Chapter 158. < The Great Snail Empire. (1) >

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Translator: Seven Editor: Yahiko PR: LightBrin

1.

Immediately after clearing the stage.

I was forcibly dragged to the 32nd floor where I found my fellow hunters together with [The Lady Who Walks Through the Mirage]. Seated among them, the Lady hugged a strange looking pillow.

No. Is that?

Upon closer inspection, I realized that it wasnt a pillow but a snail plus.h.i.+e.

I couldnt believe it.

Since there was a snail plus.h.i.+e, I wondered if there were goblin plus.h.i.+es as well.

I have a goblin plus.h.i.+e too.

Huh?

Here.

The Lady pulled a goblin plus.h.i.+e seemingly out of nowhere. The plus.h.i.+e had long ears, a fat nose, and prominent cheekbones.

Uh, where did you get this?

I made it.

Can you show it to.

Just as I was about to make a completely legitimate request as the Goblin G.o.d, someone interrupted me.

What are you doing?

The Black Dragon Master looked at me with an exasperated expression.

If you have the time to mess around with the constellation, then we should move on to the next stage. It took us 24 days just to clear the 31st floor No, is it my sense of time that has become weird? After all, it took years to clear the 10th floor. Maybe

Can you really say that while holding that in your hands

Th-, this is just for research.

The Black Dragon Master quickly hid the miniature bat plus.h.i.+e behind her back.

The Count and the Crusader also fiddled with an elf and a mermaid plus.h.i.+e respectively.

Im just inspecting this item. Isnt it rare to find something that was made directly by a Constellation?

The item description is pretty interesting.

These humans

Death King, here.

Ah. Thank you.

I took the goblin plus.h.i.+e and held it tightly in my arms as I glanced around.

We were in a completely white s.p.a.ce. It was as though it was white drawing paper that stretched endlessly. And we were standing in the center of it.

Mm

Is this the 32nd floor?

I asked this even though I didnt think it was. And as I expected, the Lady shook her head while she hugged the snail plus.h.i.+e.

It would be better to think of this place as a waiting room of sorts. In order to initiate the 32nd floor, all of you must first declare stage clear. Ah. In the case of Venomous Snake, he has already been waiting here for 15 days.

I thought I would die of boredom!

The Venomous Snake, who was sitting on the ground, grimaced.

Why did you all take so long? I took care of my little guys and then left as quickly as I could. I couldnt even watch what you guys were doing, so I had to meditate all day.

With the sprite plus.h.i.+e.

It helps with meditation. I used the most practical and pragmatic strategy I could think of, but what about you guys? I didnt expect you to be so immersed in it. Its like

No. You were too insensitive.

The Crusader sighed.

The Lady said it when we first entered the 31st floor. [From the 31st to the 40th floor, it will be a race war]. In other words, there was always the possibility that the 31st to 40th floors would be connected. We might have to continue ruling over the races we picked on the 31st floor.

Huh?

If its just clearing the 31st floor, then youd be right, Chen Mu-Mun Guild Leader. But if we have to rule all the way up to the 40th floor, its an entirely different story altogether. Even if we are absent, we would still have to prepare for their development in advance.

The Venomous Snake paled slightly.

W-, wait. Where did you hear that?

Its obvious to anyone who paid attention.

The Crusader sighed heavily.

Just think about it, Liao Fan. You have a tendency to not pay attention to things not related to martial arts

Se-, seriously? Is that why you all stayed on the 31st floor for that long?

The Venomous Snake looked around with desperate eyes, hoping that someone would deny it.

Unfortunately, there were no hunters there who would care about his wishes.

Dont worry about it, Venomous Snake.

Trying to comfort him, I patted his shoulder and smiled kindly.

De-, Death King is it true? The Crusader must have made a mistake, right? I cant be the only one who didnt realize?

Even if your tribe is destroyed, well still have six left.

Dammit!

The Venomous Snake buried his face in his hands.

The Lady had a playful smile as she watched our little play.

You dont have to worry too much. All seven tribes will survive until the next era In other words, they will all reach the 32nd floor. Thanks to all of your hard work, the prehistoric era ended quite quickly. And now, itll be the ancient era.

Ancient.

From the 31st to the 32nd floors, there was a gap in eras.

At least a thousand years will have pa.s.sed.

