7-8

Chapter 7: Goblin Warrior (1)

Demon King

It seemed like the thunder was jumping in front of my eyes.

"Kuk!"

Scarlet red blood embroidered the air. As soon as I had the thought of fireworks, immense pain came over me. It felt as if my stomach and chest were suddenly opened. It hurt badly.

It was painful. A pain I could convince myself similar to that of death.

Like a paper doll, I fell easily. Having done me, it laughed and left the tunnel looking pleased. Its' footsteps sounded like someone who had a purpose.

That's when I realized. There was a reason as to why it was even here, in the middle of the Goblin Fighter's domain.

It sensed the humans that were outside and came to predate on them. Then, it happened to run into my unlucky ass. It was just coincidence that it put me on the brink of death.

I lied there for a bit longer. I was there thinking whether or not it would come back for me or if another high ranking monster would pop out to kill me. However, neither of those scenarios happened.

I stoop up. I was in so much pain, but at the least, I could move.

Truthfully, the wound wasn't that deep.

"Phew, phew…. Still it hurts. Damn."

I was aware that it was going to attack me. As soon as he started attacking, I pulled my body back. I could tell he was planning on ripping out my innards, and his knife easily passed through my stomach.

In all cases, this was a gamble. It could've easily slashed me more, or even realized his blade only slightly entered my body. However, my acting close to death seemed to have been sufficiently convincing.

In addition, the Ebon heart. My blood flowed quickly and in high amounts, despite the fact that I was only slightly wounded. It did take a lot from my health but proved very useful in convincing it that I was dead.

Anyways, I was alive.

'I really thought I was going to die.'

I was feeling intense emotions of fear and despair when we both laid eyes on each other. To add another emotion, I would say rage.

Despite the amount of time I've been here, just how much more of this fear of death did I have to face! The feeling is practically a part of me.

However, this dungeon is not a place where I could escape danger. It is true that there is a certain caliber of monsters here, but a higher rank could be here, as I just now experienced.

'I have to become greater. Faster."

The blood stopped. I had a feeling that the Ebon heart had something to do with my recovery rate. I tried my hardest to move while feeling the gross pain that passed through my stomach and chest.

At this moment, there was a light coupled with a dark figure of a Goblin Fighter in the middle of the entrance I had walked in.

This situation was all too familiar. The situation where monsters appear out of thin air. This was nothing to be shocked of, as the dungeons were the Goblin Fighter's domain. Plain and simple.

To add, monsters that are just born tend to be quite dumb. Even if I were to open my eyes and be in the body of a monster, I would be just as defenseless.

Anyways, because of this fact, they were excellent prey. That being my prey.

"Guuk! Gluuurrk," the Goblin Fighter wailed. He happened to be close to me and my steel sword punctured his chest with no resistance. I wasn't so sure of the upper-level monsters, but I knew that Goblin Fighters only possessed rusty swords. There was no way it could block a steel sword.

"See you later."

I forcefully extracted my sword from its chest and kicked this Goblin Fighter down. It had definitely lost its life from the blow.

[You've earned 100 EXP.]

[You've earned 10 Bronze.]

[Level Up!]

At that moment, the scar once there from my stomach to chest disappeared without a trace.

This was a miracle. With my health fully recharged, I felt like I could face anyone that would come my way. The status window from my peripheral fully supported and exaggerated my elated emotions.

[Kang Si-Ha (shoppingmode Fate)]

[Goblin Fighter Lv 11]

[Stamina – 30 Health – 31 Magic – 5 shoppingmode Fate – ???]

[Skill – Ebon heart, Predation Lv 1, Escape Lv 1, Swordsmanship Lv 4, Knife throw Lv 2]

'My stamina and health both went up 2 levels!'

I opened my eyes intensely and focused. There was a reason why upper levels became so powerful. I felt this fact down to my bones. Because our starting points are different, the rate at which they and I grew from the same level up was drastically different.

If so, who's higher than the Goblin Fighters? And who's even stronger than that? It wasn't even a question that the difference would get drastically higher as the list went on.

I thought of the upper levels that had passed me up. It wielded its sword like that of a maniac following a fly. There was a high chance that it abandoned me without checking because I posed no actual threat to its life.

It probably was the truth. The truth was I had a hard time even following his sheer strength and quickness with my mere eyes. Even with my all, I could barely pierce through his leather jacket with my sword.

However, that is just now. It might be possible in a bit. I will make this a reality no matter what it takes.

"Goblin Warrior!? This is a Goblin Warrior! What should we do?!"

