From Crow's bedroom window, he managed to see a crowd gathered in what appeared to be a kind of central plaza, in front of the palace, but still at a considerable distance.
It felt like it was coming from right next door, but I guess I was wrong. Hmm, it's gonna take me a while to get used to these new senses.
A group of creatures knelt on the black stone floor, beneath them a kind of fabric, something resembling a thick carpet, and around the creatures stood the queen's soldiers surrounding them.
“EEEEEK!”
Goblins, even uglier in reality than in the game. It makes no sense for them to be here. They used to raid villages to kidnap women... I don't even want to remember that, get away from me you disgusting memory! Why did the developers put that in the game, the hero could've had another source of motivation for the start of his journey.
“AAARRRGH!”
Orcs, I hate them too, but at least they're less disgusting than the goblins.
“AARRGG!”
Horned ones, I don't even know what their name was, but if it has horns there's no mystery, it's an enemy.
The other creatures, I don't know, but they are not like vampires, and humanoid beings like the specters that inhabited the kingdom, whatever, I'mma train now, I must stop wasting time, and prepare to get out of here on the first opportunity.
Crow started doing push-ups on the floor to the sound of the ambient music.
“ARRRGH!”
I need to get good equipment, and try to get out of this place, maybe on this mission, but it's risky, maybe it's better for me to focus on getting strong and then see. I don't know yet.
EEEEEK!
What an annoying noise, man, seriously, I can't even train properly like this. Oh, right, there's a training room Sharon showed me. I'm gonna go check it out. But before that, let me see something.
Crow went to the window to satisfy his curiosity, and well...
Carts going to pick up the bodies... they look like the garbage trucks from my old world.
"…"
Are you serious? Did that old lady just throw her trash like it's nothing, on top of a dead goblin? Man, this place is bizarre.
One of the vampires behind a kneeling goblin raised his blade.
"Filthy creatures, you are lucky to die by my hand, the Queen's Blade! You don't even deserve my time. Die!" the vampire shouted as he delivered a downward strike, decapitating the goblin.
The monsters tried to struggle, but they were too weak.
Crow wore a pensive look while looking at the situation there.
Every vampire here has at least Sophia's level of strength. Analyzing the situation... escaping is totally impossible unless I can take on at least 11 Sophias at the same time. I'm stuck.
And then the courtyard was filled with a deathly silence.
The scent of fresh blood rose into the air until...
"HOW DISGUSTING!"
Blood had splattered onto the tip of one of the generals' capes. He ran off somewhere, quite predictably, like someone who had just spilled food on their clothes.
One of the vampires at the execution site spoke up.
"Clean up this filthy blood before the Queen passes through here."
The soldiers immediately began to move, removing the bodies and washing the red-stained floor. To them, it was nothing more than another day at work. When they finished cleaning, they showed a sense of relief, looking like employees on a Friday afternoon.
At that moment, Crow felt a presence in the distance, as if someone were watching him. It was powerful.
" ... "
He remained in an uneasy silence.
Then he spoke.
"To what do I owe the honor of this visit?"
He was still looking out the window at the scene below, without turning around.
"Hmm, I thought you wouldn't notice me."
Crow turned and said,
"Well, it's hard not to notice. The question is how you got in here without using the door, Your Majesty."
Alice moved toward the window, looking down at the situation outside.
"Teleportation, but you should already know that, shouldn't you?"
She made a disgusted face as she looked out and said,
"As much as I take pride in my kingdom and how clean it is, cockroaches always appear out of thin air. It's unbelievable. You can have a tower, and at some point, you'll still find a pest inside."
Crow responded,
"Maybe the sewers should be checked. Pests love coming through there."
Alice laughed.
"Yes, but I already have groups doing that, and it doesn't solve anything. It's so awful."
She stepped away from the window and continued. "Well, that is another matter. Come, I have something to show you."
She snapped her fingers and the world shifted.
They teleported. Crow looked around and asked, "What is this? A dungeon?"
"Yes. Do you remember the dungeon on the border where you were found? Well, this one is similar, though closer to the kingdom."
She turned around and began walking away as she continued speaking.
"It's a test to see if you would survive an encounter with the Hero. There is a gift for you in the first room, an old acquaintance."
Don't tell me...
Crow moved forward and entered the dungeon, which was similar to the first one he had been to when he was transported to this world.
