Chapter Four: Kill. Kill. And wipe them all out.

There was no time to lose!

Yushin rushed forward like lightning bolt, piercing high and low with spear as fast as he could. The goblin-like this time didn’t try to parry but instead used shield to block the attacks.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Spear stroke yet shield still stood. There was no way Yushin could have penetrated through it with only those attacks. It was pretty sturdy.

Meanwhile, the other foe started to disappear into nothing. No drop was left behind. Its equipment also vanished.

If he wasn’t in a hurry, Yushin could’ve waited for the attack and countered, but now time was of the essence. More enemies meant the time to deal with each one was shorter. Those things didn’t have much HP, but their defense was solid. If he kept striking there was no way his crappy spear would hold out. If the dead one had dropped his equipment that would be a backup, but he had nothing of the sort in his inventory.

Knowing he had no time, spear-wielding Yushin advanced one more time. This time he was forceful and determined. Instead of hitting with the tip of the spear, he feinted with it and went to hit with the end of the shaft. The goblin-like still blocked and at the same time slashed with sword.

However, Yushin was ready for it.

He never expected the enemy to be taken in by that feint. Instead, his goal was to draw in an attack and counter. Being ready, he quickly ducked, dodging sword and using spear at a low position to sweep his enemy's leg. The goblin-like fell, surprised, and Yushin stepped on his sword hand, proceeding to trespass him in the chest. A quick and well-executed kill.

That thing looked with hatred in the eyes before dying, and our protagonist shivered a little. The hate felt so genuine it was hard to believe he wasn’t fighting a real life monster, but a virtual one instead.

The body started to disappear and a small item dropped. It was a vial of blood.

[Got Kruiknansian’s Blood of Hatred x1]

‘So either those things are called Kruiknansian’s or the one I killed was… I’m definitely calling them Kruik from now on. Anyway, since I can’t hide I might as well try to take them by surprise instead.’

The structure didn’t change much going forward, bloody red badly illuminated. However, soon multiple paths appeared. They were narrower if compared to the ones before. There was absolutely no place to ambush. Those paths reverberated sounds very well, that was the reason he thought there were multiple incoming enemies. Their position was hard to grasp.

At that time Yushin decided: he needed to be quick and deadly. One hit, one kill would work best here, but it definitely was not easy to achieve.

‘What are the odds of equipment dropping? One of those shields would help me a lot.’

The good thing about being in a VRMMO is that he didn’t need to worry about physical stamina. His body would not tire. There was no stamina system right now, yet mental fatigue would still be a factor. How long was he able to play? How long could he grasp, execute and remember all those thought based commands? Could he maintain it for a long period of time? Could he do well under duress?

So far combat has been quick and precise. Missing a few parries would mean death for sure. Maybe that was what the system meant when it said he’d learn about death. Are those enemies endless or is there a boss somewhere? He could ponder about it all day and still not find a solution.

He could only throw himself forward and kill. Kill. And wipe them all out.

Up on the surface, there were no traces of enemies, but down here his [Tracking Skill] started to be useful. He would see the small red dots on the minimap before even sensing the enemy’s position. From that moment on his actions were swift.

First, he tried to run as fast as he could and attack before the enemy could react. The first time he did this the spear easily pierced a head. Strikes did more or less damage based on vital points and other physiological characteristics. Some would have weak points, some would have strong points there. For these goblin-likes, their anatomy wasn’t a lot different than expected. Head and Chest were fatal. Their thin legs and arms were also vulnerable.

Yushin had no trouble taking down two more enemies very fast. After the first one got it on the head, the other one barely reacted. [Spear Thrust] finished the job.

Soon he realized there were spots that could be used to run on the wall. In real life, this obviously wasn’t possible, but in Tales, it was easy for him to do. Even though he was a beginner’s character, he was still a [Hero] and far more athletic than the average person.

