Chapter 159. Dudud… Dudududum…
77th day in the Labyrinth.
Hwang Mir’s coin support has been cut off.
To be precise.
Hwang Mir decided not to directly support with coins herself, instead arranging for other Assistants on Earth to handle and deliver the funds on her behalf.
『PLATINUM grade Assistant ‘Pururu’ has supported with 3,000 coins!』
『GOLD grade Assistant ‘Yumi’ has supported with 2,000 coins!』
『GOLD grade Assistant ‘Mysticism’ has supported with 1,900 coins!』
『GOLD grade Assistant ‘Luna-chan’ has supported with 2,500 coins!』
【Pururu】─Hehe.
【Yumi】─Hehehe!
【Mysticism】─😃😃😃
【Luna-chan】─Take the coins! ٩( ˙༥˙ )و
【Mir-Stin】─Proxy coin punch!
【Bubble Bubble】─I’m jealous.
Hwang Mir had already reached the maximum support level.
Therefore, Hwang Mir judged that there was little merit in supporting with coins herself and decided to delegate it to other Assistants to help raise their support levels.
『TRINITY grade Assistant ‘Rizenova’ has supported with 5,000 coins!』
【Rizenova】─Heh.
【Pururu】─Stop showing off, Rize.
【Mysticism】─Stay out of this. 😠
『PLATINUM grade Assistant ‘Pururu’ has supported with 15,000 coins!』
Continuous proxy support.
At the end, Pururu rose to the Diamond level.
Mysty, Yumi, and Sage rose to Platinum.
【Pururu】─Finally reached Diamond level!!!
【Yumi】─Platinum achieved!!
【Mysticism】─😝
【Luna-chan】─Mir-chan is the best! >.<
【Rizenova】─I’m at Trinity grade, you know.
【Pururu】─Whatever.
【Mir-Stin】─Haha, congrats to all.
【Mir-Stin】─I’ll keep supporting until you all reach Trinity grade.
【Mir-Stin】─But you must not spend money elsewhere than on coin support. That’s a promise.
【Pururu】─Got it, don’t worry.
【Yumi】─Of course, it’s money given to charge coins, spending it elsewhere would be almost embezzlement.
【Mysticism】─Ah.
【Mysticism】─😖 I bought a chocolate milk with the money… sorry, unnie.
【Mir-Stin】─That’s fine.
【Mir-Stin】─I’ll prohibit lavish expenses, but buying a meal or snack is permitted.
【Mysticism】─😀 Thank you!
【Pururu】─Really? Then I’ll go for omakase.
【Yumi】─Hey!
【Yumi】─It’d be rude to eat something that fancy!
【Mir-Stin】─Let’s go to omakase together.
【Yumi】─Oh?
【Yumi】─I’ll get ready.
And so, the coin support time came to an end.
After thanking the Assistants, I activated the warp device and stepped through the portal to check on the construction progress in the underwater village.
Meanwhile, the Assistants’ chat continued actively.
【Pururu】─Mir, aren’t you going to recharge gold?
【Mir-Stin】─Have to save it for Elemencia.
【Pururu】─No, I mean the ones stored in the safe zone.
【Pururu】─It doesn’t seem like it’s bound to the owner, so just convert it into coins in advance.
【Mir-Stin】─You never know.
【Mir-Stin】─Also, the value of gold is sure to rise once I move to Elemencia, so I have to save it no matter what.
【Pururu】─Alright.
【Bubble Bubble】─But after seeing Mir-Stin in person, I just can’t get used to that speech.
【Luna-chan】─That’s called “gap moe”!
【Bubble Bubble】─Gap moe? What’s that?
【Luna-chan】─It’s like a contrasting charm. And I’m trying to show my own contrasting charm, too! >.<
【Bubble Bubble】─You just seem lacking.
After lowering the opacity of the chat.
I temporarily moved it to the corner of my view.
I crossed through the portal with a few monsters.
And I saw the Necro Puppet Master, whom I appointed as the manager of the underwater village, coming out to greet me.
［You’re late.］
“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”
［I didn’t wait. I just arrived, too.］
The place where the warp device was installed was near the door leading to the passage connected to the Machine Graveyard.
The construction site wasn’t far from there.
It was close enough to be visible from where I stood.
Anyway.
We followed Necro and arrived at the construction site.
Under Omega’s guidance, the construction of the underwater village was proceeding smoothly.
【Pururu】─Oh, it’s finally looking decent here, too.
【Mysticism】─😮
【Yumi】─The scale is bigger than the desert village.
Unlike the desert village, where most buildings were made of wood, the buildings in the underwater village were primarily constructed from stone.
