Chapter 11

It fucking stinks.

Jae was currently inside the cave.

Calling the smell ‘bad’ would be a serious understatement, so Jae had to do what he could to prevent it. A word to describe such a smell could be 'fetid' or 'putrid'―a combination of the two, perhaps, although describing it would be tough because of how severe it really was.

Although, the fact Jae brought in a new stench―one of burning flesh―to mix and blend with the others, certainly didn't help either. If the smell of charred goblin had to be explained, it could be described as similar to burning rubber, human skin and cardboard.

In any case, Jae wanted to get this expedition over with asap.

Skill「Night Vision」has levelled up [Lv.2]→[Lv.3]

As he continues, it gets gradually easier to make his way through the cave. Each level of「Night Vision」does not make it significantly easier to see in the dark, but the change is noticeable. Especially in the case for a cave like this, without any light whatsoever. It's pitch black.

It’s hard to tell the time I’ve spent here when there’s no sun. Nor, any indication of what time of day it is, for that matter. But, from my internal clock and gut feeling, I’d say it’s been about six hours?

It was a rough estimation based on his feelings, but it doesn't really matter. The timings were probably off though, ever since Jae's watch got broken after the fall.

*bump*

Seems he bumped into something. Jae looked down at what it was to discover a goblin robed in crude and unusually dark-toned leather.

Another Archer? But, the leather looks a bit darker compared to all the Goblin Archers I’ve seen before..... Oh well.

This was what, the twentieth? goblin corpse he had found thus far. Acquiring as many skills as possible wouldn’t hurt. Jae grabbed the corpse by the arm and took a bite out of it.

*gulp*

Skill「Earth Rise」has been acquired

His eyes widened.

“....What? No.... Could that be... a magic skill?”

So that was a Goblin Mage, huh....

「Gluttony」and「Envy」have both already reached the current accessible limit, just like「Wrath」has, so they won't level up any more. In fact, a '[Locked]' icon has even appeared next to the three skills shortly after.

Should I test it out now?

After ruminating about it for a moment, Jae decided to postpone assessing the details about the new skill for the moment. It had the word ‘earth’ in it, so it'll almost certainly have an effect on the ground.

Considering that he was currently deep inside of a subterranean cave, anything could happen. Put simply, he didn’t want to put himself in unnecessary danger like a cavern collapse.

It’s not like the skill will just suddenly disappear on me, so I can test it anytime.

And so, Jae kept venturing through the cave.

{GIIGGIGIGIIIGIII...!!!}

{GIGIIGIGI!}

{GIIIII!!}

{GIGIII!!!}

Skill「Goblin Language Comprehension」has levelled up [Lv.6]→[Lv.7]

“Tsk.”

Jae clicked his tongue as he watched a large group of goblins charge at him from the other side of the chamber while screaming.

Didn’t think there’d be so many of ‘em left.

Apparently, this particular group had survived by blocking up the entrance to this large space within the cave with the various available materials. It seemed to work to block out the smoke, considering they were still alive.

However, this was also not the first time Jae had come across some stragglers, either.

{GIHI-KUGH...!!}

The first two goblins―young Goblin Warriors―that ran straight at Jae met a swift end as he bisected them with his shortswords.

6.

Skill「Fighting Spirit」has activated

Smoothly, Jae evaded the incoming attacks of the third, unskilled warrior, and severed it's head.

5.

There was a fourth right behind it.

*Slash!*

It swung it's sword at Jae, who was still in middle of his previous attack.

It felt like the world was in slow motion.

The incoming blade was reflected in Jae's intense eyes as he could only watch.

But then.

Activate.

Skill「Power Burst」has activated

It was like a flash.

*slash!*

*splatter!*

*thud!*

The sword moved like a streak of lightning.

4.

Before anyone could realise, the goblin was lying on the floor. As a fresh corpse, it was leaking blood like a waterfall out of the headless socket.

“Fhu.”

A quick exhale refreshed Jae's mind. However, this was not the end.

While「Power Burst」was still active, he moved. Towards the four remaining goblins in the back.

Hmph.

*slice!, slash!*

*thud thud!*

Simultaneously, the two front-most goblins―an Archer and an Assassin―fell dead.

2.

There were only two goblins left.

And.

They were whining.

{Goiyaaaaaaaah~~!}

{Gowaaaaaaaahh~!}

In front of Jae were two baby goblins, crying. Probably not even a week old, considering the immensely fast growth rate of goblins. Jae only stared at them for a while, before....

"Tsk."

{―aa~--!}

The crying ceased, along with the pitiful lives of the baby goblins. Apathetically, Jae turned around and walked down a connecting tunnel.

"Huuu, fu."