With this new option, his attacks became diversified. Occasionally he would come from above, sometimes straight ahead. Around fifteen Kruiks had already fallen. They weren’t as organized as he initially thought.

However, this wasn’t without loss. His HP dropped down to 1/3. [Strong Kick] and [Spear Thrust] were used ten times each. With the ones before, he only had 32 Soul left. His mana was full but he had no skills for it.

‘Is this not going to end? How many are there left?’

Now in front of him was only one path straight ahead. The tracks showed two more dots. He had no way to heal and recover Soul. His weapon was also showing signs of breaking, like chips on the spearhead. He had a few material drops, such as [Kruik’s Blood] and [Kruik’s Teeth], but no more of the first one he got. There were no equipment drops whatsoever. He was really hoping his spear could hold on.

‘Looks like they know I’m here, no use in rushing ahead... ‘

He walked slowly forward until the enemies came into view. Two more of the same Kruiks he had been fighting all dungeon. Those two were waiting for him in the middle of a circular underground room. There were no other passages or entrances and he saw no particular dangerous spots around, nor at the end of the corridor. In the middle, two stupid looking thrones made of bones stood. They had terrible taste.

On the good side, this room was the last. But was it really that simple? Two enemies in an empty room?

Well, it was not like he had many choices. No ranged weapons. No other useful skills. He couldn’t even detect any traps or hidden enemies, only go in and fight.

Yushin took small steps and tried to be wary of his surroundings, but even that didn’t stop some kind of wooden gate to crash down and block his retreat. Now that circular room would either be the last of that dungeon or his tomb. At least until he revived, or however that worked in Tales.

This time the enemy shouted something audible, like spoken language. Yushin couldn’t make anything out of it, but it was clear they were more intelligent than those before. None of the others could speak, at most grunted a little.

The one on the right had sharp red eyes and used a two-handed sword. It seemed a bit too big for him to carry, but he didn’t seem to have any trouble with it. He also had leather armor. The one on the left had deep blue eyes and used a kusarigama. He wasn’t wearing any armor, but there were a lot of markings on his body that looked like [Runes].

So, not only they were more intelligent, they carried different equipment. That meant the fight would be much harder. Yushin also had near zero margin for error, since both his Soul and HP were low.

‘Damn. That kusarigama looks way too troublesome. I can probably handle the two-handed sword, but if they fight well together… Those runes look like trouble as well. So this is the knowing about death part, huh.’

He wasn’t in a hurry. There was no time limit, after all. Even though the dungeon info said he could come out anytime, that probably meant from the gate entrance.

What would happen if he had to log out at that moment? While he wondered about it, the Kusari-Kruik grinned. He grinned and reached out his hand, calling Yushin over to him!

The other one laughed and they both looked with pitying eyes. Those eyes would definitely work on most players. They pitied him so badly that there was no way Yushin would not be affected.

Yet he wasn’t an impulsive person. He was calm and composed. Even overbearing. There were a few things in the world that pissed him off, but those kinds of taunts weren’t one of those. However, he still breathed deeply. Nothing was going to be solved by waiting around. With large strides, he went forward…

Of course, the chain was the first to come. He was still a good distance away when he had to dodge. The sword-kruik also went forward, but Yushin’s target was the kusarigama.

He dodged yet another chain strike and met the two-handed sword halfway. Compared to the many strikes he had been dodging that one was almost too slow. This time he didn’t want to dodge left or right; he went straight for the kruik, jumping while stepping in his shoulder. Not only he dodged the attack, but would also try to knock him down while aiming to get the other one unprepared.

He jumped, spear in hand, but the chain strike still came.

CLANG!

[PARRY!]

Now, that was a very difficult parry, and even he was surprised he managed to pull that one off. Just a little bit of strength and the mechanical timing just right, and the weight on the chain changed paths, allowing him to drop down on the enemy. While he was unable to use the spear after the parry, [Strong Kick] still fell upon the kusari-Kruik.

