A Trash Novel's Only Reader-Chapter 29: Reality Check

Shu ran through the fog with roots snapping under his shoes and branches slapping his shoulders every time he forced his way past another tree.

"I take it back," he muttered between breaths, vaulting over a thick root as something huge crashed down behind him. "These monsters are not easy."

The sound chasing him was too heavy to be another Bloodwood Hound. Those things moved fast and low, but this one tore through the forest with the kind of weight that shook the ground first and made noise second.

’I got too cocky after the first wave,’ he thought, ducking under a hanging curtain of red vines before another impact blew dirt across his back. ’Of course the easy ones were just the opening act. Why would a mid-rank dungeon ever let me have fun for free?’

He risked one glance over his shoulder and nearly tripped from how hard his body wanted to reject what he saw.

The monster crashing through the fog behind him looked like some ugly mix between an ape and a tree ripped out of the ground and taught how to hate. Its arms were too long, its torso was wrapped in bark thick enough to stop normal blades, and red vines bulged under the surface of its body, pulsing the way veins should not.

’Yeah, no,’ he thought, forcing his eyes forward again while another heavy roar rolled through the trees. ’That is not on the same level as the dogs.’

The thing leaped, and Shu threw himself sideways just before both fists smashed into the ground where he had been. The impact blasted up dirt, roots, and broken bark in a wide ring that peppered his face and made his ears ring when he hit the ground and rolled.

He pushed himself up at once, but the second crash came from above this time, forcing him to backpedal when another one of the same monsters dropped from a thick branch and split the trunk on the way down.

"No way there are two of you," he said, staring at them while his grip tightened around the bat. "That is complete bullshit."

The system screen popped up beside him.

[Bloodroot Brute detected.]

[Threat Level: F-Rank Peak to E-Rank Low]

[Warning: Monster strength varies under corruption density.]

"Oh, now you want to explain?" he snapped, then had to jerk his head aside when one brute’s arm twisted and launched a thick vine straight at his face.

The spear-like vine punched through the trunk behind him, burying itself so deep the whole tree shook. He stared at it for a second, then looked back at the monster with open disbelief.

’A giant ape tree wasn’t enough, so now it can throw shit too?’

He ran again since standing there and arguing with the dungeon clearly was not helping. The brutes came after him with disturbing coordination, one smashing straight through the undergrowth while the other vaulted from trunk to trunk and cut off wider angles.

By the time he burst into a small clearing, his breathing had already gone rough. He slowed for a second and instantly regretted it, because the open space gave him room to move but also gave those bastards room to actually swing.

’Fuck,’ he thought, turning in place while the fog curled around his ankles. ’I have no cover, choke point or any good way out.’

The first brute entered the clearing a beat later and charged before he could pick a direction, which forced the choice out of his hands.

"Right, fine," he muttered, pulling energy into the bat, "let’s see how fake my confidence really was."

It raised one massive arm to crush him, and he stepped in at the last moment instead of out, swinging with everything he had into the side of its knee. The hit landed clean, bark cracked, and the whole leg bent hard enough to make him think, for one beautiful second, that he had solved the problem.

Then the red vines under the brute’s bark tightened, dragged the joint back into place.

"...well," he said, feeling the mood leave his body. "That’s new."

The brute backhanded him before he could move again, getting the bat up just in time to stop the worst of it, but the force still hurled him across the clearing and slammed him into a root mound hard enough to burst pain through both arms.

"Ghk-!"

He slid down on one knee and nearly lost his grip when his fingers went numb around the handle.

’Haha, there it is,’ he thought, dragging in a rough breath while the brute stomped toward him. ’That lovely reminder that I am still an F-Rank in a mid-tier dungeon.’

He forced himself up before the second brute could close in from the side, but his arms still felt numb and his ribs ached every time he breathed too hard.

’No, calm down,’ he thought, shifting his grip on the bat while both monsters spread out. ’If I panic here, I am dead.’

The first brute moved again, slower this time, which just made the situation feel worse somehow. It wasn’t rushing anymore, just walking him down while the other one cut off the angle to his right.

’They’re herding me,’ he thought, backing up a step. ’That means they’re smart enough to not overcommit now.’

He clicked his tongue and looked around fast, searching for anything useful in the clearing, but all he got was broken roots, uneven ground, and a couple of thick trees near the far edge.

’Running won’t shake them, and trading blows is even dumber,’ he thought, eyes flicking between the two monsters. ’If I burn Slaughterer too early without a real setup, I might be able to kill one but what about the second one?’

The one his right twisted its arm again, and the second he saw the vines swelling under the bark, he threw himself behind a thick tree.

The vine spear punched through the trunk and still came close enough to scrape his shoulder.

"Fuck!"

His eyes snapped to the split trunk, then to the roots bulging under the clearing floor, and something in his head finally clicked into place.

’Right, if I can’t break them fast enough,’ he thought, already moving, ’then I stop fighting them where they are strongest.’ 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He sprinted toward the far end of the clearing, making sure they saw him go that way. Both brutes immediately followed, exactly like he hoped, smashing after him with zero care for the ground under their feet.

He ducked around one of the thick trees at the last second and slammed his bat into the exposed roots beside it, once, twice, then a third time while pouring core energy through the bat.

The ground cracked, making the first one to stop, but it was too close for that, its full weight coming down on the broken patch, with the roots under it giving way all at once.

For a second, he thought it worked but then a huge hand shot through the collapsing ground and grabbed his ankle.

His whole body jerked forward, and when he looked down, the brute was hanging half inside the sinkhole with one arm buried in the ground while the other was locked around his leg.

The second one came crashing through the fog right behind it, making his heartbeat spiked as he yanked hard and felt the grip only tighten.

’...Ah,’ he thought, staring at the hand on his ankle while the other brute raised both arms. ’This might be bad.’