Chapter 10 - Bibly and the Corpse

As the twin suns rose above this part of the world, a group of guards walked out of the town’s gate as they conversed with themselves. Their captain tasked them with disposing of the bodies of the foulbloods that had attacked them last night.

“Bloody foulbloods! Why were we assigned to this task? The captain should have chosen another squad,” complained one guard.

“Well, Boyle, maybe it’s because we are the fucking gate guards,” jeered another guard.

“Hey, watch your mouth, Boris! You don’t want a repeat of last time, do you?”

“Don’t you dare do that?” Boris clenched his fist as he moved away from the burly Boyle. Whilst he tried to be subtle with his movement, it was obvious that he found burly Boyle to be intimidating.

The last time he had run his mouth, Boyle gave him a beating he would never forget. It was so awful that he was released from work temporarily.

That day, the captain stumbled upon him but couldn't recognize him as he had gotten excellent makeup.

Looking at the timid Boris, Boyle chuckled, “Hehehe. What’s wrong with you? I was only joking.”

“I-I-Whatever.” Boris scoffed.

“Boyle, Captain said to get rid of the bodies. He didn’t say how or who should get rid of them, right?” Brick, the third guard, interjected.

As he spoke, he directed his stare at the fifth and last member of this squad of gate guards. After listening to Brick, Boyle thought to himself and reached a conclusion. A sly smile fixed on his face when he replied. “Good Idea, Brick! Why not let our newbie do the job? It’s a good way to initiate him into the squad.”

The Hawk Squad was a relatively veteran squad among the gate guards. The original four had been together since the beginning of their service, which was five years ago. So, when they finally got a new member, not all of them were happy.

This newbie named Bibly wasn’t deterred by the passive bullying displayed by the squad. He thought inwardly, ‘Works for me. I enjoy burning foulbloods. I could even feed the tough parts to wild beasts.’

He raised no complaint, as the others quickly designated their task to him. They left not long after, laughing amongst themselves at what they did.

‘Typical old fools,’ sighed Bibly.

He was now all alone. Well, not exactly. Surrounding him were the corpses of foulbloods, elves, and forsaken howlers.

‘There was no report about forsaken howlers. Oh, curse the dark moon!’ cringed Bibly. His large body seemingly shrunk back to a small form as he spotted the dead howlers.

Bibly grew up in this cursed town, but he was not ignorant about the rest of the world or, to be specific, the rest of this damned continent. After the events of the Eternal Night, this continent was sucked into the abyss. There was no hope for any of them.

Poking the face of one dead howler, Bibly took a defensive stance. After making sure that the howler was totally dead, he held onto one of its tails and dragged the corpse to a specific region just outside the town’s barrier. It was still morning, so it was safe to wander around as long as it was not too far away.

Bibly went on with his task. He spent an hour moving the corpses that littered the surrounding area to that particular region. One by one.

Soon, he was done. Beads of sweat dripped down his head, but the gate guard's outfit, a light armor outfit with the crest of Cravel’s knight force on its chest, absorbed them. However, that didn’t stop drops of blood with various hues from staining the bronze leather outfit.

Bibly dug into his pocket and found a pouch. The pouch contained an abundance of inflammable sand known as Igris Particles.

He poured the sand on the pile of corpses and left the area for a second in search of something. When he came back, he brought with him two perfectly carved rocks.

Smashing them against each, the rocks produced a spark that catalyzed a smoke.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“It isn’t enough,” Bibly hissed.

Just as he was about to repeat his action, he noticed something. Immediately, Bibly stumbled. His eyes quivered as he stared at one particular corpse among the pile of dead bodies.

He wiped his face and gazed again a second time. Not seeing anything wrong with the corpse this time, Bibly stood up.

‘By the gods, I saw it move. Was I imagining things?’ Bibly struggled with the doubt in his head.

After waiting for minutes, a smile finally reached his face, accompanied by a sigh of relief. “Yeah, it’s a false alarm. Fucking foulbloods, making me hallucinate!”

Bibly went up to the corpse and slapped its face.

“Stay dead, you piece of trash!” He continued with his violent actions.

Suddenly, the eyelids of this corpse fluttered open, exposing its green iris that was as clear as the moon. A raspy voice escaped the mouth of this corpse. “Ouch, that hurts, bastard!”