With one short breath, Jae had neatly finished yet another surviving group of goblins. Unfortunately, he didn’t level up once.

Really, I didn't think so many survived. Who would've guessed the cave is this fucking big, huh.

Level : 19

Jae was stuck at Level 19.

Actually, ever since Jae reached the 10s, levelling up has become agonisingly hard. Probably because goblins are low-level creatures that don't give much experience.

In fact, little does he know, but Jae shouldn't have been able to level up this far with only goblins in the first place.

It is only due to the massacre with the fire that he did, and then, for some odd reason, there were an unusually large amount of goblins within the cave itself than what is normal. Many more than Jae would've initially assumed, including both the dead and survivors.

Either way, it was pretty much child’s play for Jae to deal with even a dozen goblins at one time right now, as long as they were low level. That was thanks to his inordinate amount of skills that usually would take years for an ordinary person to gather, as well as the fact that ordinary goblins were pretty braindead.

Although, one thing didn’t get any better.

In fact, you could say it has gotten much worse. And that is due to「Smell Enhancement」. This skill, which Jae now deeply resents having, does what it says on the cover.

This unfortunate skill enhances the olfactory senses. In other words, the absolutely detestable stench Jae has dealt with so far―he has become even more sensitive to it. Anyway, he carried on, enduring it.

Every time Jae came across a crossroads or a fork in the road, Jae always took the path which went deeper.

There were two main reasons for this: Firstly, Jae has no problem surviving down here, whether it be due to food or enemies. Hence, he planned to explore the whole place for hidden loot. The second, was due to the theory that the boss should be at the lowest level.

Well, that is, if there even is a boss. Both of these reasons are only valid in videogames. They aren't anywhere close to advice or rules one might want to follow in the same situation. Nevertheless, Jae is doing it anyway.

He has come to the somewhat reasonable conclusion, that if there is a nest of goblins this big, then there just has to be something leading them all, or at least, some kind of hierarchy. Otherwise, the structure would have fallen long ago.

And, a third reason....

"!! That.... thing... is strong."

It's as Jae says. Ever since a short while ago, he could feel it―the 'aura' of his enemies.

Conditions met. Skill「Aura Sense」has been acquired

"Tremendously strong...."

'It'd give a lot of EXP', was Jae's first thought.

But, it was then that Jae's eyes trembled. His body shook powerfully.

"This.... is the boss?"

Thinking back now to the fights he's recently had, Jae feels like he can very roughly estimate the strength of the enemy.

「Aura Sense」.....

He felt a sense of respect for the boss of this cave. Ever since coming to this fantasy world, Jae has practically been pumped full of adrenaline the entire time, due to the various occurrences. Especially during fights, perhaps because of「Fighting Spirit」.

For that reason, though, as well as the fact that he is now semi-superhuman, Jae has found fighting in this world to be incredibly addicting. And now..... Whatever it was.....

"Haaahh...."

He let out a slow, chilling exhale, as his beating heart rapidly accelerated.

―Jae wanted to fight it immediately.

Nevertheless, despite the awe-inspiring and thrilling aura that he felt, it also, very clearly, indicated that a being leagues above him lay ahead.....

Jae felt not a strand of fear. He thought not once about what the consequences may be if he lost. But that was obvious, was it not? After all, Jae is unable to feel fear. A resistance to fear, or death, is certainly a quality that would normally be pivotal for someone to survive as a fighter in a world like this.

However, that could be considered both a curse and a blessing. A double-edged sword.

I...

Thus, Jae could only feel one thing.

I want to fight it!

Alone in the cave, a smile that seemed to belong to that of an insane person appeared on Jae's face, as he hastened his movement towards the depths of the cave.

Meanwhile.

"....No.....way...."

*thud*

A teenage girl collapsed to the floor in a heap as she stared mindlessly at the television screen.

「Breaking News! Entire classroom of students and teacher abruptly goes missing in ▬▬! The victims' belongings and the classroom are left perfectly intact, without a sign anything ocurred! Was it a mass kidnapping, or a terrorist attack? The police and detectives on the scene are attempting to dig to the root of this disturbing and horrifying mystery!」

"......"

The girl could not speak.

It wasn't possible.

She wanted to deny it.

She wanted to say it wasn't true.

She wanted to go and see him, and then he would tell her that it was a lie.

.......Mn. Yes, he'll probably call me soon, joking, apologising that his phone broke.

Someone familiar with this type of situation would recognise it.

This was the stage of 'denial'.

....Nevertheless, the girl could not budge her glistening eyes that were glued to the T.V. screen, no matter how hard she tried.

"....Ah... auh...."

Finally, she dropped her head―that for some reason, felt extremely heavy―and curled into a ball. A fetus position-like posture.

