They say sleep is like a small death, and we undervalue waking up every day and take it for granted.Your gaze upon waking will be upon your wall, your ceiling, or maybe your loved one if you are lucky.But what if you woke up one day and saw an object so foreign it felt alien, something so dreadful that looking into it makes your eyes sweat?A "Goblin's Totem!"Yes, based on the expertise he had in relics and works of art, this thing was not from humans, but from a goblin.
Skulls he had never seen before with his very own eyes, only in fiction, were connected by a long bone that penetrated the top of each head.Twelve of them were arranged in this manner, surrounded by layers of skin with shades of green and blue. An orange light reflected off the surface, coming from a torch hanging from the ceiling.So grotesque...His stomach couldn't take it anymore, and he puked.He didn't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing, since his puke was of the wagyu he ate at dinner.He looked at the ground beside him.A collection of items lay scattered there: a sword, a circular shield, a piece of armor, and a small pouch of rations and coins."I don't have a good feeling about this!"
A rattle of coins could be heard from a corner opposite the totem. It was the only sound in the oppressive darkness.
His instinct sent him sprinting. Clutching the items he'd found, he hid behind the totem, opposite to the noise.
The layers of skin hid him well, as the noise became progressively louder: step, step, step.A small, hunched creature with a head the size of a basketball and a patchwork of green skin came into view. It was carrying a crudely forged blade and, without hesitation, it bent down and sniffed the puke on the floor. Just when he thought it couldn't be more disgusting, it began to lick the puke; it felt ecstatic."Holy mother of goblins!" he remarked as he held the next wave of wagyu that was coming from his stomach.
After wiping the floor, it stood up menacingly."Shit!"It jumped straight at him, and he started running into the dark; he couldn't face such a thing. How could he? He had to escape. He didn't want to die.
He sprinted as fast as he could, only to hit a wall. He fell down.He scrambled to his feet and began swinging his sword like a madman, but it was no use.
"Please, God, no," he begged.It cackled and laughed, its voice like a door screech in the darkness. That bastard wasn't attacking him at all.
And then he remembered... goblins' biggest weakness:their greed.
He grabbed the whole pouch and threw it just a few feet to his right. It hit the ground and made a coin noise.Twik!
The goblin could have already killed him. He couldn't see anything in the dark, and it was fast enough to dodge even his wildest swings. But instead of using its head and killing its prey, it just growled and stepped into the trap thinking it was too fast to be caught.
Using what he had learned in kendo, he gave a marvelous strike into the darkness, while taking a few steps to the right.By the grace of the gods, the sword lodged into its shoulder and a grieving cry for help tore through the air.
The goblin began to swing at him, but now with a sword piercing its shoulder, and a shield in his other hand, he parried its attacks.
He kicked and kicked it again as the sword was stuck on its shoulders until the goblin stopped moving.
"Hah," he grunted.And then he fell onto his knees and puked again!
'The others are bound to come now. I might really die today...' he reminisced while staring into the abyss, and then he blinked.
'What? How did my vision clear?'
His vision was not very clear, but it was enough to see the body of the blood-bathed corpse lying beside him, though not enough to see the whole room.
Step, step, step.
From the abyss came another goblin, this time ferociously swinging its rugged blade in a horizontal arc. He didn't think he would make it, but his panicked swing parried it.
"What!"
After a battle that pushed him closer and closer to the wall without managing to land a single hit, he swung at the goblin once more.
It was faster.
It hit its arm and stuck into it. He stabbed and stabbed again and again.
"Hahaha, I won!"
And he blinked. The vision became clearer.
'What is this? Am I becoming stronger with each kill?'
'I have a slight increase in strength. It can't be adrenaline now, can it? What about the vision, though?'
'GROWL!'
He sensed it, the growl of a wolf from his left side. It wasn't in his vision, so he had to run. It caught up to him and sank its teeth into his legs. As he fell, he aimed between its eyes and stabbed repeatedly as it chewed on his leg. It was painful.
'Grunt.'
While lying on the floor, a simple text appeared before him:
"Ping! Night Vision Level 2 Acquisition Complete!"
He blinked, and a clear vision of where he was was finally revealed.
He was in a dungeon and had to survive somehow.