You Have Been Invited to the Auction House of the Gods - Chapter 107

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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107

 

 

 

As the name suggested, Cowbell was a giant cow-type monster.

White fur with black spots, and an iron bell around its neck.

Every time the bell rang, the air vibrated.

The origin of the bell was unknown.

According to dungeon ecology researchers, the most credible theory was that it was cast from minerals from their habitat.

 

But above all, the key thing about Cowbell was its by-product: milk.

Even now, countless dairy products based on that milk were being produced.

 

I don’t know who first thought to try drinking it.

There are always people in the world who risk their lives doing strange things.

 

It may be called a cow, but it’s strictly classified as a monster species.

 

In the first place, it wasn’t a core monster of this dungeon, but a ‘neutral monster’ that passed through the path to the boss room.

 

Moreover, Cowbell’s habitat wasn’t grassland but underground tunnels.

 

So the idea of drinking milk from a ‘neutral monster’ in the underground tunnel leading to the boss room was beyond common sense.

 

In any case, I had one purpose for coming to this dungeon.

 

Domestication of Cowbell.

 

Tamer-type Hunters who tame monsters do exist.

 

But ‘taming’ and ‘domestication’ were completely different matters.

 

So far, there had been no successful cases of domesticating monsters.

 

I judged that this was because there was a lack of ‘sense of crisis.’

 

Historically, wild animals were mostly domesticated when they felt a threat to their species.

 

“So… you’re going to become the threat?”

 

Jin Young-heon looked at me with an incredulous expression.

 

“To be precise, I’ll become a crisis for their species.”

 

“Will that… work?”

 

“It will.”

 

I answered with confidence.

 

No matter how monstrous, if it’s a living creature, it has at least minimal intelligence.

 

And that intelligence is maximized when a species crisis approaches.

 

It wasn’t like I had nothing to rely on.

 

The artifact I won at Golden Fragrance, ‘Amenadiel’s Fountain.’

 

It was an angel’s fountain that created an area where the power of peace and obedience took effect.

 

After testing it on Kim Jin-woo, who had pulled three all-nighters for work, the results were satisfactory.

 

Even Kim Jin-woo, who seemed ready to explode at the slightest touch, became a gentle lamb within that area.

 

I was simply thinking of applying that to Cowbell instead of Kim Jin-woo.

 

The species threat was just staging to maximize the peace and obedience effects.

 

“I’ll collapse the tunnel from above, so please guide the fleeing Cowbells to these coordinates.”

 

“You want me to create a portal?”

 

“You can do at least that much, can’t you?”

 

In the case of magic-type rather than physical Hunters, their magic often matured as they aged.

 

And among them, Jin Young-heon, who was the oldest, could sufficiently maintain a portal, which was superior space-time magic, even if his specialty was botany.

 

Originally, I had planned to bring Lee Seo along.

 

The portal written in the magic book Lee Seo was learning was about mid-level.

 

The plan just changed with Jin Young-heon’s joining.

 

‘I can’t reveal information about space-time magic yet.’

 

The space-time magic currently known to the Magic Tower was only high-level.

 

I was also reluctant to bring a middle schooler to a scene of destruction.

 

“I can’t do it for too long. About 20 minutes is my limit.”

 

“That’s enough.”

 

With those words, as I headed outside the tunnel, I suddenly stopped walking.

 

“And once all the Cowbell herds have passed through, you can enter the portal as well, sir.”

 

“Will you be alright?”

 

“Since I’m the one playing the role of destruction, what problems could there be? If everything goes according to plan, 10 minutes will be enough.”

 

With that, I parted ways with Jin Young-heon.

 

***

 

Moo-moo was a young Cowbell who had recently become the leader of his herd.

 

The iron bell hung around his neck from his coming-of-age ceremony.

The smooth surface of the iron bell told him it was a young cowbell.

Each time Mumu took a step, a clear sound rang out from the bell around its neck.

Thanks to his exceptional physical abilities and clever mind, Mumu was able to become the youngest leader of the pack.

He made his rounds through the tunnels, ringing his bell as he did every other day.

Not often, but humans do pass through here from time to time.

Other than stealing each other’s stored milk, they didn’t harm one another.

However, Mumu believed that preparing in advance for any potential damage that might occur was one of the qualities of a leader, so he made sure to patrol three times a day without fail.

When lunchtime came and Mumu was coming down from the highest part of the tunnel, he sensed something was strange.

The vibrations in the tunnel are not normal.

And I could tell instinctively.

It’s dangerous.

This was no ordinary danger.

He could sense that an indescribable, immense evil was descending toward the tunnels.

And at the same time, Mumu felt satisfied.

Because his patrol helped the pack survive.

Mumu raced through the tunnel at high speed toward where the group was.

At the same time, the metal bell hanging around his neck vibrated violently.

