The Art of Gratitude and the Goblin Exterminator
Waking up in the morning and opening the refrigerator to find it actually contained food was a moving experience. Is this how a farmer feels, gazing at a granary full of grain after the harvest season ends and before winter sets in? Though the amount was small, seeing the bean sprouts in the fridge made my heart feel full. I scooped out a portion for breakfast and placed it on a plate. Before eating, I decided to express my gratitude for having discovered these sprouts. I composed myself, pressed my palms together in prayer, picked up a single strand, put it in my mouth, and chewed. Then, I repeated the process.
In my heart, I wanted to perform this "Gratitude Sprout Eating" ten thousand times a day, but since I was short on supplies, I had to keep it brief. If only I had enough sprouts, I surely would have reached the realm of eating them faster than the speed of sound, but the world has a way of throwing adversity and trials at those with talent. Does even the heavens fear the talent of this Scarlet Evande? I sighed at the now-empty plate and finished my breakfast by dumping a piece of macaron into my mouth.
I took my time with breakfast, so I had to leave the house as class time approached. I arrived at school just in the nick of time. That was close; I almost would have been late. I gave appropriate nods to the kids greeting me from here and there, and as I sat down, the class representative—who seemed much more dejected than yesterday—approached me.
"Um, why didn't you come out early today?"
"Oh, that... I was eating breakfast a bit slowly..."
"...I see. Breakfast is important."
The class representative hung her head and said that in a gloomy voice. Was it because I almost was late? Since she’s such a responsible class rep, perhaps she felt it was her fault that a student she had warned not to be late had shown up late again after only a few days. ...Thinking about it that way, I felt like I had done something terribly wrong.
"I'll come out early starting tomorrow."
"...Really?"
The class representative looked at me, her head slightly bowed, eyes glancing upward. That pitiful gaze pricked at my heart, so I quickly nodded. At that, her face brightened in an instant, as if she were overjoyed. ...If I have to come out early starting tomorrow, I’ll have to stop the Gratitude Sprout Eating. I sighed inwardly, feeling a sense of regret.
Anyway, the gaze of Yoon Siwoo, who had been looking at me for a while now, was bothering me. I glared at him with a look that asked, What are you looking at? and only then did he turn his eyes away. He had a pretty girl like Sylvia sitting next to him, smiling brightly at him—why was he wasting his gaze on me for no reason? I wonder if he knows he’s losing out on half his life right now.
"Today, we’re going to do a mock combat training! We’ll form groups of three, and each group will enter a space created by illusions to find and defeat a boss monster, so everyone, form groups with people you get along with!"
At the mention of forming groups with people I get along with, I turned my head to look at Sylvia. People I get along with! Friends! Sylvia! I sent her a desperate look, but she seemed to be looking at Yoon Siwoo and didn't notice. I glanced toward Yoon Siwoo and made eye contact with him, as he had been looking at me. Yoon Siwoo gave me a slight, smiling look. It was a smile that felt like it might have sparkly effects around it, which made me feel a bit gross. But if I wanted to be in a group with Sylvia, I’d have to be in the same group as Yoon Siwoo. It was reluctant, but I had no choice but to endure it.
"Oh, and for the sake of fairness, Siwoo-kun, Sylvia-yang, and Evande-yang will be separated!"
How could this be! It was truly a despairing statement. I glanced over and saw that Yoon Siwoo and Sylvia also looked shocked. Come to think of it, I remembered belatedly that in the original novel, Sylvia and Yoon Siwoo were in different groups. But wait, why me? I’m not a cheat character like those two, so I felt aggrieved.
Perhaps because everyone wanted to take the two people who excelled in both appearance and skill into their own groups, the area around them became chaotic in an instant. The female students were squealing and crowding around Yoon Siwoo, and Sylvia, who had glanced at Yoon Siwoo with a sullen look as he struggled with the situation, was soon picking her own group members with a charismatic air.
The problem was me. Since I couldn't be in a group with Sylvia, the teacher's instruction to form groups with people I get along with felt terrifying. Suddenly, my hands and feet went cold as bad memories surfaced. The teacher’s command to form groups, students gathering in twos and threes. And me, hesitating, only to find that the kids I knew had already gone to other groups, leaving me alone. Eventually, ending up in a group with kids whose names I didn't even know. The maddening awkwardness where no one dared to speak first! Ugh, my head... My hands and feet trembled.
I was standing there, not knowing what to do, when the class representative suddenly appeared beside me. When I tilted my head, not understanding, she said cautiously:
"Um, if you don't have anyone else to group with, do you want to be in my group?"
