6. Stray Dogs of the Streets

The moment I opened the front door and stepped outside, I froze in place.

-Creak.

Pristine white figurines densely packed on the staircase. No-those weren’t figurines.

Creatures with gaping holes where their eyes, nose, and mouth should be simultaneously turned their heads to stare at me.

‘Fuck…’

I remember these bastards started appearing around Chapter 50 in the original novel. What were they called again?

‘They’re not box-shaped, so not Kotori Bako… Their forms aren’t blurry, so not Hisaruki… Akumane, was it?’

In this world, roughly six to eight dimensions randomly connect to Earth.

The most frequently opened Gates lead to a fantasy world called the “Illusion Realm,” followed by the “Water Realm” where deep-sea creatures crawl up from…

‘And then there’s the Underworld.’

A dimension also known as the “Other Side.” It’s where all sorts of bizarre monsters and yokai emerge, spreading chaos among civilians. In the original novel, this dimension handled the horror elements.

‘I’m so screwed… I don’t remember the countermeasures well…’

Honestly, the Underworld housed far trickier creatures than the demons crawling up from the Demon Realm.

At least they weren’t as relentlessly lethal as those damn demons with their unpredictable patterns. Most would just vanish if you figured out how to exorcise them.

‘In the later parts of the story, they’d disappear if you just waved something at them, but I’m not sure what to do right now.’

Kotori Bako, the box-shaped ones, are like mimics. If you touch them wrong, you’re done for, so it’s better to avoid them when you’re weak.

The Hisaruki types, which cling or swarm like spirits, are half-defeated if you keep your cool and win the staring contest.

‘For Akumane… you had to give them what they wanted, right…?’

That seemed to be the case. The bastards crowding the stairs right now clearly wanted something from me.

When they take on these childlike forms, they usually disappear if you give them something sweet… Praying this would work, I pulled out a chocolate bar from my inventory and showed it to them.

‘Their eyes are following the chocolate bar. Bingo.’

Making loud noises or startling them could provoke an attack. So I slowly placed the chocolate bar on the ground and pushed it toward them.

-Munchmunchcrunch!!

In an instant, the chocolate bar was shredded to pieces, and the pristine white Akumane crowding the stairs vanished. If I’d fought them head-on, I might’ve ended up like that chocolate bar.

[50 Points Acquired]

“Haa… Fuck…”

Apparently, this counted as hunting, so I got points. Now I have 140 points. Just 110 more, and I can buy the Monster Encyclopedia.

‘A wooden club is enough for weapons…’

With a Strength stat of 28, I could take down goblins just by swinging a club properly. As long as I didn’t get careless.

‘It’d be great if I could send out a shikigami to scout…’

Paper shikigami couldn’t do that much, which was disappointing. Well, I shouldn’t expect too much from a shikigami with only 2 Magic Points.

‘Outside looks the same…’

Aside from the traces of something rummaging through the corpses I’d left in the flowerbed last night, nothing much had changed.

-Aaaah!!! Shiiit!!! Help me!!!!

Then, a distant scream echoed. Something was happening over there.

‘Monsters…’

Creeping closer to the source of the noise, I saw goblins holding a human captive, celebrating. Some of the goblins looked more human than goblin.

‘Hobgoblins…’

Larger, stronger, and smarter than regular goblins. Judging by the few regular goblins around, they must’ve captured a survivor while searching for a place to nest.

If the captive had been a woman, they’d have dragged her somewhere dark to have their way with her. But since it was a man, they seemed intent on a public execution.

‘Seven of them…’

Three hobgoblins and four regular goblins.

‘Golem Creation.’

I immediately summoned mud golems from the soil under the roadside trees. Each one cost 5 Magic Points. I summoned four.

One-meter-tall golems rose from the ground.

“Tie up their legs.”

The golems sluggishly advanced toward the goblins. I hid behind a car and pulled out the shikigami from my crossbody bag.

“Blind those goblin bastards.”

-Whoosh!

No need for a frontal assault when I had shikigami and golems.

-Keeek!!

-Guaaak!!

The shikigami flew at the goblins, clinging to their eyes and blocking their vision. The mud golems arrived next, grabbing the blinded goblins’ legs and dragging them down.

‘Now’s my chance!’

I sprinted forward. They’d soon tear off the shikigami stuck to their eyes and kick away the mud golems holding their legs. Neither shikigami nor golems had much durability, so they wouldn’t last long.

I had to slit their throats before that happened.

“Take this!!”

Prioritizing the hobgoblins, I swung the wooden club with all my might.

Crraaack—!!!

“Keeeek!!!?”

The hobgoblin’s head exploded as it tried to peel the shikigami off its eyes. As expected, a Strength 28 strike was devastating.

[15 Points Acquired]

The same amount of points as killing a human. Now, in my mind, humans were on par with hobgoblins.

“Die!”

-Thud!!!

