Please Touch Me, Master

"Huff… huff…"

Bi Chen breathed heavily, even though he didn't feel any exhaustion. In fact, he didn't even need to breathe, yet this habit of his from Earth leaked into this very moment.

And the cause? It had to do with the creature that stood before him.

It had a humanoid physique and stood at about three meters tall, having scaly black skin and a muscular build that made it appear more like a wild beast than a monster. It had two horns like a bull, with hooves for feet like a ram. It had a single eye, with its bulky body casting a dark shadow on the already dark Labyrinth.

Bi Chen knew what this thing was, and so did the Undying Vassal that stood by his side.

—An Abomination.

'It's a Rank 1 Abomination, no doubt.' Bi Chen grinned, watching as the letters 'Rank 1' were written on top of the creature. Even without the System telling him, Bi Chen was an expert at "Please Touch Me, Master", having played the game for countless hours.

He knew all the Races of this world by memory, and so he naturally knew how to spot a Rank 1 Abomination. He had memorized most Abominations that appeared in the game, and while this wouldn't account for all the Abominations he would ever encounter in this world, he knew enough of their patterns to be confident about classifying them.

'This one has one eye, it's rather short, and it has very little imposing presence.' He calmly analyzed, though he was still breathing rather hard. 'It's been a few days since I've come to this world. We've left the outermost part of the Labyrinth and we're a little deeper, but this is my first time I'm actually seeing an Abomination up close.'

The complicated feeling inside him was rather difficult to describe.

He wasn't feeling fear, neither was he excited about this encounter. In fact, he felt some mental pressure while facing the creature, but that didn't translate to worry of any kind.

It was all simply a matter of thinking to him.

'What should I do?' He wondered, alternating glances between the Vassal by his side and the Rank 1 Abomination that growled impatiently, ready to pounce.

'Ash is completely inexperienced in battle, and her Geist—while useful—isn't an offensive one. I have no choice but to face this thing myself, but even I have very limited options at my disposal… sigh, this is hard.'

If only Lady Hilda and her accompanying Explorers could see Bi Chen struggling against a mere Rank 1 Abomination right now.

They had estimated him to be very dangerous, but he was actually really weak.

He hadn't Leveled Up even once since he Respawned, and he had simply been traveling deeper into the Labyrinth for the past couple of days—learning about different things and also teaching Ash as well. 

If Hilda and her men had given chase, they would have already caught him by now.

Unfortunately for them, Bi Chen had accidentally created a situation where they misunderstood his strength and were rapidly accumulating enough resources to give him a proper chase. What was even more hilarious about the situation was that Bi Chen was a Rogue Slave traveling in the Labyrinth, yet the Explorers had previously thought such a thing was practically impossible.

Regardless, none of these were known to Bi Chen.

He was simply stuck trying to deal with this Rank 1 Abomination with his very limited strength. 

'Enough stalling! Let's do this!' Brandishing his blade while gritting his teeth, he allowed determination to soar within his heart and charged forward.

'As long as I protect my head, I should be fine…'

WHOOSH!

His sluggish body swam against the tide of space, tilting to the side so he could dodge the attack of the Abomination. The large hand of the creature barely missed him, scraping against his weak flesh. 

He didn't feel the pain, but Bi Chen noticed his body's integrity had fallen.

'No matter… I'll heal soon anyway.' He chose to focus on the task at hand—taking down this Rank 1 Abomination.

Since he managed to dodge the first strike of the enemy, Bi Chen leaned forward and thrust his blade forward so it could strike at the Abomination's arm. He put all of his strength into the blow, sending it charging at its thick limb.

Unfortunately—

'Tch! Barely a flesh wound…' Bi Chen clicked his tongue after seeing that even though he swung with all of his might, he barely made a dent on the Abomination.

… A mere Rank 1 Abomination.

BAM!

The Rank 1 Abomination hit him in the chest, sending him flying into the wall of the massive space they occupied. This Labyrinth was merely a large cavern consisting of many caves—some small, others very massive. 

In the past, it used to have many ores growing on the ceiling and walls, but they had all been stripped bare—particularly those in the outer areas. The deeper, more dangerous regions still had resources that could be salvaged.

As for the deepest part… it was still untouched.

There were rumors that a Rank 5 Abomination dwelled there, so no one carelessly made their way down there. However, it wasn't even like they could if they wanted to. After all, the Labyrinth was crawling with danger, and most Explorers were satisfied with sticking to the outer region, and perhaps delved a little deeper so they could gain profit.

No one was suicidal enough to go so far in.

—Well, except for Bi Chen.

'I have nothing but dangers waiting for me in the outside world. My best bet is to Level Up as much as I can in here and accrue enough strength before leaving.' His determination was soaring, even though he was covered in mild rubble.

His body was heavily injured, but it was already healing—albeit rather slowly.

'This healing is the only good trait of the Zombie. In terms of physical strength, I'm still far inferior to an average warrior. I have a sword, but I don't have the expertise to wield it. My Vassal has no experience in battle, and this Rank 1 Abomination has barely even been scratched.'

The situation seemed hopeless again.

But, Bi Chen wasn't going to give up this time. He was even smiling a little, ignoring his injuries and rising to his feet. 

'Now that I've confirmed that the blow of this Abomination won't kill me, and I actually feel no pain from its attacks, there's actually no problem here. I can inflict injuries on it, even if it is little, and it doesn't have a regenerative factor, so I can just chip at its health until it finally dies.'

Bi Chen was a gamer at heart, and right now he could feel his gaming spirit rising.

'Even if it takes me some time… I know I can kill this Abomination!'