Are these skeletons the test? No, they're too weak. And I remember from the game that they don't give XP, so no one would exploit them. Just minions that spawn infinitely if the dungeon core isn't broken.
They stared at Crow for a second, then simply turned and left him alone in the dark entrance corridor of the dungeon.
Hmm, where are the monsters going?
Bingo?
Silence.
As he passed through the gate, Crow found an empty room, no monsters in sight, but then, he heard a sound from the back of the dimly lit chamber.
“Ha... ha... ha...”
Yeah, I figured it out.
Crow stepped forward, and the gate behind him swung shut on its own.
Hmm. Same as last time. Classic. Definitely a trap system.
“HA... HA... HA...”
"Can you shut up?" he snapped.
The black hooded figure peeled away from the dark corner and drifted toward him, each step slow and deliberate.
“HA… HA… HA…”
She won't care, will she, for losing one minion? Ah, yeah, I remembered now, she doesn't.
Crow narrowed his focus and activated the Ring of Wisdom.
***
[Status]
Name: Black hooded minion
Soul level: 12
Class: Undead tanker
Title: The Minion Who Makes Them Piss Themselves
Situation: Amused
STR 23
DEX 15
CON 47
INT 6
WIS 9
Learned Skills:
Cleaver Mastery level 1
Hand to Hand Combat level 1
***
Passive Skills:
Iron Skin– Your flesh is too resistant to be called flesh.
Brain Rot – Due to your undead nature as a zombie and the resulting brain rot, hits to your head do almost the same damage as to any other limb, and coherent thought is a struggle; a child can think better than you.
***
"Sigh."
Too weak, and dumb.
If I were a level 7 swordsman, I definitely would have won in the past.
The black hood approached him and came to a halt, standing barely four inches from Crow.
"I have some questions to ask you—"
—Whoosh!
Crow leaned his head slightly to the side as the cleaver swung with full force toward his neck, cutting his words short.
CRACK!
The Cleaver shattered the stone floor.
Hmm, I forgot he's dumb. And after that, slow too... or maybe not. It's probably the level gap.
The black hooded tried another strike.
Whoooosh!
"Too easy," he said, landing a counter-attack.
SMACK!
“Ha… ha... ha...”
The black hood stumbled back two steps after the gut punch, but immediately wheeled around to keep the fight going.
"Maybe you feel like talking now?" With his fists raised, he followed up with a punch to the black hood's ribs.
THUD!
The black hood, after attempting a few strikes only to be cut off mid-swing by punches, the monster dropped his cleaver to the ground.
Hmm, going to use fists now? Hilarious.
The monster lifted his fists, trying to mimic the combat stance Crow was using.
The dumb one's punch flew toward him, but as it closed in, Crow simply caught it with one hand.
“Ha… ha... AAAAAH!—"
He screamed after Crow crushed his hand, shattering his rotten bones.
“Ha… ha…”
The black hood stumbled back, glancing back and forth between his shattered hand and Crow. Then, he lunged forward, swinging his other fist at Crow's face.
Crow stopped the second punch just as easily. With a sickening crunch, he crushed that hand too, shattering the rotten bones until they were nothing but a pulp of grey marrow and splinters.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAH!”
"Hey, so you can use other words too!" Crow yelled.
Then Crow kicked one of the creature's legs, sending him off balance. The beast crashed down onto one knee. Crow stepped in, grabbed him by the throat, and asked, "So, ready to talk now?"
“Ih… ah…. ha…”
The creature stared blankly, its jaw hanging loose. "What happened to the girl?" Crow growled, his grip tightening. "Did you kill her? Answer me!"
The monster only let out a series of hollow, senseless sounds.
"Ah... ih... ha..." It tilted its head, its eyes vacant, unable to grasp a single word.
Smack! Smack! CRACK!
Losing his patience, Crow began to beat the creature with his bare hands again. Blow after blow rained down, yet the beast only let out a low, trembling chuckle, a sound born of pure, primal fear.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
Then The creature began to piss itself, a dark puddle spreading beneath its knees. Crow stared down at the pathetic sight with cold disgust.
"Are you serious? Are you really pissing yourself? Oh, come on, man,"
"Well," Crow added. "Looks like you lost your title. It's a waste of time being here with you."
With the monster already on its knees and utterly thrashed, Crow moved behind it. With a violent wrench, Crow twisted the monster's head all the way around until it faced backward.
The spine shattered, leaving the head lolling uselessly like a bobblehead on a broken spring. Crow let go, and the creature slumped to the ground, dead before it even hit the floor.
