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n69. Monster

n1,025 Goblins safely settled in their new home, Valtadren. Of course, they couldn’t eat, sleep, or wash properly for three days right after they moved in since there were many places to fix first.

nThe most urgent issue was the repair of the fortress walls. How could they rebuild the collapsed walls? Ko Byeong-gap had to worry all day. However, things were solved so easily that it overshadowed all kinds of worries.

n‘I hope the walls can be overlapped.’

nIf a new wall were placed where it needed repairs, the missing parts would be automatically filled and fixed. The already existing walls could be refunded as much as the percentage of the parts that didn’t need to be materialized. It was a smart system anyway.

nAfter building the fortress walls, he devoted himself to creating a residential area. However, urban planning wasn’t something that could be done in a day or two. For now, they only had a few facilities that they needed at that time.

nThree days went by so quickly just by just doing that. On their fourth morning in Valtadren, the Goblins were divided into a guard group, working group, and kitchen group and did their job.

n“Lord, the North Gate cleaning work. It’s done.”

nA group of Goblins with watering cans approached and reported. Ko Byeong-gap muttered, “Good, good. Well done. Go to the west gate and repeat your duty.”

n“The same way? Yes, sir.”

nKo Byeong-gap went to the north gate. The soil, which used to be gray, was currently a healthy yellowish color.

nThe working group with hoes and shovels came and began to dig up the ground to make the septic tank. It was all about choosing the right land. On the other hand, Giant Goblins were rolling huge logs and flattening the ground.

n‘Alright, a few more cycles and farming won’t be a problem.’

nThe progress was smooth. He stopped by the castle wall this time, and the Beast Goblins greeted him. They were perfect for guard duty.

n“Is everything alright?”

n“Yes! Anything special. There is none!”

nA Beast Goblin replied valiantly. Ko Byeong-gap looked around the wide wilderness that stretched down in front of him.

n‘It looks so peaceful.’

nIt had already been four days since they came to Valtadren. However, they only caught three or four Grugles during that time. Even those three or four often wandered far away and disappeared.

n‘Well… Good things are good things, so let’s think positively.’

nIt was much better to be quiet than to make life-or-death decisions regarding the Grugles.

nNext, he concerned himself with the residential area. The Goblins with hammers hit the buildings that needed to be demolished, and then the little ones loaded the carts with debris and moved them to one side. It was to set up a site before placing the buildings needed.

n‘Things are going very well.’

nKo Byeong-gap hadn’t met anyone as diligent as the Goblins. It was lovely to be able to get them to perform heavy labor without a single complaint.

n“Ah, here you are!”

nEa came to him as he was looking at the work scenery happily.

n“You’re looking for me? Why? Is something wrong?”

n“No, I want you to tell the Goblins to eat. This place is so big that I can’t do it by myself.”

n“It’s already that time. Anyway, okay.”

n“Thank you. That’s a favor.”

n“Guys! Let’s eat! Stop working!”

n“Oh, yes!”

nThe Goblins quickly recognized his order and got the job done. As Ea said, Valtadren was too vast. The workers were scattered all over the place. As a result, it was quite an ordeal to gather people together to have their meal or to have a meeting.

n“Bring in all the kids who work in the other area. Don’t forget to bring the guards their meal later.”

n“Yes, sir!”

n“Let’s move quickly.”

nThe Goblins quickly went away. Ko Byeong-gap turned away, satisfied. Ea, whom he thought had left, waited for him.

n“You didn’t go with them?”

n“I have one more thing to say.”

n“One more? What is it?”

n“We’re almost out of meat. It’ll probably be completely out after breakfast tomorrow. I thought I’d tell you.”

nKo Byeong-gap let out a small sigh.

n“Oh… it’s already out.”

n“There are a lot of people. It’s not like there’s anything else to eat here like in Somnium.”

n‘We’ll have to go on subjugations soon. Well, I did take a long break.’

nAfter the expedition, he rested to focus on Ashvilam for about one week at most.

n“Don’t worry. I’ll supply it to you sometime tomorrow.”

n“Okay. Got it.”

