Gamers of the Underworld

“What about Missy Succubus? She’s the one who sold you the Dungeon. I feel that she’s pretty good. The gamers will be happy too. The forum members were full of praises for her,” Bru said.

“If we can recruit her to Eternal Kingdom, the forum members will be in high spirits. Just like setting up a company, if there are female workers, the efficiency will be higher. Pretty gals will make everyone work harder.”

“Female workers…” Sherlock pondered, but he didn’t respond. He picked up the newspaper at the side.

Like the previous times, the four columns on the cover were useless advertisements.

“Paternity Test Hat: Worried whether your child is yours? Take care of the child for 40 years, then put the hat on your head. If it turns green, congratulations, the child isn’t yours. The sale price is only 999 Magic Stones! Almost out of stock! Try it out!”

“Winterfell Idol Training Class: Two and a half years of idol training classes are starting. Registration fee is 100,000 Magic Stones. Confirmed popularity.”

…

The monthly Winterfell news was in the small bottom corner.

“Sensational! Ancient Ruins No. 85, which has been worked on for many months, was raided empty. Archaeologists from Eternal Fire were dispatched from Winterfell to the Ruins. Various departments have started an investigation.

The creature in charge of exploring Ancient Ruins No.85, FeelAtHome Magical Item Shop’s Gnome Shopkeeper, was admitted to the hospital this morning. Currently, he is still in critical condition. We interviewed Winterfell’s Fatality Hospital’s attending physician.

Reporter: Greetings doctor, can you tell us the Gnome Shopkeeper’s condition?

Doctor: The patient was admitted to our hospital in the morning. His condition is stable. We discovered that the blood circulating device wasn’t working. After our emergency surgery, we solved the problem. The patient is able to do without the blood circulating device.

Reporter: When is the Gnome Shopkeeper able to be discharged?

Doctor: He is able to be discharged soon. We have contacted the funeral parlor.

Reporter: Good. Thank you for your responses. Let us wish the Gnome Shopkeeper good health.”

Sherlock put down the newspaper. Bru asked, “Er… Did the Gnome Shopkeeper die because of the Ancient Ruins?”

“No, it’s just a way to escape his debts. He sold so many exploration rights, and the buyers will be looking for him,” Sherlock said confidently.

“Don’t worry about this cunning Gnome. There are many things to be done today. Let’s tackle them one by one.”

Sherlock stood up, put on his windbreaker, and asked, “Did you check the identity of the creatures who are retrieving the gamers’ equipment?”

“Yes, from the gamers’ field of view, they are the Marsh Inkspewers.”

Bru asked, “In regard to the lost equipment, we can allow the gamers to work for a day before returning the equipment to them. But the Marsh Inkspewers also collect the gamers’ equipment. We can’t possibly help to retrieve the gamers’ equipment every time. If we don’t retrieve them, the loss is something we can’t sustain. Shall we warn those Marsh Inkspewers?”

“No need. Since the gamers encountered the Marsh Inkspewers, we will not contact them. The Marsh Inkspewers take water grass and not meat. They don’t have combat power and won’t attack the gamers unnecessarily. They’re collecting the gamers’ equipment for a reason,” Sherlock said.

“We’ll remove the Marsh Inkspewers from the list of attack targets. I remember that they are highly-skilled in training beasts. Perhaps, they may be of use.

“I’m leaving. Take care of the Dungeon, Bru.”

…

“I’m a Marsh Inkspewer, and my name is Salted Fish.

I’m a knowledgeable Marsh Inkspewer.

My tribe and I were living carefree lives. We ate grass, slept, and ate more grass. We had fulfilling days.

One day, the cursed Ogres brought their Large Lizards to our territory!

These Ogres couldn’t accept the reality of peace in the Underworld and were unwilling to eat clay and grass. They were yearning for the meat of the intelligent creatures. They felt that eating intelligent creatures would boost their intelligence and strength.”

Dragonborn, SealHeadLingChong, and TakeASpearHit listened to an indignant Marsh Inkspewer, Salted Fish, who had washed himself clean of sludge.

