Before he could finish speaking, Mario cried out in surprise. He felt the ground beneath his feet soften slightly, and his whole body slowly began sinking underground.
What was going on? Quicksand? A swamp? Before Mario could figure it out, there was a crash, the ground gave way beneath him, and he fell into a tunnel.
Whoosh!
The nearby soldiers quickly gathered around, standing on the ground and watching Mario, who had fallen in.
Mario shook his head and stood up. He looked around the tunnel, initially confused and bewildered, then his eyes widened and his breathing quickened.
"Phew—phew—"
"Th-this is!"
"Ah!" Mario screamed, so excited that he could barely speak. "I... I take back what I said. The people above aren't pigheads. There really is a tunnel here, there really is! I... I've struck it rich. My... my rank goes up... up three levels! Three levels!"
The companions on the ground watched Mario shout without stopping. They exchanged glances, their expressions complicated, as though they had seen someone step in dog shit.
Why hadn't they gotten the chance to step in that dog shit? At that moment, the squad leader with a face full of flesh walked over. Standing on the ground, he glanced at Mario, who was still ecstatic, and could not help shaking his head. His rank was much higher than Mario's, so he was not envious like the ordinary soldiers. He was simply happy—happy that they had found the tunnel, and that the Red Maple Cavalry Regiment could claim credit.
But amid his delight, he noticed something and looked toward the distant village. He vaguely saw several figures at the village entrance running frantically inward before quickly vanishing from sight.
Inside the village, a figure ran toward the Village Chief's house while shouting uncontrollably, "Village