The Army of Fifty Goblins

The ten warrior goblins, Park Gob included, all hit an average of level 3, and my Domination Power surged right along with them.

A full fifty!

That meant I could now command fifty goblins.

"Go on, you lot. Go bite some of your friends!"

-Ker-ruk!

-Kerk!

-Kyaaaak!

While munching on snacks at home, I released the vampiric goblins into the Labyrinth and sat down in front of my computer.

Domination Power: 50.

Fifty vampiric goblins.

Food consumption: fifty times higher.

"The delivery guy is going to be shocked."

I went online and bought groceries in bulk.

If the vampiric goblins were useless, I wouldn't have bothered increasing their numbers, but they were definitely earning their keep.

Scrap metal, iron ore, ruined planks, fabric scraps, open cans, red fruit, and so on.

All of them were unsellable junk items, yet they shared one common trait.

They were the kind of items most people discarded the moment they cleared the first floor of the Labyrinth.

The reason was simple: bulk and weight.

Explorers who entered the Labyrinth usually only took items that fetched a decent price.

Weapons, armor, accessories, recovery potions, buff potions, and a few rare materials.

Even just those filled a bag to the brim.

High-rankers sometimes used Ether to create dimensional bags, but that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was a tiny minority.

Most people simply carried sturdy hiking backpacks into the Labyrinth.

That didn't mean the junk items were completely worthless, though.

Scrap metal and iron ore were no different from Earth's iron.

The planks weren't made of ordinary wood; they were twice as durable as normal lumber.

If someone hauled just those out and sold them to a buyer on Earth, they could earn a day's part-time wage.

But the Labyrinth was a place where people risked their lives.

Who would stake their life just to earn pocket money?

"But I'm different."

I didn't have to risk my life, and I even had a warehouse to store the junk items.

The ten goblins brought back everything they could fit into their bags without discriminating between item types.

At first I had scolded them to only bring valuable items, but goblins simply weren't smart enough for that.

Still, even junk items could turn into money if gathered in large quantities.

Who knew "many a little makes a mickle" would actually work here?

Over the past few days, the ten goblins had farmed nonstop except for eating and sleeping, and an enormous pile of junk items had accumulated in the warehouse.

I bought food online while browsing the Labyrinth community forums.

-Who the hell took a dump in the ruins on the second basement floor?

└lololol did you step in it?

└Poster: Didn't step in it, but the smell was nasty.

└If it was on the road, they must've been desperate. I opened a chest and it was inside.

└That's actually malicious lolol Wait... it was inside the chest?

└Wow, someone actually picked it up and put it in there?

-Watch out for the black beach on the third floor.

└Poster: Damn, looks like a random event triggered. Monster riot or something.

└May the deceased rest in peace.

└Poster: I'm not dead yet. I'm a fourth-floor user, just passing through.

└Whoa, a ranker? Fourth floor means you might run into rankers from other countries too?

-Ah shit, a skill quest popped up asking me to find "fragmented spring parts" on the first floor.

"There it is, my money maker."

└lolol go find them.

└How long would that even take? I only saw one of those back when I was still running the first floor.

└You should've saved them like I said.

└Why would I save useless junk? It just takes up space.

The first floor of the Labyrinth was a personal instance containing only the explorer and monsters.

Since the only monsters were goblins, most drops were low-value items.

Awakened who started running the Labyrinth seriously quickly killed goblins, grew stronger, and moved on to the next floor.

From the second floor onward, they entered the shared national Labyrinth.

The environment changed with each reset, new and stronger monsters appeared, and there was always the risk of being backstabbed by other humans.

From the second floor on, explorers had to compete not only with monsters but also with fellow countrymen.

The difficulty spiked vertically, but the value of drops rose accordingly, so most people began serious farming from the second floor.

After all, anyone who entered the Labyrinth was staking their life on it.

Everyone except me.

I sent a direct message to the poster.

ShutInBloodDemon: You looking for fragmented spring parts?

StopMachine: Ooooo you have some? You have some?

ShutInBloodDemon: Yeah. If you wanna buy, I'll sell.

StopMachine: OK OK name your price.

"...Says he needs them but wants me to name the price first."

Still, I let it slide. It wasn't like I was desperate.

ShutInBloodDemon: 100,000 won each.

StopMachine: What. Junk that doesn't even sell... OK fine. I'll take them.

ShutInBloodDemon: You'll buy all of them? Tell me how many you need.

StopMachine: I said I'll buy whatever you have. I need a lot for the quest.

ShutInBloodDemon: I've got roughly 230. You buying all?

StopMachine: Holy crap why do you even have that many? Are you a first-floor grinder? Still, 230 springs...

ShutInBloodDemon: You buying or not?

StopMachine: I'll take a hundred.

100,000 won × 100 = ten million won.

