Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 53
Chapter Title: Goblin - 2
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Goblins showing up didn't mean the zombies vanished.
Thanks to that, the survivors were having a hell of a time.
The streets, which had been manageable if you moved carefully, had become even more dangerous.
Unlike zombies, which were relatively safe as long as you didn't get too close, goblins fired paralyzing poison darts.
Even one hit, and you'd collapse on the spot, unable to move.
If you didn't have backup, that was a death sentence.
Of course, even with companions, safety wasn't guaranteed.
"Argh!"
A man's scream rang out.
Goblins didn't give a damn about human suffering.
They had no hesitation in smashing in the fallen man's skull with a club, caving in his nose, or stabbing a wooden spear into his eye.
The man could only let out choked screams mixed with gasps as he slowly died, unable to even twitch.
His companions had already fled.
"Fuck, this sucks."
Cheol-jung and Kyung-hoon's group watched the scene from their hiding spot in the alley.
Yeon-hwa, who had been eager to raid the goblin nest quickly, was now drenched in sweat, completely tense.
She clearly hadn't realized goblins could be that brutal.
Kyung-hoon spat out his words.
"They might look easy, but never get close. If you get hit by their poison darts, there's no antidote."
"They're not infinite, though."
Cheol-jung clearly held a different view.
"Hit and run from a distance. Their arrows won't fly farther than ours, right?"
"Keep firing like that, and you'll eat one in the back of the head. Those bastards are smart. They'll come from be..."
Cheol-jung let out a laugh.
"Who'd you learn that from?"
Kyung-hoon couldn't bring himself to say Sung-ho's name.
He'd learned a lot from Yoo-hyun, including stuff not in the strategy guides.
Like goblin behavior, for example.
Sly and trap-savvy.
But they were dumb enough to fall into their own traps sometimes.
Super cowardly, but turned vicious when they had the upper hand, and so on...
Back then, he'd argued out of some weird rivalry, but now with goblins appearing, it all checked out.
That man's tragedy had started with two goblins fleeing, then linking up with a pack.
The bolstered goblins had taken the guy down with a dart and vented their rage on him.
"So what do we do? Hide like scaredy-cats forever?"
Another guy snarked, and Kyung-hoon shut his mouth.
Being too cautious like the gym folks was one problem, but being reckless like these guys was a disaster...
That's how he felt.
Either way, Cheol-jung was the office team's leader.
He had to make the call.
"High risk, high reward, got it? The riskier, the bigger the payoff. We'll hunt goblins and find that dimension gate while we're at it."
Reckless...
High risk, high reward only applied when your life wasn't on the line.
Gambling your life made you an idiot.
But Kyung-hoon and Bora had no choice but to follow the idiot.
Cheol-jung gave the order.
"Bows out, everyone. We take 'em while they're distracted."
"It's too dark... can't see."
"Just aim for the lumps."
That's when everyone nocked arrows to their bowstrings on Cheol-jung's command.
Yeon-hwa, glancing around one last time, whispered urgently.
"Oppa, look over there."
"What?"
"Hobgoblin, hobgoblin."
The two guys looked where she pointed and swallowed hard.
A limping hobgoblin was indeed passing by.
Its movements seemed unnatural, but that didn't matter.
Catching a hobgoblin meant 10 points, plus possible items and skills.
Cheol-jung, who hadn't even glimpsed a skill yet, lit up.
The hobgoblin vanished into an alley for a moment, and he stood.
"Plan change. Let's get that bastard."
Kyung-hoon sensed something off.
The night was pitch black, so why had that hobgoblin been so visible?
And why was it limping alone, without minion goblins?
But he couldn't object just because it was suspicious.
He'd get looks of contempt for sure.
Cheol-jung asked.
"Gonna oppose again?"
"...Let's go."
"Heh, that's more like it. Hey, ignore those and head that way."
The group cautiously headed into the alley where the hobgoblin had disappeared.
The deep night made everything invisible.
They wanted to pull out glowstones, but that would attract zombies and goblins.
So they had to grope their way forward.
Kyung-hoon recalled what Yoo-hyun had said about Sung-ho.
—Sung-ho hyung is amazing. He moves like he can see everything even at night.
Everyone had tripped over something while farming at night a few times.
