First Meal (2)
I murmured the words under my breath as I crouched low, carefully trailing behind the goblin. “Hazard level… eight.”
Most demonic beasts carried a hazard rating. It measured how their appearance, strength, and unique traits affected and threatened their surroundings. Central Command gathered data on each species, verified it, and assigned a grade based on the danger they posed.
From 9th to 7th grade: low-tier. 6th to 4th: mid-tier. 3rd to 1st: high-tier.
Broadly divided into low, middle, and high. More precisely, ranked from 1 to 9. The lower the number, the higher the actual threat.
A goblin at 8th grade wasn’t particularly difficult for a soldier with proper combat training. They stood about as tall as a child, with small, frail bodies. Their green skin was rough but not especially thick, making them vulnerable to attacks. Their strength was far inferior to an adult man’s and hardly posed a real threat.
“And yet they’re rated 8th instead of the lowest 9th. Because they’re a pain in the ass.”
As individuals, they weren’t that strong. But goblins had more than just their physical traits. They were incredibly cunning and cowardly. That’s why they never traveled alone. Like humans, they used weapons. And they knew how to work together in groups. They never charged in one-on-one. They exploited the advantage of numbers with sly precision.
“Those six over there are probably the minimum number they consider safe to wander around with.”
It wasn’t a small group, but it wasn’t enough to trouble me. If you knew how to handle them, you could win even without weapons.
“Well, this rock will have to do instead of a weapon.”
About thirty meters away. The goblins still hadn’t noticed me following them. I glanced once at the stone in my hand, then fixed my eyes back on the goblin pack. I rose from where I’d been hiding behind the tall grass and a boulder.
Kirik?
Maybe they’d sensed something. The goblin at the very back of the group stopped walking and let out a puzzled sound. It turned around with a confused expression and immediately spotted me standing atop the rock.
“Too late.”
I was already in position. I shifted my weight into my lower body and hurled the stone with all my strength.
K-Kirik!?
CRACK!
The thrown stone smashed straight into the goblin’s face the exact moment it turned. Blood sprayed as its body staggered, then collapsed immediately.
The instant I released the stone, I broke into a sprint. The rock had struck the goblin’s head cleanly, but that alone wasn’t enough to finish it. It would only stay down for a moment. Once it regained consciousness, it would glare at me with hateful eyes and charge. That would be troublesome in my current state, completely unarmed.
So—
Kiruk!?
The rest of the goblin pack, now aware of the ambush, spun around in alarm. They flinched again when they saw me rapidly closing the thirty-meter gap.
Kir…
The goblin that had taken the stone to the face groaned and tried to push itself up. I immediately kicked it square in the head. Its skull snapped sideways as blood burst from its face.
“…Tsk.”
I grimaced at the disgusting sensation against my bare foot. I hadn’t noticed it while wearing boots with my uniform, but this really felt vile. Shaking off the brief revulsion, I stomped down hard on the fallen goblin’s arm. Its green hand thrashed wildly for a moment before it dropped the dagger it had been clutching. I bent down instantly and snatched the weapon by the hilt.
With a smooth motion, I slashed the dagger across the fallen goblin’s throat. Blood sprayed from the clean line drawn across its green skin. At the same time, I saw it.
This is…
The dark crimson energy flowing from the goblin’s throat. It was something that could only be described as death. Or perhaps Heavenly Fate—the force that decided the end of life. The power I needed to consume.
That dark crimson energy rose like smoke and drifted toward me on the wind. I unconsciously reached out toward it.
“Ah.”
Almost as if responding to my movement—no, even before I moved—the Heavenly Fate that had flowed from the goblin’s throat came to me on its own. And then—
Was it absorbed?
It flowed into my outstretched hand as if drawn there. I immediately felt the change inside my body. More precisely, I became aware of the energy now flowing within me. The absorbed Heavenly Fate settled inside my heart.
Something rang out inside my head.
[I’ve been waiting for you.]
A voice. Probably… the one who had brought me back to life and granted me the power to consume death. I had no idea why, who, or how they had done this to me. But—
If you’re expecting something from me, I’ll make use of it.
