Chapter 49
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 49
Chapter Title: Goblin Cave (2)
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"The cave's as big as a mountain, but the entrance is like a mouse dick."
"Just say mouse dick. What the hell is a mouse dick? Doesn't fit."
Chase and Gronak had found the entrance leading into the cave.
Naturally, there was no door.
Poking their heads in for a look, it didn't feel like an ordinary cave.
What was the word for it?
"Feels like a building, right?"
"Yeah."
Beyond the entrance lay a massive lobby.
It had been meticulously carved by someone, with clear signs of artificial craftsmanship.
A statue of a strangely shaped goblin stood prominently in the center of the lobby.
There were also various furnishings of unknown purpose, a ceiling, and even stairs leading to the upper floors.
It was an exquisite interior, like something dwarves themselves might have built.
"......But seriously, what the fuck is this smell? It's goddamn awful."
However.
The place reeked with an unbearable stench.
It was a putrid odor that could rot your lungs.
Just sniffing it made their heads spin.
If the two dwarves had weak stomachs, they would've puked right there.
"I don't wanna go in. Am I the only one?"
"Then starve here."
"Don't wanna do that either."
"Then we go."
Chase took the lead, chiding Gronak, who was grimacing behind him.
"Quit nagging. That's why you're still unmarried."
"Don't bring up marriage when we're both single."
They already knew from detection magic that the interior structure was anything but ordinary.
This cave spanned from the 1st floor to the 80th.
Even accounting for the dwarves' height, the ceilings were impressively high.
Stepping inside made the sheer scale hit home.
It was while the two were observing their surroundings from the lobby.
Thud thud.
Thud thud.
The sound of someone coming down the stairs echoed.
Chase froze, going on high alert.
He turned toward the entrance, ready to bolt at any moment.
"It's a goblin."
The words came from beside him.
As Gronak said, it was a goblin.
Green skin, elongated nose.
Ears drooping like a pup's.
A face that screamed sneaky and evil at first glance.
A body smaller and scrawnier than a dwarf's.
Thirty permanent teeth.
It matched the classic image of a goblin that came to mind.
The creature bore an appearance strikingly similar to that goblin archetype.
But.
"What do we do? Kill it?"
A closer look revealed something off.
Its nose and mouth were swapped.
The mouth, which should be on the jaw below, was embedded smack in the center of its face.
And its eyes resembled the tiny, lifeless beads on a teddy bear, giving it an utterly eerie vibe.
"■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■ ■■■ ■ ■■■ ■■■. ■■ ■■■■ ■■■■"
The thing sniffed around, muttering to itself.
Unlike the grunting "Ker-ruk, ker-ruk" of normal goblins, this one was speaking.
Shouting something in a chilling language they couldn't understand.
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!"
The goblin let out a scream-like roar.
Even without understanding the words, the intent was clear.
Pure murderous rage.
Stay still, and they'd die.
Pure instinct.
"Agh!"
"Run!"
Chase grabbed Gronak's beard and yanked.
The two stubby dwarves bolted outside.
Chase glanced back before exiting.
And then.
Just a glimpse, but he witnessed the danger this place concealed.
Vibrations rumbled from behind.
Goblins were descending the stairs.
No—pouring down like a river.
What the hell was that?
How many goblins were crammed in this cave?
Even if you gathered every dwarf from Fire Forge.
Could they form a crowd that grotesque and bizarre?
The numbers were beyond comprehension.
They trampled each other, overflowing in a seething mass.
It was a wave made of goblins.
"■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Hundreds, thousands—maybe tens of thousands—of malice poured into the dwarves' ears.
The sound would linger in their minds for a long while.
.
.
.
.
.
"Hah, hah......"
"Fuck, what the hell was that? How does a place like this even exist? That make any sense...?"
The two dwarves had retreated a good distance from the entrance, catching their breath.
Gronak was in awe, passionately ranting about the freakish sight they'd just witnessed.
"Not every goblin in the world is holed up in this dungeon, so why so many...? Ugh, seriously, at my age, seeing goblins makes my heart hurt. Hell, those weren't even goblins! They were something wearing goblin skins!"
Chase felt the exact same way.
Dreamland was a bizarre dungeon.
He'd expected something far beyond prediction lurking here, but not to this extent.
His hands trembled like he had the shakes.
A mix of emotions, but the strongest was sheer terror.
"Hoo......"
Chase took deep breaths to calm his pounding chest.
'Dungeons are consistent. Don't forget that.'
Thinking back to the elevator, this dungeon wasn't about killing and smashing.
They needed to find a way forward.
The elevator killed everyone aboard if the headcount rule was broken.
Flip that around: despite having the power to slaughter them all, the elevator harmed no one if the rule was followed.
This cave was probably the same.
