The Eighth Commission (3)
The monsters were completely unaffected by modern weapons.
This had already been explained countless times on the news.
Guns were useless, and even hacking at them with blades left no damage whatsoever.
Testimonies like these flooded internet communities, even reaching the university forums Junil frequented.
At first, people fell into despair.
But as always, humans find a way.
Using the abilities of the Awakened or their designated weapons allowed people to hunt monsters.
Naturally, this raised questions for some.
Just who was that man slaughtering goblins on Line 4?
Especially since it happened before Awakening was even a thing.
People tried to dig up overseas cases for more information, but for some unknown reason, all communication with foreign countries had been cut off.
One of them even proposed this theory.
The internet is obviously down, but maritime routes and air traffic have all been blocked too. Check the news (link)
There had been no official government announcement or article yet, but the theory that the servers had been divided was rapidly gaining traction.
“Hmm… So that’s what it is.”
Junil stroked his chin while reading the theory on his phone.
‘He did say he specialized in game fantasy.’
Those were Ham’s last words before disappearing.
Since Ram specialized in games, it seemed he had turned the entire world into one.
“Game windows are visible too. It does seem to fit, doesn’t it?”
Junil decided to cast his vote for the ‘server theory.’
It wasn’t certain, but it was plausible, wasn’t it?
Above all—
The Constellations were saying he was right.
‘Man… they’re so easy to read.’
It would be good to drop more casual comments in the future so the Constellations could hear them.
Of course, naturally.
“Ugh, whatever. I’ve got a quest anyway. Time to start grinding levels.”
He deliberately recited his goal out loud and casually checked the Constellations’ reactions.
He searched on his phone.
From the news and community posts, he looked for places where goblin sightings had been reported.
Among them, which was closest to his neighborhood?
‘Here?’
It was a hiking trail in the area.
* * *
He finally arrived at the hiking trail.
‘Is this really a hiking trail? It feels more like a kidnapping route.’
In truth, even without goblins, this place would be a little scary to walk around at night.
It was this gloomy even though it was still daytime.
‘Creepy.’
Junil carefully gripped the industrial cutter knife he had brought from home.
He hadn’t walked far when—
“Kyaaaaaaaaaah!”
A woman screamed as she ran.
Judging by her hoodie and running shoes, she seemed to have been out for a jog.
‘Jogging in this mess?’
Marveling at her passion for running even after the Gates had opened, Junil dashed forward.
He could tell at a glance what was chasing her.
“Kieeeeeeeeeek!”
It was a goblin.
The expression on its face as it chased the woman was one of pure glee.
‘These guys really never change.’
Each monster had its own habits.
Goblins, strangely enough, primarily targeted women and children.
Because they knew humans very well.
They would even take women hostage instead of killing them.
They knew that caused the most trouble for human armies.
Thud!
The goblin had simply climbed onto the hooded woman’s head.
It wasn’t pulling out a blade; it was only swinging its fists.
It was trying to kidnap her.
“Kieek! Kkak!”
“Kieeeeeek!”
Another goblin latched onto her and dragged her to the ground.
“U-ugh!?”
The woman thrashed as her throat was squeezed.
The goblin’s blood-red eyes and the slick feel of its green skin.
It was horrifying.
‘Am I going to die?’
She never imagined the goblins she had seen on the news would actually appear in her neighborhood.
And in such a quiet place, no less.
She screamed with all her might.
“A-aaaaaaaaah! S-save me! Save—”
——Swish!
A black shadow flashed past in an instant.
‘Huh?’
The head of the goblin staring at her vanished.
“Kik?”
The other goblin tilted its head in confusion.
Thump!
Its head was slammed straight into the asphalt.
“Kek!?”
Someone’s foot was calmly pressing down on its head.
It was a male college student in a hoodie.
He looked about the same age as her.
For some reason, his face seemed familiar.
“Th-thank you.”
He simply gave a small nod before immediately stabbing the goblin in the neck with his knife.
Stab!
The goblin thrashed for a moment before collapsing limply.
There was no emotion or hesitation in his actions.
It was as casual as a chef killing a lobster.
The woman was stunned.
‘What… what is this guy?’
Even though goblins were small, their strength was tremendous.
‘How did he kill it?’
Her eyes went to Junil’s weapon.
“A… a cutter knife?”
It was a utility knife.
“I-is that a cutter knife?”
“Don’t worry about it. Just go home.”
Junil deliberately spoke in a cold tone that would sound unpleasant and turned away.
Did Junil have a female allergy?
Of course not.
‘It’s because of you guys.’
He was simply back in hero mode.
Junil himself didn’t have a female allergy.
But Julian did.
Right now, he was half Julian.
So he quickly moved away.
“U-um…”
But the woman ran after him from behind.
“No, I told you to go home—”
“You’re the Line 4 Goblin Slayer, right!?”
“……?”
She thrust her phone forward, showing him a photo.
“The photo looks a lot like you. And you’re really good at killing goblins.”
That photo taken on Line 4?
Honestly, it was so blurry that anyone could claim it was them.
He could just deny it and be done.
‘I could just say no.’
But Junil was hesitating.
Because of what Ham had said.
