CHAPTER 28: AT DEATH’S DOOR

He pressed himself flat against the rock, heart hammering so loudly it felt like it would burst out of his chest. Sweat poured down his back despite the cold air.

Then, the beast suddenly froze.

Its ears twitched.

"Crap! Did it—?!"

Oliver’s stomach dropped.

The bear’s head jerked upward, its ears flicking rapidly as if listening. Its body stiffened, standing tall, eyes glowing brighter.

Oliver held his breath.

Then—

"GRUUUAAHHHH!"

The monster roared as another presence revealed itself.

From the shadows ahead, a wolf slinked out—its fur jet-black, its body veined with the same red lines. Its fangs gleamed wet, and behind it... two more wolves emerged, each with three tails swaying unnaturally, sparks of corrupted mana dripping from them like smoke.

The wolves growled, circling the bear. The air trembled with tension as the monsters prepared to clash.

Oliver’s grip on his sword tightened.

(...If they fight each other... I might slip past. If not... then I’m fucked.)

Oliver peeked from behind the boulder, heart pounding as the two groups of monsters clashed.

"Grrrrraaaahhh!"

The bear roared, the crimson lines along its body pulsing like molten veins. Its claws dug into the rocky floor, cracking stone beneath its weight.

"Grrrhh...!"

The three-tailed wolves snarled in response, circling with coordinated precision, their dark red veins glowing faintly as if answering the bear’s fury.

One wolf darted first, fangs bared—

Slash!

The bear swung its massive paw. The impact sent out a deafening crack.

DOPAN!!

The wolf didn’t even have time to yelp—its body smashed against the cavern wall, bones shattering on impact. Blood sprayed the rock.

"Rrrruuugh!" The bear slammed its fists into the ground, shaking the cave with raw strength.

The remaining wolves howled and lunged together from opposite sides.

"GRAHHH!!"

The bear twisted its bulk and swung both arms like battering rams.

THUDD!! CRAAASH!!

One wolf was swatted mid-air, ribs crunching audibly. The other sank its fangs into the bear’s forearm.

"GRRRAAAHHHH!!"

The bear roared in pain, muscles bulging. With a violent jerk, it smashed its arm against the cavern wall, crushing the wolf like an insect until it let go with a dying whimper.

But the third wolf was already moving—its three tails rose high, sparking with crackling arcs of black lightning.

"GRRRAAOOOOUUU!!"

The lightning shot forward in a violent stream.

ZZZZZRAAAK-BOOOOMM!!

The bolt tore across the cavern and struck the bear square in the chest. The stench of scorched fur filled the air as the monster staggered back with a guttural bellow.

"GRRRHHHHAAAAHHHHH!!"

The bear’s glowing veins pulsed brighter, as if enraged further by the pain. It slammed both fists into the ground and charged, tearing through stone like a bulldozer.

The wolf leapt aside, agile, landing on a stalagmite—only for the bear to smash through it with a single upward swipe.

CRUUUUNCH!!

The rock shattered, and the wolf was ripped from its perch. The bear clamped its jaws around the wolf’s body mid-air.

"GYAAUUH!!" the wolf cried in agony—before the bear snapped its jaws shut.

KRAKK!!

Blood and viscera sprayed as the wolf went limp, dangling from its fangs. With a final shake, the bear slammed the corpse onto the ground, leaving nothing but a broken heap.

Silence followed, broken only by the bear’s ragged, victorious breathing. Its bloodshot eyes scanned the cave, its maw dripping with gore.

Oliver pressed himself tighter to the rock, heart hammering.

"...This...this thing... is a fucking monster."

Oliver pressed his back against the cold wall of the cavern, barely daring to breathe. His heart hammered like a war drum, every thump echoing in his ears louder than the growls filling the chamber.

The bear stood at the center of the battlefield, its hulking figure painted in gore. Wolves—once fearsome predators—lay scattered in heaps around it, their bodies broken, throats torn, heads caved in. The stone floor was slick with blood, and the metallic stench burned Oliver’s nose.

"...This thing’s a damn nightmare..." he muttered under his breath, trying not to gag.

The golems the students had struggled with? Child’s toys compared to this monster. Even the Behemoth, for all its sheer power, fought with predictable swings. But this bear... this bear enjoyed it. Its glowing crimson eyes seemed almost human in how they studied their prey.

And now... those eyes had turned on him.

Oliver froze, stiff as prey under a predator’s gaze.

Karan—[Clink]

The sound was deafening. A pebble rolled from his boot, tapping against the stone floor. A mistake so small, so cliché, but enough to damn him.

The bear’s head jerked toward him with a grinding crack of bone. Its ears twitched. Its lips peeled back into a bloody grin of fangs.

"...Ah." Cold sweat streamed down Oliver’s face.

Then—

"GRROOOOOOAAAAHHHHHH!!"

The bear charged.

It wasn’t running—it was exploding forward. A ten-foot mountain of muscle and claws launched itself like a cannonball, the shockwave shaking dust from the ceiling.

"Shitshitshitshit—!" Oliver dove sideways.

BOOOOOM!!

The place he had been crouching blew apart, rock chunks spraying like shrapnel. A crater formed in the cavern floor, as though struck by a siege weapon.

Rolling across the ground, Oliver scrambled to his feet and clapped his hands. "Transmutation—Stone Wall!"

A jagged wall of rock shot up in front of him—

CRAAAAAASH!!

—only to be smashed apart in a single swipe. The bear’s paw, larger than his torso, shattered the stone like glass.

"—!" He barely managed to bring his arm up.

THWAAAACK!!

The blow connected. His body was launched like a ragdoll, slammed against the ground, and rolled limply until he skidded to a stop. His breath tore from his chest in a ragged gasp.

Pain burned across his body, but when his eyes flicked to his arm, he almost vomited. His left forearm was bent backward at a grotesque angle, bone shards poking beneath torn skin.

"Ahhh—fuck!!" His scream echoed off the cavern walls.

Through blurred vision, he saw the beast slowly approaching. No rush this time. Step by step, deliberate, mocking. Its heavy paws squelched in wolf blood as it advanced, eyes gleaming with cruel intelligence.

Oliver tried to crawl away, but his back hit the dungeon wall. Nowhere left to run.

The bear towered over him. Its shadow consumed him. Slowly, it raised one massive leg, claws glowing faintly with the killing intent behind them.

This is it... I’m dead...

Tears stung his eyes as despair dragged him under. His body trembled too much to fight back. He closed his eyes, waiting for the claws to cave in his skull.

Then—

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

A volley of arrows rained down.

"—Huh?!"

The bear roared in shock as iron shafts tore into its shoulders and chest. Blood spurted in crimson arcs. It staggered back, swiping madly at the walls, bellowing its fury.

Oliver’s eyes widened as he looked up. A section of the wall above was now open—hidden slots that had fired the arrows. The mechanism still whirred faintly, smoke trailing from its seams.

"...A trap?" His voice was a hoarse whisper.

He realized at once. It wasn’t random—he had activated a dungeon trap ruin. Hidden above, a mechanism had fired volleys of arrows.

Had he been standing just a few steps away instead of against the wall, he would have been skewered like the bear.

But what shocked him more wasn’t just surviving.

It was the glowing rune itself.

The moment his eyes touched the symbol, he understood it. Not vaguely—completely. The strokes, the formation, the meaning of the rune laid itself bare to him as if it were written in plain language.

"...No way... I can read this too...?"

The pain in his arm faded from his mind. What left him stunned was this—his F-rank, worthless Linguist class, had just deciphered an ancient dungeon ruin.

This F-rank class is giving more and more surprises too him.