Subduing an near-infinite horde of goblins through combat wasn't the way.
'If fighting isn't the answer.'
Chase recalled what had just happened.
A goblin came down the stairs, spotted them, and screamed.
Then endless goblins flooded out.
Slit its throat before it could scream?
No.
There were definitely more goblins inside.
Encounter another, and it'd repeat the same.
The root problem remained unsolved.
As Chase pondered deeply.
"Ugh, this disgusting stink follows us out here too. What's the damn source?!"
Gronak pinched his nose, grumbling.
Dwarven noses were sensitive and adapted quickly, so it should've faded by now.
But the stench showed no signs of letting up.
Lightning struck in Chase's mind.
'The stench......?'
He shot to his feet.
Inside, fine—but why out here too?
"This smell might be the key to the answer."
"Suddenly?"
"Shut up and get up. Let's look around."
Just as the two were about to move.
Clatter clatter.
Clatter clatter.
A woman approached, lugging a large backpack.
Her attire screamed merchant.
No ordinary human.
This was a dungeon teeming with unknowns.
She was likely a minion of the dungeon.
Chase eyed the merchant warily.
She was a strikingly beautiful human.
Dwarven beauty standards differed from humans', but even a dwarf could be enchanted by her mysterious allure.
Chase swallowed hard and pinched his cheek.
'Don't get charmed. She's just like those goblins—an anomaly.'
Unlike the cautious Chase.
Gronak stared at the merchant, utterly entranced, like a man in love.
"H-Hello......"
What the hell was this idiot greeting a dungeon minion for?
Chase sighed softly.
He shook Gronak's shoulder, urging him to snap out of it.
"A-Ah, ahem."
Catching his friend's glare, Gronak scratched his head sheepishly.
It wasn't incomprehensible.
Even Chase felt his head go fuzzy looking at her.
So he avoided her face as much as possible.
This woman was no ally.
After the goblin wave, Chase's wariness was at its peak.
'Can we escape again this time?'
As Chase braced for potential danger.
To his surprise, the woman pulled a glass vial from her pouch.
The vial sloshed with liquid.
It was perfume.
The scent was familiar.
Identical to the stench assaulting their noses.
Chase had just thought: maybe the goblins' hostility stemmed from the smell.
The goblins were grotesque, but they had noses and mouths.
Their eyes were too unnatural to rely on sight, so it was still suspicion, but he figured they were blind.
Crucially, the goblin had sniffed before calling reinforcements.
Like checking a scent.
Worth testing.
Maybe they distinguished foe from kin by smell.
That's why Chase wanted to scout around.
To find something to mask themselves in the stench.
And this enigmatic merchant—whether she read his mind or not—offered exactly that.
Why?
There was that old saying: don't take medicine from strangers.
To Chase, the perfume looked like deadly poison.
"Thank you......"
"What?"
Gronak accepted the perfume politely with both hands.
'What's gotten into this guy?'
Chase was dumbfounded.
Gronak had his dim moments, but he wasn't this reckless.
Questions aside, the merchant pulled out a small ration of food and water from her pack.
It was their own supplies.
'Not a merchant—a thief.'
While Chase reeled off thoughts.
Gronak just gawked at her blankly.
The merchant took out a note and showed it to the dwarves.
【Selling food and water. Isn't this what you need?】
This was bad.
Something dangerous.
His instincts screamed warning.
Chase's gaze flicked to Gronak.
"Yes. We'll buy."
But Gronak's mouth opened faster than expected.
The merchant smiled.
She pried Gronak's mouth open with both hands.
Gronak was talking.
But with his jaws fixed, only meaningless sounds escaped.
The merchant gripped his front teeth.
And yanked out eight of them, one by one.
No blood spurted.
Gronak's expression, as his raw teeth were pulled, was bizarrely serene.
The merchant collected his teeth.
Kept smiling and waved the note.
【Selling food and water. Isn't this what you need?】
Gronak showed no sign of pain.
Despite their long friendship.
This was the first time Chase saw him look so blissfully happy.
At this rate, Gronak would've handed over his guts too.
Unable to watch, Chase smashed Gronak's jaw.
Crack!
A sharp sound rang out as Gronak's body toppled sideways.
Impulsive.
He might pay for interrupting her sales pitch.
But he couldn't let Gronak die like that.
"What a shame."
Unlike her lovely looks, the merchant's voice grated like scraping metal—horrific.
A squirming sound came from the flesh on her face.
He lacked the courage to look her in the eye.
Keeping his gaze down and composure was the best he could do.
"Such a pity. Truly a pity."
Fortunately, she made no further moves.
After speaking, she took Gronak's teeth.
And left the perfume, food, and water behind as she vanished leisurely.
"......"
This voice, too, would linger in their minds for a long while.