Don't Kill! Please!
"Haaah···."
As he exhaled, the stale air that had filled his lungs rushed out.
But what came back in was even murkier.
"Forget the underground ruins. Maybe I should just stick to the Black Forest from now on."
Cheol-ho had chosen the underground ruins among the three fields that had opened on the Labyrinth's second floor.
There was no special reason.
It simply suited his abilities best.
His greatest strength was defense. His fighting style—covered in heavy armor and wielding a shield—shone brightest in these narrow alleys.
Few places to run, and few monsters charging at once.
The ruins' monsters, the living armors, only appeared in small numbers, one or two at a time. For him, there was no better hunting ground.
But because it was underground, the stuffy air was taking its toll.
Relying on the flickering torchlight along the walls, he advanced slowly—until he heard it.
Tap-tap-tap-tap!
The sound of something running.
Cheol-ho raised his shield and sword.
It wasn't the footsteps of a living armor. Those came with a dull metallic clank.
"What the··· an Awakener?"
If it wasn't a monster, it had to be another Awakener. A fellow Korean, running desperately.
But in this place, even other humans weren't to be trusted. Death in the Labyrinth left no evidence. No crime could be punished here. It was a lawless zone where only strength kept you alive.
The footsteps drew closer. A bead of sweat rolled down Cheol-ho's back.
Tap-tap! Thud!
The source burst from the intersection.
"K-Kerk?!"
It was a goblin.
"A goblin?! Why the hell is there a goblin on the second floor?"
Goblins only appeared on the first floor. Why was one here?
The goblin's eyes widened in panic at the sight of him.
"K-Kerk! Help me—!"
Thud!
"Keeeek!!!"
Cheol-ho's sword flashed like lightning, piercing the goblin's throat.
Goblins were monsters. No reason to spare them.
"Wait, did that thing just speak Korean?"
Must've been his imagination.
The goblin crumbled into ash. Cheol-ho checked the drops: a Magic-grade dagger, Magic-grade shoes… and a backpack.
"···A backpack???"
Why was a goblin carrying a backpack?
Moreover—
Clatter.
"···Pretty heavy, huh?"
Since when did golden goblins start appearing in the Labyrinth?
[Goblin has been slain.]
"Aaargh! At least let a person— no, a goblin finish talking!!"
This was already the sixth time.
Ten goblins had entered the second floor. Six were dead, and four had barely made it back alive.
The problem was that even those four hadn't managed any proper farming. The moment they saw an Awakener, they got their heads lopped off before they could say a word. All they could do was hide and run.
This was exactly why I'd tried negotiating with the Association.
Goblins were monsters. In the Labyrinth, monsters were targets to be killed on sight and farmed for loot.
"Aaargh! People have no heart. Can't they at least listen for a second?!"
"Who in their right mind would think a goblin can talk?!"
Mongmo sat on my shoulder, cracking peanuts with loud crunch-crunch sounds.
"Then what do we do? This is the only method we have."
"Hmph! Try persuading them properly!"
"They won't even listen to me!!"
"Then make them listen!"
"That's what I'm trying to— Augh··· Hand over the peanuts."
I snatched the peanuts away from Mongmo.
"Kyaaang! Even dogs don't bother you while you're eating!!"
"No peanuts for a useless flying squirrel!"
"Eeeek! How hard can it be?!"
Mongmo hopped down from my shoulder onto the desk with quick little steps.
"Watch closely, Master! A goblin is running around and meets a human!!"
He mimed running in place on the desk, then suddenly froze in exaggerated shock.
"Then the goblin raises both hands like this! And then?"
"He'd beg for his life, right?"
"Exactly! 'Spare me, please!' But the result?"
"Their heads get chopped off before they can even finish."
Mongmo clutched his throat dramatically and flopped backward, then looked up at me.
"And here's the problem, Master!"
"···The goblins dying?"
"That's the outcome!! What's the actual problem?!"
The problem? Hmm···
"They die before they can even speak?"
"Precisely!! Our master isn't completely brainless after all!!"
"What did you just say?"
"A-Anyway, Korean is too long!! And too friendly!!"
"What do you mean?"
"Eeeek! You really are brainless!!"
"Want your peanuts confiscated forever?"
"Hieeeek! S-Sorry! The problem is that Korean is too long!"
Mongmo, who had been lying flat, suddenly sprang up and grabbed a broken peanut shell.
He swung it around like a dagger.
"Goblin meets Awakener and says, 'Spare— me— please—!' But the Awakener is strong! By the time they finish saying 'please,' the goblin is already a cold corpse!"
"Yeah, that's the issue."
"So we shorten it! Make it impactful! So the Awakener gets completely flustered!"
"···How?"
"I've been scouring the internet, Master!"
