The Golden Goblin's Rampage

Graduating from the first-floor personal labyrinth means diving straight into the second-floor national labyrinth.

New fields with five ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠distinct environments appear, each as vast as Gyeonggi Province. Fresh monsters, fresh dangers, and rewards so tempting they make it all worthwhile. Rare items that start showing up from the second floor lure awakeners into the labyrinth's deadly depths of their own accord.

Just equipping one rare item makes attacks that once felt crushing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠as light as down, while strikes that used to miss now punch straight through a monster's heart. Once you taste that power, it's over. Awakeners become prisoners of the labyrinth, endlessly pushing deeper and deeper.

The second floor is already like that, but the third floor is on another level entirely. It's also a national labyrinth like the second, yet the scale is worlds apart. The moment awakeners step into the third floor, they realize it.

Ah! So the second-floor labyrinth was just a tutorial for national labyrinths!

Out of three fields, two appear with each reset. Each one is the size of South Korea's entire territory. Yoon Min-ah was a veteran awakener who had already cleared such third-floor fields and was even eyeing a push into the fourth floor.

At that level, she ranked among the absolute top in Korea.

"Time to start looking for an exit..."

Yoon Min-ah checked the electronic watch strapped to her wrist. The preset countdown was ticking down, with six days and thirteen hours remaining. The third floor resets once every three weeks. If she escaped now, she could sell her loot, rest for three weeks, and return on the next reset.

"Ughhh..."

Stretching made her whole body ache. Even though her physique had reached superhuman levels inside the labyrinth, fatigue was impossible to ignore.

"This is killing me. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠When is Bloodma Guard going to push into the third floor? Those goblins looked plenty useful."

Though she hadn't joined Bloodma Guard, curiosity had led her to observe their goblins once. Their physical abilities were on a completely different level from first-floor goblins. She guessed they were around level 30. How was that even possible? Goblins were supposed to have fixed levels from birth on the first floor. Did becoming Bangguseok Hyeolma's subordinate raise their levels?

"I want to explore the labyrinth with my own goblin on night watch duty too."

Just as she finished stretching while muttering about not having a goblin of her own and prepared to search for the exit again—

-Euhit, euhit, euhihit!!

"...?"

A laugh she'd never heard before echoed through the third-floor field, the rocky mountain range. Yoon Min-ah turned her head toward the source and found it.

"Wh-what is that?!"

Backlit by the sun, something was laughing and sprinting across the mountain peak.

-Euhit! Euhihit! Euhihihihit!!

"...A goblin?"

A golden goblin.

"These people... I told them to use it when it's dangerous, and they're treating it like an instant labyrinth clear ticket?"

Browsing the community made him let out a hollow laugh. The premium flare was meant to let you escape the labyrinth while scooping up every nearby monster drop and chest loot. Unlike the regular version that only grabs what's right next to you, the premium flare packs everything in tight. Of course, you never know what's nearby, so the quality is random—because kobolds just dash around snatching whatever they can and stuffing it into the bag.

"Leave it alone, Master! Isn't this great for us? Money's coming in!"

"Selling well is nice, but..."

These people are straight-up gambling with premium flares...

"They chase dopamine! We chase money! What a beautiful relationship, Master!!"

"Seriously, Mongmo. What are you even planning to do with all that money?"

"I'm earning peanut money."

"What kind of peanuts cost hundreds of millions per nut?"

"Master can do whatever he wants with the rest."

"..."

Our money-obsessed Mongmo. Thanks to him, my bank account was now seeing numbers I'd never imagined, flowing in and out constantly.

"Speaking of money, how much have we made so far?"

Mongmo grinned meaningfully at the question and tapped on his tablet.

"First, Bloodma Guard—seven thousand members! 14 billion!"

"As expected."

"Bloodma Temple! Normal and magic items! Monthly revenue: 24.3 billion!"

"...Bloodma Temple?"

"Magic items sold like crazy! Most second-floor users bought them!"

"That much? The Equipment Union disbanded and prices normalized, right?"

"Bloodma Temple gear comes with a free Bloodma Carriage ticket!"

"Ah."

Apparently the free Bloodma Carriage service was driving Bloodma Temple sales. Instant food in the labyrinth was hard to resist.

"And Bloodma Carriage food sales: 200 million!"

"Why does that even have revenue?"

"Awakeners who didn't use Bloodma Guard or Bloodma Temple bought food with magic stones!"

I thought Bloodma Carriage would be in the red, but it actually has revenue?

"Bloodma Inn and kobold rentals: three thousand users. Roughly 6 billion!"

"...That's huge too."

"Mm-hmm! With more people, revenue keeps climbing. Bloodma Rescue hasn't been around long enough to settle accounts yet!"

"Wow, we're raking it in."

All together, roughly 50 billion. Bloodma Group had become a genuine mid-sized company. I nodded, and Mongmo tilted his head.

"We still have more, Master."

"More? What else?"

