The First Gate.
The First Gate.
This black mist... Is it mana? I can definitely feel mana, but it feels a bit different.
Is it some kind of corrupted mana? I have a really bad feeling about this. First, I need to get the others away from the gate...
At that moment, the black mist that had been slowly seeping out suddenly burst forth and engulfed the people around the gate.
Naturally, including me.
With the black mist thickening instantly, I hurriedly covered my nose and mouth with my sleeve and closed my eyes, feeling the mana concentration on my skin rapidly intensify.
Unlike Earth, where mana concentration is virtually nonexistent, this was a situation where I could feel a fairly dense mana.
After using mana to enhance my sensory organs, I clicked my tongue once, making a small sound.
A faint echo spread out, and my extremely enhanced senses caught the reflections returning from the surroundings.
High humidity that felt like it was clinging to my skin. And a musty, unpleasant stench that stung my nose.
The moment I confirmed with my own eyes the narrow cave with not a shred of light, the deja vu I had been living with resurfaced in my mind.
"Sseup... To think I'd come here again."
Back in my novice adventurer days. A place I got sick of because it was dirty and annoying, and not even profitable. A typical Goblin's Nest.
I'd come a few times for requests, but after raising my rank, I never came back... To think I'd end up here after being caught up in that black mist from the gate.
Still, I guess it's fortunate that this isn't the worst-case scenario like I thought.
If it's a Goblin's Nest, there should be nothing problematic besides the primitive traps and the goblins living inside.
So.
"For now, shall I find the exit?"
I still don't know what that pitch-black gate is, but if it serves the same role as the gates commonly seen in web novels, then if I escape from this Goblin's Nest, I should be able to get outside the gate.
With that, I turned on my smartphone's flashlight to light up the dark cave and looked around.
A typical naturally formed cave. The humidity was oddly high, as if there was flowing or standing water somewhere deep inside.
Let's see. Where the air flow is coming from... Is it this way?
Reading the air flow felt on my skin, I started walking in the direction the wind was blowing from.
There are many things to be careful about in a Goblin's Nest, but listing them one by one:
The primitive traps set by goblins.
The goblins hiding in empty spaces in every nook and cranny of the passageways to attack intruders.
And the environment of the nest itself.
Goblins have a habit of making their nests in narrow caves, and such caves are usually formed by groundwater, so they tend to have a high humidity environment.
Add to that the goblins' nature of having good eyesight in the dark, and the cave having no light source at all... All in all, it was hardly a good environment to walk around in.
Because of the humidity making the rocks slippery, combined with the dim lighting, it's a terrible environment.
Back in my adventurer days, I used to wear boots with spikes and bring a well-burning torch, or if I had a bit of money, a lantern powered by a magic stone... But even so, after coming a few times, I got sick of it and stopped coming.
How expensive could a goblin's magic stone be? For anyone but a novice adventurer, it's just pocket change... So rather than making money by cleaning out a goblin's nest, it was more profitable to quickly raise my rank and hunt other monsters.
Occasionally, there were adventurers who held an extreme grudge against goblins and only hunted them... but that just means they were the odd ones out.
Anyway, with that kind of disgusting environment plus the traps goblins set everywhere... It becomes a dungeon you never want to visit again.
Ahem. I got carried away reminiscing. Anyway, I walked in the direction I thought the exit was.
I didn't sense any goblins' presence; instead, I spotted things like sharpened branches or jagged stone fragments made by breaking rocks, scattered here and there.
Primitive traps that, if you wear sturdy boots with metal plates on the soles, would only leave marks on the bottom—classic goblin traps.
Every time I spotted a goblin trap, I'd pull it out and toss it into a corner, then continue toward the exit.
About a minute of walking like that.
"Ugh..."
A human voice. It must be someone else who got caught up in that black mist that came out of the gate with me.
Hmm. Since I don't hear the rough breathing characteristic of goblins, it seems there aren't any nearby... It should be fine to speak up.
"Is someone there?"
"Who?!"
"I'm human. I got caught up in that pitch-black mist-like thing and ended up here."
At my words, the owner of the voice seemed to relax their tension and spoke in a weary tone.
"Ah, ah... Sorry. It's just, suddenly being in a strange cave, I was a bit flustered."
