Monster Heavenly King - Chapter 150



Only Noblemtl

150. Abandoned Laboratory (2)

‘Is there a monster that cries like a human screaming?’

-No one makes that kind of noise, but there are a few who imitate the sounds made by people.

‘That means…’

The scream you just heard must have echoed from this laboratory at some point.

Lee Su-ho opened his mouth while holding the window.

“…Let’s go inside.”

“okay.”

If you hadn’t come in, you wouldn’t know, but now that you’re here, you can’t just stand there like a stone statue for a thousand years, right?

The passage was quite long.

Even though we had been moving for quite some time, we still had not reached any place and the passage continued on.

It felt like I was looking at a secret base from a movie.

“Isn’t the passage too long?”

-Yeah, I think something should have come out of me too.

“I think this place was originally a fixed dungeon. Since it was remodeled, it wouldn’t have been easy to change the structure itself.”

“Oh, really?”

“Yes, according to the information written down, it was a cave of ice ants…”

I thought it was a really great idea to use an entire dungeon created by monsters as a research lab.

At that time, Seol-ah’s voice was full of annoyance.

-Ice ant hole?

‘why?’

-Memorize the path you have taken so far.

‘It’s a lonely road?’

-If this is the ice ant habitat, this isn’t even the beginning. Once the forks start appearing, it’ll really turn into a maze.

‘That’s it?’

-The ice ant colony calls this mountain range its home.

‘… … ‘

-Maybe there are still ice ants left somewhere.

‘The lab may have collapsed because they invaded.’

Even a monster would be pissed when they shamelessly invade someone else’s home by pouring concrete.

Although it was a straight passage, the two walked without letting their guard down.

If it was a being on the 6th floor, it could have instantly jumped out of the darkness and attacked them.

and,

‘It’s visible.’

The blinking lights in the distance.

A shadow was forming, as if to indicate that there was something where the light was shining.

but,

Tick, tick.

The drawing was very small.

A form closer to a human than a monster.

When there was no response despite approaching from a considerable distance, Lee Su-ho could no longer bear it and opened his mouth.

“I am Lee Su-ho, an Awakened Person belonging to the Association. Who are you?”

“… … ”

Did you think the shadow was a person?

But, there was no answer to his question.

The moment when I tried to talk to him again.

“…give it to me.”

“?!”

A faint voice can be heard.

Not only Lee Su-ho but also Hyun-seong was surprised by that voice.

I thought there were still people alive.

‘No, is that a monster that imitates human voices?’

Even with that, his senses were telling him that the being in front of him was a weak but living person.

It was Lee Su-ho who tried to approach him,

-…! Stop it!

“Stop!”

Hyunseong immediately shouted at Seol-ah’s urgent voice.

Lee Su-ho stops immediately at the sound of his own voice.

And that brief moment of less than a second saved Lee Su-ho’s life.

“!?”

As soon as I stopped as Hyunseong said, I felt a chill and immediately ran away, but a sharp awl flew into the spot where I had just been and pierced the concrete.

“This is…”

-Why is this guy in the ice ant hole?

Seol-ah mutters as if complaining.

Before I could ask what was happening, Inyoung started moving.

Movement that feels like it’s being pulled by something rather than moving on its own.

and,

“Gulp”

A monster appears in front of a flashing light.

The sight was like seeing a giant fish.

The most distinctive feature is that the tentacles that grow out of the head like lantern-shaped goblins are connected in a way that they pierce people.

‘What is that?’

-He’s the guy who comes out when a blizzard hits. He’s called a blizzard fisherman.

‘You look like a fish, but you’re a fisherman?’

A fisherman who hunts other prey using humans as bait in a blizzard where you can’t see even an inch ahead.

Hyunseong tilted his head as he listened to the explanation.

‘You’re using humans?’

-okay.

‘Then that’s…’

-He’s a living human. For now, at least.

It seemed as if the connected tentacles were continuously supplying nutrients to the being, keeping it from dying.

In some ways, it was great.

That means they are still being kept alive even in these harsh environments.

-but….

“Kuaaaaaaah!!”

The scream we just heard came from the man impaled on the tentacles.

-They said that when nutrients were supplied, they felt a stabbing pain all over their body.

If another prey is caught, it eats the one it was using before and uses the next prey as bait or something like that.

Hyunseong’s jaw clenched without him realizing it at the appearance of an outrageous monster he had never seen or heard of.

“This is terrible.”

-He was originally a guy who spent his days buried in the snow… but it looks like he was dragged here for research and left there unattended.

“Then, the inside must have turned into a monster’s cave rather than an ant hole.”

Hyunseong approached Lee Suho, who still had a bewildered expression on his face.

“Are you okay?”

“…thank you.”

Because I never even imagined that such a monster could exist.

A man impaled on the tentacles of a blizzard fisherman looked at them with longing eyes.

“Death… Give it to me.”

The man was not asking to be saved, but to be killed.

After months of excruciating pain, he must have lost the will to live.

“Make yourself comfortable.”

“…”

“If you can’t do it, I will.”

“I will do it.”

Lee Su-ho straightened the window.

The spear thrust like that pierced through the tentacles of the blizzard fisherman and cut them off.

“Gurrrrrrrr!!”

A guy screaming in pain as his tentacles disappear.

