Hyeji and Elcia were busy washing up as soon as they arrived at the villa. It was a hot season, so it was understandable.
So currently, only three people had seen this secret passage. Me, Jeong Ahyeon, and the Lizard Beastman who was watching us.
In Jeong Ahyeon’s case, her face was full of the same curious expressions as mine. A look of wondering what the heck this was.
However, the Lizard Beastman’s reaction was quite different. His hands and feet were shaking violently, and his pupils were darting around. Moreover, his teeth were clattering against each other.
‘Jeong Ahyeon didn’t know, but… I guess the Argonian maid was aware. What should I do?’
[Let’s hear the story first. It’s not too late to deal with things afterward.]
I quickly approached the Lizard Beastman. Just then, he opened his eyes tightly and showed a somewhat composed expression.
“What’s inside?”
“You shouldn’t go in there.”
“You’re not saying it even though you know? Choose your answer wisely.”
“……Please, don’t go in.”
He was clearly aware of what was inside. However, he was begging me not to enter.
“That place is the very embodiment of ugliness.”
“No, I’m not smart enough for that. Just tell me clearly.”
“……It’s beyond imagination, so please don’t go.”
“I’m telling you to give me a specific explanation.”
I stared directly into the Lizard Beastman’s eyes. A multitude of emotions surged through those eyes. Despair. Resignation. Fear. Only negative feelings were evident.
I turned my body and started striding toward the secret passage.
It wasn’t that the Lizard Beastman wasn’t going to say anything more, but I didn’t want to push him.
Meanwhile, Jeong Ahyeon began to stop me from entering the secret passage.
“Gongja! Are you seriously trying to go in there?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll uncover the truth in my grandfather’s name.”
“It feels like a serial murder is about to happen, so stop with that nonsense!”
[Isn’t the line, ‘There’s always only one truth!’ something you’re supposed to say?]
‘If I say that, it feels like everyone will actually die.’
A remote villa in the mountains. A foreboding word already.
‘This isn’t a mystery novel; it’s a light novel.’
[Just go down quickly.]
I asked Jeong Ahyeon to take Hyeji and Elcia and hide somewhere else for a moment. I had a bad feeling. It felt like the villa owner would arrive at any moment.
After entering the secret passage, I closed the door behind me. And what came was complete darkness.
It wasn’t just pitch-black darkness. It was darkness that truly obscured my sight ahead.
[Feels like your future, huh?]
‘It feels a lot like the future of this novel.’
I turned on my phone’s flashlight and looked around. It wasn’t a natural cave, and the interior was quite clean. Someone must have made it artificially.
Just then, I noticed a staircase right in front of me. I slowly began to descend.
I lost track of how long I had been descending. After a while, it finally felt like I reached the bottom of what seemed like an endless staircase.
And in my view was a solidly closed iron door. I grabbed the handle and pulled it with all my strength.
……It didn’t budge at all.
‘No way, it’s stuck here?’
[Shouldn’t you be pushing?]
The most confusing words for Koreans are PULL and PUSH.
If it’s this, it could be confusing enough. I thought it was PUSH instead of PULL, so I pushed with all my might, but the door wouldn’t budge.
Suddenly, frustration built up, and I planted my left foot as a pivot and kicked the handle with my right foot. In that moment, the door cracked open just a little bit.
‘……What kind of weirdo puts a handle on a sliding door?’
[Is there even anyone with normal reasoning at the academy?]
I grabbed the handle and pushed the door aside, and it opened very smoothly, as if the earlier situation were a lie.
I closed the door and started to walk again in the darkness. According to my phone, five minutes had passed. However, it felt like I had walked for nearly thirty minutes.
It was an exhausting space, to say the least. The only good thing was that the path I was walking was a straight shot.
And that I began to see a faint light in the distance.
Seeing the light as a goal, I dashed towards it like a moth to a flame.
‘Let there be light!’
[Please don’t bring back anything dangerous!!]
My path widened, turning into a gigantic cavern.
At first, it was so narrow that only two people could barely pass through. Then it gradually widened to accommodate four people.
Eventually, when I arrived at the area where the light was, it had become spacious enough to handle a crowd.
As soon as I reached my destination, I looked around.
