chapter_0637

637 – The Tunnel Became a Dungeon

637 – The Tunnel Became a Dungeon

Last time, I swapped ramen for hot dogs…!

───

Buuuu-

The flames spewed by Levinas soared up to the ceiling of the house.

Fortunately, the ceiling didn’t get scorched.

“Kyah!”

Levinas waved his arms up and down as if he were flying in the sky.

If the hot dog had been even a bit spicier, I might have been shaking my body too.

It was that spicy.

“Hek…”

I picked up a cup of water to cool my tongue.

Even though my tongue was tingling, Levinas came first.

He was breathing fire from his mouth.

“Le, Levinas, drink this…”

I tried to hand the cup of water to Levinas, but I couldn’t get close because of the fire.

How could I get water into his mouth?

As I hesitated nearby, Levinas grabbed the cup and started gulping it down.

Gulp gulp-

“Phuh…”

After finishing all the water, Levinas let out a long breath.

Seeing this, I hurriedly drank some water too.

Gulp gulp-

“Phew.”

I thought my tongue was going to be ripped out.

Relieved that the tingling sensation had subsided, I let out a sigh.

Then I immediately asked about Levinas’s condition.

“Levinas, are you okay?”

“Yeah…! I’m fine now…!”

“By the way, how did you suddenly breathe fire?”

“I don’t know…! It felt like I was going to breathe fire because it was spicy! And then it really happened!”

“I see.”

I wondered if Levinas’s imagination magic had activated.

As I stared at Levinas’s mouth in awe, I heard a strange sound right next to me.

“Ppup ppup.”

Turning to the side, Gaeul was puffing out air with her tightly closed lips.

Not just “ppup,” but also making a “pah pah pah” sound.

“Gaeul, what are you doing?”

“Gaeul is puffing fire.”

“Fire? Can Gaeul breathe fire too?”

“Cold…!”

Breathing fire, huh.

That’s not something just anyone can do…

But since this is a world with magic, maybe with effort, it could really happen.

“If Gaeul breathes fire, does that mean she becomes a barking dragon?”

“Hek…!”

Gaeul smiled brightly and wagged her tail.

Gaeul breathing fire would definitely be cool.

I patted Gaeul’s head and looked around.

The startled kids were all okay now, but Bomi was frozen with her eyes wide open.

“Bomi?”

“………”

“….Bomi?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

“Bomi, why are you so surprised?”

Was Levinas’s breath, which wasn’t even dragon fire, that shocking?

It might have made her envious since even the dragon Bomi couldn’t breathe fire.

I looked at Bomi with concern.

Then Bomi slowly turned her head toward me.

“I was surprised because you suddenly breathed fire…”

“Oh, I see.”

So it wasn’t envy, just a perfectly normal surprise.

After all, our Bomi was playful but not the type to be jealous of her family.

“Winter! Levinas has a special move now!”

“Special move?”

“Yeah! Special Horned Rabbit Breath!”

Bomi, having come out of her surprise, lit up with excitement.

But for some reason, this time Levinas looked flustered.

“Don’t you have to eat something spicy to use a special move…?”

“Yeah! You have to eat something spicy to breathe fire!”

At Bomi’s cheerful response, Levinas raised his hand and made an X with it.

He seemed a bit urgent.

“Special move sealed!”

“Sealed?”

“Yeah! Levinas doesn’t want to eat anything too spicy!”

Even if it’s a strong and cool special move that breathes fire, the method of casting it is quite dreadful.

Perhaps I would never get to see Levinas’s special move.

**

After the breath incident, we went outside the house.

With nothing in particular to do, we watched as items were being made at the blacksmith.

Clang-! Clang-!

Every time Shinhaeil struck the metal, my ears perked up.

Betty was also running around, diligently assisting Shinhaeil.

I didn’t know what they were making, but seeing people work hard made me feel good for no reason.

Suddenly, someone grabbed my swaying tail.

“Huh?”

“Meow! Meow!”

When I turned around, Seol was biting my tail with her mouth.

Pulling my tail like that seemed to be her way of guiding me somewhere.

“Seol, what’s up?”

“Meow! Meow!”

“Huh?”

I followed Seol’s lead as we walked.

We soon arrived at the tunnel of the Ggaemmi Guild’s main gate.

“Seol, why the tunnel?”

“Meow! Meow!”

“Is someone in the tunnel?”

Could it be the mole friend we met last time?

Or is there something really dangerous in there?

I prepared my weapons and gear just in case of any potential danger.

Kkamang and Gubugi decided to accompany us as well.

‘It might be good to let them know where we’re going?’

I went back into the blacksmith and called for Shinhaeil.

Shinhaeil had something black smeared all over his face.

“I’m going to check the tunnel for a bit. If I’m not back for a while, please let the guild know.”

“Why, is there something in the tunnel?”