BAM!

“.....!”

The runes flashed and a small [Mana Shield] appeared around the enemy. The kick wasn’t able to break through. Yushin jumped back with the impact but the kusari-Kruik was ready for it. The chain went forward again and hit him straight in the stomach.

Now, from his initial 1200HP, he had only enough for two similar chain hits or probably one from the two-handed sword.

‘A Mana Shield! Damn!’

Well, he had no time to be worried about that. The sword-Kruik was already upon him.

“...!” His body moved quickly. A faster sword would have hit. Instead, at the same time, he dodged also extended spear, piercing and then slashing one of the enemy’s legs. He could’ve gone for a kill strike but feared the leather armor would mitigate the blow too much. Lowering the enemy’s mobility was a good thing right now.

Yushin didn’t wait for the kruik to respond. He rolled backward and just at the same time the kusari chain missed him. The coordination between the two of them was scary. When the distance was good enough, [Spear Thrust] went against the sword-kruik’s throat. He was still recovering from his wound, albeit not deep. Like the others, they were no good with pain. Had he moved a bit sooner the spear would have missed.

Yushin knew the enemy was already dead and wasted no time getting around him. The kusari chain came again, but it could not stop him. Now he was down to one enemy with a tough shield, but if no mistakes were made it still looked good.

Seeing the chain was no good, the kruik tried to go close combat, but it was already too late. Spear went again and again, and many times it hit shield, until both of them were finally broken.

[Strong Punch] hit the kusari-Kruik face and his blade slashed Yushin’s chest, but in the end, it was Yushin’s victory. [Strong Kick] finished the job.

‘...Huff...Huff..Whew...Is there still more…’

DUNGEON CLEAR!

REWARD: [Soul of a Hero]

“Wow~! You did it!” NoisyData was excited. Yushin smiled. He hung in there by a single hit.

“So you can keep quiet when you want to. You didn’t speak at all during the action. When do I learn about death penalties?”

“Erm… You won’t.” NoisyData said.

“...What do you mean?”

“You weren’t supposed to clear the dungeon!”

“What?”

“Well, most players can’t. They die and are taught about the system. Then teleported out.”

“...Oh. What about this item then, [Soul of a Hero]? Give me info on it.”

“I don’t know. I don’t have any!”

“What about death penalties?”

“Oh, I guess I can explain that. Like [The System] said before, dying will forfeit any dungeons’ rights currently available. Also, you lose 20% skill progress, money and is teleported back to the [Spawn Point] in thirty seconds. You are then confined to your spawn point for one hour of real life time. And this is only normal death penalties. It’s possible to have new rules in new places and modes. Be careful about it!”

Yushin nodded. His first dungeon was quite the adventure, non-stop fighting and smart enemies. And it was only a common dungeon.

“How do I get out, Data?”

“Just go back to the entry point or use Command: Leave Dungeon. If the Dungeon is locked you need to force it open.”

“Ok, got it. See you next time, NoisyData.”

“Hehehe, I’ll still be with you, after all! I just think of it as a nap!”

Yushin smiled. “Sure, see you later. Command: Leave Dungeon.”

In the blink of an eye, Yushin was back outside in the room. The blinking light slowly disappeared.

‘Now I need to fix this weapon or get a new one. Come to think of it, drops were really poor. The bosses didn’t even drop any items. I wonder what this [Soul of a Hero] is though. It really has no info. My skills didn’t improve either and I can’t even see how much experience I still need.’

[Exit Dungeon Gates Tutorial Room?]

[>>>Yes.<<<]

Yushin went back to the outside, but neither his HP nor his Soul went back to normal. Seems he had to find other means to heal. So, now, he needed to sell his drops, find a new one or fix his weapon and find a way to heal.

Yet he felt refreshed. After all that action, he completely forgot what fateful event led him into [Tales of The Heroic Kingdoms] in the first place...