Chapter 17: Goblins, Dirt, and a Whole Lot of Suffering

Aya's breath hitched. The air was thin, heavy with dust. Every inhale scraped down her throat like sandpaper. The tunnel behind her was a collapsing mess of roots, loose pebbles, and goblin curses. Her legs were moving—barely. Her vision swam with dark specks, her carapace scraped raw against jagged stone, and her entire body screamed you are out of gas, idiot. But quitting wasn't an option. Not when a green-skinned idiot squad was tunneling after her like twisted gophers on steroids.

"SP five… IP thirteen…" Aya muttered through clenched mandibles, dragging her weary limbs like a corpse with ADHD. "Okay. So I'm broke. Emotionally. Physically. Spiritually. I am a tax return of suffering."

The goblins behind her screeched louder. A dagger stabbed into the tunnel wall, narrowly missing her antennae. Dirt sprayed across her face.

Aya yelped, flailing forward like a spooked ferret.

Status UpdateWarning: SP Critically Low. Movement efficiency reduced.Warning: IP dangerously unstable. Mental fatigue increasing.

"I'M AWARE!" she snapped at the glowing system text in her head. "THANK YOU, FLOATING DOOM SCREEN!"

She didn't know how much longer she could keep this up. Every inch forward was a war. Her muscles—what little bug anatomy she had left—were failing her. Even panic was becoming too expensive to afford.

Her tunnel began to curve downward, unintentionally spiraling into a deeper network of earth. Rocks tumbled around her. A root snapped. A crack echoed behind her.

Then, she felt it.

Something grabbed her leg.

She froze.

"…nope."

The goblin's fingers were clammy. Calloused. Unhygienic.

Aya's eyes went wide. "NOPE—NOPE—WE DON'T DO THAT—"

With an excited grunt, the goblin yanked.

Aya was pulled backward like a carrot caught in a reverse gardening tutorial. The earth around her crumbled. Her body twisted, kicking wildly—but she was too slow, too weak. Her mandibles snapped at the air as she was dragged back through the tunnel she'd just fought to create.

Out she popped—SPLOOSH!—into a cramped underground chamber, lit by flickering fungus and filled with at least five goblins, all of them varying in degrees of ugly.

She landed face-first with a dusty thud.

"…I hate my life."

A goblin hooted and raised her up like a trophy. She dangled, limbs limp, antenna twitching like sad noodles. Her exoskeleton was chipped, her body smeared with dirt, her dignity somewhere between "public bathroom floor" and "expired sandwich."

One goblin leaned close, sniffed her with an audible SNRK.

Aya: "…DON'T YOU DARE."

Another licked its cracked lips.

Aya: "STOP. I SWEAR I'M TOXIC. LITERALLY AND SOCIALLY."

The goblin holding her opened its mouth.

Aya stared into the abyss—into a disgusting tunnel of cracked teeth, rotted gums, and the smell of graveyard-flavored onion breath.

Aya: "NOT LIKE THIS! I TASTE LIKE REGRET AND INSECTICIDE!"

She tried to thrash. Nothing. Her stamina was too far gone. Her body was just a glorified sack of protein now, dangling like a Happy Meal in front of starving gremlins.

And then—

CRUNCH.

A sound like thunder and bone.

The goblin holding her vanished.

Not "walked away."

Vanished.

One second it was in front of her, the next it was slammed against a stalagmite across the chamber, limbs twisted at wrong angles, face contorted mid-scream.

Aya hit the ground.

Hard.

She blinked.

The goblins blinked.

Then they all turned.

Standing at the mouth of a jagged tunnel was a monster—a beast so alien it looked like evolution gave up and just scribbled "danger noodle with claws." Its body was long, serpentine, and covered in coarse, dark fur. Blood dripped from its jagged fangs. Its eyes—red, glowing, void of soul—focused on the goblins like a child staring at cookies it didn't want to share.

Aya: "…Oh no."

The goblins screamed.

The beast roared.

Weapons were raised. Spit flew. A goblin threw a bone club and hit another goblin in the face.

