Chapter 33
The vampires couldn’t understand Johan’s words.
It was only natural given their differences, but having never encountered a speaking entity in the dungeon before, they hadn’t considered this possibility.
Thus, the two groups remained on high alert, unable to understand each other.
“Wait a moment.”
At that moment, someone from the vampire side stepped forward. It was a woman with a subdued appearance.
She seemed like the kind of mother who would smack her son for being late.
The woman gestured, but it wasn’t a hostile gesture.
*Swish swish*
“We, no, understand, you. Do I, want, you?”
“Does she mean they want our blood?”
“Is she declaring that she’ll drink our blood?”
Misunderstanding her words, the group became even more agitated.
Johan quietly massaged the back of his head, deducing the meaning behind her words.
‘It seems like she’s trying to suggest a way to communicate since we can’t understand each other right now.’
The woman gestured to ask if she could approach.
She didn’t appear to have any ill intent, and given that vampires are skilled in magic, it seemed like she wanted to cast a helpful spell.
“Everyone wait. I’ll go myself.”
“Hold on, it’s too dangerous.”
Yangmu grabbed Johan, not wanting him to rush into enemy territory alone.
“Brother Yang, I’ve survived till now with just a scratch. Don’t worry, nothing will happen.”
*Step step*
Johan calmed Yangmu and walked directly between them.
In such a situation, the fastest way to gain trust was to show trust first.
The woman smiled at Johan’s actions.
She also raised her hands, demonstrating her harmlessness as much as possible.
*Wooong-*
Magical energy gathered. The woman chanted a spell and pointed her finger at Johan, designating him as the target of her magic.
*Gulp*
Though he stepped forward boldly, Johan couldn’t help but feel tense.
Even though he said he trusted them, he couldn’t be certain about the ‘what ifs.’
Magical energy enveloped his body. Seeing Johan’s tension, the woman gave him a warm smile and nodded.
Johan did not resist the magic.
[A translation spell has been cast.]
A notification sounded. The magic worked properly, and Johan felt no adverse effects.
“Can you hear me now?”
He began to hear her words. He could also hear the murmuring people beside him.
“The village chief is using precious magic on a stranger. What if he’s not even from this region?”
“Does he not understand our language, or is he mute?”
Their dialect was very rustic and endearing. Johan didn’t find it unfamiliar, likely due to their innocent nature.
“I can hear you well. Are you the chief of this village?”
“Yes, I am Kalmo, the chief of this village. What brings you here? Are you even from this world?”
Kalmo was a wise woman. Her charisma, hidden beneath her gentle demeanor, was more than enough to lead the village.
“First, we are not from this world. We came here by accident from another dimension.”
“Oh no, we’re doomed, doomed!”
“People from another dimension!”
“First, it was those pig guys, and now it’s people from another world?”
“Be quiet, everyone, quiet!”
Kalmo, having seen enough, silenced the chatter.
*Smack!*
The back smack was a bonus.
Kalmo’s role seemed no different from Johan’s.
Grabbing her throbbing head, Kalmo waved her hand as if to say it was nothing to worry about.
“These people are usually like this. They mean no harm.”
“You must have a hard time. I understand.”
“I will cast the spell on the others as well. Could you please tell them?”
Rather than explaining twice, it was better for everyone to hear it together.
Since it was confirmed that there was no ill intent, there was no need to be wary anymore.
“Everyone, accept the magic she casts. Translation magic is essential for communication.”
Despite their doubts, everyone started accepting Kalmo’s magic one by one.
In truth, they had no choice.
*Wooong-*
As the magic enveloped them all, they couldn’t hide their amazement when they began to hear each other.
Even Yangmu, who seemed least likely to be surprised, was left speechless, his mouth agape.
“You can light a fire if you need to. We just need to avoid sunlight.”
“Why don’t we all come out and sit down? This might take a while.”
At Johan’s suggestion, everyone hesitantly came out to the open space outside the building.
Like a campfire, they sat in a circle around a bonfire, with the residents and Yangmu’s group eyeing each other.
Breaking the silence, Johan started speaking first, sensing the need to ease the tension.
“Let me explain how we ended up here.”
Johan recounted everything to Kalmo and the villagers, leaving nothing out.
From entering the dungeon, discovering a new portal, to arriving here and finding the building.
He mentioned everything, hoping there might be some clues.
Kalmo seemed to hear such a story for the first time.
“…… So that’s how we ended up here. Have you experienced anything similar?”
Johan noted how calm they were, indicating they had encountered similar situations before.
“From what you said earlier, it seems like pig-like creatures also came through.”
“Yes, boar-like creatures with long tusks, about our height. We were shocked to see beasts walking on two legs.”
“Are you talking about Devs?”
“It seems so.”
It sounded like they were talking about Devs, E-rank monsters, boar monsters that walk on two legs.
Though not highly difficult to hunt, they posed a challenge for the villagers.
“Still, they are quite difficult monsters for the villagers to handle. Did everyone remain safe?”
“If it had been before, we would never have been able to catch them. Maybe it was fortunate that we became vampires?”
Kalmo gave a bittersweet smile, a mix of regret and resentment.
“You’re curious, right? How we ended up like this.”
“It would be a lie to say I’m not. The entire village turning into vampires is quite a unique story.”
“We have a lot to tell you, so let’s take our time.”
Kalmo began her story in earnest.
It was a story unlike anything Johan had heard before.
“This village was a peaceful place. We all lived off farming and helped each other with no shortages.”
The villagers’ misfortune began ten years ago.
Around the same time as the Great Cataclysm.
“Every New Year’s Day, we offer a tribute to the God of Life. It’s a simple ritual where we burn the crops harvested last year to thank the god for providing life. The problem occurred that day.”
