Ch.52Underground Ruins

Aurel’s words were slightly tempting, but what mattered most right now was escaping this area.

Using an exclusive hunting ground could wait until after finding an exit.

“Hmm…”

I passed through a path paved with stone bricks and climbed up a collapsed building.

While moving, we encountered Fusion Bodies and inevitably had to fight, but Aurel’s soft fists took care of all of them.

“Can you see anything?”

“Umm…”

I climbed to the highest point available and looked around, but couldn’t spot anything that looked like an exit.

Instead, all I discovered was a disgustingly large number of Fusion Bodies.

After a while.

As I stood on tiptoes trying to see into the distance.

I remembered something I had forgotten.

“Oh!”

“Ah! Did you find something?”

“No!”

I hadn’t found anything.

But maybe I’d figured out a way to escape this place.

I pulled on Hwang-gu’s leash as she sat below me, yawning lazily.

“Ack!”

“Let’s go!”

The place I headed with the children was the newly appeared item shop.

Although the shop NPC wasn’t a living creature, it had enough self-awareness to hold a basic conversation.

If I asked about how to leave this place, I might get an answer.

Standing in front of the shop we’d reached.

I swallowed nervously and stepped inside.

“Oh. My first customer.”

Our eyes met as I entered the shop.

Sitting behind the counter was that same Black NPC I’d seen before.

“Need something?”

Scripted dialogue. Scripted behavior patterns, but what I needed right now wasn’t an item.

When I shook my head, the Black NPC raised his eyebrows significantly and sat back down.

With his arms crossed as he looked at me, it seemed like he was waiting for me to speak.

“Can I ask you something?”

“A question? I’ll answer if I can.”

The Black NPC spoke as if it was no big deal.

He nodded lightly with a smile.

“Then, tell me how to get out of these Underground Ruins!”

The Black NPC made a contemplative expression at my question.

After some time had passed.

He finally spoke.

“Well, I suppose I can answer that.”

“Really?”

“But. I’ll need appropriate compensation.”

“Compensation…?”

“I’m a merchant. My role is to give you things and receive credits in return.”

“H-how much?”

“Hmm…”

The Black NPC started thinking again at my question.

He seemed less like he was contemplating and more like he was waiting for some kind of answer.

After more time passed.

Just as my mouth was getting dry from waiting, he spoke.

“Thirty thousand.”

“T-thirty thousand…?”

“That seems appropriate.”

I hurriedly rummaged through my pockets.

All I found were two thousand-credit bills.

The problem was that I’d spent all my credits recently getting armor for the children.

“Hah…”

“Charlotte! Take my credits!”

“Mine too!”

Hwang-gu and Aurel offered their credits.

Hwang-gu handed over two five-hundred credit coins.

Aurel had six one-hundred credit coins.

“Short on money, I see?”

“A-a little…”

“Doesn’t look like just a little to me.”

“It is just a little…”

In the end, we had no choice but to leave the shop.

Even if we sold our items, we’d still be far short of credits.

I couldn’t strip the clothes off the children to sell them just because we needed money.

The armor infused with the children’s warmth and scent was absolutely not for sale.

“Looks like we’ll have to farm, then.”

I nodded at Aurel’s words.

The good news was that we could have this vast area all to ourselves.

If we diligently collected items that spawned in the field, we could quickly gather thirty thousand credits.

I took out my white Bone Sword and handed it to Aurel.

“Here.”

“T-this…!”

“We’ll be moving around a lot, so we’ll keep fighting Fusion Bodies. I’ll lend this to you for now.”

“Sniff sniff…!”

Aurel started sniffing the Bone Sword I’d given her.

She must have picked up the habit from spending time with Hwang-gu.

“Yeppi.”

Next, I took out Yeppi and a matte black katana.

I planned to level up the two children as much as possible while collecting thirty thousand credits.

“Gasp…!”

Yeppi, who popped up from the shadows, was sitting on the ground holding crayons.

She must have been drawing something in the shadows.

Startled, Yeppi quickly hid her crayons behind her back.

Not only were her movements quick, but she also looked at Hwang-gu and Aurel with wary eyes.

She apparently still hadn’t forgotten about that incident.

“Yeppi.”

“Y-yes!”

“Here. Take this.”

“Gasp…!”

Just as I had given the Bone Sword to Aurel, I handed my matte black katana to Yeppi.

Yeppi received the katana with a surprised expression.

“You two follow us and take care of the Fusion Bodies.”

“Yes!”

“Y-yes!”

Aurel and Yeppi nodded and responded energetically to my command.

I wanted to send out all my Subordinates to just collect items, but I couldn’t because of the Fusion Bodies wandering around everywhere.

