Ruin Kobold, a common humanoid monster found in the maze of the first floor.
They possess a half-beast, half-human form, resembling a canine, with dark reddish skin tinged with pale patches, as if dusted with a thin layer of dried blood.
Their bodies are covered in winding black lines like tattoos, but so vivid it seems they could shift with each breath.
Unlike the Kobold miners Ren had faced before, these Ruin Kobolds were not just monsters relying on instinctual claw attacks.
They knew how to wield weapons, wear armor, and move in formation. In their hands were rusty iron swords, with jagged, serrated blades heavy enough to inflict critical damage if they hit.
Their gear was no longer just patched-up scraps. Though still light armor, it had a clear shape, simple iron helmets, thin metal chest plates, enough to cover vital weak points.
Facing a Ruin Kobold was not simply fighting a beast, but battling an organized fighter.
Silently observing a lone Ruin Kobold separated from its pack, Ren seemed to melt into the shadows, moving without a sound. He followed it like a shadow, quietly, invisibly, leaving almost no trace.
The creature was completely unaware that death was near. Its pricked ears did not twitch, and its dull red eyes scanned the damp corridor corners with no suspicion at all.
Ren tightened his grip on the sword hilt and then lunged forward. The blade stabbed straight into the neck, the narrow gap between helmet and chest armor... precisely the lethal weak point he had targeted beforehand.
A deadly strike sounded, the bright red damage number flashing above the monster's HP bar.
But it was not dead yet.
The Ruin Kobold let out a pained, broken, hoarse scream, then wildly swung its rusty sword in panic. The soulless slashes tore through the air, shattering the silence of the maze.
Ren had time to step back, his cold gaze unwavering. He turned and charged again.
The blade rose and sliced through the arms holding the weapon. Pixelated blood sprayed like a burst of red dust, the arm dropped heavily onto the stone floor with a crashing sound.
The monster howled once more, weaker now. It began to retreat...
Ren frowned slightly. There was no reason to hesitate anymore.
He dashed toward the Kobold like a silent wind. It had no weapon. No ability to fight back. And Ren... no longer needed to be cautious.
In an instant, he slipped behind the creature, which was only waist-high. The sword gleamed with cold steel light, then slashed down in a clean arc.
The monster's body split in two.
[You have defeated a level 8 Ruin Kobold]
[You gained 112 exp]
[You gained 50 cor]
The system notification appeared in the lower right corner of his vision, but Ren paid no mind. His breath stayed even, his eyes as cold as ice.
Because...
The monster's scream surely had attracted the attention of others nearby.
He had miscalculated, thinking two strikes would be enough. But this one had far more HP than the other Ruin Kobolds he had fought.
In return, it seemed slower in movement and attack. A small advantage, but in the maze, even small advantages could be the difference between life and death.
Ren gripped his sword tightly, then turned to look down the dark corridor ahead, where footsteps were beginning to echo...
He immediately activated his stealth skill.
In an instant, his whole body seemed to dissolve into the darkness, blending with the cold stone walls of the maze. His breathing slowed. His figure vanished. A shadow hiding in the shadows.
His proficiency with this skill was still low, but he had an important advantage: a cloak that enhanced stealth ability. Thanks to it, every step, every movement was unpredictable and nearly invisible to the monsters.
As long as he didn't move too fast or enter direct line of sight, he could slip past Kobolds without leaving a trace.
This skill had allowed him, alone, to quietly explore more than 70% of the maze, where many other player groups had not dared to pass beyond the first corridor floor.
...Ren stood still, pressed close against the rough stone wall of the maze, every breath held tightly to avoid making noise.
In stealth mode, his vision was veiled by a hazy blur, as if the whole world had reduced to gray outlines and flickering movements.
Ahead, from the narrow, gloomy path, two shadows silently slithered out as if shaped by the darkness itself.
No... three.
A third, much larger shadow had just entered his view.
The sound of its footsteps was not loud, but enough to make the ground beneath Ren tremble slightly. Each "thump... thud..." echoed like war drums from afar, slow and threatening.
