Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

This was the second time today that Isha felt life was full of drama.

"Bro? Is it really you?"

She stared blankly at the figure crawling out of the escape tunnel, unable to reconcile him with the familiar figure in her memory.

The brother in her memory should be wrapped in a thick blanket all day, always wearing black-rimmed glasses and holding a book in his room, only coming out to eat or go to the bathroom.

But now...

Fanen jumped out of the escape tunnel, and as his coat fluttered, a massive amount of flesh grotesquely torn to shreds erupted from the tunnel behind him, mingled with pus and blood, as if the heart, lungs, and intestines of the parasitized ones had exploded like fireworks, with viscous blood flowing at his feet!

It was like the transformation explosion of a super sentai, only bloodier!

The sudden change stunned everyone, not just the survivors; even the parasitized ones were caught off guard.

"Huh, ha."

Several familiar voices came from the escape tunnel, and within a few seconds, several figures crawled out in a sorry state, almost drowned by the blood and flesh.

As people focused their gaze, they recognized these out-of-breath individuals as the ones who had initially run at the forefront; they were the first to be tackled when encountering the parasitized, and everyone else turned around and ran when they saw them. Who would've thought they were still alive!

Was it this young man in unfamiliar attire who saved them!?

Aside from Isha, no one else recognized Fanen, and frankly, Isha herself was a bit uncertain.

In such an atmosphere, she surely couldn't just run over, lift up his mask, and take a closer look, right?

"Aah!"

The parasite attached to the head of the middle-aged man let out a piercing scream as the surrounding parasitized ones again charged at the survivors, with one of them about to claw at Isha with dirty hands.

"Bang!"

Another thunderous gunshot rang out, stinging the survivors' ears painfully.

In an incredible turn of events, the parasitized one suddenly froze at the moment of getting shot, then collapsed to the ground with knees buckling, completely exposed.

A black figure flashed past, and Fanen made a swift dive to stand before him, punching through the chest of the parasitized one with his empty right hand!

Blood exploded, accompanied by the sickening sound of flesh tearing; his empty-handed punch seemed to possess a fearsome force, delivering a critical blow that made the parasitized one gush blood in volumes only seen in anime!

The parasitized one died on the spot.

The hunter's pistol twirled in his hand as Fanen nodded at the outcome.

Though his gun counters often missed against the Dungeon monsters, against the parasitized ones, it was almost always a hit. Was this the skill gap?

He turned, looking at Isha behind him.

The girl already had her mouth agape and eyes wide in a dumbfounded manner, a stark contrast to her usual calm demeanor, which now even carried a bit of cuteness.

Seeing this, he instinctively wanted to rub her head, but upon noticing the bloodstained gloves, he held back his hand halfway through.

Isha's pupils trembled violently—no mistake, it was that habitual gesture; this person in front of her was indeed her brother!

...

Who had turned her brother into this!

She opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly called out:

"Watch out!"

The parasitized one who had fallen to the ground suddenly began twitching violently—wasn't he dead?

Indeed, the body was dead, but the hidden blood parasite inside it was still alive!

A large number of hidden blood parasites suddenly erupted, intertwining like intertwining red strings around Fanen's body. They sensed the fragrance of blood within this human, and in a frenzy, surged towards the wound on his arm, burrowing into his body before anyone could react.

Isha let out a desperate scream—being invaded by parasites inside the body meant certain death!

The next moment, Fanen raised his hand and stuffed an antipyretic potion into her mouth, silencing her scream.

"Don't worry, leave it to me."

Even with parasites burrowing into his body, Fanen acted as if nothing had happened, waving and turning toward the parasitized ones as he slowly stepped forward.

The bitter potion flowed into her mouth as Isha watched his back, feeling an inexplicable emotion rising within her.

This person, whose eyes were filled with confidence... was he really her brother?

The parasitized middle-aged man could not extract the saw meat blade stuck in his chest, so simply gave up, using his mutated arms to whip towards Fanen.

Fanen observed the faces of familiar acquaintances, his expression grim, evading attacks with an elegant movement technique, leaving everyone only seeing a blur. By the time they focused on his figure again, he was already in front of the middle-aged man.

"Slash—"

The saw meat blade lodged in the man's ribs was forcefully wrenched out, the strength in Fanen's hand throwing him off balance, causing him to fall backward.

Before his view turned upside down, the middle-aged man saw the eyes under the opponent's tri-cornered hat.

Those were hunter's eyes.

The blade rose and fell, the head flew off, and the middle-aged man instantly turned into a headless knight falling back.

The mutated parasite on his head immediately detached from its original host, surging towards the nearest parasitized one at lightning speed.

"Bang!"

The gunshot was like the wailing of a ghost claiming lives; the parasitized one's head was shot by a mercury bullet, exploding on contact, with the body toppling over like garbage.

Shooting might not be very effective against the seasoned adventurers, but for killing ordinary parasitized ones, it was more than sufficient.