This wasn’t the time to dwell on it. I recalled the sensations from my previous life and felt the mana beginning to surge inside me.
“Hoo…”
Starting with my breathing, I slowly began to circulate the mana within my body. Like sending blood from the heart through the veins and receiving it back. I gradually accelerated the flow of mana that had begun to cycle. In response, my senses expanded along with the overflowing vitality inside me.
Kiriririk!
The goblins’ shrieks pierced my ears. Was it out of grief for their kin who had met death? Or was it wariness and rage toward the one who had ambushed them?
Both… maybe?
It was a strange feeling. A bizarre sensation I had never experienced or even imagined in my previous life. The goblins’—the demonic beasts’—emotions washed over me with vivid clarity. It was disorienting, but I didn’t have the luxury of pondering this strange new sense.
The highest priority was eliminating the enemy. I shook off the cluttered thoughts filling my mind and focused on what was in front of me.
The five remaining goblins, minus the one I had already dealt with, gripped their weapons and charged at me.
Kiruruk!
“‘Die,’ huh?”
I deflected the dagger of the goblin leading the charge. Its relatively weak arm sent the blade flying upward. The difference in physique and strength was already obvious, but with my body reinforced by mana, it was almost too easy.
Another goblin quickly slipped in from the side and thrust its dagger at me. The coordinated attack that exploited the opening created by the first strike was impressively well-executed for goblins. But I parried the incoming blade with minimal movement and almost no effort, then drove my own dagger straight down into the side attacker’s throat.
THUNK!
The mana-infused blade pierced cleanly through its neck.
K-Kruk!?
The goblin that had lunged from the side never reached me. I twisted the hilt of the dagger still buried in its throat. Pushing harder, I drove the blade even deeper. The goblin’s trembling hand finally dropped its weapon. I pulled the dagger free and immediately slashed the throat of the first goblin that had charged me.
K-Kirik…
The remaining three goblins froze mid-charge. In what felt like only a few seconds, I had slaughtered three of their kin. They hesitated, clearly shaken. It was only natural. Goblins were extremely cowardly and cunning. That was why they moved in packs. But if half their pack had been wiped out in the blink of an eye—
They were instinctively weighing my strength against their own.
Kirik!
It didn’t take them long to reach a conclusion. Just like how quickly I had killed their comrades, their decision took only a few seconds. The three goblins moved in unison. They abandoned the corpses of their dead kin, turned their backs on me, and fled.
Of course, I had no intention of letting them escape.
After dealing with all the goblins, I immediately examined the mysterious energy flowing from their corpses. It was drawn to me as if by some natural force and flowed smoothly into my body.
“This is… Heavenly Fate…”
I let out a low groan as I felt the mana circulating inside me. For mana created by absorbing the deaths of six goblins, it didn’t feel the slightest bit unpleasant. It moved as naturally as if it had always been part of my body. Not bad at all.
“It’s ridiculously lacking compared to before. But I can still grow much stronger.”
Compared to the mana I had possessed in my previous life, it was pathetically weak. But unlike the past, when I had been bound by the limits of my innate talent, those limits no longer existed. The more Heavenly Fate I absorbed, the stronger I could become.
“……”
Many thoughts swirled through my mind. The voice I had heard earlier, saying it had been waiting for me. Whether I would be able to return to the military. How much time had passed since my death.
“…I wonder if they’re doing well.”
The faces of Rumia and Seo Hayun rose in my thoughts. It was complicated. A complicated problem. But there was also a clear answer.
The prerequisite needed to resolve all those questions and doubts.
“I need to become stronger.”
I had to grow stronger. Far stronger than I was now. I needed to hunt powerful demonic beasts in numbers far beyond these mere six goblins, absorb their Heavenly Fate, and become so strong that my current self would seem laughable in comparison.
I turned my head and scanned the surroundings.
“The fact that goblins are roaming around here means…”
A pack of six was the minimum number those cowardly, cunning creatures needed to feel safe venturing outside. In other words, there was a base somewhere nearby that this pack belonged to.
I stared in the direction the goblin group had been heading. A mountain range thick with dense forest lay ahead. My next goal and destination were decided in an instant.
“I’m going to raid the goblins’ stronghold.”