss’s eyes widened at the thought that flashed through his mind.
But it was already too late.
“Kyaaak!”
Curse Sorcerer #2 has been eliminated.
“■■■! Damn it!”
The consciousness of one of his comrades—no, one of his friends—linked through their souls had been severed.
The hidden boss began sprinting deeper into the sewer.
* * *
What on earth is happening down there?
Kim Min-jung glanced briefly toward the distant sinkhole but could sense nothing. Its depth was simply too great.
More than that—
The poison and stench are so thick my senses are blocked. There are layers of curses too. The flute wasn’t the only problem.
Even after resolving the flute’s curse, a far greater obstacle remained. Kim Min-jung let out a sigh.
How can Senior stay perfectly fine in there?
In truth, Kim Min-jung had struggled considerably from the moment they entered the city, fighting off mental corruption. No matter how tightly she wore her earplugs, they couldn’t completely block every curse.
Yet Lee Hyun had endured it without issue. And now he had even infiltrated the boss room, which was far worse.
Is it because the Snow Queen’s curse was so powerful that he gained this level of resistance? Just how many horrific curses has he suffered through…?
She recalled what Lee Hyun had said during last night’s strategy meeting.
“I won’t have any trouble operating inside the city. So while I handle the boss, you take charge of the citizens freed from the curse.”
“Free from the curse? Even the Ranker team leaders couldn’t manage that here. That’s reckless—”
“What do you think I’ve been through all this time?”
“……!”
“So while I’m dealing with the hidden boss, there’s something you absolutely must do.”
Resistance was something one could only obtain by being pushed to their absolute limit. Usually the process was so painful that people avoided it at all costs.
Yet he possessed resistance bordering on full immunity…
“Are you an outsider?”
Kim Min-jung snapped out of her thoughts at the voice calling her.
Following Lee Hyun’s orders, she had already moved the citizens freed from zombification away from the sinkhole. One of them, apparently their representative, spoke to her.
He was a middle-aged man with a strongly greedy face.
“My name is ■■■■ ■ ■■■. I am the mayor of this city. Could you explain the current situation to us?”
The native inhabitants of the dungeon perceived their world as real. They believed they were truly alive. They referred to the hunters who came from another realm to solve their “problems” as outsiders.
In turn, the dungeon system viewed those natives as mere NPCs. Hunters saw them the same way.
Take the citizens and prepare for the next curse.
The next curse? You mean there’s something besides the flute?
Why did the mayor call the Pied Piper in the original story?
Because he was tormented by rats… Ah!
Exactly. So what will happen once the flute falls silent?
……!
After suffering under the curse for so long, I imagine they’ll be consumed by malice.
Remembering Lee Hyun’s warning, Kim Min-jung spoke to the mayor.
“I know everyone must be very confused right now. But this is exactly when you must remain calm. As you can see, the flute’s curse turned you all into zombies, and soon a swarm of rats will flood the city. Our colleague is holding them back below for now, but the rats are another matter. We need your cooperation.”
“So you’re saying this city will fall into chaos again?”
“Yes.”
Kim Min-jung nodded at the mayor’s words.
She thought the persuasion was over, but—
“Hey! Are you joking?!”
The mayor grows furious.
At the following outburst, Kim Min-jung’s expression hardened.
“We outsiders endured all kinds of inconvenience because you people said you would deal with that damned flute! Yet not only did you fail to solve it, you turned us into this state and now you’re bringing the rat swarm back too? Are you mocking us?!”
Kim Min-jung’s eyes grew colder and colder.
Whether he noticed or not, the greedy mayor’s lips twisted into a wide sneer.
“If you’re mercenaries, then act like it and do your job properly! If not, at least compensate us for all the damage we’ve suffered!”
In the original fairy tale, the reason the Pied Piper lured the children away with his flute was because the greedy mayor had been too stingy to pay the proper commission fee.
Even in this emergency, he’s still acting this greedy?
Kim Min-jung looked at the other citizens. Most of them seemed indifferent. Some were focused on finding their children or terrified of the coming rat swarm. A few even showed hostility in agreement with the mayor.
…What would Senior do in a situation like this?
“If you compensate us properly, who knows? We might be willing to help a lit— Uwaaak!”
The mayor had formed a circle with his thumb and index finger in a money gesture, but when Kim Min-jung suddenly drew her pistol and pressed it to his forehead, he recoiled in terror.
“T-take that away! You’ve gone cra—!”
Bang!
“Uwaaaaah!”
The mayor fell backward onto the ground. The citizens screamed and hurriedly lowered themselves.
Bang! Bang! Baaaaang!
Even after that, Kim Min-jung pulled the trigger several more times. Several bullet holes now marked the ground between the mayor’s legs. His pants were soaked.
“If you say another word, the next hole will be in that thick skull of yours.”
“……!!”
“Understood?”
“Y-yes…!”
Normally hunters—and the usually rational Kim Min-jung—avoided causing trouble with natives to ensure smooth quest progression. But in this situation, the Jang Lee-hyun method seemed perfectly appropriate.
It even felt a little refreshing.
“Then what are you waiting for? Move! Unless you want to watch the city be des—”
Just as Kim Min-jung was about to continue, a clear chime rang out.
A dungeon message suddenly appeared even though she hadn’t done anything. And it was a city-wide announcement.
Already?!
She looked up urgently.
A new hidden scenario has opened.
The sound of the flute had been charming the rat swarm that had plagued the city for so long.
Now that the flute has fallen silent, the rats are preparing to move once more. In ten minutes, the city will be submerged by the rat swarm.
The rats have been hiding in the vile sewers for a long time and carry deadly pathogens.
An epidemic may break out. Proceed with caution.
They had barely escaped the zombie curse, and now an epidemic was coming. It was far sooner than expected.
Kim Min-jung shouted urgently.
“Hurry! Move!”