Ren leaned slightly, eyes narrowing. The two leading creatures were clearly Ruin Kobolds, humanoid monsters he had encountered quite a few times on this floor.
Their dark red skin looked like rotting flesh, black swirling lines ran like tattoos, their rusty weapons moved slowly but became dangerous when they united.
But the one behind them... was a completely different story.
That shadow was tall and heavy, nearly twice Ren's height. A massive body like a giant armored bear, shoulders broad enough to block an entire doorway.
It was not an ordinary Kobold.
Ren recognized that gait. The way it set its foot down wasn't the slow, unconscious step of a beast, but a steady rhythm carrying power and control.
A Ruin Kobold Trooper.
A rare and extremely dangerous breed... Ren had only met a few times, and each time had to retreat immediately.
They were not simply a "stronger version" of the regular Kobold. Troopers were a full evolution, true warriors of the Kobold kind.
They didn't wear armor like other Kobolds, not because they lacked equipment.
But because they didn't need it.
Its body was the armor.
The Trooper's skin was a mottled gray like burnt steel, muscles bulging beneath thick scales, each step carried the threatening force of a war buffalo.
In its hand was a double-bladed battle axe, a weapon ill-suited for clumsy monsters, yet oddly fitting its firm stance.
They knew how to use skills. Not random reflex skills, but weapon skills like players.
Ren had once seen a Trooper slash directly into a stone wall with an axe skill, the blade leaving a long crack that almost took down two players behind it.
That feeling returned now, a primal instinct warning him of a looming danger.
Ren touched the hilt of his sword, the cold metal sending a chill to his skin.
If it were only two normal Kobolds, he could ambush and retreat before being detected. But now with a Trooper, the fight would turn into hell if surrounded.
He should fall back. But...
Something was wrong.
Ruin Kobold Troopers only appeared deep inside the maze... that's what the guidebook recorded, and the two he met were also on the deeper floors.
Why was it moving with two regular Kobolds this far, so far from the central area?
And why were all three moving in a clear formation, rather than scattered like the usual roaming Kobolds in the maze?
Ren frowned slightly.
Something was off. Off in a silent, cold way, like a thin mist clinging to skin when standing before a door where someone had just died.
He couldn't fully explain it, but he could feel it.
The survival instinct of someone who had lived through countless hunts, countless slashes, and pixelated red blood splattering was telling Ren: this was no coincidence. Not random. Not a lost group of monsters.
And for Ren, someone who knew survival lay in the smallest details, that feeling was enough to make him cautious.
After all, nearly 600 people had died in the first month. One third of them were Beta Testers, those who had stepped through the trial version, confident they knew every corner of Aincrad, only to fall because nothing was like before.
Monsters changed spawn locations. They moved faster, smarter.
Some behaviors didn't exist in the beta. New traps, not on the map. Bosses acting like they were learning player combat styles.
Ren was not a Beta Tester, but he had read the guidebook carefully, passed among surviving players.
A notebook full of useful info compiled from life and death experiences, every line written with sweat, tears, and blood.
But from the very first page, a warning was printed boldly:
"Nothing is absolute. If information is unverified, don't trust it hastily. And if you doubt... retreat."
Ren always kept that in mind. Although most content in the book was accurate and trustworthy, he never relied on it completely. Aincrad was changing every day, and if he wanted to survive, he had to adapt.
That strange formation... the appearance of a Trooper in an area it shouldn't be... and even the steady footsteps like a real patrol squad...
All were pieces of an unclear puzzle, but Ren knew: if he stayed, he might lose the chance to understand the whole picture.
Without hesitation, Ren turned, sliding back into the narrow corridor leading to the old path.
His footsteps light and low, blending into the flickering shadows stretching over the cold ground.
Occasionally, he glanced back. But all he saw was the fading path behind him, as if the maze itself was trying to swallow every trace.
For now, he needed to retreat. Survive first. Investigate later.