Is she an angel?! Suddenly, it felt like a halo was shining behind her. When I nodded, she smiled brightly and nodded back. Then, she suddenly raised her hand high and shouted:
"Anyone who is confident in combat! First come, first served!"
As if they had been waiting, two male students ran forward. One was holding a spear, and the other had a large shield strapped to his back. Since I didn't know them, should I call them Spear-man and Shield-man? The class representative scanned the two standing there with a tense expression, as if evaluating them, and said:
"Hmm, Daniel and Andre, right? Sorry, Andre. I think a spear suits our group better than a shield."
"Well, I guess both of us were melee specialists, right? It's a shame, but it can't be helped."
Shield-man left, looking disappointed, and Spear-man remained, waving at us to say hello. "Nice to meet you, ladies. I'll take care of everything so you don't have to break a sweat."
"Well, we'll see about that. If you can take them out faster than me, that is."
"Oh my, I'll have to work hard then?"
Spear-man laughed, "Haha," at the class representative's retort. I didn't really have anything to say, so I just bowed my head in greeting. Anyway, I hadn't done anything, but a group had been formed in the blink of an eye. I was in awe of the class representative's overwhelming competence. Seeing her earlier, she seemed to have already memorized everyone's names; she really was a diligent kid.
It seemed everyone else had finished forming their groups too, as everyone was standing in groups of three. Shield-man, who had come to us earlier, had also safely joined another group. I was so relieved that there didn't seem to be any groups with an awkward atmosphere. A group of only outcasts is hell, after all.
"Since everyone seems to have formed their groups, let's begin. The rest of you, watch how the other groups fight so you can learn what might be helpful to you! Let's start with Siwoo-kun's group first!"
As Eve snapped her fingers, the image of Yoon Siwoo's group disappeared, and at the same time, their appearance was projected onto a large hologram screen. The place where Yoon Siwoo and the two female students were standing was a forest lined with large trees. The three of them, wary of their surroundings for a moment due to the changed scenery, soon began to move. And when the monster appeared, those watching the screen groaned.
The things hanging from the trees were caterpillars. The problem was that they were almost human-sized. Huge, plump caterpillars dropped from the trees and swarmed the group. The female student with the bow quickly intercepted the caterpillars, but the ones struck by arrows burst with a "pop," spilling body fluids. Seeing that, Yoon Siwoo pulled out a massive greatsword that looked too heavy to even swing in mid-air.
The Holy Sword of Protection. As the name suggests, its ability is to deploy a defensive barrier. The barrier spread over the group's heads, blocking the caterpillars' fluids. Seeing the trees corroded by the fluids, one could imagine they wouldn't have fared well if they had been hit. The other female student, not the one who fired the bow, looked like she was having a hard time, as if she felt sick seeing the burst caterpillars.
The boss monster they encountered after defeating the caterpillars that poured out incessantly was a giant cockroach. Everyone watching grimaced at its black, oily appearance that evoked a physiological sense of disgust. The female student with the weak stomach, who had come face-to-face with that horrific existence, looked like she was on the verge of fainting. Fortunately, Yoon Siwoo quickly pinned the cockroach to the ground with his sword, and as the wriggling cockroach stopped moving, the illusion dissipated. The female student who had been struggling at the sight of the bug looked like she was about to cry the moment she came out of the illusion, especially after hearing Eve shout, "Jessi-yang, you're having special bug-training later!"
The next group was Sylvia's. The stage for Sylvia's group was a swamp. As soon as the illusion magic unfolded, the faces of the group members, who had fallen into the muddy swamp, twisted. Sylvia used spirit magic to create glowing, platform-like objects under their feet, allowing the group to walk on top of the swamp. And the reaction of the male students watching the screen was intense. Because of the special material, it wasn't see-through, but the sight of Sylvia emerging from the swamp was so alluring that no man could help but be excited.
The swamp monster was a frog-type creature. It mainly used its long tongue to wrap around or strike its targets, and the role distribution—where the two male students in the group blocked the tongue while Sylvia used spells to finish off the frogs—was effective. The boss monster was also a larger frog. There was an accident where one of the male students was wrapped up by the tongue and was on the verge of being swallowed, but Sylvia cut the tongue with a spell, allowing them to defeat the monster without any casualties. The disappointment of the male students watching was palpable even to me. I know, I know. They wanted to see Sylvia get wrapped up by the tongue, right? The female students glared at the male students who were expressing their disappointment.
And as time passed, it was our group's turn. When I signaled that I was ready, my vision went black with the sound of Eve snapping her fingers. It was darkness, without a single ray of light. I couldn't see anything. Suddenly, I remembered what my senior used to say when he would cover my eyes back when I was in the unit.