Nights were dark, streets full of obstacles.
But Sung-ho moved like it was daytime, apparently.
Why was that coming to mind now?
Kyung-hoon shook off the distraction and focused on tracking the hobgoblin.
Soon, they spotted it collapsed in the yard of a fancy house.
Cheol-jung rushed forward impatiently.
"Don't be dead yet."
"Oppa, doesn't that goblin kinda glow?"
"Fuck, it's dead."
Cheol-jung yanked off the rag-bag on the hobgoblin's head in frustration.
A soft glow spread everywhere.
The group froze.
In the middle of the night, light like that...!
"Cover it quick!"
Yeon-hwa's short scream was a blatant mistake.
Zombies started swarming in.
The group panicked, looking for escape routes.
Cheol-jung remembered zombies couldn't climb high walls.
"Wall! Up on the wall!"
It worked.
The zombies just howled and clamored below.
But the group overlooked something.
The streets had goblins too, not just zombies.
And people on the wall made perfect targets for goblin poison darts.
The lead guy stiffened suddenly and plummeted off the wall.
Zombies swarmed him instantly, and a gruesome scream echoed.
"Gasp!"
Bora covered her mouth, and Kyung-hoon, last up the wall, jumped right back down.
"Bora, get down!"
"Oppa!"
"Stay there and you're dead! You'll get darted!"
Everyone leaped off the wall in different directions, fleeing the zombie chase.
The four scattered.
...
"...Went even better than expected."
I'd watched everything from inside the dimension gate.
Dragging the hobgoblin corpse from the goblin nest had done the trick.
It was heavy, so I'd dragged it like a limp, which must've looked like hobbling to them.
Me trailing behind, in my stab-proof suit and helmet, probably went unseen.
Wearing the helmet at night makes it hard for me to see too, but I've got terrain detection.
"Climbing the wall, though."
With goblins around, that meant...
They'd panicked from the encircling zombies and forgotten, probably.
Either way, it worked out.
I exited the dimension gate and tailed Cheol-jung.
Just kill the aggressive ones, and things sort themselves out.
He was dodging zombies well, nearly tripping on obstacles but managing.
So, what's your trait?
Watching from behind revealed Cheol-jung's trait at last.
As he swung his hand mid-run, two blocking zombies got enveloped in light and froze.
Binding ability?
Seemed invincible one-on-one, but duration was short.
Maybe 3-4 seconds tops, useless with walls or obstacles in between.
Cheol-jung bound the zombies and bolted without looking back.
"Good."
No need to see more.
Additional effects don't warp the trait's core.
Probably applies to multiples or longer range at best.
I stuck close behind him.
Close enough to not get attacked by zombies.
Cheol-jung noticed me and started yelling.
"You bastard! You fucking prick!"
"Yeah."
My calm voice pissed him off; he stopped and turned.
I opened a dimension gate in front of me.
Even as he swung, I was fine.
As expected. The binding force can't pierce dimension gates.
I casually raised both arms.
"Not working?"
"This, this...!"
He approached, swinging again.
I deliberately froze.
Ecstasy flashed on Cheol-jung's face.
"Die, you dog bastard."
He charged with his knife, slamming face-first into the dimension gate.
"Gahk!"
How's that wall-smash feel?
Zombies flailed toward him, and I ducked into the gate.
"Close dimension gate."
The cave was cozy.
Dingo was sleeping, and the captain beetle was shoving logs into the brazier.
Always ready to warm me up when I come in.
"Thanks, but..."
Wish you hadn't lit the fire.
I brewed coffee and sipped while waiting.
Chaotic hell outside, peaceful shelter here.
Slurp.
Warm coffee in my belly melted the tension.
"Hoo..."
Good rest. Time to go.
Opening the gate, Cheol-jung's mangled corpse awaited.
Zombies had wandered off toward some distant footsteps.
I slipped out quietly and stashed Cheol-jung's backpack in the gate.
Getting risky.
Time for keepers and bone creepers to spawn.
Track the three risking danger, or prioritize safety...
I pondered, then chuckled.
"Why am I even debating this."
Survival first, obviously.
With Cheol-jung and the other guy dead, the office team was done for.
The remaining three seemed low-aggression from their talk.
