I watched with bated breath as the [Portal] began taking shape right in the middle of the towering crates. Yet, although it usually took only a short while to pop into existence, this time, it was still too slow for my liking.

  Casting a quick glance to my right, the first spider all but recovered from our brief clash and was already getting ready to throw itself at me again. Come on… Come on! I urged it, willing it to manifest faster.

  Still, I knew it wouldn’t be fast enough, so I dropped my machete and grabbed one of the abundant crates. Then, not wasting a breath, I promptly threw it at the skittering abomination. Take this!

  The crate plummeted through the air for a brief moment, painting a graceful arc before bursting at impact and spilling its precious contents to the ground. My surprise attack didn’t do much; it only seemed to make the spider even angrier. Still, it bought me a few short moments, and that was all I needed for the portal to finish manifesting.

  After all, I didn’t choose this placement at random—it was the only free space between the crates and the wall, effectively blocking the creepy-looking monster from getting to me.

  This was the first time I had tried using the mysterious doorway as an impromptu shield, and to my relief, it somehow worked. Right then, the spider paused and hissed angrily, yet it was reluctant to come near the shimmering abyss.

  Tough luck, bastard! You won’t get to eat me today… Smiling darkly, I then ordered Rocky to push the remaining monsters out and plug the damn hole with his own body to stop more of those spiders from coming through.

  My faithful minion reacted almost instantly. Before the spiders could do anything, a rain of stony fists descended on them like an avalanche. These arachnids were surprisingly fast and, no doubt, incredibly deadly. Yet, when faced with a solid wall of rock, the only thing they could do was hurriedly retreat.

  This was not that surprising. Ultimately, like any other living creature, their innards were made of flesh and thus inherently squishy. And right now, in this cramped space where they couldn’t properly deploy their superior agility, that attribute was playing against them.

  Seeing that the situation was somewhat stable for the moment, I exhaled in relief before stumbling over to the piled-up crates. There was, of course, no way I would leave empty-handed, not after making it this far.

  I then lifted one of the weapon crates and unceremoniously tossed it into the dark hole. The surface rippled and then sucked the crate right through.

  Grinning, I quickly began stuffing in more, eagerly watching as crate after crate disappeared into the portal’s maw. I was painfully aware that I would be able to take only a tiny fraction of the room’s contents. Still, each crate could be the difference between life and death, so I clenched my teeth and kept at it.

  “Ugh!” My heart pounded in my chest like crazy, and I panted heavily from both the recent scuffle as well as the exertion of having to maintain the active portal. I knew I couldn’t keep this up for much longer. Just a few more…

  Wait! But then I paused mid-step, widening my eyes as I realized another problem. I can’t take just the weapons; I’ll need ammunition, too!

  Squinting my eyes at the unreadable labels, I frantically scanned the small storeroom, searching for some clue that could help me locate it. It has to be here somewhere.

  There were a lot of crates here, each row of a different size and shape, and I had no idea what was in them and no time to check.

  …And the fact that it was now near pitch black certainly didn’t help. Damn it! My lamp must have fallen to the ground sometime during the chaos, thus plunging the room into darkness, and now I could barely see anything at all.

  I glanced over to where Rocky heroically defended the hole, but I knew it was a losing battle, and it was just a matter of time before he would be overwhelmed.

  So, with no better idea, I quickly grabbed a crate from each row at random, praying at least one would have what I needed. This must-do for now.

  "Come here!" I shouted at Rocky. The spiders were relentless, their legs scraping against the metal floor, a sound that I had no doubts would haunt my dreams in the days to come.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  I darted through the [Portal], pulling Rocky in just as a particularly large spider lunged, its fangs snapping mere centimeters from where I had stood. However, by then, we had already disappeared inside.

  Back in the relative safety of the Domain, I collapsed, breathing heavily but not before shutting down the mysterious gateway so that none of the creepy spiders could follow. Great… Now, the only way back to the real world was blocked by an army of angry, poisonous spiders. So, until I figured out a way to deal with them, I was effectively stuck here.

