Chapter 110
Chapter 110
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 110
Chapter Title: Horned Cat Tamer (1)
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“Wh-where is this...”
Slowly opening his eyes, he saw warm light filtering through dense foliage.
Gentle sunlight. Vibrant flowers sparkling in every color, surrounded by lush green trees.
It was a forest landscape so beautiful it felt like stepping into a fairy tale.
“Ugh.”
He slowly raised his body, sprawled out like trash blown by the wind.
“Ow!”
Straightening his spine sent a tearing pain through his ankle.
Running his hand over it, he found it swollen to the size of a child’s fist. Probably a fracture or at least a bad sprain.
“Just where the hell am I?”
Looking around, he couldn’t hide his unease.
My name is Kim Woojin. Thirty years old.
Just six months ago, I was an ordinary office worker, but now I’m a late-bloomer Awakener who awakened on the late side.
My manifested skill is the D-grade stealth skill ‘Invisible.’
The only thing I can make transparent is my own body, and even that lasts only a short time.
I didn’t have the skills or power to join a team, and I hated fighting monsters anyway.
After much deliberation, the job I chose was collecting resources inside dungeons and delivering them.
Of course, companies needing large quantities run their own Awakener teams... but there are plenty that only need small amounts, so I could pick up modest gigs.
“Why the hell did a Hidden Monster show up all of a sudden...”
I had been mining ‘Sweet Pebbles’ inside a C-grade dungeon at the edge of the Safe Dungeon zone on my way back out.
Then suddenly, a Hidden Monster—a Flame Wave Salamander—dropped from the sky.
After demolishing an entire rest area, it was still furious for some reason and started scouring the surroundings. Then it went invisible and chased after me, who was hiding in stealth mode.
“Ugh!”
The moment the Flame Wave Salamander locked eyes on me, my stealth skill broke.
I ran with everything I had and spotted a huge pit beyond the mist, so I hurled myself into it.
“I thought it was just a pit. It’s a dungeon, huh.”
It looked like a beautiful forest on the surface, but floating in the sky wasn’t the sun—it was an artificial white light.
“Cheolcheol, where exactly are we?”
He asked his nanobot companion dangling from his shoulder, but it only let out a faint whirring sound.
“Did you get smashed up somewhere?”
The sturdy alloy exterior of Cheolcheol was melted in spots like chewed gum.
It had fired a stun gun at the Flame Wave Salamander to buy me time to escape, only to take a counterattack.
[Com... communication disrupted. Cannot retrieve map data.]
A sluggish voice came from Cheolcheol, its circuits apparently damaged.
[GPS damaged. Based on escape route and direction, it seems you’ve entered a dungeon near the Variable Dungeon boundary.]
“So it really is inside a dungeon.”
We’re screwed.
My leg’s messed up bad, and I’ve stumbled into some unknown dungeon. All I can do now is crawl my way out.
Rustle. Crunch crunch.
Then, the bushes far off shook, and he sensed something approaching.
Judging by the sounds and vibrations, it wasn’t just one—it felt like a massive group of monsters heading this way.
“Damn it.”
Rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out a small bead from his belt: a ‘Boom Squad.’
A throwable grenade sold at Awakener shops—small, but with destructive power comparable to a D-grade explosion skill.
“Cheolcheol, is the recording function working?”
[Affirmative.]
“Then record this. It might be my last moments.”
[Starting video recording.]
“And if I die, end the recording and get out of the dungeon. Upload everything to the Association.”
[Command confirmed.]
Swallowing his loneliness and fear at Cheolcheol’s indifferent reply—caring nothing for my death—I forced a smile and muttered lowly.
“That way, at least they’ll recover my body.”
Saying “body” out loud brought a wave of terror crashing over me.
Was I really the type to give up my life this easily? But I didn’t want to charge in half-assed and get eaten alive by monsters.
Whoosh.
The bushes parted gradually, and dozens of shadows surrounded him.
“Huh?”
They weren’t monsters—they were small, cute animals like foxes, cats, and koalas, sized like children.
-Snuggle?
Dozens of the animals stared at him with wide, round eyes, looking startled themselves.
* * *
A few days later.
A peculiar video was uploaded to ‘Theobroma,’ the video-sharing platform for Awakeners.
From the nanobot’s perspective, the anonymous footage showed a dungeon like a beautiful forest, filled with cute monsters no one had ever seen before.
And that wasn’t all that was surprising.
The monsters surrounded what looked like an injured Awakener, competing to offer him glowing herbs.
Not just potent healing spirit herbs, but even relics and Golden Grass that fetched sky-high prices.
-Jackpot dungeon discovered!
The video’s title was ‘A dungeon this beautiful actually exists. So healing.’
But to Awakeners, all they saw were the monsters ripe for high sale prices and the pricey herbs.
After the upload, tamers with Taming skills and explorers with search skills flocked to find the dungeon.
But no matter how hard they looked, they couldn’t locate it.
Once word got out that people were obsessed with finding it, the anonymous poster quickly deleted the video.
-Damn it! At least tell us the location before deleting!
A mysterious dungeon full of cute monsters and herbs.
But even viral videos fade fast.
Due to the platform’s nature of constantly filling with new content, the undiscovered dungeon gradually slipped from people’s memories.
* * *
“Horned Cat?”
The Heavenly Demon, reading a book at the reception table, blinked at Jang Chaewon.
“An animal?”
“Well, sort of... a spirit beast. You have them in your world too. Long-lived turtles or cranes. Like that.”
Jang Chaewon handed over documents from the Dungeon Management Team.