It looked like…
‘…No matter how I look at it, this is a prison, isn’t it?’
[It does appear that way.]
Long iron bars lined up on both sides. This place must be some sort of prison.
However, it seemed far from being used to confine people, considering the thick bars and the wide spacing.
Moreover, the moment I arrived in this space, a rancid, foul smell wafted through.
[Really? Even so, it seems inappropriate to do your business here, right?]
‘I didn’t do it, you bastard.’
The only source of light in this place was one flimsy bulb precariously shining in the middle. It flickered like a candle before the wind, yet it was doing its job sufficiently.
If this is a prison, then it must be to confine something. I turned on the phone’s flashlight to inspect what was inside the cells.
Deep inside the prison, I saw the silhouette of something. However, the weak light made it hard to distinguish exactly what it was.
Just then, as I got closer to the bars, feeling something moving…
– BAM!!!!!!!
A sudden impact on the iron bars.
I drew back in shock from the unexpected situation.
“Whoaaaa!!! Turn on your blinkers before entering!!!”
[You! Shine the flash!]
The source of the impact was some mass inside the cell.
At that moment, my eyes met those yellow eyes attached to that mass.
– Grrrrrrrr!!!
A threatening growl began to echo eerily within the prison.
The massive form I shone my phone’s flashlight on turned out to be none other than…
A monster.
‘…Why the hell is there a monster here?’
[It seems this prison is meant to confine monsters… maybe it’s some sort of secret experiment?]
A massive black wolf monster with a number above its head was growling at me.
Following that growl, different roars began to rise from each of the cells one by one.
– Grrrrrrr!!
– Kraaawwwwwk!!
– Kyeek!!
– Kweaaahhh!!
The two growls combined into one, and once combined, four more growls layered on top of it again.
All the growls merged into harmonies, creating a symphony of roars. In a normal situation, one would feel intimidated and terrified by such threatening sounds.
However…
“If you want territory, come at me, you dog bastards!!!!”
The Mountain Lord.
The apex among the Kemono Friends.
Their roars had no effect on me whatsoever.
The prison fell silent in an instant.
To prepare for any monsters that might charge at me, I circulated my magical power and enhanced my body.
The moment I finished preparing for battle, Piece suddenly shouted.
[Look closely!! Something’s off!!]
‘What??? No, all monsters are monsters, aren’t they?’
[Hurry!!!!]
Unable to disregard Piece’s urgent words, I finally brought the flashlight closer to the wolf monster.
A massive body trembling, eyes glaring fiercely at me.
Sharp teeth visible between its tightly closed jaws. Claws sharp enough to slice anything.
And, last but not least, flailing desperately to escape from the chains binding it.
‘…Chains?’
[It looks like these monsters… are all tied up.]
I turned the flashlight brighter to illuminate the monster.
The increased brightness caused the monster to squint and glare at me threateningly, yet I paid it no mind.
Thick chains were binding the monster tightly.
Perhaps the one that previously lunged at me was able to do so because part of one of its chains had broken.
But maybe that lunge had been its last-ditch effort, as it was now simply panting heavily.
Just to be safe, I looked at the other cells one by one.
Not a single type matched.
Remove the iron bars, and one could easily mistake it for Noah’s Ark, with how diverse the numbers were.
Yet, there was one common point.
Every single monster was bound tightly by thick chains, unable to move an inch.
[So, what do you think?]
‘How will I take a selfie with them?’
[……Do as you wish. I’m exhausted now too.]
I was about to step on the muzzle of the monster that was closest to the bars to take a selfie,
When suddenly the monster with a number above its head snapped its jaws fiercely between the bars, glaring at me.
Naturally, I brought my head right next to those teeth.
With no hesitation at all, now, it felt too natural.
– Crack!
Predictably, one of the monster’s teeth shattered.
With the number above its head rising red, that monster could only show a bewildered expression.
[…..You probably won’t be needing craniotomy if you get a cerebral vascular disease.]
‘Yup~!! Just kill yourself, and that’s it~!!’
As I stomped on the monster’s jaw and tried to take another selfie,
Unfortunately, it was too dark around me to get a proper shot of the monster in the camera.
I turned the flash back on and was about to take another picture.
When, from far away, I began to hear slow footsteps approaching.
