Abhay was stunned by the effects of the potion. As he sat in the corner of the cave, watching the last of his burns and wounds disappear, he whispered, "System, this potion is great... but can't I get it for a little cheaper?"
SYSTEM: NO.
He sighed, shaking his head, and continued downward into the depths of the Goblin Cave. Upon entering the fourth underground floor, he found it filled with edible items. At least, that's what the System labeled them. But Abhay hadn't seen anything like them in his entire life—strange, brightly colored fruits, oily slabs of meat from unidentifiable creatures, and piles of nuts that pulsed faintly.
He moved forward cautiously, stepping over alien snacks, and descended into the fifth underground floor. This floor was a stark contrast—bones of different monsters littered the area, and large pots filled with blood, flesh, and other unidentifiable substances sat in clusters. The smell was nauseating. The System noted that the substances were being used as fuel.
When he arrived at the sixth floor, he paused. It was almost completely empty, though smaller in size than the previous ones. The only structure in the entire space was a narrow slope that led upward to a high point on the same floor.
Abhay narrowed his eyes. He dragged a large boulder from the corner and rolled it into place at the entrance to the seventh underground floor, blocking it. Then he activated the gauntlet, opened a crack in the fabric, and stepped through.
He returned to his rented apartment. Moving quickly, he picked up three cans filled with petrol and slung a portable speaker into his bag.
When he stepped back into the Goblin Cave, he got to work immediately. At the center of the sixth floor, he dug a wide pit using his shovel, placed the speaker in the middle, and climbed to the top of the slope with the cans of petrol.
Settling in behind a rock, he pulled out his phone and grinned.
"Time for the classics."
He opened his playlist: Bollywood ka Sada Bahar Geet, and hit play.
The sound echoed through the cave like a siren. Within minutes, a group of goblins—drawn by the music—appeared. Ten Goblin Grunts and twenty-five Goblin Soldiers stomped their way onto the floor, snarling and armed. As they approached the pit, Abhay tensed behind the rock.
He waited until all of them were inside the pit. The speaker sat there, blaring music as if mocking them. Abhay hurled two cans of petrol down. The goblins, sensing danger, struck the cans with their weapons, cutting them open and splashing petrol all over themselves.
Perfect.
He flicked open a lighter, whispered, "Rest in pieces," and dropped it in.
A roar of flame burst upward as the goblins howled in agony. The cave filled with the scent of burning flesh and smoke. It was chaos. They thrashed, screamed, and clawed to escape, but there was no mercy.
Eventually, the last one stopped moving.
SYSTEM: 10 Goblin Grunts killed — EXP +100
SYSTEM: 25 Goblin Soldiers killed — EXP +875
But there was no time to rest. From the seventh floor, three Goblin Shamans emerged, having forcefully displaced the boulder blocking their path. They strode into the chaos with no hesitation, their eyes glowing as they prepared spells.
Before they could act, a large chunk of burning debris came flying toward them—launched from the pit by an explosion of pressure. One Shaman raised his hand and used wind magic to slice it in half, but the force sprayed them with blood and flesh, momentarily blinding them.
Abhay leaped from his hiding spot. With one swift kick, he knocked the first Shaman into the pit. The other two stumbled back, but Abhay hurled two more barrels of their stored fuel, sending them tumbling down with a heavy splash.
He followed up by throwing every last container of fuel he could find into the pit. The fire roared even higher. The entire floor trembled with the ferocity of the blaze.
Eventually, silence.
SYSTEM: 3 Goblin Shamans killed — EXP +90
Abhay stumbled back, sweat pouring down his face from the heat. The pit crackled and hissed, thick black smoke rising to choke the cavern. He covered his nose and mouth, dragging large bundles of stored wood into the inferno for good measure.
One by one, he sealed off each floor—from the sixth all the way up to the first—using debris and fallen goblin bodies to block the entrances. The smoke couldn't escape, nor could any other goblin flee upward.
Finally, he climbed out of the cave and slumped down on the branch of a tree just outside. As the last flickers of fire licked the sky through the cracks, he unwrapped the burger his aunt had packed for him and took a bite.
"Nothing like a little Bollywood and barbecue," he muttered, chewing slowly.