Chapter 21: Mumu Smelled Bad, Bad Enemy!
Lucien paused and slowly made a u-turn casually, as if he was just looking around and not planning to enter the dome.
Even after Lucien took a step back, he could still feel the merchant’s eyes fixed on him, sticking to his body from head to toe, the gaze was full of...appetite.
Behind Lucien, a drip of saliva slid down the merchant’s mouth.
A crimson tongue slipped out and licked the corner of the chapped lips.
Whether due to the dim lighting or not, the briefly revealed teeth had dark spots, as if splashed by something.
Lucien’s heart was all the way to his throat and he was about to run— retreat as far as he could when he caught sight of another customer from the corner of his eyes.
The customer was clad in a black robe like the others but the way he looked around...
Is he a fellow newbie?
Lucien paused. He slowed down his steps as he kept an eye on the newbie.
To his surprise, the newbie saw the same merchant and walked into the transparent light dome with light steps.
He was grinning, chatting with the merchant and they seemed to make a deal.
The newbie grabbed an item, paid with something and turned around when—
Splash.
The transparent dome was instantly dyed crimson.
Chew. Chew. Chew.
A faint sound drifted from the light dome, a weak call...and then it fell silent.
Lucien froze on the spot. The hair all over his body stood up and his heart churned to the point of nausea.
W-what! What was that...?!
The transparent dome soon absorbed the splash of red, along with some residues that Lucien couldn’t clearly discern.
In just a few seconds, the dome was as bright as before, as if nothing happened.
Even the merchant inside looked the same as before, as if that splash of red, the weak call, the sound of chewing...was just an illusion.
...is it? It’s not, right?
Lucien felt his legs weakened and he almost kneeled on the spot when a passerby murmured in a casual tone.
"Tsk. Another newbie falling for the humanoid mimic monster."
"I don’t know the monster’s rank, but it must be high, huh? Even I almost fell for that bastard’s trick."
"Tsk. That monster is a nightmare for us low-level awakeners."
What? Mimic monster? There is a monster in this place? Isn’t this a dungeon that had been cleared—
No one said that, though.
Lucien gripped Mumu’s box hard and whispered, trying to conceal the tremor in his voice.
[Mumu, do you feel anything wrong just now?]
[Muuu! It smells bad! Mumu is scared! It smells like a bad, bad enemy!]
For Mumu, enemy means predator.
Lucien almost dug his nails into the box.
[Mumu, if you smelled something similar next, tell me, okay?]
[Muu! Okay, bad uncle!]
Lucien’s heart was on edge. Several times he saw merchants but didn’t come into the light dome, just observing outside.
There he saw a customer buying a simple pocket knife and nothing happened.
Although it’s weird selling tools in a material street, this merchant seemed real.
Just when Lucien was about to enter the light dome—
"Ahhhh!"
The pocket knife suddenly distorted and shot out a sharp tongue at the customer, cleanly stabbing her in the chest.
Stab!
Blood spurt out and Lucien hadn’t even blinked when the female customer’s body fell with a limp, unmoving.
The merchant immediately kicked the pocket knife out of the light dome while cursing,
"Damn it! Those mimic monsters again! Ahhh! My reputation will be ruined! Fck!"
The merchant didn’t even look at the female customer’s body as her body immediately disappeared, as if someone took her away.
"Krieeekkk!" The pocket knife wriggled and immediately disappeared into the fleshy ground, never to be seen again.
Lucien’s legs that were touching the light dome immediately retracted as fast as lightning.
...fck? Even the goods might be monsters??
Is it only the tools or raw materials too??
If it’s raw materials that he absolutely needed....
Could he find out whether they’re fake or not?
[Ahhh! System!! The landlord definitely has appraisal skill, right? Right?? I want to learn! Now!]
Lucien was on the verge of losing his bladder.
Why is this black market so nasty?? It’s nothing like what he read in novels!
[Warning. Warning. The landlord has learned two derivative skills in a row. It’s not advised to learn more.]
[No, but I need it!]
Lucien attempted to imagine opening his third eyes or having his eyes see through things when he felt a tearing pain in his brain, as if someone was tearing it apart.
!
Okay, give up.
Lucien cleanly gave up on his ambition but he noted it down.
’The system didn’t say I can’t learn, which means next time, I can learn it!’
Just see! He would definitely have an appraisal skill the next time he came to his fucking hell hole!
After the first two experiences, Lucien only looked around and didn’t rashly enter the light dome as the customers looked way safer outside of the light domes.
It’s just that...not many merchants sold the wall repair materials he needed and every time someone sold it, Mumu would scream in his mind.
[Muuu! Bad enemy! Bad enemy!]
...fck!!!
And is it just his feelings?
Somehow, he felt pairs of eyes staring at him silently, following him from the moment he entered the street.
Is it the dungeon boss or the market’s owner from before?
It can’t be...something else, right...?
In the void that Lucien couldn’t see, countless pairs of dark golden eyes with beast irises were staring at him— no, at his surging aura.
Tak. Tak. Tak.
Salivas slowly dripped from sharp golden beaks and fell out of the void with a soft sound, followed by a high-pitched, prolonged cry.
"Screech!!"