20. The Inevitable (6)

“Headshot!”

“Kkiiieeeaaaah!!”

We encountered a few more Mud Midgets along the way, but they weren’t particularly threatening.

Most had their heads smashed the moment they were spotted, and even when they spotted us first, we could just turn a corner to hide or use the terrain to block their toxic dung projectiles.

If this had been an open space, we’d have had to twist our bodies to dodge their attacks, but here we could simply hide behind corners to avoid getting hit at all.

Moreover, the narrow space often prevented them from throwing their projectiles properly.

“Huu…”

Anyway, after killing every Mud Midget we encountered along the way, we earned an additional 120 points, bringing our total to 3,745, and finally arrived at the source of the screams.

It was the pharmacy office.

“Holy… fuck.”

Naked women were hanging in rows along one wall of the pharmacy office.

Their bellies were grotesquely swollen.

What’s more, their lower bodies were connected to what looked like leather sacks-likely ovipositors-attached to their genitals.

Inside, Mud Midget larvae were squirming, being birthed.

This wasn’t normal reproduction. Instead of fertilization through sperm and eggs, they were mass-producing Mud Midgets by draining the life force of the mothers.

Just like a queen ant endlessly birthing worker ants.

“Fucking bastards…”

Using females of other species to rapidly expand their numbers and grow their colony was innovative, but seeing it firsthand was utterly revolting.

Overcome by indescribable disgust, I grimaced and stepped into the pharmacy office, now turned into a breeding chamber.

Inside, there were about five or six worker Mud Midgets tending to the newborns and what appeared to be freshly hatched larvae.

They were placing the newborns on desks and feeding them corpses to help them grow.

“Kkiaa?”

“Kkiaa my ass, you fuck.”

-THWACK!!!

I decided not to leave a single one alive.

I crushed them all.

These disgusting creatures had no value.

Hell, they only gave 10 points each when killed-what worth did they even have?

“Haa…”

The steel pipe was slick with blood.

All the worker Mud Midgets were dead. All that remained were the women chosen as breeding hosts and…

“Kkieee…”

The Mud Midget larvae.

“Tch.”

I crushed every single underdeveloped Mud Midget larva underfoot.

Not a single one left alive.

There was no reason to spare them. It was better to kill them all and turn them into points.

This was true survival of the fittest. Sparing them just because they were young would be idiocy.

The larvae only gave 5 points each. After killing thirty-four of them, I earned another 170 points.

“Hey.”

The women hanging on the wall, who had likely been used as hosts for at least two days, looked emaciated-like their blood had been drained.

Without any nutrients, they had been forced to produce Mud Midgets until death, causing them to age rapidly.

“Ugh…”

First, I tore off the ovipositors attached to their genitals, then pulled them down from the strange roots that had anchored them.

“Hhhuuk… Hhhuuuuk…”

“Ah… Aah…”

I rescued a total of twenty-seven women, twenty of whom were out of their minds. The remaining seven, who had been captured more recently, were still coherent enough to communicate.

That was a lot. Could I really get them all out safely? Still, if I could rescue them all, the quest would be completed immediately.

“Th-thank… thank you…”

“Hhhuuuk…”

“Mom…”

There was no time to clothe or comfort them right now. And since the quest completion notification hadn’t appeared yet, I had to take further steps.

At the very least, I had to get them out of this hospital and to a safe location.

“Everyone, get up! You wanna die here?”

I shouted at the women. I’d only take those who could stand and follow me. Even if rescuing them all would complete the quest, I had no intention of dragging out those who had no will to survive.

Originally, their chances of being rescued were zero percent. Now that they had this chance to escape, if they just sat there crying and did nothing, the only option left was to put them out of their misery.

“Uuuk… M-my legs… hurt too much…”

“Hhhup… Kkuuk… G-get up… everyone…”

The seven who were still somewhat conscious staggered to their feet. I told them to take care of the others while I handled the rest.

“H-hey, wait a second…!”

“What.”

“Where… are you going?”

“To kill the ones I haven’t finished off yet. Stay here and look after the others. Don’t go outside and get yourselves killed.”

“Ah… okay.”

Since it was too dark to see properly, I handed them a flashlight I had in my pocket.

Now they’d take care of the others while waiting for me.

‘Alright…’

Now, all that was left was to kill the last malignant tumor entrenched in this hospital.

I headed toward the staff cafeteria.

******

As I rushed toward the cafeteria, eager to finish this and go home, I suddenly felt someone’s gaze on me.

‘A detection-type spell?’

I’d been spotted.

-KWAHAAAAANG!!!!!!

“Fuck!!!!”

In an instant, the wall shattered as a massive figure burst through.

A grotesque creature with sagging skin and a frog-like face. In its right hand was a massive cleaver, and in its left, an unidentified stone orb.

I knew immediately.

This was the Mud Mite. The moment it detected my location, it came straight for me.

‘That orb isn’t normal. It must be a catalyst for spellcasting. So first, the left hand…’

Once it started casting spells, things would get messy and complicated. So I needed to quickly disable the stone orbs in its left hand.

