Damnable Monsters
……My consciousness returns.
How did I end up like this? I cautiously opened my eyes and looked around.
I must have gone up the mountain to find the missing saintess. But suddenly something hit my head, and I fell down like that.
Was it a rolling rock from the mountain, or an old tree falling and hitting my head?
Anyway, my head has an unbearable pain.
"Ah..."
In this state, I started out with all the swagger, claiming to be an Awakener to my junior.
But to end up like this is ridiculous.
"Where...?"
I tried to check how much time had passed.
The watch on my wrist is somewhat durable even from the shock, and it has a luminescent function, so it can glow even in this dark night.
The deep dawn that had already covered the moon had come, and even with my slightly better vision than a normal person, the surrounding scenery wasn't clear.
*click*
The light from the wristwatch illuminated the surroundings.
The air was filled with a pungent smell and the smell of dirt.
Moreover, I could sense something like animal excrement, so I worried if this place might be the territory of wild boars.
*crunch. crunch.*
Strange sounds were heard.
Something like bones breaking and flesh being chewed.
It was bleeding red blood on the floor, unable to even scream, slowly dying.
Perhaps a small animal was caught by a wild boar. The wild boars here are so ferocious that they eat humans, so it's possible.
However-
*crunch!*
"Ah..."
I swallowed.
In front of my eyes was a nun's habit soaked in blood.
The clothes were torn to shreds, and there was also a nun whose white skin was ruthlessly exposed, covered only by the torn fabric.
Her eyes had already lost their light and were staring into empty space.
From the corner of her mouth, a disgusting mixture of white and red liquid was dripping.
The pungent smell I still felt was the smell of blood.
The red liquid flowing on the floor was all the bodily fluid that had come out from that junior nun.
Her slender arms, though stiff, were moving without rest, and with my own eyes I could confirm that no other body parts remained.
"Ah..."
It's slaughter.
She was treating humans like livestock.
Her clothes that were in the way had long been stripped off, and now she was being turned into a piece of meat while naked and defenseless.
The junior nun, who was placed on a rock like a chopping block, was already...
This place is a slaughterhouse.
This nun had once gone down to the city to buy ingredients for the church.
There, when she went to a butcher shop to eat meat after a long time, the scene must have been exactly like this.
"What, what is this...?"
On the cave wall, presumed to be the cave wall, pieces of meat were hanging.
Most of them were from wild animals like wild boars.
Why didn't complaints from residents come in lately? Probably because I could see the scene in front of me.
It's horrific.
Who on earth is doing this?
I had to tell the church right away.
How could a person do such a cruel and horrific thing? Moreover, on the wall, the heads of wild boars were decorated like frames, and even there, some white bones of unknown animals were scattered.
"...Ugh."
I couldn't hold back my nausea and vomited everything inside.
My stomach was already not good because of the pungent smell, and seeing such scenes made it unbearable.
I had to get out of here right away.
I wanted to escape this place as quickly as possible and inform the Holy Order about this horrific scene.
*slurp!*
However, that was impossible from the beginning.
"Kuh...?!"
When I tried to move, the collar around my neck tightened, choking my breath.
The iron chain hanging on the wall, when I tried to move, gave me a punishment that tightened my thin neck.
I suddenly turned pale, lowered my head, and gasped for breath several times,
and tears of despair began to flow down my chin because I realized I couldn't escape this place.
Oh God, why are you inflicting such trials on me?
I am just someone struggling to survive a day in this world, so please forgive my sins.
What I could do now was only such weak prayers. I hadn't properly armed myself, and even the self-defense pistol that should be at my waist was left behind.
*step. step.*
"Footsteps?"
To such a nun, a presence approached.
A shadow of a person was visible from the back of the cave.
Not one, but several.
Alive.
People were coming here.
With weapons like swords, I was sure they were hunters coming to save me, and let out a sigh of relief.
"Krrru..."
"...Ah?"
However, that belief was betrayed in an instant.
No, it was just my imagination.
A sound that didn't sound human came, and soon the owners of those shadows appeared.
"G, goblins...? Why?"
It was goblins.
The evil monsters that inhabit the 1st floor.
The reason I thought they were humans was because of the long shadows from the torches they were holding.
"Please, God..."
They were approaching me, drooling disgusting saliva, and I tried to back away and run, but there was only a chain around my neck.
*slurp.*
Still, I ran.
*slurp! slurp! slurp!*
I tried to escape somehow.
