I Became a 6★ Gacha Character

Chapter 308: The Disease That Grows Feathers on the Philtrum 3

TL/Editor: raei

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Posted in discord.

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A subdued magical glow, like a light bulb covered in cellophane, lit up the dim underground as a hole just big enough for a person to pass through began to form in the wall.

It was the work of Old Bobo, having evolved the stationary launcher to a portable vacuum stone.

Although the reduced size slowed the tunnel excavation, it wasn't unbearably slow.

Just like switching from racing down a highway in a car to riding a bicycle in Hangang Park, it was still faster than walking.

Holding the flashlight-shaped magical tool and infusing it with mana, the red magical glow disintegrated the earth, making the repetitive task oddly fun.

"At this rate, the amount used and the amount recovered are about the same."

With a cutting-edge toy that made the earth disappear and drilled tunnels in the walls upon contact with light, what man wouldn't enjoy this?

Despite heading to reclaim a colony from imperialists, I couldn't help but grin.

They say men are just grown-up kids.

Like scraping at puddles with the tips of their shoes on rainy days or watching leaves float down a stream, I spent a long time drilling through the wall with mana.

Soon, the red magical glow began to illuminate not the underground wall but a vast open space.

We'd drilled a tunnel and entered a corner of the stone dwarves' city.

Contrary to my worries, it was a dim, empty clearing with no patrolling harpies or stone dwarves in sight.

"I'll put the magical tool into the inventory. Should I use a light spell?"

"No, that would draw too much attention right now. Let's wait a moment for our eyes to adjust, then move forward slowly."

-Who the hell turns on lights while sneaking in, lol

-She always gets things right, then suddenly says something dumb, haha

-The light shuttle never learns

-At least she asks before turning them on. Better than turning on dorm lights during night shifts, lol

-Why is it so dark here? Is this place ruined too? Is sneaking in a waste of time?

While Han Se-ah absorbed the viewers' nagging for asking about using the light spell, my eyes quickly adapted to the darkness.

The soft glow of the portable vacuum stone helped, but it was mostly due to my superhuman physique.

Han Se-ah might struggle to adapt after logging out and living in an ordinary 20-something’s body, but my body had surpassed human limits and reached the level of a superhuman.

By channeling mana into my eyes and blinking a few times, I could make out the contours of rocks even in the pitch-black underground.

Although I couldn't distinguish facial features, I wouldn't trip or fall into a pit.

Unlike Old Bobo's meticulously managed city, we'd have no trouble crossing this uneven clearing.

"There's something up ahead."

"It's more like a ruin than a building. Could this place be a ruin instead of a colony?"

Ten minutes after entering the dark cavity through the small hole, Grace spotted something in the still darkness.

Even in the pitch-black darkness, the archer remained an archer.

From behind me, she noticed something and spoke up.

Confirming that we weren't in an empty clearing, we quickened our pace toward whatever Grace had seen.

In the darkness, it looked like rocks at first, but given their height and right angles, it was likely a building constructed by the stone dwarves.

However, with collapsed roofs and crumbled walls, it was hard to believe this place had ever been home to the masterful stone dwarves.

"Roland, you're going alone, aren't you? Take care."

"...Yeah, I'll go in first."

Using the nearby rocks and ruins as cover in the clearing, an overwhelming sense of frustration began to creep in.

Grace, perhaps sensing my restlessness, gave a sly smile and smacked the back of my armor.

The metallic ring of "dong!" drew the eyes of my party members in my direction.

When I said I'd advance alone to the center of what looked like a ruined city, I received a variety of reactions.

Han Se-ah nodded nonchalantly while fumbling with her camera settings.

Grace, smiling broadly, tapped my rear.

Katie seemed curious and wanted to tag along, while Irene, though worried, retained her faith in me.

"Be careful. Even if it looks empty, it could be a trap of the Demon King."

"Hmm, if you find anything unusual, call us right away."

With a send-off full of love, concern, and ulterior motives, I swiftly advanced.

I believed that the harpies couldn't see me in this darkness, so I moved quickly.

