The Goblin Trainer

Flash!

"Kerk! I'm back!!"

"Good job. Put the stuff in the warehouse and rest."

"Kerk-rrk!"

The goblin, which had been observing in third person, escaped the underground ruins and returned to the base.

"How about it, Master!!"

Mongmo puffed out his cheeks and chest with pride.

"...This actually works?"

"Of course! Impact! Hit them hard right from the start! Money! Kill!"

A goblin that suddenly appeared shouted while looking at him.

Money! Kill!

It was disconcerting.

Even I would have stopped and wondered what the hell was going on.

Goblins that used to die six out of ten times on the second floor now had six survivors returning.

Of course.

"...Still, they kill whoever they can kill."

"That can't be helped! To humans, goblins are targets that must be killed!"

But the fact that six had returned alive was already a huge leap forward.

A result obtained through the sacrifices of countless goblins.

The construction of the base training center was finally possible.

"Let's go check out the training center first, Mongmo."

"Understood!"

After confirming that Mongmo had scurried over and climbed onto my shoulder, I stood up and opened the door leading to the Labyrinth.

"Kerk! Kerk!"

"Go out and increase our numbers! Fill in for the dead, kerk!"

The Labyrinth base where goblins moved in perfect order.

The goblin count, which had been 550, had dropped significantly to around 500.

Your sacrifices... I won't forget them!

"Gob, how are the new recruits?"

"Kerk! We're filling them in right now!"

"Good. Let's fill them up quickly."

"A captain with no blood or tears, kerk!"

"I'm a vampire. If you drain my blood, I'm a corpse."

"A captain with no tears either! Kerk."

"Yeah."

That part was understandable.

Park Gob, now a noble, was leading the goblins in my stead and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sweeping the first floor of the Labyrinth clean.

Excluding Ether, the weekly profit from the first floor, after subtracting food expenses, was around 20 million won.

And this was just from selling junk items.

The first floor didn't yield proper equipment, so everything had to be sold at bargain prices, but even this was a huge win.

At this rate, wasn't I going to become filthy rich?

Heh heh.

"Master, your expression looks weird."

"Weird? This is the face of someone happy that your peanut fund is growing."

"Master's expression is the best."

I patted Mongmo once as he took out a peanut he'd stored in his cheek and started gnawing on it, then opened the system window.

"Open training center."

+5 levels a day? Up to level 10?

"I knew this was the answer!"

The most painful part when goblins died on the second floor was their levels.

Bags? We could buy them.

Equipment? Magic-grade gear was rolling around in the warehouse.

But levels were different.

Levels only rose by running through the Labyrinth yourself.

Yet if we sent random weaklings to the second floor, they wouldn't farm anything—they'd just die. So only high-level goblins could enter the second floor.

But what if we did this?

Train them for two days until they reach level 10, then send them to the second floor.

If they don't come back?

Train them for another two days and send them again.

Infinite second-floor attempts!

As long as the Labyrinth reset existed, goblins were an inexhaustible wellspring!

"Trainer... trainer..."

I glanced at Gob for a moment.

No, Gob had too much to do.

"You, come here for a second!"

"Kerk-rrk? Me?"

I called over a goblin that had joined relatively early.

"Assign as trainer."

At this rate I was going to get anemia from all this bloodletting.

Prick.

When I drew a drop of blood and let it fall on the goblin, its appearance changed.

Its body didn't change much, but—

"Kerk-rrk!"

"...?"

A red cap and sunglasses appeared on it.

A goblin that looked irritating just from its appearance was born.

"...Alright, give it a try."

"Understood, kerk!! Everyone, assemble!!"

When the goblin shouted, the low-level goblins that had just arrived tilted their heads and looked over.

"Assemble!! Only the first one to arrive gets to live, kerk!!"

As if they understood, the low-level goblins came running at full speed.

From that moment, the demonic goblin trainer's level-up training began.

"Kerk-rrk! First ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one only!! Run!!"

"K-k-k? Where do we run, kerk?"

Thud!!

The trainer goblin kicked the butt of a confused new recruit.

"Kerk-rrk!! Just run!!!"

The goblins ran with fire under their feet as they got kicked in the rear.