nWork resumed after their short lunch. He called the attack squad and told them that they would resume their subjugations from tomorrow.

nthe attack squad from now on. If I call you tomorrow, you can follow them out.”

n“Oh, yes. I’ll do that.”

njoined the attack squad. Even if his combat capabilities were reduced, he had the unique power of healing, so to have someone like him would serve them well.

n“Come on! The sun has set! Let’s wrap this up!”

n“Yep!”

n“Work. End!”

nAnother busy day passed.

n***

nBeep beep!

nIt was a cheerful alarm. Ko Byeong-gap opened his eyes at home after a long time. It was still dark outside, even though it was early in the morning.

n“Here we go again with hunter’s work. Phew, I have to make money.”

nHe spent too much money recently. Even though he saved as much as he could, the money that went into Ashvilam was huge. There was still a lot left, but he would soon use it all up. Ko Byeong-gap didn’t procrastinate and prepared for the subjugation.

nAfter he took a shower and changed into his work clothes, he left home. His new car was in the parking lot.

n“Kyaaah, it went well.”

nSeeing his new car brought a smile to his face. His old car had been moved to Valtadren.

n“Oh, it’s cold.”

nThe interior was cold. Ko Byeong-gap entered his destination on the navigation system while warming up the car. He was headed to Pocheon.

n“Should I go to two cracks today? Well, let’s go for now.”

nHis car rolled its wheels gently. It was after dawn in the morning when he arrived at his destination.

nA small rural village located in Ildong-myeon, Pocheon. There was a crack under the cave bridge away from the private houses. It was a brand new 26 hour-old crack.

nKo Byeong-gap smoked a cigarette and enjoyed the afterglow for a while.

n“It’s been a while since my last subjugation. It’s probably been a full month.”

nHe felt no anxiety at all. It didn’t matter that it was a crack since he had been in battles anyway. In addition, didn’t he fight against an S-class monster Balrog in the expedition? Now, as far as courage was concerned, he had the biggest confidence in it.

n“Let’s work work work.”

nHe put the cigarette butt in a portable ashtray and threw himself into the crack. It wasn’t long before the world reversed, and the back world greeted him.

n“Whew! Sigh… It’s been a long time since I’ve had this **ing air.”

nThe damp and heavy air was unique to the back world. Well, it wasn’t that bad. A caterpillar could still live in a pine tree.

n“Growl…”

nThe monsters appeared as they radiated life all over the place. It was a D-class Horned Gabri, and they were weak monsters for beginners.

n“It just so happens that they come out with a lot of meat. Let me warm up before I call the kids.”

nPlump, plop.

nHe warmed up lightly and pulled out his sword.

n“Hing!”

n“Growl!”

nA Horned Gabri attacked with its four-pronged jaws wide open. Ko Byeong-gap stood in a relaxed manner and moved like a bolt of lightning.

nChuck! Chuck! Chuck! Chuck!

n“Growl!”

nHis sharp sword quickly stretched out. The sharpness alone cut the Horned Gabri even though it didn’t possess his strength. It moved with a fighting spirit until it died, but all that was left was its own body.

n“Hing-chak!”

n“Is it sorted out?”

nSince the achievement rate of his intermediate textbook reached the max, it was easy to kill 30 Horned Gabris. Ko Byeong-gap put his sword into the ground and opened the door to Ashvilam with a cigarette in his mouth.

n“Guys, come out.”

nWhen he spoke, the attack squad and workers that had been waiting jumped out. The Goblins looked at the fallen corpses of the Horned Gabris and looked shocked.

n“Lord, did you deal with these alone? Why didn’t you call us?”

n“Don’t mind it. I was just trying to relax and stretch my body. Come on, what are you guys doing? Hurry up and move the meat.”

n“Yes!”

n“Let’s move!”

nThe Hob Goblins and the little ones joined forces to move the bodies of the monsters. Their work was done in a minute.

n“Varmond.”

n“Oh, yes, Lord.”

n“You should hide well behind Kiriyan and Dorma. As a healer, you must never get hurt.”

n“Ah, I see.”

