NOVEL NEXT Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Lord of the Sewers
“Dieee!”
I grabbed the goblin holding a shield from behind and plunged my sword into him. My piercing attack was as swift as a streak of lightning, far exceeding the maximum speed I could normally exert. That was the effect of the skill, ‘Rear Smasher.’
“Keek!”
The goblin hit directly at the base of his neck spewed blood like a fountain as he collapsed. Startled, the other goblins began shouting and gesturing toward the sudden attacker. The atmosphere of the sewer chilled as their killing intent pierced through the air.
You should have used this time yelling to strike at least one more blow. I paused my breath and swiftly extended my sword toward the next target.
‘Infiltration!’
Sussuss… My shadow-like figure glided through the goblin swordsmen. The goblin swords cut through the air, but they narrowly missed me.
I raised my sword high just as I faced one of the goblin archers who were nearby. Then I slashed it down with precision.
“Single Slash!”
As the skill activated, a high-pitched energy enveloped my blade. A faint blue streak trailed along the arc of my downward strike.
Puhaaak! The goblin split cleanly from his forehead to his groin, not having the chance to let out a single scream of agony.
“Kgyaa! Ru, run!”
“Run gyaah!”
In an instant, having lost their shield bearer and archer, the remaining goblins lost their fighting spirit. They discarded their weapons and fled wildly. I chased after them with a cold laugh as they scrambled to escape.
Even hunting rats without a leader tend to put up some resistance until the very end. I don’t know if having higher intelligence is a blessing or a curse for these things.
Well, as long as I can massacre them all one-sidedly, it’s a thank-you situation from my perspective.
“Geeaaak!”
“Gyaaak!”
“Keyaak!”
I cleaved through their sides, rammed my sword into their skulls, and finished the last one by chopping off his leg and driving the blade into his heart. On the verge of death, they all stared at me, pleading desperately, “Please save us! Please save us!”
The only sentence they managed fluently was the one asking for mercy—despite their usually incoherent speech. I knew exactly why.
They had been trained. Humans sometimes showed leniency, letting them live when they begged pitifully.
—Absolutely do not spare any goblins. These creatures never forget their grudges.
—There are only two kinds of beings we should never have mercy on in this world.
—One is somebody who asks for guarantees, and the other is a goblin.
Every time I had thoughts like that, the voice etched into my memory from my past life reminded me.
If I ever show them mercy and let them live, their desire for vengeance will be insatiable. They will seek me out again and again, dozens of times, using every trick to try and kill me.
That’s why I never let them live. What I had learned, I strictly applied. Up until now, none of her teachings had ever been wrong.
Though the issue is that the teacher who gave me this bloodstained advice was the woman who had killed me over a dozen times in my past life.
“You did well. You’re starting to look like a proper hunter now.”
While I was having these thoughts, a voice accompanied by applause reached my ears.
She was the teacher from my past life whose advice helped form my current skills. A murderer who killed me countless times. And also the administrator overseeing the cleaning of the monsters in these sewers.
Rheitra, the maid of Halzenberg Castle, was slowly approaching me, clapping with a look of approval.
I stared at her with complicated feelings, then shrugged and tried to crack a joke.
“… Nah. I’m still pretty rough around the edges.”
“Your growth in just one day is remarkable. I’m genuinely surprised.”
Rheitra said this before lifting the goblin corpses effortlessly. She started loading them onto the nearby yellow cart. I watched her silently, and with her melancholic eyes turned toward me, she joked.
“There’s nothing left for me to teach you. Looks like my role as your assistant is done as of today.”
“…”
“Did you go somewhere and get private lessons or something? How do you understand goblin biology so well?”
Private lessons? Thanks to you, actually. That comment almost escaped my tongue.
But I managed to keep my mouth shut, maintaining an intense gaze to ensure Rheitra wouldn’t notice. I silently stared at her retreating back and sighed in disbelief at the absurdity of the current situation.
‘How did things end up like this…’
Of course, I know the answer. Everything resulted from seeds I myself sowed. Still, knowing that doesn’t stop me from lamenting it.
The cause of Rheitra and me forming an unlikely party to hunt goblins began exactly three hours ago.
When I regained the memories of my past life.
*
Renouncing vengeful bloodshed and opting instead for a tactical retreat (also known as “running away”), this was my 21st reincarnation.
Walking aimlessly through the central sewer, I gradually organized my thoughts.
Thoughts on how to escape the cursed death-spiral at the hands of that wretched homicidal maid.
“Step 1. Knowing oneself and the enemy means a hundred battles, a hundred victories.”
I first decided to check my physical condition. If I can’t know the enemy (知彼), then at least knowing oneself (知己) should increase my chances of survival.
I immediately called up my status and skill windows within my vision.
[Name: Park Jeong-yong]
[Nickname: 163417413th Hero, Guardian of the Demon King’s Egg, Subject of Eternal Resurrection]
[Level: 9]
[Health: 180/180 Mana: 112/120 Physical Status: Normal]
[Strength: 24 Agility: 30 Intelligence: 10 Hero Sense: 3]
[Remaining Ability Points: 0]
[Skill List]
[The Eye of Mimir (Passive) LV.3]
[Divine Favor (Passive) LV.1]
[Death God’s Favor (Passive) LV.14]
[Ether Collection (Passive) LV.1]
[Prometheus (Passive) LV.1]
[Back Smash (Active) LV.3]
[Infiltration (Active) LV.4]
[Single Slash LV.1]
[Remaining Skill Enhancement Points: 0]
“Not bad stats-wise.”
