Chapter 166

“Count Lawton’s vacation spot is Karts Beach. I started my research there, and among the many caves near the beach, I was able to find a strange one.”
“Weird cave?”
“Yes, we didn’t find anything unusual in the other caves, but that one I told you about, something was off, because the investigators we sent there never came back.”
Vegas continued, sounding bitter and apologetic.
“At first, I thought it might have been an accident, so I sent out another investigator, but this time he didn’t come back… I definitely felt something was wrong, so I sent out another investigator, this time fully prepared, of course, including a communications crystal ball… But this time he didn’t come back, either…”
A trailing off, Vegas continued.
“Through the comms, I could only hear one word. It was… ‘who’.”
“Extra quest!
Ming Hu listened to Vegas and was convinced that he was right.
“There must be someone in that cave. I also believe that the reason for Earl Lawton’s change of heart has something to do with someone in the cave. I would like you to investigate the cave.”
Vegas has spoken. As expected, the quest appeared.
<The Strange Cave at Karts Beach
Vegas realized that something was wrong with Count Lawton's change and began to investigate. His investigation led him to a strange cave near Karz Beach. After learning through a communication crystal that someone is in the cave, Vegas wants you to go to the cave and learn more about this mysterious person. Go to the cave and find out who it is!
Difficulty Level: A
Quest Rewards: Tie-in Quest – The Truth Revealed
'…'
After checking the quest reward, Ming Hu couldn't help but frown slightly; it was a tie-in quest. However, since he couldn't refuse, Ming Hu nodded and said, "I'll take it.
"Yes, I understand."
[You have accepted the quest].
When the acceptance message appeared, Ming Hu looked at Vegas and said.
"Can you tell me where the cave is?"
At Ming Hu's words, Vegas pulled out a map and handed it to Ming Hu.
"Here it is."
[You have obtained a map of the caves of Karts Beach].
"I've marked it on the map."
Said Vegas. Ming Hu unfolded the map as Vegas spoke. The map showed Karz Beach, and the caves around it were labeled. There was one cave that was colored red, and it seemed to be the one Vegas was talking about.
"Is this cave… that cave?"
"Yes, that's right."
"Well, I'll see you later."
"Be careful…"
Ming Hu left the room, opened his inventory, placed the map in it, and hurried down to the first floor. As he quickly made his way back to his seat, fearing that Delay would be waiting for him, he couldn't help but stop and frown at what he saw.
"What else?
A man approached Jian Chen and said something to him. Ming Hu frowned and walked back to his seat.
"What's your name, tell me without bouncing~."
As I approached the table, I heard the man speak.
"Minghu!"
When Jian Chen spotted Ming Hu, he jumped to his feet and shouted. The man turned his head to look at Ming Hu at the sound of the call.
"It's real. Aww, too bad."
The man said so and walked away. Ming Hu, who was dumbfounded by the man's behavior, sat down and looked at Delay with an apologetic expression.
"Sorry, you've been waiting a long time, haven't you?"
"No! The food just came out!"
"Enjoy your meal."
Myung-hoo and Ji-yeon began to eat while chatting, and when the meal was over, they paid the bill and left the restaurant.
"So we're going straight to the beach?"
"Yes."
"I miss you, but when I come in later, you have to show me the beach!"
"Anytime!"
Ming Hu smiled at Delay's words.
"I'm leaving!"
"Yeah, see you later!"
After the delay, Ming Hu headed straight to Karts Beach.
"Wow… That's amazing."
Arriving at Karts Beach, Ming Hu couldn't help but smile at what he saw. Karz Beach was indeed beautiful. Of course, it wasn't the beauty of Karz Beach that made Ming Hu smile.
"Oh my gosh, you're so thin!"
"Sissy, listen to what I'm going to say, ho ho ho!"
A group of bikini-clad women were lounging on the beach. It was unclear if they were NPCs or users, but the bikinis made it clear that they were users. Ming Hu turned his attention away from the desirable women, opened his inventory, and pulled out a map.
"That's a long way."
Once Ming Hu realized his location on the map, he saw that he was quite far from his destination and started walking towards it.
