I Became the Wrong Race

44 – Dungeon (1)

“You mean dungeon?”

I went to visit the mourner shortly after.

“Dungeon… “It’s been a while since I heard this.”

Anyone could see that the middle-aged man who had built a decent home in the forest had a much better complexion than before.

As if he had slept comfortably, the dark circles around his eyes cleared up, and his legs, which had been severely limping, looked relatively better.

It was said that the wounds on his body had not completely improved, but he looked like a more human being than before.

Next to the hut he had built, there was a drying rack for drying fruit, and beyond the seemingly open door, there was a proper bed and tea on the nightstand.

Yes, this is where people live. I nodded while thinking.

“I’d like you to come with me, is that okay?”

“There is nothing that can’t be done. “Wait.”

He packed his luggage with a sad smile.

The only luggage he had was a rawhide coat that looked like he had made it himself, a hunting dagger, and a hatchet.

The middle-aged were mourners.

“Let’s go.”

With the man who still doesn’t tell me his name, I leave the forest and meet Isla. After joining, we headed towards the dungeon.

And the dungeon was much closer than we thought.

[Play time: 9,207 hours]

The ground where the snow had stopped was soggy, but no one in the group was bothered by the soggy dirt.

Because of this, our advancement was fast, and even Isla, who had the lowest stamina, was an excellent hunter and was not lacking.

We were able to arrive at the entrance to the dungeon we were aiming for in just over four and a half days.

The view of the dungeon that I saw for the first time in such a long time….

“It’s efficient.”

As Isla said, it was an efficient design.

It looks like a temple located in the center of the mountain, as if it was carved out of a mountain that is spread all over the land.

However, it was a dungeon that gave off the feeling of being simple rather than flashy.

“Are we camping here today?”

“I still have time, so I want to go up and do it.”

While listening to the story exchanged between the mourner and Isla, I gazed at the strange dungeon that looked either like a shrine or a tomb.

“… No, let’s set up camp here.”

Isla and the mourners’ eyes turn to me.

The man seemed to want to ask me the reason.

“I will. Can I do it here? Or can we change places a little?”

“I think we can change the location… “I’ll leave the cloak with you, so please do.”

“I understand.”

Where are you going and why?

Without even asking such questions, Isla simply followed my suggestion.

It wasn’t that I had no thoughts or opinions. She knew what I could and couldn’t do.

She also believed in me. There was no way that a woman who could sacrifice her life for me would not have that kind of trust.

I followed her trust.

“Uncle, can you help Isla?”

“I guess so. But why….”

“I’m going to take a quick look around.”

The middle-aged mourner looked shocked, but soon helped Isla without saying anything.

The sight of preparing a place to make a bonfire and arranging all the tools and camping supplies taken out of the cloak was something to be mesmerized by, but my body, which had to live like a pillar for quite some time, did not allow it.

So I moved. I took a quick look at the campsite, memorized the direction just in case, and walked toward the direction of the dungeon.

The snow that made a crunching sound underfoot was pure white, as if it had only recently piled up, and most of the traces that I could often catch with my excellent eyesight were of animals.

Even that number was small. Is it because it’s near a dungeon, or is there another reason?

You will find out soon enough. I walked without hesitation and tried to capture everything in my eyes.

There were many things to see.

Because it was so close to the dungeon, there were rare traces of animals, but even then, the proportion of wild animals was higher than that of flying animals.

And most of the animals seen were small and agile animals that could live in any place.

There were a lot of rocks near the mountain, and the terrain was rough, so climbing up to the top of the dungeon would have been difficult, but if you look closely, there was still a path.

Stairs and stone paths that seem to lead directly to the inside of the dungeon. Traces that would be missed by an ordinary person or someone other than a dead person.

I glanced in the direction of the campsite and then went up the stairs.

I thought I would have to look at the dungeon entrance to know the details.

On the way up, the mountain gradually became more rugged. A shape that is rough and doesn’t seem to allow any life.

However, even to me who didn’t know much about mountains, there was still an unexplainable sense of discomfort there.

It would not be strange to say that it was artificial.

It feels like the soil of the mountain has been stripped away and all the vegetation living on it has been pushed out.

But I quickly learned that this was not really the case. I had already reached the entrance to the dungeon.

A homunculus like me has no magic power.

However, this does not mean that it is not affected by magic. There is no magic power, it is not something that pushes away or repulses magic power.

If it had been a squire that repelled magic like the Black Knight, I wouldn’t have known, but I could feel something like an energy permeating my body.

It was a familiar feeling.

I remember seeing it one day, going down and piercing my heart.

Yes, this was black magic.

A trace of magic, also known as the school of inquiry. Even though there are countless fields, the fundamentals do not change.

It was a sign of death.

The average adventurer would not have known this, but I knew very well that necromancers and warlocks were not very distantly related.

As we stop in front of the dungeon’s entrance, a door made of huge rocks, things become clear.

I already had an idea because of the visible traces, but there was no doubt about it.

This dungeon was the dungeon of the necromancer among the three clans.

This is a dungeon that has probably not been explored yet, with some powerful entity still living inside.

At the same time, I was able to imagine details that Melody did not know about.

There may not have been outlaws here from the beginning.

When they were alive, it must have been a den of outlaws, and the mountain must have been overflowing with life.

There was an abundance of all kinds of vegetation, and various birds and wild animals were lurking around, so the food situation must have been good.