“Kkieeee!!!”

SLURRRP!!!!!

But when I swung my pipe to sever its left arm, it hastily dodged backward and counterattacked.

In a flash, the Mud Mite’s tongue shot out from its mouth toward me.

True to its frog-like appearance, the tongue lashed out at terrifying speed… dodging would be tough.

-KOOONG!!!!!

I crossed my arms to block the tongue, but my body weight was too light-I was sent flying back, slamming into the wall.

“Kuhhk…!!!”

The overwhelming difference in size nearly knocked me unconscious.

“Fuck…!!”

The creature’s slimy, sticky tongue clung to me like glue, refusing to let go. I needed to find a way to break free fast.

-SLURRRRP!!!!

The tongue began retracting back into its mouth. If this continued, I’d be swallowed whole. And if that happened, it’d be game over. I had to think of something…

“Ugh!! Die!!!”

In desperation, I frantically pulled out every single item from my inventory and dumped them onto the creature’s tongue. I managed to empty my entire inventory in just three seconds.

Fortunately, the inventory’s restriction-locking when in the presence of others-didn’t apply. Monsters apparently didn’t count as “others.”

Well, this bastard was anything but human. It didn’t even fit into the broad category of “people,” let alone the human race.

“Urk!?”

In any case, the sudden barrage of items sticking to its tongue clearly startled the Mud Mite, its eyes widening in shock.

All sorts of junk had flown out and stuck to its slimy tongue.

And as it tried to retract its tongue, it had to pull all those items back in too.

-BANG!!!!

The crowbar and various tools were too large to fit into its mouth, so as the tongue retracted at high speed, the items smashed into its face, sending it toppling backward.

“Cough… cough!!! Fuck.”

I was pretty banged up too, but there was no time to rest. The Mud Mite was already fumbling with its left hand, trying to cast a spell.

-SCHLUCK!!!

I yanked the crowbar free from its tongue and slammed it down on its left hand with all my might.

“Kkiiieeeaaaahhh!!!”

-CRACK!!! CRASHHHH!!!!

The stone orbs in its hand shattered along with the hand itself. As the Mud Mite staggered to its feet, I kicked its head and drove the hooked end of the crowbar into its eye with all my strength.

SPLORTCH!!!!!!

“Ggaaahhhhaaaahhh!!!!”

Yellowish fluid splattered on my face as its eyeball burst. No time to wipe it off-I squinted through the mess and shoved the crowbar deeper, twisting it to scramble its brain.

I had to crush its brain. One clean kill would make things easier.

Thud.

“Haa… fucking bastard.”

The Mud Mite, flailing its remaining arm in a desperate attempt to grab my ankle and throw me, finally went limp as its brain was pulverized.

[350 Points Acquired]

“Haa… that was rough.”

The points were lower than expected, but considering the Minotaur only gave 500, it made sense.

“Phew…”

Anyway, it was dead. Killing the Mud Mite earned me 350 points, bringing my total to 4,265.

‘This… Even if I don’t complete the rescue quest, I could easily hit 6,000 points by tomorrow…’

I only needed 2,000 more. And after hunting all day, it didn’t seem too hard to gather points.

‘Well, more points are always better…’

First, I stuffed all the items stuck to the Mud Mite’s tongue back into my inventory. They were covered in slime, but I didn’t have time to clean them.

“Sellable parts… eyes, glands, saliva sacs… and accessories?”

I couldn’t tell by appearance alone, so I had to check each organ I pulled out to see if it was sellable.

“Hoo.”

It took about fifteen minutes. If I lingered any longer, the others outside might return, so I hurriedly collected one eye, the glands, and saliva sacs before heading back to the pharmacy office.

“Ah, y-you’re back…”

The most coherent woman was tending to the others when I returned. Thankfully, it seemed they were all ready to move.

But with so many people, it was mentally exhausting. My trait’s penalty was starting to kick in-the one that made me tire quickly around others.

“There are monsters outside. If any of you scream or cause trouble, I’ll kill you on the spot.”

“…”

The lucid ones nodded nervously, while the incoherent women kept their heads bowed, trembling silently as they followed.

I carefully led them up to the first floor.

“…”

The Mud Midgets hadn’t returned yet. Given how much time had passed, their absence likely meant they’d been wiped out.

Sure enough, when I peeked outside, Machungs were feasting in the distance. The survivors were either tearing into the dead Mud Midgets or hauling the corpses back to their nests.

‘Their numbers are gonna explode again…’

Having won the territory battle and now with all these corpses, they’d surely lay more eggs.

This whole area might end up overrun by Machungs.

‘The neighboring area is occupied by demons… and beyond that, near the Academy, the protagonist bastard is roaming…’

Everything was a threat.

“Uh, um…”

“Shh. Shut up and follow quietly.”

“Okay…”

For now, I’d stuff these women into a nearby building and call it a rescue.

I was getting tired and wanted to go home.