The holographic file showed a massive cat head, with a beautiful hexagonal herb resembling crystal eyes sparkling atop it.
“So, you’re saying I need to persuade these animals to get that grass.”
The Heavenly Demon furrowed his brow in confusion, and Jang Chaewon nodded.
“Right. You need the Horned Cat’s permission to harvest this Golden Grass.”
“I can’t comprehend it. Just subdue it and pluck it.”
“Golden Grass doesn’t just grow on the Horned Cat’s head.”
“What do you mean?”
“Simply put, it’s linked to its consciousness. Force it off or steal it, and the effect vanishes.”
With that, Jang Chaewon placed a large box at the Heavenly Demon’s feet.
Inside were jerky chunks the size of an adult’s forearm, a fishing rod with fluffy bait, a plastic box stuffed with catnip, and more.
“So... this is what’s needed.”
“Yeah. Even spirit beasts are cats at heart.”
“Hmm.”
“And I told Nameless about it too, so study up on cat likes and dislikes. Don’t pick fights.”
The Heavenly Demon looked troubled.
“Even for a Divine Realm request, this feels off.”
“No choice. Golden Grass only grows from Horned Cat fur.”
The latest dungeon material request was for the mystical Golden Grass.
But it only grew on Horned Cats’ heads, linked to their consciousness.
And though they lived in dungeons, Horned Cats weren’t monsters—they were spirit beasts.
Like the shrine goddess in that one dungeon who wasn’t a monster.
“Why the hell does this cat live inside a dungeon?”
“Who knows, maybe it likes it there. Not all dungeons are barren wastelands.”
“Hmm.”
The Heavenly Demon crossed his arms, staring down at the table with a grunt.
He wasn’t in a position to be picky, though. He needed new tires ASAP.
“Understood. This seat will handle it.”
Near the boundary between the Safe Zone and Variable Dungeon region.
Passing through thick mist rising from the ground revealed a landscape of forest mixed with ruins.
A musty smell wafting from somewhere mingled with faint monster cries.
The scenery looked uglier on the Safe Dungeon side, but the atmosphere felt worse in the Variable Dungeon region.
[300 meters further northeast.]
Following Nameless’s guidance, the Heavenly Demon walked slowly.
He finally arrived at a massive pit visible between the rubble of a collapsed building.
It was so deep the bottom wasn’t visible.
[This is the entrance to the dungeon commonly called ‘Secret Forest.’]
“Hm.”
The Heavenly Demon narrowed his eyes at the deep pit.
Of course, it didn’t look like a dungeon entrance.
But some people have keen observation, others strong curiosity.
Surely some had tried investigating inside?
Tap.
Leaping into the pit, the Heavenly Demon finally understood why the dungeon hadn’t been found.
He landed on the bottom, but it was filled only with eerie darkness—no entrance in sight.
“Similar to formations.”
The Heavenly Demon, versed in all martial world mechanisms and arrays, instantly saw the darkness wasn’t real but an illusion from an array.
“Impressive. Using mechanisms here too.”
[They call it a barrier here. Mostly used in the Divine Realm. I’ll guide you through the entrance.]
“Like the Earth-Subduing Extreme Array, using earthly power to create hallucinations.”
[Pardon?]
“No need. This seat has it figured out.”
Staring into the darkness, the Heavenly Demon strode forward.
“Three steps arrogance, two steps prison...”
Passing through the array in one go, brilliant light and a beautiful forest appeared before him.
“This place...”
Gazing at the forest, the Heavenly Demon swallowed an exclamation.
This forest, brimming with primordial mystery, rivaled the beauty of places where the Shrine God or Flower Spirit God resided.
Crunch crunch.
But then the bushes rustled, and dozens of animals slowly emerged around the forest.
-Meowr?
Before the Heavenly Demon stood colorful, cute animals he’d never seen before, clustered together.
Some looked like yellow cat-squirrel hybrids; others like bears with sharp fangs and round white bellies.
“What are those?”
Even the Heavenly Demon, who’d seen every animal on TV, was seeing these for the first time.
Nameless, observing the gathered animals, shook its head.
[No entries in the compendium. They’re cute, varied... like Pocket Monsters.]
“There’s a Horned Cat among them too?”
[No. Per the data from Jang Chaewon, the Horned Cat is a massive feline over four meters wide with golden horns. Best to head deeper.]
-Grrr.
But the docile animals staring at the Heavenly Demon began to distort their faces.
They growled low, baring fangs, poised to lunge.
“Why are they doing that?”
[They seem hostile toward you, Heavenly Demon.]
“Hmph.”
Snorting softly, the Heavenly Demon cracked his knuckles.
“If they charge, I’ll pet them a bit.”
[The mission is to obtain the spirit herb on the Horned Cat. I recommend ignoring them and proceeding.]
Nameless spoke again, knowing the Heavenly Demon never forgave attackers.
[Didn’t you watch videos on winning cats over before coming? Killing those could anger the Horned Cat.]
“Hmm.”
Grunting with dissatisfaction, the Heavenly Demon nodded.
“Fine.”
[I’ll mark the path.]
As Nameless projected a green guide line toward the left room surrounded by animals—
-Peww!
The frontmost plump-cheeked squirrel-like yellow animal lunged, firing lightning.
Zzzap.
A white bolt shot like an arrow, but the Heavenly Demon unleashed Night Moon Extreme Speed, darting into the forest along the guide light.
Once out of the forest, the pursuing animals’ movements stopped.
Stopping his lightness skill, the Heavenly Demon followed the guide slowly when Nameless spoke.
[Horned Cat.]