Chaos.

Absolute chaos.

Aya didn't move.

She couldn't.

Every fiber in her body was frozen, locked between terror and exhaustion.

But her brain, traitorous as ever, offered commentary anyway.

Aya: "Okay. That's fine. Let them kill each other. I'll just… lie here. Nap a little. No one eats the dead, right? That's not a thing?"

The monster lunged, jaws snapping. A goblin's head disappeared.

Aya: "…Nope. I'm not here. I'm dirt. I am a humble patch of moss. Please ignore me."

Another goblin was torn apart.

Aya shifted, trying to crawl, dragging her limp legs under her.

Her claws scraped uselessly across stone. She tried to breathe, but each inhale was a wheeze.

"I just… need to move. A little. Just enough to hide…"

She didn't.

Instead, she collapsed again.

Her eyes fluttered.

The world spun.

The sounds of slaughter echoed louder.

Aya's thoughts faded into white noise.

Aya Gets YOINKED Like a Carrot

Aya made the worst mistake of her short, violently reanimated insect life.

She stopped. Just for a second.

Just to breathe. Just to suck in one mouthful of dust-choked air and maybe convince her shrieking body that death wasn't guaranteed today.

That was enough.

A goblin arm burst through the dirt behind her like a sewer-themed horror movie jump scare.

Aya: "NO, WAIT—"

Too late.

Thick, clammy, dirt-caked fingers latched onto her rear leg with gleeful violence and yanked.

YANKED.

Like a toddler discovering gardening for the first time and absolutely ruining a carrot's day.

Aya's body was ripped backward through the tunnel with a spray of soil and a very undignified SKRRT as her legs flailed like a drowning cockroach. Her mandibles clicked open in full panic. Her limbs scrambled. She twisted, bit, screamed.

Aya: "STOP—STOOOOP—THIS IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL!" "WHERE IS MY DUE PROCESS?!"

The goblin did not care.

The goblin had the emotional intelligence of wet toast.

With a final yank, Aya popped out of the dirt like a cork—and landed, upside down, in the goblin's grubby hands.

The air reeked of moss, rusted blood, and someone's unwashed armpit.

The goblin grinned. Its teeth looked like they'd been cleaned with rocks and regret. Cracks ran between its yellowed fangs. Something was stuck between two molars. It might have been a bone. It might have been a rat. It was better not to think about.

Aya twisted and bit the goblin's wrist with everything she had left.

It was like chewing an old boot.

Aya: "LET ME GO, YOU SLIME-COVERED DENTAL NIGHTMARE!"

Her attack was useless. Ticklish, maybe. More like an aggressive massage from a dying beetle.

The goblin roared and lifted her higher, one arm up, flailing her around like she was a prize at a demented carnival. She dangled upside-down, her limbs too exhausted to fight, her exoskeleton scratched and mud-caked.

Aya: "…You're seriously proud of this? Of me? I am the crust on the underbelly of failure. I am an expired snack."

The goblin didn't speak Human. Or English. Or any language that understood sarcasm.

It turned toward the rest of its ragged little tribe—three more goblins emerging from the tunnel like roaches at a free buffet—and raised her in triumph.

"GRUGHH!" the goblin howled.

A cheer went up. Weapons clanged. One goblin held up a rusty ladle like it was a sacred artifact.

Aya stared at them all with the most profound expression of dead-eyed disbelief she could muster.

Aya: "…That better not mean 'DINNER.'" "…I swear to all the gods above, I will bite your eyes. I will uninstall your eyeballs."

The goblins just cackled.

One started pulling out firewood.

Another pulled out a… pot?

Aya: "…Are you joking right now. Is this actually happening. Are you about to stew me like a cursed roach soup?!"

A goblin licked its lips.

Another leaned in and sniffed her. Audibly.

Aya gagged.

Aya: "OH NO—NO, NOPE. WE'RE NOT DOING THIS. YOU SMELL LIKE A MILDEWED SOCK FILLED WITH SHAME AND DEAD FROGS."

