Bang

Bang

Bang

Huffff

Huffff

He rested against a tree trying to get in some air. Only one of the shots had hit the mark causing the leg to become a stump but it had not dissuaded his pursuer from stopping. It only stopped for a brief moment and then started chasing him.

These things were unlike the goblins that he had faced before, those were living beings causing introspect why he had killed them so easily. Maybe because killing them because they were evil had been so normal in all the media that he had consumed, a fact that was further consolidated by their aggressiveness.

His brief rest was interrupted as the thing closed in on him without any sign of discomfort from losing the leg. He started running away, his longer legs making it easier even though it was faster than he remembered these smaller goblins to be.

Unlike those with floating heads that he had been fighting till now, this one was without any. It also was very active unlike them who were just laughing, seemingly enjoying the screams all around them. Their inactivity and noise had made them an easier target, allowing him to plan in advance how he was going to deal with them, unlike this one that had jumped on him from the darkness-filled part of the forest. He had kicked it away but it was as if the 20 kg sandbag that he was preparing to send flying suddenly became a 50kg bag. He was lucky to have been able to escape without any harm.

He unsheathed his sword, slowly allowing the monster to decrease the distance. When he felt the distance right, he jumped ahead and turned, shooting the bullets at the chest. Firing it with one hand made the recoil even worse causing some bullets to miss even though his target was the chest. Still one of the stray bullets caught a chunk of its skull as it grazed by. As it glided forward, body stunned, he ran towards it and started firing at close range, finally hitting all the bullets, though he still had to stick his sword into its body.

Spit

Something suddenly hit him in the gut and even though he should have had a bit of resistance to pain after two previous times it still caused his mind to become muddled enough that a second and third strike sent him tumbling on the ground.

The scent of grass and dirt entered as something struck him directly in the face. He turned his face just in time to see the goblin glide forward and struck him with his legs sending it backwards. Unfortunately, he did not have any time to see the strangeness of the scene.

Quickly getting back up, he tried to run when another hit struck. It felt as if someone had struck him at the sides. Still, he somehow got up while another struck him.

He ran towards the thing and shot it at point-blank range. Even then some missed as he was hit randomly all across his body, though he was thankful that one place was still safe from all the strikes. He kept shooting until the magazine was empty, carefully avoiding the place where he had stabbed the sword. By the end, he was bathing with blood and pieces of flesh and bones.

Its body now looked as if it had been passed through a grinder and thankfully, the strikes had also stopped.

Sheathing the sword, he took out a pack of bullets from the box and started moving away. The amount of noise that had just been created would have alerted the entire forest by now and he did not want to be here when more of these abominations came.

He jogged while refilling the bullets. This time, he kept an eye on the darker parts of the forest trying to keep as much distance between them as he could. He sidestepped and hid behind a tree and squatted down. He had been moving for just a while and he had started and he could now hear the noise of something running. His breathing slowed as he tried to make as little of a sound as he could.

The sound slowly started becoming greater and all around him. Then came a wave of goblins, some small and most big as they ran from where he was coming. He slowly crawled towards the darker part when he saw the chance. Light certainly was not going to allow him to keep his life.

Once there, his heart finally calmed down, still, he slowly started moving away not wanting to get caught in this exodus. He was crawling along using his hand to act as his eyes because it was difficult to even see his fingers up close. Moving along, sometimes he heard the sound of something moving in the dark and stilled himself.

He stood up slowly as the sound came closer, inching closer to a tree. The sound became ever closer. His heartbeat sped up and he slowly gripped the pistol, sword was useless against these things, even with poison. It would be suicidal to fight them with a sword and if he took too much of a time the swarm that had just started converging towards the previous location might just come here, after all, that place was not that far away.

The sound kept coming closer, it was quite loud in the quiet forest making it easily discernible, like the sound of breathing. As the epiphany struck him, he controlled his moments and breath even more as he prepared himself to end it quickly.

The leaves crunched, the twigs broke and the sound came ever closer. He had grabbed the gun with both hands.

He felt something moving in the darkness, not knowing whether he was hallucinating or if it was real, he readied himself. This time, it needed to be quick. He could see and could not see the figure at the same time. It was as if a black outline in the dark was coming closer. He brought the pistol to the chest and fired.

Bang

Bang

Bang

...

