Chapter 181 – 181. Let’s Get Over the Stinky Pipe

When I woke up, I was in a damp pipe with mold and moss growing everywhere.

There were finger-shaped red luminous mushrooms that looked like they would die instantly if they touched them, and yellow spores floating in the air were visible.

Moreover, rust and dark blue wastewater dripped from the rusty pipes. I wonder if they are all sewage dumped on the black market.

“Ugh… Damn.”

The pipe tube was very narrow. The ceiling was so low that I had to slightly bow my head when I walked around.

It was narrow and stuffy, and the air was strangely warm. It was an unsanitary and repulsive place.

Yes, dirty and smelly is not enough.

This place was something more filthy and unpleasant, to the extent that dirty or stinky can’t describe it all. And there are a lot of bugs. It’s not just a lot, it’s really crazy enough.

From the moment I opened my eyes, one or two finger-sized bugs began to twist, and after about a minute, dozens of money bugs came to us.

What the hell kind of guy has so many worms? It is infested with all sorts of pests, especially bloodsucking flies, and I feel like going crazy.

Every time they had a chance, they would try to crawl through the cracks in their clothes or through their ear holes, making their heads dizzy.

“Let’s all spray this one at a time.”

I hurriedly took out the killer insect repellent from the bag and sprayed it evenly on the party. This is something I bought from a peddler before entering the missing person’s forest. It keeps bugs away.

Since there weren’t many contents from the time of purchase, it seemed that it would run out soon if I sprayed it evenly among the people in my party, but in places like this, it’s right to spray sparingly. I can’t do anything because of the little bugs, but I’ll lose more if I save it.

“Oh, I bought that too.”

“It worked.”

Chessie laughed as she took out the same pesticide repellent I did out of her pocket. Chess, who already knew what the third floor was like, seemed to have prepared it.

If you have the same Cheshire, there is no reason to spread it sparingly. There were even three bottles, so I sprayed insect repellent even harder. Having a spare makes me feel at ease.

That’s how we sprayed repellents on each other and also sprinkled repellents on the surroundings. Then the bloodsucking flies and other nasty bugs quickly dispersed.

Slow maggots and caterpillars still clung to them, but they were slow and easy to kill, so I brushed them off or trampled them to death.

“Wow…”

Around that time, Aram grabbed the wall and started to vomit. Even with a gas mask on, the disgusting smell and foul-looking bugs that invaded through the filter seemed dizzy.

“Aram, rinse your mouth with this.”

I handed Aram a towel to wipe her mouth and the number of mushrooms she had taken out of her bag, and I slowly swept her back. It seems that Aram is a bit upset by the rotten smell and unsanitary environment on the third floor.

“Yeah, thank you. Fuhwaak!! Woo-wook.. Fuck, mushroom water.. Fuck.”

“Uh… Sorry. There is only that.”

“Two. No. Are you okay. Whoa. However, this is not very tasty…”

Aram muttered in her dying voice and rinsed her mouth again with her mushroom water. She seems to have gotten worse, but she quickly puts her gas mask back on, so I can’t see her properly.

‘Aram is working so hard…’

I wonder if A-ram just followed me and went through high school. Although he is faithfully fulfilling his role by absorbing demonic energy… I felt sorry for him to suffer more than necessary.

It’s me who suffers everyday, so I can just endure it, but Aram won’t be like that.

At that time, Cheshire drank the number of mushrooms handed to Aram and informed her of her precautions.

“As you can see, bugs and rats are dangerous here. If you get bitten wrong, you will be infected with parasites and in severe cases, you will get an unknown disease. Be careful.”

The explanation is too brutal. I don’t know why, but on the first floor, most of the curses evaded me, so I felt more afraid of parasites and diseases than curses.

The party would be over if there were even a group of beggars gathered here somewhere.

“Here, take one.”

Then Ayla took out her bracelets from her arms and handed them one by one. It was a fairly heavy bracelet that felt like a chain.

“This will keep the rats away. The rats here… Run in droves.”

“Oh fuck.”

The rats in the pipe layer here attack the survivors who have flowed in by the hundreds or thousands. I was horrified to hear that there were so many of them that there was no end to killing and killing.

1st floor and 2nd floor. The basement floor of the black market feels like it’s pouring a lot of supplies to the point where it’s difficult to deal with.

“And don’t go near mice if you can. You have to kill it so that it doesn’t touch the body in the middle to long range. All sorts of bugs, from parasitic mites to the skin, are attached to it. Just in case you get surrounded or bitten, you have to stop exploring and return to the base, so be careful.”

We nodded at Ayla’s warning. What the hell are the rats living in these crazy sewers doing? Those who have adapted to this absurd environment must not be ordinary rats. Then she explained something important to Cheshire, as if he had forgotten.

“By the way, this is connected to the black market sewer. Once you enter the first and second floors, you should think that there is virtually no way out of the black market, but there is a sure way out here.”

“So you’re saying that if you find the piece of Cheshire’s soul on the fourth floor, you can come back here?”

“Yep. If you get out of the 4th floor safely, you can escape completely underground through the 3rd floor. If you follow the corpses of the drug lords, they will come out.”

I was worried that I would have to climb up to the first floor again, but fortunately there is a way out from the third floor. It was a pleasant sound to hear.

“Oh, by the way, sometimes there may be drug dealers or drugs flowing in from the black market sewers, so be careful.”

“Yes.”

We listened to Cheshire’s warning and moved to find the deep hole that led to the 4th floor, aka the deep hole.