But calling it just “stone” wasn’t accurate.
Again, these were no ordinary materials.
The materials currently being supplied by the machines were shaped by Omega’s technology after cutting the bedrock beneath the sea. The stones under the Ancient Labyrinth’s seabed were fundamentally different in durability compared to ordinary stones.
［Pyonpyon. Gauntlet, when did you get here?］
While I was observing the construction site.
Omega, who was floating above, naturally came down.
“I just got here.”
［If you’re here, say hi. I feel left out, pyonpyon.］
“I didn’t say anything because you looked busy.”
［There’s no need for that kind of consideration. Anyway, as I mentioned yesterday, the installation of control devices is complete. Now we only need to focus on construction. Pyonpyon.］
The control devices.
They were circular, special machines installed throughout the village, equipped with functions to control gravity, pressure, and draw fresh air from above the sea for circulation.
After expressing my gratitude to Omega for the hard work.
I walked again, slowly looking around the construction site in the underwater village.
【Luna-chan】─The village looks pretty. It shines and sparkles.
【Hwang Mir】─It’s already amazing even while under construction! It’ll be even more impressive once completed!
【Mysticism】─😮 Mir-unnie changed her nickname.
【Pururu】─But it seems different from what I imagined.
【Yumi】─What did you imagine the village would look like, Purujik?
【Pururu】─When I heard about building a village in the depths, I imagined a city covered by a huge transparent capsule.
【Pururu】─I didn’t expect buildings to just be planted on the ground with stones.
【Bubble Bubble】─Though it’s like that now, maybe they’ll install a transparent barrier-like wall later?
【Bubble Bubble】─Unlike the desert village protected by the Solorb, there’s no SSS-class monster protecting this place.
“They’re not planning to install any walls here either.”
【Bubble Bubble】─Then how will they handle village security?
“The village security isn’t something to worry about. We just need to tame a few more Deep Guardians and station them above the village.”
【Bubble Bubble】─Ah. With the Deep Guardian’s expulsion ability, the village’s safety isn’t really an issue.
【Pururu】─King Guardian. Haha.
【Mysticism】─🤭
I looked up at the sky briefly.
［Shuuuung!］
Right on cue, a Deep Guardian swimming above the village caught my eye.
It made eye contact with me.
［Oh! Gauntlet, you’re here?］
The Deep Guardian carefully descended, avoiding the buildings, and extended its head toward me.
It was a gesture asking to be petted.
I gently stroked its head.
“You’ve been guarding the village well, right?”
［Yesyes! I expel anyone who approaches!］
【Pururu】─Yesyes!
This Deep Guardian served as the sub-manager of the underwater village, sharing the duty of protecting it.
And eventually, I planned to have it lead other Deep Guardians I would tame in the future.
【Bubble Bubble】─I really can’t get used to the way that Deep Guardian talks.
【Rizenova】─Just accept it.
【Mysticism】─🤭
After a brief conversation with the Deep Guardian.
I resumed looking around the village, sending encouragement to Necro’s puppets and the machines assisting in the construction.
After a quick inspection of the underwater village construction site, I returned to the hideout via the warp device’s portal.
“Huh? What’s this?”
As soon as I arrived, I saw something strange.
The remaining monsters were gathered in a circle around something, and for some reason, they all looked serious.
［Why suddenly? Are you feeling sick?］
［Sniff, sniff…］
Niala Nepenthis and Blmasl’s voices were filled with concern.
I hurried over to the monsters and asked.
“Hey, what’s going on?”
“Baa… Our Dottie has suddenly been acting strange since a while ago…”
Merino slightly shifted aside, pointing to what they had been watching.
“Look here.”
［Dudud…］
In the center of the monsters was the Hedgehog Summoner.
The hedgehog had raised the spines on its back sharply.
It was bobbing its head back and forth in an odd, frenzied motion.
Its eyes had lost focus.
“Dottie, what’s wrong? Are you in pain?”
［Dudududu…］
“Dottie?”
［Dudududududu…］
It seemed like it couldn’t hear me.
Something was definitely wrong, yet the Medical Angel hadn’t done anything.
Just as I was about to ask Medical why it hadn’t sprayed any liquid,
［Dudud, dudududududum…］
The hedgehog’s body began to tremble even more intensely,
［Dudud… Dudududum…!］
Its hips started shaking at a speed dozens of times faster than usual, leaving behind countless afterimages.
Finally.
［Dudududududum-baAAAAAT!!!］
Fwoosh-!
With a roar that reverberated throughout the cavern.
A powerful light burst from the hedgehog’s body.
And as the light faded, the hedgehog had vanished.
All that remained was a single, large egg in its place.