It was an amount that would normally never sell, but that ten million won was the price these people put on their own time.

I immediately stood up, opened the door, and entered the base.

"Keruk? Keruruk?"

"Yeah, good work. Sort what you've gathered and put it in the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠warehouse, then head out again."

"Keruuuk!!!"

I headed straight for the warehouse.

Among the countless boxes, I opened the one containing the springs and listed them on the community trade window.

Having so many made this a chore too.

ShutInBloodDemon: Here. One hundred.

StopMachine: This is real... OK, ten million won sent. Thanks.

ShutInBloodDemon: Cool deal. Thanks.

Ten million won was pocket change to awakened who ran the second floor and above.

If it saved time and let them obtain a skill, it wasn't money they would regret spending.

Ten million won had just been added to my community account.

Combined with the twenty million I had earned last time by luckily selling scrap metal, that was thirty million won total.

All earned in just four days.

And it was all from items the ten goblins had farmed.

There were still far more items left unsold.

Ten goblins farming was already cheat-level, but now fifty goblins were about to roam the first floor.

"Yeah, proceed."

That brought my Domination Power to 11.

39 left.

"If only it didn't make them go crazy over garlic, this would be the best ability ever."

Ten goblins already produced this much power through farming. I couldn't even imagine what fifty would do.

And the original ten goblins were steadily growing stronger as well.

"Keruk keruk!!!"

"Oh, Park Gob, you're back?"

"Keruruk!"

Park Gob had dragged over a goblin wearing a confused expression.

As expected of our first goblin. He worked hard.

"Give him a weapon and a bag and send him out to farm."

"Keruk!!!"

Our Park Gob was outstandingly intelligent compared to the other goblins.

That made sense. While the average goblin level was now 3...

Park Gob was already level 5.

His intelligence had more than doubled from the initial value of 4.

Now Park Gob was smart enough to farm on his own without me having to give specific orders.

After handing the new goblin a weapon and a spare bag, Park Gob communicated something to him.

"Keruk!!"

"Kyak?"

"Keruk keruk keruruk!"

Did they actually understand each other?

Yet the new goblin nodded as if he understood and dashed outside—Goblin #11.

"Kyak!"

"Yeah, good job."

When I praised him, Park Gob nodded with a pleased expression and approached me.

"Paaahp!!"

"...Right, wait a moment."

Feeding fifty goblins was going to be a job in itself.

"Ker-r-r-ruk!"

"Keu-ruk!"

"Kyak?"

The Labyrinth base instantly became a chaotic scene filled with vampiric goblins.

Ten had become fifty in the blink of an eye.

Vampiric goblins bit wild goblins and turned them into familiars.

The newly converted goblins then bit more wild goblins, creating even more familiars.

I was personally experiencing how quickly an epidemic could spread.

Thus, a vampiric goblin force consisting of ten warrior goblins and forty regular goblins was completed.

And what this vampiric goblin force was doing was...

"Hey! That's not the right box!"

"Keruk?"

"Hey! How are you supposed to sort them if you mix everything up! When am I supposed to organize this?"

"Kerorok?"

Farming.

"Aigoo, you blockheads!!!"

"Keruuk!!!"

They couldn't understand normal speech, yet they somehow perfectly understood when someone was swearing.

A goblin crossed his arms with a displeased look after being scolded.

But the moment I glared at him...

"Keeng..."

He immediately tucked his tail and scurried away.

One thing I had learned while living with the goblins was that the Familiar Conversion skill was far more powerful than I had thought.

The power of Familiar Conversion, the only skill sharing the same EX rank as my own awakening grade, was absolute.

Once turned into my familiar through blood drain, a goblin could never disobey me even if it died.

After several experiments to test my ability, I confirmed that if I ordered a goblin to die, it would genuinely attempt to do so.

Of course, I stopped them before they could try committing suicide with daggers.

"Keruuk!!"

At that moment, Park Gob ran over and gave one of the goblins a smack on the head.

"Kyaaak!"

"Keek..."

"Kyak!"

Park Gob, the first familiar I had personally bitten.

His growth was in a league of its own.

While the other warrior goblins were just reaching level 4, Park Gob had already hit level 7.

I didn't know exactly how goblins gained experience, but Park Gob, who commanded the others from the base, was leveling up the fastest.

"Park Gob, educate the kids a bit. They're too dumb for me to give proper orders."

"Keaada."

"What?"

"Pap!"

Now that his intelligence had risen, Park Gob was trying much harder to mimic human speech.

But the only word he could say clearly enough to be understood was "pap"—his way of asking for food.

Still, it was fortunate that he now understood everything I said.

"You can eat on your own now. The food's piled up over there."

I pointed at the stack of supplies in the corner of the base.

