The Golden Goblin's Rampage
An Mun-hee panted heavily as he trudged slowly across the crimson earth.
The Yellow Gate's Four Seasons Plateau. A field on the second floor of the Labyrinth, marked by red gravel and sand on its high elevation. The view here was generally wide open.
For an Awakener, whose physical abilities were enhanced, an open vista should have made exploration easier. But that wasn't always the case.
First, the altitude made oxygen scarce, making breathing difficult. Second, the sheer openness meant the field was far larger than others. If the second-floor fields were the size of Gyeonggi Province, the Four Seasons Plateau was noticeably bigger. Being too vast, the open view offered little advantage.
Tap. Tap.
"Huh? Something there?"
Feeling an odd sensation under his shoe, An Mun-hee pulled a foldable shovel from his backpack.
This was the plateau's second annoying trait. Items to farm were buried underground in the form of boxes.
"Argh... Just let me find one decent haul!"
Thud!
As he kept digging, the shovel struck something solid. An Mun-hee grinned and frantically scooped away the dirt with his hands.
A box emerged.
Gulp.
It was a large chest, too big to carry in his arms. This had to be a winner.
"Please... please...!"
He slowly opened the lid and peered inside. A single sword lay within.
[Red Thunderbolt Longsword]
- Grade: Rare
- Attack Power: 35
- Low chance to inflict Shock status on attack.
- A longsword forged from a special ore.
"Kyaaaah! It dropped!!"
Despite its drawbacks, people still came to the Four Seasons Plateau for one reason: the Red Thunderbolt weapon series. High attack power combined with the Shock status that briefly immobilized monsters made them highly desirable among Awakeners. The cheapest ones started at five thousand, while popular longswords and daggers could fetch hundreds of millions depending on the timing.
An Mun-hee wrapped the Red Thunderbolt Longsword in a large cloth he had prepared, tied it with rope, and strapped it to the side of his backpack.
"That's it. Farewell to this damn Labyrinth for a while!"
Selling this alone would cover his living expenses. Panting, he climbed the hill. From the top, the nearest escape gate was visible because the plateau had few obstacles. Of course, he might run into the local monsters, the Thunder Goats, along the way, but if they came in large groups, he could just reroute around them. A few stragglers he could handle himself. Their horns counted as decent Rare-grade junk items.
"Huff... huff... huh?"
Reaching the summit and looking down the other side, An Mun-hee froze in place.
"W-what the hell is this?"
Before him stretched thousands upon thousands of pits and open boxes. The ground looked as if someone had dug up the entire plateau.
Someone must have passed through before him. But the real problem was that today was only the second day since the Labyrinth reset. An Mun-hee ranked among the top Awakeners on the second floor.
"Did a Ranker come through...? No, why would a Ranker bother with this place? No... even a Ranker couldn't clear it this fast."
While he stood dazed by the surreal sight, a strange laugh echoed across the plateau.
-Heeheehee! Heeheeheehee!! Heeheehee!!
"...?"
[National Monthly Ranking]
1st Place: Shut-in Blood Demon : 7 (new)
2nd Place: Choi Kang-hyuk : 2 (new)
3rd Place: Han Seol-ah : 1 (new)
Association President Kim Min-woo sat in his office biting his nails.
"What do I do? What do I do?"
The monthly ranking's third place, even second place, the Association could somewhat manage. But the first place, which had never changed, had just fallen.
The gap was overwhelming. Worse still, only two days had passed since the Labyrinth reset. Seven Ether in just two days. That matched the records of the world's top Rankers. This was beyond anything they could cover up.
"If this was going to happen, he could've at least given us a heads-up! So we could mentally prepare!"
The Association was in chaos. Reporters from across the country had swarmed both the Association and the Hyeolma Guard headquarters. Since it hadn't been officially announced that the Shut-in Blood Demon was the founder of Hyeolma Guard, more reporters gathered at the Association.
"M-Mr. President!"
His secretary, Kim Hyun-ah, burst in without knocking, looking flustered.
"What's wrong? What happened?"
"A call came in."
"What?! Is it the Shut-in Blood Demon?!"
"N-no..."
"Then just hang up! Tell them we don't know anything!"
"T-the President called directly."
"..."
Kim Min-woo sat down heavily, his expression saying the inevitable had arrived. He nodded, and moments later the office phone rang.
"I've taken the call."
- Yes, Association President Kim Min-woo. You've been working hard.
"...Not at all."
- I heard the news. Haha. This is wonderful for the future of our nation! A high Ranker! Right here in Korea!
"..."
- I can't tell you how surprised I was when I saw the morning news. Someone I wasn't briefed on just dropped from the sky. Haha. The Association didn't know either?
