The level five kobold had ragged armor pauldrons on its shoulders, a spiked helmet with an elongated snout dressing its lizard-like face. In its hand was a wicked battle-axe, its quality a clear step above ragged.

Other than that, It looked like a kid that got fitted by its mom in an oversized jacket and helmet at a department store. But Zack knew better than to underestimate it.

“So you are the one Barut have to kill, human,” the elite kobold hissed.

Zack looked at the monster with renewed interest. The other kobolds that he killed showed only a modicum of intelligence, and any attempts to converse with them ended in hissing and violence.

This one actually managed to put together a full sentence. A huge improvement from the regular kobolds.

“Why do you have to kill me?“ Zack asked.

“It is contract, human,” it responded. “As long as Barut do his job, Barut will be released.”

“Released from what?”

“From the contract. Stupid human. Now die!”

“Wait, wait,” Zack protested, waving his hands wildly. “We might not have to fight. What exactly is this contract? Maybe I can help you fulfill it another way. And trust me–“

He pointed at the bloodstained ground next to the kobold. “You might be an elite, but I don’t think your chances are so good here. I’ve killed a lot of your comrades.”

The kobold elite looked down at the blood, then up towards the lanky human standing in front of him. It still appeared confident, although a hint of doubt flashed in its eyes.

“How many kobold you kill?”

“A lot,” Zack replied.

The creature shrugged. “They fail contract, they die. Barut not die. Barut is survivor! Master says Barut kill intruders, Barut grow strong, get house.”

“A house in the dungeon?”

“Yes. Barut must become elite general to get house.”

Zack was starting to get a better idea of how these rooms that spawned infinite amounts of enemies worked. Instead of spitting out mindless copies of a mob like in a video game, this dungeon teleported over enslaved creatures, each with their own hopes and dreams and thoughts of freedom, with the mission to kill the intruders that entered the dungeon, intruders including humans like himself, or to be killed by the intruders’ hands.

You never really thought about how morbid a video game’s mechanics could be when brought into real life until they were staring you in the face, Zack thought. This system was throwing living, thinking monsters into the meat grinder in exchange for promises of better living standards.

Although in some ways, it wasn’t so different from Zack’s own upbringing. Both his mom and his dad got burned from the meat grinder.

The rat race was tough, for human and kobold alike.

Guess that’s just the way of life, huh? Kind of brutal. Although I guess it doesn’t have to be that way.

“Hey, listen up buddy. Why don’t we make peace today? You won’t have to die, I won’t have to die, and we can meet again next time,” Zack said. “But before that–”

He held up an iron coin. “Do these things matter at all to you? Are they valuable?”

The kobold elite’s eyes gleamed. “Yesss! That is currency!”

“How about I give you one of these as payment, and you can tell me a bit more about your situation. I’d like to know who your masters are, who designed this whole dungeon, and why you need to kill intruders so badly. What’s the point behind all of this?”

The kobold elite looked slightly taken aback, but seriously considering the offer. It eyed the iron coin in Zack’s hand with ravenous greed.

Zack continued to speak. “You and me, honestly we’re both just pawns in this brutal game of life and death designed by someone else. Now we could continue to be pawns and just keep on chugging along, killing each other like the masters want us to, or maybe we can work together.”

He had a feeling that he could easily mislead the kobold, but part of his soul just didn’t want to be that guy.

Still, he wasn’t about to be a pushover. He was fully aware that the kobold elite was a walking loot pinata.

He’d keep his word as long as the kobold kept his. Those who treated Zack well, he’d treat them well in return. And those who didn’t… he’d show no mercy. He had no trouble getting his hands bloody now.

“Give coin. I tell you what you want,” the kobold elite finally said, its clunky helmet visor falling forward with a clank as it spoke.

Zack flicked over an iron coin towards the lizard elite, who caught it in its palm. It raised the coin up into the air, as if to examine its authenticity.

“Ooooh…” it cooed. “This is half of daily salary for Barut.”

My god, the masters really don’t pay these guys well huh.

“Okay, now your end of the bargain. Who are your masters?”

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Barut looked up meaningfully, putting a finger on his chin in thought. “Barut not sure. Masters wear cloak. Barut cannot see them well, but he knows they walk together like long snake. Many masters, all wear black cloak.”

“Masters want initiation to be good, masters always talking about initiation. They say it must be perfect, they say cannot fail. Maybe masters also have contract.”

The kobold elite became more animated as he spoke, clearly excited. “Masters say Barut is special, Barut can become elite general! Barut fight well, he will release his contract and move to–”

Suddenly in the middle of its sentence, the whites of the kobold elite’s eyes became bloodshot as its eyes rolled backwards. A black symbol of what appeared to be an insignia appeared on its shoulder, and it began to convulse as if it was experiencing a seizure. Foam began to appear on the corner of its mouth.

“What’s going on, Barut?” Zack asked cautiously, backing away from the kobold elite.