The stone dwarves' city on the 46th floor didn't seem like a ruin when seen up close.

Unlike the 43rd floor, where buildings had collapsed due to a giant monster, the stone structures here weren't "destroyed" but rather "worn down."

The buildings suited descriptions like worn or decayed.

Observing closely from a nose-length distance, I could tell that no one had demolished the buildings; they had just crumbled due to neglect and lack of maintenance.

In my previous life, even the walls of hillside villages would collapse after 10 or 20 years of neglect.

It felt like seeing that again.

Could it be that all the dwarves responsible for the city were taken away?

"...Who's there? I didn't hear the sound of wings."

"Do you know Old Bobo?"

"Squishy? How did Squishy get underground?"

While I was pondering that, I heard a hoarse voice coming from a relatively intact building.

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Raei Translations

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In the underground city that I thought was a ruin, a few stone dwarves remained.

From talking to them, it seemed more accurate to say they were abandoned rather than staying.

"We've grown old and our hands have slowed down. They sent us down here just to maintain and repair the city for our kin to return to someday..."

"Without any tools or support?"

"That's right. It's basically a way to tell us to die out of sight."

The harpies had taken over the stone dwarves' underground city and were using them as slaves for the empire.

The fact that the stone dwarves were a race of craftsmen but lacked combatants seemed to have been a significant disadvantage.

The stone dwarves knew how to make siege weapons and defensive cannons, but having no direct combatants was a handicap that bordered on a disability.

While the harpies flew around as superior superhumans, the stone dwarves had to conscript ordinary citizens who were good at cutting gems to fight.

In the original world, they would have hired a multi-racial allied army as mercenaries in exchange for expensive equipment and enhancement stones.

But this was inside the Demon King's tower—a place where no lifeforms could be hired as mercenaries even for ten million gold coins, right in the heart of the 46th floor.

"The young ones were all dragged off to various cities in the empire and forced to work. They’re being treated almost like torture under the sun... Only old folks like me have been sent to the city, waiting day by day for death."

"...Doesn't this mean we should be attacking the empire's cities above, rather than liberating the dwarves' city?"

"Um, would you like to try some of this?"

"Thank you, Squishy. I never thought I'd receive such a precious stone from you in my lifetime."

Elderly dwarves were left to wither away in the underground city, stripped of both talent and tools.

No matter how skilled they were, they couldn't restore buildings or mine underground for edible stones with their bare hands.

The hunger was so intense that they gnawed on the miscellaneous stones I took out from the inventory, crunching them like a homeless person swallowing a rice ball.

I had expected them to be exploited like a colony, but it seemed they had taken every last stone dwarf away.

I laughed as I watched my party members, slightly flustered at the unexpected situation.

-Bro, this guy is laughing? This guy is laughing? This guy is laughing? This guy is laughing?

-Who’s laughing now, bro? Lol, if he's laughing, what can you do?

-Is the empire that vast, or are there so few stone dwarves? Did they take everyone from the city?

Since the harpies treated the stone dwarves as an inferior race and considered the underground a filthy place, they used it as a dumping ground to imprison stone dwarves who were supposed to die.

So, we didn't have to worry about prying eyes.

We could just bring the vacuum stones here, connect the city, and smuggle the stone dwarf prisoners out by carriage.

We'd gather the Temple Knights and adventurers, launch simultaneous rescue operations, and then spread the Goddess's teachings with overwhelming force.

"Old man, what's your name?"

"Ahem, I'm Grandpa Gigi, Gigi the Old."

"Okay, Grandpa Gigi. Do the harpies ever come down to check if anyone's dead?"

"No. They rarely come down. Only if there's a big commotion in the empire’s cities do they fly down to have a quick look, and then they disappear in less than five minutes."

Just as the stone dwarves had become enslaved by the harpies because they didn't understand the tower’s mechanics, the harpies also seemed unaware that terrifying humans could come up from beneath the tower.

If things continued like this, we could easily tear down the front door to spread the word of the Goddess.