A Goblin's Agony and the Sniper's Hunger

Warning.

Goblin bastard.

I've never liked you since way back.

What the hell is that fucker's problem with me this time?

I haven't lived a saintly life, but I've never committed any crimes.

Especially not with goblins—I've never even crossed paths with one in my life,

yet the whole world is out to screw me over.

Even Dokgakchon wants me dead now?

Why.

I wanted to pin the bastard down and ask why the fuck he's doing this.

Even after we signed the contract.

"I'm... really having a hard time..."

No need to spy through the rangefinder scope—the goblin on the rooftop froze solid for a moment, staggered, and slumped slightly to the ground.

An exclamation mark (!) hovered over his head. Some kind of damage illusion effect must've kicked in.

Whatever. My life's fucked.

That last shot sealed it.

Having watched in real-time as those corpse fetishists evolved from fans to full-on favorites,

I knew I'd be next.

I'm seriously about to cry...

I held back the tears, scared it'd cost me HP.

This is fucking terrifying. Sudden regrets hit me.

Shouldn't have shot.

I should've just stayed put.

"Hm?"

Something's off.

After agonizing deliberation, I nailed the perfect finisher line!

I shouted it crisp and clear at exactly the right timing.

But it felt... empty somehow.

Normally, I'd wrap up the villain, end the stream, head back to the village, and dive into editing,

but I didn't feel like it.

Or more precisely... I had a feeling I couldn't.

Weird feeling?

And my body felt way too light.

No sense of that massive bulk anchoring me to the ground.

To complete the finale, I needed to crush the villain in my grip with my supreme strength,

but I couldn't. No power coming through.

On instinct, Hae-dong looked down to check his proud physique.

And spotted it.

"???"

He'd meant to look at his chest, but it was gone.

His torso had vanished.

Like a massive circle had punched right through him—where his solid bulk should be, nothing.

With no body to support them, his limbs dropped to the ground.

His head, left floating in midair, followed suit.

- Thud.

"Grrraaahhh...!"

Unimaginable agony crashed through his entire being the instant it hit.

"Aaaargh...!"

Not even a proper scream could escape.

Eons of torment.

He writhed in endless pain.

Dead long ago.

Yet as if punishment was far from over, his limbs tore apart in shreds, delivering fresh waves of vivid suffering.

Finally, he blacked out,

"Hahk. Hahk."

and just when he thought even his soul was gone, his eyes snapped open.

I'm alive.

Limbs and torso intact, he lay face-down, forehead smashed into the rooftop.

"Urk... bleeech..."

The vomit Hae-dong spewed painted the rooftop.

"Hahk. Hahk."

He'd lived without knowing pain his whole life, but now he did.

He'd glimpsed hell.

The agony of being shredded and deep-fried in boiling oil. No—worse.

"......"

Not as bad as before, but pain lingered.

Chills and dizziness followed in its wake.

His vision spun. He couldn't do a damn thing right now.

This unprecedented bodily malfunction was impossible to adapt to.

Total incapacitation.

- Thump thump.

Is this the power of that unregistered guy?

Almost certainly.

To inflict this much pain on the goblin strongest of all, Hae-dong, it'd take that absurd damage output from the [Gate Resolution Status] rankings.

"Huk. Hahk."

Even more baffling: he had no clue how he'd been hit.

From the YouTube videos—which he figured were faked anyway—even assuming they were real, he'd chalked it up to magic or tricks.

Petty shit like that wouldn't faze a goblin of his caliber, so he'd been confident.

Illusion?

No.

Goblins cast illusions, not fall for them.

What the hell was this pain?

"Urk... bleeech..."

All for a YouTube-style finisher line, and he'd paid dearly.

While Hae-dong clung to sanity by a thread,

"Y-You... goblin bastard."

the villain he'd been holding had slipped free and gathered mana toward him.

"You're all finished already. Clueless about your own extinction..."

- Fizzzz...

All his mana summoned a single 'Spear of Corruption.' He fired it straight at Hae-dong's immobilized head,

a dense curse cluster that rotted everything it touched hurtling toward him. But

- Fwaaah!

