Chapter 145: Undersea Dungeon Announcement.

<Car Slime> races across land, sea, and air without discrimination.

Even if it can’t go to the deep sea, it could freely run above or below the surface.

Even if it can’t leave the troposphere, it could fly side by side with airplanes.

Of course, it can run at high speed on land. Whether it snows or rains, no matter the road, it was designed to run anywhere.

Its price also boasted a level worthy of its performance.

But would there ever be a situation where all the specs of this <Slime> are put to use?

There was.

A Hunter dressed as a penguin rammed monsters with a <Car Slime> that could easily be called an armored vehicle.

If you did this with a normal vehicle, the car would break down and the deafening noise would attract a swarm of monsters.

<Car Slime> neatly absorbed the impact and devoured the dead monsters cleanly.

“Wow… that’s killer.”

“Monsters are dropping dead, too.”

“How much is this <Car Slime> outside?”

“Don’t even think about it. You won’t be able to crash it.”

The place where the retired Hunters were was a dungeon with a desert inside.

The monsters here were the type that hid in the sand and then suddenly jumped out. If you didn’t have search abilities, this dungeon would be quite a headache.

But the Hunters who came here didn’t have to worry.

They deliberately caused vibrations to lure the monsters and then rammed them with the car.

That was enough for combat.

Since the environment had almost no obstacles, the <Car Slimes> ran without hesitation.

“Is this even hunting? The genre’s changed completely. It feels like I’m in an SF movie, mowing down alien lifeforms with futuristic weapons. Back in my day, my feet would get stuck in the sand, the sun was scorching, monsters would suddenly pop out… It was pure hell….”

“It’s comfortable and nice, though.”

“It is nice, but I just can’t get used to it.”

“I get that you want to go wild, but hold it. Our main job is mascot, not Hunter.”

“Yeah… that’s right.”

“Hey. Up ahead.”

Suddenly, the sand began to swirl.

The ground caved in like a funnel, and the sand started being sucked toward the center.

For an ordinary car, this would be a horrifyingly dangerous situation.

The retired Hunters remained calm.

“Takeoff.”

“Okay.”

<Car Slime> took to the sky.

When the prey disappeared, a pincer bristling with spikes shot up from the center of the sand vortex.

The giant insect monster, having spotted its airborne prey, began scooping up sand with its pincers and hurling it.

The amount and force of the sand was terrifying-no joke, even if it was just sand.

But in the end, it was just a simple physical attack.

To the <Car Slime>, it only served as extra energy.

The retired Hunters observed the monster.

Its body was covered in what looked like a tough carapace, so a direct charge probably wouldn’t deal much damage. Even if it could, it would take a long time.

So they decided to use another method.

“Load.”

A long barrel extended from the <Car Slime>.

“Fire.”

The <Bullet Slime>, accelerated by the <Car Slime>’s [Accelerate+] and [Pressure+] skills, continued to accelerate on its own even after leaving the barrel. It had long since surpassed the speed of sound, but there was no sonic boom.

That was because it swallowed all the compressed air with the [Absorb+] skill as it flew.

The <Bullet Slime> pierced through the monster’s carapace and rapidly expanded inside.

Instead of just penetrating, it turned the monster’s insides to mush.

“I always thought losing jobs was someone else’s problem, but with this, do we even need Hunters anymore?”

“Well, we’re mascots, not Hunters, so it’s not our problem… But below Grade B, you’re dead, and even Grade A might be on the edge. Still, S-rank-Song Taesan teacher-would probably just bat away a <Bullet Slime> with his bare hands. A dungeon is a place even he has to risk his life. This alone isn’t enough to fully replace Hunters.”

“Still, for most dungeons, a few of these <Car Slimes> could wipe everything out. Wasn’t there a reason we can’t use modern weapons in dungeons?”

“I know there’s some theory about mana, but I don’t know the details.”

There’s a reason Hunters don’t use powerful modern weapons in dungeons.

Some monsters are completely immune to physical attacks, and some dungeons have different physical laws.

Precision machines without special treatment have a high probability of breaking down when passing through a dungeon gate.

Even things like gunpowder become extremely unreliable.

It was concluded long ago that using cold weapons is the most stable and cost-effective option.

There’s a complicated theory explaining this, but no Hunter bothers to remember it.

“Introducing modern weapons to dungeon fights… President is amazing as always.”

The paradigm has been completely changed.

“There’s no way she’ll mass-produce <Car Slime>.”

“Why not?”

“Because your level won’t go up.”

“Ah…”

I hadn’t used a single skill since entering the dungeon.

“Level’s one thing, but will your skills improve just wiggling your hands and feet? If everyone wipes out monsters with <Car Slime>, Hunter standards will just go backwards. No new S-rank Hunters will emerge. There’s no way President, who wants people to grow, would let that happen.”