"..."
- Association President Kim Min-woo?
A thousand thoughts raced through his mind. Normally, he would have reported this long ago. But the Shut-in Blood Demon himself didn't want to be known. Now that the Blue House had taken interest, hiding it was pointless unless it involved Ether. The Awakener Association was just one agency; it had no power to stop the state from getting involved.
Kim Min-woo steeled himself.
"...I cannot disclose that information."
- ...Haha. Is that so?
"Yes. But please understand this is also a choice made for the sake of the nation."
- Yes, if it's for the national interest, I must understand. But it had better truly serve the national interest, Association President Kim Min-woo.
"Yes."
- Then take care.
Click... click...
Kim Min-woo set the receiver down and rubbed his face with dry hands. He'd done it. He'd really done it.
"Ah... I wonder if there's an opening at Hyeolma Guard."
After everything he'd done, surely they'd give him at least one spot?
While sighing and clutching his head, his secretary Kim Hyun-ah burst through the door again.
"What?! I already explained everything to the President—"
"It's the Shut-in Blood Demon!!"
Kim Min-woo scrambled for the phone.
"Connect him! Hurry!!"
Kim Hyun-ah rushed out to transfer the call.
- Hello?
"H-haha! You've worked hard, Mr. Park Hyun-gi! Have you already exited the Labyrinth? The Ether count just updated—"
- Huh? No, I didn't even enter the Labyrinth.
"What...? Ah, ah...! Your monster tamer skill!"
- Yes, my subordinates did it.
Subordinates? Not just one?
"I-I see. Then what brings you to call...?"
- You called me, didn't you? There were over a hundred missed calls.
"..."
Of course. The country had been turned upside down because of him. How could they not call?
"So... are you all right? The world has started paying attention to you because of today's events."
- Can't be helped. It's not like I could just throw away the Ether I earned.
"Of course not! It's just that hiding you from the world has become a little harder. By the way... have you considered going public—?"
- Huh? Wasn't my personal information already public property?
"...Excuse me?"
- Everyone already knew, right? The U.S. even contacted me last time.
"What?!"
- Didn't I mention it? They said something about national special protection, but it was full of holes.
"..."
Kim Min-woo's face flushed red and purple.
"I-I'll look into it again right away!"
- Yes. I have no intention of openly declaring I'm the Shut-in Blood Demon, but if people dig in this situation, it can't be helped. I'll just deal with it. I've already prepared countermeasures to protect myself anyway.
"Understood..."
- Yes. Take care. Ah! I'll send Mongmo over with two Ether to repay the debt.
Click!
The call ended. Kim Min-woo slammed his forehead onto the desk hard enough to make a loud thud.
"...Then why did I hide that fact from the President?"
He should've just told the President from the start...
***
"Whoa... what the hell is this?"
I stood in the Labyrinth with my mouth hanging open, staring at the warehouse.
"Big trouble, Captain! From the sky! Items are falling from the sky!!!"
The warehouse keeper was buried under a mountain of items. The warehouse that had never overflowed no matter how many thousands of monsters farmed had finally burst thanks to a single Golden Goblin.
Mongmo, perched on my shoulder, clicked his tongue in disbelief.
"What is this, Master?"
"I don't know either... Wow, what do we do with all this?"
While I stood there dazed, another avalanche of items came crashing down.
I picked up one of the items that rolled to my feet.
[Red Thunderbolt Axe]
- Grade: Rare
- Attack Power: 40
- Low chance to inflict Shock status on attack.
- An axe forged from a special ore.
"...Looks like they really cleaned out the entire second floor."
The Golden Goblin had swept the second floor clean in just half a day. But how had it entered other fields?
"Gob."
"Kerrrk! You called, Captain?!"
Park Gob hurried over, still clutching items in confusion.
"How did the Golden Goblin get into other fields?"
"Kerrrk. I sent it!"
"...What?"
"Kerrk! The Golden Goblin that went out farming came back, so I told it to go again!"
"You told it to go again?"
"That's right! I told it to go again!"
I pressed a hand to my forehead. Park Gob had sent the Golden Goblin back out after it returned from clearing an entire field. The items themselves weren't the issue. In fact, it was praiseworthy. The reason I was holding my head was because of this:
└What? Like a monster riot?
└Nah, it's an item evaporation event.
└??? Never heard of that.
└All the boxes on the 2nd floor are empty. So people are just leaving.
└The entire Four Seasons Plateau is dug up. What the hell?
└I seriously thought a bomb had dropped in the Labyrinth.
└Anyone running the 2nd floor should just rest. No items, only monsters.
└Go grind the 1st floor or head to the 3rd.
└You can still find some on the 2nd if you look hard, mostly junk though.