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The spear vanished without a trace, leaving only a narrow ring of radiant light flickering around the goblin.

Within the glow,

in the blink of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠an eye, a woman stood beside Hae-dong.

The villain recognized her and recoiled in terror, trying to flee, but

a blade of light plummeting from above his head.

Blinding just to look at, it stabbed down at inescapable speed, piercing straight from crown to groin.

- Thud.

As the bisected corpse split and crumpled,

"Finally dying, Mr. Goblin?"

Yoon So-i's flat voice reached Hae-dong. Korean rank 5, Management Bureau healer.

Suspicious from the start, she'd trailed him and watched from nearby.

Sure enough, he'd spouted nonsense at the 'unregistered' and suddenly started whimpering like a scared pup—curiosity drew her in.

But Hae-dong just huddled silently, twitching faintly.

"Or is it rampage?"

Even with Holy Territory up, he writhed—rampage seemed likely.

"If it's rampage, say so. We're in Seoul; I have to kill you now."

"N-Not... rampage... I'm... alive..."

Disappointing.

Then what the hell was his deal?

"Get up. What have you been doing?"

His HP was full. Any debuff would've been purged by the territory already.

"The pain... won't go away...!"

"?"

Pain? What pain?

Holy Territory was her ultra-narrow-range advanced skill. She'd deployed it to check goblin rampage, not debuffs—she hadn't even considered them, assuming it'd handle anything.

"Kek, kehuk..."

Real?

She'd avoided looking at his pathetic state, but now she saw—he genuinely looked hurt.

"Unregistered..."

"!"

The goblin heaved again.

I figured he was just pulling some solo stunt.

The tank world's strongest, pinnacle brute Hae-dong.

Neutralized in an instant by someone.

Intangible pain no Holy Territory could purge?

All because of that freak called 'unregistered.'

"Intriguing..."

She hadn't even watched the YouTube vids.

Time to reconsider.

This is more serious... and dangerous than I thought. The Bureau must be in chaos by now.

Musing thus, Yoon So-i ditched the goblin and left.

She'd worry about Cheon Seung-hyuk and Kim Chi-gon hunting the Cartibes egg later.

Should be wrapped up by now.

Before deploying, she'd briefed them on her [Egg Search Plan].

A holy-method solution only she could pull off.

It's going fine.

She'd dig into the unregistered later, post-incident.

Meanwhile,

"Fuck you, goblin bastard!!!"

Bald Kim Chun-gyu from the Management Bureau headed for Dokgakchon.

Declaring war on a chill unregistered?

Lamentable that he had to resolve this unprecedented mess, but no choice.

First, confront them at Dokgakchon.

One way to make the prideful goblin handle it himself, pride be damned.

Just one.

Fuu... I just wanna quit.

Dead serious, he set off for the provinces.

Cheon Seung-hyuk and Kim Chi-gon stormed into a building's underground parking entrance.

I know the erosion aura already.

Cases abroad had precedents.

To detect erosion in dank spots: seek where Yoon So-i's wide heal subtly crumbled.

- Right around here.

Her telepathic guidance led them straight to Necrophilia remnants' hideout.

Dank, sloppy auras.

Then Kim Chi-gon lit a cigarette.

"Ow. Let's finish this smoke first."

"Are you sane?"

"......"

Kim Chi-gon's yakuza tattoos twitched.

The kid had ruined his prospects long ago.

If his first love had worked out, look at this punk's attitude.

"I'll go ahead. Do what you want."

"Sigh... Fine. Fine."

Kim Chi-gon stubbed it out roughly, rolled up his sleeves.

"Just smash 'em all, yeah kid?"

"Yes."

"Wrap it quick and rest. I'm beat."

Thus, the pair charged into the underground lot.

A lookout villain spotted them:

"How'd they get here so fa—"

- Slash!

Cheon Seung-hyuk dispatched him swiftly.

No interrogations. More erosion sites to find.

Holy sword swung to fell one villain,

then diagonal charge to impale what looked like an officer's throat.

"Guhk... kuhk."

