Warhammer: I Don't Want to Become a Stinky Can!!!

In Barbarus, at night, within a medium-sized village.

Hades held his crossbow tightly, his back against the earthen wall, aiming steadily at the doorway. His entire body was tense, completely motionless.

Outside the door came faint giggles and rustling sounds. The wooden door seemed to be scratched by fingernails, while yellowish-green poison gas seeped relentlessly through the door cracks into the room.

Hades stared at the entrance.

An unnaturally long, thin, and pallid finger extended through the top of the door crack, covered in black-purple slime.

It slid downward unhurriedly, moving to the position of the door bolt. The moment the slime touched the iron bolt, rust instantly crept over the metal. A relatively new iron bolt suddenly became corroded and spotted.

Hades calculated his timing and raised his crossbow. He had only one chance.

The giggling sound rose again, brushing past Hades' ears.

The finger flicked downward, cutting through the door bolt as smoothly as if it were tofu. The bolt fell to the ground with a dull thud, ending its functional life.

An enormous, grotesque humanoid face pressed against the top of the door and peered in, its pale pupil occupying half its face as it curiously surveyed the room, searching for its toy.

In a flash, the moment the aberration poked its head into the room, Hades instantly pulled the trigger. The arrow flew straight toward that ridiculously large eye!

Simultaneously, without hesitation, Hades grabbed his dagger, holding the crossbow in one hand and the blade in the other, charging toward the doorway. This creature, known as a Pale Laugher, had a body like a long-legged spider. Even if it blocked the door, Hades could escape by running beneath its legs!

Hades had planned it out—once outside, he would run toward the cornfield. These aberrations weren't the slave capture squads of the Lords, just creatures that wandered in toxic mists in groups with low intelligence, attacking villages only for food.

Ordinary Pale Laughers wouldn't leave their group, and they moved slowly. This meant that if Hades could escape their line of sight and get beyond the monsters' hunting circle, he'd have a chance of survival!

The eerie smiling face seemed unaware of Hades' resistance as the arrow pierced straight through the monster's pupil.

"Hssshahahahahahaaaaaah!!!"

Deep red blood spurted from the eye, caught in the doorway, the monster's legs thrashing wildly! The immense pain made the smile on its human-like face even more disturbing!

Hades ran out beneath the monster's feet, deflecting the frantically flailing long legs with his dagger, but his left arm still took a heavy blow! Blood splattered!

Escaping the house, Hades saw four or five more Pale Laughers wandering throughout the village, holding corpses high above their heads. He recognized Heidila, who used to play with him—her internal organs spilled across a Pale Laugher's face, her limbs still struggling—

Hades felt his teeth bite through his lower lip, a trickle of blood flowing out as anger and resentment gripped him simultaneously. His mind raced—

—The difference in power was too great; he could only flee.

Without any hesitation, adrenaline heightening his senses to the extreme, he desperately ran toward the white cornfield outside the village. His heart pounded furiously, the wind rushing past his ears.

The Pale Laugher chased closely behind him, its insect-like pointed feet digging into the soft earth with scraping sounds.

Hades could feel its rage as the monster screamed behind him.

—Almost there!

Hades leapt into the towering cornfield. The corn leaves painfully scratched his face, but he ran desperately without caring about anything, while the poisonous mist churned around him—he was running toward areas of denser poison, but he had no choice!

When you are weak, you can do nothing but run!

...

Hades didn't know how long he had been running. He just kept going and going and going. The sounds behind him gradually diminished, the hoarse roars fading into the distance until only the sound of wind and the rustling of corn leaves remained.

—The monster had turned back—

These herd-dwelling creatures wouldn't venture too far alone. On Barbarus's food chain, they were also mid-to-lower tier.

He had gambled correctly.

When Hades reached the cornfield at the village's outermost edge, he stopped running.

As the adrenaline wore off, Hades' chest ached severely. He didn't know if this was from his pounding heart or from inhaling too much poisonous gas—or possibly both.

His legs trembled. Blood trickled steadily from his left arm, and under the influence of the poison gas, the wound had already begun showing signs of infection.

Hades first surveyed his surroundings, confirming there were no monsters nearby.

He tried tearing his clothes to bandage himself. On Barbarus, bleeding was extremely dangerous—it meant you could be more easily discovered by predators and that poison gas could enter your wounds and kill you.

This was why Hades decided to bandage himself first before finding shelter for the night. Wandering around bleeding was not a good choice.

He tried several times but found his hands almost frozen—they remained rigidly locked in the position of gripping the dagger and crossbow.

He had to wait a little longer, striving to regain control of his hands. Finally, sensation returned, and he used his dagger to cut off a piece from the bottom of his undershirt to make a simple bandage for his left arm.

No herbs, damn it. He forgot to bring them.

Finally, he shook his left arm. Blood stained the torn sleeve, and the smell of blood remained, but the bleeding had stopped.

There was no way to clean the wound or wash away the blood smell. All directly accessible water on Barbarus was contaminated; drinkable water needed to be filtered in advance.

Hades realized he had been too careless. He could have brought a water flask and herbs, but being suddenly attacked, he had only grabbed weapons and a gas mask.

He had been too reckless.

This meant the time ahead would be difficult.

Hades gritted his teeth. Now, there wasn't a single part of his body that didn't hurt. The little thin gruel he had for dinner was completely inadequate for his recent exertion. His limbs felt weak, and his mind was hazy.

Which meant that even if attacked by a poisonous toad now, he would be done for.

He reloaded his crossbow, tucked it back into his coat, and took his knife, limping through the cornfield. He knew there was a newly dug small grave pit nearby in the cornfield, with carts containing dead bodies. He could find some cover there.

However, Barbarus never showed mercy to the weak.

Noisy sounds arose from the distance. Hades quickly ducked deeper into the cornfield. Half-crawling, he pressed his hand firmly over his wound to prevent the smell of blood from escaping.

As time passed, Hades could clearly distinguish those sounds.

Footsteps, wailing, the distinctive rumbling of steam vehicles, the clattering of tank treads.

Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!!!

It was the goddamn high-level Xenos Lord's slave capture squad!!!

Was Hades really going to die here today??!!

Those puppets enchanted by the lords, though lacking reason, could easily detect the smell of blood in the poisonous gas. Hades no longer hoped to avoid being discovered.

Instantly, a massive net soaked in venom fell precisely onto Hades' head.

Hades didn't struggle—he couldn't break free from this kind of trap by himself. He could only make the desperate choice to remain still temporarily and conserve his strength.

He was dragged out of the cornfield and roughly stuffed into an overcrowded cargo compartment.

He numbly looked around—men, women, old, young—everyone was crying in despair.

There was no chance of winning, not the slightest chance. The power difference was too enormous in this world filled with absolute malice.

This was the world of Warhammer, where weakness had always been the original sin.

He couldn't save anyone. He couldn't even save himself.

Despair and exhaustion simultaneously gripped Hades, and he passed out.

Today, Hades also cried like a little imp who had his toe stepped on.