It would be terrible if any of the children got hurt.

So I planned to collect the items myself.

Along with Hwang-gu here.

“Let’s go!”

Pitter-patter!

I ran hard with Hwang-gu.

I couldn’t run too fast. What if there were items on the ground that I might miss?

Adjusting my speed appropriately, I firmly held Hwang-gu’s leash to make sure she didn’t get lost again.

“Pant pant!”

Hwang-gu ran happily beside me.

Aurel and Yeppi were beating down the Fusion Bodies that approached from around us.

“Hiyah!”

“Heeyah!”

They looked more like they were swinging clubs than swords.

Aurel and Yeppi turned the Fusion Bodies into bloody pancakes with their swords.

“Charlotte! Over there!”

“Okay!”

“This way!”

“Got it!”

Pitter-patter! Pitter-patter!

Hwang-gu and I ran around busily, diligently picking up items that had fallen to the ground.

Most of the items we could collect were red potions or food items.

Of course, there were some jackpot items mixed in.

“This is…!”

“Wow…!”

Perhaps because of the ruins’ characteristics?

A red ruby had fallen on the ground.

[Ruins Ruby]

An item that can be sold at a high price to shops

It looks so delicious, red like blood.

As I licked my lips looking at the ruby, Hwang-gu also stuck out her soft tongue and licked her lips.

Seems I wasn’t the only one having strange thoughts.

But, a Ruins Ruby? This was an item I’d never seen before.

As I placed the ruby on my palm and tilted my head, Aurel approached.

“What’s that?”

“Oh, it’s a Ruins Ruby. I was just looking at it since it’s an item I’ve never seen before.”

“Hmm…”

Aurel tilted her head at my answer.

She also seemed unfamiliar with this kind of item.

“Could it be dummy data that got included?”

“Dummy data?”

“Yes, items that were implemented but blocked from dropping in the actual game.”

“Oh…”

Indeed, Aurel’s explanation made sense.

I clutched the gem tightly and jumped to my feet.

“Let’s go!”

“Where to?”

“To the shop!”

“To sell that gem?”

“Yes. It says it can be sold to shops at a high price.”

Maybe this one item could cover the entire thirty thousand credits.

I pulled on Hwang-gu’s leash and ran to the shop.

Pitter-patter!

But contrary to my expectations, the Ruins Ruby wasn’t an expensive item.

“Why?!”

I wailed as I looked at the five hundred credit coin in my hand.

I had rushed here excitedly because it clearly said it could be sold at a high price, but all this Black guy gave me was just five hundred credits.

“It said it was an expensive item!”

“That’s all that item is worth.”

The Black man smiled lightly at me.

I wanted to plant my fist in that smiling face, but all attack actions were prohibited inside the shop.

“Charlotte…”

“Sigh…”

In the end, I could only sigh and leave the shop.

The bigger the expectation, the bigger the disappointment.

Of course, with hard work, we could quickly gather thirty thousand credits.

We had no choice but to go farming again.

I left the Fusion Bodies to Aurel and Yeppi while diligently collecting items.

After investing considerable time and farming quite a lot of items, it happened.

“Charlotte…!”

“What?”

Aurel’s sudden call.

Wondering what it was, I turned my head to see Aurel pressed against a wall with just her face peeking out, watching something.

Yeppi was doing exactly the same thing.

“Quick, come look!”

Aurel’s urgent gesture.

I tilted my head but approached Aurel.

“There…! There…!”

The place Aurel was pointing to.

There was a Vampire emitting waves of red blood energy walking among the Fusion Bodies.

“Gasp…!”

[monster-boss-0065]

Level: 20

Race: Fusion Body

Health 100%

Mana 100%

Emotional State: –

It looked like a Vampire on the outside, but its race classification was Fusion Body.

Moreover, the surrounding Fusion Bodies weren’t attacking it.

The appearance of an unfamiliar monster without even a proper name.

It seemed this one was also dummy data, like the gem earlier.

“It looks strong!”

I nodded at Aurel’s words.

It probably was strong in reality.

After all, it was classified as a boss monster.

Could we hunt it?

Since it was a monster I’d never seen before, I had no information about it.

Plus, since it seemed to be something that was implemented but later abandoned, I questioned whether it would drop proper items.

I looked up at the sky.

How were they patching things that they’d even pull out dummy data like this?

It seemed that this god person was a bit lacking in intelligence.

The movement pattern of the nameless Vampire boss was very simple.

It walked forward a bit, then turned around and walked back.

That was the extent of its movement, just going back and forth over a certain distance.

If we didn’t bother it, we could avoid an unnecessary fight.

I pulled on the leash of the growling Hwang-gu and left the area with the children.