The hero opened his eyes.

  The sun was setting—he had been asleep for hours.

  He slowly stood up, his body heavy.

  The curse was spreading deeper into his flesh, rotting him from the inside out.

  He took a deep breath and walked toward the cave.

  The entrance was still blocked with the stones he had stacked earlier.

  One by one, he began removing them.

  As soon as the air from inside hit him, a familiar scent struck his nose.

  —Burnt meat.

  —Charred wood.

  Ashes from the fire had settled everywhere.

  He lit a simple torch and drew his sword, stepping into the darkness once again.

  ---

  The first goblin corpse he found made him pause.

  It looked like it had tried to escape the fmes—its arm was burned bck, and the rest of its body was bruised and mottled with cherry-red blisters.

  The hero took a breath, raised his hand, and cut off its ear, dropping it into a pouch.

  He repeated this five more times as he moved deeper into the cave.

  The further he went, the thicker the smoke became.

  It clung to the ceiling, refusing to dissipate, turning every breath into poison.

  ---

  Eventually, he reached a wider chamber.

  This must have been their base.

  There was still smoke in the air, and it made him cough violently.

  But the room wasn’t that rge.

  Eight goblin corpses y scattered around.

  One of them had a beard, and strange symbols were scrawled across the cave walls.

  He didn’t stop to analyze them.

  Just cut off each goblin’s ears, one by one.

  But the stench—

  The smell of roasted flesh and old blood—

  It made his stomach twist.

  Weapons were strewn across the floor: small bdes, crude spears, and what looked like makeshift explosives.

  Then he noticed it.

  A room tucked away in the corner, hidden behind hanging cloth.

  ---

  "I wish I had never seen it."

  ---

  He stepped forward and slowly pulled the cloth aside.

  Three women.

  All of them pregnant.

  Bound by wrists and ankles.

  Their skin was infmed, red with bruises and bite marks.

  Deep scratches covered their bodies.

  And they weren’t moving.

  They were already dead.

  ---

  The hero stared in horror.

  Then his body convulsed.

  He dropped to his knees and vomited.

  ---

  His legs shook as he stumbled out of the room and leaned against the stone wall.

  He clenched his fists.

  He cursed the gods.

  He cursed this world.

  He cursed the goblins.

  He cursed himself.

  But none of it made any of it go away.

  ---

  He tried to calm down and looked around at the rusted swords and broken weapons.

  Then a thought struck him.

  “I took this quest. If someone comes to check—”

  His gaze went bnk.

  “The mission said saving the prisoners was optional. But if someone finds them like this…”

  “They’ll think I killed them.”

  His name would be dragged through the mud.

  He’d be seen as a monster. A murderer.

  Quickly, he began dragging the goblin corpses into the room.

  He piled them over the women’s bodies, hiding them beneath rotting flesh.

  But it wasn’t enough.

  So he gathered everything he could—twigs, broken furniture, cloth—and piled it all on top.

  Then, he set it abze.

  The fire roared inside the cave.

  He took what supplies he could find and fled back outside.

  ---

  He sat down in front of the cave, watching the fmes dance and the smoke rise.

  Then he chuckled quietly to himself.

  Maybe this would protect his nonexistent honor.

  Or maybe…

  He just wanted the guilt to burn along with the corpses.

  ---

  As the darkness of night swallowed the cave behind him, the hero turned toward the city.

  He began to walk.

  Then, he began to cry.

  And finally—

  He started to run.