I had stopped buying ramen, which was hard to cook in bulk, and switched to factory-made bread with a longer shelf life.

Who had time to boil ramen one by one for fifty goblins?

But Park Gob stared at the bread with a clearly dissatisfied expression.

"Kerk, pap! Pap! Hororop!"

He made a slurping sound as if sucking up noodles.

Don't tell me he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠wanted ramen instead of bread?

"Hey, when am I supposed to boil ramen for all of you one by one?"

"Keruuk..."

Park Gob's ears drooped.

This guy was actually complaining about side dishes.

"..."

Maybe I should take just Park Gob to my room and secretly boil some ramen for him?

After all, he helped me with so many things.

While I was hesitating, staring at the dejected Park Gob, a system window appeared.

"Oh? The ones who went outside leveled up?"

Park Gob and a few goblins were at the base, but most were out farming.

It seemed the average level of all goblins had risen enough to meet the condition.

"Lodging? Cafeteria?"

New options had appeared as the base leveled up.

Currently, the only thing at our base was a single large box that had appeared next to the entrance.

What was that?

I checked the Simple Warehouse first.

"Ah, so I need to gather the materials and put them in there?"

The new box that appeared beside the entrance after the base leveled up was probably a delivery box for quest items.

There was nothing difficult about it.

All five required materials were already in the warehouse.

"Park Gob, gather the kids."

"Kerk!"

I headed straight for the Simple Warehouse.

I opened the box, took out the necessary items one by one, and handed them to the goblins.

"Put these into that box over there!"

"Kerruk!"

"Kerk kerk!"

"Kyak!"

Under Park Gob's command, the goblins lined up and received the junk items from me.

With so many workers, the task was finished in an instant.

All the materials were sucked into the central box.

Flash.

The moment all the materials were deposited, the warehouse was enveloped in light.

It gradually grew larger, and when the light faded, the level 2 warehouse was revealed.

A clean, neatly organized warehouse like something from a logistics center had appeared, along with a desk and chair in front of it.

"What is this?"

I approached the newly appeared desk.

Why was this in the warehouse?

When I touched the desk, a system window appeared before my eyes.

So it was specialized personnel who only managed the warehouse?

What was different?

I had considered assigning this job to Park Gob at first, but...

"No, that would be a waste."

"Kerk?"

"You have too many other things to do."

"Kereuuuuk??!!"

Park Gob had far too much work to do.

He was too valuable to just stick in the warehouse—an excellent goblin, not just an excellent worker.

"You there, come here for a moment."

I called over one of the newly converted regular goblins as a test.

"Keruk?"

As expected, the goblin approached while tilting his head dumbly.

"Assign Warehouse Keeper."

"...Blood again, huh."

At this rate, I was going to get anemia from constantly bleeding for the sake of being a vampire.

I took a dagger from the warehouse and pricked the tip of my finger.

Seeing this, the new goblin hurriedly dropped to his knees.

When I let a single drop of blood fall onto the goblin's hand—

Flash!

The goblin transformed along with a burst of light.

He grew slightly larger than a normal goblin, and his head also became bigger.

Why did his head get bigger?

When the light faded, a goblin wearing glasses stood before me.

"Keruuk!"

The newly appointed Warehouse Keeper goblin pushed his glasses up with a fingertip.

"So that's why the glasses were a material..."

"Kerok?"

His strength and agility had dropped to average, while his intelligence had skyrocketed.

His intelligence was now higher than Park Gob's.

"...Alright, go do your job."

"Keaada!"

Perhaps because his intelligence had increased, the Warehouse Keeper goblin tried to mimic human speech like Park Gob.

After hearing my words, he nodded politely and approached the warehouse.

"Kerorok! Kerok! Kerok!"

The Warehouse Keeper ran over to a goblin who was farming and putting items into the box.

"Keruk? Keruk?"

"Keeeeek!!!"

They began communicating and sorting items among themselves.

Following the Warehouse Keeper's instructions, the goblins started organizing the items they had farmed.

"Huh? This is pretty good."

Now I didn't have to stay glued to the warehouse.

Watching them work, they were doing a surprisingly good job.

They sorted items by type, separated weapons and armor, and neatly stored everything in the warehouse.

At this point, I was looking forward to the next features.

The cafeteria and lodging.

Just as I was about to check the two newly unlocked functions—

A system window appeared, and a massive number materialized in the sky.

"Come to think of it, today is Sunday."

A countdown appeared in bright red letters, like the timer on a time bomb.

Using third-person familiar vision, I relayed the message to my familiars.

"Stop what you're doing and return to the base or exit the Labyrinth."

-Kerruk!

-Kyak!

-Kerul!

Once a week on the first floor—the Labyrinth reset.

My first reset since becoming an awakened was approaching.

ⓒ Diwolse #1mxtx