Ch.53Underground Ruins

Thirty thousand credits.

When I first heard I needed to collect thirty thousand credits, it seemed overwhelming, but once I started gathering items while exploring the ruins, I was able to collect them faster than expected.

“Here, check these.”

“Oh…”

I dumped all my items in front of the black NPC.

Without a clock, I couldn’t tell exactly how much time had passed, but it felt like more than three hours.

The black NPC began checking the value of the items I handed over.

Following his gestures, the items transformed into credits and began piling up on one side of the counter.

“That’s correct.”

I nodded at the black NPC’s words.

Even while collecting items, I had constantly calculated their selling price.

There was no way I could be wrong.

“Good. As promised, I’ll tell you how to get out of these ruins.”

After saying that, the black NPC began searching inside his clothes.

He pulled out a neatly folded paper from his pocket.

“This is…!”

What the black NPC handed over wasn’t an ordinary piece of paper.

It was a detailed map with everything about these ruins written on it.

With this level of information, the thirty thousand credits I just paid were well worth it.

“Satisfied?”

I nodded blankly.

There were so many places on the map I hadn’t visited yet.

A long bridge with water flowing beneath it.

A vast castle that appeared after crossing the bridge, and a small space behind that castle.

These were areas I hadn’t seen when playing the game.

“Go to the place marked with a red circle, and you’ll be able to get out.”

I nodded and left the shop.

“Wow…”

“Oh…”

As soon as I left the shop, Hwang-gu and Aurel stuck close to me.

The soft cheeks of the two girls rubbed against mine.

“Let’s go here too!”

“Let’s go!”

Aurel pointed to the large castle marked on the map.

Hwang-gu also nodded as if she wanted to go there too.

Her large wolf ears flapped up and down as she did.

“Later.”

“Ah…”

“Aww…”

I shook my head.

It’s not that I didn’t want to go there myself.

But right now, I needed to get out of this place.

After the subjugation of Fenrir, the Seoul Vampire Alliance had naturally formed in preparation for all-out war with humans.

I held an important position in that alliance.

Yet, I had disappeared without a word.

Since the alliance was built around me, there must be considerable confusion.

The large alliance system I had carefully built might even fall apart.

Plus, there was the issue with the Blood Fruit Tree, so I needed to hurry.

“We’ll come back later.”

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

I moved along the map with the children.

The map the black NPC gave me showed this area in detail, but it didn’t show the movements of the fusion bodies.

“Hyah!”

Aurel began smashing the fusion bodies blocking our way.

Yeppi also popped out from the shadows, wildly swinging her katana.

We had to walk for quite a long time.

The exit, if you could call it that.

The red circle marking where we could escape from these ruins was located at the very end.

We walked hard, and walked some more.

After who knows how long, we finally reached our destination.

“Ah! There! Charlotte!”

Aurel suddenly stretched out her finger toward a distant direction.

Looking where she pointed, I saw a large door emitting a red light.

That must be the entrance and exit that would allow us to freely come and go from these ruins.

I rushed to the large door with the children.

Fortunately, there were no fusion bodies near the door.

Seeing no footprints on the piled sand, it seemed other users hadn’t visited either.

Having come this far, there was no reason to hesitate.

I reached out and pushed the large door.

“Hah!”

Small white hands began pushing the door.

But the door didn’t budge at all.

“Huh?”

I tilted my head.

Although I pushed lightly, the force behind that movement wasn’t light at all…?

It seemed the door was heavier than I thought.

I put strength into both arms and pushed the door again.

“Hyah!”

A short burst of energy.

The sand piled on the floor was pushed back.

But the large door still didn’t budge.

“Charlotte?”

“Heeek!”

I tried pushing with all my might.

My face was probably bright red from the effort.

Only then did the large door begin to rattle slightly.

But I didn’t have enough strength to open it.

At that moment, Aurel and Hwang-gu, who had been watching from the side, clung to the door.

They seemed to want to help me.

“Hayaaah!”

“Hiyaaah!”

“Hieeeh!”

And so began the door-opening operation of the three girls.

But even with Aurel and Hwang-gu joining in, the door still held its ground.

Maybe we were supposed to pull instead of push?

“This time, pull it!”

“Yesss!”

“Yes!”

Aurel and Hwang-gu nodded vigorously at my command.

I grabbed the engraving on the door as a handle and pulled.

“Hyah!”

“Hayah!”

“Hiek!”

The door didn’t budge even with our full strength pulling.

Unlike when we pushed, it didn’t move at all, which suggested it was indeed a door that needed to be pushed open.

