Chapter 3: Death's Door

The corridor stretched ahead into darkness, the glowing moss providing barely enough light to see five meters in front of him. Kazuki's breathing sounded too loud in the oppressive silence. Each step echoed off the stone walls, announcing his presence to whatever lurked deeper in the dungeon.

He had been in dozens of E-rank dungeons before, but never alone. Always, there had been someone stronger nearby. Someone who could save him when things went wrong. Now, there was only Kazuki and his rusty dagger against whatever monsters waited ahead.

The chittering grew louder. Kazuki pressed himself against the wall, trying to control his racing heartbeat. Around the corner ahead, shadows moved in the dim light. One goblin. Maybe two. He could handle that, right? He had killed goblins before. Granted, they had been injured and distracted by his teammates, but still. A kill was a kill.

Kazuki gripped his dagger tighter and peered around the corner. Three goblins huddled around something on the ground, their backs to him. They were smaller than the ones he usually encountered, barely reaching his waist. Their skin was a sickly green color, and they wore scraps of leather that might have once been armor.

This was his chance. Attack while they were distracted. Quick and clean.

Kazuki charged forward, raising his dagger for a strike. His target was the goblin on the left, the smallest one. He brought the blade down toward its neck with all his strength.

The goblin turned at the last second.

Kazuki's dagger scraped across its shoulder instead of hitting anything vital. The creature shrieked, a high-pitched sound that made his ears ring. The other two goblins spun around, their yellow eyes gleaming with rage and hunger.

"Crap, crap, crap!" Kazuki stumbled backward as all three goblins rushed at him.

The wounded one reached him first, its claws swiping at his face. Kazuki barely ducked in time, feeling the wind from the attack pass over his head. He slashed wildly with his dagger, more to keep them at bay than with any real technique.

The blade caught the second goblin across the chest, drawing black blood. The creature howled but didn't stop. Its companion lunged from the side, catching Kazuki's arm with its claws. Pain exploded across his forearm as the goblin's nails raked through his shirt and into flesh.

Kazuki cried out and kicked blindly. His foot connected with something solid, and one of the goblins went flying backward. But the other two were still on him, clawing and biting with savage fury.

He fell backward, hitting the stone floor hard. His dagger clattered away into the darkness. A goblin landed on his chest, its breath hot and rotten in his face. Its mouth opened wide, revealing rows of needle-sharp teeth aimed at his throat.

Time seemed to slow down. Kazuki saw every detail with perfect clarity. The saliva dripping from the goblin's fangs. The hatred in its yellow eyes. The way its muscles tensed before it struck.

This was how he was going to die. Alone in a rank E dungeon, killed by the weakest monsters in existence. His parents would get a notice from the Hunter Association. His body might not even be recovered. He would become another statistic, another failed Hunter who bit off more than he could chew.

"NO!" Something inside Kazuki snapped. He wasn't ready to die. Not like this. Not as a failure.

His hand shot up and caught the goblin by the throat before its teeth could reach him. The creature thrashed and clawed at his arm, but Kazuki held on with strength born of pure desperation. With his other hand, he grabbed the goblin's head and twisted with everything he had.

CRACK.

The goblin went limp. Kazuki threw the corpse aside and rolled, narrowly avoiding the second goblin's attack. His hand found his dagger on the ground. He came up swinging, and this time his blade found its mark. The dagger plunged into the goblin's eye socket up to the hilt.

The creature died instantly, dissolving into black smoke. Two down. One to go.

The third goblin, the one he had kicked away, slowly got to its feet. It looked at Kazuki with what might have been fear. Then it turned and ran deeper into the dungeon, its footsteps echoing as it fled.

Kazuki collapsed against the wall, gasping for air. His entire body shook with adrenaline. Blood dripped from the gashes on his arm, and his back throbbed where he had hit the ground. But he was alive. Against all odds, he had actually killed two goblins by himself.

"I did it," he whispered. "I actually did it."

The moment of victory was short-lived. The goblin that had run away would alert any others in the dungeon. Kazuki needed to either leave now or push forward before reinforcements arrived. He looked at the two small magic stones that had dropped from the dead goblins. They glowed faintly in the darkness, worth maybe a few thousand yen each.

