Chapter 47

However, encountering such an unbelievable tunnel made Handoonhee ponder more seriously than ever before.

"I'm against it."

Seo-eun raised her hand.

"Why?"

"You guys don't even take care of the deputy guild leader, so why would you take care of them?"

"That's true, it is a bit troublesome."

Yuchan, who had been playing in the water, nodded.

"Did you say there are a total of 1,500 mutants?"

Chahaya, while splashing water on his face, continued.

"Will the black wall open like a gate when we kill them all?"

"I guess so, we must have killed about 300 of them just now."

The two who entered first also saw the tunnel entrance turn into a black wall.

"Yeah, it looked about that much from a distance."

Seo-eun, who answered, stood up with her eyes becoming clearer. The closer she got to the waterfall, the colder her lower body felt, but she didn't stop walking. One of the group, Handoonhee, pointed at her with a look of disbelief.

"Look at her, pretending to be clean all by herself."

Seo-eun ignored Handoonhee's criticism and drank water with her hands. The others quickly followed and drank water as well.

"Go over there. Join in order after I finish drinking."

Even though it was flowing water and shouldn't be dirty, Seo-eun felt a bit offended. Chahaya, who approached last, opened his mouth wide to drink the falling stream water.

Ah, while doing that, the others except Seo-eun were hit by the waterfall with their whole bodies. Seo-eun was still thirsty, but she didn't want to drink more of the cold stream water that had been chilled by the mutants. She cautiously drank the waterfall water by cupping her hands.

The group outside the valley pestered Chahaya to dry their clothes. Seo-eun also waited in anticipation, but Chahaya accidentally burned Handoonhee's shirt while drying it.

"Drying is a bit intense, huh? Give me your pants, let me try again."

"Brat! Do you think I'm crazy to give you my pants?"

Handoonhee, who lost his shirt, barely managed to keep his pants. Seo-eun, seeing the shirt reduced to ashes, only squeezed out the water. It was noon, and the sun was scorching.

While returning to the black wall, they leaned towards the idea of dealing with the 1,500 mutants. Since the larva and centipede mutants were only at stage 3, they decided to split into two teams. Seo-eun then suggested a drive hunt, and there were no objections. They needed to finish and leave as soon as possible. Hunger was also starting to set in.

"How should we divide the teams?"

Yuchan quietly approached Seo-eun.

"Yuchan, didn't you see me get exhausted from killing mutants earlier? I should be excluded from the team."

Actually, it was because her ultimate skill had dropped to zero. Still, she had killed a mutant that was almost at stage 6. Seo-eun deliberately straightened her shoulders, which were drooping.

"Chahaya and Gangsan, Handoonhee and Yuchan. Let's divide like this."

They devised a common strategy. Gangsan and Yuchan would drive the mutants towards Chahaya and Handoonhee, who would then deal with them.

Chahaya placed Seo-eun on the highest tree closest to the black wall. The others were worried that mutant birds might come and snatch her, but Chahaya added a plausible reason.

There were probably only the chicken mutants they had dealt with recently in this mountain.

Since they hadn't heard any bird chirping, it didn't seem like a wrong statement. Perhaps the mutant hen and her offspring were the owners of this mountain. Just like how only one mountain spirit lives in a mountain.

The branch where Seo-eun sat was so high that it could induce acrophobia. Seo-eun instinctively held onto Chahaya, who was about to leave, but he didn't go down and let her hold him willingly.

Since he only smiled until she let go, she had to choose Matahari. Seo-eun clung to Matahari like a safety rope from then on. Lamenting her pitiful state was an added bonus.

Instead of the monsters' screams, explosions could be heard from various places. Observing from a high vantage point, a strange thought came to her.

Do the mutants living in this mountain feel that we are the monsters?

Is it right to massacre the mutants that were living normally?

Still, it was true that the mutants had launched a preemptive attack. However, if they hadn't entered the tunnel, they wouldn't have been attacked...

Seo-eun hit her head on the handle of Matahari.

