The faint splashing of water tickled his senses, and White quickly awoke with groggy eyes.

...There were sounds in this cave apart from his own, causing him to slowly gain a sense of caution. His expression scrunched up. Because as soon as White perked up his ears, he could hear them.

... ...Garbled speech, and imprecise intonation. Their deep and guttural clamors were like the monsters a child would imagine hearing under their beds. As they got closer, their smell permeated into his nose. Stinking breath exhaled from their insides pervaded the air like smog.

White stayed as silent as he could. He held his breath and tried to take a peek at the approaching intruders, and when he saw them, his face paled. 

There was no mistake.

The information of the invaders were quickly revealed—[Goblins] had come.

They were short green-skinned creatures five feet in height, with a hideous face that had glowing orange eyes and a sloven mouth. The short sharp fangs which jutted out of their jaws outlined their carnivorous nature.

White couldn't believe that Goblins were in Forest A...! 

How was it possible? Goblins were not a mob that existed in Forest A before! How was he supposed to deal with them without a weapon?!

Regardless of what he had initially thought, the truth remained that there were goblins who seemed to have snuffed out his presence. There were a total of three goblins which were currently shaking off the water as they entered the cave past the waterfall. From the way that they looked, they were obviously sure that a human was here somewhere.

 Had he been followed during the day, or was it from the tracks on the soil?

Certainly, he had not bothered to hide himself when he moved around in the forest during the morning. But that was only because he had thought that there were only Forest Slimes and Hysteric Apes here! 

White froze just then.

Come to think of it, he had not seen a single purple tree nor any of the slimes ever since he had entered the forest. Was his information incorrect? His thoughts were broken from fear suddenly, as he realized that one of the goblins had spotted him behind the rock.

(--!!!)

The goblin widened its hideous grin and slowly closed in on the frightened young man.

(Shit...!)

Before he could make a move, White noticed that another goblin had entered the cave behind the three. 

He could tell from the red scarf tied around on of its shoulders, that this was the [Goblin Elite]. One Elite would usually be spawned from a mob of normal goblins. 

They did not differ much from an ordinary goblin, except for the small difference in its stats, and gave more experience when defeated. That, and also Goblins that are higher in their own hierarchy were able to command the lower-levelled ones.

Sure enough, it was doing just that. The Goblin Elite raised its right arm and as if on cue, a few more goblins approached slowly, moving about to create an encirclement.

(There were more of them?!)

White tensed up even further, his palms moist with sweat.

A few of them at the back were holding small, dented daggers. Some were even using sharp rocks in their hands as weapons. White noticed some kind of purple liquid dripping down the rusted metal of the daggers. 

Poison. One cut from their weapons and he would surely become immobilized quickly.

The wretched laughter that came out from their mouths was as if they were telling him to surrender. White peeked at the darkness behind him. There was surely no way for him to venture deeper without light—! That would amount to suicide!

But there was no other choice. He needed to make a decision now, before it was too late.

...After all he had already decided to live his life to the fullest here...! What else was he afraid of than the past?!

That's right, the veil of dusk beyond him was nothing to be afraid of. He thought he could see it, a way out of this situation—! No hesitation...!

Further into the cave where he would be blinded by the darkness... 

White turned and bracing himself, he dashed deeper inside with large steps!

"Guahhh!" "Grrraakkk!!" 

The goblins became agitated as they had not realized that White would choose to do something like this.

Come back and become our food—! they seemed to say. With the accompanying noises of the goblins at the back, White continued to run without looking back. The sounds of the waterfall became fainter and fainter.

However, White began to quickly notice that he had not shaken them off in the slightest. Furthermore, his vision was slowly beginning to dim as he left the waterfall—

That was too quick! Had they already surrounded him from the start?!

No... There was no path up ahead. He would have to break through the goblins head first to escape! But considering the fact that he was so ill-equipped and not in the right mentality to fight, White became desperate.

"...Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! I don't want to die like this!!!"