“Yes. Apparently, there’s something.”

“Uh… then isn’t it dangerous?”

“I’ll run away if things get dicey, so it’ll be fine. The Divine Beasts are with me.”

“Okay… I’ll let the guild know.”

Having informed them of where I was going, I headed straight to the tunnel entrance.

If it were a tunnel I had never seen before, I might have been scared, but this felt like home.

“Let’s go.”

“Kki!”

“Meow! Meow!”

I jumped into the tunnel with the Divine Beasts.

Sliding down like on a slide, I couldn’t help but be surprised when I arrived at the tunnel.

“What is this…?”

In the brief moment I hadn’t looked, the tunnel had widened astonishingly.

Multiple passages stretched out in all directions, and each time I passed through one, a massive space appeared.

It felt like a gigantic maze.

Oh my.

Could this possibly be a joint creation of the mole and Levinas?

While I was gaping at the underground world, I heard voices from deep within the tunnel.

-This isn’t an ordinary carrot, is it?

-Yes. It has a special power.

From far away in the spacious tunnel, I could hear human voices.

It was clear that someone had entered.

‘Who could it be?’

There hadn’t been any signs of anyone coming in and out of the tunnel.

Just as I was raising my guard, I felt someone coming down through the entrance.

“Yah!”

Coming through the slide entrance was none other than a confident Levinas.

**

Harfman.

In his world, there was no Mana, but one day, everything changed due to a dungeon that covered the planet.

Monsters imbued with the unknown power of Mana.

They couldn’t be defeated with the strength of ‘humans’ who lacked Mana, but it wasn’t ‘technique.’

He struggled to analyze the low-level monsters he captured and researched Mana.

At first, he tried forcibly injecting Mana into humans, but after realizing it turned them into horrific monsters, he changed his approach.

That was to create equipment infused with Mana.

Equipment that could be used by humans without Mana.

Harfman and his team crossed the portal to explore the dungeon using this.

“Is this a cave?”

“No, it seems like it’s underground.”

“Underground? What about oxygen?”

“There’s plenty. Even though it’s quite deep, the ventilation is good.”

Harfman looked around with his team.

There were several branches of tunnels that appeared to be artificially made.

“Everyone, don’t let your guard down and move.”

“Yes.”

After checking the equipment in his hand, Harfman surveyed the tunnel.

There was a slight breeze seeping through somewhere.

Is the entrance over there?

Usually, a boss resides at the end of a tunnel, so Harfman decided to move in the opposite direction of where the wind was blowing.

“Hmm…?”

As Harfman walked through the passage, he felt something strange.

There were no monsters in the tunnel, just a bunch of vegetables.

“What is all this?”

“It looks like carrots?”

“Check it out.”

One of Harfman’s research team members examined the carrots with a detector.

The food from the world beyond the portal contained Mana, but it had the property of not turning into monsters when eaten.

In fact, it made the body even stronger.

“There’s no poison. But… this is amazing!”

“Why?”

“It’s an incredibly high-level Mana functional food.”

“Is it that impressive?”

“Yes. It might be the best we’ve discovered so far.”

This is incredible.

Harfman felt a surge of excitement.

“Gather as much as you can. And let’s move.”

“Yes.”

“Combat team, don’t forget to stay alert.”

“Yes.”

After giving the orders, Harfman drew his weapon and kept a lookout.

During this time, he noticed his detector beeping loudly.

“Stop, there’s a monster.”

That meant a ‘living being’ imbued with Mana was approaching nearby.

Harfman alerted everyone to prepare for battle, and the team skillfully drew their weapons.

‘The Mana contained is immense.’

It must be enough to store a premium Mana functional food.

This might be the strongest monster they had ever encountered.

Step- step-

Even with the amplifier on, the footsteps echoing in the darkness were quite faint.

Was it a small creature that prioritized speed in a group?

Just as Harfman and his team heightened their tension, two beings appeared from the darkness.

The team, expecting to see a vicious monster roaring, could only be bewildered.

What emerged from the darkness were small, cute children.

Harfman, while on guard, thought that these kids were prettier than any he had ever seen.

“Wait?! Is that Levinas’s carrot?!”

“A thief…!”

One of the two kids startled and pulled out her bow.

Seeing this, Harfman couldn’t help but be taken aback.

‘Ears…?’

They were beast-like ears.

It didn’t seem like they were monsters that could communicate, so what were they?

Just as Harfman’s judgment began to blur, something incredible happened.

Swish-!

The child aiming the bow at them vanished right before his eyes.

‘Teleport…?’

As Harfman hurriedly looked around, his heart sank.

The child who had moved behind them was now aiming her bow from their back.

It was an incredible ability that couldn’t even be detected by their state-of-the-art sensors.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thanks for the comments and recommendations too! They always give me strength!!!

If Winter’s tunnel is a dungeon, who could the boss monster be…?!