I carefully moved toward the direction of the voice, and there, a middle-aged man was sitting slumped on the ground.
Blood was flowing from a wound on his forehead, as if it had been slightly torn, and a considerable amount of blood was also coming from the sneaker on his left foot. It looked like he had stepped on a goblin trap, injured his foot, and fallen, cutting his forehead.
"Are you alright?"
"I stepped on a sharp stone fragment, hurt my foot, and fell. Since it's so dark, I can't see anything..."
Hmm. If it were a younger person, they'd use the flashlight on their smartphone to light the way, but he seemed unaware of that function.
"I'll help you. Let's get to the exit."
"A student like you helping me? I appreciate the thought, but it'll be quite tough..."
"It's fine. I'm stronger than I look."
Actually, it's strength boosted by mana, though.
I firmly placed the middle-aged man's left arm over my shoulder.
Ah, this padded jacket, my mother bought it for me. If it gets blood on it, I'll definitely get scolded badly.
I carefully tried to keep the blood the man was shedding from touching my clothes while wrapping my right arm around his waist.
If I hadn't strengthened my muscles with mana, this weak female student's body wouldn't be able to handle this weight at all.
"You're really strong for a young student. Did you do sports or something?"
"Ahaha. I'm just naturally a bit strong. The exit should be that way. The wind is blowing from over there. Oh, could you light up the cave with my smartphone?"
I handed the smartphone with the flashlight function to the middle-aged man, then supported him as we walked.
While moving toward the exit.
"Thank goodness! It's people!"
As we advanced through the dark cave toward the exit, three more survivors joined us.
"The exit is that way. Follow me."
"Miss. Let me take over supporting that person."
A young man extended his hand toward the middle-aged man with the injured leg, but I shook my head.
"It's fine. He's not that heavy. Let's keep our voices down and hurry."
"Where is this place? Is it like one of those gates that often appear in web novels?"
To the trembling question from a young man, I gave a vague answer.
"I'm not sure. But whatever it is, it doesn't seem like a good place to stay long. Let's hurry."
They looked a bit uneasy, but going toward the exit was better than staying in this cave waiting for rescue.
"Are you sure there's really an exit this way? Student?"
There was an auntie who sounded a bit anxious.
"There's a faint breeze coming from this direction. At least, this should be the way out."
"Is that so...? I can't really tell..."
"Hey, if you don't know, just trust them. Don't make things more anxious."
At the middle-aged man's scolding, the auntie started following quietly.
After advancing for about five more minutes.
"Is that...?"
A dark oval-shaped something was situated at what seemed to be the cave's exit.
Beyond it, I could see the outdoors with sunlight coming in...
"We came in through that, so going out through it should be right, right...?"
"Is it really a gate...?"
"T-the outside!!"
The auntie ran ahead first and jumped toward the gate, and the others followed her out.
I supported the middle-aged man and carefully approached the gate.
"When I was suddenly swallowed by that black mist, I thought I was going to die for sure, but thanks to you, I got out safely. Thank you, student."
"Not at all. It was just what anyone should do."
I haven't lost my humanity enough to turn my back on an injured person.
So, the middle-aged man and I came out through the gate.
"Survivors! More survivors!!"
"There's an injured person! He hurt his foot! Please call 119!"
Soon, paramedics arrived and gave the middle-aged man emergency treatment for his injured foot.
"Student. If it's alright, could I get your contact information? I'd like to repay you."
"No. I didn't do anything special. Please go to the hospital first."
"But..."
"It's really fine. Take care."
With that, the middle-aged man was loaded into an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Alright. Then...
"Let's see..."
I wanted to just go home, but unfortunately, I couldn't.
The gate was still open, and during my escape from the Goblin's Nest, I hadn't encountered a single goblin.
I don't know why that gate opened... But there was a chance that some survivors didn't encounter each other while heading to the exit.
If someone wasn't able to read the air flow and find the exit like me, they'd wander around the complex Goblin's Nest and eventually run into goblins.
No matter how much goblins are the weakest monsters that can be killed by breaking their neck bones with a powerful kick, that's only for humans from another world.
On this Earth, in this Korea, not many people can kill a creature that threatens them... especially a miniaturized monster.
I headed toward the convenience store inside the terminal.