Sticky Sewer (2)

“Slurp…”

In the two-person room given to the cadets for emergency evacuation, Moon Bora quietly drank her tea while looking at Yu Seha before her.

Under normal circumstances, this would have been unthinkable.
Not anyone else but Moon Bora.
She was welcoming a man at this late hour.

Moreover, the clothes Moon Bora was currently wearing were see-through, revealing her bare skin.

Although a cardigan covered the important parts, it was still a very bold action for her.

If her past self from a few years ago had seen this, she would have turned bright red and shouted, ‘Wh-what?! Men and women should not sit together after the age of seven!’

“…Slurp.“

Moon Bora felt that she had indeed become quite bold.

Or rather, she corrected herself.

“…That means I trust him that much.”

Yu Seha.
The most handsome and charming man she had ever seen in her life.
At the same time, a man so suspicious that it makes you curious about his true identity.
Yet, he doesn’t even think about hiding it.

‘…Of course, he says he’s only like that with us…’

To Moon Bora, it didn’t seem like he was trying to hide anything.
Maybe that’s why.
Now, instead of finding him suspicious, she felt worried for him.

As if, ‘If it’s not me, this foolish man… will be used by someone else…’

‘…Indeed, if this goes in a bad direction, it might develop into something like gaslighting.’

Yes, even now.

“…To summarize, an ‘Undiscovered Dungeon’ exists. And if we clear it, this incident will naturally be resolved… right?”

“Yes.”

“…And to deal with the ‘slime’ types that appear there, there’s nothing better than my [Freeze] ability, right?”

“Yes.”

“And the entry conditions require two strikers, and the dungeon is short, so we can go in and clean up the incident in a day. Later, we can just say that Professor Peng Jin-ah took care of any follow-up…”

“Yes.”

Ha, this damn man…
He makes such a convenient story so easily!

Moon Bora’s head throbbed, but she understood it at the same time.

If what he said was true from start to finish, acting immediately was the right choice.

“…Mr. Yu Seha. I’ve been curious for a while…”
“Yes?”
“…No, never mind.”

Moon Bora barely held back the words, ‘Do you know the future?’ from escaping her throat.

Of course, even though she held back, Yu Seha had that look, as if he almost knew what she was about to say.

Yes, he…
In many ways…
…was not hiding anything.

’…Sigh.’

Actually, she had a rough guess.

Yu Seha probably…

Was the kind of human with the power she was thinking of.

‘…It was in the history books too.’

Commonly known as the <Seers>.
On the day the Gate first opened.

The national-level hunter, ‘Ji Han-seong’, who wisely prevented an unprecedented crisis, left the words, ‘I know the future of this world,’ before dying.

‘Perhaps…’

He, like ‘Ji Han-seong’…

“Moon Bora? What are you thinking about so deeply?”
“Oh, nothing… It’s nothing. Anyway… I understand. I’ll help you.”

Yu Seha’s face brightened at her answer.

Moon Bora sipped her tea as she watched him.

In fact, there were countless details that needed to be addressed.

No matter how tempting the <Undiscovered Dungeon> might be, it was still a dungeon where one had to risk their life to enter.

However, such things…
…were trivial compared to the sins she had committed.

‘I must repay…’

Yu Seha didn’t seem to care, feeling displeased whenever she tried to speak about it.

Moon Bora still felt heartbroken for having misunderstood him as a <Demon>.

Although she had repaid her debt by having Guild Leader Noh Kyung-wan fired, the real strength had come from Ju Na-young and Su Ok-bin, not her.

‘…I guess I will continue to be the least helpful.’

Peng Jin-ah, who had committed a similar sin, had already accepted him as her exclusive disciple.
And while she didn’t teach it to him directly, she greatly repaid him by passing down the [Overlord Sword Technique].

[Snow Ice] was of no help to his future.
That fact weighed heavily on Moon Bora’s mind.

Even so, giving money or goods was meaningless since he didn’t like them.

Therefore, Moon Bora thought it was somewhat fortunate.

‘…I might not be able to repay him until I die.’

Even if it were like this.
Helping him bit by bit made her feel at ease.

