The Second Great Upheaval

The goblins moved with frantic energy.

Excluding the seven thousand currently active with the Hyeolma Guard and the thousand permanently stationed in the territory, every last one poured into the Black Forest.

The community forums were suddenly flooded with goblin sighting reports.

Suddenly the goblins were rampaging through the Black Forest, leaving scorched earth in their wake. But who cared?

After all, the second-floor goblins were on the side of the Awakened. What the Awakened didn't know, however, was this.

"Kerrrrk! Bite them! Bite them all, kerk!"

"Glory to the True Ancestor, kerk!"

"Turn them all into our kin, kerrrrk!"

This was the spark that would ignite the second great upheaval after the rise of the Hyeolma Guard.

***

The kobolds began multiplying at an alarming rate. New recruits poured endlessly through the escape gate and were immediately sent to the training grounds. They would be ground through training until they hit level 30—the maximum the territory training facility could handle—then released.

"Master, what do you plan to do with them?"

"No idea. I'll think about it after we hit the ten-thousand mark."

"I see. But we also need to consider food supplies immediately."

"Ah, right."

We now had to supply food for an additional nine thousand mouths in a single day. This was going to be rough.

"I'll contact the food suppliers right away! Even so, we should be fine up to around twenty thousand!"

"Got it. Does this mean we need to move again?"

"It seems we must consider it. If we keep increasing our familiars like this, we'll need a location that can accommodate several large trailers at once."

"Or we could just feed the kobolds dog food?"

"Master… what exactly do you think of your familiars?"

"Useless hyenas."

"Kkiing."

Mongmo, perched on my shoulder, flew over to Bolt's head and clamped both of his ears shut.

"Cover Bolt's ears."

"Kkiing…"

"It was a joke. Just a joke…"

"Ah… Dad."

"I'm not your dad!!"

"Master, when did you breed with a hyena…? Hwaaaang!"

I grabbed both of Mongmo's cheeks as he bounced on Bolt's head and stretched them mercilessly. These idiots had begged for the Park surname, and now they were acting like this. Maybe I should just strip them all of the Park name.

Just as I was yanking on the cheeks of Mongmo, the second son of the Park bloodline, a system message appeared.

"Finally!"

"W-what is it, Master?!"

"It's coming! The five-thousand mark racial trait is here!!"

Please, raise their intelligence!

"…Search?"

I immediately checked the new skill window.

Search (S)

- Your five senses are further developed.

- Your sense of smell is greatly enhanced.

- You can find what you want much more easily.

"…"

"What is it, Master?"

"Should I just get the kobolds jobs at the airport instead of the Labyrinth?"

"…?"

They'd be perfect as drug-sniffing dogs.

Intelligence was apparently off the table.

"What do ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you mean, 'find things better'… Bolt."

"Woof woof!"

"Then go find this for me."

I handed Bolt a Normal-grade sharp dagger I kept at my waist for peeling.

"Sniff sniff, sniff sniff."

After pressing his nose to the dagger and sniffing diligently—

Whoosh!

He shot out of the territory at incredible speed.

"Not as fast as the Golden Goblin, but he's quick."

Especially with Bolt's massive frame combined with that speed, he looked like a tank charging at full throttle. The pressure was no joke. If I took him into the Labyrinth as a bodyguard, no one would even think of messing with me.

And a moment later—

Whoosh!

"Woof!"

"…He actually found it."

He really was good at finding things.

I took the dagger Bolt had brought back.

"How did he find this? It's not like daggers have a unique smell."

"Master… do you really think of Bolt as just a dog? Even so, he has enough intelligence to recognize what a dagger is! He followed the scent of metal and picked out the dagger from among them."

"Ah."

"Woof!"

"And even if he's a bit slow, he can talk! Say something, Bolt!"

"…Hyung?"

"Why the hell am I your hyung!!!"

Leaving Mongmo squabbling on top of Bolt's head, I looked down at the dagger Bolt had retrieved.

"…It feels like it could be useful, but it's not exactly useless either."

This was kind of ambiguous.

If these guys were smart and could speak properly, I could just release them on the second floor like the goblins and have them work as Hyeolma Guard. But right now, they were basically just dogs. No human would feel safe seeing a mastiff roaming the streets without a leash or muzzle. If they ran into someone in the Labyrinth, they'd probably try to kill first and ask questions later, before even realizing it was the Hyeolma Guard.

"Should I check the ten-thousand reward first and think about it later…?"

Even an S-rank racial trait hadn't decided the kobolds' future. Still, having dominated five thousand of them, I had to see the ten-thousand achievement through. An SS-rank skill couldn't be bought with money.