"Kerk! Roll left! Kerk! Roll right!"

"Wh-which way is left, kerk!"

Thud! Thud!

"This way is left, kerk!!"

Thus began the hellish training accompanied by beatings for the new goblin recruits.

"Run, kerk!!"

"Don't rest, kerk!! Sleep when you're dead, kerk!!"

"Think about the captain who's feeding trash like you, kerk!!!"

Wow, that guy was doing it properly.

At this rate, they'd die from training before even entering the second floor.

So level 10 really wasn't free, huh?

"Hey, hey, Trainer."

"Kerk! What is it, Captain?"

"Throw in some fake pity during training. We might need to use it when dealing with humans."

"Understood, kerk! Leave it to me, kerk!!"

The goblin legion grew day by day.

And the Labyrinth base.

Now the warehouse, barracks, cafeteria, and training center had all been unlocked.

The last thing remaining was—

The workshop that required junk items from the Black Forest.

"Gob."

"You called, kerk!"

"From now on, send the kids through the green gate instead of the gray one."

"Understood, kerk!"

Since we'd seen everything worth seeing in the ruins, we needed to go to the Black Forest and gather junk items.

Come to think of it, the underground ruins had moving armor so we couldn't make vampires, but the Black Forest...

"Gob, and stop accepting new recruits for a while."

"Kerk? Why, kerk?"

"Not goblins. Let's try kobolds this time."

The Black Forest produced another race—ones with blood, unlike the esper-type moving armor.

"Let's accept kobolds for once."

***

The second floor of the Labyrinth had five different fields.

Gray Gate: Underground Ruins.

Red Gate: Abandoned Amusement Park.

Yellow Gate: Four Seasons Plateau.

Blue Gate: Spirit Lake.

And the Green Gate: Black Forest.

Every reset, three out of these five fields appeared at random.

This time it was the Underground Ruins, Abandoned Amusement Park, and Black Forest.

The Black Forest was characterized by trees with black leaves.

Its main farming spots were villages made of medium and small wooden buildings.

The Black Forest was quite unpopular as a farming field.

People lacking spatial awareness often got lost, and kobolds that could appear at any moment were a burden to Awakeners.

Moreover, once you entered, you had to be prepared to camp for at least five days—the highest difficulty field.

Yet some people still came to the Black Forest for one reason.

"Kyah! This is the taste, for real!!"

Because of the Black Timber armor set that rarely dropped only in the Black ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Forest.

High defense, rare-grade armor that automatically recovered durability over time.

On top of that, the longer you wore it, the more perfectly it adjusted to your body for a comfortable fit.

Lee Soo-ho was also a second-floor grinder who came to the Black Forest every time for this armor.

If he found one, 30 million won! This small piece of armor was worth a car!

"Should I call it a day and rest?"

After putting the armor in his bag, Lee Soo-ho came out of the building and skillfully gathered scrap wood from nearby structures.

There were two things to do.

Block the windows and doors so kobolds couldn't rush in, and sharpen wooden stakes to set up makeshift traps.

This much was basic if you wanted to rest in the Labyrinth.

Of course, he wasn't planning to catch kobolds with this.

All of this was just to buy time.

If kobolds attacked, he'd have to deal with them himself.

After locking himself inside, Soo-ho took out some jerky and chewed on it.

"Haa... I really want to get out and eat a bowl of seolleongtang."

In the Labyrinth, the weight of your luggage directly affected how much you could farm and your survival.

Most Awakeners solved their meals with jerky.

After finishing one piece of jerky, he sat in the corner and started dozing off.

It was already his fourth day in the Labyrinth.

Just as he fell into a deep sleep from extreme fatigue—

Crack! Crunch! Thud!

Startled by the noise outside, Lee Soo-ho jumped up.

"Grrrr."

"Keng-keng!"

"These damn mutts. They always attack when I'm sleeping!"

Outside, several kobolds had caught his scent and were trying to break through the blocked windows and door.

Lee Soo-ho immediately drew his sword.

There was no need to go out and greet them himself. He waited for the door to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠break so they could waste more energy.

And a little later—

Crack!

The door broke and a kobold poked its face through the gap.

Kobolds could be described in one word.

Bipedal hyenas.