“Huff…”

“Huff…”

After pushing and pulling for a long time without the door budging, Aurel and Hwang-gu collapsed in front of it.

Seeing this, I raised both hands high above my head.

“Come out!”

Following my command, soft subordinates began to emerge from the shadows.

If three of us couldn’t open it, then ten would push.

If ten couldn’t open it, then twenty, and if twenty couldn’t, then thirty.

More than forty subordinates appeared.

The children who resembled me lined up in front of me at attention.

“Everyone, combine your strength to open this door!”

“Yes!”

The children answered energetically to my command.

Seeing their fighting spirit, I was quite satisfied.

“Go!”

“Hyaaah!”

“Hiyaaah!”

More than forty children rushed to push the door.

Creeeeak-

Only then did the large door finally begin to move.

I rolled up my sleeves and placed my hands on the children’s backs.

Their backs were soft too.

“Put more strength into it!”

“Hayah!”

“Hiyayah!”

Creeeeak-!

The large door slowly began to open after the subordinates joined in.

By the time the children with bright red faces started collapsing one by one from the effort, we were able to fully open the large door.

“Hueeek…”

“Hieeek…”

“This is…”

I looked around while putting the exhausted children back into the shadows.

Dense darkness and a terrible dusty smell.

Fresh air was flowing in through a dim gap.

Since we fell underground, does that mean the exit is also underground?

This place seemed like the basement facility of some collapsed building.

“Sniff sniff!”

Hwang-gu started sniffing as soon as we got outside.

Sticking close to the ground, she spun her tail round and round while wandering here and there.

She might get lost again at this rate.

I tied Hwang-gu’s leash to my hand.

“Where are we?”

“I’m not sure…”

I started walking forward while answering Aurel’s question.

Was it instinctive movement?

Hwang-gu, sniffing around, began moving toward the fresh air coming from ahead.

Aurel and I naturally followed behind Hwang-gu.

We arrived at a dead end.

The building had collapsed, blocking the passage.

Judging by the faint moonlight and fresh air coming through small gaps, the surface must be beyond this.

I clenched my fist and struck the large building debris.

Bang!

The building debris exploded with a heavy impact sound.

As the debris scattered in all directions and rolled across the road, bright moonlight poured down.

“Sniff sniff!”

Hwang-gu immediately rushed outside.

Her tail spun round and round, and her ears perked up.

“This is…”

This place seemed familiar.

I realized this wasn’t far from the street where Hwang-gu had disappeared.

Just outside of Seoul.

I couldn’t tell the exact location, but it was somewhere around there.

“We’re back…”

I muttered blankly while looking around.

Although it was a ruined world, I felt considerable comfort in being in a familiar world.

“Are we going home now?”

We would go back.

But there was something to do first.

I turned around to examine the place we had escaped from.

Because my single punch had blown the entrance wide open, the path leading to the underground was completely exposed.

If left like this, others might eventually discover the path to the underground ruins.

I picked up some abandoned cars nearby and piled them at the entrance.

Having hidden the entrance to the underground ruins, it was truly time to go home.

Looking at the position of the moon in the sky, the sun would rise soon.

“Hwang-gu!”

“Yes!”

Hwang-gu nodded at my command.

She immediately transformed from her soft form to her riding form.

“Growl!”

Hwang-gu approached in the form of a majestic wolf.

When I gently scratched her chin, she flipped over and rubbed her body vigorously against the ground.

It was fortunate she was in wolf form; if Hwang-gu had been in her girl form, it would have looked quite strange.

“Let’s go!”

I climbed onto Hwang-gu’s back with Aurel.

Hwang-gu began running very fast.

Clop- clop- clop-!

When we arrived home riding Hwang-gu, a visitor was waiting.

A red-haired girl hugging a teddy bear the size of her palm.

It was Firin.

“Firin?”

“Ah, you’re a bit late. I was about to leave.”

“What brings you here?”

“The humans have started moving. They’re gathering together like us.”

“The humans?”

“Yes.”

“Where are they gathering?”

“Busan, they say.”

“Busan…”

“I came to tell you that.”

After saying that, Firin got up from her seat.

She gave a light greeting to Hwang-gu and Aurel, then went outside.

Busan…

I went to sit on the sofa where Firin had been sitting.

The sofa was warm from Firin’s body heat.

Especially the seat part.

As I rested my chin on the armrest, Aurel naturally came and sat on the opposite armrest.

Hwang-gu sat down right at my feet.

The sun would rise soon.

With so many things happening in such a short time, I was mentally tired.

My eyes closed naturally.

It had been a long time since I last slept.