"What else would it be, Master? Our pride and joy."

"We still have the golden goblin."

"Ah..."

"Four times on the first floor, twice on the second. Item ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sales from that alone: roughly 50 billion."

"..."

"And now it's rampaging through the third floor, so who knows how much more will come out, Master."

"True. I don't know about the rest, but..."

"I should turn my phone off before bed tonight."

Kim Min-woo had been swinging between heaven and hell lately.

"D-don't say nonsense, Kim Chan is Kim Dan's relative so whatever, but Green Frog's identity wasn't even public...!"

"He was a regular at Kim Dan's place. Apparently that's how the connection was made..."

"That bastard... I should've locked him up! I should've sent him straight to prison!!"

Following Choi Kang-hyeok, former rank 3 Kim Chan and the awakener known online as Green Frog—who usually hovered between ranks 6 and 9—had both defected to Japan one after another. Japan had been aggressively poaching awakeners with lavish ether offers. Only after the presidential office and even the U.S. issued strong criticism did Japan's awakener theft finally stop.

Thanks to that, the Awakener Association was now in full emergency mode. They were scrambling to secure the remaining rankers and stabilize the situation, but public trust was already shaken.

"How much ether did they even pour into this...!"

Of course, using ether as bait to recruit awakeners was something every country did behind the scenes, but Korea was a bit different.

"We can't use it even if we want to..."

Stockpiling used to be the global trend, but recently things had shifted. The current meta among nations was to invest ether generously while keeping only the bare minimum in reserve. No one knew exactly why, but the U.S., China, and India had started the trend.

Korea, however, was in a different situation.

"We have no idea what those North Korean bastards might do..."

North Korea had completely cut itself off from the world after the labyrinths appeared. The labyrinths themselves seemed to treat North Korea as a separate country, splitting even the national labyrinths. And the reason Korea couldn't fully exert its power in the global labyrinth scene was precisely because of North Korea.

North Koreans tried to kill any Korean awakener they met without even attempting conversation. That was why Korea clung so desperately to its ether reserves. North Korea used ether to block satellite imaging of Pyongyang and cut all communication with the outside world. Because no one knew what they might do next, Korea couldn't afford to relax.

But the bad news didn't end there. Just as Kim Min-woo was tearing at his hair hard enough to go bald, Kim Hyun-ah knocked and entered the Association president's office.

"Mr. President, we received contact from the U.S."

"...What is it?"

"It appears China and India used ether to extract information on Park Hyun-gi and attempted contact."

"What?!"

"The U.S. blocked it in advance with ether as well, but physical contact is hard to stop with ether alone, so they advised strengthening security..."

"Don't we already have maximum security personnel?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Hire a private security firm too. We'll handle close protection with the U.S., and have them cover the perimeter."

"Understood."

Global attention on Bangguseok Hyeolma was rising as well. As long as the U.S. was helping, most countries wouldn't dare touch him, but China and India were different. Those two nations held the world's first and second highest ether mining outputs respectively—25% and 20% each. If they decided to move in force, it would become a massive headache. Even with American support, it wouldn't be easy.

"If only North Korea hadn't gone rogue... we could've used our ether too."

Kim Hyun-ah bowed quietly and left the office, leaving Kim Min-woo sighing alone. Dealing with a former same-blooded nation turned hostile and the world's superpowers in this tangled global situation—what kind of hell was this?

Just then—

Ding!

"...?"

BOOM!

"M-Mr. President, the ranking just—...!"

"..."

Both Kim Hyun-ah and Kim Min-woo's eyes turned to the ether ranking display on the wall of the office. Kim Min-woo's face, which had looked half-dead moments ago, suddenly lit up like a soul stepping into heaven for the first time.

"Aaaah!"

[Kim Min-woo Association President Missed Calls 99+]

[Kim Min-woo Association President Missed Texts 99+]

"Whoa... Mongmo. If we sell all of this..."

"This is going to cause a shock... A shock to Korea's item market..."

"Then what do we do with all this..."

Mongmo and I stood in front of the logistics warehouse, staring at a mountain of items.

"Kaaargh! S-sort them! Don't just throw them anywhere!!! Keruk"

"It never ends. It doesn't decrease at all, keruruk!"

"Support! Support! Call Gob!! Call for support, kerk!"

The golden goblin that had gone to the third-floor labyrinth was venting all its pent-up frustration, looting the third-floor fields like a madman. It kept teleporting ether and items straight to the warehouse.

"More importantly, Master. The country's in an uproar. What do we do?"

"What do you mean? The Association President will handle it."

"I see. Then I'll just go back to my usual work."

"Yeah. And get ready. We need to open the second Bloodma Inn soon."

"Understood."

Watching Mongmo flutter away, I checked the weekly ether ranking—the list showing how much ether had been farmed over the past week.

"...Everyone must be getting used to it by now."

Updating the ranking wasn't anything new for me anymore.

— End —