“No, the Underworld is not peaceful. The Void Legion is surfacing again. They occupied the Specter College and contaminated the Ancestral Ruins. Fortunately, we intervened and saved the Ancestral Ruins from a disastrous raid. Recently, we defeated Cramer, who terrorized the Underworld!” TakeASpearHit said solemnly.

“Re… really?”

Salted Fish’s face was full of terror.

“Er, we’ll put these matters to rest. What did the Ogres do to you?” SealHeadLingChong asked.

“The Ogres didn’t stay on that barren land for long. They left not long after,” Salted Fish recalled and said.

“But they left behind the Large Lizards. After thousands of years, they have seriously threatened our survival! They will attack our tribe occasionally! We can’t stand their attacks. We want to kill those Large Lizards!” Salted Fish stood up in anger and shouted furiously.

“How many Large Lizards are there?” SealHeadLingChong asked.

“Currently, there are thousands of Large Lizards in the surrounding areas. The marsh in front, which used to be our homeland, was infested with the most Large Lizards. There are thousands and millions of them! The entire marshland was occupied by these Large Lizards!” Salted Fish said.

“That’s serious,” Dragonborn nodded and said.

“Ah… then we have to call for reinforcements. There are too many Large Lizards for us to deal with…” SealHeadLingChong said in disappointment.

TakeASpearHit thought for a while and said to Salted Fish abruptly, “D*mn you.”

The situation was awkward. Salted Fish was looking crazed. He stood up and unsheathed his Short Sword.

“Waaaaaagh—!”

“I’m scolding him!” seeing Salted Fish about to attack him, the vulgar TakeASpearHit pointed at the dazed SealHeadLingChong and shouted. Then he said softly, “Gosh, this game AI conversation mechanism is too sensitive…”

“I see.” Salted Fish calmed down and put his Short Sword back. He sat down and said, “This is my story. If you’re willing to accept our request and destroy those Large Lizards, we’ll try our best to thank you! Please help us!”

The Marsh Inkspewer bowed deeply to the three of them.

“Of course, we’ll help! Those Large Lizards attacked us, and they’re our enemies. We’ll help you exterminate them!” TakeASpearHit said.

“Thank you very much! We’ll provide as much assistance as possible. For example, by returning your equipment. The equipment belongs to your friends and family members?” Salted Fish said with gratitude.

“Apologies, we weren’t able to collect all the equipment as there were strange Skeleton Soldiers who appeared and took the equipment. We only managed to gather this much.”

Salted Fish clapped his hands, and many Marsh Inkspewers brought baskets of equipment over.

“Ah! My equipment!”

Dragonborn saw his Breastplate because it had his name on it. All of his equipment was engraved with his name.

TakeASpearHit charged over, and his hands trembled with excitement as he searched the basket. He muttered to himself, “Rich, I’m getting rich. I never expected that my luck that had been bad all the time would change for the better. Veteran gamers, apologies. I’m coming for your equipment… Gosh! An Adjudicator’s Kite Shield and Superior Equipment! I’m rich, I’m rich!”

While TakeASpearHit was searching, SealHeadLingChong had found a set of Superior Equipment.

“That, Salted Fish.” Dragonborn did not steal the equipment belonging to other perished gamers. Instead, he asked, “Is there a safe location for me to go offline? Is there a place to rest?”

“We’ve prepared a resting room for you,” Salted Fish said solemnly.

“We’ve also prepared three Darting Birds. After your rest, we hope that you can ride the Darting Birds and hurry back to the Dungeon to get your army. Please help us!”

“What bird did you say?”

The three gamers looked at Salted Fish and asked.

“Darting Birds,” Salted Fish said casually.

…

On a street in Winterfell, a cafe with brightly lit magical lamps was open for business late at night.

The sign on the door had the words “py Transaction.” That was the name of the cafe.

Most of the working Underworld citizens had either returned home or visited the busy night market after a day of work. Few creatures would visit the cafe. There were not many patrons in the cafe at this time.

Sherlock walked to the entrance of the cafe. He took out the letter and checked the address, then he entered.

“Welcome. We only have red tea. Is that good for you~” a smiling Slime, who was standing by the entrance, said to Sherlock.