The goblin holding her slapped her lightly. Not enough to hurt, but enough to make her bounce like a limp plush toy.

Aya: "YOU WANNA GO? I'LL SUE YOU. I'LL FIND A JUNGLE LAWYER. I'LL WRITE MY OWN LAWS AND THEN SUE YOU UNDER THEM!"

The goblins were already ignoring her now, passing her between them like some kind of insect-shaped hot potato. She flopped from hand to hand, dignity leaking out like a punctured soda can.

Status Warning: SP 1/100 – Movement Locked. IP 10/100 – Neurological functions impaired. You are now classified as 'Captive Prey.'(Would you like to scream internally? Y/N)

Aya: "Yes. Yes, I would like to scream internally. Please queue it on repeat."

One of the goblins pulled out a stick. Pointed it at her.

She glared.

Aya: "Touch me with that and I swear I will manifest new organs just to vomit on your shoes."

And then—

The goblin smacked the stick on the ground and began chanting.

Aya's brain froze.

Magic? Do goblins have magic?!

Aya: "Oh no. Not goblin voodoo. Not again."

The chanting grew louder. The other goblins joined in.

The pot was heating up.

The goblin holding her raised her higher.

Aya: "…This is actually happening. I'm going to die in a pot. Cooked alive. Like a mutated ramen noodle. This is how I go."

Then the cave shook.

Hard.

Rocks tumbled from the ceiling. A gust of stale, angry wind rushed through the chamber. The torches flickered.

The goblins stopped.

They looked around.

Aya twisted her head toward the new tunnel opening on the far wall.

And saw it.

Saw them.

A shadow. Long. Fanged. Crawling. Something big. Something wrong.

Aya's mandibles slowly clicked shut.

Aya: "…Thank you, universe. Thank you for replacing death-by-goblin with something worse."

Aya About to Become a Midnight Snack

The goblins circled like greedy rats at a garbage fire.

One stepped forward, hunched low, sniffing her like a raccoon encountering a questionable sandwich.

Aya's whole body twitched.

Aya:"...DON'T YOU DARE."

Its nose twitched. Its pustule-covered nostrils flared. It let out a delighted grunt, like a pig discovering rotten fruit.

Aya:"I SWEAR TO EVERY HIGHER POWER—"

Another goblin waddled up beside it, licking its lips with a tongue so burnt and shriveled it looked like it'd survived a BBQ. Its eyes glinted with excitement. Or hunger. Or both.

Aya:"I SAID DON'T YOU DARE."

The first goblin leaned in.

It opened its mouth.

Teeth.Too many.Crooked.Stained with the color of sins.One was gold. Another was missing. Something squirmed in the back.

Aya saw her life flash before her eyes. It was mostly dirt and screaming.

Aya:"OH COME ON! NOT LIKE THIS!""I TASTE HORRIBLE! I'M ALL BONE AND BITTERNESS!"

She thrashed wildly in the goblin's grip, twisting her body side to side like a dying fish trapped in a bad video game animation. Her legs flailed, her mandibles clicked, and her antennae pointed straight up in sheer primal terror.

Aya:"PUT ME DOWN! I HAVE A DISEASE! I HAVE MANY DISEASES! I'M BASICALLY A WALKING WARNING LABEL!"

She twisted harder, trying to bite something vital—an eye, a finger, a soul—anything. She was ready to go full feral.

And then—

WHAM.

A blur of something dark, fast, and very angry slammed into the goblin like a living wrecking ball. The air cracked with the sound of bones shattering and breath exploding from lungs that didn't have time to scream.

The goblin didn't even finish its stupid drool-filled smile.

It just flew.

Straight into a nearby stalagmite.

CRACK.

The noise was wet. Final. Satisfying. Horrifying.

Aya hit the floor with a thud, limbs sprawled like she'd just rage-quit reality. She blinked once. Twice. Her body twitched with the grace of a squished pancake.

Aya:"…What just happened?""…Did—did God punch that goblin for me?"

