Seungeun trembled and quivered in horror at the sight of the two towering sculptures. It seemed like a nightmare. The sculptures, with two pairs of piercing crimson eyes, locked onto him.
He could feel the bloodthirstiness emanating from the moving sculptures.
'Ah, fuck.'
"Kekeke…"
They laughed as if discovering a new and exciting toy.
With a mace in one hand and a shield in the other, one of the fully armored statues moved towards him.
A different statue, more feminine in appearance, was wearing a robe and holding a harp. She had an evil smile on her face, but her face was carved to look angelic.
As the first statue lunged towards him, Seungeun instinctively dodged its mace, narrowly evading the bone-crushing impact that cracked the ground beneath him. 'A second late, and I would have been crushed!'
He could hear his ribs pounding as he ran, driven by a rush of adrenaline. With a few steps, the statues—which were about the size of four-story buildings—closed the gap. Their feet were large enough to crush him in a single step.
The statues didn't attack him seriously, treating him like a mouse they could capture at any moment.
Seungeun picked up a blade he saw lying on the ground. 'Wait, how on earth was I going to fight a statue with a sword?'
The last time he had a physical fight, it was when he was being made fun of by one of his old classmates. Seungeun punched him back, of course. But even in that instance, he had never touched a sword; he came from a place where carrying a weapon was strictly forbidden.
The bronze statue sprang forward, swinging its blade with lethal precision. Seungeun prepared to defend, and their weapons collided, resonating through the air as sparks flew.
A golden halo immediately surrounded him as the impact sent him flying against the wall. The armor plate gleamed and created a shield, but the sword he used to block the blow was destroyed.
"Damn, of course I can't fight it with a sword."
Seungeun's armor prevented him from taking much damage, allowing him to move his limbs.
The sitting statue was in the center of the chamber, surrounded by several standing sculptures.
Hiding behind a standing sculpture, he watched as the female harpist statue plucked the strings. The armored statue hesitated to strike the standing ones.
Suddenly, the harp statue's smile vanished. If the feminine statue's face had been angelic before, it now had a demonic appearance.
It struck the harp with force, hitting the standing statue's arm.
Seungeun ran away to avoid the falling debris.
Stone fell stone after stone from the sky as if it were raining boulders. Along with it, Seungeun had to carefully dodge a massive statue's severed head that was rolling on the ground.
He gave the head with the weeping face a quick glance. "I'm sorry, and thank you for your sacrifice."
He focused on the relentless attack on the female statue, sharpening his senses in the process.
Amidst the falling stones, a gigantic statue with bulging muscles and spears emerged from a side door, eyes fastened on him.
'Another one?!'
Seungeun wanted to cry but he didn't have the time to do so.
A jumpscare made him utter a string of expletives as the hefty statue charged without hesitation. Sidestepping, he avoided a terrible strike but felt the golden aura that surrounded him breach as the attacks grew more aggressive.
This large statue charged at Seungeun without hesitation, in contrast to the statues of the warrior and the one with the harp. Its heavy footsteps were booming across the air.
The spear it brandished stabbed the ground close to where he stood with such force, but the wind was strong enough to knock him off his feet.
Though he quickly sidestepped, he was struck by a terrible blow that would have cut him in half. The same golden aura that had surrounded him earlier began to crackle in his armor as he was flung to the ground.
'Fuck, what should I do?'
Sweat was streaming down his brow, and his muscles ached from the strenuous exercise. The relentless pressure of the assault tested his resolve and endurance to the point where he almost gave up.
'Is there nothing else I can do? I remember the people in the group who abandoned me here saying something about magic. Even though it seems absurd, it's already absurd enough that there are statues hunting me aggressively. This is my last resort. Even if this fails, it will be the end of me.'
Seungeun had seen and read a lot of fantasy themes about magic, so he was familiar with the fundamentals. He directed the energy that was coursing through his body—which he thought was magical power—through both of his hands and toward the statues.
"Rasengan!"
A powerful light broke the massive statue's leg, causing it to topple and producing a small earthquake.
"Oh, I'm actually powerful?" Seungeun was flabbergasted.
His hands trembled as if every bone in them was fractured. His blow missed the head by a wide margin, and as the adrenaline wore off, the injuries hit him.
