18. The Inevitable (4)

“Phew…”

As soon as I got home, I washed up and immediately began meditating.

My only thought was that I needed to replenish my severely depleted magic points as quickly as possible.

I must have spent nearly 10 hours sitting there doing nothing but meditating. Thanks to that, I managed to recover almost all the magic I’d lost today.

“Huu.”

After replenishing my magic, I felt somewhat more at ease.

Using skills fundamentally requires magic power to sustain them, so when my reserves run low, I naturally feel anxious.

“Should I get some food?”

After replenishing my magic, I was absolutely starving. Having spent the entire day meditating without eating anything, my stomach wouldn’t stop growling.

‘Maybe I should eat something other than ramen today…’

First, I boiled water to heat up some instant rice. Since there was no electricity, I couldn’t use a microwave. So I had to make do with a portable gas burner.

“Let’s fry some ham… and take out the kimchi…”

Since boiling or stir-frying would take too much time, I just greased a frying pan and cooked some eggs and spam.

That way, I managed to prepare some decent side dishes for a meal. Now all I needed was to eat them with kimchi.

“Ow, hot…”

Somehow, this felt like the first proper meal I’d had since arriving in this world.

Until now, I’d been eating just one meal a day, and even that was usually just instant noodles.

As I ate, sitting alone in the dimly lit room, I couldn’t help but feel like I was wallowing in self-pity.

No, to think I’d be subjected to such harsh treatment just for writing a few stupid comments. I almost felt like crying over my pitiful situation.

“Thanks for the meal.”

There was no response. I left the dishes soaking in the sink and picked up a pair of scissors.

“Hmm~ hmm~”

Since I couldn’t play music, I hummed softly to myself as I cut A4 paper into human shapes. By folding one sheet precisely in half, I could make two shikigami per sheet, which was quite efficient.

“Hmm.”

I made about 120 of them. Looking at the shikigami I’d created by expending 240 magic points, I felt somewhat reassured. If I considered them as ammunition, it was only natural to feel that way.

“Let’s see, the time is…”

It was only 9 PM. Still prime time for activity. Though it was dark outside, I had Night Vision, so there was nothing to worry about.

I quickly got dressed to go out for a hunt.

“Well then…”

Since I’d wasted the day meditating, I needed to make up for it by being active at night. At this late hour, there wouldn’t be many people roaming the streets-most would be holed up in their homes.

I wanted to quickly complete the rescue quest, but if that wasn’t feasible, I’d have to settle for diligently hunting monsters.

There was no time to waste. Right now, in the first week of the apocalypse, was the perfect opportunity to pick off strong monsters while they were still disoriented.

The fact that I’d effortlessly killed a Minotaur proved that. I needed to take advantage of the monsters’ confusion and wipe them out en masse.

“Then.”

I grabbed my weapons and left the house again. The world had grown dark, but my eyes pierced through the darkness.

With Night Vision engravings on both eyes, my vision remained unimpaired even after sunset. I could see perfectly.

‘Hmm…’

The only issue was that distinguishing colors was a bit difficult. While I could clearly see shapes, their colors weren’t as vivid.

Night Vision made the world look like I was viewing it through night-vision goggles-everything was rendered in monochrome.

‘Where should I go?’

Should I head to the market to get a basin for collecting water? Or maybe stop by a pharmacy to stock up on medicine? It might rain tomorrow, so I should probably get the basin first… or should I prioritize the medicine?

Without a clear destination in mind, I decided to just wander around for now.

******

“…”

I was on my way to a pharmacy to grab some bandages when I heard a woman’s scream from somewhere.

Following the sound, I cautiously approached and saw…

‘Looks like someone was dragged into the general hospital.’

Something had clearly taken up residence in that hospital. A person had definitely been pulled inside.

I wasn’t sure how they’d been caught, but the entrance alone reeked of something deeply threatening.

‘Grotesque decorations made from human remains.’

I also noticed ominous occult symbols. There was a high chance something that used curses was hiding inside.

No doubt traps and surveillance were set up throughout the hospital. In short, the place had already become the nest of some unknown entity.

‘Hunting here would yield a lot of points, but…’

This might be even harder than hunting giants.

No, on second thought, taking down a giant that wandered around openly like a naked thunder god would be easier than facing a curse-user holed up in a confined space.

Especially since these curse-users tended to summon hordes of minions. In tight spaces, being swarmed by underlings would be overwhelming. I’d probably get crushed to death.

So it was better not to poke the hornet’s nest. I’d come back to raid it after acquiring more combat skills.

“Hmm…?”

Just as I was about to give up on the hospital and leave, the entrance burst open, and humanoid monsters the size of dwarf trash bags came crawling out.

They wore stinking burlap sacks over their heads as they glanced around suspiciously.

‘What are they doing? Wait, they look familiar…’

Upon closer inspection, their information came to mind. Since the details appeared, they must be creatures from the other realm.

[Name: Mud Midget]

[Info: A corrupted fairy species that inhabits swamps. Minions of the Mud Mite. They capture humans and offer them to their master.]