"That's a lot."
After a while, Ming Hu reached the end of the beach and found a number of caves. Ming Hu walked slowly and examined the caves.
"Am I here?"
Soon, Ming Hu stopped in front of a cave and began to compare his surroundings with the map.
"I think this fits."
Comparing the map to the surroundings, it seemed to be the right cave. Ming Hu put the map in his inventory and entered the cave.
[You have entered a suspicious cave].
Once inside the cave, a message appeared.
"Right."
After reading the message, Ming Hu smiled with satisfaction that he had found the right place. He glanced around and began to slowly make his way inside.
Jab… κΈ°λ¦¬.
"…!"
That was it. Soon after, I heard footsteps coming from inside.
Sigh
When Ming Hu heard footsteps, he quickly looked around for a place to hide.
"There it is!
Finding a place to hide, Ming Hu quickly slipped into it and hid himself, then poked his head out to peer inside.
Jabber. Juggle.
The footsteps grew closer and closer, and a figure stepped into Ming Hu's line of sight, but the sight of the approaching figure made Ming Hu shake his head.
"I don't think you're a human…
At first, I thought it was human, but upon closer inspection, I realized it wasn't. I'm not sure. There was no clear evidence that it wasn't human, but it felt that way.
Sigh
Ming Hu stepped out from his hiding place and blocked the path of something he assumed was not human.
"…"
The thing that was about to walk out stopped in its tracks and looked at Ming Hu, and at that moment the thing's skin began to shake violently. Seeing it, Ming Hu could be sure that his suspicions were correct.
"…Slime?"
Something in the form of a human being quickly turned into a slime. This was no ordinary slime. It was dark black and, most importantly, it had razor-sharp teeth, the kind you'd expect to see on a beast.
-Kueh-eh!
The slime squealed like a pig and lunged at Ming Hu. Ming Hu threw a punch at the slime as it lunged at him.
Poof!
His fist made contact, and the slime shattered with the sound of firecrackers popping. But Ming Hu couldn't help but frown.
Nagging
The shattered remains of the slime that had spread around were converging on one place.
"You're going to have to break the nuke."
Ming Hu muttered to himself as he looked at the round orb that was supposedly the core where the remnants of the slime were gathering. Perhaps we should smash that thing.
Seating
[Level Up!]
When he hit the orb, a level-up message appeared. Ming Hu immediately opened his character window and invested all of his bonus stats in strength.
"Again… No items."
After using his bonus stats and closing the character window, Ming Hu checked to see if any items had been dropped, but none were, and he muttered to himself in disappointment and began walking back inside.
Jab… Jeebus.
He hadn't walked far when he heard footsteps again. Ming Hu didn't stop walking when he heard the footsteps.
"Again."
As Ming Hu continued to walk inward, he encountered the human-like slime he had seen earlier.
-Kueh-eh!
Upon spotting Ming Hu, the slime transformed into a fast-paced creature and began to rush toward him with a roar.
Poof! Pow!
With an outstretched fist, Ming Hu burst the slime and quickly smashed the core. Then he looked around. Once again, there were no dropped items in sight.
"Oh."
Ming Hu walked back inside. Slimes kept popping up, but Ming Hu was able to kill them and move at a fast pace, soon reaching the end of the cave.
"…"
Reaching the end of the cave, Ming Hu couldn't help but panic.
"There should be… something. I should have?"
I didn't see anything.
"This can't be…"
Ming Hu looked around in bewilderment. There must have been a message when he entered the cave. There had to be something in this cave.
"Is there a hidden space?"
Thinking that there might be a hidden room, Ming Hu began to pace and bang on the walls of the cave, until he was forced to stop.
Tsk!
The wall is cracked. Ming Hu smiled and looked at the cracked wall, muttering to himself.
"There it is."
The entire wall wasn't cracked. It was only cracked in certain places, as if to say, "This is the entrance to a hidden room! Ming Hu extended his fist toward the cracked wall.
Tsk!
The cracked wall collapsed, revealing a hidden room. But that's not all: As the room appeared, so did a message.
[You've found your way to Arpachi's lab].