Part 1: CSI: Goblin Cave
Ren stood over the corpse of the Goblin Scout, his chest heaving. The neon pink glow stick cast long, eerie shadows against the damp walls, making the Red Eye brand on the dead goblin's chest look like it was pulsing.
"Think, Ren, think," he muttered, pacing in a small circle. "In Detective Conan, the criminal always gets caught because they leave physical evidence. If a patrol comes by and sees this body, they'll know it wasn't a monster attack. Knife wounds are distinct. They'll know an intelligent weapon user did this."
The Red Eye Tribe. If they were an organized military force, they would have roll calls. When Scout #42 didn't report back, they would send a search party.
"I can't bury him. The ground is solid stone. I can't burn him; the smoke would suffocate me or alert everyone."
Ren looked at his hands, stained with green goblin blood. He looked at the Scout.
A gruesome thought crossed his mind. Eat him?
His stomach, surprisingly, gave a little rumble of agreement. His goblin physiology didn't see a "person"; it saw protein. It saw biomass for evolution.
"No, no, no," Ren slapped his own cheeks, leaving bloody handprints on his face. "I crossed the line with the rat. But eating a humanoid? That's the point of no return. I'm still human on the inside. I have standards!"
He needed to hide the body. But where?
Then, he looked at the blue grid floating in his peripheral vision.
[Inventory]
"Wait," Ren paused. "The description said 'Infinite Inventory'. In games like Skyrim or The Witcher, you usually have a weight limit. But God said 'Infinite'. And in many Isekai novels, the inventory is basically a stasis dimension."
Ren reached out and touched the dead Scout's shoulder.
"Store."
Zip.
The corpse vanished instantly. No sound, no flash of light. It was simply deleted from reality.
Ren opened his Inventory menu. There, sitting in the slot next to his Limited Edition 1/7 Scale Figure of Holy Knight Alaria, was:
[Item: Corpse of Goblin Scout (Rank F)]
[Quantity: 1]
[Condition: Deceased / Fresh]
"Unbelievable," Ren whispered, a dark grin spreading across his face. "I'm the ultimate crime scene cleaner. No body, no crime."
He quickly kicked some dirt over the blood puddle on the floor to mask the scent, then turned away. He couldn't stay here. The patrol might not find a body, but they would still investigate the area where the Scout went missing.
He had to go deeper.
Part 2: The Resource Manager
Ren moved with newfound caution. He held the pink glow stick in his left hand, shielding its light with his fingers so only a sliver of illumination escaped. In his right hand, he held the [Crude Bone Club] he had looted. He had de-summoned the Rainbow Knife to save it—and because the club had better reach.
As he walked, he checked his status.
[Name: Ren]
[Race: Goblin (Runt)]
[Level: 3]
[MP: 10/12]
"My Mana is my lifeline," Ren analyzed. "I used 8 MP for the knife and 2 MP for the glow stick. I recovered some from the level up, but I'm still low. If I run into something big, I can't summon anything else."
He needed to understand the rules of Mana regeneration. In most games, it regenerated over time (MP Regen) or through potions.
"I don't have potions. I don't have a mage stone. I need to find a natural source."
He stopped. The air in the tunnel had changed.
The smell of rot and sulfur was fading. In its place was a scent that was crisp, damp, and slightly metallic.
Running water.
"Water means life," Ren thought. "But in a dungeon, water also means predators. Every animal comes to the watering hole."
He crept forward, his bare feet making no sound on the slick rocks. The tunnel began to widen. The darkness ahead wasn't absolute pitch black anymore; there was a faint, natural luminescence.
Part 3: The Subterranean Garden
Ren stepped out of the narrow tunnel and gasped.
He had entered a massive natural cavern, distinct from the goblin nest. The ceiling was high, covered in thousands of tiny, glowing blue worms—glowworms—that looked like a starry night sky.
In the center of the cavern was a dark, still pool of water.
But what caught Ren's eye wasn't the water. It was the flora.
Growing around the edge of the pool were clusters of mushrooms. They were translucent and glowed with a soft, azure pulse.
[Ding!]
[Appraisal]
[Target: Mana-Cap Mushroom]
[Rank: Common]
[Effect: Consuming raw restores small amount of MP. Slightly toxic if eaten in large quantities.]
"Jackpot!" Ren almost cheered out loud but caught himself.
"Mana mushrooms. This is exactly what I needed. But..."
He looked at the pool. The water was too still. It was suspiciously calm. The "otaku logic" in his brain started ringing alarm bells.
If there is high-value loot (Mana Mushrooms), there is a Guardian Mob.
Ren crouched behind a boulder, watching the pool. He waited for five minutes. Nothing moved. Just the gentle drip of water and the pulse of the mushrooms.
"Maybe I'm just paranoid?" Ren wondered. "I am in the newbie zone, after all."
He crept toward the nearest patch of mushrooms, about five meters from the water's edge. He kept his eyes glued to the black surface of the pool.
He reached out and plucked a mushroom. It felt cool and squishy, like jelly.
He popped it into his mouth.
