Chapter 63

00063 Mage and Alchemist (Rare) (2)

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“This is the last warning I’m giving you. From now on, I won’t care at all, and I won’t even speak to you.”

“...”

“Just. Sigh. No.”

“Just let it be.” The words rose to the tip of my tongue but I swallowed them with difficulty. After all, we had acted together for a while, and it felt a bit harsh. Moreover, I seemed to have grown tired of the changes in myself, as I unknowingly took care of the kids and gradually changed.

The sharpness that once enveloped my entire body was fading, and my heart, which had been immovable, was beginning to waver. I hadn’t returned to this world just to play such a childish game. The time wasted in this dungeon was too precious. I wanted to regain control over myself, who had unknowingly become lazy.

The kids watched me with bated breath, their faces pale. When I saw their colorful eyes and wounded gazes, my heart ached, but I quickly composed myself. Then, I spoke in a firm voice.

“The voice you just heard was Lamik. I’ll skip the explanation since Yujung already did it. However, there will be two statues on either side. They are traps, so don’t hesitate to destroy them before they activate.”

I didn’t wait for them to gain experience by waiting for the traps to activate; instead, I adopted the most effective strategy. After finishing my words, I walked ahead at a quick pace. The kids, fumbling, followed me, but I increased my speed even more.

My quick steps soon turned into a run, and when I felt the distance had closed enough, I immediately drew my sword. A clear metallic sound “ching” rang out, and at the same time, a cold sword light scattered around. From now on, I intended to take a more proactive role in solving things.

As I moved forward silently, another passage appeared before me. Passing through the passage without hesitation, I found, as expected, a user lying on the ground with his right arm sprawled out, tears streaming down his face. It seemed my sword wave had hit him directly.

“P-Please... help... me... Gah!”

Before the kids could react, I darted forward and cut off Lamik’s head. On either side of the decapitated Lamik stood two statues, not goblins or other monsters, but human-shaped statues in plate armor.

Even though killing Lamik didn’t prevent the trap from activating, I immediately stabbed one of the statues. With a groaning sound, the statue, which had just raised its arm, emitted a flash of light in its eyes as my sword pierced it. However, that was all. My sword cleanly pierced through the statue’s center, destroying its core. After twisting and pulling it out, the statue no longer moved.

“Hah!”

Anhyun wasn’t idle either. He was already emitting a cold aura around his body, showing that he had tightened his mental defenses. He followed me and thrust his spear deeply into the remaining statue. The spear, filled with magic, easily broke through the stone armor. The sound of the stone breaking and the large hole in the center of the statue confirmed that it was no longer a threat. I immediately turned around.

“Next. Let’s go.”

This time, there was little loss of stamina, so I decided to move on to the next clearing immediately. Anhyun followed me, but Yujung and Sol had blank faces. They alternated their gaze between the slime-like Lamik and the statues, and then, as we moved away, they hurriedly followed us.

“The next one... is a group of goblins. It should be easy. Everyone, form up. We’ll approach this time like we did with the lizards.”

The next clearing was indeed a goblin lair. However, it wasn’t something to be taken lightly, as there was a goblin shaman and hobgoblins guarding it. A group of goblins with such a combination would have been quite challenging for new users, but unfortunately, it wasn’t a problem for me.

After invading the clearing, I quickly broke formation and cut down the goblin shaman and the hobgoblins guarding it. Then, I lured the remaining goblins into the formation and charged in. Although their numbers were a bit large, the experience of fighting high-level monsters like the black scorpions and black wolves earlier was very helpful. Moreover, eliminating a group of goblins that had lost their leader was as easy as eating a piece of cake.

After the battle, we took a break while detoxifying Hyun, who had been hit by the goblins’ poison darts. While Anhyun treated Anhyun, Yujung and I searched the clearing for items the goblins had. Since they liked shiny things, there was a good chance of finding something. The weapons and armor the goblins had were useless, but after searching, we found that there was definitely a profit.

The kids’ mood was quite low. To boost their morale, I showed them what we had found from the goblins. We only got about 30 gold coins, but we found three gems. Two opals and a red sapphire from the goblin shaman’s staff.

I tossed a small opal in my hand and spoke.

“Look. The opal is a bit small, but the color is rich. This size should fetch at least 20 gold coins each. Two opals, so 40 gold. And this large red sapphire should be worth about 70 gold. Add the 30 gold coins, and that’s a total of 140 gold. The money we all saved over three months at the User Academy was just a bit over 10 gold. This one battle has earned us fourteen times that.”

“Then, the deeper we go...”

“Yes. There might be even greater treasures. How about it? Do you now understand why users are so eager to explore dungeons?”

Yujung’s eyes sparkled at the sight of the gems. Anhyun nodded in amazement at the huge profit. However, a sense of relief was visible on everyone’s faces, as my voice had softened a bit. Seeing their reactions, I smiled inwardly. I felt that they truly trusted and followed me. However, if I continued to be gentle, the atmosphere might become too relaxed, so I maintained a strict demeanor.

After passing through the lair of the lizards, Lamik, and the goblin lair, we showed a relentless advance. We set off immediately after Anhyun’s treatment was complete. The kids didn’t express any dissatisfaction. After directly earning a profit, they were probably looking forward to what they would gain next.

After passing through another passage, the next clearing we encountered was a spider lair. The spiders had black fur and emitted a pitch-black sheen in places, indicating they were not ordinary spiders. Especially, they all dripped yellowish fluid, suggesting they might be venomous.