As the kobold stuck its face in and barked, Lee Soo-ho thrust his sword.

Yip! Yip!

The kobold, its face half-slashed, thrashed and completely destroyed the door.

Then the pack of kobolds poured in.

"Come on!! Come at me, you bastards!"

But there were more kobolds than expected.

Usually they moved in groups of two or three, but now there were five for some reason.

"You sons of bitches, die!!!!"

Lee Soo-ho was just a mediocre C-rank physical warrior.

But he was more than enough to kill kobolds.

He immediately slashed the neck of one charging kobold and kicked another away.

Regaining his stance, he swung horizontally with full force.

Slash!

A kobold's stomach was cut open and it collapsed.

Three left.

At that moment, the kobold whose face had been slashed earlier sprang up and charged at Soo-ho.

"Keng-keng! Keng-keng!!"

"Aaaagh! Get off me, you bastard!!!"

While his attention was taken by the kobold biting his sword, another kobold rushed in from the side.

Lee Soo-ho steeled himself.

He was prepared to sacrifice one arm to escape this place.

Just as he raised his arm to block the charging kobold, an unexpected being jumped into the house.

A green body about waist height to a human.

A face no Awakener entering the Labyrinth could fail to recognize.

"A goblin?!"

Why was there a goblin on the second floor?!

Kobolds were already hard enough—now a goblin appeared too?!

'Am I going to die like this...'

Just as his life flashed before his eyes, the goblin charged not at Lee Soo-ho, but at the kobolds.

Crunch!

It bit into a kobold's neck.

"Yip! Yip!"

"Kerk! What are you doing, human!! Now!"

Slash!

Reflexively kicking away a charging kobold, he swung his sword and beheaded it.

'Did that goblin just talk?'

Was he hallucinating because he was about to die?

But it wasn't a hallucination.

"Kerk! I'll take that one!"

"I-it really talked?!"

Watching the goblin draw a dagger and charge at a kobold, Lee Soo-ho also swung his sword.

The battle situation, which had been 5:1, instantly became 3:2.

With these numbers, it was an easy fight for Lee Soo-ho, who could handle three by himself.

"Yip! Yip!"

In an instant, Lee Soo-ho took down two kobolds while the goblin caught one.

The battle was over, but Lee Soo-ho couldn't lower his sword.

His mind was in chaos.

What was that goblin?

Why was there a goblin on the second floor?

And it even talked?

"What are you."

"Kerk! H-human, calm down. Whoa, whoa!"

"...?"

"Kerk... g-good? Put the sword down and let's talk, kerk!"

This little shit...

He felt an inexplicable sense of humiliation, but since his life had been saved, he lowered his guard for now.

When he slightly lowered his sword, the goblin finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Kerk, I-I'm leaving! Let's not fight, kerk!"

"Why can a goblin even talk?"

"I'm a good goblin, kerk!"

"A random event...?"

"Kerk! I don't know what that is, but anyway, I'm a good goblin, kerk!"

Where in the world were there good goblins?

But he couldn't deny it.

Because it was a fact that he had received help just now.

"K-k-k. Human, you're hurt. I don't want to fight. Let's each go our own way!"

"...You're not going to attack me?"

"I won't. Kerk! We're goblins, friends of humans, kerk!"

He thought for a moment, but if it had wanted to attack, now would have been the perfect time.

Right now, when he was weakened from injuring one arm, would have been the best timing.

"Fine. Go your way. If you're not going to attack, I won't either."

"Kerk! Smart human! I'm going! Live well!!"

The goblin, slowly raising both hands and walking out the door, glanced back.

"Kerk, human. The exit is that way! You're hurt, so get out quickly!"

The goblin pointed in one direction with its dagger, gathered its belongings, and left.

"...What the hell was that really?"

"And kerk! Since I helped you, don't kill goblins starting from the second floor, kerk!!! It's fine to kill them on the first floor, kerk!!"

"...No, seriously, what the hell?"

Lee Soo-ho, a veteran Awakener in his fifth year of Labyrinth exploration, had a gut feeling.

"Something is happening."

The Labyrinth—or rather, the world—was beginning to change once again.

The End

ⓒ Diwalls #1mxtx