「The good news is that Sir Julian has already become the ‘Line 4 Goblin Slayer,’ so quite a few Constellations are showing interest.」
That was right.
With Awakened overflowing everywhere, why would anyone watch an F-rank failure?
It was because he was already somewhat famous.
The first righteous person to draw attention after the incident began.
Because he was the Line 4 Goblin Slayer.
If Junil hadn’t become famous, the Constellations might not even be here right now.
‘I might have died.’
To avoid dying, he needed to become famous.
‘I need more Constellations.’
He had to give them a reason to watch an F-rank.
“Wow. Amazing. C-can I take a photo with you?”
That was why Junil couldn’t answer “no” here.
“It is you, right? The Line 4 Goblin Slayer! You really go to S University? Please, just one photo!”
She pressed him even more urgently.
“Just one, please? Pretty please?”
She grabbed his hand and begged.
‘Then… should I do one more promotional stunt?’
If the number of Constellations increased, Junil’s life would be more stably extended.
“Ahem. I’ll have to cover my face.”
“O-of course! Awesome!”
The female student excitedly came to his side and raised her phone.
Junil pulled his hood over his head and hid most of his face behind hers, following the camera angle.
As expected, the moment he got a little closer to the female student, the Constellations started complaining.
‘You idiots. I’m doing this to gather more of you.’
The Constellations.
No matter how many times he dealt with them, they were always so difficult.
But this female student also became picky once the photo actually started.
“Um… covering your face is fine, but the cutter knife. The cutter knife, please. I want the goblin to be visible too.”
“Ha……”
A tired sigh.
“Come on, since you’re already taking it, do it properly!”
“Fine.”
Right. It had to show something to count as the Goblin Slayer.
Let’s do this right.
Junil followed her request, covering his face but making sure the cutter knife was visible.
It ended up in a rather bizarre pose that looked like “Ginyu Force arrival!” or something.
The Constellations were laughing so hard they were losing it.
“Wow. Amazing. This is so cool.”
The female student seemed satisfied too.
A happy ending for everyone.
‘Then we’re good…’
Junil simply emptied his mind.
“Taking it now!”
“Yeah.”
Click!
The flash went off as the cutter knife gleamed.
Wow amazing T_T I was jogging and almost died when I ran into a goblin T_T
The Goblin Slayer saved me and it really is the Line 4 Goblin Slayer and he really does go to S University
#Line4GoblinSlayer
#GoblinSlaughterProof
#BelieveItOrNotHesSuperHot
#CutterKnifeGuy
The photo was uploaded to her SNS in an instant.
And it spread far faster than Junil had expected.
At first only her friends left comments.
But soon, comments from strangers flooded in.
* * *
“My name is Yu Nayeon!”
“Yeah~ Just go home~”
“Okay!”
After sending the female student off, Junil checked his experience bar.
“Sigh. At this rate, when am I ever going to level up?”
Two goblins weren’t nearly enough.
He had only filled 12% so far.
It seemed to be because he had no experience bonus.
‘No. Does it make sense for lower ranks to gain experience slower?’
It felt like Ram had done this on purpose.
To prevent Junil from climbing up.
But Junil only burned hotter.
‘It’s fine. There are Constellations who get even more fired up by underdog stories.’
Starting from F-rank and rising through pure effort to match even S-rank power?
There wasn’t a single Constellation who wouldn’t love an underdog story like that.
The only problem was that achieving it was incredibly difficult.
‘But I can do it.’
Patience, cold judgment, and grinding.
These were the core elements of the thirty-year veteran hero Julian.
He could do it.
Even as an F-rank, he could become stronger.
His condition was at its peak right now anyway.
‘My condition today is really good, isn’t it?’
Goblins?
He felt like he could kill five hundred of them today.
Junil wandered around the mountain near the trail and sliced up a few more goblins.
Slaaaaaash!
Slash!
The mana wrapped around the cutter knife slaughtered them in an instant.
He had no stats, no skills, and no Awakened weapon.
Yet the goblins were torn apart far too easily.
‘What? My condition really is insanely good.’
Maybe it was because he was finally getting some proper exercise?
His body felt lighter and lighter.
It went beyond good condition; he almost felt like he was getting stronger.
The way he sliced through the goblins so smoothly left a deep impression on the Constellations.
Especially the many new ones who seemed to have just arrived.
They had probably come after seeing the SNS post Nayeon uploaded.
‘The viral effect is working well.’
Seeing the chat messages already pouring in, Junil checked the time.
‘It’s only been about an hour since she posted it.’
The effect was quite good for just one hour.
‘Let’s cut more.’
In that time, he hunted down and killed about ten more goblins.
Slaaaaaash!
Slash!
‘Am I about to level up soon?’
The experience bar had filled up quite a bit.
It still wasn’t the speed he wanted.
If he had found goblins at the same speed the photo was spreading on SNS, he would have already reached level 3.
‘Hm?’
Just as that thought crossed his mind.
Crackle—
Suddenly, noise appeared again.
Something that hadn’t been visible before now appeared.
Current Constellation Viewers: 56
The number of Constellations watching him.
‘What is this.’
That wasn’t all.
Hero — Julian
Progress: 0.56%
The reason he had been feeling unusually good finally revealed itself.