"Ehehehe! Ehehe!"

In the distance, the Golden Goblin was running around the territory with nothing to do.

If he could do even that much, I'd seriously bow to Bolt.

After spending some time tormenting Bolt in the territory—

"It's here."

The winning lottery ticket I'd been waiting for had finally been confirmed.

"Let's go. Let's go! SS-rank reward!!!!"

Pop.

Just like with the Golden Goblin, a small firework made of holograms burst, and a golden system window appeared.

As expected, this was no ordinary reward!

"…?"

Something I hadn't expected at all.

With the goblins, the reward had come to me as a skill, but the kobolds got something different?

I quickly checked the new trait.

Scavenger (SS)

- Maximizes the kobolds' instincts.

- When kobolds loot corpses, they receive significantly better rewards.

- Kobolds can smell blood much more clearly.

"…What is this."

This was the SS-rank reward?

"Woof woof woof woof—."

"Woof woof woof—."

"Woof woof—."

The kobolds who had gained the Scavenger trait suddenly began howling.

Were they happy about their new ability?

"What is it, Master?"

"I got a weird trait."

I explained the Scavenger trait to Mongmo.

As expected, even our genius Mongmo tilted his head in confusion.

"That's rather ambiguous… Corpse looting?"

Normally, monsters that died in the Labyrinth would disappear after some time. The time varied depending on how damaged the corpse was. And more importantly, the items monsters dropped were usually just the weapons or armor they were wearing. Even those were rarely good—mostly the lowest grade.

"It's not bad, but it's not SS-rank, is it? The difference with the Golden Goblin is huge."

"Why don't we test it first and see?"

"Let's do that. Bolt!!"

"Woof!"

"Go outside and catch one wild goblin."

"Woof!!"

Thud!

Bolt stomped the ground and shot out of the territory.

I didn't need to follow. Third-person familiar view—on.

-Kerururuk?

Bang!!!

"Whoa."

The wild goblin went flying like it had been hit by a dump truck and slammed into a wall. Then it collapsed to the ground with a wet thud.

So how exactly did the looting work?

After watching for a moment, Bolt approached the goblin and chomped down on its corpse with a crunch!

Whoosh.

The goblin's body instantly turned to dust and vanished.

Clatter! Clink! Clang!

"…?"

Various items I had never seen before fell to the ground.

Goblin Hide (Normal)

- Goblin hide.

Goblin Meat (Normal)

- Goblin flesh.

Goblin Bones (Normal)

- Goblin bones.

Goblin Dagger (Normal)

Magic Stone Fragment (Normal)

"Ugh…"

"Master, those are…?"

"Bolt, leave the rest and just bring back the dagger and the magic stone fragment."

-Woof!

Items I had never even imagined had dropped. A whole series of goblin body parts and something called a magic stone fragment. The only item that had ever dropped before was the dagger.

Thud thud thud thud!

Bolt returned in an instant.

"The dagger is the same normal one that usually drops."

Magic Stone Fragment (Normal)

- 1/10 of a normal magic stone.

"So ten of these make one normal magic stone?"

"Indeed! Then this is worth roughly one hundred thousand won!"

"This isn't bad at all?"

Either way, an additional farming element had been added. Should I just have the kobolds hunt down all the wild goblins from now on?

"But Master, what about the hide and meat from earlier…?"

"Even so, our kids used to be goblins in their past lives. Using those feels wrong, doesn't it?"

"It does…"

No matter how much of a vampire I'd become, I still had an aversion to human skin and flesh. The goblins probably felt the same.

When I turned my head—

Slurp slurp.

"?"

"…?"

Gob was boldly sucking blood from a wild goblin he had caught. He tilted his head as if to ask what the problem was. The mummified wild goblin turned to dust and vanished.

"Maybe it doesn't matter."

"But we wouldn't have any use for them anyway, Master."

"True. What would we even do with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠goblin hide and bones?"

"Why did you exclude the meat, Master?"

"It's gross."

The meat of intelligent bipedal creatures carried too much psychological revulsion.

In the end, the abilities the kobolds gained from the ten-thousand achievement—

"So it's a dud."

"Yeah, a dud."

"Woof!"

Wasn't the ten-thousand achievement reward supposed to be an automatic win because it was SS-rank? The gap between this and the SS-rank Golden Goblin was enormous.

"Why is a skill like this even SS-rank?"

***

Bang!!

Choi Kang-hyeok, his head wrapped in bandages, slammed his fist on the table.

"Please don't do that. Outside, you're just an ordinary person, Choi Kang-hyeok-nim."

"What?? Don't do that?? Do I look like someone who wouldn't?!"

"Please calm down. This wasn't my decision."

