The deeper I moved into the dungeon, the more the sounds began to layer on top of one another.
Low growls drifted ahead, echoing along curved stone walls and threading through roots that punched down from the ceiling. Moss clung to those roots in scattered patches, glowing with a faint green light that turned the corridor into a narrow passage of shifting shadows and pale illumination. The air felt cool and damp against my skin, carrying the smell of wet earth and decaying leaves.
Beneath it all lingered another scent—iron and blood.
My footsteps rolled across the stone as I advanced deeper into the tunnel, paying close attention to the strange pressure that gathered beneath my feet whenever I kept moving for more than a couple of steps. It felt less like acceleration and more like the world quietly getting out of the way—like whatever direction I chose, the world had no choice but to follow.
Standing still left everything ordinary.
Moving changed the rules.
The wolves revealed themselves a moment later.
Five shapes slipped out of the darkness ahead, their bodies weaving between the tangled roots until the pack filled the width of the passage. Mosslight traced along the ridges of bone protruding through their fur, outlining silhouettes that looked almost skeletal even while the animals moved.
They resembled wolves the way nightmares resemble dreams: familiar, but unmistakably wrong.
The bodies were broader than they should have been, the forelegs thick with dense muscle. Their jaws hung heavy and oversized beneath narrow eyes that reflected the mosslight in pale yellow glints.
Five sets of those eyes locked onto me.
The pack began spreading out as they approached, claws clicking lightly against the stone floor while they tested angles and distance. It was careful movement, the kind of predatory behavior that suggested the creatures had done this before.
This time I took some initiative.
The first wolf broke formation with a sudden burst of motion, launching low toward my legs with its jaws opening wide enough to swallow my knee.
One foot struck the ground while the other rose to meet the wolf.
The pressure surged.
My foot met the wolf's jaw before it could bite down. Bone gave instantly. Teeth shattered. Its forward momentum didn't stop—it collapsed into the point of contact.
Bloody fragments scattered across my jacket as the creature's skull compressed against the collision.
The rest of its body continued its momentum towards the point of contact. Its spine folded inward under the pressure. As if that was not enough, my ability then hijacked its momentum and replaced it with my own. Its body viciously flew upwards towards the top of the tunnel and left a sizable crator. What was left of the body hung lifelessly on one of the roots that impaled it.
The sound cracked through the cavern like a gunshot.
The other wolves froze. Confusion—then fear.
The wolves hesitated.
I didn't.
I began to sprint as the second wolf launched higher than the first, aiming directly for my chest. Its jaws attempting to snap shut around my shoulder.
I instinctively raised my hand to block and it made contact with the wolf as its jaw slammed shut around my shoulder. My hand briefly made contact with its abdomen, on its way to greet its organs and spine. I felt no resistance. I did however feel the warmth of its blood as my arm ripped through the wolf, essentially cutting it half and throwing its lower half into the higher section of the tunnel wall. The roots sustained no damage as the stone wall crumbled and fell to the floor.
The wolf went limp almost immediately. Its jaws were still clamped on my shoulder.
For a brief moment our eyes met.
The wolf died with a startled look in its eyes.
Then the rest of its body was hurled sideways across the passage, striking the wall with a heavy thud that scattered loose stone fragments across the floor.
Three wolves remained.
All had stopped advancing.
"… Oh, so now you guys want to be cautious?!" I said as I threw my hands in the air out of frustration.
One tried to slip past me. I turned—too slow. It lunged. My hand clipped its jaw mid-turn.
That contact was enough. The creature launched away from me and struck the cavern wall with a dull crack before collapsing.
The last two wolves abandoned caution entirely.
They lunged together.
One struck my hip.
The other hit my ribs.
Their teeth shattered against impact.
Both animals rebounded violently across the tunnel floor, their broken bodies sliding and skidding across the stone before coming to rest near the opposite wall.
I had already started sprinting before they lunged, expecting exactly that.
Silence returned to the cavern.