The villagers celebrated the festival on the last day of the year.
That day, those who had drunk heavily postponed the ritual to the second day due to hangovers and fatigue.
The result was this.
“Just one day late?”
“The god punished us for neglecting the importance of life. We were turned into vampires.”
“It’s not about the importance of life, it’s about neglecting their dignity, isn’t it?”
“That’s ridiculous. Is that really a god?”
Everyone was baffled.
A god who punishes for being a day late with a ritual? What a petty and vile god.
And to call such a god the God of Life?
No one could find words to say. They had a lot to say but remained silent.
Because they couldn’t openly criticize the god they believed in.
“We have been living like this for ten years. We can’t see the sun, so we wake up in the evening and live our lives. Since we can’t move during the day, we can’t farm either.”
The condition set by the God of Life to turn them back into humans was just one.
“If we offer a tribute even once, we would be turned back into humans. However, for us, who can’t do anything during the day, farming is impossible. Moreover, we can’t even touch garlic, one of the most important crops.”
The God of Life set an impossible condition from the start.
It seemed the intention was to make them live this way forever.
‘What a petty god. The name “god” is wasted on them.’
Even the God of the Dead isn’t this petty. The God of Life should rather be called the God of Pettiness.
“What we want is just one thing. To return to our original lives. It’s been ten years since we’ve seen the sun, and everyone is growing more gloomy inside. If this continues, we might truly become monsters.”
Kalmo’s face looked despondent, as did everyone’s.
“This is a tough situation.”
“There isn’t much we can say.”
The once hostile gazes turned to sympathy and pity after hearing their tragic circumstances.
No words could serve as a consolation.
“Have you tried asking for help from people in other villages? This can’t be the only village around here.”
“This place is so remote that it’s not easy to reach other villages. And…”
“And?”
“For some reason, we can’t leave this place. No matter how far we walk, we find ourselves back here.”
The last part was hard to understand.
Was it due to a spell or a curse from the God of Life?
“Could it be…”
Yangmu spoke heavily, as if something dawned on him.
“It seems the village has undergone dungeonization.”
“Dungeonization?”
“Yes, it means we are trapped in the loop of space-time.”
Dungeonization is a term we coined to understand such bizarre phenomena.
The reset phenomenon, where everything is restored after a certain period even if everything is destroyed, and the ironclad barrier phenomenon, where one cannot move beyond a certain range, as if blocked by a wall.
All these phenomena that can only be seen in dungeons are collectively called dungeonization.
While the reason remains unknown, beings inside cannot be considered living beings anymore.
These beings, who restore themselves even after being killed, are more like programs than life.
“Could it be that these people are already programmed as well?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“You know we can’t view anything happening in the dungeon with a human perspective.”
Suddenly, the mood grew heavy.
Should we see Kalmo, who smiles kindly, as an NPC?
*Ding!*
At that moment, a notification sounded.
[A quest for escape has been generated.]
“Oh, a quest!”
Everyone seemed to receive the quest. They were delighted at the possibility of escape but soon held their heads in despair upon reading its contents.
[Farming]
Difficulty: B
Time limit: None
Reward: De-dungeonization of Engel Village, Portal restoration.
– Harvest rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, onions, and garlic in place of Kalmo and the villagers. The crops must be in a nutritious, consumable state. Failure will result in the permanent dungeonization of the village.
“Farming?”
“We’re supposed to farm?”
It was an unexpected quest. Who would have thought they’d be farming in a dungeon?
Johan was just as taken aback.
The reward of de-dungeonizing the village was unheard of, but the immediate process drew more attention.
“This won’t be easy.”
Farming is never easy. You have to water the plants daily, apply fertilizer, and prevent pests.
“And we have to ensure the quality of the crops. This isn’t a quest we can just do half-heartedly.”
Most of the hard work is for ensuring quality. If quality wasn’t an issue, it wouldn’t be so difficult. But it’s quite a challenging quest in many ways.
“Time is also a problem.”
Farming isn’t something you can finish overnight. Even growing bean sprouts at home takes about five days.
Garlic alone takes at least half a year.
And for the most labor-intensive crop, rice, you need to invest at least half a year to harvest.
Half a year in one dungeon.
“What should we do? Spending six months rotting here is quite difficult.”
“Neither crying nor laughing will help; should we consider ourselves lucky that we’re not dead?”
“Na-ae, do you have any plans for tomorrow?”
“Oh, I did have a drinking appointment, but well, no one will complain if it’s delayed by six months, right?”
The atmosphere was resigned. This was a first for everyone, but they focused on the fact that they were alive and doing the quest.
Such positive people.
Maybe they were at ease because they knew they wouldn’t die.
“Wait a minute.”
“Hm?”
“Six months, we don’t necessarily have to invest that much time, do we?”
Suddenly, a skill came to mind.
Johan, too, hated the idea of investing six months, so he thought of a solution.
“Yang hyung.”
“What?”
“Yang hyung, the skill you showed in the cave earlier, can you use it on crops as well?”
“Oh, no way?”
Yangmu’s eyes sparkled. It seemed he hadn’t thought of this possibility either.
Yangmu stood up abruptly, his face filled with hope. He reached out to a nearby weed.
“Growth.”
A strange light emanated from his hand. The light followed his outstretched hand and then enveloped the weed.
Swoosh—
The light consumed the weed. It flickered and then vanished into the weed.
Twitch—
The weed, which seemed like it would never grow, suddenly started to grow noticeably.
“Ohhh!”
“If this skill works!”
Everyone who witnessed the scene also began to shine with excitement.
“My skill can rapidly accelerate the growth of plants. It might drastically reduce the time needed for farming.”
