I PICKED UP A CHILD IN A DUMPSTER-Chapter 69: Quest: Survive, Save, and Kill.

I pressed myself harder against the cold stone, forcing my spine into the jagged surface of the rock as if I could sink inside it.

My palm clamped over my mouth, fingers trembling, sealing in every breath so not even the smallest sound could escape.

The... the cave air was damp and thick, heavy with the smell of wet earth and something older— something thats... I don’t even know how to describe it.

Then I heard it.

Thud.

Another.

Then many.

Slow at first. Heavy. Uneven.

Footsteps.

They echoed through the rock behind me— too many to count, each one vibrating faintly through the stone I leaned against. Dust trickled down from the ceiling in soft grains, landing in my hair, sliding down my neck. I didn’t even dare to move.

They stopped.

Right behind the rock.

So close I could hear the scrape of something dragging across the ground.

Then—

A growl.

Low.

Wet.

Breathing that doesn’t sound human.

"Human... find human."

The voice wasn’t spoken cleanly. It was forced out, like language didn’t fit inside its mouth properly.

A pause.

"And kill."

The last word came with a sharp huff, hot air pushing through teeth that I imagined were too large for the jaw that carried them.

My heart slammed so violently I thought they could hear it. Each beat felt like a drum against my ribs, and my lungs burned from holding my breath too long, but I didn’t dare inhale sharply.

(Fuck... why did this even happen... How did this even happen... Why did I even come...) I thought to myself.

A small rock shifted near my foot.

I froze so completely my body almost hurt.

Silence.

Then the footsteps shifted.

One.

Two.

Several.

They moved slowly past the rock.

I counted them in my head.

One... two... three... four... more... too many...

(Yea... it’s okay... This is my fault too... So it’s okay...)

I don’t even know why I thought that.

Maybe guilt makes fear quieter.

Maybe accepting death makes it easier to breathe, but that’s not a choice.

The footsteps began to fade, deeper into the cave system, their echoes stretching thinner and thinner until only dripping water remained.

I didn’t move immediately.

I waited.

Counted to twenty.

Then thirty.

Then fifty.

Only when the silence felt real did I slowly remove my hand from my mouth. My fingers were damp with sweat. My lips felt numb.

Carefully— slowly, I leaned just enough to peek around the edge of the rock.

Nothing.

Just the faint yellow light.

And then I saw it.

A torch.

Hanging several feet away from me on the cave wall, flame flickering weakly but steady, casting long crooked shadows that twisted along the stone like a moving fingers.

(Yea... I’m taking that too... and thank God I found this.)

I looked down at myself.

Plain white T-shirt.

Leggings.

Completely unprepared for this place.

Cold air brushed against my skin.

(I thank you... Uncle Skeleton.)

The memory of the bones— the dry rattling pile that had once been someone else flashed in my mind. I had taken what I could. The shirt. The leggings. Survival gifts from the dead.

The cave suddenly felt smaller.

Like the darkness was leaning closer.

And somewhere deeper inside it— Something growled again.

Not far.

Not far at all.

***

(Tower)

I stand alone inside the circle.

"Fuck... should I go...?"

My hands were shaking and I hated that they were. I know Seorin is strong. I know she is. The System itself once called her one of the strongest samurai, I even got a title because of her.

So why is my chest this tight? Why does it feel like something is about to go horribly wrong? "Wait... no... she’s strong. She’ll handle it. She always does... so I gue—"

A familiar window cut through my vision.

It didn’t fade in.

It forced itself there.

「Si Hon, a quest has been sent to you.

Quest: Survive, Save, and Kill.

Objective: Survive and save Hana, Arven, and the three Ursa Canis.

Reward: Depends on your performance.

Location: Munches’ Lair.

[In this quest, you are granted an Arrow. It will show you the way.]」

My stomach dropped.

Then another window overlapped it.

「Si Hon... it is truly your choice.

I do not want you to take this quest... but it has been sent.

[Accept / Decline]」

"...System?" My voice sounded smaller than I wanted it to be. "What do you mean? Aren’t you the one giving the quest?"

Silence.

For a second, I thought it wouldn’t respond.

Then another message appeared.

「I am sorry. I cannot answer that question.

But there will be a time...

when I can.」

That didn’t comfort me.

It made it worse.

I stared at the options.

Accept or Decline

Two seconds passed.

It felt longer.

If I decline... maybe they survive on their own, since Seorin is going there.

If I accept... I walk straight into the Munches’ Lair.

My finger hovered.

Then I tapped.

The moment I did, something shimmered beneath my feet, the dirt cracked softly and a faint glow seeped upward and an arrow slowly formed beneath the ground, pushing through soil until it was visible— clear, sharp, undeniable.

And it was pointing toward the dragged mark.

Toward the lair.

Toward them.

I swallowed.

No time to think.

I ran toward the tower and dropped my spatial bag against the wall. Bodies spilled out— dead mole rats thudding against the dirt in a messy pile.

"Shit... how many did Seorin even put in here?"

I crouched and touched one.

The goo ring around my finger reacted instantly. It stretched, wrapped around the corpse, and absorbed it. The body shriveled, collapsed inward, then vanished as if it had never existed.

A faint black flicker formed beside my hand.

Not light.

Not shadow.

Something else.

Notifications exploded into view.

「Absorption Target: Dead organic entities only.

