A Trash Novel's Only Reader-Chapter 27: Plan To Enter

Shu walked down the street, tapping his bat on the ground as his mind wandered, ’a mid-rank dungeon,’ he thought, taking a bite from his sandwich, ’Isn’t that way too dangerous for me right now?’

In Zoxhia’s logic, a mid-rank dungeon wasn’t something a single person tackled, let alone someone who had only been in this world for a couple of days. It usually required a fully equipped team of C-Rank or B-Rank hunters, complete with tanks, healers, and scouts.

Yet the system dropped it into his lap like any other mission.

"What exactly is this scam machine thinking?" he muttered, passing by a supermarket building, catching his attention for a bit. "I am technically still F-Rank. Sure, my stats are bloated because I ate a demon core, but throwing me into a mid-tier corruption zone is just asking for me to die."

He let out a long breath, adjusting his grip on the bat.

He spent the Skill Upgrade Token before leaving the apartment, using it on [Slaughterer]. The skill jumped to Level 3, increasing the stat boost to 25% and slightly extending the duration, but the side effects of bloodlust and aggression had also scaled up.

He knew he was playing with fire, but raw power was the only thing that was going to keep him alive against over a hundred monsters.

’Plus, there’s the corruption,’ he thought, his expression darkening. ’The system gave me a fragment of Mutation Resistance right before assigning this. It’s definitely not a coincidence, it knows I have the tools to survive the poison, so it’s treating me like its personal exterminator.’

As he got closer to the eastern edge of the city, the environment started to shift. The road gave way to creeping red vines that choked the sides of the buildings, with the air having a power smell of blood.

[Warning: Entering mild corruption zone.]

[Mutation Resistance Lv.1 (Fragment) is active.]

[Filtering harmful toxins...]

The itch in his throat vanished, replaced by a cool sensation spreading from his chest., ’well, at least the skill works,’ he thought, rolling his shoulders.

He turned the corner, fully expecting to walk right up to the dungeon entrance, but quickly stopped and ducked behind a crumbling wall.

Up ahead, the street was completely blocked off, with several heavy armored vehicles parked in a semi-circle around a massive, swirling red portal that tore through the middle of an intersection.

’A guild is already here? Dammit, this makes things complicated, that means they have already claimed it as theirs,’ his eyes looked around at all the hunters until they landed on Raniel leaning against the wall, far from the others.

’Oh, it’s Raniel’s guild? Hmm, maybe I can talk to her to allow me to enter with them?’ He ruffled his hair, looking, ’as if that would work, even she will not allow and an F-rank to enter a mid-rank dungeon.’

He was so lost in his mind that he did not notice the people approaching him from behind.

"What are you doing here?" a rough voice asked.

Shu turned around and saw two guild guards standing a few feet away, both wearing heavy armor and looking at him with open suspicion. One of them had his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, while the other held a comm device.

’Fuck,’ he thought, keeping his face relaxed. ’I got caught lacking.’

"Just passing by," he said, pointing his bat down the street. "Did not realize the guild bought the whole block."

The guard with the sword frowned and took a step closer. "This area is restricted where a new dungeon just opened, and the corruption levels are rising. A low-rank like you needs to leave immediately before you get infected."

"Yeah, yeah, I am going," he said, turning around and taking a few steps away.

’If I force my way through them, it will just cause a scene,’ he thought, glancing at the buildings around him. ’I need to find a different way in.’

He walked until he was out of their sight, then slipped into an alleyway and looked up. The buildings surrounding the intersection were heavily overgrown with the red vines spilling out of the dungeon.

The guild was focused on the street level and the main approach, leaving the rooftops completely unguarded.

"Alright, let’s see how much these new stats help," he whispered.

He backed up a few paces, took a deep breath, and sprinted toward the side of the nearest building. He leaped off the hood of an abandoned truck, grabbed a thick cluster of red vines hanging from a second-story balcony, and hauled himself up.

His muscles coiled and released with explosive power, pulling his weight up effortlessly. ’Frame 34 is no joke,’ he thought, vaulting over the railing and continuing his climb.

Within seconds, he reached the rooftop, staying low while moving silently across the uneven concrete until he was directly above the heavily guarded intersection.

Down below, the strike team was doing final gear checks.

"We move in five!" the white-haired man barked, his voice echoing up to the roof. "Stay in formation, do not touch the flora, and if you start coughing blood, apply the healing potion immediately!"

Raniel just rolled her eyes, drawing her sword to inspect the edge.

Shu did not wait to hear the rest. He crept to the edge of the roof closest to the portal. The swirling red vortex was massive, reaching almost three stories high.

The top edge of the portal was only a short jump from where he was positioned.

’Here goes nothing,’ he thought.

He tightened his grip on his bat, took a running start, and launched himself off the roof.

He cleared the gap easily, soaring right over the heads of the guild guards below. Before any of them could look up, he plunged headfirst into the upper half of the portal.

The world instantly went dark, and the sound of the city was replaced by a deafening roar of rushing wind. A sickening sensation twisted his stomach before he was forcefully spat out the other side.

He hit the ground hard, rolling across damp earth to break his fall, and quickly popped up into a crouched stance with his bat raised.

[You have entered the Crimson Forest.]

[Threat Level: Mid]

[Corruption Level: High]

He stood up slowly, taking in his surroundings.

The sky above was an unnatural purple, blocked out by the canopy of massive trees with dark grey bark and bleeding red leaves. A thick layer of crimson fog drifted ankle-deep across the forest floor, hiding the roots and whatever else crawled in the ground.

The air was heavy and humid, and the silence was absolute. There were no birds or wind, just a suffocating stillness that made his skin crawl.

"Yeah," he muttered, the purple veins on his bat flaring to life as he channeled a thin stream of energy into it. "This place definitely feels like a death trap."

Before he could take his first step, the underbrush to his right violently rustled, and a low wet growl vibrated through the fog.