"You still gave it to him! A hundred Ether!!"

Choi Kang-hyeok faced Kim Min-woo in the Association President's office. Blood was trickling from the bandage on his forehead—he was that angry.

"It was the Presidential Office's decision. I had no say in the matter…"

"Then why!!! What did you say whenever I asked for it? Strategic reserves? Absolutely not, in case of emergencies?!!"

"…"

Kim Min-woo had nothing to say. After all, it was true that Choi Kang-hyeok, who had maintained Korea's number one ranking for years, hadn't received a single Ether.

"Damn it, there's a limit to discrimination!!!! I said all that! Invest in me!! Is this how you treat the number one ranked Awakened?!!"

"I'm sorry…"

"Fine, do whatever you want. I'm not selling Ether anymore. You can handle the magic stones with that shut-in bastard yourself!!"

Bang!!!!

Choi Kang-hyeok kicked the door of the Association President's office off its hinges and stormed out. Still fuming, he kicked everything in sight on his way back to his car. As he sat inside and irritably started the engine—

Vrrr— Vrrr—.

The phone ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠he'd left in the passenger seat rang. Thinking it might be Kim Min-woo trying to beg, Choi Kang-hyeok checked the screen.

"…Kim Dan?"

But the message was from Kim Dan, the craftsman who had recently been under investigation for collusion.

-Kim Dan: Choi Kang-hyeok-nim. Do you have a moment?

***

I stared gloomily at the kobolds undergoing training in the territory training grounds.

"Roll left!!"

"Kkyaeng!!!"

"Jump, kerk!"

"Kkyaekyaeng!"

"Kobold. Eyes down! Keruruk. Do not make eye contact with the instructor! Keruruk!!"

"Kkiing."

This was basically mass animal abuse.

I let out a deep sigh.

What the hell was I supposed to do with them?

"It's strange… They seem useful, but also completely useless."

"Woof?"

"What am I supposed to do with your kin? You've got 15 intelligence, but those guys only have 7."

"Woof!"

"…Sigh."

Crunch crunch.

Mongmo, who had been eating peanuts on my shoulder, stuffed an entire peanut into his cheek and looked at me.

"They definitely aren't useless! Kobolds are a race perfectly specialized for farming."

"Right. But the problem is, we have—"

"The Golden Goblin!"

"Exactly."

From a farming perspective, kobolds were a decent race, but the problem was our SS-rank Golden Goblin. There was no point sending them out to farm when we had him.

"Should I try advertising them in the real world and put them to work as Hyeolma Guard? Even if they're dumb, they could probably work as goblin understudies."

"I'll look into that as well. If we run ads on TV and YouTube for two or three months, people will recognize them."

"We should make Hyeolma Guard uniforms for them too."

"That sounds good."

I stood up and left the training grounds. Staring at them any longer wasn't going to give me any ideas.

They clearly had some use, but nothing was clicking.

Still, for now, they could probably serve as additional Hyeolma Guard personnel. Maybe I should recruit more members.

"More importantly, Master, aren't you going to upgrade the territory?"

"Oh, right. Since you mentioned it, should I just go all out? The kobolds were a dud, but the territory might be different."

After using 45 Ether points, I had 57 left in total.

"Excellent. More territory upgrades are always better! How about 50 points?!"

"Alright. Let's try it."

With just 5 points I'd gotten a castle. What would 50 points bring?

Don't tell me the territory was going to modernize?

"Use Ether."

[Please specify the usage.]

"Territory Upgrade, 50 points."

[Calculating values.]

"…"

[Calculating values…]

"Why is this taking so long?"

This Ether usage was taking unusually long. Was it because I was dumping 50 points at once?

Flash!!

The territory was engulfed in bright light. All buildings except the already-modernized logistics warehouse transformed into modern structures. The living quarters became something resembling an apartment complex, the cafeteria turned into a massive cooking facility, and the workshops, school, and disassembly plant all changed into modern facilities. As a bonus, the territory itself grew significantly larger.

"Whoa… This is no joke."

"Mhm. The functionality of the facilities feels significantly enhanced!"

"And there's a building over there I've never seen before?"

"Oho. Then let us go check it out!"

Just as Mongmo and I were about to head toward the new facility—

"Wait? Then what about the other 30 points?"

It said only 20 points would be used? All 50 points had disappeared?

Plop.

A red crystal the size of a fist fell in front of me.

"What is this?"

"…?"

"?"

Both I and Mongmo on my shoulder froze after reading the item description.

"An… outpost base?"

"Eeeeeeh?!"

"Woof?"

Something enormous had appeared.

End

ⓒ Diwolseu #1mxtx