The statistics I attained up to Level 9 from my previous life were fully restored, and even with the boost from Izanami’s Heart, which recovered some of the stats I had lost before, my current stats were significantly better than they had been at Level 9 in my previous life. Even though I took a painful tumble dropping eight levels, there were still notable improvements.
The problem lied with my skills. My Mimir’s Eye, Rear Smasher, and Infiltration skills, which I had leveled up to Levels 4, 6, and 8 respectively in my previous life, were now drastically degraded. I let out a heavy sigh.
“… Too low a skill level.”
In my previous life, I had overlooked this because I was leveling up so casually and frequently. It seems my practical skills only carried over based on the level boosted by the Death God’s Favor.
If I were to die again without leveling up my skills, would the lost Skill Points simply stack up based on my level count? That thought seemed to clarify the uneven skill levels.
“True, otherwise, it would be too overpowered.”
I accepted it and silently grumbled.
After going through twenty-one resurrections in these smelly, damp sewers, starting off with such a high difficulty level was maddening. If the system was going to push me to this level of difficulty, wouldn’t granting some advantage be more reasonable? No matter how I thought about it, it felt unfair and underhanded.
The face of Minerva flickered in my mind. Thinking about her signature aloofness, I firmly resolved.
The next time I see her, I’ll definitely give her a good punch in the face.
“Okay, let’s update the report.”
I pulled out the Box of the Dead that I had shoved into my backpack. I removed the old rag and made a new one. Instead of the same text, this time I wrote a more different directive.
My goal in this life is crystal clear. And the person I need to be wary of is equally clear. So, I could now give more precise instructions to my next reincarnation.
– There’s an exit on the right drainage branch. Be cautious of a pretty-looking brown-haired maid. Don’t fall for her tricks. That woman is trouble.
Wait, though. “Right” is just something I estimated from experience, and my next reincarnation won’t know which branch is on the right.
Even if I left a mark, it wouldn’t remain since time rewinds in my next life.
‘Ah, this’ll work.’
In the end, I sketched a rough map of the sewage system and attached it.
With the surrounding landmarks roughly indicated and directions noted, this should be sufficient. My next life should be able to understand this enough to commend my thoroughness. Of course, this is me after all, despite the madness.
… Ideally, it would be best if I didn’t need to go through another reincarnation. But there’s always that slim chance, so it’s necessary to plan.
“Alright. Got everything covered.”
I slipped the Box of the Dead back into my backpack, dusted off my hands, and stood up. I began walking slowly along the sewer channel.
Instead of heading to the right branch, I went to the rear branch first because there was something I needed to confirm.
“Hrm.”
Along the way, I pondered various strategies.
There were a few ideas that came to mind, though whether they would succeed was uncertain. However, there was no time to hesitate. Little by little, I started to flesh out those plans.
While lost in thought, I soon arrived at the end of the rear channel. The oppressive smell of blood and decay disrupted my contemplation.
“Ugh, the smell.”
Pinching my nose, I quickly surveyed the surroundings. Just as I remembered, a pile of corpses was there.
But the yellow cart was not.
“… Good.”
I nodded and immediately turned back to the crossroads of the sewer tunnels. Everything I needed to confirm was checked. There was not a shred of desire to linger in that unpleasant place any longer.
Based on my estimation, she… Rheitra, must have been alternating between the front-back channels and the left-right channels for cleaning.
So, the absence of a cart in the human-infested front-back channels indicated that she was likely sweeping the goblins in the left-right channels.
‘Besides, futures aren’t solely changed by me…’
A shocking realization from my past life.
Just because time rewinds doesn’t mean I’m the only one who can change the future.
“Let’s test it. Do a coin toss like before.”
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out the crest of the Holy Maiden and flipped it into the air, catching it on the back of my hand.
As I slowly looked at the result, a bitter smile emerged on my face.
‘Sure enough.’
The moon side came up.
Previously, when I flipped the coin to decide direction, the goddess side had appeared. But even though this toss was for the exact same purpose—choosing direction—the result was different.
Recalling the repeated deaths in each of my past lives, I came to one conclusion.
‘An undefined future can change far more easily than expected.’
Throughout the twenty cycles of my previous lives, sometimes she would scout the left-right channels, and sometimes the front-back channels. Even without any clear connection to me, the future simply fluctuated wildly.
Why? Simply because this life’s Rheitra decided to act differently.
That was all.
‘Thinking about it. The timing of my deaths was always different… and none of it was tied to my will.’
In my past life, there were instances where I ventured into the front channel and was killed before reaching halfway, and other times when I made it all the way to the end before dying.
It wasn’t my decision. It was Rheitra, who silently watched and waited to determine the perfect moment to strike. That timing varied with each cycle.
Because of that, only now in this present life could I develop a proper plan.
‘Reduce the variables. That’s the key.’
I had to maneuver the pieces on this board as much as possible according to my intentions.
Fortuitously, the pieces found so far in this sewer system include only me and Rheitra. Thus, controlling the variables isn’t overly challenging.
The vital consideration is…
In any case, I must outmaneuver Rheitra.
“Rheitra! Rheitra!”
As soon as I entered the right channel, I shouted out loudly.