“Kyeaahh!” Bibly screamed as he attempted to run away, but the corpse gripped its arm. Its grip was so strong that Bibly felt his bones soften.

The corpse pulled Bibly closer to it. It snarled as it quickly dug its fangs into his neck. When the corpse sunk its fangs into him, a sensation of weakness overwhelmed him. He became as still as a log of wood. He could feel his body losing its blood. It was draining out of him faster than his stamina limit in the bedroom. Soon, he became a husk of flesh. His life slowly left him as he fell to the ground.

“Ahh, this feels refreshing,” muttered the corpse.

He looked at the victim of his fangs. With a sad voice, he sighed, “I think he is dead. I killed him.”

It was a mistake. When he woke up, the first thing he sensed was the sweet scent of the man’s blood. It got him into a frenzy and the next thing he knew, he was gobbing down the man’s throat. A pure accident.

Still, he couldn’t muster any sympathy for the man. ‘He wanted to kill me. It was better that I killed him.’

Standing, Seth threw the dead human to the top of the pile of corpses. Looking at the two rocks beside the man, Seth understood what the dead man was going to do to the pile of corpses. He grabbed the two rocks by the side of the pile and clashed them together, providing the spark necessary for igniting a ravenous flame that would devour the pile until there was nothing left.

Looking at the destruction he caused, Seth smiled silently. Suddenly, he remembered something which caused him to jump into the flaming pile.

“Oh, wait! I need his clothes!”

The cloth he currently wore was heavily stained with blood. It was better to swap it with the guard’s tunic and pants, regardless of whether it fitted him or not.

Seth discarded the man’s armor and wore his inner garment as he planned. It was uncomfortable to wear, but he could make do with it.

“Now, what’s next?”

He looked around him, discovering the endless expanse of trees and bushes. He was still in the same forest he tried escaping from before he died.

“Fuck! Where do I go?”

He was lost.

The game provided him with nothing. No guidance. No map. No items.

He didn’t know what to do and that troubled him very much.

“I can’t deal with this right now. I have to find a place to stay. The city is a no-go. The people there tried to kill me. The forest is dangerous, but at least, I might have a chance of surviving here!”

Those hunters called him foulblood. He could detect immense hatred in their heart. If the other humans were just like that, then it was useless to hope to take advantage of any civilization.

Seth began to move away from the cackling flames. His current objective was to find somewhere safe in the forest. His life depended on this.

“I have to find somewhere before night comes.” Seth frowned.

His head suddenly felt heavier. This was a lot to process. The game gave him a hopeless start and it expected him to survive.

How stupid?!

“Fuck this game. After I figure out how to log out, I’m never coming back.”

The sensation dredging up in him could only be represented by one word: despair. It was like he was in the middle of a desert and there was nothing he could do to escape.

“What is that?”

Seth spotted a blue light up ahead of his path. He increased his pace and he followed the light. When the distance between them shortened, he began hearing the lovely sound of water dancing to the rhythm of the wind.

Then, he saw it– a lake. It was not what he expected but it produced a soothing vibe that calmed his despairing thoughts.

As he walked closer, he noticed something just beyond the reach of the lake. The glimmering reflection of the water body shed light onto the object of his attention.

‘Is that a cave?’

Seth brightened as he ran toward the mouth of the cave. It was almost fully covered by swaying vines and bushes, but he saw the water reflection penetrate the few uncovered gaps.

‘This is good news. I can stay here for the night.’

Seth thanked his stars and entered the cave. The air inside was a bit warm, but he could manage. Seth’s vampiric eyes pierced through the dark space. It was narrow and long, which made him realize he had not yet reached the real cave.

*Crunch!*

He stepped on something. As he looked down, his body froze and a shiver went down his spine. The object beneath his feet was a piece of human bone. He wasn’t exactly an exemplary student in high school, but even he could identify the bone.

Looking ahead, he discovered more trails of bones leading down the narrow path. And with that shocking realization, his senses became alert, which prompted him to pick on the breathing of something ahead of him. Breathing so rugged and inhuman.

He suddenly understood. He was not alone.

『 Congratulations, dungeon found.』

『...processing dungeon. Dungeon identified.』

『

Dungeon Quest: Clear the dungeon!

Difficulty: ★

Rewards: One stat potion. 100 EXP.

Penalty: Loss of Avatar.

』