Chapter 5 : Questionable Low Level (or not) Dungeon

Thinking that the other was a monster, Ravi and I attacked each other, only to come to our senses too late.

Ravi, who had been on top of me, widened her eyes in surprise and withdrew her fist, still clad in knuckles.

“Alvis, why are you here?”

“Ugh… I came to the dungeon hoping to get a martial arts manual or something. What about you? You don’t need something as low-level as the manuals from this kind of dungeon, do you?”

Ravi is quite strong.

Back in the Loveholic novel, there weren’t many opportunities for her combat skills to shine, and her cute appearance was what got more attention. However…

With her martial artist background, combined with the explosive jumping power and speed unique to the Bunny tribe, along with her sharp sense of hearing and smell, she was one of the strongest units in the game.

There was no real reason for someone like her to come to such a weak dungeon.

Unless there was something worth getting, she wouldn’t be here.

But Ravi pointed out something I hadn’t thought of.

“My country suffers from a chronic shortage of supplies, so I came here to gather whatever materials I could. This dungeon is so weak that hardly anyone comes here, which makes it easier to stock up. The quality isn’t great, but even this is better than nothing…”

‘Ah.’

Only then did I remember the situation in Ravi’s homeland, the Carrot Principality.

That country was being practically extorted in unfair trade deals with empires and kingdoms, losing a massive amount of resources while gaining little in return.

This led to a chronic lack of supplies and constant external threats from bandits and mercenary thugs.

They weren’t known for weapon production to begin with, and whatever they did make was largely taken away, leaving them with almost nothing to defend themselves.

This forced them to raid dungeons like this in a desperate, makeshift attempt to gather equipment.

Even Ravi’s martial arts-focused background was due to Carrot Principality’s severe lack of training weapons.

That was probably why she had developed such a combat-heavy style.

Suddenly, I started feeling a bit bad for her.

“I get the situation now. But anyway, could you get off me already? How long do you plan to stay on top of me?”

“Ah…! S-Sorry!”

It was only then that Ravi realized she was straddling me in a rather compromising position.

Her face turned red as she quickly scrambled to the side.

As I sat up, my gaze shifted to the massive backpack behind Ravi.

Various weapons were sticking out from it.

I stood up and glanced at the bag before asking,

“Need some help?”

“Huh? With what?”

“Transporting supplies to your country. No matter how small Carrot Principality is, just you taking a few weapons back isn’t going to change the situation much, right? Since we ran into each other by chance, I figured I might as well lend a hand.”

“There’s no need…”

“Is that because taking just these weapons will completely solve your country’s supply problem? Or is it just because it’s me? From what I see, it’s definitely not the first one.”

“Ugh…”

“I’m not going to start flirting with you just because Bryden isn’t around like back in the academy. If you need help, just be honest and accept it. I’m not the same guy who used to hit on anyone without thinking.”

“It’s only been a few days since we graduated.”

“Ahem… Anyway! Do you need help or not?”

Ravi still looked skeptical as she scanned me up and down.

Ravi let out a light sigh.

“Alright. I need help. Having one more person won’t change things drastically, but…”

“You didn’t have to add that last part. Anyway, let’s head toward the dungeon’s center together. I could use your help too. If things go south, you’ve got my back, right?”

“So basically, you’re leaving the dangerous stuff to me.”

“Hey now, I wouldn’t say ‘leaving it to you’—let’s call it ‘mutual cooperation.’”

This girl… Just like in the novel and the game, she really doesn’t filter her words, even in reality.

In the end, Ravi accepted my proposal and walked toward the underground cave entrance, slinging the heavy backpack filled with equipment onto her back again before leading the way.

No wonder I hadn’t seen a single monster near the entrance—Ravi must have already wiped them all out.

In most dungeons, people would hoard everything for themselves, even restricting entry to others, but since this was a completely abandoned, low-level dungeon, there wasn’t much competition.

I had assumed no one else would be here.

‘Well, at least I don’t have to fight anything.’

Even deeper inside, the dungeon remained empty—Ravi had clearly cleared everything out already.

I picked up a sack that seemed to have belonged to goblins and began stuffing it with any usable gear I could find.

“Have you been to the dungeon’s center before?”

“No. I only came for equipment—I don’t really care about clearing this dungeon. It’s not like completing a weak dungeon like this would give me anything special.”

She was right.

A level 1 dungeon like this was nothing more than a tutorial.

Even if you cleared it, you wouldn’t find anything better than random junk lying on the roadside.

What the Carrot Principality needed was quantity, not quality.

But something felt off.

When I first entered, my level was displayed as a question mark, which was already suspicious.

