Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

"Tap... tap... tap..."

The staggering, swaying people roamed aimlessly down the street.

They were in tattered clothes, even with incomplete limbs. Some dragged their intestines, leaving a crooked trail of blood on the ground, while those without limbs wriggled like worms, sniffing the scent of the blood left by the former.

More remnants lay by the roadside, unable to even twitch, their entire bodies shriveled like ancient desert trees, as if all fluids in their bodies had been depleted.

If these forms of people could still be considered normal, then those who were more abnormal were far more in number.

The aimlessly wandering people sensed something and automatically slowed their steps.

A damp, slapping sound came from ahead, like a soggy sponge hitting the ground, emitting a nauseating noise.

In the next moment, a massive, unbelievably bloated figure emerged from around the street corner.

Parasites, of varying thickness and length, broke through its swollen skin, twisting towards the sky. Each slight movement caused thick bodily fluids to ooze from the skin of this obviously mutated host.

It lifted its head, covered in so many parasites it looked like a stone overgrown with moss.

Under the pitch-black night, where neither stars nor the moon could be seen, these bizarre hosts emitted unconscious shrieks from their broken bellows-like throats.

The entire city was a hellish scene.

This was the place where the Hidden Blood Parasite outbreak first erupted, in the second largest city of the nation "Red," known as Savis.

This city once friendly with beautiful mermaids and abundant in pretty pearls has now turned into a wasteland, with hosts roaming everywhere. Yet, this paled in comparison to the outbreak's start, as more hosts had left the city to attack surrounding cities and towns with parasites.

The current extent of the infection spread is...

When the hosts collectively murmured, in a dilapidated house far from the street, several figures took this opportunity to swiftly leap and jump between the buildings, each looking like a parkour expert, clearly fit for development in Halan City.

"Sixteen on Pearl Street, four in Salted Fish Alley, twenty-three on Octopus Road... Tch, and that big guy is also out tonight, be careful not to get too close."

These people carefully exchanged information about the hosts' numbers and movements through a conch-shaped communication device, taking each step cautiously.

Those who dared to run parkour at night were the city's survivors.

They came out under the cover of darkness to find supplies.

"Snap—"

However, someone accidentally knocked something over, even a slight sound drew the attention of a few wandering hosts.

The person who made the noise showed a frustrated expression, took a few deep breaths, signaled to the others, and decisively left the group to divert those hosts.

The others looked sadly at his departing figure, unsure if he would return.

Among them, a boy with a more youthful face showed even greater sorrow, looking as though he was about to shed tears.

A large hand suddenly slapped his back, and when he turned around, he saw a middle-aged man, speaking in a stern whisper.

"Fanen, no crying, you are the Hunter's eldest son!"

The young man named Fanen paused, nodded quickly, and followed the group's lead.

The "big group" was actually just seven people, minus the one who had left alone, six remained.

It's unknown how many city survivors are left; those who survived this long naturally were tough, even the seemingly gentle Fanen, who came from a renowned Hunter family, learning to hunt beasts from a young age.

Although Savis, being a coastal city, didn't have many beasts for him to hunt.

Fanen followed closely behind, trying his best not to look at those terrifying hosts, recalling his deceased father's teachings:

"A Hunter's first quarry is his own fear."

Father, I just can't help it, I'm naturally timid...

Being timid since childhood, today was his first time out with the others to find supplies, due to the shelter's supplies being completely exhausted and his sister falling sick with a high fever. The flu outbreak in the shelter was so severe that he had to come out to find medicine.

Afraid as he was of the monsters outside, he had to shoulder the responsibility of an elder brother and search for fever-reducing medicine!

"Dr. Kale's clinic is just ahead. No sign of those Monsters yet, proceed with caution."

The leader passed the word, causing everyone's breathing to tense up. After carefully observing the surroundings, they warily stepped onto the deathly ground, prying open doors and windows.

Fanen nervously kept watch around him, suddenly recalling a rumor circulating in the shelter.

It seemed near this street, for a while, the hosts all gathered. Something seemed to attract them; during that time, people collected a lot of supplies while the hosts were distracted.