“Well, we don’t need to grow anymore, so she let us use it?”

“Yeah. And what we’re doing now isn’t hunting, it’s cleaning. She told us to just sweep everything up with a vacuum instead of working hard.”

While the retired Hunters on <Car Slime> were sweeping the dungeon-

Similar things were happening in other dungeons.

In a place where thick, steel-hard trees stood like elephant legs, making it unsuitable for <Car Slime> to run.

It was possible to blast a path open with overwhelming firepower, but the tactical team came up with a different solution.

Agile forces were deployed.

“Guys. Let’s do our best.”

Dogs and cats armed with <Slime> raced ahead.

Smaller monsters were hunted by silent assassins that leapt from branch to branch as if they had wings.

Larger monsters were torn apart by packs of hunting dogs biting from all directions.

The dogs and cats could also attack from a distance.

But they preferred hunting methods ingrained in their instincts, and were supplied with <Slime> suited for that.

Still, they weren’t so stubborn as to make mistakes by clinging to one method.

“There are enemies that aren’t moving? Feels like a trap, so start with a bombardment.”

When the operator added human cunning to the mix and gave instructions, they followed.

Gun barrels rose from the dogs’ backs and fired <Bullet Slime>.

Purplish smoke rose from the suspicious spot.

Since they were armed with <Slime>, poison wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Still, there was no need to take unnecessary risks.

While the dogs and cats raided the dungeon, in yet another dungeon-

“Hahaha! Filth is eradication!”

“Senior…”

“Enjoy it! It’s not every day you get this chance! Come on, repeat after me! Filth is eradication!”

“Filth is eradication…”

“Louder!”

“Ugh, I don’t want to! How old do you think I am, this is so childish!”

“Are you saying you can’t do it when your senior tells you to?”

“We’ve all been working for years, and it’s been years since we retired. Why are you still pulling rank, senior!”

“If you didn’t like it, you should’ve awakened earlier!”

There were also Hunters spewing pale flames, looking just like the flamethrower unit from a famous RTS game.

The undead monsters, famous for their tenacious vitality, were instantly reduced to ash and scattered by the flames of the [Purification+] skill.

In yet another dungeon-

“I have to go play the piano, so hurry up and die.”

An S-rank Hunter in a shark costume.

“Hup!”

And a penguin as big as a mountain.

“Hey, Red. Are we even supposed to be in this fight?”

“Stop the chatter and focus! You’re throwing off the balance!”

“Hahahaha!”

“Large enemy spotted. Count of three.”

“Two!”

“One!”

“””Launch!!!”””

The <Combined Robot Slime> slaughtered the monster.

“Thanks for your hard work! I’ll head out first.”

The marine dungeon, which had grown dangerously large over the years while spawning dead land on the sea floor, collapsed.

Sage left immediately.

Seeing that, Song Taesan gave a bitter smile as if he had no choice, then walked over to the Slime Rangers.

“Good work.”

“Ha, it was an honor to fight alongside you!”

“It was an honor!”

Red and Green answered in a posture of utmost discipline.

“You went through a lot protecting this old man’s back, so I should be the one thanking you.”

“Ah, not at all! It wasn’t hard at all!”

“Give us any dirty job, whatever it is.”

“By the way, you handle that thing pretty well.”

“It’s much improved from the first version, so it’s easier to control now. And since it’s an opportunity the president gave us, of course we have to try hard.”

“Is it fun?”

Yellow, who butted in without reading the room, was immediately dragged away with her mouth covered by Blue.

“To be honest, I was surprised. I thought that was just one of Lime’s pranks.”

Song Taesan remembered the <Combined Robot Slime> that had looked like a cicada fallen from a tree.

But now, it showed more than enough capability to serve as backup.

Considering the wall that exists between Grade A and S-rank, this was truly impressive.

“That initial one really was just a prank.”

Even a three-legged race is hard, so with four people controlling four limbs, of course the movements would be odd.

“The current control method is closer to a battleship. Each person is assigned a role and handles their own tasks.”

“I see. The romance is gone.”

“Excuse me?”

“Hahahaha!”

“Just kidding.”

“Huh? Hahaha….”

This time, Yellow’s timing was good.

Some dungeons, we cleared efficiently.

Some dungeons, a bit inefficiently.

Some dungeons, we poured in what felt like excessive force.

The dungeons under the sea were quickly dealt with.

***

The existence of undersea dungeons was made public.

[There are dungeons under the sea, too.]

[Why has the world hidden undersea dungeons until now?]

[Undersea dungeons left unattended until now. We were living on a time bomb.]

A suddenly revealed secret of global scale.

And yet, the world did not flip upside down.

It wasn’t a situation where monsters from the sea were rising up and destroying cities.

Nor was there a horde of monsters crawling out of the ocean right now.

The existence of undersea dungeons was announced before any problems broke out.