Shoving the fallen villain aside, yakuza-looking Kim Chi-gon hurled his bulky frame,

- Grab!

snatched a minion's head,

"You shits..."

- KABOOM!

and chucked him at the fleeing villain pack afar.

Four down simultaneously, but more villains scurried like roaches to deeper shadows, scattering to other erosion sites.

But

Cheon Seung-hyuk's eyes flashed red for an instant,

- Craaaack...

overwhelming killing intent radiating circularly from him,

- Rumble...!

shaking the earth, crushing the air.

The intent pierced the lot's complex structures freely,

seizing and suppressing the entire area.

"Grrraaah...!"

"Aaaah..."

Crushed villains groaned from every corner,

"......"

while Cheon Seung-hyuk strolled casually, red eyes steady.

Paralyzing and killing them fell to Kim Chi-gon.

Even he felt the indiscriminate intent,

but look at this hopeless punk.

One curse under his breath, then into the fray.

Swift beyond his bulk, he burrowed between villains,

- Splat!

grabbed two heads, smashed them together, then charged a distant one.

Collar seized, slammed into the ground.

- BOOM...

Seconds ticked by.

Necrophilia villains in this erosion site: all eliminated.

'Cartibes Seals' secured from their gear, inventoried and system-sent to Yoon So-i.

Soon, word from her.

- Good. This much'll pinpoint the egg soon.

Hypothesis: the sticky, dank energy of Cartibes Seals matched the otherworldly aura from the [Cartibes Egg] causing erosion.

Only Yoon So-i could analyze that resonance. Dozens of seals sent, she confirmed quick location.

"Ah... ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠stiff."

Kim Chi-gon heard that, cracked his neck with a 'done now?' look, sauntered out.

Cheon Seung-hyuk sighed.

Irritation at the villains.

They think Korea's easy pickings.

We won't fall. Not while I'm here.

Just pissed at being underestimated.

While Yoon So-i analyzed the egg site, he withdrew intent and moved to the next erosion zone.

Kill villains, grab seals, send more to Yoon So-i.

- Fwaaah!

His form vanished from the lot in a flash.

Due to sustained bullshit,

I huddled in my room-corner shelter, wallowing in weakness for ages, when

"!"

it hit me.

Even an earthworm (est. HP 3) writhes when stepped on.

Why wouldn't Kim Yu-hee (fixed HP 1)?

Post this garbage awakening, I realized I had nothing to lose anyway.

That epiphany flipped my goblin fear and despair into bold defiance.

You bastards... think I'm easy...?

I'd reached it.

Truly arrived.

The realm of regretting not using live rounds earlier!

No more fear.

Etching mutual destruction resolve deep in my gut,

"Yeah, goblin... come at me all you want... let's go all the way..."

Fight.

Don't fight, you die.

Rage.

Rage!

Real-time monitoring sub to 'Hae-dong TV' pinged—just in case.

"..."

Drip.

The tear I'd held back finally fell.

See?

Not a bad goblin after all.

Just a brief misunderstanding.

Apology accepted loud and clear.

"Ha... fuck."

I won't die.

I lay back slowly on the bed, staring at the ceiling in relief.

Then,

"?"

The streaming goblin sent me an item.

Panties.

From [Sponsorship] - [Hae-dong]

-------------------------

Crazy bastard.

Tossed it in the trash.

"......Anyway, I'm good now."

Deep relief washed over me.

I'm alive.

Peace at last.

- Grrrowl.

Fuck.

Crisis inbound.

Tension fully released,

the foretold issue erupted.

Hunger.

Stomach growling for real.

"Ah......"

S(EX)-rank sniper, facing life's greatest post-awakening challenge.

Mealtime.

Fuck. What to eat?

Can I even eat?

Hot food = death?

Spicy = death?

- Grrrowl.

No way.

No world this bullshit.

Even more absurd: no prepped meals stocked.

Go out? Impossible.

No food at all—spicy, salty, hot, whatever.

Starving to death soon.

No. This can't be.

Grasping at straws, I opened status for the [Shop], and

Found one I'd forgotten.

The end.