Her brain refused to catch up.

The other goblins were screeching, weapons half-drawn, spittle flying. They were backing away. Whimpering. Panic set in. It reeked worse than they did.

Aya's head lolled to the side.

And then she saw it.

The thing that had saved her.

That definitely wasn't here to help.

Standing at the mouth of the tunnel—outlined by the flickering glow of bioluminescent mushrooms—was a monster so wrong, Aya's internal monologue just blue-screened.

It had the body of a wolf, but stretched out—long, sinuous, wrong. A tail like a whip. Shoulders too wide. Limbs like twisted tree trunks. Black fur covered its entire frame, matted with dried gore and old scars that pulsed faintly with a sickly green glow.

Its eyes glowed red. Not red like a sunset. Red like rage. Like blood under moonlight.

And when it snarled—

Aya heard voices in it.Whispers.Like it had eaten something once that still hadn't stopped screaming.

Aya:"…Oh.""…OH."

The creature stepped forward, claws clicking against the stone. Each step echoed like a countdown.

The goblins shrieked, trying to regroup. One swung a rusted sword. Another threw a rock. A third dropped his weapon and ran.

None of it mattered.

The beast lunged.

Teeth like jagged spears.Claws like blades.Speed like a living nightmare.It moved like the world had been waiting for it to start killing again.

CHOMP.

One goblin vanished in a blur of fur and shriek.

SLASH.

Another went down in a spray of red. Something hit the wall with a wet splop.

Aya lay still, wide-eyed, twitching.

Aya:"I should leave.""I should leave now.""…No. I should've left yesterday."

But she couldn't move. Her limbs wouldn't listen. Her body screamed in pain. Her status bar flickered.

Warning: SP 0/100 – Full Paralysis.Mental Alertness: 30%.Horror-Induced Numbness – Active.Tip: Accept your fate with grace or flailing. You've earned both.

Aya: "Great. That's just—great. I survive goblins just to be dessert for a spaghetti wolf."

The monster tore through the last goblin with all the elegance of a blender full of meat.

Silence followed.

Heavy, horrible silence.

The beast turned slowly, its massive form illuminated by the blood-slick stone and pale glow of fungi.

Its glowing eyes landed on her.

Aya:

"…N-NOPE. NO THANK YOU. I'M A DECORATION. A ROCK. I'M DEAD. SUPER DEAD. I AM THE FLOOR NOW."

The beast stepped forward.

Aya's heart tried to leap out of her body and escape first. Her mandibles twitched in protest.

Closer.

Closer.

Its breath hit her face. Hot. Metallic. Wrong.

Aya (internally screaming):"This is it. I'm going to be eaten twice. Eaten by goblins, then re-eaten by goblin killer. This is recursive death."

The monster leaned down.

Sniffed her.

Paused.

Sniffed again.

Aya froze.

And then—

It turned away.

Ignored her.

Walked into the tunnel darkness with one last low growl that rumbled through her bones like a curse.

Gone.

Aya: "…Huh?""…WAIT, NO—COME BACK! I HAVE QUESTIONS! WHY AM I ALIVE?!"

She was left lying in a goblin massacre, surrounded by puddles, broken bones, and trauma.

Aya: "…That's it. I'm never stopping to breathe again."

Aya Is Still Useless and Cannot Leave

She forced herself to stand.

Her limbs trembled like noodles left too long in boiling water. Her legs felt like they'd been borrowed from a dying spider—brittle, shaky, wrong. Her body screamed with a thousand micro-fractures and muscle spasms.

But Aya—Aya Kurose, ex-office worker, bug-girl extraordinaire, queen of dumb survival decisions—stood up.

Kind of.

Her right leg bent.

Her left twitched.

She took one step forward—

And collapsed like a folding chair under a sumo wrestler.

Face-first.

Aya:"…Oh no."

Behind her, all hell detonated in full stereo.

Goblins shrieked, high and sharp, their voices laced with raw terror.

