Whoosh!
The propulsion generated by the Black Hound’s legs was as impressive as ever.
I didn’t bother avoiding the minor monsters blocking the forest path.
“Kiieek!”
A goblin leaped out of the undergrowth and swung a crude stone axe at me.
I didn’t slow down. Instead, I activated Beast’s Sprint and accelerated.
Swish.
The goblin’s axe sliced through empty air.
Darting inside its reach, I grabbed it by the collar with my goblin-arm left hand and slammed it into the ground.
[Skill: Underhanded Pickpocketing (Lv. 2) combo activated!]
[The target has been thrown off balance.]
Crash!
While it was sprawled on the ground, I drove the femur dagger in my right hand into its vital point.
The movement was clean and efficient.
My body still rattled slightly, but it was finally beginning to keep pace with the combat data stored in my head.
[Experience acquired.]
[You have leveled up.]
[You have become Skeleton Soldier (Lv. 8).]
Along with the thrill of leveling up, I felt my bones grow slightly harder.
I continued running without rest for another ten minutes.
Before long, the trees began to thin, giving way to a desolate, rocky landscape.
That was where the Orc Skeleton stopped.
Tap.
It could go no farther.
As if blocked by an invisible glass wall, an unseen force pushed it backward whenever it tried to step forward.
This was the boundary of the Necromancer’s domain.
Low-level undead under mind control could not cross this line.
Their master, Malak, had not granted them permission.
Clatter...
The Orc Skeleton fidgeted anxiously and tugged at my leather belt.
Don’t go. It’s dangerous. You’ll die if you cross that line.
That seemed to be what it was trying to tell me.
Its desperation came through clearly, even though the only sounds it could make were the clattering of bones.
But I couldn’t stop.
If I remained here, I would eventually lose my sense of self and spend eternity as someone else’s puppet.
I certainly had no intention of becoming the star of today’s dissection show in the Necromancer’s laboratory.
I made it release me.
‘Take care of yourself. Don’t stand around like an idiot and get yourself destroyed.’
I gave its broad shoulder bone one final pat.
‘See you again.’
Although I had no idea when that would be.
I turned away without hesitation.
Clatter! Clatter!
Behind me, I heard it clacking its jaw as if shouting something, but I didn’t look back.
[The Orc Skeleton feels a deep bond with you.]
[It will miss you.]
The system messages appeared in the corner of my vision, then faded away.
I chuckled softly and stepped across the boundary.
Bzzzt—
As I passed through the transparent barrier, the warm energy surrounding my body abruptly vanished.
A chill washed over me, like entering a room whose heating had been turned off in the middle of winter.
The mana supply had been completely severed.
[Warning! You have left the Necromancer’s domain.]
[Mana supply interrupted.]
[Switching to stored mana for life support.]
[Remaining operating time: 42 minutes.]
The clock had started ticking.
It was counting down the time remaining on my life.
Without even pausing to collect myself, I ran forward.
After crossing a rocky hill, I saw an enormous cave in the distance, its entrance gaping open like a black maw.
Rusted mine carts and broken pickaxes lay scattered around the entrance.
[Entrance to the Abandoned Mine]
I had finally arrived.
Stepping over the rotten wooden supports littering the entrance, I ventured inside.
‘Ugh, dust.’
The acrid air seemed to seep between my bones.
I slowly surveyed the interior of the cave.
There were old rails, rusted mine carts, piles of unrefined ore, and a thick layer of coal dust blanketing the ground.
Dilapidated oil lamps hung in rows from the ceiling, while scattered luminous stones faintly illuminated the surroundings.
I never imagined I would willingly visit a place with such terrible experience gains and a loot table consisting mostly of rocks.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Heavy, rhythmic vibrations traveled through the ground from deep within the cave.
It sounded like a massive boulder repeatedly stomping against the earth.
Every footstep carried such overwhelming weight that the ground itself seemed to sink.
‘A golem.’
I concealed myself behind a boulder and activated Precision Observation Eye.
A massive silhouette emerged from the darkness.
It was a two-meter-tall giant composed of loosely packed mud and gravel, with moss covering its body.
[Mud Golem (Lv. 12)]
[Traits: High physical resistance / Weakness: Mana Core]
‘Level twelve...’
I was only level eight.
Worse still, this was a golem with absurd physical defense.
My crude femur dagger and worn-out longsword probably wouldn’t even scratch it.
“Kuoooo...”
The creature must have noticed me because it released a deep, guttural roar.
When it raised its enormous fist of mud, stalactites broke loose from the ceiling and rained down.
Pure, overwhelming strength.
Even a glancing blow would reduce my fragile ribs to powder.
Fortunately, I had never intended to fight it head-on.
‘Mud’s weakness is dryness.’
I threw a suitably sized rock at one of the oil lamps hanging precariously from the ceiling.
The dislodged lamp landed squarely on the golem’s head, spilling oil all over it.
“Kuo?”
The golem stopped and stared at me, seemingly bewildered.
Judging by its vacant eyes, it couldn’t understand what I was doing.
The oil soon flowed down across its upper body.
I coated a piece of scrap wood with resin, ignited it using the flint, and hurled it at the golem with all my strength.
Fwoooosh!
Violent flames instantly engulfed the golem’s upper body.
“KUOOOOOO!”
It flailed its arms in a frenzy, but it was already too late.
The moment the flames touched its damp surface, the mud began to dry rapidly.
Crack! Crackle!