And no matter how thoroughly Ravi had cleared the monsters, shouldn’t there be reinforcements by now?

Even in a low-level dungeon, if all the monsters were wiped out, new ones should have started spawning.

With those lingering doubts, we descended toward the dungeon’s core.

Even there, we found no monsters, which made Ravi tilt her head in confusion.

“This is strange… I heard that a goblin camp’s true base would be in an underground cave like this. So why aren’t there any monsters here?”

“What? You didn’t kill them all?”

“I didn’t come this far. The ones I defeated were outside and in some areas near the entrance…”

Something wasn’t right.

“Ravi, cover me. I need to check what’s going on here.”

“Huh? But this is just a level 1 dungeon—what could possibly—”

“Trust me, I know a lot more about dungeons than you do. This one… something’s definitely wrong with it. We have no idea what might happen, so stay alert. If things go south, we might have to ditch our bags and run.”

“…?”

I left Ravi to watch our backs and carefully moved toward the dungeon’s core.

Since the cave was optimized for goblin habitation, its low ceiling made it a bit uncomfortable for us, slowing our progress.

However, without any monsters to hinder us, the journey itself wasn’t difficult.

Then, as we reached the final chamber—a vast underground cavern far taller than the previous passages—

“Hiiik…!”

Ravi gasped sharply as she took in the sight before us.

The deepest chamber of the goblin camp’s underground cave, which should have been a simple and crude space, was instead covered with grotesque symbols written in blood across the floor and walls.

At the center of the chamber, a magic circle was drawn in blood, with several candles placed around its perimeter, still flickering with flames.

In the middle of the bloody magic circle lay a large goblin—one that, at first glance, could have been mistaken for a scrawny orc—dead on the ground.

“A King Goblin.”

“A King Goblin? Why is there one here…? This is supposed to be the weakest dungeon, a place where King Goblins don’t exist! No, more importantly, why is a King Goblin dead here? And what’s with this eerie magic circle…?”

King Goblins are at least level 40.

They aren’t overwhelmingly strong compared to other monsters, but they definitely don’t belong in a low-level dungeon like this.

And yet, there one lay—lifeless, sprawled on the ground.

On top of that, there was a disturbing magic circle, something neither the novel nor the game had ever mentioned.

Something had definitely gone terribly wrong here.

『Blood…』

Just then, black smoke began to rise from the King Goblin’s corpse.

The swirling darkness gradually took shape, forming something resembling a spirit.

『Surging life… Crimson blood… A luscious body… All belong to us…』

[???, Lv. 70]

‘You’ve got to be kidding me…!’

Level 70?!

That was a level you’d expect to see on the final boss of a mid-to-high-tier dungeon.

Whatever that thing was, we had no chance of winning against it.

“W-what is that?!”

Ravi screamed, her voice filled with panic.

I immediately turned and shouted,

“No time for questions! Ravi, run—”

▶ Choosing to flee will result in a Stage 2 Recoil Penalty. ◀

Thud!

“!!!”

A wave of pain, far worse than before, struck me.

The Stage 1 penalty had only caused stomach pain, but Stage 2 spread across my entire upper body, leaving me barely able to function.

I couldn’t hold back my scream.

“Gah…! Aaaaaaagh!!!”

“Alvis?!”

Stage 1 had been bearable, like a mild case of food poisoning.

But Stage 2 felt like belly-flopping from a great height—sharp, jarring, and unbearable.

My vision spun, and I cursed internally.

‘Are you fucking serious?! Why the hell is this happening now of all times?!’

My legs gave out from the pain, leaving me unable to flee.

Even if I drew my sword, could I actually fight that thing? No way.

Not me, not Ravi—neither of us stood a chance against it.

『Offer your flesh…』

Just as despair started creeping in, new text appeared beneath the dark spirit’s level indicator.

▶ A being born from blood and a ritual of curses. A false existence that should not exist in this world.

• If you use The Eye That Pierces the Truth, possessed by those who defy fate, the truth will expose the false existence. Would you like to use this ability?
  3/34 uses remaining.

‘Use it!’

There was no time to hesitate.

A warm sensation radiated from my eyes, and suddenly, a burst of light engulfed the dark spirit.

『Khh… Kyaaaaaagh!』

The entity let out a tormented scream before disintegrating into nothing within the light.

As soon as that eerie thing disappeared, a new notification appeared before me.

▶ Level 1? Goblin Camp → Level 70 Hidden Dungeon: Goblin Camp Tainted by Blood and Curses has been cleared. ◀

As one who defies fate, you have unveiled the dark secret hidden within this dungeon for the first time.

To be continued…