└Agh, that's not nearly enough!
└I even joined Hyeolma Guard but there are no items?
└Crazy, my 2 million won!
└Just come next reset. You wasted one of your two chances, so 1 million won gone lol.
"...If this gets out, I'll become a public enemy of the nation."
Because the Golden Goblin had swept up all the items, the second floor was now completely empty. I'd unintentionally scammed everyone. I'd gathered Hyeolma Guard members only to vacuum up all the second-floor items and leave them with nothing. Normally, knowing there were no items, I would've called the goblins back... but now I had to do business. The kids were all going to return empty-handed this time.
"Then for now... what do we do with this..."
The items had piled up like a mountain, overflowing the warehouse and base and even spilling outside. If I didn't sell them all within a week, they'd vanish with the next reset. I'd been short on cash for the business, but this would more than cover it.
"Mongmo."
"Speak!"
"What should we do with all this?"
"Collect the Ether first!"
"Ah, right."
But how was I supposed to find the Ether here? While I stood staring at the warehouse in bewilderment, white glowing particles flew toward me and were absorbed into my body.
"...So if it's inside the base, it counts as mine?"
That saved me a lot of trouble. My current Ether points were the 3 I'd left yesterday plus the 8 the Golden Goblin found, totaling 11.
Plop. Plop plop plop. Roll roll roll.
"..."
The Golden Goblin had found the last remaining field-drop Ether, bringing the total to 12.
"That's enough. Come back now."
-Heehee! Heeheeheehee!!
I recalled the Golden Goblin. Finding all the Ether scattered across three fields in just one day... So this was the power of a true SS-rank skill.
Shhhk.
"Heehee? Heeheeheehee!!"
"...You rest."
"Heeheeheeheehee!!"
Shhhk.
The Golden Goblin instantly returned to the base, then disappeared somewhere else when I told it to rest. It looked like it was running around the first floor, but I decided to leave it alone.
"Master. Still no plans to appear in public?"
"Uh... yeah. It's a hassle, right?"
The truth was, the reason I didn't step forward was simply because it was annoying in various ways. I already had 24-hour protection and the company was stable. The best situation in the world was having lots of money while nobody knew who I was. Besides, being known as a Vampire class wouldn't bring anything good.
If someone twisted the narrative against me, things would get complicated. That was why I'd ordered the goblins never to kill humans even if they died themselves.
"Hmm! Then it wouldn't be a bad idea to use Ether to set up information protection!"
"Ah, the one the Association President told me about?"
After a moment of thought, I nodded. I had plenty of Ether, so it wouldn't hurt.
The Golden Goblin would keep sweeping one second-floor field after another to supply Ether, so I had plenty to spare.
Plop. Plop...
"...It even found the ones on the first floor."
Another Ether dropped, bringing the total to 13.
"With 13... I'll repay the Association with 2, and use about 5 for myself?"
[Please state the usage.]
Usage confirmed.
Personal information protection: 3 Ether points.
Personal safety protection: 2 Ether points.
[Verifying values...]
[Protecting the personal information of Shut-in Blood Demon, Park Hyun-gi.]
[Providing a one-time attack protection barrier to Park Hyun-gi.]
"Is that it? Should be fine now."
This was how top Rankers commonly used Ether. Because Ether ignored causality, personal information was protected in ways that defied common sense in reality. To break through it, anyone trying to access my information would also have to spend at least 3 Ether. The attack protection barrier worked the same way. From what I'd heard, it automatically activated against damage on the level of "instant death" or "severe life-threatening injury."
Unless it was a major Ether powerhouse, attacking me would be difficult. The moment the barrier broke, I would simply execute the emergency escape protocol Mongmo and I had prepared.
This was exactly why major nations around the world were desperate to secure Ether. Ether granted power that transcended common sense, and to block or break through it required even more Ether.
"Now I have 6 Ether left..."
I looked at the mountain of items. How should I use this well?
Just then, Mongmo poked my cheek repeatedly.
"Master. How about strengthening the base?"
"The base?"
"Indeed! The base is useful! As its level rises, more functions become available. If you're not increasing Domination Power, strengthening the base seems best!"
"True. My business started from the base after all."
"Precisely!"
I didn't know about anything else, but the warehouse definitely needed strengthening.
"Ether usage!"
[Please state the usage.]
"Strengthen base warehouse: 1 Ether point. Strengthen Labyrinth base: 5 Ether points."
Flash!
"Kerrrk! M-my eyes! Kerrrk!!"
The Labyrinth base was engulfed in bright light. The light grew larger and larger, expanding the base's size.
Gradually... gradually...
"W-why is it getting so big?!"
The light continued to expand.
End