The man, who had fallen to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut off, mustered up the last of his strength and screamed.

“thank you.”

A man with his eyes closed as if he were at peace.

Lee Su-ho looked down at him silently.

“Gurrrrrrrr!”

And the guy who flings the severed tentacle at Lee Soo-ho.

It seemed like he was trying to find a replacement bait.

but,

Kkwadddddddd!!

Lee Su-ho’s spear spun violently, piercing the tentacle and piercing the guy’s head.

A guy who can’t even utter a single word and just keeps on trembling and falling down.

Hyunseong, who had been watching it quietly, let out a sigh of admiration.

‘Can this kid come up to the 6th floor soon?’

Since the Snowstorm Fisherman is one of the weaker monsters on the 6th floor, solo play would still be difficult, but if you form a party, it seems like you have enough skill to conquer the 6th floor.

“The 6th floor… is quite a grim place.”

“Because it’s a research lab, there will be all kinds of monsters besides ice ants, so let’s be more careful from now on.”

“all right.”

After dealing with the blizzard fishermen and going inside, the real maze begins.

At first it was a two-way street, but soon it became a three-way street, then a five-way street.

There was even an eight-way road.

‘Are you mapping well?’

-I’m working hard.

‘I feel secure because I have a sword with good performance.’

-This is just gum.

Hyunseong left the mapping to Seol-ah and moved through the maze according to his own intuition.

I haven’t encountered any monsters of note since I met the Snowstorm Fisherman.

-That’s because the ice ant hole is so wide.

‘but.’

If you were to use the entire mountain range as your home, its size would be beyond imagination.

If there were monsters in each of these communities, it would have been quite a challenge.

at that time,

“hmm?”

A faint vibration was felt.

The two looked at each other, as if Hyunseong and Lee Suho felt it too.

Hyunseong uses Seol-ah to conduct investigations.

Then,

“What the hell.”

Ants in numbers too numerous to count were coming toward us.

Guys coming towards us from dozens of paths, each with their own exact target.

No matter where you go, you’re bound to run into these guys.

“Did you get caught?”

-I don’t think so… Maybe it’s because I caught the blizzard hunter?

“A monster came to seek revenge? They’re not even the same species?”

-No, it smelled like blood. It came to hunt weakened prey.

“Oh, is that why?”

The smell of blood was unavoidable.

Even if it was Lee Su-ho who caught it, it wouldn’t have changed anything.

Hyunseong lifted Seol-ah and gritted his teeth.

“Can you say that an army of ants is coming?”

“If it’s ice ants… you can do it.”

Breaking through the tough outer shell may not be easy, but it is not impossible.

But the problem was that the number was absurd.

The vibration you feel is probably caused by a swarm of ice ants heading this way.

“Okay, then I don’t care too much. Just survive as long as you can.”

“All right.”

Lee Su-ho also raised the window.

And then, after a while.

Clang! Clang!

Ice ants that stick to the floor, walls, and ceiling and come towards you.

Seol-ah, who had been listening to Hyun-seong, started dancing.

Spot! Crunch! Swish! Swish!

Dozens of ice ants were cut down by the gorgeous sword energy that decorated the air.

Lee Su-ho’s mouth opened on its own as he looked at the sight.

“and.”

No movement, no waste, no neatness.

Despite being a herbivore without the splendor of change and transformation, it was considered beautiful.

If Hyunseong had a proper body, wouldn’t he have been able to match his teacher’s?

He soon shook his head and shook off his distracting thoughts.

‘I can’t lose either!’

Lee Su-ho’s spear pierced the air.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

Rather than wiping out many at once, it was necessary to kill them one by one with precision.

Because one living thing could have ruined the party.

Besides, there was a need to adjust the pace.

‘I don’t know how long the battle will last.’

Even though Lee Su-ho was the one who controlled his pace like that, as always, he had a plausible plan for everyone.

However, whether it goes according to plan is another matter.

“Ugh… Ugh…”

Even though I had distributed my stamina, I was starting to reach my limit.

The army of ice ants continued on endlessly.

No matter how hard I tried to grab it, it kept crawling back, as if it was being created right away.

Lee Su-ho glances at Hyun-seong.

‘You don’t look tired at all… Is it because you’re a skeleton?’

However, contrary to his thoughts, Hyeonseong was not in a very relaxed state.

‘Since my ability is low, this kind of battle is difficult.’

If it was a short-term battle, I could somehow cover it with my skills, but if it became a long-term battle like this, my magic and internal energy would inevitably run out first.

If it had been another Awakened person, not Hyunseong, his magical power would have been exhausted long ago and he would have become food for ice ants.

‘Aren’t these guys just coming out endlessly?’

Just catching ice ants would level you up.

I thought it was about to end, but reinforcements arrived from somewhere and we had no choice but to continue fighting.

-There’s nothing we can do about the numbers, since it’s their home ground.

The reason ice ants were originally scary was not because a single individual was strong.

Because the fighting persistence that led to overwhelming numbers and endless battles was what drove people into fear.

‘Should I force my way through and go back now?’

At this point, the option of going inside has already disappeared.

At that moment when I thought so,

Kwakwakwakwang!

Phew!

An explosion occurred on one side where the ice ants were swarming.