-What do you see?
-I see nothing, sir!
-That’s your remaining military life.
It was a truly horrific memory... As I was gasping for air, my PTSD flaring up, I felt someone grab my hand beside me.
"Scarlet, are you okay?"
Someone whispered softly in a worried voice. It was the class representative's voice. Spear-man must have heard her, as he replied quietly from nearby, "I'm here too." I was wondering what to do since I couldn't see anything, but then I realized I could just turn on a light. Since it was a hassle to keep calling it a "flame that doesn't burn," I just wrapped my body in flames that I had named "Level 1." As the surroundings brightened, I saw the class representative and Spear-man drawing their weapons. Looking around, it seemed to be a cave. There was a large passage in the center, and tunnels were bored here and there. And from beyond those tunnels, I could feel the presence of something.
I got into position to prepare for battle, but the class representative beside me grabbed my hand and shook her head.
"Just rest for a moment. Daniel and I will take care of it. That's okay, right, Daniel?"
"Ah, of course."
The class representative and Spear-man stood in front of me and quietly raised their momentum. What is this? Are they telling me to stay back because I'm useless? They stood so resolutely that I couldn't really say anything, so I just decided to become a human firefly.
The things that crawled out from beyond the tunnels were green dwarves that looked a bit unpleasant. Let's call them goblins, since it's a hassle. The goblins gripped weapons in one hand and rushed at the two. Their small stature, but quick movements, were quite threatening. But they were up against the wrong opponents. A goblin expert once said: The only good goblin is a dead goblin. If that's the case, these two were practically the Kang Hyung-wook of the goblin world.
The class representative, who was incomparably faster than the goblins, and Spear-man, who seemed to be a water-manipulation ability user—showing a perfect harmony of offense and defense using a spear and spheres of water floating around him—turned the rushing bad goblins into "good" ones. They advanced, dealing with the goblins crawling into the passage with unstoppable force. I just rode the bus with the insane ride quality, blankly watching the skilled work of the two goblin trainers as I walked along. I'm a bug, I'm a human firefly... I was just quietly following behind, keeping the light on, when I suddenly thought that this wasn't right. My body was comfortable because I wasn't doing anything, but my heart was uncomfortable.
This wouldn't do. I was the type of person who thought that people who freeload on group projects should be subjected to the hellish punishment of having all their drinking water replaced with a mixture of Sol's Eye, Dejawa, and Zico. As I saw a cavern ahead that looked like a boss would appear, I felt like I had to do something, so I spoke up urgently.
"I'll take the next one."
"Are you sure?"
I nodded to the class representative who asked if I was sure, and when I looked at Spear-man, he shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't mind. The passenger had taken the driver's seat. From now on, I will be Schumacher.
When we entered the cavern, a goblin with a build so large that it made the previous goblins look like baby goblins was sitting there. As we entered, the goblin stood up and slowly scanned my body, which was shining and emitting flames. Then, the goblin let out a snort, "Kheu-heung," and its lower body bulged. Goosebumps rose all over my body.
"...Should I do it?"
Spear-man said to me at that horrific sight. I shook my head. No matter how unpleasant it was, I had said I would take care of it. I quietly adjusted the flames so they only came out of my arms.
[Kyu-ho-oh-oh-oh-t-!!]
The excited goblin rushed at me, letting out an unpleasant cry. To think it was lusting after a female student. That ugly sight reminded me of a flasher who used to harass girls at a nearby school while drunk. Since long ago, there has been a specific remedy for perverts. After dodging the arm of the goblin that was rushing in thoughtlessly in its excitement, I dove into its embrace and kicked the bulging area of the goblin, which was covered in cloth, with all my might.
With a "thwack" sound, the goblin's body, which hadn't even been able to scream, slowly collapsed. I kicked the torso of the goblin, which was about to fall forward, to make it lie flat on its back. I climbed onto the goblin's body, which was twitching as it lay on its back. It was the perfect mounting position. The goblin was trembling like someone suffering from a hangover. Just wait a little, I'll help you sober up.
If someone were to ask, "What is alcohol?", some who love novels would answer like this: "Alcohol is cold fire. Drink it with the moon contained within." Then, wouldn't fire be hot alcohol? Putting all my anger about being the object of lust into it, I slammed my fist, filled with hot alcohol, into the face of the goblin that was gaping its mouth open. As expected, alcohol is the best for a hangover.
I shook my fist and stood up from the goblin, which had gone quiet as if it had sobered up. The illusion dissipated. I saw Eve clutching her stomach and laughing, and the male students terrified. Did something happen while I wasn't looking?