“Will die today, that’s a quote I’ll be having to the end of this tower. I’m starting to think God should have told me I would die… a lot.”

  The goblins stood five feet tall and looked malnourished. Despite their thin size, pure muscles could be seen through those limbs. “Yeah, those ain’t goblins.” As the goblins wandered through the forest, looking for the sources of the noise they heard a few minutes ago, they soon spotted a human.

  Two goblins jumped out, running straight toward Harley. “Oh…. shiiiiit!” He immediately turned around and ran in the opposite direction. The rooted terrain quickly semented themselves a huge burden. “Think! Think! Think! Think!” Harley chanted. I’m not gonna last long here! My stamina is shit and the terrain- it’s so hard!” He tripped, rolling a smooth steep and standing quickly.

  The two goblins chased quickly, their steps evidently showing that the forest was their home. Just a few more seconds and the goblins would reach him. Harley looked everywhere, revolving his head repeatedly. No vines, no shit, absolutely nothing, no trunks, theirs nothing I could use as a weapon, just thick fucking trees everywhere! -Wait.”

  Harley turned to the left, then after a few more trees, he turned again, then turned and kept turning without even keeping track. Using the thickness of the trees, he was able to hide himself carefully. Even then, the goblins weren’t easily thrown off, following perfectly at the sound of his steps.

  In the end, however, they were still goblins—reckless and predictable. They ran at the same pace even without hearing any more footsteps made by the human. At a moment’s notice, as soon as the goblins went an inch past the tree where Harley was hiding, he took action. He lunged, tackling it to the ground, crushing its neck beneath his fingers. Before the other goblin could attack back, Harley took the knife and ran. .

  Just one more! He quickly wiped the goblin’s blood off his clothing. Once again, he kept hiding behind the trees and changed his tracks as frequently as possible. His stamina soon got to him. Harley stopped to regain his breath and prepared himself. But, as a surprise, the goblin learned quickly. The moment Harley stopped moving, its footsteps disappeared. Oh shit… did it stop or is carefully treading. He glided his eyes left and right while gritting his teeth. Ugh… I hate horror movies!

  Taking a deep breath, Harley made a run for it. That was not a situation he would dare put himself in. Just as soon as he left, the goblin came out of the same tree he was hiding in. “Fuck! That was fucking too close!”

  So its hearing is just that good! What the fuck! This is bullshit, but you know what, this is the definition of a monster, not just appearance, my God! Despite the small moment of amusement, Harley didn’t have long before fatigue overwhelmed him, making him stop.

  “Fuck! Fine! Fight me!” He stood his ground, hoping the goblin had less of a fighting experience than he had. The goblin leapt with the dagger pointing out. Harley took the hit to his left shoulder. He quickly seized the goblin’s extended arm, slicing the goblin’s head in a single, swift motion.

  After that, he pulled the knife from his shoulder. “Ughh!”

  “Fucking shit.” The exhaustion took him, bringing him to the ground. The blood dripped down to his hand, flowing to the grass. “The first thing I’ll buy from that fucking store is either a fist martial arts or regeneration powers, cause my God!” He yelled, covering his mouth and then whispering. “Okay… maybe I should stop screaming if there are any more goblins. They don’t seem that stupid either, so if these two don’t come back, they might send more. Still…” His head drifting to the corpse.

  Other than its horrendous face, with its height, the goblin was just one ugly child with green skin. Its blood was crimson red, just like any other human's. Harley stared at its arm, observing the bumps of muscles coursing through its entire body, even having chiselled abs. If it had reacted a single second slower at slicing the head off, the goblin would have killed him.

  “But… is it really that easy to slice a head off?” He took the knife and softly sliced the goblin’s arm with ease. “Shit! This is sharp! If I really wasn’t ready to the the goblin’s head off I would have died!” His mouth opened wide, quickly sealing his scream.

  Harley sighed and laid down in the grass, letting the pain of his shoulder ache like electricity. I’m so tired I don’t even have the energy to tend to my injury. Just fuck it, if I die it’ll heal itself naturally.

  [Second Floor]

  [Kill 100 Goblins]

  [Reward: The Market]

  The market, huh… wait… does that mean…? A surge of strength came over Harley out of curiosity. But as soon as it came, it disappeared. I’ll do it later.

  ***

  An hour of rest, blood pooling the ground, energy more drained than ever, Harley sat up. “I should block my bleeding shoulder…” He ripped a piece of his clothing and tied it around his shoulder.

  After stopping the blood, he crawled over to the corpse of the goblin and stabbed its waist, slicing the entire right side off. Harley bit his lip and timed his breath. He stared at the organs, arranging his thoughts. In a few seconds, he sliced through the middle from the sides and opened it like dissecting a frog. Besides the heart, covered by the rib cage, a glint of blue shined. “Ohhh… what’s that glowing blue thing?”

