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n23. Raise and build! (4)

n“Come on, let’s move fast.”

n“Yes!”

nDozens of Gabris were scattered on the floor. The Goblins moved diligently and carried the bodies of the Gabris.

n‘We won’t have to worry about food for three or four days.’

nWhen he had time to spare, Ko Byeong-gap bit a cigarette in his mouth. As soon as he took a lighter out of his pocket and stuck it on, Turka said, “Lord. More. They’re coming.”

nIn the distance, 20 or 30 Gabris were visible. Under the circumstances, there had to be a boss monster there.

n“Humph! Why did you come to me while I’m smoking?”

n“Lord, we’ll take care of it.”

n“Alright, I’ll take care of the boss monster. Kiriyan, Turka. You guys need to protect the kids here. So that they don’t get in the way of my work.”

n“Okay, sir.”

nKo Byeong-gap frowned and drew his sword. After he blew out smoke two or three more times, he suddenly jumped out. The world became a line and passed by his peripheral vision.

nIn the fast-paced world, he looked at the movements of his enemies. A man that was 1.5 times larger than any other Gabri was in the center of the pack. That was the boss monster of that Back World, a Horned Gabri.

n“Hiiiaa!”

nA Gabri that was in the lead jumped up and hit his head.

n‘One shot at a time!’

nKo Byeong-gap recited an engraved phrase in his head and rushed forward. The raised sword passed through the Gabri’s belly, then its intestines and blood flowed like a waterfall.

n“Kahak!”

n‘One.’

n“Hiiiaa!”

nFour jaws rushed from the left. He swung his sword before its teeth touched. The Gabri’s head was cut off.

n‘Two.’

nHis eyes moved up and down quickly. His head gave orders even faster than that.

n‘Stab, spin, cut, roll one round, and then cut diagonally!’

nKo Byeong-gap carried out the order steadily. His body moved with minimal motions. The Gabris, who were hit by the blade of the sword, fell drenched in blood.

n“Hey, hey!”

n“Humph!”

nThe Horned Gabri stepped up. The monster smashed Ko Byeong-gap with its head, armed with a bone helmet.

nKo Byeong-gap quickly defended himself, but his body was pushed back a little. The strength of a semi-medium D-class monster wasn’t negligible.

n“Wait a minute!”

nIt wasn’t time to deal with the boss monster yet. Ko Byeong-gap quickly swung his sword and laid a deep cut in the Horned Gabri’s ankle.

nThe Horned Gabri fell out of balance. Attached with it was its life.

n‘Eleven, twelve, thirteen!’

nHe moved his body without a break. Neck, head, body, neck, then back leg. The targets he aimed for were cut off without exception.

n“Heeee-eee-eee!”

n“Argh!”

nWhen he landed his 21st attack, he gave an opening at his back. A Gabri hit him with its hind legs.

nKo Byeong-gap almost flew away as if he was hit by a car. After he rolled a few laps, he hurriedly stood up, but he couldn’t help but crumple his face.

n“Darn it. I feel like I’ve been hit by a cannon.’

nHis back ached. At least, he was able to endure it because his body became stronger. If it were before, that would’ve been a bloodbath.

n“A few to go! Take care of it!”

n“Yep! Don’t worry!”

nA few Gabri ran toward the Goblins. Turka and Kiriyan joined the combat when Ko Byeong-gap signaled.

nThere were a total of seven Gabris left there. Ko Byeong-gap rose to his feet with the sword on the floor, and his fierce eyes stared at the enemy.

n“Heee-eee-eee-eee-eee-eee!”

nThe Gabris were awful. Even if their ally died, they weren’t swayed, nor did it exhaust their fighting spirit. However, Ko Byeong-gap wasn’t terrified of them.

n“Ahhhh!”

nThe heads of the two Gabris were blown away by a large joint slash. Without stopping, he stabbed, raised, and lowered his sword. The series of processes was as smooth as flowing water.

nThree forward.

nTwo forward.

nOne forward!

n“Kahak!”

nHe caught the attacking jaw with his arm and stabbed its throat. Blood dripped from the Gabri’s mouth and stained Ko Byeong-gap. He shook his arm nervously to shake off the massive chunk of meat.

nOn the other hand, Turka and Kiriyan also neatly disposed of the monsters. Currently, the only thing that was breathing was the Horned Gabri, whose ankle was cut off and was lying face down.

n“Whoa… It’s not easy.”

nKo Byeong-gap slumped over the scattered corpses of the Gabris. He sighed and relaxed his aching wrists.

n‘It can’t be like this. Struggling with only 30 E-class monsters…’

nIt reminded him of the four S-class hunters whom he was with a few days ago. Humans who slaughtered 56 high-ranked monsters like ants.