The mutated one lunged into the air, missing its target, a cold gleam flashing, as the saw meat blade slashed brutally at the end of its body, severing a hefty segment instantly!

The scream that erupted in an instant was beyond words, only known as a melody interwoven with extreme pain and terror.

It seems that the higher the degree of mutation in the parasites, the greater intelligence they possess, and their minds evolve towards human-like development, able to feel sensations other parasites cannot.

This was all for the best because Fanen did not plan to let this one die easily.

"Get up."

He blinked and kicked the body of the mutated parasite, and whether intentionally or not, it landed right on a host. It immediately clung to this person like a drowning man seizing a lifeline and desperately urged the body into mutation, knowing delay would be fatal—

Fanen kicked over the host being transformed and stomped the struggling monster underfoot.

With a few bangs from the Hunter's Pistol aimed at the head, mercury bullets shot at the mutated parasite, and while shooting, he swept at nearby hosts with his transformed Saw Meat Blade!

The mutated parasite immediately disengaged from this body, its bulky form bouncing onto another host.

However, before it could start transforming again, a bottle filled with an unknown liquid flew towards its face.

Fanen fired at the burning bottle, causing it to explode into flames that splattered over the monsters, each one letting out a harrowing scream.

Though the scattered flames from this burning bottle were weaker compared to those released by Isha and her group earlier, for some reason, the burning bottle from the Dungeon showed excellent effect on these parasites!

It was as if the fire's weakness had doubled!

The mutated parasite, engulfed in flames, let out an even sweeter scream.

The whistling sound of the Saw Meat Blade flashed once more, taking another large chunk of flesh from the mutated parasite, its life force rapidly dwindling, even the power to leap onto other bodies was vanishing.

Yet someone would help it, couldn't let it die so easily.

Fanen kicked it onto the nearest host again, and though utterly weary, it fused with the body instinctively.

When it was about halfway fused with the new body, Fanen would again use different methods to yank it off and then cut off a big piece of flesh with the Saw Meat Blade.

He was deliberately torturing the mutated parasite.

Survivors nearby were commanded by the mutated parasite to attack Fanen, completely ignoring those who had fallen into a stupor, but their attacks couldn't even touch him, not even the hem of his garment.

This was the exquisite movement technique Fanen honed at the Yarn bonfire parties, warmly hosted by the Yan people!

So, what if it commanded the hosts to attack the survivors, forcing Fanen to defend?

The mutated parasite had just given such an order, but the moment the hosts showed any sign of moving towards the survivors, Fanen suddenly slashed his wrist.

The crimson blood dripped to the ground, diffusing an intoxicating fragrance only the parasites could sense, leaving them momentarily stupefied for one second.

Then they pounced forward like wolves and tigers!

Completely disregarding anyone else!

For the first time, the somewhat intelligent mutated parasite felt despair.

The opening was still too small, limiting the number of hosts that could squeeze in, unable to overwhelm Fanen with sheer numbers.

People watched dumbfounded as he brutally tortured the mutated parasite; an elderly woman's face turned pale as she poked Isha, asking: "Do you, do you know him?"

Isha's mouth twitched, instructing people to hide while saying:

"I think I need to get to know him again."

With a final wail, the mutated parasite, nearly two meters long, was finally ended with only a tiny piece left.

By now, the sanctuary was nearly flooded with blood, only the spot where the survivors stood was still relatively clean.

The Hidden Blood Parasites wriggling in the blood were all drawn to Fanen, rushing towards him in one go. He unhurriedly threw out a burning bottle to purify most of the parasites, not minding if a few remaining ones burrowed into his body.

The sight of such carnage terrified the hosts lingering at the entrance, too scared to enter; parasites are living creatures too and can feel fear.

The number of parasites that should have already filled Fanen by now, why does this human still act like nothing is wrong?

Some hosts neared the entrance, seeming about to descend, but Fanen glanced up at them.

"Eek!"

The hosts recoiled immediately!

Finally, after avenging himself by killing the mutated parasite, Fanen did not linger in his revenge.

He pulled out two oil cans, hurling them towards the entrance, followed by another burning bottle, flames roaring thanks to the oil, forming a temporary barrier between the people and the parasites.

"Follow me!"

He grabbed Isha, tucking her under his arm, and shouted to the people who had just snapped out of their daze.

This place was no longer safe; he couldn't kill that many parasites alone.

His earlier display had completely stunned everyone. Despite not knowing his identity, people followed him; he was their only lifeline.

Only then did Isha manage to ask, shocked:

"Brother? Are you really my brother?"

"Genuine, no substitutions."

Fanen coughed, blood seeming to seep from beneath his black mask. When did he get hurt?

Isha's mind buzzed with a swarm of questions, but Fanen hushed her.

"Let's talk about it when we're safe."

"Where are we going?"

"To a warm-hearted place."