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Chapter 3: Goblin(2)

Demon King

"What… what…"

I recalled what had happened previously and chewed my fingers. Did I really eat an entire goblin? It was outrageous. But my swollen stomach confirmed it.

It didn't hurt. Rather than being sick, my throbbing body was wonderful. It proved the explanation of the predatory skill of restoring physical strength. However, I thought I'd absorb some of the victim's power, but it did not seem to have strengthened me. Why is that? Is the goblin too weak?

At that moment.

[Goblin Predation 1/1]

[Achieve Quest!]

[You got 100 experience]

[You got 10 bronze.]

[You got 1 lowest health potion.]

[Level up!]

Lastly, the moment the glass window appeared, my body was refreshed enough to be incomparable to the recovery of stamina through predation.

Why? That was obvious because I leveled up!

Has my level risen? I wasn't sure about the experience, but my level was something I could raise!

If the predation was a wash, then the level up was a bath. If predation was plain coffee, then leveling up was a venti Starbucks. The feeling at the moment of leveling up was euphoric and addictive.

"Ahhh…"

There was no change in appearance, but I was able to see that I was stronger because of the level up. The Status proved it.

[Gang Si-ha (Fate)]

[Goblin Lv 2]

[Strength – 8 Health – 10 Magic – 5 Luck-???]

[Skill-Ebon Heart, Predation Lv1, Escape Lv1]

Muscle strength increased by 1, and physical strength increased by 1. It was a subtle change, but the difference was extremely significant for me. It was hard to describe the feeling of stats rising in an instant unless you experience it yourself.

Killing a goblin earns experience, and even completing quests earns experience. If you gain a lot of experience, then your level goes up, and you get stronger when you level up.

And the stronger you are, the more likely you are to survive.

"More."

I need to be stronger. I will definitely be stronger in the future.

I must save… No, I have to live. And to live, I must be stronger.

As if someone had read my mind, what I needed now appeared before my eyes.

[Quest generated]

[You have done a successful predation. But it is not enough. You have to eat more goblins and develop your abilities. Prove the minimum qualification to live in a dungeon.]

[Goblin Hunting 0/20]

[Goblin Predation 0/20]

At one time, the figure doubled, but I was not dissatisfied with it. Experience can be earned by catching ten goblins, and I finished the quest once. This quest will not be different.

My life that should have ended has been revived in this dungeon. My body was turned upside down, but I have what I need to survive. Someone who I still don't know is giving me a quest.

There are many unknowns, but it does not matter now. The only thing that matters is to survive and, if possible, to be strong.

I woke up in the seat. Holding a stone that was easier to lift than before, I walked the passage carefully, but with glowing eyes.

I found a goblin hanging around the pathway and looked carefully around first. The goblin was wandering stupidly; there seemed to be no other way beyond the aisle. I have to do it now.

I don't know when he will look back. I approached him quickly and carefully.

But damn! The moment I almost reached him, I stepped on the stone on the floor!

"Ki !?"

The goblin was frightened and turned. At that moment, I hit his face strongly back and forth with the stones I was holding.

"Ki-yi-yi!"

The goblin screamed, and unconsciously raised his fist. It hit my face precisely.

I was so sick that I wanted to scream, but have you experienced it before? The moment the arm contracts, the blow desists!

I endured the pain, and ran towards him.

"Kii!"

"Stop!"

He fell on the floor and hit his head sharply. I clenched my fist and knocked him down. He was desperate, but I was also desperate.

Then, for a moment, he raised his hand and traced the floor. He was grabbing a stone as I did. Where is it?! I knocked down his arm and picked up another rock nearby and hit it on his forehead.

"Kee-i-yi!"

If you can't finish him, you die! Only that thought filled my mind. Again, my heart was racing. Naturally, my hands became faster. I continued to hit down the stone.

"Key, key, key…!"

The goblin gradually discontinued fighting back at a certain point and eventually stopped.

[Goblin Hunt 1/20]

[You gained 10 experience]

[You got 1 bronze.]

"Pant… pant…"

I shook my breath and put the stone down. I monitored the sound I made while fighting and monitored for other monsters.

The dungeon was quiet. There were no other monsters. It was a massive dungeon, so he got away with the battle without attracting more monsters.