I immediately smashed the club into the face of another hobgoblin clawing at me. The second hobgoblin died from a caved-in skull.

“Damn…!”

At the same time, the wooden club in my hand shattered. As expected of a crappy weapon-it broke after just a few swings.

-Shing-

No time to waste. I pulled out a rusted sword from my inventory. Thankfully, the unconscious man sprawled nearby didn’t count as a companion, so I could still use my inventory.

-Stab…!!

I drove the sword into the chest of the last remaining hobgoblin. The points notification confirmed I’d taken it down in one hit. Thanks to the shikigami and golems, I’d slaughtered three hobgoblins much faster than expected.

Now, only four regular goblins remained. Just two more kills, and I’d complete the quest.

‘Die, you trash.’

I stabbed one in the eye, then pulled out a spear from my inventory to pierce another’s throat. I smashed a third’s skull with the club, sending its eyeballs flying. The last one got its stomach split open. Done. No other monsters were approaching.

The hunt alone earned me 85 points, bringing my total to 225.

“Th-thank you…! Y-you saved me…”

-Stab…!!

“Guh…! Wh-why…?”

I forcibly drove the rusted sword into the chest of the man who was still barely alive. Now I had 240 points.

“Phew. Talking corpses are annoying.”

I didn’t have the energy for conversation. Just having someone nearby raised my fatigue and misery levels. It was better to kill them quickly.

‘Is there really no one else around…?’

No idea. It’d be great if I could detect presences. Either way, looting corpses in the middle of the street felt too risky.

‘Before more monsters show up…’

Better to leave fast. The noise from the fight and the stench of blood from the corpses could attract trouble.

‘Into the inventory…’

Luckily, I could store the things I’d killed in my inventory. As long as I could lift them, I could stash them away. So I stuffed all the goblins, hobgoblins, and the dead man’s corpse into my inventory.

‘Feels… kinda full.’

It wasn’t infinite after all. After stuffing all the corpses inside, it felt packed.

Still, it wasn’t unusable, so I entered a nearby villa building.

I’d quickly dissect the corpses on the first floor, harvest the necessary parts, and dump the rest into the basement.

What about the people living in the basement? What about them? If they have a problem, they can come out and fight me. Then I’ll just earn another 15 points.

“Ears and gallbladder first…”

I needed these two things to make low-grade healing potions.

‘Fuck…’

Two of the four goblins’ gallbladders had burst mid-harvest. Still, I got two. I cut off all their ears and stored them, then quickly extracted their hearts.

‘Done…’

The hobgoblins’ ears, hearts, and gallbladders could also be harvested and sold. Their parts probably made more potent potions.

“Goddammit…”

Out of three hobgoblins, I only managed to harvest one gallbladder. I really wanted to scream “Fuck!” at the top of my lungs, but I held back. Just in case someone heard.

“Phew…”

In the end, I got 2 goblin gallbladders, 8 ears, and 4 hearts. From the hobgoblins: 6 ears, 3 hearts, and 1 gallbladder.

I pulled out the dead man’s body, took only his backpack, and shoved the corpse down the basement stairs.

‘This backpack’s heavy…’

He must’ve been looting since morning. What an idiot, wandering around as a non-Awakened without knowing his place. Serves him right.

‘Lots of food and clothes inside…’

Seemed pretty useful. Of course, none of the clothes fit me, so I tossed them all out.

No point wasting space and weight on unwearable clothes.

[Quest Completed]

[Rewards Granted.]

“Ooh…”

After successfully hunting 10 goblins, I earned 100 points and a poisoned dagger.

[Poisoned Dagger: Coated with paralyzing venom. The poison dissipates after 3 uses.]

This might seem insignificant, but it’s actually quite useful.

‘I’ve got 340 points now… That’s a decent amount… Should I head home already…?’

No way. It hasn’t even been an hour since I left. I can’t go back yet. I need to loot more. My inventory still has space, so I’ll fill it to the brim before returning.

‘Any hardware stores nearby…?’

After this fight, I realized the goblins’ weapons were trash. They’d break or shatter after a couple of swings. Absolute garbage.

They’re only good for throwing, not swinging.

‘Hm…?’

While searching for a hardware store to scavenge usable tools, I spotted a group of figures running in the distance.

‘Ugh…! Centaurs..!!!’

Human upper bodies, horse lower bodies-archers.

They’re incredibly strong. If they spot me now, I’ll be turned into a pincushion and die.

‘Tch…’

I immediately hid. Pride be damned-if I run into them, I’ll be hunted down within 10 minutes. No choice but to hide.

‘Are they gone…?’

Peeking out, I saw they’d already vanished.

My heart’s pounding like crazy. This is insane.

One wrong move, and I could die instantly.

‘Oh, a hardware store… Found it..!’

I’ll loot this place and head home.

Just clearing out the hardware store should fill my inventory.