She grit her teeth, and clenched her fists.

A feeling of resistance began to well up inside her.

She felt deep, profound resentment towards whatever caused this to happen.

But..... The girl could not get over it so easily.

Quietly, the girl stayed in that position.

And soon.

The girl began to cry.

*sniff*

"There, there. You'll be okay. Everything's okay."

The gentle voice of an elder sister flowed out along with the warm hands that slowly caressed the younger's soft head.

"Bu--hugh--but but, if only I spoke sooner...! Jae wouldn't have--*sniffle*...! What do I do now...?!"

"It's alright. Slooowly, deep breaths."

The younger sister tried to comply and take some deep breaths, albeit with difficulty.

"That's it. You're a strong girl, right? Wasn't it a piece of cake?"

The older sister smiled brightly.

"....*sniff*....Mn... I'm okay now... Sorry..."

"What's there to be sorry about? Crying is perfectly normal. Don't apologise; this is a duty of mine as a big sister."

....Although.... that Jae, huh... I can't believe it. I was even thinking of having Lia marry him in the future... Mn. If it was that kid, I'd be greatly relieved that she was in good hands...... Haa, so that's why she's been so down lately.

...I see. nothing's been heard of the kid for a week now, so she was worried he got tired of her and was dumped, even though I told her countless times that wasn't the case..... Turns out he was involved in a supernatural incident huh... It's awful, but terribly interesting at the same time. I've never seen anything like it happen before.

A tiny smile floated onto the younger sister's face.

"Mnn.... Thanks..."

....Well, of course I'll do what I can for her. As always.

Elder sister smiled warmly back.

"No problem at all, Lia. Remember, if you need anything, I'll always be in my room, m'kay? ....Ah, well, even if you don't need need anything, I'll still be in my room, won't I, ahahah."

"Mn.", the younger sister acknowledged with a nod.

Regaining control of herself and her emotions, the younger sister―Amelia Rannuel went to her room.

.....Today was the kind of day where an early sleep was needed, after all.

Morning had arrived.

Amelia woke up feeling slightly refreshed, which was unexpected.

She'd thought that, since she discovered the news yesteday, she wouldn't be able to get any sleep, but in fact she fell asleep within 5 minutes of getting into bed.

But then again, thinking about how much energy yesterday was expended simply from sobbing and crying, it wasn't strange at all that her body and mind were exhausted.

Along with her elder sister, Amber, the two siblings ate a good breakfast together, with the T.V. playing passively in the background. Of course, the news was as expected, soon causing Amelia to feel down, but just as quickly was she cheered back up by Amber.

Speaking frankly, Amber was a hopeless person.

―Because she was jobless and stayed at home all the time.

Either way, to Amelia, she was the best big sister imaginable. The absolute greatest, so to speak. Part of it is due to her incredible charisma and ability to provide emotional support to others.

Whenever Amelia was hurt, injured or needed help, Amber was always there. She always somehow knew what to say to cheer up the individual in question and was the kindest person Amelia knew.

That's why, Amelia really didn't care what her sister was like when it came to getting a job, or anything else in life―Even if she was absolutely hopeless. Even if she had no place to go in the future, Amelia had no hesitation in the thought to take her in. She was obliged to do so after everything Amber's done for her.

Amelia would always be grateful to her no, matter what. Respect her. And love her, as a wonderful elder sister.

And so, when Amber got up to return to her room, Amelia gazed at her back with a happy, and thankful, smile.

*click*

The door closed. Amelia sat on the sofa, in front of the television, calmly. Since it was Saturday, there was no need to go anywhere like College. Although, even if it wasn't the weekend, Amelia doesn't know if she would be able to go to lessons or not.

Whether it was because of the 'incident' that happened a week ago, or depression, Amelia isn't sure. She thinks she handled it pretty well, thanks to Amber, but who knows. She might've fell into shock as soon as she took one step through the front gate.

Recalling something, Amelia thought.

Wait, it was his English class, right? If I remember, wasn't that Ryan in that class as well.... Right? I'm sure there are many people relieved about that, huh..... Although, I bet nobody could've imagined something bad happening to that Ryan... It's all so strange...

Today's mind was infinitely clearer than yesterday's. Amelia could think about what happened without spontaneously bursting into tears like yesterday. Although, granted, yesterday was the first time she actually found out what happened.

Like Amber said, she was a strong girl. Should be.

"...Mn. He isn't weak either. Mn, Jae is strong too."

Soon, Amelia's eyes wettened.

"Especially, his really, really annoying head. Yes... Jae... is... stro-*sniff*-ng."

At that instant, just as she began to tear up again, Amelia noticed something in the corner of her vision.

".....Huh??"