The goblins continued to screech, gloating at his misfortune. He was going to run to a dead end up ahead! The swarm encroached, now close to more than ten in number. They were all edging even closer with widened grins, assured that he could no longer escape.

(...Think. Think, think...!) 

Was there a way... There must be a way! He couldn't afford to die so suddenly! He had only just started!

As tears formed at the corners of his eyes, White started to fight back like a mouse cornered. And through an ignition, a desire to live, his mind started to kick into overdrive.

—THINK.

To use anything at his disposal to survive, he would do so at this critical point!

...And then it hit him.

The stones that he had collected a while ago was still with him. 

(There it is—)

In between gasps, White had taken out the pouch looted from the corpse and looked at the item description again.

〚  ♦ Ignition Stone ♦ Uncommon Grade ✠ Material 〛

 ⤷ A highly flammable piece of rock. Disintegrates during combustion.

His feet had stopped. It was his last resort.

White was unsure if the Ignition Stones might accidentally explode in a cave, but even if it was just for a few seconds, he needed the flames to buy him some time. He knew that goblins were subterranean dwellers. It was a gamble to see if it could blind them or not since these monsters supposedly only took more damage from light-based attacks in the game.

Otherwise he might really die in this dead end.

Sensing an opportunity, the goblins broke into a run towards him, ravenous-looking eyes following their instincts to devour. A swarm that left nothing but bones made his body shiver. Feeling the warmth of the Ignition Stones in his palm, White began to throw them at the goblins a few at a time—!

The cave began to glow in orange, as rock debris flew around in an exaggerated fashion. Starting from the Goblin Leader, the green-skinned monsters began to step back one by one.

"Kieek!" "Kuraahkk!!"

(That's it! It's working!)

The goblins' cries served as evidence that he was right. Elation filled his chest as White began to throw the stones with more fervor. 

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Leave. Me. Alone!"

Crackle—!

Ksshaaa—

"You bast—ard?"

In the next instant as he was about to continue screaming excitedly, White felt his balance slip.

It had happened so suddenly, that he had no time to react to it.

The small explosions and fire had caused the earth beneath him to sink—

"Eh?"

Unable to find his footing, gravity pulled the young man down to a collapse.

He plunged downwards, without even registering what had just happened to him.

This all seemed just like a fleeting dream to White.

He was falling... ever so slowly—

 

---

 

... ...

—Clash! Awoken by the sound of metal clashing, that shrill sound broke the trance of his reverie.

White's eyes opened slowly, finding them covered in blood. He was too surprised to scream. The pain coursed through his entire body as his senses began to waver one after the other, soon he realized that most of his body had turned numb. There was something sharp piercing his leg, as well as his innards. From the sensitive vulnerability of his body, White had the feeling that most of his bones had been crushed from the fall.

White groaned in pain, he felt like screaming from the torn flesh but was unfortunately unable to make out a sound from his hoarse throat. His stamina was drained of any action he could take, and he laid down on a puddle of his own blood like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

(It... hurts... it hurts... it hurts... it hurts...!!!)

In that single moment, White felt as if his right leg had been crushed under the weight of a boulder. The excruciating pain stimulated his nerves, causing White's eyes to widen, pupils dilating from his horrific physical state.

(S-Status! Status open!!!)

I'm almost dead!

What had happened while he was unconscious? How long had he been unconscious for?

No, he was already lucky enough to survive a fall from this height. However strength could no longer be exerted into his shoulders. His joints were probably dislocated from the looks of it.

White did not give up however, as he controlled his breathing to a minimum to avoid opening his wounds any further.

But if he continued to stay untreated, things could escalate to fatality.

The unpleasant coldness seeping into and coursing up through his right ankle was probably where he had been poisoned. Sure enough, he saw a wooden arrow lodged into his right thigh. Blue veins had already formed around the impaled, festering wound as the poison looked to have already spread to a considerable degree. 

〚 ♦ Poisoned Arrow ♦ Common Grade ✠ Ammunition〛

 ⤷ A crude-wooden arrow smeared with goblin excrement. Inflicts low-paralysis and poison damage over time.

