Black Goblin
With a bulletproof helmet and stab-resistant armor.
At his belt hung a gas gun and a dagger.
Lee Minho said as he laced up his combat boots in full gear.
“Uncle, are you ready?”
By contrast, Kang Juhyuk looked like he was heading out for a casual stroll around the neighborhood, dressed in a tracksuit and carrying an eco bag.
“Ready. But why are you loaded up like that?”
“It’s an equipment package the Hunter Association gives to rookie hunters. They send it by courier after you pass the written test, before you move on to the practical exam.”
It was the same idea as military supplies.
“Isn’t it heavy? Seems like it’d get in the way when you’re hunting.”
“Safety comes first. They say if you gear up like this, you can handle an F-Class monster on your own.”
“F-Class, huh. I fought one of those before.”
“You did?”
“Yeah.”
Juhyuk recalled something from long ago.
The day he awakened for the first time.
When he heard that hunting monsters would raise his stats, he’d gone to a local dungeon in high spirits.
And there, he had faced his first F-Class monster: a Green Goblin.
After a fierce fight with the baseball bat he’d brought from home, he had won.
And then I fell straight into despair.
The experience from the awakening skill he’d gained through the Green Goblin.
[Kang Juhyuk’s skill experience has increased by 0.0001%!]
It took ten thousand kills to reach 1 percent.
He’d have to kill one million monsters to hit 100 percent and raise a single stat.
And after the Association hunters cleared a dungeon, at most ten monsters were left behind.
At that pace, when was he ever supposed to get stronger?
“Haaah.”
He’d sighed without even meaning to.
If he’d been able to hunt higher-ranked monsters, maybe he could have expected more experience.
But back then, he didn’t have the equipment for that, nor the strength to take on monsters that strong.
So he’d given up being a hunter.
“Anyway, let’s go. We’ll see what you’re made of first.”
“Uncle, are you really going to go out dressed like that?”
“More than enough.”
“Just in case, Uncle, bring a weapon. If you don’t have one, grab a kitchen knife or something.”
“I don’t need anything like that. I’m a hero.”
“A hero…. Right. So what’s in that eco bag?”
“Cream buns. I bought them yesterday from the bakery in front of the middle school, but the expiration date passed, so I’m going to get a refund on the way back from the dungeon.”
Minho wanted to argue with him, but his uncle had more experience than he did, so he couldn’t bring himself to say anything.
“Let’s go. We should be back before lunch.”
And so the two of them headed for the A-Class gate where the giant turtle had recently been subdued.
After the glorious battle, a dungeon had formed beneath the gate.
When they reached the entrance, which looked like tangled roots from a giant tree, Kang Juhyuk rolled his wrists and ankles to loosen up.
“You stretch too. Warming up before a fight is mandatory.”
Minho looked tense and copied him with a stiff expression as he asked, “There won’t be any dangerous monsters inside, right?”
“Of course not. The Association already swept through this dungeon once, so if anything’s left, it’ll just be trash. If there were anything strong in there, they’d have posted guards at the entrance.”
“I see.”
“And if a dungeon entrance is woven out of tree roots, that means it’s a goblin nest. In other words, there’s nothing inside dangerous enough for you to worry about, right?”
A veteran really was different.
Just being there with his uncle made him feel a lot more at ease.
After some time, once Juhyuk had finished stretching and started into the dungeon,
Minho followed behind him and pulled out the gas gun at his waist.
“Uncle, but how strong are F-Class monsters when you actually fight them?”
“It depends on the individual, so you can’t pin it down exactly. But if I had to explain it, their physical ability is around the level of a healthy middle schooler.”
“Then that’s nothing special.”
“Don’t be too sure. Imagine that middle schooler charging at you with their life on the line. Not just punching and kicking either. What do you think happens if they’re trying to survive and go for your eyes, bite you with their teeth, or knee you in the groin?”
“…When you put it like that, they do sound stronger.”
“No matter what monster you meet, don’t let your guard down. Fight like I’m not even there.”
“Got it, Uncle.”