There was no answer from Barut. Its eyes were now unfocused and savage, locking onto Zack as it gave a snarl. It grunted, then charged forward at a staggering speed.

Zack barely had time to dive back across his machete trap, and the kobold elite stepped onto it, the machete puncturing its unprotected feet. It lost its balance, crashing to the ground.

He went in for a punch towards its unprotected stomach, but an axe swing came from the side, cutting through his polyester shirt and embedding itself into his ribcage.

It really fucking hurt.

“Agh,” Zack groaned, feeling the side of his torso get rearranged, hot blood spilling from his wound. This kobold elite was just a bit faster than the ones that came before it, and it caught him off guard.

The axe was still stuck in him, so he grabbed it and yanked the kobold’s hands away from it. Its mouth was still foaming, the look in its eyes clearly berserk. Barut reached for the weapon, but Zack pressed down with all his weight.

He grabbed the kobold by its helmet, lifting it for a moment before slamming it down with all his force. Barut’s head hit the ground with a sick thud.

Zack closed his hands around Barut’s neck, choking him. He felt like a savage doing this, but he had no choice. Barut was far gone the moment that that tattoo triggered on his shoulder.

Struggling with all his might, he closed his hands and did not let go of Barut’s neck, holding the position for a painful minute.

The final spark of life left Barut’s eyes, and his head slumped to the side.

Zack wiped the sweat off his face with what was left of his shirt, then took a vial of lesser health potion from his inventory and downed it.

It was just deadly surprise after deadly surprise today. Surviving was clearly not an easy ordeal here.

Probably not best to get comfortable in the dungeon.

Zack decided to commit that to memory.

Congratulations! You have slain an Angry Kobold Elite.

You have defeated an enemy above your level. Additional experience has been distributed.

You have defeated an elite enemy. Additional experience has been distributed.

Angry Kobold Elite has dropped the following loot.

Bronze pauldrons.

A Delver’s Alcove vending machine token.

Five iron coins.

New achievement! You have defeated an elite enemy in a dungeon.

Reward: Information about elite enemies.

There is a slim chance for an elite enemy to be summoned into an area after a sufficient amount of lower tier units have been slain in that area. This process is random.

Hm.

“Well, if the monsters themselves all go berserk like that if you try to talk to them, the only other way to find out about how this dungeon world works is through achievements or trial and error,” Zack said to himself.

“Too bad the useful info only comes after the danger. Kinda undermines the usefulness, doesn’t it? Why do you want us to die all so bad? Barut as well?”

There was no response.

He sighed. He half hoped that the robotic female voice would answer, to shed some light on how exactly this underground dungeon worked. So far, all it did was try to kill him and the creatures it summoned in all sorts of creative ways, and he hadn’t even advanced past the first room.

It was at that moment that the female announcer’s voice actually began to speak, as if it had heard his rant and was answering him. Her voice echoed around the dungeon like it got played over an intercom.

The departing train will arrive in ten minutes.

All surviving initiates are encouraged to make their way back to the dungeon exit immediately.

Well that sounded like a normal public service announcement, and definitely not a reply to his rant.

Anyway, he’d almost forgotten. Time to head back.

Zack’s mouth was absolutely parched too, in desperate need of a bit of water. Thanks to his endurance stat, he could easily recover from physical exertion and keep going, and thanks to his health regeneration, his clothes kept dry cleaning themselves so that his sweat never clung. He thanked the system for that, but he lost a hell of a lot of electrolytes and water from his body–an abnormal amount.

These dungeon runs were like a camping trip on steroids. He needed to prepare a lot more for next time. At the very least he needed to bring a water bottle like his alternate timeline self.

Always be prepared, son.

He smiled. A reminder of his dad’s nagging catchphrase rang through his head, offering a bit of needed comfort in this god forsaken place.

Zack hoisted himself back up off the ground and turned to face the stone entrance that he came from, a changed man.

He strangled Barut to death with his bare hands. Whether he liked it or not, he was a killer now. Just another fact of life he had to get used to. Judging by the way things were going, this would not be the last time he’d have to kill. He really wished that he could’ve talked to Barut for a bit longer before the berserking kicked in, although he suspected that Barut talking was what caused the so-called masters to send him into a berserk frenzy.

Anyway, this was all speculation. Judging by what Barut said, even those cloaked guys he called the masters weren’t the head honchos around here. He’d have to wait until next time to get more information.

Time to go.

The way back was uneventful to say the least. The torch he’d taken on the way in was discarded on the floor of the first room, so he grabbed a new one from the corridor.

Not that he needed it, but somehow the presence of fire made him feel a little bit safer.

Probably a primitive thing.

The train was just up ahead, that ticket obelisk-box still jutting from the floor. Zack stepped in, basking in the feeling of returning to modernity and white light. He never thought he’d miss artificial lighting so much.

Please deposit your fare of ten iron coins into the coin box. Failure to do so will result in ejection.

Well, that didn’t sound pleasant. Zack opened his inventory and dumped ten iron coins into his hand, then deposited them through the slot.