How to Use an A-Class Key (4)

Mummy raised both arms high before slamming them straight down. Its ominous, razor-sharp nails aimed directly for my eyes. Even at a glance, their keen edge rivaled a well-honed straight razor.

In that split second, my mind screamed to swing my sword upward and block the attack. Every nerve in my body raced down my spine and surged into my fingertips. The tendons in my grip tensed, ready to strike—

—and my upper body reflexively jerked backward.

A sharp whoosh cut through the air first. By the time I registered it, the mummy’s attack had already sliced across where my face had been, its fingertips now pointing downward. Its surprise strike had been twice as fast as my reaction.

If I had tried to block it, my face would’ve been carved open.

I let out a long, shaky breath. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠“Hoo…”

I should’ve been able to stop it. My hands felt sluggish, like they weren’t fully listening to me. Maybe it was the aftereffect of breathing in that poison gas earlier. Either way, what could’ve been a fatal misjudgment had somehow been saved by pure reflex.

But then a burning heat flared across my shoulder.

Through the torn fabric of my school uniform, I saw the wound turning pitch black. At the same time, dark red droplets began dripping from the mummy’s fingertips—plop, plop.

Too bad. I hadn’t quite managed a perfect dodge after all.

Paralysis poison, and now necrotic poison on top of it. Damn it.

I had underestimated the creature after only looking at its physical stats. That was my mistake. Animals without proper defensive capabilities usually hide venom instead. If they lack agility for escape or tough durability, they almost always carry one lethal trump card. That was an unchanging law of nature.

And the same applied to the monsters inside rifts.

This humanoid monster, Mummy, had been hiding quite the annoying set of attacks inside its body.

Vampire flies bred in its stomach, toxic gas, and those rotting nails. I was now suffering from double poisoning—paralysis and necrosis. With a trembling hand, I gripped the hilt of my sword and looked up.

The creature’s disgusting, gurgling groan told me the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠fight was far from over.

The mummy slowly drew both hands back again, preparing for a second strike. But this time, it was my turn.

I stopped aiming for its upper body. Instead, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I targeted the scrawny lower half right in front of me. In one clean motion, I swung my sword horizontally and sliced straight through its knee!

Shing—! With a wet crunch, a diagonal crack split across its thin leg. Because it hadn’t been standing properly, I lost my balance again and collapsed to the floor.

That was when the mummy’s upper body thudded heavily right in front of me.

We were face-to-face at point-blank range. Its bandaged face was so grotesquely hideous it made me want to vomit. Through the loose wrappings, its eyes still held a spark of life. Or rather, even though it was already dead, it was still moving. It kept opening and closing its rotting mouth with wet, smacking sounds.

I scrambled backward on my butt, putting distance between us as fast as I could. Even without legs, the mummy’s torso kept trying to chase me, flailing its arms through the air like it was swimming in place.

Now that I had regained some composure, I slowly rose to my feet.

No blood came out. Instead, a black, viscous fluid oozed from its already thoroughly decayed body. The sight of it mixed with the maggots from its guts was utterly revolting. I clicked my tongue in disgust.

With unsteady steps, I trudged over to the creature. I deliberately avoided meeting its gaze and instead stared up at the ochre-brick ceiling. Then I stomped down hard on its head with my heel.

Crunch.

A sickening sensation traveled up through the sole of my foot—the feeling of a hard shell cracking open, followed by something soft and wet. It was dozens of times more unpleasant than the memory of stepping on bugs as a kid.

“Damn it.”

My face naturally twisted into a scowl.

After finishing off both mummies, I looked straight ahead. Just as I thought, Is this how it starts? I sensed another faint presence.

This time it wasn’t the sluggish shuffling of a mummy. It was the quick, light patter of small feet. Something gleaming with a golden hue appeared at the end of the passage.

Even from a distance, I could immediately identify it.

A hunched figure carrying a large white sack on its back. A long nose, sharp teeth, and a short, stocky build that made it look like a dwarf. And most of all—its entire body shone with a brilliant golden light.

A Golden Goblin.

The exact target I was supposed to hunt.

“Kieet!”

The golden goblin let out a timid shriek. It had finally noticed me too. It tilted its head, then scratched its scalp with one long index finger.

I sometimes saw this while watching hunter streams online—monsters that carried treasure. Things like the ‘Giant Golden Beetle’ or the ‘Starfish that accidentally swallowed jewels.’ Whenever people found creatures like that, they always said the same thing: “I just hit the jackpot.”

That was exactly my situation right now.

Just look at that dazzling shine. I had no idea what ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was inside, but the loot in that white sack would probably be enough to make hunters around the world drool.

It was literally a living, breathing treasure!

My eyes burned with greed, unable to hide the hunter’s instinct radiating from me.

The golden goblin met my gaze, screamed “Kieet!” again, and bolted down a side passage.

Of course. Protecting its treasure sack was far more important to it than fighting.

I licked my lips and cracked my knuckles.

Good. All I had to do was catch it.

Without hesitation, I sprinted after the creature. I dashed down the straight corridor, turned right at the fork where the golden goblin had gone, and took a step forward with my right foot—

—when every hair on my body suddenly stood on end.

In the blink of an eye, I twisted my body sideways.

Several arrows shot past my face and embedded themselves harmlessly into the wall.

“……!”

I looked down. A pressure plate I hadn’t noticed was now depressed beneath my foot. The hidden arrow trap must have been triggered by it.

Even though I had taken the ‘Labyrinth Strategy’ training, rushing in real combat had led to this blunder. Thankfully the arrows were heavily rusted, so they flew slowly. I let out a sigh of relief as I stared at the bolts stuck in the wall.

Following the trajectory with my eyes, I spotted faint holes in the opposite wall where the arrows had been fired from. The gaps had been cleverly disguised as decorative patterns in the stonework.

“Looks like I can’t just sprint through here.”

And that wasn’t the only hidden trap. As I continued through the narrow passage, I discovered all kinds of mechanisms. I carefully identified each one and eventually rounded the second corner.

The tight corridor opened up again into a fan-shaped space. A fairly large area appeared before me.

It gave off an eerie, threatening atmosphere. Thick spiderwebs covered everything, and rows of wooden coffins were neatly stacked inside niches carved into the walls.

It didn’t take long to realize this was a morgue. I had no idea why a morgue would exist in a place like this, but I carefully scanned my surroundings as I moved forward.

When they sensed my presence, the desert spiders skittered away into the corners. The once completely dry ruins were now filled with a cold, damp chill.

An inexplicable sense of unease settled over me. Cold sweat trickled down my spine.

And just as I feared, that was exactly when the presence revealed itself.

Like Dracula awakening from his eternal slumber in the movies, the coffins around me began to open one by one. With dull thuds, their lids fell to the floor all at once.

At the same time, dried-up arms shot upward. Black, shriveled skin. There were easily over fifty of them.

One by one, their faces emerged with a low groan.

A large number of something.

They were ‘Mummy Warriors’ clad in armor.

Watching the dead corpses rise from their eternal rest, I felt my mouth go completely dry.

“……Hmm.”

By now, the path behind me had been blocked off as well. But my eyes remained fixed straight ahead.

A faint trail of sparkling golden dust. The golden goblin had clearly passed through the passage in front of me. And now the mummy warriors were beginning to block that entrance too.

They slowly surrounded me with overwhelming numbers.

The time for a cruel choice had come.

Should I break through behind me and retreat?

Or should I fight them and push forward?

I closed my eyes for a moment.