Thousands of years. I was a bit worried about the goblins, but I was glad that the Lady announced that they were still alive.

But the Lady then made a completely unexpected remark.

Now then! Since everyone is here, Ill open up the next stage.

The snail plus.h.i.+e the Lady was holding rose into the air, and she crawled onto it. Then, like a cavalryman on horseback, she raised her arm and let out a cry.

The setting of the 32nd floor is 200 years after the 31st floors!

My companions all stared at her silently. My reaction was no different.

Huh?

The Lady had just said 200 years, not 2000.

In other words, this meant that the prehistoric era ended in 200 years and the ancient era began after.

Two hundred years? My Lady, did you perhaps mean two thousand years?

I had a puzzled expression on my face. It was unbelievable.

In the past, even when the Flame Emperor used all of the points to raise the elves, the gap between the 31st and 32nd floors was more than a thousand years. And even if my memory was inaccurate, it wouldnt have been less than 500 years.

But 200 years?

Did we really raise those kids that well?

You heard correctly.

The Lady smiled gently.

I was also surprised. I knew you would be fast, but I didnt think it would be this fast. No. In this case, I suppose I should say it was [slow], not [fast] Huh. It seems that sometimes, taking the long way can also be considered a shortcut.

What do you mean?

Youll find out when you get to the 32nd floor. Hehe.

The Lady placed the goblin plus.h.i.+e on the white ground. Then, she spread her arms wide. (TL: Didnt she give the goblin to Gongja?)

Ill now open up the second floor!

Wait a minute.

The Black Dragon Master spoke up. She was also shocked by the fact that only 200 years had pa.s.sed.

Not all of us have arrived yet. The Heretic Questioner isnt here.

The Black Dragon Master was right. There were only six of us in the waiting room at the moment. One of our group members, the Heretic Questioner, hadnt shown up yet.

Well only be able to go to the 32nd floor after he declares clear

Ah. You dont have to worry about that. Its fine.

The Lady waved her hand nonchalantly.

Like I said before, [everyone who should be here is here]. If its the 4th-ranked, Heretic Questioner youre worried about, he was the first one to reach the 32nd floor and is waiting for you.

What?

Like I said.

The Lady smiled brightly.

Youll find out when you get there.

Paaaht!

A bright light enveloped us.

2.

When we opened our eyes, we found ourselves floating in the air. The world unfolded beneath our feet.

Last time, what we saw was a large forest. This time, however, it was different. There was no forest, no streams, and no sunlight s.h.i.+ning through the leaves.

There wasnt even a sky.

Oh, my G.o.d.

The Black Dragon Master muttered in shock.

What is this place?!

The world beneath our feet.

The scene that the Black Dragon Master referred to as this place was an underground city. A city that wed never heard of or seen before.

-Its hard because the way home is so far, rime.

A shrill but easily understood voice suddenly echoed.

-I heard theres a new tavern near the great cavity

-I wish I could postpone my compulsory service this year, rime.

Small beings crawled through the city. Thats right. They didnt walk; they crawled.

They were snails.

These translucent creatures slithered about. With large snail sh.e.l.ls on their backs.

What the h.e.l.l?

This underground city. No, this underground world was very different from the cities we were used to. This was natural. After all, when the snails reached the end of the roads they were crawling on, they could simply began to clamber up the walls.

-Dont crawl up the walls randomly, rime!

-Dont be ridiculous. Every wall is a good road for us to use, rime. G.o.d decides where we have to go, but I can decide how I get there, rime.

The snails moved freely and comfortably from left to right, top to bottom.

It was an enormous underground world.

There were numerous large buildings that seemed to be over 20 stories high, but none of them seemed to have stairs. The snails simply climbed up the walls and slipped into the windows.

-Monthly rent has gone up too much these past few days, rime

-Its a pity, but I think Ill have to stay in my old sh.e.l.l this winter

There were even some without sh.e.l.ls.

These sh.e.l.l-less snails huddled together in small caves where they nested. They also transported bright blue gems back and forth. Whenever a snail swallowed these gems, their translucent body glowed blue. It was as though their bodies had actually become blue.

-Rime I endured a lot for this bite today, rime

-From how bright they are, it seems that those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds saved us some good stuff this time, rime.

-We got lucky. Nowadays, traders have no ethics or morals. How can they even play tricks with stone cigarettes? Thats not something normal people would do. Rime.