"Okay then…"

I had to drag the goblin and move it, but presently it's in the middle of an open passage. It is a space where you can guard your surroundings.

I looked down at the goblin's body. I didn't feel nauseated like the first time. Instead, it seemed to be a nutrient that would heal me.

"I will enjoy this food."

In this way, I started a new life as a goblin.

How long has it been since I opened my eyes with a goblin's body? I don't know. After receiving the quest, I killed and ate 16 goblins.

I leveled up to 5.

[Gang Si-ha (Fate)]

[Goblin Lv 5]

[Strength – 11 Stamina – 14 Magic – 5 Luck-???]

[Skill-Ebon Heart, Predation Lv1, Escape Lv1]

Whenever I leveled up, my strength and stamina increased by 1. When I ate ten goblins, I gained one stamina.

I did not sleep. I wondered why I wasn't sleepy. I couldn't find the next target even though it was quite a while since I ate a goblin, I felt tired from then on and realized it.

So far, I recovered my health by predating and leveling up. Fatigue disappeared by restoring physical strength.

Sleep is fatal. No matter how vast the dungeon is, if you are unlucky, you will face an enemy. It wasn't once or twice that I felt frustrated and fled. Predation has become an essential skill in order not to sleep.

'I want you to come out with one.'

It was a little easier to deal with goblins from the moment l reached level 4. It hurt less when I was hit, and I did more damage when I hit.

I was becoming more deadly.

But it made me more nervous at the same time. Some goblins had a higher level, and I might encounter a goblin stronger than me.

I had to hunt all goblins carefully unless I knew the level of the goblins in advance.

As I quietly stepped into the new aisle, I found prey. I picked up a stone with a very familiar form and approached it carefully.

Goblins are dull. Their hearing is excellent, but the other senses were lacking. They lack the so-called sixth sense.

But before I could approach him, he looked back at me.

My heart seemed to stop. A knife was in his hand. It was coarse and rusted, but it was a knife anyway.

"Kyap."

He laughed. I come to see now that his upper body was slightly more developed, unlike other goblins. I could tell that he was stronger than me. Much stronger.

Immediately after realizing it, I threw the stone I was holding on to him and started running.

"Kyap, Kirp!"

He was chasing behind me with an eerie sound. I ran desperately, and I escaped. Deep inside my body, I was feeling something that was fluttering like a tiny fountain, maybe my mana was being consumed little by little.

My magic was garbage and escape skills do not last long.

That's what I thought at first, but I wasn't worried. After I ran out, this time, I began to lose my health. There were quite a few times that I recovered my health from predation so that I could have the feeling of stamina.

It's good to be able to keep running. But what if that runs out? At that time, I could only wait for death. It's horrifying.

I couldn't help worrying, and I suddenly looked back. Fortunately, the distance between the goblin with a knife and me was gradually getting farther.

So that's how it works, even if I have the escape skill, I can only use it when I escape a battle.

If I keep going this far, wouldn't it be possible to get out of the way if I find another passage twice in this complicated dungeon? Then I can live! A little hope began to appear.

But he had one more method that I never thought of.

"Kiyak!"

It's very annoying. Then at that moment, he nodded as if he was determined.

Then he threw the knife at me. It was clumsy, but the blade was aiming at me accurately.

"Okay!"

It could not be avoided. It was a miracle if I, who was only desperate to run away, avoided the knife thrown by an enemy with higher physical abilities than me.

A knife stuck in my thigh. It wasn't deep, but I couldn't afford to stop and pull out the knife now, and it was so painful to run.

It seemed like a flame was coming out of my thigh. I sensed that I was going to fall.

But what happens next if I fall? I'd die. That guy will kill me without irresolution, like how I killed all the other goblins. It was a goblin's nature.

If I fall, I will die. Have I survived hell, only to die again in a more pathetic way than when I was a human?

I hate this. I cannot die. I must survive. I want to live. I want to live!

At that time, the Ebon Heart jumped vigorously.

Chapter 4: Goblin (3)

Demon King

My body and mind were already at its limit, but I kept running.

I was running, ignoring my leg that was stabbed with a knife.

Pain couldn't slow my steps anymore.

"Kick!? kkiiig!"

The goblin who threw the knife screamed after me.