Not long after the conversation ended and Juhyuk and Minho disappeared into the dungeon,
two Association hunters in silver armor came to the entrance and blocked the way.
“Those damn NIS bastards really think they’re our superiors. Why are they dumping dungeon control on us? The Association’s short-handed too, and we’re dividing the work as it is.”
“Tell me about it. Where the hell were you, anyway? I told you to watch the entrance while I went to the bathroom.”
“I stepped out for a smoke right in front. If smoke drifts into a dungeon, monsters follow the smell and crawl out, so they don’t let us smoke around here.”
“That still doesn’t mean both of us should leave our post at the same time. What if someone actually went into the dungeon….”
“Shut up, man. There’s a no-entry sign right there! They even stuck in a red-risk warning sign. Who’d go in?”
Their eyes pointed to the dungeon entrance at the same time.
But there, the sign lay face-down on the ground.
“?!”
“?!”
One of the Association hunters ran over and righted the sign.
Then he asked, looking troubled, “Nobody went in, right?”
The hunter who’d been asked thought for a moment.
Then, looking at the two footprints stamped into the ground, he whispered, “...Hey, call headquarters.”
* * *
The dungeon interior was bigger than expected.
Big enough that even walking nonstop for an hour wouldn’t let you see all of it.
“Uncle, is a dungeon supposed to be like this?”
Juhyuk slowly looked around and answered, “Yeah.”
They walked and walked, but the same scenery kept drifting into view.
A high ceiling and a path made of ochre-colored walls.
Torches hung here and there, lighting the area around them, and the wind that came through at regular intervals made the shadows writhe.
“But seriously, there’s nothing here. I can’t feel any monster presence at all.”
“You can feel that?”
“Of course. I’ve dealt with a lot of monsters.”
“How?”
“What do you mean, how? I just feel it. You can’t see the wind, but you can feel it, right? It’s like that.”
Kang Juhyuk had faced countless monsters.
He possessed an extra sense beyond the ordinary human five, a sixth sense.
He had supernatural perception.
“I see. Is that a power I’ll get when I awaken too?”
“No idea…. Wait. Minho, what day is it today?”
“Saturday.”
“Saturday?! Damn!”
Juhyuk let out a long sigh and pulled his phone from his pocket.
“This is bad. I think we need to get out of the dungeon right now.”
“Why? What happened?”
“In a little bit, it’s double EXP time. They said they were also giving out a new mount for the six-hour login reward today, and I totally forgot!”
The Chronos Gate login screen glowed on the phone. Since there was no internet connection, a message said the connection had failed.
“What? I thought something serious happened.”
“It is serious. Extremely serious! Double EXP means the growth rate is completely different. It’s like leveling twenty times while everyone else only levels ten.”
“Doesn’t the Wi-Fi work here?”
“Nope. Not at all.”
“Maybe it’s too deep. I heard there are dungeons with internet access.”
“Let’s call today dungeon exploration and start real hunting tomorrow. It’s not like there were any monsters here anyway.”
Minho exhaled heavily and looked around the dungeon from side to side, then nodded firmly and replied, “Fair enough. Then tomorrow let’s try another dungeon. There should be an E-Class gate that opened recently around Dogok-dong.”
“Okay, then let’s head back fast. If we’re late, the party fills up and I’ll have to solo hunt.”
Just as the two of them turned to leave the dungeon—
“?!”
A goblin with black skin and a sneering expression appeared at that exact moment.
It wore steel armor as if it were human.
“Minho, combat ready. It’s a goblin.”
Minho hurriedly loaded the gas gun.
Click.
“Uncle, but is that really a goblin? It’s wearing armor.”
Even Juhyuk had briefly doubted it because of the color of its skin.
He’d never seen a goblin with black skin before either.
But the shape was unmistakably that of a goblin to anyone looking at it.
“It’s a Black Goblin.”
Because its skin was black.
“A Black Goblin?”
“The higher goblin variants I fought in the ancient city of Yukram wore armor like that.”
Minho didn’t know where Yukram was, but he nodded anyway.
Still, it’s taller than I expected.
Ordinary goblins were about the height of a young elementary school kid, but this one looked like it was at least 160 centimeters tall.
