"Ouch…"
What just happened?
Did I get sucked into my own closet?
I shook my confused head, stood up, and looked around.
"Is this… a cave?"
I was standing in a wide, cave-like space.
It was big enough to fit my entire room inside.
I hadn't just broken through the closet into the other side.
If that had happened, I'd be standing in my apartment's bathroom, based on the layout.
The ground under my feet was rough stone.
The ceiling was high, so high I couldn't touch it even if I jumped.
"What the hell is going on!?"
The air was damp and heavy. Dim, too.
Faint light came from glowing mushrooms and moss growing on the cave walls,
which was the only reason I could see at all.
"Okay… I have to stay calm. Should I call the police? Maybe take a picture?"
When you're lost, they say it's best not to move around too much.
I pulled out my smartphone.
Would it even make sense to call and say, "I got lost inside my house or inside my closet"? Who knows.
"Huh? It's not turning on!? I was just talking on it earlier…"
The phone wouldn't respond. The screen was black.
Even when I pressed the power button, nothing happened.
Crap. Did it break?
*Kuaghrrr!*
Just then, I heard a sound in the distance.
"Hmm? Did I just hear something?"
It sounded like an animal.
A creepy, high-pitched screech, like a monkey going mad.
From the cave's large room, there was one passageway leading further in.
That weird screech was coming from that direction.
And I could hear footsteps getting closer…
*Gyaa!*
"What the—!?"
Something appeared in the passage, letting out a horrible scream.
It wasn't a monkey!
It was something else. Something I had never seen before.
Humanoid. Small body. Green skin.
Short horns growing from its head.
If it has horns, then… is it a demon?
No, that doesn't seem right.
It was a creature that shouldn't exist in the modern world. A monster.
But… I knew this thing.
I had never seen one in real life, of course,
but I recognized it from manga and anime.
"That's… a goblin. The kind you always see in fantasy. Which means… this is some kind of a dungeon!?"
So my closet connects to a dungeon.
And that dungeon has monsters.
As I stood there frozen, the goblin bared its teeth and roared at me.
"Grahhh!"
It clearly saw me as an enemy.
With a loud yell, it rushed forward, swinging a club.
Now wasn't the time to be confused or thinking things over!
"Wait, I'm not ready for this!"
I stepped back slowly.
Even though the goblin was small, it had a weapon.
I wasn't mentally prepared to fight something like that.
But of course, the goblin didn't care how I felt.
"Gyahhh!"
Spitting and screaming, the goblin jumped at me.
I dodged the club just in time and leapt back.
Behind me was a dark, liquid-like surface.
It was the same one I had seen in the closet.
If that's the entrance, then it should take me back!
I stepped back further and dove into the black surface.
*Whoosh!*
My vision went dark.
....
....
"Huh? I-I'm back! I made it back!"
I was standing in my apartment room again.
Somehow, I had returned.
I didn't understand how, but that black surface was clearly the way in and out.
"I can go back and forth between my room and that strange looking cave… Thankfully I didn't get stuck!"
Now I could prepare.
Mentally, and physically.
The goblin hadn't followed me out, at least, not yet.
But who knows when that might happen?
If that thing got out into the real world, people would panic.
There'd be noise, damage… maybe even police reports.
Even if I killed it, the body would be left behind.
It would become a murder scene, or rather, a monster-killing scene.
If that happened, I wouldn't be able to live here anymore.
That couldn't happen.
If a goblin ever came out, I needed to take it down in one strike.
What would I need for that…?
Obviously a weapon!
I didn't have time to go shopping.
I had to use something from home with enough power to take it down.
A kitchen knife?
It wasn't a bad option, but it was short and fragile.
The goblin had a club. I didn't want to fight at the same range.
If I was going to do this, I wanted it to be easy.
I needed something long.
A sword or spear would be perfect, but I didn't have anything like that.
So then… a blunt weapon.
A metal baseball bat.
I bought it a while ago, thinking I'd train with it.
I quit after a few days.
But now, its time had come.
I grabbed the bat from where it was stuck awkwardly in the umbrella stand.
I stood in front of the closet, bat in hand, watching the black entrance.
But nothing happened.
"Hmm… maybe it can't come out?"
Even so, I couldn't just leave it alone.
It felt like when a cockroach appears in your house.
You can't relax until it's gone.
Thanks to the pandemic, I couldn't even go outside to calm down.
I had to feel safe at least in my own home.
For peace of mind, the pest must be dealt with!
So what do I do?
Go back in? I had to go back into the dungeon.
"Alright, let's do this. I'm ready now!
Both mentally and physically prepared! That goblin's getting squashed now!"
With that, I jumped into the dark surface once again.
....
....
Darkness again. Then the cave.
I was back in the dungeon.
It looked like I could go back and forth as many times as I wanted.
This time was different, though.
Now I was prepared to fight.
And I had a weapon.
Even that small change made a huge difference.
There it was. The goblin. The "G."
It saw me and froze.
To it, I had just appeared out of nowhere.
Last time it scared me.
Now it was my turn to scare it.
"Gyuh!? Gobah!?"
It scrambled to lift its club, but it was too slow.
I didn't miss my chance.
"Take this! Metal bat, full swing!"
With all my strength, I swung the bat and hit the goblin's head dead-on.
*Clang!*
The bat rang out with a sharp, clean sound.
The goblin flew across the cave and crashed to the stone floor.
It wasn't moving.
"Did I get it!?"
"Ghh…"
I held the bat ready, not letting my guard down.
The goblin lifted its head like it was trying to get up, but it couldn't. Its strength gave out.
*Swoosh!*
It slowly turned to dust and disappeared.
"It's down. I did it…"
Hitting something that looked a bit like a person did make me hesitate.
But surprisingly, I didn't feel too guilty.
It had tried to kill me first.
And looking at it, I felt an instinctive disgust.
Some part of me just knew, this thing was an enemy.
It was a strange feeling.
Maybe that's just how monsters are.
Goblin rights? No such thing.
Pests must be eliminated.
And now, something was glimmering where the goblin disappeared…
What… is this?