## Chapter 39 – Dungeon
“Son of a bitch! A treasure chest!”
I was half out of my mind and sprinted towards the treasure chest. The rush of pleasure felt like it was breaking my nervous system…! I felt like I was about to foam at the mouth! My life has been nothing but shit since I got here, but finally, something good is happening to me!
Looking back, I had been isekai’d and forced to suffer hardships I never asked for, shedding tears all the way. Is this a reward for that? I swear, the thought that I did well to live a good life is hitting me hard!
Treasure chests always have gold coins inside.
Gold coins.
GOLD.
What a terrifying and beautiful resonance that is.
Gold coins, shining as brilliantly as the sun rising in the desert, are worth 100 silver coins each. If I minimize my monthly living expenses, I can get by on 1 silver, so that’s a value of 100 dollars. With just one gold coin, I could live comfortably for years.
“…Wait a minute.”
But.
As I was running, a sense of foreboding suddenly ran down my spine.
Naturally, my pace slowed… Instead, I tightened my grip on my sword. The swordsmanship I had honed through a month of physical exertion created a perfect combat stance as soon as the excitement about this unexpected situation subsided.
“There’s no way something that good would happen to me.”
I muttered the facts to myself. And with the tip of my sword pointed towards the lower front, I advanced slowly. That’s right. There’s no way something good would happen to me. I know because I’ve never had anything good happen to me in my life.
This was clearly suspicious.
A treasure chest, the only thing left in a room that doesn’t seem to have anything valuable.
This is tempting. More than tempting, it makes my mouth water. I want to open it violently right now and check the contents inside, sucking it dry until I go crazy. Yes, that’s how it should be.
However.
However, this might be a trap. Of course, the idea of a trap might be a kind of persecution complex arising from my excessive imagination, but one must always be careful in the face of great fortune. Isn’t this a world where someone will cut off your nose in Seoul if you fall backward, and you have to tap even a stone bridge before crossing it? Great fortune is both an opportunity and a potential cause of great misfortune.
Well, maybe someone already took all the contents and only an empty box is left. But I was still uneasy. I stood in front of the treasure chest. And I poked the box here and there with the tip of my sword to explore.
“He suddenly ran out, but now he’s suddenly cautious. Is he having a seizure or something? What’s with this barbarian?”
“Hold on. This box is really suspicious.”
“An old treasure chest… It certainly looks suspicious. We should investigate it.”
Copson and I kicked and poked the box while conducting an investigation (if you could call it that). The box seemed a bit heavy, as if something was inside. Judging from the fact that it didn’t budge when kicked, there was definitely something inside.
Could it really contain something valuable, as it appears? I swallowed involuntarily.
ㅡgulp.
“Then.”
“Let’s open it.”
After touching it roughly, it didn’t seem like a trap. Copson and I reached for the treasure chest with trembling hearts. And slowly. Very slowly and delicately. Just as our tension reached its peak as we tried to open the lid of the box as carefully as peeling a bag of Kukudas with three corners torn and only one last chance left.
“Stop!”
Elise shouted like a thunderbolt from behind.
“Huh?”
Is it a trap after all?! I tried to take my hand off the box and quickly backstep, but, oh shit, the lid opened on its own?
ㅡclatter.
I thought I was too late.
ㅡrip!
“Holy crap.”
Suddenly, the treasure chest’s `mouth` opened wide, revealing fangs hidden inside. Those grotesquely protruding, rake-like teeth and an incredibly long tongue. And sticky fluids splattering everywhere. It opened its mouth and lunged at me as if to devour me.
“Fuck.”
A futile curse escaped from my mouth. What kind of monster is that? The backstep I was trying to do failed, and I fell backward, hitting my butt on the floor. The scene of that hideous-toothed treasure chest covering me seemed to move in slow motion.
Could I kill it by sticking my sword into the inside of that maw? I don’t know. But now there was no other way. If I just stood there blankly, it would tear off my head. I had to do something. I stretched my sword out as if to stab it inside. Hoping that the thing lunging at me would have its throat pierced by its own force.
“It’s a Mimic! Get away immediately!”
ㅡthwack!
At that moment, Elise, who had jumped out, struck the thing with her flail.
ㅡkureeek!
Elise’s flail was a terrifying weapon specialized in breaking and destroying things as a morning star. The Mimic, hit with a magnificent blow like Babe Ruth hitting a home run, flew as it was and crashed into the wall.
ㅡwham!
“Y-you goddamn son of a bitch!”
I immediately regained my senses at the sight and jumped out towards it…! I don’t know what it is, but I had to kill it! You fucking bastard!!! How dare you attack me!!! You crazy box!!!!
“I’ll help you!”
Copson, who was standing there dumbfounded next to me, also ran with me. Elise also ran with her flail raised high, saying that she had to cut off the monster’s breath for sure. Her momentum was enough to eat up any raid leader.
“Die!”
“Die!”
“Oh God!”
ㅡwhack!
ㅡbam!
ㅡthud!
The three of us beat the Mimic, which had crashed into the wall and was sliding down, like crazy. Copson and I stabbed the exposed body of the thing with our swords and kicked it wildly, and Elise just intended to break the box itself, hitting it with her flail again and again. Wood fragments and monster blood splattered. The Mimic convulsed, making strange groaning noises, and then drooped down.
ㅡdead.