The loss of blood strangled and blew on his flame of life, threatening to extinguish it at a moment's notice. With his face already turning ashen white, White grit his teeth enduringly.

(Goblins. Goblins again! Why are there goblins in this place?!)

He was going to die to goblins? Was this how it really ends?

Holding back his tears from falling, White cursed his own inability and misjudgement.

Why was everything so different from what he had expected? If only he knew that goblins were in this forest as well, perhaps he would have measures against them earlier—

But now, it was all too late...

White bit his lips for the pain to overwrite the temptation of 'sleeping'.

He knew that if closed his eyes now, then he would never wake up again. His dreams, goals and expectations would be forever lost at this moment.  His hazy vision was dimming as each second passed by quickly, and if nothing was done to salvage his wounds, White knew that it was an inevitable fact that he was going to meet his end here.

... Ah. No good.

I'm... so cold... 

... ...

...

 

 

 

 

 

 

—Clank!

The sound of steel broke him out of the requiem to the afterlife.

(What is that sound—? A sword, somebody is fighting?)

Following the ringing of metal, silence pervaded the air.

White kept his eyelids half-closed, expectant yet half-afraid.

Footsteps headed towards him, and White began to feel his body tremble. Was it an ally, or was it the goblins? That doubt became a bottomless pit of paranoia...

"...｢Lesser Heal ｣—"

Following that coarse voice which sounded like it came from beneath a helmet, a sudden cooling sensation covered his entire body.

White couldn't believe his eyes!

The blood around him started to evaporate and seep into his body as if time had been reversed!

A greenish glow reflected off the ground. 

His HP bars were showing signs of recovery.

Mage Spell: ｢Lesser Heal｣! This was recovery magic!

"Hey you, can you move?"

Hearing the voice that finally belonged to a human, White finally broke down in tears. His mouth was still paralyzed so his appearance became a little funny while he was crying. 

It seemed that the person had also realized that White was still paralyzed a beat later.

Without waiting for him to finish, the arrow was pulled out abruptly!

White could not scream yet, so his pupils dilated immensely to show the surge of pain which struck him so suddenly.

The discomfort attacking his skin and flesh created an unbearable itch. It seems as if the poison was spreading even faster from that action—But at this moment, White noticed a gloved palm extending above where the wound had been. 

"｢Basic Cure ｣—"

A bright achromatic glow covered his eyes, and then slowly, the numbness was fading. Gradually, White realized he could move again.

"Y-you are..."

The young man had many questions, but for now he decided to thank his saviour. 

This person was wearing a kitsune mask, and was completely draped in a beige furcoat so he was unable to discern their identity beneath. He(?) was kneeling down on one leg; his gloved hands were holding on to his stomach without moving.

"...Uhm... a-are you alright?"

The masked person realized that White was talking to him, and suddenly held out a sword at his neck. The sharp blade glinted silver, one false move and his head would be cut off!

"...Speak. Who are you? Why are you in this kind of place?"

A cold voice came from beneath the mask of the person before him.

"Eh...? S-Sorry! I-I fell...!"

White stuttered repeatedly, unable to collect himself. He did not expect his saviour to point a sword at him so suddenly after all!

"...You... fell?" The hooded person let down his sword.

White nodded, and looked up at the wide hole in the ceiling. The hooded person followed with a glance, and muttered.

"...Ah. You dumbass. Must've blown a bunch of Ignition Stones to get here. You're a lucky bastard you know that?"

"...S-Sorry..."

"...Anyway, you should be more or less patched up now. But you should get those injuries treated by a professional when you have the time to. ...Hm?"

The masked person suddenly leaned forward as if to take a closer look at White's face.

"Now that I look at your face more clearly, you are..."

...!

His mask! White had suddenly realized that his mask had fallen off his face! White deftly moved towards where he had fallen to search for it.

"...You... what are you doing?"

"I-It will take a second... so please for wait a moment! I will find it quickly...! (Ah, there it is...)"

