It was a monster I had never seen before.
It looked a bit like a reptile, but also somewhat like an armadillo… A tough-looking beast.
It resembled a cross between a crocodile and an armadillo.
Its thick scales formed a structure on its back almost like the shell of a turtle or the plated armor of an armadillo, and its mouth was packed with sharp teeth.
Maybe it came here because of the changes in the ecosystem after the regression.
Or perhaps it had been guarding the Ruins all along.
Looking closely, I saw that countless creatures, appearing to be Bats, were clinging to the beast’s back. Those could be monsters too.
“Let’s hide.”
Dr. Wi nodded her head.
“What have they been doing instead of invading the Gate?”
“I did hear from the facility near the First Gate that there were some strange movements around here. That was just a few days ago.”
“So, they could resume their assault at any moment?”
“Yes.”
Though I hadn’t expected the situation to be this serious.
They had stationed artillery units here for the initial Gate response, but most of them had already withdrawn.
Stationing hundreds of people and weapons in this world was, honestly, a huge risk.
Now, only a few facilities remained on this side of the Gate.
“For now, let’s see what those things are up to.”
I, Dr. Wi, and Pineapple advanced cautiously, making sure the monster didn’t spot us.
The giant monster didn’t seem particularly interested in our direction.
One, two, three of them.
“There are more than I thought.”
If we assumed these were upper-tier monsters on the same level as the gigantic army ants or other grotesque beasts, they wouldn’t be easy opponents.
“But… If we want to get properly into the Ruins, we’ll have to get past those things. Let’s just kill them quickly and get it over with.”
“Alright.”
I took out the Antitank Rocket Launcher from Pineapple’s cargo bay. It was the weapon I’d used at Gate No. 3.
There were a few issues, like the cost and the destructive power against monsters, but despite some drawbacks, it wasn’t a bad weapon if you needed to kill at least one for sure.
Crosshairs locked.
——–!
“Did we get it?”
The flying creatures perched on the monster’s back scattered in a flurry. The ones that survived flapped noisily and fled.
The monster turned to face us and roared.
“Hey!”
I switched my weapon to the Magic Engineering Railgun and dashed between the boulders, ducking low.
Bang -!
Dr. Wi fired her Hunter Rifle at the beast, but the monster ignored it and moved in our direction.
At least it was bleeding steadily.
The monster hobbled towards us, one arm nearly torn to shreds, limping.
Without taking my eyes off the creature, I raised my rifle.
Ting!
I aimed for its already wounded leg.
Even a sheet of paper is dangerous when piled up, and since I had two guns, the firepower was certain.
After hitting it with a few more rounds, blood began to gush like a fountain from the monster’s body.
And then…
The monster finally collapsed before it could reach us.
We fired a few more confirmation shots just to be sure.
I had emptied two magazines just on this one creature.
“It was tougher than I thought.”
“Well, we got it.”
At least it didn’t have any special abilities. That was fortunate.
Some monsters could breathe fire, spray poison, or wield powerful special abilities.
I used my Explorer Trait on the monster’s corpse.
[Tarasque]
[A reptilian monster with extremely high defense and regenerative powers. It is immune to most physical attacks.]
[It almost never dies.]
[‘Tarasque’ discovered.]
[Exploration Points +20.]
[Enlightenment Stage 4 progress: 90/400.]
So its name was Tarasque.
Ming Ming set the monster’s body alight, and we kept moving.
Now, the other monsters would probably start pursuing us. Just because we’d killed one didn’t mean we could let our guard down.
At least two more were circling the area.
It didn’t look like we could take them down as easily as before.
I’d just used the only Antitank Rocket Launcher I brought with me.
Since it hadn’t even killed the Tarasque in one shot, its effectiveness was questionable.
Dr. Wi quietly reloaded her gun at my side.
I sensed vibrations in the ground with my Detection Trait.
It didn’t seem like they’d figured out our exact location yet, but two Tarasques were definitely patrolling nearby.
“If we wait, they’ll probably come this way.”
This was actually a pretty good spot.
We could hide among the rocks and observe the surroundings.
We stopped moving, and the two Tarasques started walking as if searching for the one who had killed their companion.
“Let’s wipe out the armadillo family.”
“Alright.”
I attached the Grenade Launcher beneath my rifle.
There’s a device that lets you secure a single-shot, hamster-sized grenade launcher beneath your rifle.
Then I aimed the muzzle in the direction the enemy would likely come from.
The sights were already set. All I had to do was fire—
“They’re coming this way.”
Again, twin gunshots rang out.
Hitting a Tarasque bigger than an elephant wasn’t difficult at all.
We emptied our magazines in an instant, and one Tarasque, after being hit by several antitank rounds, collapsed.
Reloading both the grenade and the bullets at the same time took quite a while. The third Tarasque got close.
The third one also collapsed at point-blank range, blood pouring out.
I went to check the corpse.
These things were supposed to regenerate, right? Once suppressed, you had to finish them off quickly.
I gave Ming Ming a little poke.
“Ming Ming, it’s your turn.”
“Ming.”