And.
Its mana was incredible for a goblin.
He’d never seen a goblin this strong, even in the other world.
“How did you two get in here?”
And the goblin was speaking human language?
That meant it was a rare monster with extremely high intelligence!
How much would a monster like that be worth?
It should be at least five million won if he was going to repair the weapon it broke.
Juhyuk set down the eco bag with a delighted expression and arched his brows.
“Minho, looks like you can’t take that one alone. Uncle’ll help a little.”
“Wait. Uncle, if it’s talking, maybe it’s a person?”
“No. Don’t be fooled, Lee Minho. Some higher monsters use human language too.”
“Really?!”
“Yeah.”
I’m seeing one for the first time today too.
Minho looked at the Black Goblin and swallowed hard.
“If it weren’t for you, Uncle, we’d really be in trouble.”
“The hunt starts now, so don’t let your guard down until the end.”
“Got it, Uncle.”
Flash!
The moment Juhyuk finished speaking, he shot out like a rocket, seized the goblin’s wrists with both hands, and—
“?!”
—wrenched them apart with brute force.
Crack.
“Kyaaaaagh!”
* * *
Someone had entered the red-risk zone.
When Kim Jaegyu, the second branch director of the Seoul NIS branch, heard the news, he flew into a rage.
“Those idiot bastards! Hunters can’t even carry out guard duty properly, so what the hell are they doing!!”
Choi Junhyuk, the team leader moving under his orders, lowered his head.
“I apologize. Once this is finished, I’ll find the Association official responsible and hold them accountable.”
“Hold them accountable, my ass. So what are you going to do? That red-listed criminal Kim Honggyeom is inside that dungeon right now.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You don’t know how dangerous Kim Honggyeom is? That psycho bastard. A psychopath who gets pleasure from killing people for fun!”
“...I know.”
Silence fell for a moment.
The room was so quiet it felt frozen.
After some time, once his breathing had settled, Kim Jaegyu continued.
“Haa... So why is that bastard Honggyeom even there? I specifically said not to let outsiders into the interior of any dungeon above A-Class.”
“That is... the Association didn’t have enough hunters, so they assigned him the task of clearing the remaining monsters.”
“What?”
“They negotiated to lower his wanted level by one rank in exchange for cleaning out the dungeon.”
“Negotiated? What kind of bullshit is that? They’ve got nothing better to do than strike deals with a criminal?”
“I’m sorry. The Association president personally gave the order, so I couldn’t do anything about it.”
“Th-this fucking—”
Kim Jaegyu hurled the red wanted notice at Junhyuk’s face.
Smack.
CASE NO:[Case Number]
VICTIM:[Name / Unidentified]
LOCATION:[Location]
TIME:[Date/Time]
[Report findings / observations]
Kim Honggyeom was a major figure in the A+ hunter class, the sort of man who stood at the level of a guild master or an executive combat leader.
“I’m sorry.”
“You checked the identities of the people who went into the dungeon?”
“Not yet. We’re reviewing the CCTV now, so we should find them soon.”
“Useless bastards. Forget it—run over there right now and find Kim Honggyeom. Isn’t he your academy classmate?”
“Yes.”
“Then you handle it personally. Kill him, keep him alive, whatever it takes—make sure this gets buried quietly. Take whatever force you need!”
Junhyuk gave a short nod.
“Understood.”
After the report ended, Junhyuk immediately issued a joint command to the Hunter Association and the police.
“Everyone stand by. Dispatch order incoming.”
The moment the sharp voice crackled from the radio, the special forces personnel all at once put on their gear and climbed into the large vehicles.
“A civilian entered the dungeon where the red-wanted criminal Kim Honggyeom is hiding.”
“Location: A-Class dungeon near Citizen’s Forest in Seocho-gu, Seoul.”
“Evacuate nearby civilians to shelters immediately, and have the military, police, and hunters prepare for a full-scale confrontation at once.”
As soon as Junhyuk’s second order came through, the armored vehicles of the mobile strike unit roared down the city streets to take the lead.
Rumbleeeee!