Couldn't My Reincarnation have been more Cliche!

Chapter 6 (I'd hate to kill you, I'd hate to die) Part Two

Looking at the glowing map panel in front of me, I saw the continued movement of the red blips all around me. I had no clue what they were doing, nor did I care to look into what it was. My only hope was that they stayed far away from me. I figured What I needed now was some time to think. It wasn't like I could fight off more of those giant ants with just a knife. Considering my options, it occurred to me that in order to survive in this place, I would need the "GP" from the system mission. I didn't have much choice in the matter anyway. Some of the dots on the map had been getting closer to my location. If I was going to have to fight, then it was better to do it on my own terms. Looking back at the ant corpse behind me, the beginning of a plan formed in my mind. The ants' weakest parts were their legs and eyes. They lacked the protection of the rest of the body, making them an ideal target. The problem was, I still couldn't be sure that I would even, if I could get to them, do so without, well being mauled to death.

I would need some way to keep them in one place long enough for me to deliver the finishing blow. This cavern was as good as any place to test my plan. I can't say I was very excited about what was coming, I mean fighting a giant ant didn't rank particularly high in terms of things I wanted to do, sighing I confirmed what I needed to do, and began to set my plan into motion.

After a while of grueling labor (although I suspected it was just because this body was so weak), a pile of a few dozen rocks of different sizes stood neatly stacked above the entrance to the room. A rock at the base of the pile was wedged upwards inside a crack in the wall, just barely preventing a much larger rock from rolling forwards into the tunnel below. Around the smaller stone was wrapped the remnants of my old clothing tied together, forming a ramshackle rope that had just enough length to drape down into the tunnel.

I reviewed my work with a smile on my face. There was something satisfying in completing an honest day's hard work, even if in this case, the "work" referred to making a dubious trap to kill a giant ant monster, still! I put a lot of effort into it okay!. Shaking my head as the realization of the absurd life I was living crossed my mind.

In any event, this was the best I could come up with given the limited material at my disposal. Would it have killed the ants to leave something other than rocks and moss lying around this place?

My preparation being complete, I checked my map, only to see I was going to be using it earlier than I thought. Heading towards my direction were three red dots. I remembered they had split off a much larger pack of red dots earlier and had been going in different directions before stopping for small stints. I felt my heart sinking. I wasn't even sure if I could take on one of those monsters; sending three of them was practically like the world was telling me to just die.

Staring at the dots as they continued to approach, I tried to stop my hands from shaking while fiddling with the knife in my hand. As much as I was worried about the fact that I'd be fighting three at once, I guess I'd end up in this situation regardless since I was planning to wipe all these monsters out eventually.

As if to respond to this resolve I saw a system message flash quickly up before me, before disappearing.

System>

{Quest Issued "Exterminator" [Reward 150 GP]

{Kill ten giant ants total}

{mission progress 0/10}

I didn't have much time to concern myself with the quest as the sound of tapping steps filled my ears. Their steps didn't seem to have any sense of urgency to them, nor were they making those strange cries I had heard when I was first attacked. I breathed out in relief, as it appeared I still had the element of surprise.

Looking at the red dots getting closer and closer, I tightened the grip on my dagger, steeling myself for what was to come. The thought crossed my mind that this really was my first time fighting. Sure, in my past life, I had gotten into fights, but this was different. My life was on the line. I wasn't confident that this body could take much of a beating either.

I did hold out faint hope that the goddess might save me if I died here, although if I was being honest with myself, the thought just existed to comfort my fear a little. If the goddess really cared about me, I wouldn't be here in the first place.

It sounded like the monsters were almost at the entrance now. My muscles tensed in response to the adrenaline running through me. The fear in my mind mixed with anticipation for what was to come. This mix of emotions took me off guard. I hadn't expected to feel anything other than fear at the prospect of death, but deep down, I really did feel excited.

Blocking out all the unwanted thoughts, I saw the beginnings of a grotesque mandible push through the darkness. My breath caught in my throat as I inched closer to the cave wall. The mandibles fully revealed themselves followed by a hairy mouth. The ant's antenna scraped along the stone wall, pointing in strange directions before locking on to the corpse in the corner of the room and staying steady. The ant's mandibles launched into a flurry of movement, producing frantic noises.