[Level up]
Crow looked down at his hand, slowly opening and then clenching it into a tight fist. A faint, cold smile played on his lips.
"Well," he murmured to the silence. "It seems it wasn't a total waste of time after all."
"I feel stronger, at least." He muttered.
Status…
***
[Status]
Name: Crow (former name error) Soul Level 12 (+1)
Title: Heavy hand (New) Description: Your hand is heavy.
Effects: Granted to those who prefer the brutal simplicity of their own grip. Bare-handed damage is increased by 25%. (New)
Class: Soul Devourer / Grim Reaper
Situation: Amused and Sleepy
STR 50 (+3)
DEX 34 (+1)
CON 59 (+3)
INT 22
WIS 27
…
***
He glanced back at the mangled corpse of the creature before turning away. "And it looks like I passed the test, too."
Well, lucky there was a level gap. Doing this test unarmed could have been a real problem.
Crow headed toward the dungeon exit, which was illuminated by an outside light source.
Sadly, I can’t grind those skeletons in the next room because they don’t give XP. But I know a better way to farm XP. To do that, I'll have to leave the kingdom. The sooner, the better.
When he finally left the dungeon, a woman in a maid's outfit was enjoying a picnic close to the entrance, the sun beating down on her face.
"I thought that vampires hated the sun," he said, approaching her as she calmly sipped some tea. "And didn't drink anything but blood," he added.
She put her cup down on the table and said, "Well, most of us hate the sun because our skin is sensitive. And it's not really about the blood, it's the mana, the spiritual power inside it. Everything in this world has power; some things just have more, and others less."
Crow responded, "I thought things would be... uncomfortable between us. You know, after what happened." His gaze lingered on her for a second too long.
He didn't waste time, why Crow, why you do this?
"I-I-Idiot! Why are you b-bringing that up now? It's your own fault for passing out in the hot springs!"
She rose from the chair and spun around, her maid outfit fluttering as she practically ran toward the portal, while saying "C-come!" she called out, disappearing before he could say another word.
Wait, was the portal still there? This is too OP.
Crow approached the portal. Before entering, he looked around at his surroundings.
Something's off about this place. Why would there be a dungeon on top of a mountain? Where's the kingdom?
As he surveyed the area, he spotted a kingdom shrouded in light snowfall in the distance. Beyond that was a vast expanse that resembled a glacial wasteland.
Wait, what's that in the sky? A bird?
The creature was approaching the mountain quickly.
Just my luck. Ah, I'm leaving now. There's no way I'm becoming dragon food.
Crow finally stepped through the portal. The wind and sun vanished, replaced by a cloudy sky and light snow, he was back in the Raven Realm."
Home? No. But better than a dragon visiting me.
"Too slow! What were you doing there until now? We need to stop by the blacksmith and grab some weapons for you. You aren't planning to fight the hero with your bare fists, are you?" said Sharon while waiting beside the portal
She is mad… is it because of the joke about the hot springs event? Of course it is. Why did I even bring that up…
They walked down the main street, and the roar of the portal behind them died down. Crow looked to the side and saw what looked like a Colosseum.
Hmm, I NEED to see that place later.
Then he looked at a banner on the Colosseum.
No way…
Fatty Wang.
No. Impossible.
He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them. The name stayed there on the banner, carved in glowing script like some type of event occurring there.
Fatty Wang. The warrior.
What the heck is going on? This was supposed to be a Dark Fantasy RPG world... how is there a cultivator here? Another guy isekai'd?
Every single cultivation novel recycled that man. Every one. The loyal, round-faced best friend who existed solely to get left behind at chapter three and reappear at chapter eighty with a vengeance arc. He belonged to wuxia and cultivation novels. To qi and jade beauties and sect elders with long beards. Not this.
Haha, this is driving me nuts. First me, then the cop, now this? How many guys out there are from other worlds.
"H-hey, where are you going?" she called out, seeing him take the wrong path.
Crow responded,
"Relax, I was only looking at the place," he said, while approaching her.
Fatty Wang... I don't know if I misread that banner, but I'm going to find you and uncover the truth. There shouldn't be any cultivators in this world, just warriors, mages, and the usual classes, Boss NPCs, and monsters. A classic RPG.
"F-forget that... okay?" she said to him.
Crow was looking at the sky with a blank expression; then he looked at her and asked,
"Forget what?"