Sewer Rats

The moment Kaden stepped through the portal, a vile stench slammed into him like a physical force. His newly heightened senses recoiled, his stomach twisting in disgust. It wasn't just the rotting decay of stagnant water, nor the putrid musk of unwashed fur. It was something worse—a festering, unnatural stench, thick with the scent of filth and disease.

His eyes watered as he instinctively covered his nose, but it did nothing to stop the assault on his sharpened perception.

[Ding! You have entered the Dungeon: Sewer Rats]

[Ding! You are the first person to discover the Dungeon: Sewer Rats]

[Ding! Special Condition Activated: First Explorer Bonus]

[Ding! Rewards Pending Completion]

Kaden sighed. He remembered how much he hated this nasty dungeon but this was the closest dungeon to his current location and he did not want to risk missing the ripe achievement just because of something small like smell.

Even as he thought about it, he wanted to puke but he choked down the gag reflex and walked forward. The first explorer bonus was good. 

His evolution had fucked up his leveling up speed a little so if the bonus had anything to do with What, it would be awesome. What did it entail anyway? "Well, there is only one way to find out." Kaden spotted the first pair of red eyes in the distance.

He grimaced as he trudged forward through the foul, ankle-deep muck, the thick squelch of waterlogged waste beneath his boots making his skin crawl. All around him, the walls oozed with grime, their surfaces slick with damp rot. 

The dungeon was essentially an underground sewage system of a city that had once existed somewhere someplace in some world perhaps far far away from theirs.

The architecture was ancient, a relic of some forgotten civilization, its crumbling stone tunnels barely holding together beneath the weight of time and decay. Jagged cracks lined the ceilings, thick with dripping moss and fungal blooms.

The air was heavy with moisture, every breath laced with the foul stench of rotting organic matter and centuries-old filth. Sludge clung to his boots, the water sloshing around his ankles disturbingly thick and viscous, almost as if it were alive.

Kaden exhaled sharply, forcing his focus ahead. He couldn't afford to get distracted by the sheer nastiness of the environment. He had a dungeon to clear.

His sharp gaze landed on the first pair of glowing red eyes in the distance. Two. No—three. The creatures were watching him, their beady, malicious eyes peering out from the shadows between crumbling pipes and sewage flows.

Then, a low, wet chittering filled the air.

It was subtle at first, but it multiplied, layering upon itself, the whispering chorus of claws scraping against stone growing louder and louder.

Kaden's grip tightened around his weapon as the first figure scuttled forward.

A bloated, diseased rat the size of a large dog emerged into the dim light, its patchy fur mangy and caked with filth. Its mouth frothed, thick saliva dripping from jagged, yellowed fangs, its body shuddering unnaturally as if wracked by some parasitic infection.

Then another crawled out.

Then another.

Then another.

Kaden narrowed his eyes as more of the creatures poured out of the darkened passageways, crawling along the walls, and the ceilings, slithering from sewage grates and rising from the filth beneath his feet.

However, before any of those could reach him a loud thunk sounded, and a barred metallic gate slammed shut in front of him. The rusted metal groaned under its own weight. The sound echoed through the tunnels, bouncing off the damp, crumbling walls.

Kaden didn't flinch—he had expected something like this. Five rats alone were caught on the wrong side of the gate. The five did not hesitate in the slightest and scurried forward with a rabid frenzy in their eyes.

This was just the preview. He would be facing the main horde in the last battle. In his last life, this was enough to strike fear in the hearts of those who wanted to clear the dungeon but there was not a single trace of fear in his eyes now. 

He had seen worse. He had faced worse. And now, with his evolved body and overwhelming raw stats, these creatures were nothing more than stepping stones.

As the five diseased rats lunged toward him, Kaden moved.

The first rat lunged for his throat, its gnarled claws extended—Kaden's hand snapped up, catching it mid-air. His grip tightened, bones cracking under his inhuman strength. With a casual flick, he smashed it against the stone wall, its skull bursting like an overripe fruit.

[Ding! You have killed a Diseased Tunnel Rat.]

The second rat came from the left, jaws snapping, but Kaden was already turning. His elbow drove downward, colliding with the creature's head. The sheer force shattered its spine, sending its limp body slamming into the ground.

The third and fourth came together, their bodies twisting unnaturally as they lunged low, aiming for his legs. Kaden sidestepped with eerie precision, his boot rising mid-step and crushing one's skull underfoot. The other barely had time to react before Kaden grabbed its tail and swung it like a club into its final companion, sending both of them tumbling into the muck.

Kaden crouched and drove his fist downward, cratering the last two creatures into the filth.

[Ding! You have killed 5 Diseased Tunnel Rats]

He exhaled, flicking the blood from his fingers. Even without skills, this was laughably easy.

Beyond the rusted gate, the horde writhed in anticipation. Dozens of glowing red eyes locked onto him, their low, eerie chittering filling the tunnel with a maddening echo.

"Bring it on!" Kaden grinned, the madness in his eyes matching the madness of the rodents.