Tick, tock, tick, tock—
The sound of dripping water echoed in the tunnel-like cave.
The damp cave ceiling and walls were covered with algae emitting a faint greenish glow, providing illumination for this narrow passageway.
"Menchi, are you alright?"
Moses's inquiry resonated in the cave.
He stood on the damp ground and turned to look at Menchi, who was only a few steps away.
Behind Menchi was a completely sealed rock wall, engraved with several straight lines, possibly corresponding to the stone slab they had excavated earlier, or it could be some kind of medium for abilities.
"I'm fine."
Menchi nodded towards Moses, then glanced at the glowing algae growing on the rock wall, and her eyes are filled with amazement.
Upon closer observation, she saw the faint light emitted by the algae pulsed like a heartbeat, as if possessing a life of its own.
It's also thanks to the presence of this kind of luminous algae in this cave, otherwise in such an environment, they would have been stumbling in the dark.
After confirming that Menchi was fine, Moses began to observe the surrounding environment.
The place where they are located is a narrow cave.
Damp and cold.
It's just that both the ground and the rock wall appeared unusually smooth, resembling a man-made tunnel.
Yet Moses couldn't see any traces of human modification here.
How this tunnel was formed remained unknown.
'Translocation ability...'
Thinking of the black curtain-like object that had just appeared, Moses frowned slightly.
He hadn't expected that the Post-Mortem Nen would possess the ability to teleport them. No wonder he didn't feel any threat from it at all.
In a sense, teleportation abilities indeed lacked any offensive capabilities.
'This is troublesome.'
Being inexplicably teleported to a completely unfamiliar tunnel, it was almost impossible for them to return to the second test in time.
Even-
How to leave this place was still a question.
With a slightly solemn expression, Moses passed over Menchi and came to the rock wall with carved patterns.
Gyo.
Gathering Aura in his eyes, Moses looked at the rock wall, but found no trace of Nen.
But in the current situation, it is basically certain that the rock wall engraved with lines is some kind of medium similar to the coordinates of the teleportation point.
That's why he and Menchi were teleported here.
Moses tried to release his Nen and attached it to the rock wall, but there was no reaction at all.
Furthermore, the Nen Exorcism chance deep in his consciousness also showed no response, indicating that there is indeed no Nen on this rock wall.
However, to send people here, Nen support must have been needed…
Moses speculated that the teleportation ability might be one-time use, and all the energy was consumed after the teleportation is completed.
'Let's find a way to leave this place first.'
Withdrawing his hand, Moses sighed lightly in his mind.
He doesn't regret 'touching' the seemingly harmless Post-Mortem Nen, but he just thinks that by trapped here, he can no longer expect to get a Hunter License this year.
"Master, what should we do now?"
Menchi withdrew her gaze from the glowing algae and looked at Moses behind her.
Although she was suddenly teleported here, she didn't feel scared at all, nor did she have any worries.
Courage.
It is an essential quality for Gourmet Hunters.
Or rather-
It is a quality that most Pro Hunters should possess.
"Let's move forward and see if we can find a way out."
Moses came to Menchi's side and raised his eyes to look at the only path ahead.
Menchi nodded, then suddenly remembered something and said seriously: "Fortunately, I picked a lot of snow fruits on the way down the mountain, so we don't need to worry about food for a short time."
"Um."
Hearing this, Moses glanced at the bulging backpack on Menchi's back.
In addition to snowfruits, there were some uneaten dry rations and clean water inside, enough to sustain them for a long time.
"Let's go."
Moses walked in the front.
Inside the tunnel, glowing algae were everywhere, so there was no need to worry about the light source for now.
At the same time, they could judge the oxygen level inside the cave based on the condition of the algae.
Considering the current situation, their predicament wasn't too bad.
Moses and Menchi proceeded along the tunnel, with Moses leading the way.
The tunnel wasn't straight. It had uphill and downhill sections, and it meandered like a winding path, sometimes sloping left, sometimes right.
Although the route was somewhat winding, they hadn't encountered any forks on the way.
Without the need to choose a path, it was hard to say whether it was good or bad.
In any case, Moses and Menchi could only continue along this path.
After walking for about fifteen minutes, the narrow and winding tunnel gradually widened.
And at the end of the tunnel ahead, a green light appeared, like a ghostly flame frozen in place.
Moses looked at the green light in the distance ahead.
Undoubtedly-
The source of that green light must also be the algae growing inside the cave.
It's just that, compared to the green light around the cave, the green light at the end of the tunnel appears brighter.
Although he hadn't reached it yet, Moses could already imagine what might be there.
Perhaps the unknown environment at the end will be filled with an extremely large number of glowing algae.
"Stay alert."
Moses reminded.
Menchi acknowledged with a nod.
Soon-
Moses and Menchi reached the end of the tunnel. Before they stepped out, the first thing they saw was a huge internal space.
Countless glowing algae covered the walls as far as the eye could see, filling the entire space with their light.
The tunnel's entrance they were in was located high on the rock wall, and there were hundreds of similar entrances distributed on all sides of the rock wall.
These entrances varied in height, like hanging coffins scattered on the walls.
And below these entrances was an underground city shrouded in deep green light.
"What is this place…?!"
Standing at the entrance of the tunnel, Moses and Menchi were stunned by the scene before them.
'Hundreds of tunnel's entrances distributed on the rock wall like hanging coffins… do they represent hundreds of teleportation points?'
The most incredible thing is…
At the end of the tunnel, there was a magnificent underground city.
Moses couldn't even be sure if they were still inside Aragas Mountain.
And-
Mosess' gaze shifted slightly as he looked towards the center of the dusty underground city.
There stood a giant spiral column, resembling intertwined thick roots of a tree when seen from afar.
And on the surface of this root-like column, one could vaguely see twisted limbs and grotesque human faces.
There were so many of them that it was like cement was poured into them. It was difficult to tell whether they were corpses or sculptures, as they exuded a palpitating aura.