I stood there for a moment, letting the echo of the final collision fade before crouching beside the closest body. The folding knife slid from my pocket with practiced ease. A quick twist of the blade freed two long fangs from the wolf's jaw, followed by a curved claw from the front paw.
The pieces dropped into my backpack with a soft clink.
Beginner monsters rarely produced anything valuable. Most adventurers took what was easy—fangs, claws, bone.Things that could be carried easily and sold in bundles to craftsmen who specialized in enchantments and reinforced gear.
At this rate, the dungeon might actually pay for the refrigerator.
A faint chime sounded in my head.
A translucent screen unfolded into view.
Successful Hit Registered
6 / 100
I still couldn't believe collisions counted.
Now I know.
I stepped over the scattered bodies and continued deeper into the tunnel.
Most beginners tackled these dungeons in groups of three to five. When several adventurers were swinging weapons at the same time, encounters like the one behind me usually ended before they became dangerous.
Which likely explained why the guild map didn't mention the den waiting further ahead.
The tunnel widened abruptly.
The smell hit me before the view did.
Wet fur.
Old blood.
Rotting meat.
I stepped to the edge of the opening and looked down into the cavern below.
At first the shapes on the floor looked like shadows shifting under the mosslight. Then several pairs of eyes opened.
Wolves.
Dozens of them.
Some lifted their heads slowly from where they had been sleeping. Others rose immediately, their bodies stiffening as they turned toward the new smell.
Every single one of them focused on me.
The guild map definitely hadn't mentioned a wolf den this large.
The chamber below contained at least twenty wolves.
Probably more.
Definitely more.
If the system counted collisions rather than attacks, that meant something interesting.
Reaching the next level would be easy. I just needed one hundred hits to satisfy the mastery requirement for level one. Meaning I just needed to collide with one hundred enemies to level up.
Of course, the ability didn't make me invulnerable… The first wolf had already proven that claws could still connect before the force of impact reversed direction. The third had left bleeding holes in my shoulder.
If enough of them struck at once…
That was going to hurt.
I rolled my shoulder once and stepped forward.
"…Remember, you wanted this."
If they wanted to stop me, they were welcome to try.
My boots struck the stone.
One step.
Two.
Three.
The pressure beneath my feet surged as I broke into a run.
The first wolf leapt.
Its body slammed into my ribs like a thrown brick. Claws ripped through my jacket and scraped across my side before the collision threw the creature backward across the cavern floor.
I kept moving.
Another wolf collided with my shoulder. Its teeth shattered against impact while the creature itself flew sideways into two others behind it.
The counter began climbing.
Successful Hit Registered
8 / 100
Successful Hit Registered
11 / 100
Successful Hit Registered
15 / 100
More wolves rushed forward.
Some leapt.
Others tried biting.
A few simply ran straight into me.
Each collision sent another body tumbling across the cavern. Claws scraped across my arms, legs, and shoulders before the physics of the impact corrected the situation, leaving warm streaks of blood trailing down my sleeve.
Pain flared with every strike.
But the counter kept rising.
And I kept moving.
Wolves scattered in every direction as I pushed through the center of the den. The system chimed again while bodies continued bouncing across the cavern floor.
Successful Hit Registered
37 / 100
Eventually the chamber grew quiet.
I slowed to a stop near the far side of the cavern, breathing harder now while the adrenaline faded. My jacket hung in shredded strips and my shoulder throbbed where claws had cut through fabric and skin.
Several wolves still twitched across the stone floor.
I spent the next few minutes moving through the chamber, removing fangs, claws, and small bone fragments until my backpack felt like I was carrying a sack of gravel.
The straps bit into my shoulders when I stood upright again.
I imagined the guild clerk's reaction when I dumped the contents on her desk.
That might actually be entertaining.
The counter still hovered at the edge of my vision.
"…Not bad."
I originally thought clearing the dungeon was my only problem.
Now…
How was I supposed to explain all these kills to the guild…