Although they were difficult to deal with, I had a premonition that passing through here would lead us to our destination. After traversing many dungeons, this was a kind of intuition. The alchemist’s stronghold. Eager to pass through quickly, I took a step into the clearing.

Thud! Roll...

“Squish!”

A green orb suddenly fell from the ceiling, hitting Sol’s head and rolling on the ground. Sol let out a cute scream and panicked. I quickly kicked the orb away and looked up at the ceiling. Then...

“Ugh...”

“T-That... What...”

The kids, who had reflexively followed my gaze, gasped and their faces turned pale. They were so shocked that they just pointed with their fingers, unable to speak.

A user was hanging from the ceiling, suspended by white threads that looked like spider webs. The user was a female, and her clothes were almost torn to rags. The problem was that her abdomen was abnormally swollen.

Seeing this, I frowned. However, there was nothing I could do immediately. I could only watch. Since I had only spread my perception on the ground, I hadn’t noticed her hanging in the air. If I had used possession, I would have noticed her immediately...

After blaming myself for my complacency, I activated my Third Eye. Although her body had changed significantly, since she was still fundamentally human, I could retrieve her user information. I also intended to extract some information.

< User Information (Player Status) >

1. Name (Name): Jeong Jiyeon (2nd Year)

2. Class (Class): Normal Mage Runner

3. Nation (Nation): Babara

4. Clan (Clan): -

5. True Name · Nationality: - · South Korea

6. Gender (Sex): Female (20)

7. Height · Weight: 161.3cm · 54.5kg

8. Alignment: Neutral · Moderate (True · Neutral)

[Strength 45] [Endurance 26(-12)] [Agility 34] [Health 17(-25)] [Mana 28(-49)] [Luck 58]

* Her body has undergone mutation due to someone’s prank. She has suffered significant damage to her endurance and health, and the damage is ongoing.

* The main area of bodily mutation is the perineum. She is currently in a forced impregnation state.

* The spiders growing inside the female user will absorb her mana and grow before being born.

“Ugh... Ah... Uh...”

Jiyeon’s moans were heard, and her face contorted. Then, her perineum opened slightly, and green, glowing orbs fell from the air. The orbs on the ground wriggled and soon sharp legs burst out, tearing through the mass and jumping out. The kids, who had initially been silent, began to show signs of burning anger. It seemed to be influenced by their alignment.

Jiyeon’s swollen abdomen and the orbs, or spider eggs, falling from the air. The kids had also figured out where the eggs were coming from and what was happening. Especially, Yujung and Sol, being female users, seemed to be emitting twice the usual amount of anger.

I, too, felt sorry. Of course, it wasn’t because a young and beautiful woman in her twenties had become like this. It was because, despite being only a second-year user, her stats were quite good. Moreover, she was a mage, which was something our group needed. Adding up her lost stats, she had the potential to grow and possibly travel with us in the city.

However, it was all in the past. To me now, she was nothing more than a host for producing spider monsters. The elixir came to mind, but I shook my head. Using it here would be too wasteful. If anything, it might be better to put her out of her misery.

Of course, there might be a way if I searched hard enough, but it was honestly too much trouble. She was somewhat pretty, but she seemed a bit rude, which I didn’t like. I didn’t want to use the precious elixir on a user who might not even become a companion, or to put in the effort to restore her to her original state. I just wanted to finish the dungeon and return to the city. That was my true feeling.

============================ Author's Note ============================

I (accidentally) fell asleep today. I usually don’t sleep much.

This morning, my body was so stiff that I went to a sauna. Soaking in the hot bath made me feel like my bones were melting... After the sauna, I felt a bit lighter. However, my throat was strangely dry, and I was sweating a lot.

On the way back, I bought two cans of beer and went home. I drank a lot, but the more I drank, the drier my throat felt. I was in a daze, just burning cigarettes with my head lowered. Then, suddenly, my nose started bleeding.

I think I should go to the hospital soon. Hahaha.

Hmm... And, are you satisfied with the pace of the story? -_-a

『 Replies to Comments 』

1. Person’s Life: Congratulations on being number one again. You’ve finally reclaimed the glory of the top commenter. Hahaha.

2. Hammer to Hit Horn: Hahaha. I just run away. ㅌㅌ!

3. Lamude: The problem is that the kids aren’t rebelling at all. Like newborn chicks following their mother. Hahaha.

4. Ppyung Ppyung a: Ppyung?

5. Kwaryang: Hmm... Hmm... Hmm... It sounds interesting, doesn’t it? Hahaha.

6. Crying Soul: Please do a series on Greek and Roman mythology and Norse mythology. Especially Norse mythology. Please post 5 episodes a day. (Serious.) ( --) ~ ♪.

7. Seolbiyeon: Thank you for the comment. Please leave more comments in the future~. :)

8. GradeRown: Yes, Lamik is a monster that can detect presence like a ghost. His external reaction and physical abilities have decreased, but other aspects have developed.

9. Janus: Hahaha. Please wait a little longer. They will grow soon.

10. Prandil: It’s definitely a bit disappointing without Hanbyeol. I also want to write the scene where I reunite with Kim Hanbyeol soon. However, speeding up the story will create various problems... I’m a bit conflicted. The last time I skipped the User Academy part in two episodes, it caused issues in the progression.

I always read all the comments. Please don’t be too disappointed if you’re not mentioned in the replies. If you have any specific questions, please send me a message, and I’ll answer! (Please leave more comments! And recommendations...☞☜)

That’s all for today.

I hope you always read the story with a comfortable heart.

I always welcome pre-reads, recommendations, comments, reviews, and questions.