*slurp slurp slurp slurp slurp!!!*
I struggled with the desire to live.
*slurp...*
So, the cave was filled with quiet silence.
I hated monsters.
Those damnable monsters not only made my body miserable but also ate away at my mind.
Following the footprints on the floor, I had already met their guards a long time ago.
*clank.*
I checked the remaining bullets.
The gun can make bullets with mana too, but the mana consumption is not small, so I should finish with the bullets I have as much as possible.
Mana gives fatigue the more you use it, and my mana was pitiful.
I advanced into the darkness.
Night Vision
Grade: C
Ability: See ahead even in the dark.
Description: Your eyesight inherited as a skill from living in the Dawnfall for a long time. With just a single ray of light, you can advance through pitch black darkness.
The trash life I experienced in the junkyard was really disgusting, but at the same time, it gave me a lot of experience, allowing me to eventually obtain such skills.
What a damn good benefactor.
*thwack!*
I shot a bullet towards the forest.
I usually don't use a silencer.
If I fired a gunshot openly in this quiet night, it would attract all the goblins around.
Of course, even with a silencer, the sound is loud.
But if it gives me even a 1% chance of victory, I'll use it.
"Krrru...!"
However, in the end, they noticed.
At the same time, the goblins hiding in the bushes rushed towards me.
There were 8 of them, small and muscular, holding some tools they must have gotten from somewhere.
*thud!*
I pushed off the ground and jumped.
"Krrk?!"
The goblins who had surrounded me like a pincer, when they suddenly saw me disappear from their sight, looked panicked.
*thwack! thwack! thwack!*
So, I can win.
Precisely aiming at the goblins' heads, adjusting the recoil to make my hand tremble slightly, I pierced their heads.
No mercy is needed for them.
"Krrru...krrk... krrru-"
[ H, human... Human, noticed- ]
*thwack!*
Yes, no mercy is needed.
"...Tsk."
Both the goblins and I came here risking our lives.
No reason to show unnecessary pity.
Even if I could interpret the monsters' language.
The fact that goblins from the 1st or 2nd floor opened a gate here, and moreover, they appeared near our church... there could be only one reason...
From the fact that most of the goblins with broken necks were emaciated, I could tell. According to my past memories, they had bodies more muscular than this.
However, now they are at the level where only bones remain.
"They all look emaciated."
Their food supply had run out.
That's why they came to this 7th floor area where food is relatively abundant.
This 7th floor area has people farming, lots of crops, and in the mountains there are animals like rabbits and wild boars, so it's easy to get meat.
*thud!*
"Krruk!"
The sound of a goblin's cry came from behind me.
One of the hidden ones attacked, taking advantage of my carelessness.
When they face enemies stronger than themselves, they deliberately induce carelessness to create openings.
[ Die! The enemy of our kin...! ]
I had experienced it directly and read it as theory through novels.
*crunch!*
So, I immediately turned around and grabbed the head and smashed it on the ground.
The goblin's head burst, spraying blood and brain matter, and the black nun's habit slowly began to turn red.
"..."
I hate goblins.
I hate them too much.
They have too high intelligence.
Interpretation
Grade: F
Ability: Understand the language of monsters.
Description: You are the only unique existence that knows the truth of this world. Thanks to you, you can understand languages of other worlds that would normally be incomprehensible, and you are given the ability to interpret their truths.
Why would they give me such an ability?
They can't speak human language, but since I have the skill to understand monster language, I hate them too much.
Orcs would be better off.
They are stupid, so even if you cut their flesh with a knife or turn them into a honeycomb with a gun, they just scream.
"...Missed by a little."
*rustle.*
I quietly approached the place where the bushes moved.
I thought I hit the head, but unfortunately, it missed slightly and pierced the shoulder.
"Krrk...! Krruk!"
[ Disgusting human...! ]
As expected, one goblin was still alive.
He was breathing roughly, blocking the blood flowing from his shoulder with his hand while glaring at me.
"Krrruuk! Krrruuk-"
[ On top of killing our comrade, on top of stealing our food! Now even food- ]
"Shut up."
*crunch!*
So, I stomped on the head and crushed it.
My shoes got a bit dirty, but it's just a matter of washing, so I don't need to worry.
"No matter how much you squeal, I don't understand what you're saying."
So, I took another step.
Ah, if only I could remove the silencer and fill the surroundings with loud gunshots.
Then I wouldn't hear their voices, but given the situation, I couldn't.
...Really, damnable monsters.