According to Cheshire, there is a deep hole in the pipe section on the third floor where wastewater collects. Wherever you go, if you find a stream of water, you just have to follow the direction it flows.

If you follow it, you will reach a deep hole, but it seems that you can enter the 4th floor by jumping down into the middle of the deep hole.

“The 4th and 3rd floors seem like a rest area. Lol.”

It took about two and a half hours to move on silently without a word. Said Kessia, brandishing her spear to slash the rat pups. As she said, the third floor didn’t seem to pose a big threat if it was properly defended.

If I had come in without these means, it would have been more difficult than the 1st or 2nd floor.

“I found a stream of water.”

“Now I just have to follow this.”

As a result of searching for a stream of water in the pipe for a long time, he found wastewater flowing somewhere. It seems that I have been wandering around for almost 5 hours without finding a stream of water. However, now that I have found it, I just have to follow this.

It was time for the effect of the insect repellent to wear off, so we stopped for a while, sprayed the repellent, and moved again.

-Kiaaaaa!!!!

It was then. The cry of a monster resonated on the pipe floor, where only the noise of insects and rats was silence.

“No way…”

“No way?”

“It looks like they followed you.”

“Yes?”

“The beast that swallowed Keker…”

I frowned at Ayla’s words.

“No, weren’t you fighting those baby mirror ghosts?”

“I know. Why? How did you come… Cheshire, do you know something?”

“No… I have no idea. Did you erase the stigma of the mirror ghost yourself? Or… No, how are they tracking us in the first place? None of us would have been marked with something. Uh… Maybe…”

Cheshire looked at me. Then he said what he thought.

“A beast beast is a creature that reverses the master-servant relationship when there are 9 or more curse stacks.”

“Yes..?”

“And he swallowed his master, Keker.”

“Then stop.”

“And you are the owner of Keker.”

“Uh?”

“He’s trying to devour his master’s master as well. I wasn’t satisfied with Kecher. That’s why… Jun is chasing you.”

“What crazy…”

According to Cheshire’s hypothesis, it was said that a monster was chasing me, enough to tear the mirror ghosts apart and enter the third floor alone.

“I need to move a little faster.”

“Yes. Dad, go quickly!”

He approached me without hesitation, as if he knew exactly where I was. We didn’t want to run into him, so we ran faster to find a deep hole.

As a result, the speed of the sewage and wastewater flowed faster and faster, and the pipe widened so that two people could barely pass through it.

“It’s all here. Now you can jump!”

A vast space open like a vertical shaft. The ceiling is not visible. And underneath there was a huge hole that was swirling and sucking in wastewater. Moreover, there were holes all over the wall, just like where we are standing now.

“Hoo-wook..”

Now, if you jump down, you can finally go to the last 4th floor. However, I didn’t dare to jump into the center of the whirlpool. It seemed that if even a single drop of that dirty water touched my skin, all sorts of skin diseases would develop.

“Jun, it’s okay. If you jump to the center, it will move right before it hits the water.”

“Huh… No, Cheshire. But how the heck did you find out that you could get to the 4th floor this way?”

“Uh… You can say it’s the result of a lot of experiments. Then I go first!!”

Cheshire patted me on the shoulder and immediately jumped down.

“Cheshire!! Oh..”

Cheshire’s figure disappeared as if it were being sucked into water.

“Everybody has to get into that center. If you miss… You’ll just drown in that shit.”

Ayla warned again. If it didn’t fall exactly to that center, it really seemed like it was just the end.

“Hoo-wook…”

Cathia took a deep breath and jumped after Cheshire toward the center of the stream.

Fortunately, she was able to jump right into her center and was transported to the fourth floor in an instant. She seems to be good at jumping, perhaps because she has the talent to learn most things quickly due to the effect of her never-ending impulse.

Well, she jumped down to the next floor like bungee jumping from the first floor, so it was time for her to do well.

“Aram, can you do it?”

“Huh. You can do it. Let’s meet under us.”

Seeing Keshia’s appearance, Aram must have gained courage and jumped under her in a cool way. However..

“Ahh!!! Rue!!!”

I quickly released my tentacles and grabbed Aram. Because while trying to jump, her foot slipped and she almost fell off-center.

“Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha…”

Aram thought she was about to die, so she gasped for breath and shuddered, possibly hyperventilating. I picked her up and hugged her.

“Are you okay. Are you okay. I caught it are you okay.”

“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa… Really… I almost died this time… Haha. Haha…”

When people are too dumbfounded or shocked beyond their tolerance, their heads go blank or laughter comes out. Yes, A-ram laughed as if he had half lost his mind.

“Sorry. Make no mistake now. Whoa… I’ll go again.”

Fortunately, without being frightened, Aram immediately jumped down again. The second attempt was successful and Aram landed exactly at the center of the vortex and moved to the 4th floor.

“For some reason, it seems that the third floor is the most dangerous here than the others.”

“Whoops.. That’s right.”

As if agreeing with my opinion, Ayla nodded her head. But somehow, she seems to be a little nervous too.

“Ayla. I’ll take a look. Go first.”

“Huh? Oh no. Are you okay.”

“That’s Okay. If it’s dangerous, I’ll catch you right away with my tentacles.”

“Huhuhu.. Jo Joon is a really kind kid.. Thank you. Actually, I was a little scared too. Whoa, Jo Joon I get courage when you say you’ll take care of me. See you under us then.”

“Yes. See you from below.”

Fortunately for Ayla, on her first attempt, she jumped right into the center and was able to get to the fourth floor.

“Ha.. Now it’s my turn..”

I prepared to release tentacles and grab the wall at any moment, then jumped down.