nWhen he recalled their overwhelming force, it awakened his mind. He might be slow, but he shouldn’t stop developing himself.

nAncient Swordsmanship Textbook – Low-grade Achievement: 18.71%

nAncient Physical Training Textbook – Low-grade Achievement Rate: 32.25%

nAncient Ki-breathing Textbook – Low-grade Achievement Rate: 9.2%

n‘There’s still a long way to go. I have to cut down more enemies and get more hits.’

n“Lord, sir! The work is finished.”

n“Oh, yeah.”

nAs soon as he heard Kiriyan, he stopped the Horned Gabri’s breathing. Soon, the collapse of the world began.

n“Come on, let’s move them and go back!”

n* * *

nThe population in Ashvilam became 190.

n150 Normal Goblins.

n38 Hob Goblins.

nOne Giant Goblin.

nOne Albino Goblin.

nThe rocky mountain was as crowded as ever.

nThe Goblins weren’t shy, nor were they territorial. Even the newly-introduced goblins were warmly welcomed as if they were part of their original family.

nAffinity and adaptability. It might be a characteristic of the Goblin race. Whatever it was, it was rare in human society.

n‘I wish there were more Hob Goblins.’

nKo Byeong-gap thought as he headed to the river with his toiletries. The Normal Goblins were good at what they did, but the Hob Goblins were more efficient. First of all, wasn’t there a difference in their size?

nWell, in terms of strength, the Giant Goblin was the best.

n‘150 Giant Goblins would be too much to handle.’

nHe arrived at the riverside after thinking nonsense. He threw off his clothes and soaked himself in the river.

n“Oh, ick!”

nThe water was very clean. To put it bluntly, it was first-class among first-class.

nHe was covered in Gabri blood during the day, so the smell of blood oozed out of his body. He soaped almost to an obsessive-compulsive level.

n“… I’m just worried about it.”

nKo Byeong-gap suddenly looked to the side. It was in the direction of the fog zone.

nIt was late at night at that time, and he couldn’t see well. Still, he felt like someone was watching him.

nIt was like that when he came alone to the river on ‘that day.’

nUnable to resist, he turned on the lantern he brought and shone it toward the fog but couldn’t see the silhouette he had seen before.

n‘Damn, what the hell is that?’

nOn the day they first set up tents in Ashvilam, Ko Byeong-gap saw it clearly. ‘Something’ was spying on that side through the fog. The problem was that there was no way to know what it was.

nIt looked like a perfect person. Was it a Goblin, or was it something else?

n“This is hurting my head.”

nIf there was really something beyond the fog, then that was a problem because he didn’t know if “the bastards” beyond the fog were favorable or hostile.

nIt would be nice if they were favorable, but they needed to be ready for war if they were hostile.

nWhenever he had a question, he missed the Goblin Shaman, Oddick. Ko Byeong-gap needed the Goblin Shaman’s knowledge. Even if he regretted killing it with his own hands, it was a bus that had already gone…

n“Phew, I don’t know. I still have a long way to go before I buy the explorer’s flag or whatever.”

nAfter he removed his thoughts, he took a bath, and after that, Ko Byeong-gap returned to his private tent. He laid down on the bed made of two sofas joined together. Even the cheap blankets he bought at the local duvet store were pretty good.

n“Tomorrow, let’s go to a C-rank crack.”

nThat was how his third night in Ashvilam went.

nThe next day dawned. As soon as he opened his eyes, Ko Byeong-gap visited the farmland. It was yesterday that he planted potatoes and sweet potatoes with the Goblins.

nOf course, it hadn’t sprouted yet.

n“Please grow up. That way, we can make potato meals and sweet potato soup.” Ko Byeong-gap hummed and watered.

nAfter that, he visited the cave. In the remarkably widened cave, the Goblins were diligently using their pickaxes.

n“Oh, my Lord. Are you here?”

nGobung, who was mining at the entrance, noticed Ko Byeong-gap’s existence. At any rate, he was a guy with great senses.

n“No, no, don’t come out. Don’t mind me, and keep doing what you’re doing.”

n“Ah! I see!”

n“So, is there anything special about your work?”

n“Yes! Problem. There is not.”

n“Yes, don’t overdo it and take it easy. Sometimes, come out and get some fresh air.”

n“Yep!”

n“Good luck.”

nHe returned to his private tent.

nOn the way, he saw a group of Goblins. They were grooming the bodies of the Gabris, which were brought in yesterday.

nKo Byeong-gap looked at the stacked Gabri leather and thought, ‘I’m gonna practice alchemy after work today.’