Not enough. Fujimoto wanted proof of a cleared dungeon, which meant finding and defeating the boss. Two goblin stones from regular monsters wouldn't cut it.

Kazuki forced himself to his feet, biting back a groan of pain. He tore a strip of fabric from his shirt and wrapped it around his bleeding arm. The makeshift bandage wouldn't do much, but it was better than nothing. His E-rank healing ability would close the wounds eventually, but it would take hours. Maybe days.

He picked up the magic stones and shoved them into his pocket, then continued deeper into the dungeon. The corridor opened into a larger chamber with multiple passages branching off in different directions. The walls here were covered in crude drawings stick figures of goblins hunting stick figures of humans. Lovely.

Which way had the goblin run? Kazuki strained his ears, trying to hear any sounds over his own labored breathing. There to the left, he heard multiple voices chittering in the goblin language. That must be where the main group gathered.

Every logical thought in his head screamed at him to turn around. He had barely survived three goblins. What chance did he have against an entire group? But logic hadn't gotten him anywhere in five years. Maybe it was time to try stupidity instead.

Kazuki crept down the left passage, his dagger held ready. The chittering grew louder with each step. Light flickered ahead torchlight, not the gentle glow of moss. The passage opened into a large cavern, and what Kazuki saw made his blood run cold.

At least twenty goblins filled the space. They surrounded a makeshift throne made of bones and scrap metal, and sitting on that throne was the biggest goblin Kazuki had ever seen. It stood easily two meters tall, with muscles that bulged beneath scarred green skin. A crude crown of what looked like human finger bones sat atop its head, and it held a massive spiked club that was covered in dried blood.

The goblin boss. And it was staring directly at Kazuki.

The entire cavern went silent. Twenty pairs of yellow eyes turned toward the entrance where Kazuki stood frozen. The boss goblin rose from its throne, and a slow, cruel smile spread across its face. It said something in the goblin language, and all the other goblins laughed a horrible, cackling sound that bounced off the cavern walls.

Then the boss pointed its club at Kazuki and roared.

The entire horde charged at once.

Kazuki ran. There was no shame in it, no hesitation. He sprinted back down the corridor as fast as his legs could carry him, the thunder of goblin feet echoing behind him. His wounded arm burned with every movement, and his lungs screamed for air, but he didn't stop.

He burst into the main chamber and kept going, choosing passages at random. Behind him, the goblins gave chase, their shrieks of excitement getting closer. They were faster than him. Stronger. There were too many. This had been a mistake. A fatal, stupid mistake.

Kazuki rounded a corner and his foot caught on something. He went down hard, sliding across the rough stone floor. His dagger flew from his grip. He tried to get up, but his body wouldn't cooperate. The fall had knocked the wind out of him, and his injured arm finally gave out.

The goblin shrieks were right behind him now. Kazuki rolled onto his back just in time to see the horde round the corner. Twenty monsters, all of them bearing down on him with weapons raised and murder in their eyes.

The goblin boss pushed to the front of the pack, raising its massive club high above its head. Kazuki could see every detail of the weapon the rust, the spikes, the dark stains he tried not to think about.

This was it. For real this time. No miraculous escape. No last-second save.

The club came down.

Kazuki closed his eyes.

And then everything went white.

A sound like breaking glass filled his ears, followed by a voice cold, mechanical, and completely impossible.

[SYSTEM INITIALIZED]

[DETECTING COMPATIBLE HOST]

[KAZUKI HAYATO: SYNCHRONIZATION COMPLETE]

[WELCOME TO THE SYSTEM, PLAYER]

Kazuki opened his eyes. The goblin boss's club hung frozen in mid-air, centimeters from his face. Everything had stopped. The goblins were frozen like statues. The air itself seemed to have solidified.

And floating in front of his face was a translucent blue screen covered in text, like something out of a video game.

[YOU HAVE BEEN CHOSEN]

[BEGINNING TUTORIAL...]

[End of Chapter 3]