Chapter 13
Chapter 13
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 13
Chapter Title: 4. The Goblin is Too Big (3)
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How did it look to them?
A human charging in on a bicycle, armed with sword and shield, the title "Gumi's Greatest Swordsman" floating above his head.
“Iyaaaa!”
Even as Young-woo approached at high speed with a guttural roar, the goblins paid him no mind and continued their meal.
Ripping the thighs and calves from their prey with brute force, tearing the ribs apart to scoop out the innards.
“Fuck…!”
Was this their sense of camaraderie?
As Young-woo gazed at the severed limbs rattling on the ground, he felt an indescribable rage and sorrow.
And soon after, a profound terror as well.
The instinctive dread that humanity's position in the world would never be the same again.
“Come here, you bastards!”
Finally reaching the scene, Young-woo practically leaped off his bike and drew Early Bird.
The nearest goblin moved to block him.
Crunch!
Its torso crumpled grotesquely under the shield bash, delivered without a hint of hesitation.
-Kirrrk!
The goblins that followed suit met the same fate.
“You fucking shits!”
Young-woo smashed into them with his shield like a hammer demolishing a building.
Thwack, bang!
His immense strength caused everything the shield struck to crumple.
The iron breastplates and pauldrons the goblins wore... Any foolhardy enough to thrust out an arm in counterattack had it snap clean off.
Of course, with their superior numbers, sharp attacks came from the flanks now and then, but Young-woo whipped Early Bird around each time.
It might not inflict fatal wounds, but it forced them back.
-Kruk!
By now, even the goblins charging at Young-woo realized the truth.
That trying to eat this one guy might get them all killed.
And from that moment.
-Keek.
-Keek...
They hesitated.
Unlike their earlier frenzy to rush in first, they now yielded turns to each other.
The problem was that no goblin wanted to charge at a human capable of one-shot kills.
So in the end.
-Kit...
-Kikkit.
The battle ground to a sudden halt.
“Huh...?”
Ye-chan, who had been swinging his spear wildly at Young-woo's side, noticed the goblins weren't pressing the attack and fell back.
“What... what's going on? Suddenly.”
Staring at the shield's edge, stained deep blue with goblin blood, Young-woo answered Ye-chan's question.
“Those bastards are sentient too.”
“Huh?”
“They hate dying just like us, and...”
They know fear.
Instead of finishing the thought aloud, Young-woo lunged at the goblins.
Whoosh!
Leg muscles powered by 150 Strength propelled his body forward at tremendous speed.
So fast that.
-Keek!
-Kiiii!
Even two-meter-tall goblins scattered in panic.
“Kill them all! Don't let a single one escape!”
As Young-woo's gritted teeth spat out the fierce line, Ye-chan snapped out of his daze from watching the spectacle.
“Y-Yes, sir!”
Thud!
Ye-chan swung his long spear shaft as he chased after the goblins.
Glancing sideways at Young-woo mid-air, slamming his shield into a goblin's skull.
To the untrained eye, it looked like the goblins were the victims.
“Raaaaah!”
Young-woo's roar tore through the air.
Another goblin's head burst like a watermelon.
Clang, boom!
Each falling goblin produced a deafening crash due to the heavy plate armor encasing their bodies.
And this crashing sound.
“What's that? Where's it coming from?”
“Look over there.”
“Whoa...”
Drew in the other people lingering nearby.
Those bold enough to investigate the source of the rhythmic pounding echoing through the air.
What to call them?
Monster hunters, perhaps.
Properly armed, above-average grit, and reasons to risk their lives fighting monsters.
A couple grinding karma for their family taxes.
A girl supporting her widowed mother.
An elderly loner who couldn't even scrape basic funds at the exchange.
Practically a group of the frail and elderly, they had to swarm even one or two goblins just to fight—but they remained optimistic about the future.
At least they could pay tomorrow's taxes, and use the leftover karma to slowly boost their stats.
Then unexpectedly.
“Kiyaaaa!”
They encountered a superhuman slaughtering two-meter goblins like bugs.
* * *
Thud!
One more sent skyward.
Young-woo surveyed his surroundings, his eyes... no, stained deep blue with goblin blood.
He'd come to his senses to find no goblins left in sight.
“Whew... Guess that's all of them here.”
He could really feel the 150 Endurance. Even after going all out for so long, he still had plenty of stamina left.
Enough to take on those humans in the distance right now, even.
Whoosh, pop, pop!
Soon, the goblin corpses scattered on the ground evaporated in bursts of light, spilling crimson coins.
Clink!
20,000 karma per goblin.
“...”
As Young-woo swept up the coins from the ground, he eyed the group of people keeping their distance.
In situations like this, human groups usually came swinging swords.
“Mister!”