Like pottery being fired inside a kiln, its outer shell dried, shriveled, and split open with widening cracks.
‘It worked.’
Once the mud around its joints hardened, the creature’s arms became stiff.
It wasn’t merely moving slowly anymore—it couldn’t move at all.
Unable to support its own weight, its body began to tilt.
This was my chance.
The golem desperately tried to grab me, but it was too late.
I thrust my longsword through a crack in its chest. The dried mud crumbled away, allowing the blade to penetrate.
I used the sword as a lever and twisted with all my strength.
Pop!
The Mana Core shot free.
At the same time, the light vanished from the golem’s eyes, and its massive body collapsed into a heap of dry earth.
[You have defeated Mud Golem (Lv. 12).]
[Experience acquired.]
I picked up the Mana Core.
It was a small device emitting a murky blue glow.
[Low-Grade Golem Mana Core]
[Operating duration: Approximately 2 hours]
It contained more mana than the Black Hound’s magic stone the Orc Skeleton had given me, but it was still only low-grade.
‘This isn’t enough.’
Even if I transplanted it, I would still be stuck replacing my battery every two hours.
Two hours was sufficient for ordinary dungeon-guarding golems because they operated in shifts, but I wanted a semipermanent power source.
Since replacing a Mana Core after transplanting it would be troublesome, using the Mud Golem’s core now didn’t seem worthwhile.
Still, there was no harm in keeping it.
I carefully placed it in my pocket.
[Remaining operating time: 29 minutes.]
‘I need to go deeper.’
I hurried farther into the mine.
‘This must be the beginning of Area Two.’
The mine itself only truly began from this point onward.
And there were undoubtedly many more Mud Golems swarming deeper inside.
I lightly scraped the mine wall with a finger. Black dust coated the tip.
A thick layer of coal dust had accumulated along the walls.
Farther ahead, something resembling a thin layer of fog flowed low across the passage leading deeper into the mine.
‘Combustible mana gas.’
This mine contained combustible gas produced by concentrated mana from the Demon Realm. It had accumulated throughout the underground tunnels.
Under ordinary circumstances, it was harmless.
But the moment it encountered even the smallest flame...
Title: LMAO! Never take a torch into Area Three of the abandoned mine! Seriously, LMAO!
└ Why?
└ It’s a concentrated combustible mana-gas zone. The moment you light a flame, the entire place explodes. LOL.
└ There is a warning sign at the entrance, though.
└ Who actually reads those? LMAO.
There was a reason players had nicknamed this area the “Minefield.”
I stopped and reviewed the structure of the passage in my head.
The entrance to the shaft descending into Area Three was located at the end of this passage.
And between here and there was a particular stretch of tunnel.
It was narrow, had a low ceiling, and was poorly ventilated—an almost completely enclosed structure.
Perfect.
“Buooo!”
“Uooong!”
The moment I rounded the corner, three Mud Golems blocked my path simultaneously.
It was three against one, but I didn’t stop.
After all, defeating the three of them wasn’t my objective.
[Skill: Beast’s Sprint (Lv. 3) activated!]
Whoosh!
I planted my feet against the tunnel wall and raced along it as though sliding.
Heavy thuds echoed behind me.
They were following.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
Three massive mud giants filled the narrow passage.
Dust rained from the ceiling, and the entire mine shaft shook from the vibrations.
The walls were too close together for the Mud Golems to extend their arms properly, forcing them to advance with their massive bodies packed tightly together.
‘That’s it. Keep coming.’
I crossed Area Two while maintaining just enough distance for them to keep me in sight, always remaining tantalizingly close.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Before long, the footsteps grew even heavier.
By the time six golems were pursuing me, I turned toward the passage leading to Area Three.
The situation there was much the same.
[Mud Golem (Lv. 14) × 3]
Three larger Mud Golems stood ahead.
This was an intermediate-boss area, so the creatures were larger than the others. Their darker mud also made them appear considerably tougher.
‘They’d be even more impossible to defeat in a frontal battle.’
I didn’t slow down.
As I raced across Area Two, I skimmed past the golems blocking my path.
At the edge of my vision, I saw them turn around one after another.
“Kuoo?”
“Uoooh?”
They followed me.
The footsteps behind me grew progressively heavier.
The six I had lured from the beginning of Area Two were joined by the three newcomers.
Nine golems were now chasing me.
The narrow tunnel reverberated as stones rained from the ceiling.
I didn’t look back, but the vibrations alone told me that nine enormous masses of mud were packed into the confined passage behind me.
‘This should be enough.’
As I entered Area Three, I spotted the entrance to the descending mine shaft in the distance.
The narrow passage sloping downward was so steep that it was nearly vertical.
And the fog filling my vision extended all the way to the entrance.
The concentration of gas was already remarkably high.
I could see it rippling whenever my feet disturbed it.
[Remaining operating time: 22 minutes.]
I had no time to look back.
There was no need to check how far I had come or where the nine golems were.
As long as the entire mine was shaking from their footsteps, I knew they were still following me.
I soon reached the slope and stopped.
When I turned around, the nine enormous figures were already bearing down on me.
The mud giants filled the entire passage, pressing forward in tightly packed ranks.
Eighteen crimson eyes simultaneously flashed within the fog as their enormous fists began to rise.
I pulled the torch from my waist and rapidly struck the flint.
Fwoosh.
The instant the torch ignited, I hurled it into the fog and desperately threw myself down the sloping mine shaft.
KABOOOOOOOM!!!
It was a work of art.