Someday, someone.

Until I woke up something that was sleeping inside.

It is powerful enough to dry out and kill all the vegetation in the surrounding mountains, and yet it is closed enough to be confined to a dungeon.

If you imagine, there were all kinds of cases.

This was the case even though I narrowed it down to boss mobs that mainly appear in the necromancer’s dungeon.

Aboleth, Drider.

Or a twisted monster like a Beholder or a Mimic.

From those that do not have a typical appearance to monsters commonly seen in any fantasy game.

They are diverse, but what they have in common is that they are monsters that exude the aura of death and like to confine themselves.

Meanwhile, I belatedly remembered that there were almost no birds nearby.

A being that birds avoid or die and disappear altogether.

It was correct to at least assume something that could fly.

There was a high possibility that it was a Beholder or an Aboleth. Either way, it’s a tough opponent.

It was better to be sure and go because there were more clues.

But that doesn’t mean you can go into the dungeon alone and die.

I turned back and went down the stairs, feeling a sharp energy stabbing my skin.

By the time I finished my exploration and returned to the campsite, the campground had already been completed and I was rushing to prepare a meal.

A huge pot was boiling over the campfire, and Isla was watching the seasoning in front of it.

Her eyes are looking at the pot, but as I approach she moves her tail from side to side. Isla was happy to see me without even giving me a glance.

The face is still expressionless, but that’s part of its charm.

While thinking, I took off my vambrace and roughly threw it on top of my cloak.

“How are you?”

“It’s the necromancer’s dungeon.”

“Are you sure? “If you just look at the outside and be sure—”

“I’m sure. “Because there is no one in this world who knows dungeons better than me.”

What if 6 people higher than me come? That’s not it, I was the one who knew dungeons best in the world.

Maybe you know them better than the three clans.

“Hmm, then I won’t say it. “Can you tell me in detail?”

The mourner, who was just called ‘Mr.’ Or ‘Mr.’ Without even knowing his name, seemed to not know much about the dungeon.

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Thinking that Isla might be similar, I sat down on the chair I had brought in front of the bonfire.

“There will be undead.”

“Undead?”

Isla asked again, and I explained briefly for her, who probably hadn’t heard of her undead.

A monster that returns from the dead. An abandoned body that can only be corrupted, twisted, and manipulated.

Isla’s reaction was bitter.

“I won’t die from my heart.”

“It may vary depending on the undead, but it would be best to aim for the head.”

As a hunter, she often targeted her heart rather than her head.

Aiming for the center of the body has a much higher hit rate than targeting the head, and many of the animals have hard skulls.

But with her skill, it wouldn’t be impossible to aim for it. Isla briefly stirred her simmering stew and then nodded her head.

“And there’s some kind of magic sprinkled throughout the dungeon, so if you stay active for a long time, you’ll get tired quickly. Resting inside is absurd. “Then you could die.”

“Then it goes back and forth.”

“Wouldn’t it be better to have the camp a little closer?”

I shook my head.

“Then you will actually be affected by magic. “This is just right.”

Actually, that was what I had guessed from the first time I saw the dungeon.

That’s why they set up camp here. I said, taking the stew Isla offered me in her bowl.

“It may be tiring, but this is the best. Of course, if you have a different opinion, I will listen….”

“There is none. “Actually, I’m not a specialist in dungeons.”

“Me too.”

Isla prepared her own share of stew with her husband and then sipped the stew.

“I trust Lu.”

Instead of speaking, Isla slightly sticks out her tongue to see if the stew is hot.

The name she called Lu was, so to speak, my nickname.

I would say that she has been stubbornly calling Melody a nickname exclusively for Isla ever since she met her.

I thought it was a bit of an insincere nickname for her.

I was a bit worried that they would have called him Lulani because he was Llewelyn, or Kim if he was Kim.

It wasn’t all that bad. It also means that we have become closer.

Above all, even after Melody found out my name, she especially kept calling me you, so I knew it was because she was competitive.

So it was just okay. The tone isn’t that bad either.

I don’t reject or dislike it, so I quite like it.

She seemed to like me so much, so there was no need to say anything, so I just let Isla call me that.

“Then, are you going to go into the dungeon tomorrow?”

“That will happen.”

“If you want to figure out the trap, two months-“

“Two weeks.”

“… 2 Weeks?!”

2 Months. Even that is a pretty quick schedule.

A normal adventurer would do that. But I was no ordinary adventurer.

“Two weeks is enough.”

I am a stagnant water.

It was also the 7th most popular speedrun in the world for ‘see the ending after clearing all dungeons’.

The middle-aged man fell silent at my confident smile, and soon we finished eating and fell asleep.

*

It was morning when I woke up.

That was no different from usual, but there was one thing that was different today.

Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!

I woke up to a huge roar.

As I rushed out of the tent, Isla, who had been sleeping cuddled up with me, was already outside her, looking up at the sky blankly.

Even the man on watch looked up at the sky blankly, and I also raised my head.

And I saw it that way.

A pair of shadows as huge as a solar eclipse on the ground, and something huge fluttering across the sky like those shadows.

It was something very different from what I expected.

Horns on the head and vertical pupils split apart below them.

A long, imposing figure with scales that shine like metal.

The enormous wind pressure that makes the entire forest and the world tremble every time the wings flap.

There was only one way to explain such an existence.

“… Dragon?”

I stared blankly at the dragon returning through the dungeon’s ceiling.