Unlocking the Goblin Secret: My 28 Million Won "Secret Red Potion" Windfall
"You got 28 million won more than the original plan?"
"Yes, that's correct."
From Alex's report, my specially crafted red potion had proven to be a "rare item unavailable on the market," which was why the extra payout had come through.
Even so, nearly four times the amount still felt absurdly generous.
I locked the name of the guild—Hanseong Guild—into my memory bank.
From now on, whenever I found anything that could turn a profit, I would head straight to them.
"Haneun said she would honestly return to university?"
"Yes. She didn't seem to be lying."
I had already cleared the highest-priority tasks.
"Good. Tonight's dinner is beef party time."
With all that money rolling in, I figured it was only right to splurge on a proper feast.
"Alex, I'm sending you to the supermarket."
I had just started giving the new summoner an errand when I hesitated.
If he went out, he might accidentally drag me into another bizarre incident.
"No, you should rest."
I called over the supply officer, Rice, and the transport pilot, Willis.
"We're having a barbecue party, so pick up a full barbecue set, enough meat, and vegetables for ten people."
"What about the budget?"
"As long as it's under a million won, that's fine."
"Yes, sir! Understood!"
"You can use a taxi both ways."
Once the orders were set, another thought struck me.
We had so many mouths to feed, yet we didn't even own a single car.
Surely I couldn't just slap an unlicensed aircraft up in the middle of Seoul.
It would be nice to have at least one vehicle around.
Thinking about it, the two million won Alex had earned suddenly felt embarrassingly small.
'Only a few days ago I was barely scraping by on Haneun's university tuition.'
Was the human need for more truly endless?
While the two crew members went to buy the barbecue gear and ingredients, I opened the Hunter Gallery and started jotting down notes on the world's hidden secrets.
[Awakened One (IP 1.2954)]
[Maybe we've been approaching tower conquests completely wrong this whole time.]
[The idea that all monsters are enemies to be killed is a mistake.]
[If you learn their language and actually talk to them, miracles might just happen.]
Was that enough for them to understand?
—After reading this, I befriended a dragon and conquered the Earth.
—IP is seriously weird. How did you get Alpha Centauri to tag you?
—Dude! Why are you farming aggro without a ban?
└The Hunter Gallery is more like a private fan club, so no aggro here.
—I'm a murderer, I'll just get caught and killed talking to monsters lol.
—You woke up and immediately fell back asleep.
It seemed like only people like me—those who had awakened to the world's hidden truths—were out there.
Still, I had zero intention of publishing a goblin-language dictionary out of pure mission-driven zeal.
I'd hidden my own secret so thoroughly that I was confident nothing was left. Once I was sure, I'd think about sharing.
If you get angry, you can awaken your own abilities and hunt for secrets too.
While the gallery's crazies continued their banter, the barbecue meat finally returned.
I led everyone onto my "stomach"—the aircraft carrier's deck.
On a windless evening, perfect for grilling.
Was there any better spot for a barbecue?
"Everyone gather!"
I rounded up every crew member and kicked off the meat party.
Beef, sausages, bell peppers, mushrooms—barbecue was heaven!
***
[Hunter Gallery Notice) 1–19 Floor Conquest Compilation]
[4th Floor: Goblin and Hobgoblin, Orc Layers]
"Alright, the real hell level of this floor has just begun.
Most hunters who reached the 3rd-floor waves would have taken a month to grind before trying this one.
But clearing the 4th floor demands far more than that.
If you barely scraped through the 3rd floor, keep leveling in the 3rd floor instead.
Minimum 4th-floor clear requirements are roughly 3-to-1 odds against an orc squad.
There's a way to beat it with lower specs, but it's not sane.
(Sketchy hand-drawn map)
When you first enter, you're in the middle of the monster's territory. Which direction you choose changes who you fight.
Heading north toward the tall rocks means you'll meet Hobgoblin Warriors. Deeper in, you'll encounter Hobgoblin Shamans—proceed with extreme caution.
If they curse you or put you to sleep, the game is over.
Heading south takes you to an orc camp where, strangely, goblin prisoners are locked in cages.