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Harley pulled it out. It was in the shape of a sphere, covered with rough edges. “Now, isn’t this a magic core. So this is what I sell to earn money, huh? So cliche. Wait, how will I carry this over outside the floor? Are you just telling me to complete this floor, carrying all this over?” Harley’s mind became blank until a spark shocked him back to normal. “Shit! Open the portal back to the safe zone! Or lobby! Or Whatever!”

  A glowing white door appeared before Harley. He jolted up. “Hmm… I kind of want to go back and get the core of the other goblin… but… I don’t even know how I got here.” Shrugging his shoulder. “Oh, well.” Harley dropped his knife to the floor beside them, carrying only the magic core. “Wouldn’t want you disappearing if this is the only thing that can go in.” After a flaw inched itself into his mind, he took his second step through the door.

  “You’re still cooped up there? After so long.” Said Harley, his eyes immediately catching something else. “I didn’t know my wounds would still heal. Isn’t this kind of overpowered? Well… I wouldn’t have hope. Maybe it can’t be used in combat with an insane time range like one day! Well, just kidding, I was able to use it. Unless I slept for one day… No! There’s no way.”

  After talking to himself for a few minutes, it became unclear who the truly insane one was. “Oh shit! Who the fuck is that!” A man was sleeping at the bottom of the left bunker bed. “Tas? Now, that’s someone I did not expect to finish. At the same time, he’s just sleeping peacefully.”

  Harley walked over to the bed and tugged on Tas. “Hey, wake up.”

  “Ughh… What? Peasant!”

  Harley was immediately taken aback. His entire mind raced through fire, died, and revived. What the fuck! He was the nicest guy in class!

  “Move!” Tas yelled, sitting up. “Kneel before me, you sane one.”

  “What?”

  “Did you not hear me, peasant?”

  Okay, I’m starting to hate him. Should I kill him?

  “Bow before me now! I am the chosen one, given the power of infinite lives!”

  The fuck happened to him in that tunnel? Yeah, I’ll kill him. Wait… do you humans have cores? Harley grinned inside, but for now, he swallowed his pride.

  “Well, honored one, what if you follow me and challenge the second floor. With your help, we could defeat it quickly.”

  “Good idea. Now give me that blue thing in your hand as payment for my service.”

  …………….. Nothing was inside Harley’s mind, it was nothing but the screaming sound of a boiling kettle that was about to explode.

  “Here…” He bit his tongue. Why am I even doing this. Well, either way, I’ll kill him, and in this lobby, I can’t kill him; this place has regenerative properties.

  “You're welcome, peasant!” Tas stood up and patted Harley’s shoulders. “Let us leave that insane woman and challenge the second floor should we.” He placed the magic core at the top of the bunk bed and looked at the woman once again. “You! Wretched maniac! Don’t touch my new shiny thing! Got it!”

  “...” She stayed quiet, still shivering.

  “Let us go, my peasant!”

  I so wanna know what happened to this guy, my anger is just turning into curiosity at this point.

  Without even a proper rest on a bed, Harley went straight back to the second floor like he just took a water break, without the water part. Now… would I return back to the spot I left from or where I first arrive? Will he come with me or not? He thought, remembering how he had left his knife just on the ground like an idiot.

  The door was still open, the bright white light gushing out of the frame, rather than the darkness when he first entered.

  Once Harley got back into the forest he looked around, immediately spotting the corpse. In an instant, he went for the two knives and sliced Tas’s arms. Both the limbs hit the ground. Then, from the gaping wound, blood burst forth, some in pulses, some in waves, and most fell like a stream to the ground, creating a crimson pool beneath his feet.

  “Hoh! That felt good!”

  “Aghh! How dare you, peasant!” He fell to the ground, bathing in his own blood.

  “So it wasn’t an act. I guess you’ve gone insane, Tas.”

  “Fuck you! Once I die here and revive! I’ll kill you!”

  “Oh, I don’t think so.” Harley stepped on his face, holding him in position. Using Tas’s clothes, Harley wrapped both the shoulder stumps to stop any more bleeding. “There we go, we have some time. You passed the first floor; I know you won’t die from this.” Harley ripped another piece of clothing and molded it into a clump, shoving it into his mouth. “Now, you can’t even kill yourself with your tongue.” Tas only replied with mumbles and nonsensical noises.

  “Now… you know what’s next.” Harley grabbed Tas by the hair and dragged him into the forest. Behind them, the blood-soaked body left a dry crimson trail, marking their path.