Chapter 12. I don't feel like I'm doing anything, but things are moving along.

"What is this? A weapon?"

"Didn't you say you encountered a goblin? Since you can't avoid them entirely while wandering around the area, I think it's best you take this."

Choi Yeon-ju handed me a short flail and explained. But why a flail?

"Aren't you supposed to give me a cool weapon like a sword or a blade in times like this?"

"Do you even know how to use one? It's harder to use than you think to attach a blade. If you don't strike accurately with the edge, it won't cut. A sword that doesn't cut is just a switch, a switch."

"Hmm..."

"In that sense, isn't it great? Look at this flail. The same pain regardless of which direction you hit from. Unlike a bladed weapon that gets blocked by armor, it has enough destructive power to make the insides rattle. A flail is truly the best weapon for beginners."

"What about a spear?"

"You want to use that long thing in the forest?"

That's true.

Persuaded by Choi Yeon-ju's explanation, I nodded. Honestly, I had thought it would be nice to have a weapon, but even though I had received a hunter's license, I didn't have the passion to diligently run the gates. It was just a matter of going into the gate whenever Choi Yeon-ju needed something and bringing it out.

It's not money I earned myself, but thanks to Choi Yeon-ju, I got a mansion that would make eyes pop out, and a sports car I never even dreamed of, though I don't drive it myself. Honestly, the sports car was useless anyway. I don't have a driver's license.

A man who is currently warm and well-fed, and has much more passion for doing wicked things to women with Choi Yeon-ju than for ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the honor of a hunter gained through hunting and gate pioneering.

That is me.

"But I should still run away first if I see one, right?"

"Isn't that obvious? Just because you did a little bodyweight training for two days doesn't mean you've become a god of war. Well, of course, a goblin isn't that strong of a monster, but you're not a game character either. It means you can't respawn if you die."

"That's the most relatable thing I've heard so far. Life is important."

"Goblins also shoot poison darts. If they carry bladed weapons, they smear their own excrement on them. You could die from an infection even from a small scratch. Being careful doesn't make you a coward."

"Alright. Thanks, for real this time."

"That sounds like you didn't mean it until now."

Choi Yeon-ju narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I quickly changed the subject.

"But what about guns? If I had a gun, couldn't I just kill the goblins?"

"They were used in the past, but not anymore."

"Why?"

"Because the sound of a gun is loud. Even with a silencer, the gunshot is louder than you'd think."

"What's the problem with it being loud?"

"When the first gates appeared, the monsters living inside didn't know the sound of a gun. They would be startled and run away when they heard a gunshot. But it's different now. Just as we analyze monsters, monsters are analyzing us. If they hear a gunshot, the monsters will come to that location. Especially goblins or orcs."

"No. Why?"

"Because there might be a female there."

"Aha."

I wondered if that would be a suffocating situation. Choi Yeon-ju had told me before. That orcs and goblins don't have females. That's why they have offspring through crossbreeding. Doesn't that mean if I make a gunshot sound for no reason, monsters will come looking for a female?

"Firepower is also lacking more than you'd think. The only people who can enter the gate are awakened psychics. The number of psychics might look sufficient now, but in reality, it's not that high. The number of ability users is important. Because they are the only ones who can bring byproducts out of the gate. No matter how many there are, if you compare the handful of ability users to the swarming monsters, firing a gun is close to suicide."

"I see."

"Running away from monsters is not exactly something to be ashamed of. Most hunters also try not to encounter monster hordes. It's correct to view the occasional monster byproduct as a monster that doesn't live in a herd, or one that has fallen behind from the herd. Or, if not that, a monster hunted by a crew."

"I think I understand properly."

"So if you encounter a goblin, try not to fight as much as possible. If it's just one, think carefully before attacking. Do you understand?"

"Yeah."

I nodded. This time, I didn't turn her stomach with strange backtalk. It felt like I should.

As I nodded without saying anything, Choi Yeon-ju nodded with a satisfied expression and shouted.

"Good. Sortie!"

"...Sortie."

"Don't forget that you must bring back two Chaos Flowers today."

"Ah. I got it."

I headed to the Yaksu-teo Gate I had visited before.

ㅡ

"Hmm? You're here again? Uh... what's your name..."

"I'm Seong Byeong-jin."

"Ah, right. Mr. Seong Byeong-jin. You even brought a weapon this time? Did you buy it?"

"Yes."

Annoyingly, the male staff member who had laughed at me last time was still there. The female staff members behind him seemed to have changed. Actually, I couldn't remember the female staff members' faces because they were looking down and giggling, so I hadn't seen them properly.

The male staff member asked me with an anxious expression again.

"You're not planning on going in there and beating up monsters, are you?"

"No way. This is just for self-defense; if I run into one, I plan to run away. It's not like I can just attack with a single dagger if I don't have a chance to run, right?"

When I explained that, the male staff member nodded as if I had thought it through well. For some reason, it felt unpleasant.

Does he think I look like I'd lose if I fought a goblin?

Of course, the probability of losing is high.

But I could win, right?

"I hope you only harvest medicinal herbs and not just any grass like last time. Give me your license."

"...Here."

I handed over the license to the male staff member, who kept adding unnecessary comments, with a straight face. This time, it was already stained with blood so the information would come out from the start. I didn't think there would be hunters going to the gate every single day. I had to use my license every time I entered, and I thought my right thumb would become tattered if I used it every day.

"Confirmed. I hope you return safely."

The male staff member nodded and cleared the way. This is something to be a little grateful for. Doesn't that mean there's one more person besides Choi Yeon-ju waiting for my safe return? I decided to think positively, as it's not bad to enter the gate with a positive mind.