n“Turka, Orca.”

n“Yes, Lord!”

n“Please speak!”

nThe two Giant Goblins, carrying huge shields, answered in unison.

n“It’s nothing, just be cautious. It’s been a while since we went on a subjugation here on Earth. If you lose focus, we might get hurt.”

n“We’ll keep that in mind!”

n“Changsik and Taesik, stay close to me.”

n“Yep!”

n“Okay.”

nThe meat had been transported. Ko Byeong-gap threw away his cigarette and grabbed his sword.

n“Let’s get this over with and go back.”

nThe subjugation took place.

n***

nIt was only half a year ago that he struggled with an E-rank crack, but now, a B-rank wasn’t that hard anymore. The monster that followed the Horned Gabri was the Goat. It was listed as a C-class and was 1.5 times larger than the Horned Gabri.

nThey were heavy, but the flames wrapped around their bodies like armor were difficult to deal with. They even breathed fire out of their mouths. However, it could only come up for about 50 to 60 centimeters.

n“Everyone, reinforce yourselves with strength.”

n“Yes!”

nOf course, the flames wouldn’t work against the top awakeners who protected themselves with Karma. The Goblins, including Ko Byeong-gap, could withstand such a flame if they had strength.

n“Charge!”

n“Kerreruk!”

nLike a shepherd, he drove his herd into one place while Kiriyan and Dorma attacked from a distance. It was a tricky enemy, but it was easy to hunt strategically.

nThe crack subjugation was almost over, and soon, the boss monster would appear. Ko Byeong-gap smoked and looked at the dead Goats in his spare time. All the flames that they boasted were gone and left only a chunk of meat.

n“It’s a theme park with simple monsters. So, will the boss that comes out be a Centauro?”

nWhile making a pointless joke, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

n‘By the way, what are these things?’

nAttempts to uncover the origin and the identity of the monsters had already been carried out countless times. There were also numerous attempts to communicate with them, but they often failed.

nWhat was the cause of the failure even though it was discovered 15 years ago that some monsters had intelligence comparable to humans? That was because of the endless aggression of the monsters.

nEvery time they saw a human being, they rushed to kill them. What kind of conversation would come from that? However, if they pulled them out of the cracks to experiment on them, they often died easily.

nAs such, the study of monsters suffered a major setback. Still, the situation had turned 180 degrees since the last Monster Wave incident.

n‘Now that the monsters don’t die outside the cracks, it’s easier to conduct tests.’

nIn fact, it was on the news a while ago that the captured monsters had been transferred to a specialized research institute. Well, apart from all that, there was a question that only Ko Byeong-gap could have.

nHe was the Goblin Lord, so he could communicate with the Goblins. Through various incidents, he even discovered that the Goblins descended from a race that had prospered in the past.

n‘Yeah, let’s say the Goblins are like that.’

nHe gradually picked up clues about his questions regarding the Goblins.

n‘And what about the other monsters? Are these things that live in the cracks anything like Goblins?’

nDid they have their own Lord and their own hometowns like Ashvilam? He felt a little sad when he thought about it.

n“That’s ridiculous. Is it time for me to worry about monsters?”

n“What did you just say?”

nKiriyan asked in surprise. Ko Byeong-gap waved his hands.

n“No, I’m just talking to myself. Come on, let’s go get the captain.”

n“Lord wants to move!”

n“Let’s move.”

nHe didn’t know what happened to the other monsters, but they were someone else’s business. In the first place, the hunters took care of the monsters, so what could he do?

nAfter some time, Ko Byeong-gap and his group were able to face the boss monster. Of course, it was a Harpy that showed up, contrary to his expectation that a Centauro would appear.

nA naked woman with sharp claws as her nails. Her arms had wings that resembled birds, and her face was mixed at a ratio of 5:5 between a bird and a human.

nIt was a strong creature recorded as a B-class monster, but there was one more peculiarity to it.

n“That… Don’t tell me…”

nKo Byeong-gap frowned as if he had seen something he couldn’t unsee. The Harpy’s stomach bulged as if a baby was inside of it.

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