Who Designed This Underworld Dungeon?

"The food is gone."

"Water, there's barely a little left."

"Living people..."

"Only I'm left."

In a dark and secluded building, a skinny little boy slowly counted the remaining supplies, his eyes filled with an inescapable gloom.

When he raised his head and looked at the corpses of his family who had starved to death, the gloom in his eyes turned into despair.

He picked up a long knife, the only weapon he had, a gift from his father.

He staggered out of the house.

Before their deaths, his parents repeatedly warned him not to leave the safety of the house; outside, there were parasitic monsters, and going out meant certain death.

But now the supplies were gone, staying inside would mean death too, so why not choose to step outside and see the city of Savis one more time? If possible, he even wanted to kill some monsters to avenge his family.

Unfortunately, his frail arms could barely lift the long knife.

So the real reason he stepped out was to commit suicide.

Finally out of the house, the morning sunlight upon his body felt refreshing, if only the scene weren't the lifeless, desolate street; it might have lifted his spirits.

The boy walked numbly on the street, deliberately dragging the long knife, letting the blade crash against the pavement, creating a noticeable sound like a dinner bell for the monsters.

Yet, to his confusion, why hadn't he seen a monster after coming this far from home?

He remembered past nights when he and his family shivered in fear at the monsters' roars on the street, not daring to make a sound. The streets used to be full of monsters, so why were they... deserted now?

It was an unnerving emptiness, as if even singing out loud wouldn't bring an attack from a monster.

Disbelieving, the boy suddenly dashed forward madly. Could it be that all the monsters disappeared, and they could return to their old life?

His foot suddenly stepped on something sticky, causing him to slip and fall. Upon closer inspection, he found a heap of unrecognizable flesh.

"Yikes!"

He let out an involuntary scream at the sight of the flesh, and immediately, sounds came from the nearby building. Two parasitized creatures with mutilated limbs staggered out. Seeing a living person, they became agitated and rushed towards him with groans!

So, the monsters were still in the city, just by chance, had they decreased in the street where he lived?

Panic-stricken, the boy tried to crawl backward but paused at the touch of the long knife, then with a fierce expression, raised the knife toward the approaching creatures.

His slender arms barely had the strength to lift the long knife, let alone attack. In no time, the weapon in his hand might get knocked away by the monsters.

Still, he imitated his father's remembered stance and let out a childlike battle cry, charging at the two parasitized creatures.

"Squelch—"

The long knife pierced through the ragged body of a parasitized creature, but the boy was also tackled to the ground, his shoulder savagely bitten, and parasites swarmed into his young body.

Am I going to die...

The boy closed his eyes with a trace of relief on his lips.

"Bro! There's another one here!"

A young girl's voice suddenly came from somewhere, and the boy thought it was the angel guiding him to heaven.

However, as he opened his eyes, a gush of foul-smelling blood splashed over him, the head of a parasitized monster rolling aside, and blood spurting from the neck staining his face.

The parasites in his body suddenly stirred, and before losing consciousness, he made every effort to see the person who had slain the monster.

It wasn't a young girl, but a young man, wearing an outfit he had never seen before, with a peculiar weapon in hand dripping with blood.

Although his consciousness was fading, the boy still thought:

So cool...

"He's a good candidate for a Hunter."

The one who saved the boy, Fanen, looked at him approvingly, then turned to Isha and said, "Take him to the Dungeon quickly, it'll be too late once the parasites take control. I'll continue to clear out the remaining monsters."

"Leave it to me!" Isha took the boy and ran swiftly towards the Underground City Teleportation Gate.

Fanen watched her go, stretched his limbs, and wielded his butcher's knife at the parasitized creatures drawn by the noise.

He and the other Hunters had been hunting for a full two days and nights.

The city of Savis is divided into three districts: the Fishing Port District, the Garden District, and the Pearl District.

And their most significant achievement these days was nearly reclaiming the Fishing Port District!

Since the day they successfully hunted the Clergy Beast and left the Dungeon, they had been carrying out missions to hunt parasitized creatures in the nearest Fishing Port District.

The hunting has been unprecedentedly smooth.

Could it be their illusion? They felt there were much fewer parasitized creatures in the Fishing Port District?

Not only were there fewer numbers, but the strength of those remaining seemed weaker compared to before, with mutated species almost extinct. The Hunters had nearly cleared the entire Fishing Port District. If this were a game, the progression for this area would show about ninety percent completion.