A Calm Slaughter

Thunk.

The sound of severing flesh echoed through the silent hallway.

The tip of my rebar had pierced deep through a goblin's throat.

"Gi, gii…"

The goblin exhaled its last air and convulsed.

The next instant, something changed in that hideous body.

Ssssss…

Its body began crumbling from the feet up.

Not decay. It was dissolving into particles like black mist, melting into the air.

Monsters born from dungeons return to their constituent maso upon death.

That was proof these things weren't living creatures but "phenomena."

Seconds later.

The goblin's body had completely vanished, leaving only the rags it wore and one small object.

Clatter.

A dry sound echoed in the hallway's silence.

"… Hih"

Behind me, Shinohara gasped.

Her legs must have given out at the supernatural sight of a monster vanishing before her eyes.

But I paid her no mind and picked up the object that had fallen at my feet.

A small crystal about the size of a thumbnail.

The surface was slightly warm, and deep within, a faint purple light pulsed like a firefly's glow.

A magic stone.

The heart of a monster, a high-purity energy resource that accumulated mana.

The "currency of the new age" that would become more valuable than oil or gold, and the "battery" for powering magical tools.

"… Low purity. F-rank lower, I'd say."

I lightly wiped the magic stone with a cloth from my pocket while appraising it.

About 2 carats. Cloudy too.

In my previous world, it wouldn't have been worth pocket change.

But in modern Japan where magic stones didn't exist, this single piece would make a university research lab go wild as a rare sample.

(At current rates, through black market channels… fifty thousand… no, maybe a hundred thousand yen?)

I let my lips curl into a grin.

Not bad. A hundred thousand yen profit in one strike.

Makes minimum wage jobs where you sweat for a thousand yen an hour seem ridiculous.

This is why dungeon exploration is addictive.

"Wh-what are you…"

Shinohara stared at me like I was something incomprehensible.

In her eyes wasn't gratitude for her savior.

It was the look of someone seeing an incomprehensible "other" operating on logic entirely different from her own.

"The monster… vanished…? And you just now…"

"Just picked it up."

I casually tossed the magic stone into my jersey pocket.

"This is 'resource collection.' Same as killing enemies in a game and picking up money. You've played RPGs, right? Same thing."

"Th-that's… wrong! This is reality, and those scary things…"

Shinohara screamed, half-hysterical.

To her common sense, both the phenomenon before her and my attitude were impossible to accept.

In a hell where people were dying and monsters roamed free, I stood there as casually as if I were shopping at a convenience store. To her, I must have looked more bizarre than the monsters themselves.

"It is reality."

I said coldly, pointing at the space where the goblin had vanished.

"Look. Police guns and laws don't work here. In this place, those who kill and take what they need survive. Those who hesitate become food. Simple rules."

Shinohara lost her words and trembled.

My words probably sounded like a devil's whisper to her.

But that was fine. I had no time to seek her understanding. Whether she despised me or feared me, my wallet would still grow fatter.

I stood and shouldered the rebar again.

From down the hallway, toward the stairs, came new screams and multiple pattering footsteps.

Hyenas drawn by the presence of discharged mana.

Hunting time wasn't over yet.

"… Hey."

"Hih…"

"Don't loiter here. The lingering monster presence will draw other goblins soon. Move if you don't want to die."

I turned my back on Shinohara and started walking.

"If you can stand, run to a classroom. If you can't, crawl into a bathroom stall and hide. If you're lucky, you might survive."

That was my last piece of advice.

Without looking back at her, I quickened my pace toward where the next prey's presence was coming from.

Behind me, I heard Shinohara scramble to her feet, her indoor shoes slipping on the floor as she staggered away.

Seems she still had the will to live, at least.

(Now then, which classroom next?)

I confirmed the hard feel of the magic stone in my pocket.

One wasn't enough.

Future operating funds, research and development funding, base establishment. Money was never enough.

If I hunted down every goblin in this building, I should at least secure immediate operating capital (war chest).

My steps were light.

In a school building where screams echoed like a symphony, only I walked toward the next field with the satisfied expression of a farmer at harvest time.