So, I entered the gate once again. Perhaps because I had the experience of entering once, I wasn't as anxious as the first time. I didn't know if it was because of the flail strapped to my waist. It meant that even in the worst-case scenario, I had at least one weapon to protect my body.

Standing in the same spot as last time, I first looked around.

Medicinal herbs or Chaos Flowers were important, but it wasn't like monsters didn't appear near the gate.

Thankfully, there were none.

I quickly moved on. Even though it was still morning, I thought it was better to consider that time moving from now on was money. There wouldn't be a shortage of money, but isn't it a gain if I earn even a little bit?

ㅡ

"Hmm..."

Choi Yeon-ju was looking at a flower that glowed faintly in pink in her private research lab.

Chaos Flower.

All byproducts from the gate are controlled by the state. Among them, byproducts judged to have no particular danger are sold to various companies through auctions, and those judged dangerous are never released to the market. This is done the same way in most countries. Except for a few quasi-states.

The Chaos Flower was one of them. It is a dangerous flower that makes both people and monsters see hallucinations and hear auditory hallucinations in every part it possesses. Therefore, in the country, it can be considered a flower whose research is prohibited for any purpose other than making weapons to fight monsters.

This flower's pollen is also dangerous. Just inhaling a little bit of it causes dizziness and lightheadedness. Since the fact that it induces dizziness means it affects the inner ear or the brain's sense of balance, hunters also pull it out by the roots if they encounter a Chaos Flower inside a gate. It was because you could have a major accident if you were unlucky enough to be nearby.

How should I use this? Choi Yeon-ju thought deeply. The Chaos Flower was unique. It showed similar effects in every part of the flower's structure. It was artificial, as if the flower itself was made to be used that way.

The simplest method among the ways to use it would be a potion. Since there's no point in making it large, if you extract only the components intact through dilution and distillation, that's a potion.

But there's no point in doing that. Among the effects of the Chaos Flower, hallucinations and auditory hallucinations meant it ultimately acted on the brain, and that was proof that it wasn't very good for the human body. Choi Yeon-ju knew. Seong Byeong-jin doesn't want a cripple.

She couldn't turn Lim Seo-yoon into a cripple.

Therefore, it was better to start with research. Wanting the Chaos Flower wasn't a big deal. It was just one of the devices to help more naturally with the induction method she was currently using on Lim Seo-yoon, which was to make her fall into a trance state on her own through unconscious concentration. She still hadn't even properly started the hypnosis.

There must be components in the Chaos Flower that have the effect of making one feel hallucinations and auditory hallucinations. That wasn't particularly necessary for now. Because that level of effect was possible with drugs too. Rather than that, there must be an inducing component that helps those effects circulate quickly.

Choi Yeon-ju had to find that.

ㅡ

There is a novel called 'A Lucky Day'.

I think it's about a husband who earned money with a rickshaw because he was lucky all day and bought seolleongtang for his sick wife, but his wife was already dead.

It was a lucky day for me too.

I found as many as four Chaos Flowers less than two hours after arriving at the gate. Choi Yeon-ju said she needed three flowers, and since I had already brought one, two would be enough, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but isn't there no need to bring exactly that amount?

Since there's a saying that the more the better, I thought it would be useful somewhere, so I dug them all up.

Thanks to reviewing the content about medicinal herbs again after the embarrassing medicinal herb incident last time, this time I also dug up a whole bunch of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠things that looked like medicinal herbs to anyone.

I felt very good because it seemed like I would really become rich.

But why is a lucky day called a lucky day?

It's because there's a mechanism that makes your mood, which had soared to the sky, plummet vertically.

That was me right now.

"Ke-re-re-re...."

"Fuck."

I spat out a curse first as I saw the goblin in front of me, smiling unpleasantly and shaking a club.

I couldn't avoid it because it wasn't me who found it first, but that guy who found me and attacked first.

Come to think of it, in this situation, I have to fight no matter what.

The gate... isn't it much tougher than I thought...

I think it was because I was excited after seeing what Choi Yeon-ju was doing to Lim Seo-yoon yesterday, thinking something was working out. I should have prepared my mind firmly when entering the gate, but there was no lack of carelessness like this.

There was one thing. It wasn't that there wasn't anything fortunate. There was only one goblin, and it definitely looked weaker than the goblin I saw last time. The teeth visible inside its mouth, which was smiling unpleasantly, were missing here and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there, and it didn't look like there was any worry about getting feces poison since it was holding a club, not a bladed weapon.

Most importantly, it was the bald head and the white hair visible behind it.

This bastard was an old goblin.

Wouldn't it be worth a try at this level?

It seemed like I wouldn't be able to catch it even if I ran away, but what are the chances of meeting a goblin that looks easy in my current state like this?

A groundless confidence filled my heart that it would be a good study to try killing a goblin for once.

I lifted the flail I had strapped to my side.

Choi Yeon-ju's words came to mind.

[If a situation arises where you kill a goblin, please make sure to harvest the genital area.]

[...You want me to cut off a goblin's dick...?]

[Do you dislike it? Have you given up on the idea of wanting to become a god of sex?]

[What does a goblin's dick have to do with the god of sex?]

[Monsters that crossbreed secrete a special fluid. It contains components that make it easier for the female to get pregnant. Goblins are particularly unique. Since their bodies are small, isn't it difficult for reproductive activity if the female struggles?]

[So?]

[If the fluid from the goblin's genitals is absorbed into the mucous membrane, the female becomes docile.]

[How is that possible? Is it possible to become docile?]

[Because it feels incredibly good.]

[Ah!]

At that moment, an unknown motivation and fighting spirit began to well up inside me!

"Come at me, you fucker!"

"Kueeee!"

The old goblin rushed at me, swinging its club. I gripped the flail tightly in my right hand and calmly blocked the swinging club with the flail!

Clack!