“…Yu Seha?”
“Hm?”
“…Why are we here?”

The place Yu Seha led her to was a storage room in an unused classroom.

It was natural for Moon Bora to have doubts.

The dormitory where the slimes appeared, and the storage room were too far apart.

No matter how she looked at it, they didn’t seem related.

“Usually, aren’t [Undiscovered Dungeons] centered around the monsters that appear?”
“Well, generally speaking, yes… but this place is a bit special.”
“…What?”

Yu Seha, who had uttered incomprehensible words, rummaged through the storage room and gestured after finding something.

“Moon Bora, look at this.”
“…?”

Moon Bora approached.
She was startled by the shining mineral before her eyes.

She was amazed not only by the fact that it was a mineral with swirling mana.
The sudden appearance of an information window startled her even more.

“…Really, in such a remote place?”

Yu Seha nodded at Moon Bora’s question.
It was understandable to be surprised.
But it’s always darkest under the lamp.

The slimes increasing in the dormitory were breeding here and multiplying their numbers.
They were spreading through other facilities.

The reason it was hard to find the source was because the vast power of the ‘Dungeon’ was interfering with detection.

‘In other words, unless you’re someone like me who knows the location from the start…’

Finding this place was nearly impossible.

“Once we clear this place, the situation will calm down.”
“Then, are we going in right now?”
“Yes, the sooner we solve it, the better.”
“Understood.”

The two people nodded at each other after finishing their conversation.

Yu Seha placed his hand on the mineral and infused it with magic power.

Crackle!

What appeared inside was a typical underground waterway.

It was probably connected to the sewage treatment plant within the academy.

‘<Sticky Sewers>.’

This was the official name of the dungeon.

“…It’s larger than I thought.”
“It probably expanded as it mutated. Dungeons are places where physical laws mean nothing, after all.”

Though I wanted to continue the conversation, I turned my attention to the ringing alarm in my head.

“Looks like we’re about to receive some guests.”
“…Here they come.”
“Yes.”

Squirm!

What appeared before us were slimes with a faint blue hue.

A faint acidic smell emanated from their bodies, spreading an unpleasant odor.

“<Blue Slime>… the most basic ones.”
“Moon Bora, cover me from behind.”
“Leave it to me.”

I drew the [Saint’s Sword] from my bosom.
The subtly glowing sword, imbued with divinity, began to emit intense magical power.

Bang!

I charged forward.

Ten minutes later.

Swish!

“Squeak!”

The tip of the sword pierced precisely into the body of the last remaining one.

The body of the <Blue Slime>, letting out its final death throes, burst apart.

As expected, slashes didn’t work well on slimes, but since it was the most basic one, it wasn’t hard to defeat.

As I was retrieving the mana stone that had fallen to the ground, I glanced at the [Saint’s Sword].

‘…As expected…’

When the weapon’s grade was high, it was on a different level.
For the first time in my life, I was holding a Hero-grade weapon.

Even though it was extremely light, its cutting power was astonishingly sharp.
It was just that the ones we were facing now were ‘slime’ types, which were highly resistant to slashing attacks.
In other places, it could probably perform even more impressively.

‘I’m satisfied.’

Just as I was thinking that hidden pieces were indeed different.
Moon Bora approached.
She glanced at the [Saint’s Sword] and, without much comment, asked about the dungeon.

I realized that this was her way of showing consideration.

“Seha, are there any traps we should be wary of here?”

Moon Bora’s question was valid.
Most dungeons do contain traps.

But here, in the <Sticky Sewers>, no such thing existed.

“Instead, from now on, annoying creatures will start appearing.”
“Annoying… creatures?”

Just as I was about to answer.
[Unprecedented Sense] buzzed, ringing an alarm in my head.

“Just like the ones coming now.”
“…What?”

As soon as I said those words, about four slimes appeared.

They didn’t look much different from the <Blue Slime> we had just faced, but their color was uniquely blood-red.

Inside them, there was an orange mass undulating, making it clear they were anything but ordinary.

‘They’ve come.’

Among C-grade creatures, purely in terms of firepower, the <Red Slime> was considered the highest grade.