It was different from his usual clear voice.

The bell’s high, rapid rhythm echoed throughout the entire tunnel.

It was a signal to warn the group of danger.

“Moooooo―!”

At the same time, the sound of Mumu’s crying echoed along with the warning bell.

It was an urgent signal that “the herd could be completely wiped out”—the cowbell’s unique alarm sound

Don’t think about fighting back—evacuate to the deepest part of the tunnel as quickly as possible.

The sound of crying at the top of one’s lungs was the meaning of the signal.

Fortunately, Mumu’s desperation seemed to have gotten through, as there were no cowbells visible remaining at the crossroads.

But something was strange.

Despite getting closer and closer to the shelter, not a single cowbell was visible.

And when they arrived at the shelter, Mumu’s sense of unease became certainty.

In the distance, groups were disappearing one by one into an unknown hole.

In front of it stood an old man who looked around, confirmed there were no cowbells left, and then threw himself into the portal.

This won’t do.

It seemed the humans had forgotten that Cowbells were monsters because they’d been going easy on them.

 

Moo-moo stopped and stomped his feet on the ground.

 

He lowered his head and raised his horns.

 

Then he charged toward the human’s portal that was gradually shrinking.

 

No, it was the moment he was about to charge.

 

With a massive explosion, hot flames swept in from behind.

 

“Moo, mooooo!!!”

 

He thought he was dead.

 

But there was something more terrifying than that.

 

The human within those massive flames.

 

It was a situation that Moo-moo’s common sense couldn’t understand.

 

But he could instinctively tell.

 

The disaster that Moo-moo had sensed.

 

That the human in the midst of those flames was the root cause of it all.

 

Moo-moo immediately made his decision.

 

Right, first let’s enter the portal that old human created to get the herd back.

 

And after saving the herd, let’s establish a new territory.

 

Just as he thought this and was about to turn his head toward the portal, his eyes met with the human in the flames.

 

“What, there’s still one left.”

 

“Moo…!”

 

“Old Master, really. So careless.”

 

That human casually reached his hand toward him.

 

And the moment his hand brushed against his rear,

 

“Mooooooooo!!”

 

Moo-moo shot toward the portal at the fastest speed of his life.

 

The shrinking portal disappeared completely just as Moo-moo passed through it.

 

“What, he’s acting like that when I didn’t even touch him. Should I go in a little deeper?”

 

Then, as if it was nothing special, another explosion filled the underground tunnel once more.

 

***

 

I thought this must be what it would feel like if an actual asteroid fell.

 

I slowly stepped onto the massive crater.

 

“This should be enough for them to feel the crisis.”

 

Feel it indeed.

 

If I were in Cowbell’s position, it would have felt like a dinosaur watching a meteor fall and bring about extinction.

 

‘Did I go a bit overboard?’

 

I’ll honestly admit it.

 

It wasn’t just for show – I actually destroyed the dungeon.

 

Since opportunities to fully unleash my power were rare, I got a little excited.

 

I rarely had anything to stress about, but still, causing such a massive explosion felt refreshing.

 

To make a small excuse, I fulfilled my duty as a Hunter.

 

The dungeon’s conquest cycle was approaching anyway.

 

Probably once the stabilization period passes, the dungeon will be restored to its original state.

 

‘Now, how did Cowbell turn out? Should I slowly head back?’

 

Just as I was about to step outside the dungeon.

 

Something caught on my foot.

 

‘What is it?’

 

Something metallic that made a clanging sound.

 

When I dug up the ground, an iron door leading underground revealed itself.

 

‘An iron door…’

 

If such another entrance appeared in a dungeon, Hunters had a duty to investigate it.

 

If I hadn’t sent Jin Young-heon away first, I would have had him guard the entrance and finished by reporting to the Association…

 

‘Can’t be helped.’

 

The iron door opened surprisingly easily.

 

As expected, there were wooden stairs leading underground.

 

I drew Galmu and ignited Karmic Fire.

 

Using it as a torch, I descended the stairs.

 

Before long, I was able to reach the basement.

 

I had felt it from the staircase, but along with a musty old smell, the savory scent of wheat tickled my nose.

 

‘Is this some kind of food storage?’

 

But that didn’t make sense either.

 

It would have been buried underground for a long time, so it wouldn’t make sense for grain to remain.

 

I swung Galmu around to explore the surroundings.

There was a switch-like lever on the entrance wall, presumably supplying power to this place.

 

When I pulled the lever down, the lighting in the underground space began to turn on sequentially.

 

And what revealed itself was far beyond my expectations.

 

A mysterious place where countless oak barrels were lined up in rows.

 

There was something like a sign above the wooden shelf,

Even though it wasn’t in Korean, I could somehow read it.

“Dwarf… brewery?”

***

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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