Lucian entered the forest, walking carefully.

  Half his attention was on the road, while the other half was on the system panel before his eyes.

  He was still unsure what it was or how it worked, but he realized he could control it by touch. Like a touchscreen panel. Although his fingers couldn't feel anything, just empty air.

  While there, he discovered that he could withdraw the items on the grid to the right. The first thing he did was grab the twin daggers, the only weapons at his disposal.

  After tapping on it and selecting "withdraw," a spark of light formed before him.

  Blue cubes of light, the same color as the first system panel, began gathering to form a shape.

  About a full second later, the gathering cubes stopped.

  A shape was formed. A pair of daggers, just as displayed on the grid before, in his inventory.

  The daggers were quite simple. Just a naked silver edge, pointed, with a brown leather grip as its hilt. The guard was a simple bar built into the dagger, jutting outward—a cross-guard.

  Lucian waved them a few times, feeling the sensation.

  Light and durable. With a perfect cutting edge. They were good weapons.

  "Now then..."

  Finally, Lucian turned his gaze away from the blue system panel. His eyes drifted to the left until he could see a second one. It was completely different from the first, being a deep, blood-red in color.

  Furthermore, it didn’t have a grid or any buttons, only two sections containing nothing but words.

  ---

  1. First Goldfinger Ability: Remaining Lifespan doubles every month (doubles in 6 days, 11 hours, 43 minutes).

  2. ???

  ---

  "Double? Every month?"

  If he were to believe what was written, then he could technically live for an eternity! But that’s only if he had much [Life] to begin with.

  He currently has 10 days—11 if rounded up.

  With that, if he waited for the time to double his life, he would only have 4 days remaining, doubling to 8... There was no way he could survive until the second activation of this ability.

  Just as he was worried, troubled about how to increase his remaining Lifespan, a familiar noise entered his ears. A low growl, high-pitched, as if nasal. The sound of a goblin’s laughter.

  In an instant, Lucian’s switch flipped.

  His steps became so quiet that they were virtually inaudible. His stance was low, hiding under the shadows of the surrounding foliage.

  His eyes scanned in the direction the sound came from. There, a few dozen meters ahead, he found his target.

  Another goblin, standing idly while kicking the mud as if playing around... No.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "...!"

  Lucian saw something in the mud, and his eyes flicked wide open.

  He found a leg... a human’s leg. The rest of the body couldn’t be seen. His view was blocked by the grass ahead. However, he was sure he saw the leg’s fingers twitch in pain. Whoever it was down there was alive.

  A life was on the line, and speed was of the essence. However, Lucian remained calm.

  If he jumped forward just like that and discovered there were more goblins than he expected, then he might just become another casualty.

  He studied his surroundings quickly. Checking for signs of any monsters other than the one before him.

  However, after a few seconds of scanning, listening attentively to the sounds from the dark forest—aside from the raindrops—he found nothing.

  That moment became the signal.

  Lucian jumped from his cover, beelining toward the back of the distracted goblin. His right dagger flipped into a reverse grip as he approached. He took a hard step just behind the goblin.

  "Kek?"

  When it turned around in curiosity, Lucian’s dagger surged forward. Blade stabbing right into its throat. Feeling that it wasn’t enough, he even twisted the weapon, hearing a loud crack along with the wet wound noise.

  Dark green blood dripped down the dagger’s blade, flowing to his hand.

  The goblin wheezed as it fell, sliding off the blade’s edge and collapsing onto the muddy forest floor.

  He didn’t even need to confirm. It was as dead as it could be.

  No, to be accurate, he didn’t have time to do so.

  "Are you alright?"

  Lucian moved, kneeling on the ground while tapping the person’s cheeks.

  Her face was covered in mud, making it hard to recognize her. However, from her build, Lucian could tell she was a woman.

  An archer, considering the bow held tightly in her grip.

  "Urk...!"

  Slowly, she opened her eyes, pain spelled across her entire expression and body language. Her brown eyes flickered as her gaze locked onto Lucian.

  "H-Help..." she whispered, raising her empty right hand with difficulty.

  Lucian didn’t hesitate. He grabbed her extended hand, lifting her from the mud. Then, he carefully placed a hand on her back and under her knees before lifting her in a princess carry.

  Her body was cold—colder than even the falling rain.

  As if she had been dipped in a pool filled with ice.

  In her current state, it would be dangerous if she couldn't warm up soon.

  Though Lucian himself wasn’t any better.

  The threat of hypothermia loomed over them both.

  "T-There..."

  Mustering her strength, the woman pointed in a certain direction. She couldn’t say what was there or if it was safe, but Lucian followed her directions.

  He felt that she had no ill intentions and trusted her.

  Lucian ran where she pointed, his steps heavy, leaving deep impressions on the muddy ground.

  After about two minutes of running, he found something that was obviously out of place.

  In the middle of the forest, a small, seemingly concrete surface could be found. It was unpainted, displaying the raw color of concrete—a dull gray.

  In the middle of it, a hatch with a wheel-like design could be seen.

  Lucian, despite not knowing what it was, somehow knew how to open the hatch. He carefully laid the woman beside it before holding the wheel and twisting it counterclockwise.

  The heavy sound of metal grinding rang out as the wheel turned.

  After half a turn, a click echoed as the hatch popped open.

  It was unlocked!

  He peeked inside, checking if it was safe. Nothing was inside it—literally.

  It was wide, but empty other than a few light sources, faint as they were.

  After confirming, he turned to the woman and pulled her closer to the hatch. Lucian entered first, stepping onto the wet, slippery ladder, heading downward and going halfway through. Then, he started to pull the woman in, headfirst.

  He carefully climbed down the ladder. After he reached about two meters down, he pulled the woman completely inside.

  Carefully, he caught her in his embrace before sliding down the ladder to the bottom. There, he gently laid her down, watching as her large chest heaved up and down. She was still alive—breathing.

  Lucian climbed up once more, closed the hatch, and locked it down before returning to the woman’s side.

  "T-Thank..." she stuttered, but was too weakened to finish her words.

  Her body wasn’t only covered in mud but also bruises and cuts.

  Wounds filled her from head to toe, bleeding profusely. Her situation was even more of an emergency than he initially thought.

  If nothing was done fast, then she wouldn’t last even an hour.