Don't rescue them! Absolutely do not!
Rescuing them looks like it would help at first, but eventually the Hobgoblins swarm in and the difficulty skyrockets.
Clear condition: defeat the orc chieftain deep in the orc camp and escape through the portal that appears.
Best strategy: ignore the goblins completely and quietly take out each orc one by one like a solo stealth mission.
Beating the orc chieftain in a fair 1v1 fight requires at least 3-to-1 odds. Anything lower is suicidal—don't even think about it.
Any sane person would just grind stats in the 3rd floor until they have enough.
Even if you got lucky and skipped floors, it would only waste your time.
If your specs aren't enough, camp in the 3rd floor and level up."
—I tried the 3rd floor for four straight weeks and still failed. Now you're telling me to camp there again?
└Just die to the 4th floor instead.
—What's the secret to beating it with minimum specs? Tell me now!
└If you try that you'll die. Stop.
└What is it then?
└They lure the Hobgoblins into the orc camp on purpose. Suddenly they're at each other's throats.
└Screw-up and survive lol lol.
└Trying that will get you killed. Just level up properly.
"This is the life of a normal hunter… what a nightmare."
Normal hunters clearly relied heavily on retreat portals, spending weeks training before every major tower push.
That made sense. After five years since the tower appeared, no one had reached the 50th floor.
Whether true or not, I had now been climbing for five days.
I stepped onto the 4th floor.
A vast forest stretched before me. As I scanned the surroundings, the rocky mountain the guide mentioned rose in the distance.
The trees were dense enough that the angle almost hid the peak.
That had to be the Hobgoblin territory to the north.
'But what landmark was it based on?'
I headed north anyway.
A tall, thin Hobgoblin wearing pants to hide its private parts confronted me.
"Human!"
"Nice to meet you."
I raised a hand and waved.
"Can you speak our language?"
"Yes. Does that mean I can't?"
Unlike the dim-witted goblins, the Hobgoblin's grammar was flawless.
"Where did you learn?"
"Actually, I'm a Hobgoblin too."
"What kind of nonsense is that?"
"I got cursed in a cave during an adventure and turned human."
"That's the truth?"
"Of course. I even have goblin companions I take everywhere."
Summoning 120 goblins at once would be too many, so I called for ten.
"Shaman! Are you a noble?"
The Hobgoblin's stance instantly softened and its tone turned polite.
I opened the gate and released the goblins.
The act looked like advanced dimensional manipulation.
No, it was blatantly advanced.
"Our tribe leader! You are strong!"
"Kneel, you lowly thing!"
"We are not barbarians. We are gentleman goblins!"
One goblin was trying to show off, another was trying to stop him.
It seemed the goblin crew had received proper education.
"The orcs took our goblins. Let me guide you to our shaman."
With a single Hobgoblin escort and ten goblin subordinates, I was whisked deep into their territory in seconds.
"Imchafala! Holy Goblin God!"
The shaman's fur was crimson instead of black, and he wore feathered decorations.
He also carried a staff adorned with numerous human and orc skulls.
"You were cursed and turned human? I can feel a great deal of goblin energy from you!"
Of course. Ten goblins were released, but another 110 remained unaccounted for.
"It seems the concept works surprisingly well."
I decided to roll with it on this floor.
"That's right, goblin!"
"What kind of tone is that?"
"It's just friendly humor."
The shaman narrowed his eyes at me.
"The orcs are exploiting their numbers to oppress us. They're a primitive race obsessed only with breeding."
"Isn't that goblin talk?"
"If we free the imprisoned goblins, our strength will increase!"
"Sounds good. Let's go all-out. Summon every Hobgoblin!"
"This tribe's shaman is me!"
The shaman raged, but I refused to back down.
"I'm another tribe's shaman offering help. Would you waste such an opportunity?"
"You'd help for free?"
"Not free."
"What do you want?"
"I absolutely hate orcs! Orc-phobe here! So I'm going to kill every single one!"
"That sounds reasonable."
The shaman's trust in me seemed to grow.
"Excellent! All Hobgoblins, assemble! War has begun!"
Even upper races were still goblins at heart.
They were easy to manipulate after all.