The other sculptures grew furious, with the harp statue plucking its strings again and the warrior statue chasing. Pushing through pain, Seungeun headed towards the entrance where the group had exited.
The wind blew as the mace impaled the floor. Seungeun momentarily halted and resumed running, two statues trailing behind.
Sprinting, eyes gleaming, he made an amateur mistake—showing his back. Something swiftly approached, too late to avoid. Something hit him hard, and he thought, 'This time I'm completely dead,' as he passed out.
...
Rosa looked at the boy on the bed and said pitifully, "Poor child, those monsters inside the dungeon were probably too much for him and his friends."
"I know who he is, Grandma! He's the useless and bad person in the hero's party. I saw how the adventurers had already left the village without any wounds, while he's the one who got beaten up by the monsters." Rosa's grandchild, Jake, spoke while molding clay across the room.
"This child…" Rosa walked towards the boy and smacked him on the head.
Shocked and incredulous, Jake raised his head from his clay. "Grandma, why did you hit me?"
"Stop talking nonsense. Didn't he also help in the dungeon's clearing? He is still putting his life in danger by going in there. We won't be able to live safely unless we have heroes like him to keep an eye out for those monsters in the mountains."
"But, still... that's what people in the village said, and even my friends heard that the adventurers also don't like him."
Rosa sighed as she changed the topic and grabbed the basket on the chair. "I'm going into town to get some bread and mutton. Take care of him properly."
"Oh, I want lots of apples!"
"Alright, alright..."
She closed the door behind her, leaving the two boys alone in the small room.
Seungeun groggily opened his eyes and saw an unfamiliar wooden ceiling. In contrast to his bed that he used back in his apartment, the mattress underneath was hard and uncomfortable for him.
On his left, there was a window with small cracks in it. He looked to the opposite side and noticed a young child seated in a chair with his back turned on him.
Seungeun massaged his eyes and got up, but a stinging ache ripped through his entire body. "Ugh!"
Jake threw down the clay and rushed over to Seungeun, saying, "Don't move so suddenly! Miss Celia said you shouldn't move too much since you were hurt pretty badly."
Jake appeared to be around ten years old. He was dressed in an old t-shirt and shorts, as well as a pair of slippers. His dark hair was strewn across his head. A pair of large green eyes stared at Seungeun.
Seungeun blinked my eyes as he stared at the unfamiliar boy. "This... is not a dream?"
"Ha...?" Jake showed a puzzled look. "Why would this be a dream? Did the monster hit your head too hard and make you stupid?"
The corner of Seungeun's mouth twitched. "No, it's just that it all seems so unbelievable."
He took in the strange circumstances as he cast a glance around the room. "Where am I?"
"The adventurer brought you when he saw you sleep outside the dungeon, and grandma has been taking care of you here for the past three days. Oh, the village leader came on the first day together with Miss Celia."
Seungeun recalled that the force that hit his back seemed like it knocked his soul out of his body. 'It's a miracle that I'm still alive.'
When he looked down at his body, all that could be seen were bandages and some plain clothing; the armor was absent. He took a peek at the bedside table, where the chest plate armor was cracked. It couldn't be used anymore. The only number of times it could withstand an attack was three.
Seungeun turned back his attention to Jake and asked, "Where is this house located?"
"It's Tudella village! Remember when you and the others stayed at the inn nearby before going inside the dungeon?" Jake cocked his head, his brows wrinkled, as if to ask, "What's wrong with you?"
Seungeun couldn't remember doing anything the boy said. The last thing he remembered was reading a novel before he went to sleep.
"No, it can't be..."
He stood up, his body aching from the pain that coursed through him. With great effort, he made his way to the window.
As he looked out, he was met with a bustling sight that felt entirely different from the 21st century he knew.
Down below, the streets were teeming with vibrant energy. People strolled by, dressed in clothes that seemed out of sync with time.
The vendors were opening their stalls. They arranged their wares, preparing for the day ahead. The sound of voices, laughter, and occasional haggling filled the air, painting a vivid picture of life.
It dawned on him that somehow he had been transported to a different era, far removed from the modern place he knew so well, leaving him with a mix of curiosity, confusion, and a touch of unease.
'I got Isekai-ed?! But the most important thing is… Which novel did I reincarnate into?'