nUp! Up! Up! Up! Up!

nThe sound of axing was in full swing near the campsite. That was because of the construction going down on the road between the campsite and the river. Turka cut down trees with an axe on both hands, while Ko Byeong-gap looked at him with delight.

nCurrently, Ashvilam was like a well-weaved cog.

n‘Shall I get ready?’

nHe couldn’t just make the Goblins suffer. Ko Byeong-gap hastily prepared his daily routine. On that day, as planned the day prior, he was going to go to a C-rank crack.

nHe came out of Ashvilam. The car parked at the foot of the mountain was the same as yesterday. That was the national highway from Cheongju to Daejeon.

n“Now, where else do crappy cracks come from?”

nHe seriously circled the crack map. There were a few cracks nearby. Unfortunately, they hadn’t been attacked for more than 11 or 12 days. It was best not to touch a beehive.

nKo Byeong-gap searched again mainly for newly created cracks.

n“Oh, this is good.”

nHe soon found what he needed. It was a C-rank crack that occurred three days ago.

nThe point of occurrence was a village called Shimok-ri. It was located on the road leading to Daejeon.

nKo Byeong-gap hurriedly drove his car. It was only 15 minutes away, so he was able to reach his destination in no time.

nLike in other rural villages, Shimok-ri was dominated by large paddy fields. The crack occurred in a secluded vineyard away from private houses. He pulled over near the field and inspected his equipment. Suddenly, a middle-aged woman in her 50s wearing a straw hat approached from afar.

n“Hey, bachelor! Oh my, a bachelor! What are you doing? Huh, you’re a hunter, right?”

nThe middle-aged woman didn’t have a good complexion. Her face was dotted with anger and sadness.

n“Oh, yes. That’s right. Why?”

n“Oh, my God, bachelor. Please tell me you’re going to clear it. I’m really upset that I’m going to die!”

nThe middle-aged woman was almost about to cry.

n“It’s harvest season coming soon, but all the trees are sick because of that **. Seriously, this year’s farming was ruined because of that!”

n“Oh, yes. By the way, ma’am, you’d better not come near here. When exposed to the force field of cracks…”

n“No, no! It’s frustrating! That damned thing sitting on my field, it’s going to burn a thousand dollars! I can’t just sit still at home!”

n“… But you’d better not come here.”

n“Oh, my God, bachelor. Please do something to save a person’s ass. Oh, hold on a second!”

nThe middle-aged woman rushed along and returned shortly after, and she held something in her hand. It was bread, drinks, things like that.

n“This is the juice from our field grapes. Please eat this and do something for me. Here’s some bread.”

nShe stuck out a lot of food. She must’ve saved it as a snack while working in the field. Ko Byeong-gap took it in a flash, and his heart became heavy.

n‘Sigh…’

nHe wasn’t there to quell. He was just there to look around to see if there were Goblins in the crack. However, that lady was expecting a lot from Ko Byeong-gap. How upset would she be if he just went away?

nOf course, there was no obligation to relieve the anxiety of that middle-aged woman. So, of course, he didn’t have to feel guilty, but relationships between people didn’t always work with logic and reason.

n“Please, please, please!”

n“… Just go back to your home for now. It’s dangerous to stay here.” He said so and approached the crack.

nA crack in the middle of a vineyard. The trees had already withered, and the unripe grape berries were also in a shrunken state.

nKo Byeong-gap seemed to understand the feelings of the middle-aged woman.

n“Whoa… **.”

nHe stood in front of the crack and burned a cigarette, and then he turned around and saw that the middle-aged woman was still standing at a distance.

n‘Why is that lady still standing there?’

nThe back of his head hurt because of it.

n‘C-rank crack… Is it possible that there are Goblins?’

nKo Byeong-gap ran the simulation in his head. Perhaps it would be possible. However, chances were high that they could suffer heavy losses, and maybe a dozen Goblins would die.

nAlthough he wasn’t cold-blooded, but he wasn’t a hero armed with a sense of justice.

nHe made up his mind and twisted his second cigarette.

n‘Alright, never mind. I’m sorry for the lady, but… I can’t help it, can I? She’s not going to feed me.’

nKo Byeong-gap threw himself into the crack and left his discomfort behind. The world turned bright and then dark again. The dark and heavy side of the world welcomed him.

nWhen Ko Byeong-gap was in a state of tight tension, he looked around the world. His eyes moved quickly up and down, left and right. and a second later…

nHe felt a mixture of emotions.

n“Ha… Haha…”

nKo Byeong-gap sat down and barely opened his mouth.

n“Thank you so much guys. Thank you so much.”

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