Bang

Then as he advanced forward, he kicked the bigger goblin to the ground and started firing, stunning it. First, the head, second, the shoulders, third, the thighs, and then the remaining body. As the body started becoming full of holes, invisible punches rained down, making his face bloody, and his body bruised. It was not enough to stop him. His eyes suddenly popped out as he was struck down there. His legs trembled and he fell down. Still, he quickly started firing while sitting on the floor. Thankfully none of them struck there again. He kept at it until the kill count went up and then he dragged himself away, this time moving only through the dark part.

His body hurt, as was the norm by now and his nose bled a little. This time, as he was moving away, he only saw a few run by. It seemed as though most of the nearby monsters had already run towards the first location so he did not come across any of them though he did hear noises.

After running away and finding a quiet place to rest, he ate the ration and rested in the dark while reloading the pistol. Suddenly, he slapped his head, he had forgotten about the grenades.

After resting, he stood up and slowly stalked through the darkness, looking for a space that did not have any monsters in its vicinity. As the adrenalin slowly retreated, the unnatural feeling started returning. He tried to ignore it but it was slowly crawling up his head. Suddenly, he saw another goblin ahead and quickly attacked it. As the adrenalin slowly came back, the feeling also started to go away.

He prayed, grabbed the pistol and shot at it, and then started running away. Along the way, he inspected the grenade, it had a big red-colored button on its top. As he ran, the goblin neared while new ones joined. He tried to push his body further but it was already hurting so much. As it became ever difficult to dodge through these things swarming him from all the sides, he injected himself with a single dose. He almost tripped as his speed suddenly surged. He tried going at full speed, nearly resulting in a crash.

All the things on his body now felt very light. The pistol that was difficult to even fire now felt weightless. The sword, he could not even feel its weight.

He glided through the air, indescribably happy. The speed he was running at, was a dream for him before this dungeon appeared. The adrenalin pumped throughout his body making the whole event even more exciting. He kept gathering the monsters as he ran around until it started becoming difficult for him to escape. Thinking he had gathered enough now, he pushed the button on the grenade and sent it flying in the midst of the body-wearing monsters and immediately ran away. He tried to keep as many trees behind him wanting to cushion the impact that was going to come.

Boom!!!

The winds suddenly picked up, then his ears ruptured as the sound of the blast reached him. The blast itself sent him flying forward. He tried to get up, his vision blurring and his ears rang with an annoying sound that he could not stand.

After much effort, he got up, his body hurting all over as he peeked from behind the boulder only to see a dust cloud. It took a while to calm down and only then was he able to see that the whole area was full of holes. Light poured down from above as the canopy was largely destroyed in the area and the trees themselves were filled with holes.

Most of the goblin body was now minced meat but those that remained, even with organs dangling outside their stomach. Most were stunned and he took the opportunity and started firing. It did not take long for them to start attacking back and by the time he was done, his body was full of black and purple patches.

-----

The kill count went up to a hundred. He waited for the transfer. And waited. And waited. And it did not come. He panicked and quickly reread the mission. The minimum requirements were 100 kills and like always he had fulfilled it. What was different this time though was that he was in no danger. His body was hurting at every point and he had even been struck down there multiple times, and then had the most dangerous moments, but he was not bleeding to death or was unconscious or was being mobbed to death.

"Return?"

Enter the Endless Dungeon?

Y/N

For now, he selected no as he took some rest. He still had a grenade and an enhancement dose remaining so he was thinking about returning after using them. He tried to stand up but his body protested. He gave in and rested some more.

As the adrenalin started leaving, the pain became even more defined and the feeling of something crawling towards him. It made him get up, ignoring the protest from his body. Pistol gripped in both hands, he started moving. He still had a grenade left behind as well as a dose of the drug.

-----

“Beginning process: Healing. It would cost 0.10 points to heal your body. Should we proceed?”

He touched his cheek, the feeling that transmitted was disgusting.

“Yes”

-----

He got up feeling very refreshed.

“Calculating payment.”

Base Payment: 16 CP

Additional Payment: 20 CP

Achievements: 4 (F)

Total: 36 CP, 4 (F)

He took out the empty box of bullets and threw it on the ground. It was worth it, especially bearing through that disgusting feeling that was even present in that forest.

“Leave.”

-----

He quickly took a set of clean clothes and ran into the bath thoroughly cleaning himself with the cold water, when he came out, his smartphone was buzzing.