Absorption Progress: 32 / 80 Bodies.」

「Low-tier monster absorbed > +0.1 STR」

「+0.1 STR」「+0.1 STR」

「+0.1 STR」「+0.1 STR」「+0.1 STR」

「+0.1 STR」「+0.1 STR」「+0.1 STR」

「+0.1 STR」

「+0.1 STR」 「+0.1 STR」 「+0.1 STR」「+0.1 STR」

They stacked on top of each other, cluttering my vision. I didn’t stop. I kept touching. Kept absorbing. My breathing steadied as the numbers climbed.

(Status.)

The thought alone summoned it. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

And it unfolded in front of me.

────────────────────────

Name: Si Hon

Level: 20

EXP: 300 / 1050

Tendency: Careful Strategies

Job: Unemployed

Title:

Thief — tap for more...

A Clown — tap for more...

Free Stat Points: 5

Strength: 27 (3.2) +

Agility: 19 +

Stamina: 33 +

Endurance: 33 +

Luck: 21 +

Intelligence: 19 +

Mana: 12 +

────────────────────────

Level 20.

Still feels low.

Still feels fragile.

Five free stat points.

No hesitation.

Stamina.

If I’m going into the Munches’ Lair, I need to outlast them. I need to survive long enough to save them.

I dumped all five points into stamina.

The numbers shifted immediately.

「Free Stat Points: 0

Strength: 27 (3.2) +

Agility: 19 +

Stamina: 38 +

Endurance: 33 +

Luck: 21 +

Intelligence: 19 +

Mana: 12 +」

I felt it.

Not explosive power.

Not speed.

But durability, and a breath that’s getting deeper, body steadier, heart stronger.

Good.

I stood and walked toward the edge of the red circle.

The Safe Zone.

Snow ended there.

Beyond it, the forest stretched dark and silent. The arrow glowed faintly ahead, patient. Waiting.

I stopped right at the boundary.

Inhaled sharply.

Exhaled slowly.

"...No plan. Great."

But I didn’t need one.

Not right now.

Only one word mattered.

Save.

I stepped forward.

The red circle behind me cracked like fragile glass and shattered into fading fragments of light.

The protection was gone.

The mountain air hit colder.

And I ran.

Not as a strategist.

Not as a careful planner.

Just as someone who refused to let them die. Only one word in my head.

Save.

***

(Running — 3rd pov, due to how I’m going to switch characters many times.)

Si Hon ran.

Not with elegance.

Not with form.

He ran like someone who had already decided he would not turn back.

A single spatial bag bounced harshly against his lower back with every stride, its strap digging into his shoulder.

But the thing is... there was no sword, no spear, no throbbing katana, not even a stick to pretend he was armed.

Just the jacket the System had granted him— dark, reinforced, unnaturally light, and the faintly warm goo-like ring coiled around his finger.

The same ring that had latched onto him while he bathed in Arven’s cave. The same ring that pulsed sometimes, as if it had a heartbeat separate from his own.

The forest swallowed him.

Skeletal trees clawed at the gray sky, their branches twisted and leafless like frozen hands reaching for something long gone.

There were living trees too, their branches still holding onto snow-covered leaves, bending quietly under the weight.

But they were fewer compared to the skeletal ones. Maybe it was because this was Snowfall Mountain— where sunlight was scarce, the soil thin, and nutrients harder to find. Not everything survived long up here.

Between them stood a snow-heavy pines, their limbs drooping under a thic snow weight. Wind hissed through the trunks, dragging loose snow into the air.

Snow crunched sharply beneath his boots— fast, rhythmic, relentless.

He weaved through them instinctively.

Left.

Right.

Duck beneath a broken branch.

Leap over exposed roots half-buried in ice.

His breathing should have been ragged by now.

It wasn’t.

His lungs burned, but in a controlled way. His legs strained, but they didn’t tremble.

He was fast.

Too fast.

"Shit..." His voice came out between breaths, visible in pale clouds. "Am I getting faster...? An average human doesn’t even run this fast."

His strides stretched longer. The wind cut harder against his face. The environment blurred slightly at the edges as his perception struggled to keep up with his movement.

The added stamina wasn’t just endurance.

It was output.

It was efficiency.

Each step drove him forward with more force than before, his body now capable of sustaining speeds that would have collapsed him days ago.

Nice.

At least he could get there faster.

But the thought immediately twisted.

He didn’t know how far "there" was.

The arrow had given direction.

Not distance.

He could be minutes away.

He could be running toward something hours deep into the mountain.

The uncertainty gnawed at him worse than the cold.

Snow sprayed behind his feet as he pushed harder.

His heartbeat pounded against his ribs, steady but heavy. The forest began to thin slightly, then thicken again, terrain shifting subtly beneath him, uneven ground, frozen dips, hidden stones beneath the snow.

Still he ran.

Because slowing down meant thinking.

And thinking meant imagining what might already be happening inside the Munches’ Lair.

Then—

A faint flicker formed near his arm.

Not in front of his eyes.

Not centered like the System’s windows.

But slightly lower.

Slightly closer.

More... personal.

A small, slightly black window appeared beside his arm.

The edges weren’t sharp like the usual interface.

It trembled faintly.

Inside it—

「아빠... stress? (⁠｡⁠•́⁠︿⁠•̀⁠｡⁠)」

He nearly stumbled.

His eyes flicked sideways while his body kept moving.

The characters were softer.

Rounded.

Almost... worried.

His jaw tightened.

For half a second, something inside his chest eased.

"No," he muttered under his breath, not slowing. "Don’t worry."

The window flickered faintly in response.

And he kept running.