  Anyway, that was something to worry about later. Right now, I have better things to do, namely… Looking up, several crates lay scattered around me in a haphazard pile. Let’s see what we have here.

  Smiling, I eagerly began opening them one by one. After all, since I was taking them at random, I didn’t have time to check what was in them before.

  Of course, there were the guns, precisely three crates of them. I took one of them out. The weight of it felt strangely comforting, a stark contrast to the machete I had been relying on until now. The metal was cool and sleek, and the craftsmanship was undeniable even to someone like me who knew little about such things.

  Smiling, I carefully pulled out the rest of the rifles, counting them one by one. Six pieces each, for a total of 18 guns… At this point, I had enough guns to arm an entire guard squad. Well, not that it mattered, as there was no one here besides me who could use them.

  The majority of Hunters frowned upon the use of firearms, as the bullets were often too weak to penetrate the monsters’ skin unless the bullets themselves were enhanced with mana. Furthermore, using guns was often tantamount to suicide, as their noise acted like a magnet for the monsters, so they were mostly relegated to being a weapon of last resort.

  However, I didn’t have to worry about any of that as the noise didn’t matter at all here, inside the Domain. Are those breathing masks? I blinked as I opened yet another crate. Well, an early version of them, at least, as these didn’t look like they had a mana-enhanced filter at all.

  Then, there were two crates of ammunition. And the last three crates were full of strange oval-shaped tubes. Huh? What’s this? I cautiously turned it over in my hand. There was no label on it and no obvious way to open it.

  Could it be? My eyes widened as I remembered the old tales. The Army apparently used to store rations in exactly such metal containers—called cans.

  So, after a short deliberation, I decided to use the tip of my machete to carve one open and see what was inside.

  Food! It was food. I carefully sniffed the can's contents, and to my surprise, I didn’t notice any foul smells that would signal a decay. I blinked, not sure how it could survive all those years intact.

  But then I simply shrugged my shoulders and dug in. After all, there was no saying no to free food. Taking a small bite, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes. It tasted almost as bad as it looked, but there was also something else. Meat!

  A real meat! There was no doubt about it. Usually, meat was an unattainable mirage for someone like me, reserved only for the high brass and the most accomplished Hunters.

  Nowadays, the supply is so scarce that even if someone had enough money, they couldn’t get their hands on it without knowing the right people. So, to be able to indulge myself in enough meat to feed the whole orphanage and then some, I couldn’t help but smile. There’s even more from where this came from.

  I eagerly ate up the whole can while ignoring the awful taste. Then, not content with just one, I promptly opened another. Ah, what a nice hiss!

  ***

  After the scrumptious meal, I took a well-deserved nap, and then it was finally time to plan my defense. Having guns was nice, but I knew I couldn’t depend on them too much. After all, the Army had all the guns in the world, and they still lost to the monsters.

  So, in a last-ditch effort to further my chances of making it out alive, I decided to bite the bullet, so to speak, and built another [Petty Summoning Grove]

  I picked a place for it near the still dormant Rift, and soon, two new golems appeared before me. I guess I’ll call you Lumpy and Chunky.

  Nodding in satisfaction, I then emptied the crates and moved the precious supplies behind the Seed's pedestal toward the edge of the wall so they wouldn’t get damaged during the upcoming battle. I should really build some dedicated storage room rather soon; it’s getting a bit cramped here.

  I moved the empty crates to the front and made an improvised barricade out of them, where I placed a row of freshly loaded guns. This way, I could keep shooting without having to reload.

  It took me some time to figure out how they worked, but out here, I had nothing but time, so I didn’t complain. Earlier, I took a few try shots at the empty cans, and although my aim was pretty shitty, I reckoned even I should be able to hit the monsters at point-blank range right as they emerged from the rift.

  I would love some more time to prepare, but sadly, the time was up. The clock above the unstable rift ticked down the last few minutes before the next wave of monsters came charging through.

  I sighed as I commanded my five golems to assume a defensive stance. I then threw one last look at my setup. It wasn't much, but I did the best I could. Now, there was nothing else but to wait.

  [03]

  [02]

  [01]

  [ Warning! The Rift is opening.]