Ming Ming flew over to the Tarasque’s corpse and scattered a burst of vivid pink flames.
The grass around the Tarasque started to burn and smolder, though I wasn’t sure if the Tarasque itself was actually burning.
[You have killed multiple ‘Tarasque.’]
[Exploration Points +30.]
[Enlightenment Stage 4 progress: 120/400.]
Dr. Wi watched the burning monster’s corpse.
“Did you level up a bit?”
“Yeah. I’m already at level 5.”
The status window seemed pretty stingy. We took down three upper-tier monsters, but it only gave me that many levels.
“Well, I guess they’re a bit weaker than other upper-tier monsters.”
Now that things were mostly settled, it was time to enter the Dungeon.
There was a passage leading underground between the Ruins.
It looked like there had once been a structure acting as a door to the passage, but it had rusted and crumbled long ago.
Given the plants growing in the gaps, it must have been at least a hundred years.
We cautiously entered the depths of the Dungeon.
“I wonder how far down this goes?”
“Probably all the way to the Ruins near the Gate.”
I couldn’t say for sure, but judging by the scale, that seemed likely.
I peered down the narrow, dark hallway of the Dungeon.
“Pineapple. Turn on the light.”
“Okay.”
Click.
Pineapple soon illuminated the area ahead with a high-powered lantern, making it as bright as midday.
The interior of the Dungeon bore the marks of ages, but it was still relatively intact.
Except for the stalactites and stalagmites growing here and there.
Dr. Wi kept muttering anxiously to herself.
“St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican was built in the shape of a keyhole. The symbol of St. Peter is a key. When you step into the square, the grand structure that suddenly appears is meant to overwhelm visitors.”
“I see.”
“The structure doesn’t just serve practical functions—it also simultaneously carries symbolic and mystical functions.”
“Is that so?”
“For example, there’s Brasilia, a city designed in the shape of a bird’s wings, or in Egypt, at the city’s center, there are several octagonal buildings arranged in three concentric circles.”
“Three layers, several, octagons, three layers?”
“Exactly.”
“A Magic Circle, then.”
Dr. Wi nodded.
So, a Transmutation Array really did exist, even before the Gate crisis…
“It’s similar. Of course, in the latter case, it also served a clear practical function—making it impossible for protesters or rebel forces to surround government buildings.”
So, what’s the point?
“There must be something here in the Ruins as well. It’s not just a random pile of rocks; the buildings were constructed with a certain structure. The beings who made this…”
“I see.”
It wasn’t just randomly placed—it was built with a purpose, as if to surround the central Ruins where the Gate was.
Now that I thought about it, the place where we retrieved the Goblin Lord’s corpse was arranged similarly.
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
We passed what remained of a door, and suddenly, the Dungeon hallway widened.
I looked around.
I’d seen this scene before. Somehow, it felt familiar…
I let out a soft sigh.
No, to be honest, it was downright unsettling. I thought I knew what this was.
“Finally found it.”
The Ruins we’d seen so far were barracks, warehouses, temples, and living quarters. But this was the real deal.
“Dr. Wi, what is this place?”
“It’s a Research and Containment Facility. It looks like it was designed similarly to the Containment Rooms of the Supernatural Science Research Institute.”
“Is that so?”
Didn’t seem much different from ours.
If the intelligent species here had brains and hands, they’d be about the same size as humans.
The monsters they encountered were probably similar to ours, too. Wide corridors to allow heavy equipment to move.
They’d need to build underground to contain dangerous monsters, reduce escape risks, and secure enough space.
These aliens designed facilities almost identical to ours.
A facility for researching the Gate. A kind of evolutionary crucible.
Instead of fluorescent lights, there were mysterious glass machines; instead of electronic locks, there were padlocks; and instead of security cameras, there were crystal balls.
I frowned at the strange sense of discomfort. Still, at least now I knew what these Goblin Gate Ruins had been used for.
A sigh escaped me.
“This is really weird…”
“It gives me chills.”
I approached a thick iron bar.
A space designed so you could look down into a room through bars in the corridor. The iron bars were made doubly thick.
There was alien script written on the front.
I couldn’t read alien language, but it wasn’t hard to guess the meaning. Of course…
– Containment Room No. 1.
Pineapple shone a light into the Containment Room.
Inside, an unidentified monster had died, leaving nothing but a bleached skeleton.
Chains were scattered all around the creature.
“I mentioned it before, didn’t I?”
“You mean Ruo.”
“Konshu, the lunar god who killed gods and granted eternal life to the Pharaohs. The moon goddess Artemis, the hunter of monsters.”
So, the people who built this underground sanctuary were also monster hunters and researchers, just like us.
Looking closer, I found traces that seemed recent.
Abandoned buildings make good hiding places for animals.
In the real world, it’s usually raccoons or feral cats that live in abandoned buildings, but here, it was probably Goblins.
“These are definitely Goblin camp traces.”
“How can you tell?”
“You can tell by the size.”
No matter how big a Goblin gets, they’re about the size of a child.
Of course, they use tools, and like chimpanzees, their strength is several times that of a human.
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