“Haa… It’s over. We completely smashed it.”
Before long, the treasure chest, that is, the shell, was completely shattered and destroyed. The Mimic’s corpse also met a similar end. No matter how much of a son of a bitch you are, there’s no match for a gang beating.
No matter how unknown the monster is, if three people attack it, it will become mush.
“You bastard! Good riddance! You fucking bitch!”
How dare you deceive me…!
I suppressed my anger and thanked Sister Elise.
“Whew…! I almost died. Thank you, Sister Elise.”
“It’s nothing. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Yes. It was nice timing. Thank you very much. I came back from the dead. When I get back, I will definitely make a donation to the Holy Light Cross Society.”
“There’s no need to go that far…”
“Can I call you my savior?”
“Just call me comfortably.”
“My savior, Sister Elise.”
“Let’s stop the jokes here.”
I calmed my frantically beating heart and thanked Elise incoherently. I swear, I thought I was seeing my coffin just now. This was the first time I had ever seen a monster that looked so unreal, and I never expected the box to pop out so quickly.
In a situation where a moment’s carelessness could determine life and death, I would have been seriously injured or killed if Elise hadn’t supported me like that just now. I calmed my mind with a deep breath.
“Whew…”
Maria, who had been guarding the rear and came over when the situation was over, touched the Mimic’s corpse with her toes and asked.
“Slime? Is it a slime? It looks like a slime.”
“It’s a monster called a Mimic. It’s an evil monster that lures people in and eats them.”
The Mimic’s body, called a Mimic, looked like a slime. The treasure chest was just a shell. According to Elise’s explanation, the Mimic is a gelatinous monster with teeth and internal organs, and it nests in places like boxes and eats anything that comes near it.
“What a terrible monster! To disguise itself as a treasure chest!”
Copson, who was listening to the explanation, shuddered. I rummaged through the Mimic’s corpse to find out more about it. The Mimic was completely fucked up and died. Even if a big aunt threw a pancake that she was making on Lunar New Year’s Day, it would be more beautiful than this.
Anyway, the fangs looked sharp, so it seemed like it would be good to keep them.
“Huh? What’s inside?”
Maria, who had turned over the shattered treasure chest, said so. A tough, viscous piece of flesh fell to the ground along with something shiny.
ㅡthud.
ㅡclink.
“What is it?”
Clink? Just listening to that pleasant sound, it seemed like it was the sound of some kind of metal object. After rummaging through the Mimic’s corpse, I saw that what had fallen was a silver cup with a fancy pattern engraved on it. There were two cups.
“Isn’t that a luxurious cup?”
“It’s a pretty cup.”
Copson and Maria said. Although the light had faded a little, the luxury of the cup seemed to have not faded even after a long time.
“A cup made of iron? No. Looking at the color… Could it be silver?! A cup made of solid silver!”
I couldn’t help but be shocked again. This cup, which looked fancy at first glance, looked like an ancient relic! This was a genuine jackpot, a loot! I almost foamed at the mouth again.
Elise, who was examining it, picked up the cup.
“This is… a pewter cup.”
“Pewter? Not silver?”
Not silver, but pewter?
“Yes, this is a pewter cup. I’m sure because there are many in the church. Of course, even if it’s not silver, it’s still valuable. From my short knowledge, since it was found in ancient ruins, it seems that each one would be worth several silvers.”
“Several silvers!”
Anyway, it’s an expensive item!
“It’s expensive!”
“Wow!”
I tried to grab Copson’s hand, but after looking at his face, I just grabbed Maria’s hands and jumped up and down, cheering. I hit a jackpot. It was worth overcoming the near-death crisis!
“It seems that the Mimic nested inside a box containing valuables. We were lucky. Above all, I like that the preservation condition looks good.”
We happily took the pewter cups. Isn’t it worth it even if we just take this and go back? And I also decided to take the Mimic’s fangs. I didn’t know well, but since these teeth were so sharp, they would definitely be worth something. I used a knife to cut out the thing’s teeth from its gums.
“Good, very good. This is what a dungeon should be like.”
A refreshing stream of sweat flowed down my forehead. After all, the sweat you shed after working is the best. But suddenly, I felt a question after looking at Elise, who was standing still.
Come to think of it, wasn’t she a psychopath who took parts of the bodies of the monsters she killed, or rather, a fervent believer? I thought she would be happily picking up the fallen pieces of flesh, but she didn’t.
“My savior, Sister Elise.”
“…I hope you call me normally.”
I asked, feeling a question.
“Haha, I’m just kidding. Anyway, aren’t you going to take a part of the corpse? I remember you did that last time.”
“Ah, that?”
The way she cut off the kobold’s nose and ears was no different from that of a madman. She was like a living witness to the saying that modern people have at least one mental illness.
“Since we killed the Mimic together, you don’t have to do it.”
“Huh? You don’t have to do it if you kill it together?”
“That’s right. Taking a part of the corpse is only when you defeat an enemy with your own strength, so that you can take away its soul, so it’s a ritual with the meaning of dedicating it to our God. You don’t have to do it in the case of killing it as a group like this.”
“Oh, I see.”
I never knew it had such a meaning. Elise explained it fluently, as if she was subtly trying to convert me.
It seems to be a strange ritual that would not be tolerated in modern society. Come to think of it, lighting incense and bowing every holiday in my hometown is also a bit isekai-like.
