Chapter 101
[The spirits are curious about what the underground kingdom is.]
The spirits still didn’t understand what I was talking about.
Actually, the underground kingdom is the name of the world that the mythical world consists of, but the actual related legend is completely different.
The original legend is [The Nine-Headed Monster].
The Nine-Headed Monster is one of the most representative Korean folk tales and a monster that appears in the legend of defeating the underground kingdom.
People often confuse it with Hydra because it has nine heads, but Hydra is a western snake-related fantasy creature, while this guy is an eastern monster that uses magic.
Its name is the Underground Nation’s General as it appears in the legend.
[The Warrior Who Went to Save the Princess] and [The Nine-Headed Monster], and it also appeared as Uldong in [The Story of Hong Gil-dong], which shows how famous it was.
And today, the mythical world that Kwon Jia and I were going to clear was this place.
“I see. That’s what it is.”
Kwon Jia, who was a returnee, seemed to have grasped what I was aiming for right away.
Of course, that’s because the clear reward for this underground kingdom mythical world was the thing she needed most right now.
“You know the story of this place well, right?”
“I do.”
She must have already cleared this place several times in the past.
There was no need to waste time explaining it to her, which was a relief for me.
It’s convenient to have a returnee as a colleague.
We both know little about each other, so there’s no need for a briefing and we understand each other with a glance.
But still, the spirits didn’t know much about this place, so I decided to explain it briefly.
“This underground kingdom is one of the places that appears in folk tales, and it is a country that exists underground. Of course, it’s not that big, and the only ones who live here are evil monsters and their minions.”
Among them, the story of the nine-headed monster is the most famous.
The story can be summarized as follows:
This Underground Nation’s General sometimes came up to the surface and killed people, stole their wealth, and kidnapped women.
In this tale, the protagonist also had his newlywed wife kidnapped and went to save her, which is how the story begins.
Of course, like any other folk tale, it has the theme of justice over evil, but the biggest difference between this story and other folk tales is that there is a twist.
“The young man goes all the way to the underground kingdom to save his wife, but she falls for the Underground Nation’s General and betrays her husband.”
Of course, the protagonist despairs at this, but with the help of a new woman, he gets up again and defeats the monster and kills his treacherous wife.
And he frees the people who were trapped there and returns to the surface and marries the woman who helped him and lives happily ever after.
Of course, since mythical worlds are not places that completely reproduce stories, but places that sometimes twist them strangely, we can’t trust this knowledge blindly.
What matters is what we get when we clear this place.
‘It’s water that masters ginseng.’
The mysterious water that the young man drank to fight against the Underground Nation’s General.
If you drink this water, your physical abilities will improve and you will gain tremendous power.
The young man was able to win against the Underground Nation’s General by drinking this water.
‘Kwon Jia definitely needs this reward.’
Kwon Jia’s body was not fully completed yet.
She could make her body stronger by using points instead of hard training as a collector, but earning points was also a problem.
So I thought it would be better to get a reward that could strengthen her body while earning points at the same time.
That’s why I chose this place.
If she drinks this water, she will definitely reduce her Stories or struggling when she uses some strength.
[The spirits urge you to show them the mythical world.]
The spirits were looking forward to seeing the mythical world we were going to show them.
Kwon Jia and I exchanged glances and entered the mythical world at the same time.
Whoosh!
The scenery of Seoul’s outskirts disappeared and a giant sinkhole appeared with a forest.
That was where we were heading to enter the underground kingdom.
Kwon Jia and I looked around as soon as we entered.
There were no collectors around because it was a place where people didn’t come often.
‘I chose a place where there wasn’t anyone in the first place, but I can’t be sure there won’t be any interference from clans.’
But unlike Ghost Island, they didn’t seem to want to stop us this time.
Was it because they got hurt badly at Ghost Island once? Or did they think it was useless to interfere?
Or maybe it was because of the rumors about this place.
This underground kingdom mythical world had been visited by collectors who formed parties several times. But the problem was, most of the collectors who visited here went missing.
They didn’t even find the bodies, so they weren’t processed as dead. They just disappeared.
Because of these rumors, there were no collectors who came here. It was also a place that didn’t suit farming.
Maybe the clan didn’t send anyone this time because they knew what kind of place this underground kingdom mythical world was.
‘It’s easier for us if there’s no one.’
At least we don’t have to worry about other people’s eyes while moving.
I gave Kwon Jia a signal that it was okay, and she nodded slightly and stood by my side.
“Let’s go down right away.”
The giant hole was so deep that it was hard to guess the end. It was so dark that you couldn’t see anything but darkness, as if it was shaped like a giant monster’s mouth.
We would die if we just fell down, but of course there was a device to go back and forth between the underground kingdom and the surface.
[A basket heading underground]
A huge basket with a diameter of over 3m hung from a pulley. It looked like a flat elevator that could fit dozens of people at once.
Kwon Jia and I got on it and went down.
How long did we go down into the darkness where no light could enter? When our eyes adjusted to the darkness, a faint light began to flow from below.
Clunk.
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The basket stopped, and Kwon Jia and I got off immediately.
The underground kingdom, where the sunlight did not reach, was lit enough by the glowing stones inside to distinguish objects.
And what we saw at the end of our sight was a huge tiled house that looked like a whale’s back.
Inside there were the fantasy creatures of the underground kingdom and its boss, the Underground Nation’s General.
“Shall we go then?”
“Let’s.”
I held Baekryeon and Kwon Jia also took out her new sword, Hades Sword.
The two of us kicked open the gate of the tiled house without any hesitation and rushed inside.
“Who are you!”
“Enemies! The surface people have broken in!”
