Chapter 6: Familiar Scent

The sun was setting—he had been asleep for hours.
The hero slowly stood up, his body heavy.The curse was spreading deeper into his flesh, rotting him from the inside out.
He took a deep breath and walked toward the cave.
The entrance was still blocked with the stones he had stacked earlier.One by one, the hero began removing them.
As soon as the air from inside hit him, a familiar scent struck the hero's nose.
—Burnt meat.—Charred wood.
Ashes from the fire had settled everywhere.The hero lit a simple torch and drew his sword, stepping into the darkness once again.

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The first goblin corpse he found made the hero pause.
It looked like it had tried to escape the flames—its arm was burned black, and the rest of its body was bruised and mottled with cherry-red blisters.
The hero took a breath, raised his hand, and cut off its ear, dropping it into a pouch.He repeated this five more times as he moved deeper into the cave.
The further the hero went, the thicker the smoke became.It clung to the ceiling, refusing to dissipate, turning every breath into poison.

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Eventually, he reached a wider chamber.
This must have been their base.There was still smoke in the air, and it made him cough violently.But the room wasn’t that large.
Eight goblin corpses lay scattered around.One of them had a beard, and strange symbols were scrawled across the cave walls.
The hero didn’t stop to analyze them.Just cut off each goblin’s ears, one by one.
But the stench—The smell of roasted flesh and old blood—It made his stomach twist.
Weapons were strewn across the floor: small blades, crude spears, and what looked like makeshift explosives.
Then he noticed it.
A room tucked away in the corner, hidden behind hanging cloth.

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“I wish I had never seen it.”

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The hero stepped forward and slowly pulled the cloth aside.
Three women.All of them pregnant.Bound by wrists and ankles.Their skin was inflamed, red with bruises and bite marks.Deep scratches covered their bodies.
And they weren’t moving.
They were already dead.

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He stared in horror.Then his body convulsed.The hero dropped to his knees and vomited.

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His legs shook as he stumbled out of the room and leaned against the stone wall.He clenched his fists.
The hero cursed the gods.Cursed this world.Cursed the goblins.Cursed himself.
But none of it made any of it go away.

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He tried to calm down and looked around at the rusted swords and broken weapons.
Then a thought struck him.
“I took this quest. If someone comes to check—”
His gaze went blank.
“The mission said saving the prisoners was optional. But if someone finds them like this…”
“They’ll think I killed them.”
The hero's name would be dragged through the mud.He’d be seen as a monster. A murderer.
Quickly, he began dragging the goblin corpses into the room.He piled them over the women’s bodies, hiding them beneath rotting flesh.
But it wasn’t enough.
So the hero gathered everything he could—twigs, broken furniture, cloth—and piled it all on top.Then, he set it ablaze.
The fire roared inside the cave.
He took what supplies he could find and fled back outside.

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The hero sat down in front of the cave, watching the flames dance and the smoke rise.
Then he chuckled quietly to himself.
Maybe this would protect his nonexistent honor.Or maybe…
He just wanted the guilt to burn along with the corpses.

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As the darkness of night swallowed the cave behind him,the hero turned toward the city.
He began to walk.
Then, he began to cry.
And finally—He started to run.