Ye-chan soon came running up, breathless, pointing at the group.
“You saw them, right? Those people.”
“Yeah. Just in case, spend your karma now. All on Endurance if you can.”
Young-woo said this while immediately allocating his own stats.
This haul: 200,000 karma. 200 stat points.
‘Put 100 into Durability first, then bump Strength and Senses some more.’
『Character: Jeong Young-woo07』
[Strength] 200 (19+181)
[Endurance] 150 (21+129)
[Durability] 150 (13+137)
[Senses] 100 (24+76)
Young-woo invested in Senses for Gumi Swordsmanship.
He figured higher Senses would let him follow the hologram more fluidly.
Sss.
Once allocation finished, vitality surged through his body as usual, and on top of that.
“...?”
Something indescribable.
‘From bumping Senses by 50?’
Might be his imagination, but he could feel every minute vibration in his body.
Swept up in the strange sensation, Young-woo watched the group finally starting to approach.
They'd looked like a blob from afar, but now individual silhouettes came into view.
“...Huh?”
Ye-chan, with his sharper eyes, reacted first.
“Mister, those people.”
Before he could add they didn't look like bandits, the group made a gesture.
Whoosh.
All of them raised both hands high in the air.
Letting Young-woo and Ye-chan see their armament and numbers clearly.
Seven in total.
A couple and two kids who looked kindergarten-age.
A limping woman supported by a girl.
And a skinny old man with a wolf cut. His hair was so white it looked gray.
‘Only the couple, the girl, and the old man are armed.’
Young-woo eyed the intruders coldly, then snapped to when he spotted the kids sandwiched among the adults.
‘Damn.’
The kids looked like they were being punished, hands held high.
Schwing.
As Young-woo's blade swung downward toward the ground, Ye-chan followed suit, planting his spear.
The 'frail and elderly' approaching with stiff faces finally relaxed.
“H-Hello!”
The man from the couple spoke first.
“Let us introduce ourselves...”
“Hold on. Tell the kids to lower their hands. They're just babies.”
“...Huh? Oh! Thank you...”
“No, not you guys too.”
* * *
Haneul Residents' Association.
The man said they were from the residents' association of Haneul Apartments.
Just neighbors before, but now banding together after this mess.
Armed and hunting goblins as a group.
‘How's that even possible?’
Young-woo wondered, then glanced at their members and understood.
All stragglers who realized they had no chance alone.
Still, going from huddling together to actively seeking survival like this was impressive.
Most people were just fleeing goblins.
Impressive or not.
“Yeah, I get who you are. But why tell me?”
As Young-woo drew a firm line in his tone, the briefly brightened faces of the Haneul group darkened again.
“Well...”
The man who'd greeted him first.
But the next line came from the quiet wolf-cut old man in the corner.
“In a world like this, how can people survive without helping each other?”
Skinny, but with an imposing frame and sharp eyes.
To Young-woo, the most out-of-place in this ragtag group.
“I know it's presumptuous, but please join us. For the kids' sake... we beg you.”
Young-woo ignored the old man and asked the man beside him.
“Who's this? Another resident?”
“He used to guard our apartment. Thanks to him, we could band together like this.”
“A security guard...?”
A wolf-cut security guard with predator eyes... Young-woo's jaw dropped involuntarily.
Sensing room for persuasion, the woman from the couple chimed in.
“No casualties so far, but we've had some close calls. But if you... join us, at least we won't have to worry about dying to monsters.”
“Could be.”
But what do we get out of it... Young-woo started to say, then clamped his mouth shut.
His eyes caught the two kids, arms numb from holding them up, now rubbing their bodies vigorously.
‘Damn it. Kids are cheating.’
Humanity skeptic or not, Young-woo couldn't help softening for children.
Plus, in this world, monsters ate people.
“...”
The gruesome corpses from earlier flashed in his mind.
“I won't stop you following. But the problem is I'm heading...”
Young-woo turned his head.
To find the red pillar of light. To warn them of the danger.
But.
‘Huh...?’
Its position had shifted noticeably, now clearly visible.
The mutation had entered the residential area.
“Whoa.”
“Huh.”
“That's... right now...”
The Haneul group stared at the red pillar too.
Their goblin-killing experience had activated the Epic Quest.
Boom! Booom!
Rhythmic booms started up, different from falling goblins.
Probably the thing's footsteps.
Boom, booom!
The red pillar drew closer with each thud, until finally.
Whoooosh!
Something massive launched into the air.
“Ah.”
Sensing it, Young-woo looked up.
A silhouette backlit black entered his view.
Enormously bulky, with what looked like a nametag above its head.
“Gumi... City Councilor... Jang Sun-bok...?”
Yes.
Young-woo was now looking at Gumi City Councilor Jang Sun-bok, returned as a goblin.