“Those insolent bastards! Kill them all!”
The Underground Nation’s General did not show itself from inside the tiled house.
Instead, its minions, who looked disgusting enough to be mistaken for Ghost, glared at us.
“One woman! One man!”
“Kill the man! Offer the woman to the boss!”
They shouted with confidence as they saw us.
I chuckled and asked Kwon Jia.
“What do you think of them saying that?”
“Let them say whatever they want.”
As soon as she said that, she swung her sword and cut off the neck of one of the fantasy creatures that was closest to her.
She had received several stories as a reward for clearing Ghost Island, and her movements had become faster than before because of that.
“Just kill them all.”
“That’s a very satisfying answer.”
Yeah.
This is the right mindset for a returnee.
We kill anyone who gets in our way.
How simple and clear is that?
“The intruders killed our comrades!”
“Kill them! Kill them!”
The fantasy creatures that ran towards us were quite threatening, but compared to the underworld’s jade soldiers we fought at Ghost Island, they were nothing but rabble.
There was no way we could put trained soldiers who fought to kill their enemies thoroughly and bandits who only preyed on the weak on the same level.
Whoosh!
Every time Kwon Jia’s sword swung, at least two or three fantasy creatures lost their lives. She seemed happy to be able to fight with more of her strength, and she ran around excitedly.
Of course, I also stood by her side and fought as if I was supporting her.
I easily toyed with the fantasy creatures using Baekryeon’s ability to change its shape freely and knocked them down one by one.
“Squeak! The intruders are too strong!”
“Boss! Call the boss!”
They soon lost their morale when we showed them the gap in skill.
Some of them sneaked a glance and tried to run away.
Each one of them was a lump of points.
They didn’t give much if we caught them, but if we caught them all, we would get a decent amount of points.
So I blocked the door so they couldn’t escape and fought with them.
“Who dares to make noise on my land!”
A fierce roar pierced through the main gate.
A giant emerged from inside the tiled house.
“Intruders have lost their minds! How dare you attack me, the king of this underground kingdom!”
He was a giant over 3m tall.
His skin was dull ash-colored, and above his neck were nine heads that glared at us.
He didn’t even wear proper clothes and only wrapped a piece of cloth around his lower body.
He was the boss-level fantasy creature of this place, the Underground Nation’s General.
The Underground Nation’s General saw Kwon Jia as he shouted at the intruders and brightened his face with delight.
“Ho! Where did such a woman come from! Hehehe this is good! I’ll make you my concubine!”
“…”
Kwon Jia seemed very upset by his blatant words in front of her.
I don’t know about others, but I knew.
Her face, which was usually expressionless, looked even stiffer than usual.
“I’ll deal with him. Don’t interfere.”
“That’s fine.”
How could I stop her when she was spewing out such murderous intent?
I shrugged my shoulders and left everything to her for fighting against the Underground Nation’s General.
“Hahaha! Look at these insolent bastards!”
The Underground Nation’s General laughed before he could get angry at Kwon Jia for insulting him.
Kwon Jia stepped forward alone to face him.
“You’re trying to attack me with just one person? And a frail woman at that? Did you think I couldn’t touch you because I said I’d make you my concubine?”
“Shut up.”????????????ℯ????????Ꭵ????.????????????
Kwon Jia pointed her sword at his head.
“Come on. Let’s see if you can still say that after all your heads fall to the ground.”
“You cheeky bitch!”
The Underground Nation’s General was about to explode with rage at Kwon Jia, but it was too late.
Kwon Jia tightened her body and ran towards him.
The moment she decided to move, she was already standing near him.
“Huh?!”
The Underground Nation’s General flinched as he couldn’t react properly to her movement, and Kwon Jia’s teeth aimed for his neck.
The sword that was like a ray of light tore through the space and reached out.
Whoosh!
The Underground Nation’s General barely twisted his neck, but one of his nine heads was neatly cut off and fell to the ground.
“You bastard!”
He looked at the cut surface of his severed neck in disbelief, then immediately swung his greatsword.
It was a weapon that only the Underground Nation’s General, who drank water from the underground lake, could use.
It was so huge and heavy that it was hard to defend against its powerful attack.
The greatsword was aimed at Kwon Jia.
Clang!
But surprisingly, Kwon Jia easily deflected the Underground Nation’s greatsword.
The sword she held at an angle diverted the shock to the outside.
“It’s nothing.”
Kwon Jia muttered without hiding her disappointment.
“Compared to the skeleton general I fought before, you’re ridiculously weak.”
“Y-you bastard!”
The Underground Nation’s General swung his sword again, enraged by her casual remark.
The energy overflowing from the greatsword stirred up the wind. His muscular arms twitched.
He swung his sword like a madman, as if he was dancing a dance of frenzy.
When the storm-like wind subsided, Kwon Jia was no longer there.
“What? Where did she go?”
The eight remaining heads of the Underground Nation’s General looked around and then simultaneously looked up.
At the tip of his greatsword, Kwon Jia was standing and ready to swing her sword.
Swoosh!
Kwon Jia’s slash grazed past the Underground Nation’s General.
Thud. Thump.
This time, three heads fell to the ground.
In an instant, he lost four out of nine heads, and he seemed quite flustered, but he soon sneered.
“Stupid woman! Did you think I would die from something like this?”
As he shouted that, the heads on the ground tried to fly back and attach themselves.
But I wasn’t going to let that happen.
“No way.”
I sprinkled the ash that I had prepared before I came here.
The ash stuck to the cut surface of the monster’s head, preventing it from reattaching.
The head fell to the ground powerlessly.
“Huh?”
He didn’t expect his head to not stick back, and he looked at me incredulously.
