The Hunter swung his big heavy sword and a goblin's head fell to the floor. The Hunter did not even look at it. He smiled at his friends and said "that even didn't warm me up"
Xung watched from a dark corner. He held his mop tightly. He was a cleaner. His job was to clean the mess after the Hunters were done. The leader of the Hunters saw Xung. The leader had a glove that made electricity. "Okay, cleaner," the leader said. He wiped his bloody hand on Xung's shirt. "We are done. You can start cleaning. Try not to die." The other Hunters laughed.
Then they left. They took the valuable monster parts. They left the blood and the bodies. Now the cave was very quiet. Only Xung and Old Man Park were there. Park was old. He had been a cleaner for a long time. "Come, Xung," Park said. "We have work to do."
The cave was dark and wet. Blood covered the floor. Broken weapons lay everywhere. The air smelled bad. It smelled like blood and dead things.
Park pointed to a green puddle. "Be careful there," he said. "That is acid. It will burn your skin." Xung nodded. He stepped around the puddle.
They started to work. Xung used his mop to clean the blood. Park picked up the goblin ears. The Guild wanted the ears as proof the job was done.
Park pointed to a big goblin in the corner. This goblin wore robes. It was a Goblin Shaman. "Do not go near that one yet," Park said. "Its magic is still strong. The air feels funny there."
Xung felt the air near the shaman. It felt electric. It made his hair stand up. Park pointed to a red mark on the floor. "See that? It is a fire trap. The Hunters jumped over it. We must clean around it. That is the difference between them and us."
Xung kept working. He mopped the floor. He put goblin ears in a bag. The work was hard and dirty. But it was his job.
He looked at Old Man Park. Park had taught him everything. How to be safe. How to clean well. How to stay out of the way.
A loud rumble came from above. The cave shook. A small rock fell from the ceiling.
The rock hit the staff of the dead Goblin Shaman.
The crystal on the staff began to glow green.
Then the red mark on the floor exploded into fire.
A huge pillar of fire shot up to the ceiling. It was very hot. It was very loud. Xung could not move. He was too scared.
Old Man Park saw the fire. He saw Xung standing there. Park ran toward Xung. He pushed Xung very hard.
Xung fell into a small side tunnel. He hit the ground hard. The air left his lungs.
The fire disappeared as fast as it came.
Xung lay on the ground. His ears were ringing. He could not breathe. After a moment, he got up.
"Park?" he called. His voice was shaky.
There was no answer.
Xung's heart beat fast. He ran out of the tunnel.
The main cave was full of smoke. The smell was terrible. It was the smell of burned meat.
Old Man Park was on the ground. His chest was black and burned. His clothes were melted. Smoke rose from his body. He was not moving.
"No!" Xung screamed. He ran to Park's side. He fell to his knees.
"Park! Can you hear me?" Xung's hands shook. He did not know what to do.
He opened his small first-aid kit. He took out bandages. He tried to wrap Park's burns. The bandages turned red with blood. It was no use. The wounds were too bad.
Tears fell from Xung's eyes. They made clean lines on his dirty face.
"Help!" he screamed into the empty cave. "Somebody please help!"
But there was no one. The Hunters were long gone.
Xung grabbed his radio. It only called the Cleaner's office.
A woman's voice answered. She sounded bored. "Dispatch. What do you want?"
"It's an emergency!" Xung cried. "My partner is hurt! He is badly burned! We need a doctor now!"
There was a short silence. "An injury? You need to fill out an accident form. A medical team for cleaners... do you have money to pay for that?"
Xung felt cold. "What? No! Please, he is dying!"
"Fill out the form. If you cannot pay, we cannot send anyone. Those are the rules." The radio went silent.
Xung stared at the radio. He felt sick. They did not care. No one cared.
He looked at Park's pale face. His friend was dying because of someone else's mistake. Because they were nobody.
A hot anger filled Xung's chest. It was stronger than the fire. It was stronger than his fear.
He had to do something. He could not just wait for Park to die.
He looked around the cave for anything that could help. His eyes landed on the dead Goblin Shaman. The crystal on its staff still glowed with a soft, green light.
Xung did not know why, but he felt drawn to it. Maybe it was magic. Maybe it was stupid. But it was the only thing that felt special.
He crawled over to the shaman's body. He reached out a shaking hand. He touched the crystal. It was warm. Hoping for a miracle, hoping for anything, he did the only thing he could think to do. He began to clean it. He used his rag to wipe the dirt and blood from its surface.
As he cleaned, the crystal began to glow brighter. The green light became soft and warm. It filled the dark cave.
Xung kept cleaning, polishing the crystal with his dirty rag. The light grew until it was too bright to look at.
Then, the light faded.
The crystal was gone. In its place was a small, smooth, green stone. It looked like a river pebble. It was warm in his hand.
Xung stared at it. What happened? Where did the crystal go?
He felt different. He felt a little stronger. A little less tired. The aches in his body from the hard work were gone.
Was it his imagination? Was it hope?
He didn't know. He didn't understand.
But he knew the big crystal was gone, and now he held a small, warm stone.
He looked from the stone to Old Man Park. He didn't know what to do with it. It was just a stone. Feeling more helpless than ever, he closed his fingers around the warm stone. He put it in his pocket.
He had to get Park out. Now. He grabbed the old man's arms. He braced his feet and pulled.
Park was a heavy man. But for some reason, he felt lighter. Xung was able to drag him. It was still hard, but it was not impossible.
Xung did not know why. He did not know how. But he began the long, slow drag out of the dungeon. One foot after the other. His hand stayed in his pocket, holding the warm, smooth stone. The cave was dark. The path was long. But Xung kept going. He had to save Park. He had to get help.
The warm stone in his pocket felt like a secret. It felt like a promise. He did not know what it was. But he knew it was important. He would find out what it meant. He would find out what he could do. But first, he had to get out of the cave. He had to save his friend. The cleanup was over. Now it was time to survive.