-Let me have a taste too

It didnt end there.

-Quickly move the cargo, rime!

A snail swung its tentacle. Pak! And a fleshy sound rang out. The being that was. .h.i.t with the tentacle groaned as it put heavy stones onto a wagon.

The n.o.ble Race.

The beings who Venomous Snake ruled over.

-Seriously, the n.o.ble Race is so lazy! Rime!

The snail, who seemed to be a supervisor, grumbled.

-Even though we paid so much for them, the second we take our eyes off them, they try to do something. We saved them, fed them, clothed them, and let them sleep. I dont know why theyre still so ungrateful.

-Right. Its only because slaves can climb a bit better and are strong. Otherwise, there wouldnt be anything good about this sh.e.l.l-less race.

-Hey, slave. Say rime once, rime. If you can p.r.o.nounce it properly, Ill let you go.

The snails were much smaller than the n.o.ble Race. The n.o.ble Race had bodies the size of orcs with a single horn in the middle of their foreheads. Nevertheless, they seemed afraid of these snails who only reached their waists.(1)

-Ri-, Rimi.

-See that?! The slave cant even say rime properly, rime! They are of such low birth that they cant even say the sacred word. Useless things. Just move the stones!

-Woo.

Oh, my G.o.d.

Had the snails enslaved the sprites?

No What the h.e.l.l is this

Venomous Snakes mouth fell open.

All of a sudden, his race had become slaves.

T-, this doesnt make any sense. I- I did what I could before I left the 31st floor! I taught them how to make swords and spears, and I taught them how to fight So what is this? Why did my race become slaves?!

Ara.

It was at this moment that we heard a familiar voice..

I can finally see the faces I missed!

It was the Heretic Questioner.

Ahaha. So it finally recognized that we entered a new era. Hmm. Its slow when it wants to be slow and fast when it wants to be fast. No. If I were to look at it from an objective standpoint, I suppose it recognized it quite quickly!

The Heretic Questioner was the same as usual. He was wearing the same black priestly robes and had the usual smile on his face. Thats why Venomous Snake didnt feel anything strange when he rushed to the Heretic Questioner.

Hey! You psychopath b.a.s.t.a.r.d!

Ah, yeah?

How did this happen? Why did my race become your races slaves?!

The Venomous Snake grabbed the Heretic Questioners collar and shook it violently. Nevertheless, the Heretic Questioners smile remained the same despite the shaking.

Ill do my best to explain it briefly! The current snail civilization I created needed a large workforce. Slavery is a pretty useful system for the provision of a labor force. It just so happened that the n.o.ble Race invaded 112 years ago, and the snails defeated and captured them!

Wh-, what are you?

Ah. Not to worry. They were hard to tame because they are such a proud race, and while its still hard, we have at least managed to lower their spirits to some extent. Maybe in another three generations, we will be able to change the nature of the race.

The Venomous Snakes mouth fell open. It seemed that he was unable to keep up with what the Heretic Questioner was saying. On the other hand, the other hunters, who were beginning to have an idea of what was going on, stared at each other in silence.

Mr. Heretic Questioner.

I opened my mouth, deciding to take the lead.

Theres something Id like to ask you.

Ahh, Death King! Yes! You can ask me anything.

The Heretic Questioner smiled. If he had a tail, it probably would have started wagging at that moment. His smile was just as bright as always.

We all went to the waiting room after clearing the 31st floor, but you didnt go there. The Lady also said that you were the first person to enter the 32nd floor What does that mean?

Mm? Ah. I see. Haha.

The Heretic Questioner tilted his head back and forth a few times before nodding.

Strictly speaking, that expression isnt exactly correct. I didnt arrive on the 32nd floor first. Instead, I never left the 31st floor!

Silence.

Huh?

Its just as I said, Death King! I know that you all declared stage clears one by one. The Tower told me. However, I had a thought! If the 31st floor is connected to the next floor, was it necessary to declare a stage clear?

I know a bit about how human history developed. And I believed that this knowledge would certainly be of great help to my snail civilizations development. Therefore, I told the Tower that I wouldnt declare a stage clear.

Then

Yes! I stayed with the Snail Race and continued to take care of them!

The Heretic Questioner smiled.

Welcome back, everyone! Aha. Its been 200 years, 6 months, and 21 days since we met! Its nice to see you all after such a long time!

This psycho.