I didn't know if I could keep running.

I cannot be caught. I could never be caught. If I got caught, I would be dead.

I sprinted with all my energy. I screamed and broke the passage and entered into a new one, but there was already another goblin there.

"Damn!"

He was a weak goblin without a blade. I wish I hadn't been chased. I was confident that I could kill him even in a frontal attack, but I didn't have the opportunity. Even now, it seemed like I could hear the breath of the guy chasing me from behind.

I ran past him before he even acknowledged me.

"Kii! I made it!"

But when I broke the passage again, I couldn't run anymore and collapsed into that position. The shock caused the knife to come out of my leg and hit the floor, making a hissing sound. My blood spilled.

It drained my stamina even more.

"Huh…"

It was so painful. I knew I had to run away, but my body couldn't move.

I couldn't even take a single step with my skill or will anymore. Both my mana and physical strength hit rock bottom, and blood was still flowing from my legs.

Is this the end? Was all of this in vain? Increasingly, my body was losing strength. My fingertips turned cold little by little. It was a pathetic death. All I can do was laugh because it was inevitable.

[You got a rusty knife.]

At that moment, the knife that fell off my thigh and rolled to the floor disappeared. I opened my eyes.

'What did you just say? You said I got it? '

I definitely heard that. It didn't disappear or go back to the original owner like in a game; it said I got it.

Why did it disappear? Why?

The moment I asked that a window appeared in front of my eyes.

It was a glass window with alternating vertical and horizontal lines. Like a checkerboard, it had three vertical and three horizontal columns.

It was salvation to me.

There was money, a coarse rusty knife, and at the bottom, a health potion.

I then recalled that when I first killed a goblin, I saw that it gave me experience and one bronze, but I had ignored it then.

Even before completing the quest, I had already acquired the lowest health potion, but I didn't even notice. It was a foolish mistake. I was so excited about the fact that my level went up, that I forgot about it.

Like in a game, I had an inventory. Everything I ever got was stored inside it. I didn't even know it was there.

While contemplating, my body instinctively reached into the window that appeared in the air. My hand succeeded in picking the potion bottle out of the window and pulled it out.

I took off the stopper and drank it. It was sweet.

The change took place the moment I consumed the potion. My slowing heartbeat gradually accelerated, and warm blood spread to my whole body and healed it.

The most surprising thing was the thigh wound. The wound was healing noticeably at a rapid pace, and it was only the lowest potion!

Soon I realized that I was weak enough to recover from the lowest potion. One low-end health potion made my body stronger than it was before.

Even if I escaped like this, the goblin would still follow me because I had his knife. I was sure he would.

Now that I'm fully recovered, can I outrun him by running again? I was still not sure.

I heard a loud noise from beyond the passage. A goblin was chasing me; he was already in the passage. The confrontation was inevitable.

I could understand his thought process. I've been fatally wounded for some time, so he assumed that I was surely passed out by now and if so, he was sure that he could easily get rid of me.

Little did he know that I had consumed a potion, and I am now completely recovered. I even have a weapon. Two weapons.

It is worth trying.

He lost his knife, and he exhausted himself running after me. He even fought another goblin just now. Fighting consumes more resources than you think, surely his condition was degraded.

I was able to beat more than ten goblins one after another because I was able to regain health by consuming them at the end of each fight. My circumstances were unique; he didn't have the predation skill. It was clear that not all goblins had this skill.

I stood up with a rusty knife in one hand and an empty potion bottle in the other. The potion bottle was glass. It will be a potent weapon for lowly goblins.

There was a scream. Their battle must be over. I wanted the other goblin for myself if it was possible, but it was already too late.

I slowly started walking towards the entrance of the passage. On the other side, there was the sound of someone running. Of course, it was probably the goblin that was holding the knife.

Discreetly, I walked at a slow pace close to the ground, feigning a critical condition. The goblin would have discovered my recovered disposition if I walked quickly, as well, I could have given away my position if I didn't stay close to the ground.

I lowered my posture and held the glass bottle tightly; I continued to move forward as if dragging my body. The goblin's harsh breath came from right outside the passage, and then he immediately jumped into the opening.

"Key! Kiyap?"

I threw the vial violently at the face of the confused goblin as soon as he entered.