[Abilities: Keen sense of smell, human tracking, summoning kin]

“Tch.”

Now I remembered. These bastards appeared exactly once in the original work.

‘Disgustingly numerous little shits…’

I quickly tried to leave.

Because these vile creatures were exceptionally good at tracking humans, had overwhelming numbers, and would scream like mad to call for backup if threatened. Getting caught by them would be a huge pain.

“Keeeaaah!!”

“Fuck!!”

I was spotted immediately. They must have sniffed me out while looking around. I should have turned tail the moment I saw them.

‘Why are they so fast?!’

Five of them started charging at me. The one in the lead even hurled a spear in my direction.

Whoosh!!!

Thud!!!

“Gah!!”

I couldn’t let it hit me. Mud Midgets were like swamp-dwelling goblins who coated their weapons in their own excrement and other disgusting substances.

Getting stabbed would mean at least tetanus, if not some rare, unidentified disease.

Thwack!!!!

“You fucking…!”

The shit-poisoned spear barely missed me. The real problem was that this wasn’t the end-they kept throwing more spears. How many did they even have?

Thwack!!! Splat!!

Dodging left and right, I realized I wouldn’t be able to shake them off like this. If I stopped to fight, they’d just keep their distance and pelt me with shit-spears.

This wasn’t working. I immediately activated the Multi Jump anklet.

Whoosh!!

With a single leap, I kicked off the ground and soared even higher.

‘Whoa, that’s high!!’

I jumped two more times.

And just like that, I landed comfortably on the rooftop of a four-story building.

This was my first time using it, but the jump height was impressive.

The first jump was just a normal leap, but the second jump onward, activated by the anklet, felt like bouncing on a trampoline.

Anyway, the four consecutive jumps drained a chunk of my magic, but it didn’t matter. Their speed was so insane that creating distance was a must.

Seeing me on the rooftop, they hesitated to follow and just stomped around below, hurling useless shit-spears.

‘I’d love to set their heads on fire, but… I can’t use fire magic now.’

Starting a fire in the middle of the night was like begging enemies who hadn’t even noticed me yet to come kill me.

No need to announce my location unnecessarily.

For now, I’d use the Shikigami Exorcism Method to quickly thin their numbers. It’d be best to deal with them before reinforcements arrived.

“Die.”

“Kyaaah!!”

I glared at one preparing to throw a spear and tore the head off a paper shikigami. Instantly, a Mud Midget sprayed blood and dropped dead.

Despite their overwhelming numbers and terrifying speed, their durability was pathetically weak.

A single paper shikigami was enough to kill them.

So they were glass cannons-fast and numerous, but fragile. Maybe this wouldn’t be so hard after all…

“Kyaaaaahhhh!!!!”

Yeah, no chance.

As soon as one died, the others lost their nerve and shrieked bloody murder toward the hospital.

“Kyaaaleeeaaaaahhhh!!!!!!”

The hospital answered with its own screams, and the kin-calling ability activated perfectly.

Soon, at least a hundred Mud Midgets poured out, howling like mad.

This was getting dangerous. I had no choice but to use the Demon Digestion Method to survive…

Kishaaaat…

“Huh?”

But what was this?

When the Mud Midgets screamed to summon their kin, something completely unexpected responded.

“Yes, you fuckers…!”

You might have been the dominant force in the swamps, but this is Earth, you shit-eating dwarf bastards.

And this is Seoul-a chaotic mess where all sorts of fucked-up dimensions have collided.

“Idiots. You’re all dead.”

They’d just summoned their own doom.

The Machung, who’d turned an entire shopping district into their nest, came swarming out in response to the Mud Midgets’ call. Probably the same ones who’d stolen the Minotaur corpse from me before.

Though the Mud Midgets still vastly outnumbered them, each Machung was deadly. Numbers alone wouldn’t save them.

Soon, Mud Midgets and the unnamed Machung clashed in the middle of the street. It was a territorial dispute. The uneven battle-ten Mud Midgets to one Machung-made me grin.

It was evenly matched. If they wiped each other out, I could swoop in and clean up the survivors.

‘Well, this worked out.’

Crouching low, I watched the bloody battle unfold below. Corpses piled up, and the Mud Midgets gradually began losing ground.

‘Jackpot.’

Just farming the corpses would ensure a full belly tonight.

But I wasn’t hiding here just to scavenge scraps.

‘Time for a smash-and-grab.’

Most of the Mud Midgets had left the hospital to fight the Machung and were being slaughtered.

That meant there were few left to guard the Mud Mite-and I could slip inside to decapitate that bloated swamp monster.

‘And while I’m at it, I can rescue the women being used as breeding stock and the men treated as emergency rations…’

Perfect.

I hurried down from the rooftop, avoiding the battling monsters, and sprinted toward the hospital.

Tonight, I would slit open the Mud Mite’s belly, complete the quest, and obtain the Collar of Subjugation before sunrise.