It was an unfamiliar, blinking screen, as if belonging to a social media or videogame interface.

"Eh....Whaaaat???? How long has that...been there...."

Concentrating on the thing seemed to bring it directly in front of her, and as Amelia began to read the text on it, her expression transformed into one of many strange emotions.

You have received a message (1)

It was too weird.

What is going on?―she repeated the words continuously in her mind, for a few minutes, before suddenly regaining herself.

No, wait. If you get a message in a game, you usually read it right? So how do I do that.

Amelia tried everything she could think of:

First of all, touchscreen?

"...Nope."

Touching it doesn't work, as her hands simply phase through it like an illusion. Calling out things like "read message" and "check message" don't work either.

Before long, she became agitated and extremely dubious of whether the floating screen existed at all.

....Is it... even real? It's an illusion, right? ....Ah. Yes, I must be seeing things. I must be. It would make sense considering the recent sequence of events, wouldn't it? Yes yes, I must not have gotten enough sleep.

Of course, that wasn't the case―she had gotten plenty of sleep last night. Consequently, Amelia decided to ignore it, thinking of it as a mere illusion that would disappear by the time she remembered about it.

"Yes, it'll probably disappear by evening anyway and I'll forget about it. Maybe I need some water."

Yes, that's it. Perhaps Amelia was simply dehydrated. She left the living room and went to the kitchen.

It was now evening.

Strangely enough, the message window did not disappear, nor fade in the slightest. Amelia just sat on her bed in a daze.

....No way is it really real. It isn't really a real thing, is it?? No way. No way, no way. This type of thing only occurs in Fantasy―Anime and stuff. It really isn't a real thing that is really real. Impossible.

She was certain.

This 'thing' in front of her didn't actually exist.

Amelia was sure of it.

.....But.... But what if....

'What if it is real?'

This sliver of something could be called either a doubt or a hope, was firmly locked in Amelia's mind.

*huff*

Amelia deeply frowned with a pout-like expression. Eventually, she couldn't take it any more and shouted.

"Aargh!! Just show me the damn message!!"

Nevermind thinking about how Amber would take the ruckus occuring within her little sister's room, Amelia simply yelled in frustration.

"Is everything okay in there?"

Amber's startled shout could be heard from the next room over. Feeling a little guilty, Amelia quickly appeased her sister's worries.

"Y-Yes! It's nothing! .....Phew..."

Sighing, Amelia looked back in front of her and--

*gasp!*

Her eyes widened.

The message--!?

Yes.

―It had opened. With a great mix of anxiousness and excitement taking over her, Amelia read over the game window that had expanded to take up most of her vision.

But then, Amelia's expression transformed.

"Just what...."

Message Title : Title? Just call it message #1 or test #1 or sumthin', I dun fuckin' care, you bastard. I'm-- Subject : This fuckin' thing's askin' for a subject now? Shithead, I said I dunno nor care. Just go to the fuckin' contents shit already. Seriously, what a shit design. The-- Contents :

Oh, it's workin' now? Uh, there we go. What a piece a' shit, seriously. Oi. Who's this go to, exactly? It should work, eh? Argh, this fuckin' thing. It'd be nice if there were a fuckin' manual or a better description on how to use it, huh.

Or at least, sumthin' that told me whether it works. Ain't it workin'? Eh, anyway, whoever this fuckin' thing sent a message to, there should be a reply thing under it, right? Use it and contact me back. Ya might 'ave to use a Token or sumthin'? I dunno. But, that whore princess will get what's comin' soon.

...Wait, this thing fuckin' records everythin' I say, even if I don't want it to? The fuck? What a bastard skill. That fuckin' cunt of an old man is a real piece a' shit, huh. Why's this shit so complicated, huh!? Just do it, fucker. God...

Anyway, the person readin' this, just fuckin' tell me who the hell you are with the reply button, if this shit even works in the first place.

Fuck, it really needs some sorta instructions or sumthin', huh. Okay, so now I need that "Token" shit right? How do I attach that? ....Oh, it actually worked? The fuck? Okay, that was easy compared the other shit.

Now, how do I send? Send message. Wha-it's even doing this? Fuck off. Seriously. Just send it.... Did it go? No. Fuckin' thing. Whaddaya want from me, huh!? Bastard!! If I ever meet that fuckin' bastard geezer I'mma fuckin' scorch his balls off! Just send the fuckin' message already, shitty fuckin' garbage skill, ehh!!?

......Ah, I see. It does work. So you just 'av to fuckin' say--

[Attachment] :《You have received 1 Dimensional Token》

◽Reply to Message◽

◽Cost - 1 Dimensional Token◽ (1 Available Token)

"......"

Amelia was utterly speechless.