Gamers of the Underworld

“No problem! Team leader!”

“We’ll handle it! We, the Northern Bandit Archaeology Society, will be the first to open the door of the Ancient Ruins!”

“I, Dark Hoof, am ready.”

“It’s not that troublesome. To open the Ancient Ruins only requires explosive Mana!”

…

The accompanying Archaeologists gave suggestions and started their Archaeological work. Everyone was professional.

Only Sherlock put his hands in his pockets and stood idly.

Senior Beast was pleased to see his recruited Archaeologists working hard. When he saw the idling Sherlock, he wanted to remind Sherlock but didn’t do so for some reason.

Fortunately, it was just an onsite observation. The detailed Archaeological work would only commence after the excavation team had left.

Senior Beast stood behind Sherlock, took out a cup of red tea from his backpack, and squinted his eyes.

…

“I have quite a bit of homework to do tonight, so I’m going offline. Tomorrow, we’ll continue the missions. I have almost reached the levels required to challenge the Instance Dungeon.”

“Then you have to buck up. The equipment is valuable, and a lot of expert gamers are speculating that the Second Beta will start soon. Let’s stockpile some equipment and sell it to the Second Beta gamers. We’ll make a lot of money and buy some furniture to make our home more presentable.”

“I understand. Tomorrow, I’ll take two Beginner’s training classes. That should suffice.”

“I’m going offline. Chat on Wechat.”

“Okay, see you on Wechat.”

A Goblin spoke to his comrade, who had just revived. They held hands and went to the Living Quarters together.

Brainiac was at the Burial Hall entrance, watching the two Goblins leave. He took out his journal to record his observations.

“18: I can confirm that the Instance Dungeon the Goblins are talking about is the Specter College graduating examination. They take it as a form of entertainment. The collaboration of Eternal Kingdom and Specter College isn’t as simple as it seems.

19: These Goblins are not normal Goblins. To reproduce, they have sprouted notions of love. I have not seen any real Goblin couples yet. I will continue to observe further.”

The number of active Goblins in Eternal Kingdom dwindled. Most of them returned to their Living Quarters, which was still under construction.

Brainiac visited the place before. The building had some structure. From the blueprints on the wall, it was a three-story high building with two basement levels.

The ground floor wasn’t finished yet.

The door of the Dungeon Core Main Hall opened, and Sherlock, who was wearing a black windbreaker and neatly dressed, walked out. Brainiac frowned.

Sherlock had been going out for the past few days. He didn’t stay in the Dungeon during the day and would go out even at midnight.

Sherlock looked at Brainiac from a distance and nodded courteously. Then, he walked towards the Teleport Portal Main Hall. With the flashing of magical light, Sherlock left the Dungeon via the Teleport Portal.

Brainiac lowered his head and wrote in his journal.

“20: Lord Sherlock seems to have fallen in love.”

…

A few magical searchlights wavered at the empty excavation site.

The bustling tunnel was now empty. There were no Beetlemons, and the quiet scene looked like the end of days.

This was the Ancient Ruins No. 85 excavation site.

With the evacuation of the excavation team a few days ago, the Winterfell Archaeology team took over the excavation site.

Compared to the rowdy daytime, nighttime was deathly quiet.

The magical searchlights were shut off in the serenity, and darkness engulfed the location.

Only the white Rune at the bottom of the pit emitted faint brilliance in the darkness.

After the flashing of magical lights, Sherlock walked out of the Teleport Portal.

Sherlock walked towards the faint glowing pit. A creature standing in front of the light noticed Sherlock. He turned around and gazed at the superior Devil with his sharp eyes.

When Sherlock got closer, the creature put his hands into his clothing. With a loud fluttering sound, he pulled open his large coat and revealed three alternately stacked black and white Hamsters.

The middle Hamster was holding a fruit.

The topmost Hamster jumped down to his right, and the middle Hamster followed suit. The three Hamsters formed a row.

They spoke from right to left consecutively.

“Why is Lord Sherlock in Winterfell?”

“We’ve finally found Lord Sherlock.”

“Why did Lord Sherlock want us to do such things?”

“Lord Sherlock, we’ve taken control of the location according to your instructions!”

“We added Diarrhea Worms to their food and drinks!”

“Death causing quantities!”

The leftmost Hamster finished speaking while the other two Hamsters looked at him.

The rightmost Hamster took out a clump of soil and said, “Open your mouth!”

The leftmost Hamster opened his mouth, and the rightmost Hamster put the soil into the leftmost Hamster’s mouth. He started chewing and fell to the ground within a second. His chest rose up and down rhythmically.

The rightmost Hamster looked at Sherlock and said, “No!”

The Hamster with the fruit looked puzzled at his sleeping companion and then stared questioningly at the firm rightmost Hamster.

“Sleeping Worms? Didn’t we plan to use Diarrhea Worms and cause them to have diarrhea until they passed out? Why did you use Sleeping Worms? This isn’t going according to our plan!”

The rightmost Hamster retorted, “Because using Diarrhea Worms would make the place stinky. Are you going to clean it up?”

“Won’t using Sleeping Worms cause stinking too?”

The two Hamsters were about to fight when Sherlock raised his hand to interrupt their argument.

“We have limited time. Don’t waste our precious time.”

The two Hamsters stopped their argument and climbed on top of Sherlock’s shoulders.

Sherlock bent down and put the sleeping Hamster in the nook of his arm.

He walked to the pit edge and jumped into the deep pit without hesitation.

Howling wind made Sherlock’s clothing flutter noisily. The two Hamsters grabbed his collar tightly as their furry faces were distorted by the howling wind.

The surrounding walkways and walls fused into the background and formed a series of afterimages in the descent.

As Sherlock fell hundreds of meters and was about to hit the ground, his wings extended and flapped vigorously. The resulting violent airflow emitted a loud “Hoo-!” sound.

Dust was kicked up and swirled like tornadoes a few meters around Sherlock.

Sherlock looked like he floated above the ground. He balanced himself before landing on the ground. His windbreaker gradually touched the ground. Somehow, his shiny leather shoes weren’t stained by the dust.

The extended wings were folded and kept behind his back.

The swirling dust gradually stopped after circling a few times and settled on the ground.

The two Hamsters climbed down onto the clean ground that contained the Rune. They used their saliva stained paws to comb their messy fur.

Sherlock’s hair was untouched. He waited for the two Hamsters to finish combing before throwing the Hamster who was in his arm to them.

They hit the cheeks of the sleeping Hamster furiously with their clenched paws and shouted at him.

“Wake up! It’s mealtime!”

“Mealtime! Mealtime!”

The sleeping Hamster was beaten awake, or rather being shouted awake. He opened his bloated eyes and looked in a daze at the surroundings.

“Mealtime?”

Sherlock lifted his wrist and looked at his watch. He left the Hamsters and walked to a corner of the Rune. He put both his hands on the ground and transferred his Mana to the Rune.

He walked to eight of the corners of the Rune to transfer his Mana.

White brilliance from the Rune was emitted, and it blinded the three Hamsters.

Dust and pebbles were blown up and suspended in midair.

After the brilliance diminished, the dust and pebbles settled down. The brilliance became softer to the eyes.

Sherlock walked to the three Hamsters, bent down, and patted the back of their furry heads.

“It’s your turn.”

The three Hamsters ran on the ground and went in three different directions. They sniffed intensively and searched for a few minutes.

The Hamster whose face was bloated with beatings shouted at Sherlock, “It’s here! This is the entrance!”