Especially Kyung-hoon and Bora—they were victims here.
"Watch that rude mouth of yours."
The two fought off zombies while fleeing.
Idiot went near the mean one, got stoned for nothing.
I threw the rock, but no guilt.
Standing still would've gotten me hit.
I left the alley to anchor the dimension gate properly.
Reaching the intersection, I saw gym members barricaded, fighting a siege.
Enemies: goblins, naturally.
I drew an adamant arrow, nocked, and fired.
The goblin vaulting the furniture barricade got pierced clean through.
Pinned to the furniture.
Insane penetration.
Mi-kyung, firing arrows from the second floor, spotted me and cheered.
"Uncle!"
The exhausted group looked my way.
Embarrassing when they stare like that.
...
Bunny Duo Hwang Seok-hyun had arrived in Seoul.
Well, he'd wandered into it by accident, but arrival was what mattered.
He wandered aimlessly amid collapsed apartments and sound barriers.
North Korea had zero food.
Buildings were all shoddy; nothing intact, so he'd trekked open fields.
Zombies he saw were malnourished and in rough shape.
"Hungry..."
He wanted to scavenge somewhere, but that'd mean getting lost again.
Finally here—back to the North would suck.
Then someone emerged from another road.
A middle-aged man in a neat shirt and slacks.
He greeted Seok-hyun politely.
"Are you Bunny Princess? Pleased to meet you."
Seok-hyun didn't question how he'd been spotted.
Not many guys wander in just panties.
He'd auctioned them off so much at the market, people knew they were his now.
"Face looks familiar."
Seok-hyun thought, then snapped his fingers.
Ah, the guy always hovering near the president.
The man introduced himself.
"President... well, no president anymore. Anyway, I'm Yi Beom-seok, attendant to Jang Won-taek. The one on the last TV broadcast."
The president's whisperer, huh.
"Oh. Good work. What brings you here?"
"Here to escort you, Bunny Duo sir."
"Me? Must be tough."
Seok-hyun narrowed his eyes, and Beom-seok hurriedly clarified.
"No intent to force you. We lack the power. We just want to serve you. Remember Survivor1?"
"Ah."
Survivor1 was with them.
So he'd fed info to the government.
Beom-seok lifted a rock pile with his mind and crushed approaching zombies in seconds.
High-level telekinesis.
Seok-hyun sat on the road and invited him to join.
"So you'll hear me out. Excellent."
Beom-seok laid out the basics.
President, him, a few survivors.
Recruited some Survival Life players, including Survivor1.
Forming a faction.
"We want a shelter safe from zombies and monsters. Not a small one for a few people. Large-scale."
Seok-hyun tilted his head.
"Raids hit over five people."
Beom-seok smiled faintly.
"Can't stay small forever. Even if monsters swarm, we aim to build force strong enough to repel them, Bunny Princess."
"Bunny Duo."
"Ah, pronunciation's tricky."
Beom-seok tried 'Duo' a few times, tongue twisting, then licked his lips.
He proposed cautiously.
"What do you say? With you, our power surges. We have an unannounced underground shelter stocked with supplies."
"Whoa, tempting."
"Plenty of women interested in you too. We won't interfere... but it's a good opportunity. How's that?"
Considering he was a sex maniac, pretty alluring bait.
But Seok-hyun's mind was elsewhere.
"Pass."
He stood and walked on.
Beom-seok panicked.
"You'd refuse terms like these?"
"Someone's waiting for me."
"Who?"
"A friend."
Not a real-life friend—probably Survival Life...
Beom-seok walked beside him.
"Off to meet Kimbap Lover or Duck Down Quack?"
"Ugh. I said south."
"That's Uijeongbu..."
Seok-hyun halted, embarrassed.
Beom-seok proposed again.
"How about visiting our shelter briefly? Chat with Survivor1. Then we'll provide a guide."
"For real?"
"No lies. No tricks to hold you. Just hope you two meet."
"...Then I do whatever after?"
"Guide included."
Hard to refuse that.
Seok-hyun nodded, and Beom-seok led the way.
Great, but clothes first.
Torn cloak's fine, but holey panties? And picking his nose with a finger in the hole!
Oh god.
Beom-seok averted his eyes.
< Goblin - 2 > End