“There are undersea dungeons? So what?”

This was the mainstream reaction.

Until now, undersea dungeons had no effect on daily life.

They’re not affecting it now, and they won’t in the future.

Most people thought this way.

Media outlets in each country reinforced this mood.

All sorts of experts loudly claimed that leaving the undersea dungeons in international waters alone had been a rational choice.

A psychology professor appeared on a broadcast and said,

“If a phenomenon has only a minimal impact on people’s lives, but knowing about it causes anxiety, the government won’t bother to reveal it. For example, if an asteroid were to pass very close by without any chance of hitting Earth, would it really need to be announced? The existence of the asteroid has no effect on human life–. The same goes for undersea dungeons.”

A marine ecosystem expert appeared on a broadcast and said,

“Many people mistakenly believe there are a huge number of dungeons in the sea. But that’s not true. When a dungeon break occurs, the monsters that come out drown or are crushed by the pressure. In other words, they self-destruct.”

“But if a dungeon break happens, doesn’t that place become dead land?”

“Of course it does. But the impact of dead land in the deep sea on the marine ecosystem is extremely minimal. The ocean is fluid, after all.”

An economics expert appeared on a broadcast and said,

“This is roughly how much it costs to raid a dungeon all the way down in the deep sea. The government would have to spend money to raid dungeons that would self-destruct anyway. That means higher taxes–.”

There were also people who tried to warn about the dangers of undersea dungeons, but they got no attention and were ignored.

Maybe it will cause problems in the distant future.

But it has no effect on life right now.

And fixing it would cost money.

People tend to turn their eyes away from such things.

And there was another reason people didn’t care.

“The Alchemy Slime is going to handle it? Then there’s no problem.”

Because the announcement came after the undersea dungeon countermeasures were completed.

It wasn’t that they had just left the problem alone.

It’s just that, due to the cost and risk, immediate action wasn’t possible, but they’d been steadily seeking proper solutions.

There were institutional shortcomings, so international agreements were needed.

Now that all those issues had been resolved, the announcement was made.

There’s no need to worry.

Each country avoided responsibility for not dealing with undersea dungeons until now using this logic.

New international laws were also made.

Undersea dungeons, unlike deep-sea floor resources, belong to no one. So whoever raids them gets everything.

Dead land is land that’s lost its value. Whoever revives it gets only a temporary right.

If you go into the details, it’s more complicated, and many other laws were made too.

To put it simply, whether it’s resources spat out by collapsed dungeons or dungeons still standing, whoever claims them owns them.

I’m the only one who can quickly reach, raid, and manage the undersea dungeons in the deep sea.

It’s basically my monopoly.

There were people who tried to get a foot in the door by buying a <Diving Slime> from me, but it was already too late.

It’s a bit of a shame, but even if I deal with dead land, it doesn’t become entirely mine.

It’s treated more like a long-term rental.

After I use the land, I’m obligated to restore it to its original state. If that’s impossible, I have to compensate. I can build whatever I want above, but if I want to dig up the resources below, I have to pay.

Even so, compared to the conditions countries offered me in the past, this is a much stronger right.

Anyone passing through dead land now needs my permission.

It doesn’t matter if you’re just passing by at sea, but if you want to fish, do research, lay undersea cables, or send a submarine through the area, you need my permission.

It’s treated similarly to a contiguous zone.

Most important of all are the rights to Jeongju Dungeons.

The Jeongju Dungeons, which had grown steadily for years without interference, had become dangerous but also reliably rewarding dungeons.

The area is also very large, so there will probably be quite a bit of demand.

I don’t intend to monopolize this Jeongju Dungeon.

I plan to invite Hunters.

But since it’s in the deep sea, it’s not easy to reach by ordinary means, so I created <Island Slimes> above the Jeongju Dungeon at sea.

These <Island Slimes> are linked to Root through Gongsooni, Root, and Deps.

In Korea, you can quickly reach these islands using <Tunnel Slimes>.

When Hunters come, these <Island Slimes> will continue to generate power.

As they develop, more countries will ask me to create <Tunnel Slimes> for them.

In this way, my kingdom will continue to develop.

Yes, a kingdom.

Strictly speaking, I haven’t actually founded a country.

But on the <Island Slimes>, I hold judicial, executive, and legislative power.

I have the authority to impose the laws I made on those who come to the <Island Slimes>.

I can arrest and put on trial those who break the law.

I’ve had these rights recognized by countries around the world.

The scope of my rights is not limited to the <Island Slimes>.

I can exert influence over the surrounding seas as well.

I even gained the rights to the airspace above the <Island Slimes>.

Essentially, it’s like territorial waters and airspace.

There are islands to rule, a ruler, and people who come to the islands to be governed by me.

How is this any different from a country?

It’s just not officially called a country.

I have become a king.