The beast—no, that demon-furred nightmare from the evolutionary trash bin—roared, a sound like a chainsaw chewing through bones underwater.

Metal clanged. Flesh split. Something exploded. Something else gurgled.

Aya twitched.Her body spasmed in time with the screaming.

Aya:"…This is fine.""…This is great.""…I'm not going to die here. Nope. I'm just going to become a blood pancake under some random monster's clawed foot and haunt the next idiot insect that tries to evolve."

She couldn't move.

Not from fear.

But from sheer, unadulterated exhaustion.Her stamina was gone. Her HP was critical. Her soul had already started the checkout process from her body and was just waiting for the receipt.

[SYSTEM STATUS]SP: 0/100 – Movement LockedHP: 13/340 – Critical[Bloodied] [Exhausted] [Trauma-Stunned]You are 1 (ONE) strong breeze away from spontaneous death.Congratulations!

Aya: "I hate everything."

The stone beneath her felt colder than death. Every heartbeat echoed in her head like a drum solo composed by an over-caffeinated goblin.

The tunnel shook.

Bones cracked. A skull hit the floor nearby with a soft thunk, like an apple dropped from a great height. It rolled past her face, one eye still wide, as if it too couldn't believe how stupid this all was.

Aya:"…That's fine. Skulls are friends now. That's my new roommate."

She turned her head just enough to catch the flickering glow of the mushrooms above her.

They pulsed, pale and ghostly, casting strange shadows on the ceiling that danced like mocking spirits. The blood from the fight flowed past her, warm and sticky, like some awful underground river of broken dreams.

Aya's mandibles twitched.

She didn't even have the strength to flail anymore.

All she could do was exist. Weakly. Pathetically. In her own personal flavor of hell.

Aya:"…Maybe this is my true final form. Aya the Floor. I don't evolve. I just… degrade."

The battle raged on behind her, growing louder and more chaotic with each passing second.

Another scream—cut off mid-breath.

A thud—closer.

Then silence.

A silence so thick it clung to the walls like humidity, oppressive and full of promise: the promise that something worse was about to happen.

Aya didn't even lift her head.

She just whispered into the dirt.

Aya:"…Please let them forget I exist."

[Skill: Survival Instinct Lvl. 3 – PASSIVE ACTIVATED]Camouflage by Despair: You are so pitiful, the predator has emotionally disengaged.Success rate: 42%Luck check pending…

Aya: "…Forty-two percent? That's it?! That's less than my high school math grades!"

Footsteps.

Heavy. Sloshing. Sniffing.

Aya froze. Her blood ran cold. Her eyes locked on a tiny beetle crawling past her face.

The beast was close.Too close.

Breathing. Panting. Hot, animal breath coated her back like a fever.

Aya: "…Okay. Okayokayokayokayokayokay—"

[Luck Check: FAIL]

Something nudged her side.

A claw? A paw? A cursed limb from the netherworld?

She didn't look.

She didn't breathe.

Aya:"Be dead. Be still. Be useless. I am the most unappetizing pile of trauma in this tunnel. I am nothing. I am a rejected evolution candidate. I am less tasty than moldy centipede guts—"

The beast growled.

Low.

Deep.

Like thunder rolled through its chest.

Aya stared at the mushroom light, eyes dry, heart still.

Aya (quietly):"If I survive this, I'm becoming vegetarian. No more bug meat. Just moss and regret."

Then—

The beast snorted.

Turned.

Walked away.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Silence.

Aya lay there, frozen.

Ten seconds passed.

Twenty.

Her body twitched.

Aya:"…Am I alive?""…Wait—am I still alive?"

She rolled slightly, limbs limp, mandibles opening in sheer disbelief.

Aya:"…That's it. I'm done. I'm retiring. From what? I don't know. But I'm retiring from it."

Her vision flickered. Mushrooms dimmed. Blood cooled.

Aya stared into the dark, broken, monster-corpse-strewn tunnel and whispered the only prayer that made sense:

Aya:"…Please, for the love of bug Jesus, let the ground swallow me."