White found his mask in a corner. Dusting off the dirt on it, he immediately put it on again. But White quickly realized that it was rude of him to ignore someone like this, so he quickly bowed and apologized.

"...I'm sorry! Without thinking, I just..."

"—Is that mask important to you?"

"Eh?"

Fully expecting him to be threatened with the sword again, White revealed a flabbergasted expression underneath his mask.

"Answer me."

"... I...Yes... it is important to me."

"..."

There was a short pause, and soon he sheathed his sword, seemingly having lost interest in the young man.

"Well whatever."

"A...Ah... Wait." Mustering his courage, White...

"I-I haven't thanked you yet... for earlier..."

In years, this was the first time he had initiated a conversation with someone else.

But his savior didn't seem to have paid him any attention at all.

Rather, he was looking at the monsters he had killed.

"..." The person bent down before a goblin corpse, and paused his hands that were reaching out towards it.

"U-Uhm...."

This time, the masked person replied.

"If you're worried if you should give me some sort of compensation, don't be. You've already paid for it with this dungeon discovery."

Dungeon...? They were in a dungeon?

It was then that White had a good look at his surroundings.

It really did appear to be a place which potentially could be dungeon.

There was some kind of indescribable atmosphere about the place that felt hostile towards humans.

Seems like there were goblins down here too from where he had fallen into. However, they seemed to be defeated by that hooded person. A fierce, one-sided slaughter had happened after that while he was unconscious; there were goblins fallen face-down everywhere, and most of their weapons were either broken in half or completely destroyed. However, there was surprisingly no sight of blood to be seen anywhere, perhaps they had died from an internal injury.

Meanwhile, the one in question seemed to be unaware of White's analysis in his head and was concentrating on the fallen bodies, as if there was something that could be retrieved in them.

"...Uhm... c-can I ask, what are you doing?"

 Without sparing an eye towards White, the hooded person continued 'dismantling' the body dexterously. 

"...Dungeon cores."

(Dungeon... cores?) He had not seen them before.

"...Seriously? You came here without even knowing what dungeon cores are? You must be a newcomer then... Honestly, this dungeon is impossible for beginners so you were lucky you're still alive right now."

"S-Sorry..."

The hooded person flung the rock backwards casually which White had barely caught. 

"You don't have to do things in a roundabout manner. I know you want a cut too. Considering the fact that I did discover this dungeon from the explosions that you made... Ignition stones right? It won't recoup your losses with just that but... Consider it your share, and don't ask for any more than that."

The hooded person seemed to be misunderstanding something, but White had lost the momentum to correct him.

The one [Dungeon Core] that he had caught in his hand was a dull piece of rock with a faint glow.

〚 ♦ Dungeon Core ♦ Uncommon Grade ✠ Material 〛

 ⤷ Contains the lifeforce of a dungeon monster.

Completely unfamiliar. This was something new to White.

"Ah, and also... you can leave the report for the Adventurer Guild to me since I was the one who cleared it."

(...Adventurer Guild?)

There were guilds in the game, but Adventurer Guild...? This world was... different, White was slowly starting to realize that. However it wasn't to say that he was entirely unfamiliar with that term. White had read enough light novels to understand the gist of things. This was another cliche he was familiar with.

From the fact that this person was equipped with a long sword and was still going around scavenging the weapons and loot from the goblins showed a clear, occupational trait common for the ones known as "Adventurers".

Indeed, it was clear evidence that this individual was an "Adventurer". Supposedly, he had come here to undertake some form of subjugation quest. The dungeon cores were then sold to the guild for money when he returned. White probably looked suspicious lurking around a "dungeon", and was mistaken to be somebody who was trying to follow him. But because he didn't seem to be armed, the hooded person probably felt differently afterwards, even though it was still strange for White to appear in this kind of place.

Of course, White didn't voluntarily fall into a dangerous place like this on his own. He did not even know that a dungeon existed beneath this small cave, and it was only by an accident from the Ignition Stones that he had 'discovered' this dungeon.