Mongmo waved his stubby limbs and laid out his new plan.
"···You think that'll work? It is pretty impactful, though."
"It'll work for sure! Short and powerful! Hit them hard from the start! Make them go 'uhhh'!"
"···Alright, let's give it a shot."
A while ago, the Awakener community had been buzzing about the Basement Blood Demon.
The sudden appearance of a rookie who brought back four pieces of Ether every month had sparked endless debate.
Half the community called him an ultra-elite rookie; the other half said it was just luck.
While most people were still discussing the Basement Blood Demon, a new topic emerged among Awakeners.
The appearance of the "Golden Goblin."
Goblins had suddenly begun appearing in the underground ruins on the second floor.
At first, people dismissed it as nonsense, but as more and more Awakeners reported encounters, the rumors grew.
Eventually, it was confirmed as fact.
And so began the golden goblin hunting craze.
They only dropped junk, but what if—just what if—they dropped something good?
An artifact? Ether? Some special item?
People flocked to the underground ruins, one of the three second-floor fields.
But the goblins only dropped trash—low-level items that could have come from the first floor. The excitement quickly died down.
The resentful looks in the goblins' eyes were just a bonus.
What on earth was this?
Some new random Labyrinth event?
Then one day—
"Aaargh··· This is exhausting."
Cheol-ho was once again scouring the underground ruins.
In the end, nothing was more precious than life!
The underground ruins were still the safest field for him on the second floor.
The Black Forest and the abandoned amusement park didn't suit him.
He'd just have to endure the stuffy air.
Phew.
Cheol-ho spat out another mouthful of stale air and kicked an empty box as he stood up.
It was about time to leave.
He'd already spent roughly six days on the second floor.
The higher the floor, the longer the reset cycle. First floor: one week. Second floor: two weeks. Third floor: three weeks.
The second floor reset was approaching, so he needed to find an exit while it was still safe.
Finding the exit wasn't difficult, though.
Cheol-ho looked around for the tallest building.
The underground ruins were a maze in some places and a stone city in others.
If you wandered the narrow alleys long enough, you'd eventually spot a watchtower-like structure taller than the rest.
Of course, one or two living armors would be guarding it.
"Ugh, guess I'll have to fight after all."
Dealing with living armors was easy for him now.
He rolled his shoulders and walked along the wall—
Tap-tap-tap-tap.
"···Again?"
Cheol-ho came face to face with another goblin.
The moment it saw him, its eyes went wide.
As his sword shot forward to pierce its throat—
"Money!!! Kill!!!!"
He stopped dead.
"···??"
"Money! Kill! Please! Please!"
"???"
"Friend! Friend! Don't kill!!"
"W-What?"
The goblin had suddenly started speaking Konglish.
It waved both hands frantically at him, dropped its dagger, and rubbed its palms together in a desperate plea.
"Don't kill! Please spare me! Please! Kerk!!"
"Huh? Huh? Huh?"
His brain couldn't process the scene.
What? Was the goblin actually talking?
In English? No, it wasn't even proper English.
If anything, it was more familiar than English—pure Konglish, the kind every Korean student had been forced to speak in public school.
"W-What? Goblins can talk?"
"Yes! Goblin talks! Kerk! I good goblin!!"
"···Huh?"
His head was spinning.
What was this?
Some random Labyrinth event?
The goblin had dropped to its knees, hands raised, begging desperately.
"I have nothing! I give all! Just life! Just life! Kerk!"
It frantically dumped the contents of its backpack onto the ground.
Items clattered out—mostly junk from the second floor. The kind no Awakener would even glance at.
"Take all! Kerk! I go now. Just let me live!!"
Cheol-ho lowered his sword in confusion.
A goblin with no weapon wasn't even a threat anymore. He could snap its neck with his bare hands.
"Hey, what are you?"
"Kerk! I—I goblin! Good goblin!!"
"A good goblin?"
"Y-Yes! Friend of humans! Friend goblin!! Kerk!"
His thoughts were a mess.
Should he let it go?
Or kill it?
But··· killing it wouldn't get him anything.
"Please spare me! Kerk!!"
"···."
After a moment of hesitation, Cheol-ho clicked his tongue and stepped back.
This was a first, but killing something that was begging for its life felt wrong.
"Hey, go. Take that stuff with you. I don't need it."
"Th-Thank you! Kerk! Good human! Kerk!!"
"···."
What the hell was this?
Was he dreaming?
But the goblin in front of him was very much alive, frantically stuffing items back into its bag.
In seconds, it had everything packed and slung over its shoulder.
"Thank you, good human! Kerk! May blessings be upon you!! Kerk!"
The goblin bowed its head and sprinted off in the opposite direction.
"···What did I just witness?"
— End —