The problem was that the mutants had come out of the tunnel. If not, they wouldn't have come here, so she dismissed the unnecessary thoughts. After all, they were enduring this much because of them.

Seo-eun looked for traces of the DK guild members, but soon gave up.

Hadn't they said it had been about two weeks since the DK guild members entered the tunnel?

If that was the case, the time they had spent here must have been much longer. It seemed difficult to survive for more than a week in this primitive forest.

Seo-eun checked her wristwatch.

She was worried that it might be synchronized with the time in Narakga or Seoul, but it was following the local time.

Seo-eun alternated between looking at the black wall below and her watch. Although she couldn't see Chahaya or the others, the explosions assured her of their safety. The sun, which had been drying their clothes, was now setting, hanging halfway on the opposite mountain peak. Seo-eun, who had been tense, felt her strength drain and dozed off a few times.

<Planet, 1,505 mutants eliminated.>

...Messenger?

Seo-eun, who had been nodding off, regained her senses.

<Ah, it's done. Can you hear me? 'Elephant Shrew Seo-eun,' how are you?>

Messenger, I never thought you'd be this welcome. Seo-eun, fearing she might nod, tensed her neck. She then stood up and looked down at the ground, which was starting to turn dark.

"!"

It was a gate.

No, the black wall had disappeared, and a 3D passage leading outside the tunnel was visible. Seo-eun raised Matahari high and waved it like a signal, but there was no one around.

Are they still searching for mutants?

She considered shouting, but if any mutants were left, it would be a signal to kill her. She didn't want to take such a reckless risk with her life.

While she was hesitating, Chahaya, who had disappeared, started to appear. He was holding something in his hand, which turned out to be a round bundle, the same color as the black shirt he had worn.

He climbed the tree without any obstacles, just as he had when he placed her up there. When he reached the branch below, he waved his hand.

"Seo-eun, let's go home."

It was more welcome than the Messenger. Seo-eun strapped Matahari to her back and clung to the branch like a bar, reaching out to Chahaya.

"Is Narakga home?"

She said bluntly to Chahaya, who was firmly holding her, but still tightly embraced his body, fearing he might scare her again. Chahaya, without any playful mood, said they didn't know how long the gate would remain and started to descend.

When they reached the ground, the bundle turned out to be a shirt wrapped around ugwangseok. He had chosen the usable ones from the crater after multiple drive hunts and discarded the rest.

By the time they gathered at the tunnel entrance, the sun had completely set. They all, like Chahaya, had collected a lot of ugwangseok. Even Yuchan had tied knots on both sides of his pants to store the stones, leaving him in his underwear.

They stood facing the black surface that had turned into a passage. They could also see a faint light seeping from the direction of the tunnel entrance. Although it flickered like mist, they left the mountain without hesitation. As they entered, they felt their bodies float and then land heavily.

Thud, thud, the sound of their footsteps echoed in the dark space after entering the tunnel.

No one spoke, and they followed the dim light coming from outside the tunnel. They were silent, fearing they might end up in a different place from Narakga.

When they completely emerged from the tunnel, they let out various curses and exclamations. They had emerged from the northwest tunnel. The tension released, they laughed in disbelief with various expressions.

"Damn, are we in the primitive era, Alice?"

Although they had spent a whole day, it was less than an hour in Narakga time, so the sun hadn't set yet.

"Handoonhee, it's not Alice. This is almost like a space movie, like the wormhole."

"Wormhole? Bug hole? I haven't seen it, so I don't know."

Gangsan mumbled, explaining why he couldn't distinguish between a star and a planet.

"Gangsan, do you want to go back in there again?"

No matter where they were, they always grumbled. Seo-eun was unsure if it was a good or bad sign.

"I was thinking of going back in and checking."

"Hey! Don't go."

Seo-eun was curious about what was inside the tunnel but didn't want to risk it. Suddenly, Chahaya, standing next to her, sensed something and looked at the opposite side of the tunnel. His eyes were cold, as if preparing for an unwelcome visitor.