It tasted like mint and electricity. A strange tingle ran down his spine.
[System: Mana-Cap Consumed.]
[MP Restored: +3]
[Current MP: 13/12 (Overcharge)]
"Oh? I can overcharge?" Ren noted. "That's good to know."
He grabbed another one.
Splash.
A ripple disturbed the center of the pool.
Part 4: The Guardian of the Pool
Ren froze. He slowly backed away, clutching his mushrooms.
From the center of the black water, two bulbous, glassy eyes surfaced. They were positioned on top of a flat, green head.
It was a frog.
But, naturally, it wasn't a normal frog. As it rose from the water, Ren realized the scale was wrong. The creature was the size of a minivan. Its skin was covered in warts that leaked a purple fluid, and its mouth was wide enough to swallow Ren whole three times over.
[Target: Giant Sludge Toad]
[Rank: E+]
[Level: 8]
[Abilities: Sticky Tongue, Poison Spit]
"Rank E+," Ren gulped. "Level 8."
This was boss material for his current level. A Rank E monster was a threat to a squad of armed soldiers. Ren was a naked goblin with a stick and a pocket knife.
The Toad blinked. Its eyes locked onto Ren. It let out a low croak that vibrated in Ren's chest.
Ribbit.
"Nice froggy," Ren whispered, backing away slowly. "I'm just a mushroom enthusiast. I'll be going now."
The Toad didn't care about his excuses. It opened its mouth.
Zip!
A pink blur shot through the air.
Ren threw himself to the right, rolling across the sharp stones.
CRACK!
The Toad's tongue—a muscular whip of flesh—smashed into the spot where Ren had been standing a millisecond ago. The stone floor shattered.
"That's not a tongue, that's a piston!" Ren screamed, scrambling to his feet.
He couldn't fight this. His pocket knife wouldn't even pierce that thick, warty hide. He had to run.
But the Toad was fast. It coiled its legs and leaped. It soared through the air, blocking Ren's path back to the tunnel. It landed with a wet, heavy thud, shaking the ground and knocking Ren off balance.
Ren was trapped between the pool and the monster.
Part 5: The Expensive Solution
"Okay, God," Ren shouted at the ceiling. "You said I couldn't summon the big stuff because I lacked Mana. Well, I just ate some magic mushrooms!"
He checked his status.
[MP: 16/12] (He had eaten two mushrooms rapidly while running).
"Sixteen Mana. What can I get for 16 Mana?"
He opened his Inventory interface, time seeming to slow down as his mind raced through the grid.
Action Figures? Too expensive.
Replica Swords? Too heavy to wield.
Game Consoles? Useless.
He needed a projectile. Something that could hurt a giant, wet, slimy beast.
His eyes landed on a folder labeled: [Cosplay Props / Pyrotechnics].
He saw it. A leftover item from a Fourth of July party he attended in America years ago.
[Item: M-80 Firecracker (Bundle of 3)]
[Description: Illegal high-explosive firecrackers. Loud. Dangerous.]
[Summon Cost: 15 MP]
"Explosives," Ren grinned maniacally. "Science vs. Nature."
The Toad opened its mouth again, its throat swelling as it prepared to spit a glob of poison.
"Manifest!"
A bundle of red cardboard tubes with a green fuse appeared in Ren's hand.
He didn't have a lighter.
"Think, think!"
The glow stick? No, that's chemical cold light.
The sparks!
Ren grabbed his Rainbow Knife from his waist (summoned previously) and slammed it against the flinty stone floor.
Spark. Nothing.
Spark. Nothing.
The Toad hacked, a ball of purple slime flying toward him.
SPARK!
The fuse caught. It hissed furiously.
Ren didn't wait. He didn't throw it at the Toad's body. He waited for the mouth to open wide.
"Eat this, Kermit!"
Ren pitched the M-80 bundle like a baseball. It sailed through the air, spinning perfectly, and landed right inside the Toad's cavernous, wet, pink mouth just as it was about to spit.
The Toad swallowed instinctively.
Ren dove behind a rock, covering his ears.
BOOM!
The sound was deafening in the enclosed cave. It wasn't a fireball, but the concussive force of an M-80 inside a closed biological chamber was devastating.
The Toad didn't croak. It made a sound like a wet balloon popping. Smoke poured out of its mouth and nostrils. It thrashed wildly, crashing into the cave wall, stunned and suffering massive internal damage.
[Critical Hit!]
[Target Stunned.]
Ren peeked over the rock. The Toad was writhing on the ground, belly up. It wasn't dead, but it was disoriented.
"I need to finish it," Ren panted, his Mana drained to almost zero (1 MP left). "But I have no mana for weapons."
He looked at the Crude Bone Club in his hand.
"Old school it is."
Ren charged.
End of Chapter 4
Summary of Assets:
Current Level: 3
Current HP: 9/9
Current MP: 1/12 (Critical Low)
Assets: Crude Bone Club, Rainbow Knife (Desummoned/Resummoned logic applies), Glow Stick.
Current Location: Subterranean Mushroom Cave.
Status: Charging a stunned Level 8 Boss Monster.