"Pak!"

The bottle shattered on contact, and glass fragments stuck into his eyes.

"Kick, Ki-yi Kii-ing!"

He screamed and stretched his hands forward.

Now is my chance!

I struck the knife straight at him. It stuck deep into his abdomen. My hand hurt as if it was being torn, but it was nothing compared to the pain he felt.

"Oh ah ah!"

I shanked him again with the knife. The blade was stuck inside him, leaving only the hilt visible.

"Kiyi ki!"

He vomited and drew back.

Both of his eyes were still bloody. It still wasn't safe to approach him as he was still waving his muscular arms in the air. If I hit him directly, I was sure I would still receive considerable damage.

So, instead of getting up close and hitting him, I chose a different method. There were stones everywhere. I picked some up and threw it at him. It may be wimpy, but I was desperate to win.

"Stop! Stop it!"

"Kiyi ki!"

My desperate attempt was more effective than I presumed as I was at a closer range. He was hit by the stones and began to rattle more and more.

As I approached him, I braced myself more carefully. As long as the knife was stuck in his abdomen, he was sure to fall. That was unless he had a way to restore his health automatically.

"Kee-i-i-i-i!"

I was anxious, but no such thing happened.

The more he was hit, the less power he had in his fists. The moment I hit his head, he fell on the spot, and a window stating that he was dead came to my eyes soon after.

[You have received 100 experience]

[You have received 10 bronze.]

[Level up!]

[You have acquired the beginner swordsmanship skill.]

[You have acquired the beginner throwing skill.]

At that moment, I felt joy as if I was born again.

Level up! It was a blessing to help me survive this dungeon!

Moreover, the two phrases made me even happier—a skill. I have acquired two new skills!

[Beginner Swordsmanship Lv 1]

[The ability to wield the sword. If you handle a lot of swords, your skill will grow, and the higher the skill level, the more your swordsmanship will be corrected.]

[Beginner Throw Lv 1]

[The ability to throw stones or to pick them up. The skill grows as you throw more, and corrections are applied to throws as the skill level increases.]

I can't believe it! It's a dream come true to learn a combat skill and became dramatically stronger. After all, the ebon heart and predation were special skills.

I swore inside as I approached his body. I pulled the knife out, wiped my blood-stained blade over his corpse, and then called the inventory and put it in.

I was the winner. I succeeded in defeating an enemy that was clearly stronger than me. I looked around and checked the safety of my surroundings, then laughed a little and mumbled.

"I will enjoy this food."

I wondered what the difference would be, unlike the previous goblins, this goblin was tough. It wasn't that there was no taste. It was just a little harder to eat.

However, after I ate, the reward was clear.

[Strength has risen by 1.]

As a result, I gained one strength and one stamina through predation.

[Gang Si-ha (Fate)]

[Goblin Lv 6]

[Strength – 13 Health – 15 Magic – 5 Luck-???]

[Skill-Ebon Heart, Predation Lv1, Escape Lv1, Beginner Swordsmanship Lv1, Beginner Throw Lv1]

I was still unsightly, but compared to the first time I opened my eyes, it was a significant development. I smiled. Being stronger means you are more likely to survive.

Now I just had to kill three more goblins. Just a little bit more…

"Huh?"

Why didn't the glass window come up when I ate the goblin?

I summoned the quest in my mind. Only sixteen were checked.

I came up with the fact that this goblin was a little different from an ordinary goblin, other things were similar, but his upper body was more developed than the goblin.

It looks very slightly different from an ordinary goblin.

The quest content did not update.

In other words, he wasn't a goblin, or rather, he wasn't just a goblin, but a goblin upgrade.

'Maybe goblins carrying knives like this one are upgraded versions of regular goblins.'

They give you a lot of experience and drop a knife, but I have to run away as soon as I spot one.

I didn't have a potion anymore. Moreover, even if I killed one, it wouldn't add to my quest. I have to be at least level 20 to deal with one safely, not just level 10.

I woke up. I was going to hunt and eat more goblins.

But at that time, my heart was racing.

"Thud. Kuung."

As if to warn me, the heart of the ebon was beating. My whole body was stiff. A little while later, I felt something from beyond the passage.

It was stronger than the goblin upgrade I just barely defeated.