𝕊𝕥𝕒𝕣 𝕊𝕥𝕣𝕦𝕔𝕜 ₒᵣᵥ (Hiatus)

Chapter 18: Eh... these things are called ground rats?

I smirked a little, feeling the adrenaline rush through my blood, my heart pumping loudly in my ears. I swung my spear with surprising accuracy and strength, confident in my abilities.

I guess the sparring with Hyunsung-ssi really did help. My stats were all quite high-level too, so it was much easier to fight than I originally thought.

With one strike, I quickly decapitated one monster before turning my back to reach another one which was trying to sneak up on me. I stabbed it dead centre through its skull, watching as blood trickled down its forehead and its cloudy eyes rolled back lifelessly.

I flung the now-dead body onto another monster that was pouncing at me. It was stricken down mid-leap and I finished it off with a deep cut into its throat. I turned my head quickly, trying to see the conditions of the others.

Thankfully, the expedition party fought quite well. The battle formation naturally became the four of the strongest, consisting of Dokja-ahjussi, Hyunsung-ssi and Heewon-ssi in front with the rest in the rear.

Hyunsung-ssi overpowered another rat, wiped the sweat on his forehead and managed to talk while taking a few gasps of air, the continuous fighting proving to be draining for the taller man.

"...I think I can live."

"Their fighting pattern is simpler than I thought," Heewon-ssi muttered as she swung again with her katana.

"Hap!"

She was strong, but perhaps her endurance was slightly lacking. Maybe she invested her coins into the strength stats? But I couldn't ponder on the topic for too long as another rat leapt in my direction.

"Damn, I lost one! Please!" A gasp from Heewon-ssi confirmed my suspicions, a monster had snuck past and was heading for the three in the back.

"Leave it to me." Gilyoung's hands gripped his bat tightly and struck the head of the approaching rat. The impact was lacking because he wasn't the strongest in terms of physicality, but a second later, he activated the built taser and the rat screeched in pain before falling to the floor with a thud.

Sangah-unnie's spear pierced the body of the twitching rat. The rat twitched and squirmed several times. She grimaced, her face showing slight pity for the struggling monster but she didn't remove her hand from the spear.

The rat finally fell to the floor with a thud. I nodded in satisfaction. They were doing quite well.

Well, they were doing well except for the panicking geezer sitting over here. He was letting out choking noises as he stared at the advancing monsters as if they were his nightmares come true. I gave him a disappointed side-eye. How Pathetic. I huffed before swinging my spear again to block another attack.

Haha, how ironic... though he had the biggest mouth, while were were struggling, he was hiding cowardly in the rear. Not to mention, he couldn't even hide properly and had sustained several injuries near the shins. Oh well, deserved karma.

I watched Dokja-ahjussi pierce the last rat with his thorn and the surroundings became quiet.

I quickly looked at the others, making sure there were no major injuries. Thank god, we made it with only minor scratches.

"Can you stand?" I walked over the the still-dazed Han Myungoh and held out a hand. To clarify, this was not pity. Only to ensure he didn't drag the rest of the team down. The middle-aged man took my hand and pulled himself up, his legs unsteady and shaky.

"Take these and clean your wound up, don't let it get infected," I stated as I pulled out an alcohol wipe and two bandaids from my backpack. Han Myungoh took the items wordlessly and opened the packaging with a grateful nod.