"Damn, the entry is blocked. This is impressive for a Goblin….!"

"Hup, I will destroy everything for you guys! I'll protect you Miss Seo-rin!"

"Creeeeeaaaaaaa!"

At that moment, the sound became amplified. This meant it finally met up with the mercenary group.

It thought that they were clearly going to be an upper-level species, that they were Goblin Warriors.

But wait.

Does that mean if the Goblin Warrior were to defeat the mercenaries, he would return back here?

The thought captivated me. It usually wanders deeper than here though.

It is known that the format of the dungeon is complicated, that includes the many entrances connecting the Goblin domain, Goblin Fighter domain, and the Goblin Warrior domain. Even so, it probably would enter back through its usual entrance. Right?

I'll really be dead meat if I continue to stay here until he comes back. Without a doubt, I'll be finished.

My heart was uneasy and I began to panic. Now was the time to move. I was unsure how long the battle would last. I have to increase my distance from them as quickly as possible.

I had no time to be eating a Goblin Fighter. There was no reason to either, as my state was perfect from just leveling up. I threw its body into inventory just because. It entered with such ease.

Singing to myself in delight, I quickly entered into the tunnel. Now was not the time to be secretive. I had to move as quickly as possible.

I grabbed onto the two swords in my hands, positioning myself in a way that could charge straight ahead given the circumstance. You never knew when a Goblin Warrior was going to come at you. Quietly inching about to sneak attack was safe but took a painstakingly long time. Doing that right now would be fatal.

Ahhh, it's here. Surely as it was the Goblin Fighter's domain, there stood a Goblin Fighter in one of the tunnels.

"Creeeeeak!"

As soon as he saw me, he wailed loudly and started to charge towards me. It was just as I expected.

To fight against the enemy of pain. When there were no humans present, Goblins could care less if you were one of them. It would've been nice if they were chill with their own species, but there was not a single exception.

I too faced him and charged forward. Compared to a Goblin Warrior, this one was awfully weak and was no more agile than me. Looking at the Goblin Fighter's rusty knife, the previous feelings of fear and rage were flowing through me once more.

Now, I was able to control the Ebon heart a little at my will. There's no option but to win against a weak opponent. The Ebon heart was helping me do just that.

"Hap!"

One blow was enough. Its rusty knife was only 30 cm, but my steel sword was 50 cm. No doubt that without a difference in swordsmanship and stance from one another, the sword with a longer reach was to win.

The rusty knife missed my chest and entered my left arm. It wasn't too deep. Conversely, the sharp steel sword in my hand had accurately punctured its heart, which exploded.

Though Level 4 Swordsmanship is still Level 4, I had the skill to pierce the opponent's most vulnerable spots. My abilities had to have grown.

[You've earned 100 EXP.]

[You've earned 10 Bronze.]

[You've earned a flimsy piece of cloth.]

"This is good."

I quickly threw its rusty knife and lifeless body into inventory. Then I quickly went deeper into the tunnel.

"Creeeeak!"

Now this one had more experience than that of a Goblin Fighter. It prepared its body to receive my attack, moving slight from left to right.

It definitely had some experience. If I messed up here, it could be a loss for me.

After all the things that had happened, I just threw my sharp sword at him out of nowhere.

"Creeeak?!"

It didn't expect me, a savage animal, to let go of the one weapon in my hand. It was dallying when its body received my sharp sword.

My strength was weak wielding the sword, so it didn't necessarily penetrate through his body. It was, however, sufficient enough to cause him suffering.

I forced myself onto this thing. I had rusty knives in both of my hands.

"Creak! Creeeeaak!"

I was able to snatch its knife easily, as it lost its balance and strength at the same time. With my other hand, I began to stab his face.

[You've earned 170 EXP.]

[You've earned 10 Bronze.]

[You've leveled up Knife Throw Skill to 3.]

My breath was out of control. I couldn't believe that in this short amount of time I was able to turn my life around. I made the impossible possible. I was completely unaware of these decision-making skills, yet I had used them to kill!

"Whew, Whew... It seems like there's always a place for skills."

Knife throwing skills. For opponents unaware of inventory, this skill was perfect to make them careless. It seemed like it had some experience, but was surprised at my knife throwing. Instead of me, it ultimately experienced defeat.

Furthermore, this one was of a higher level than most Goblin Fighters. This goblin had a significantly higher experience and its bloody bruise on its left arm from its previous fighting seemed to prove my point.

I felt my heart pumping blood throughout my entire body. While my tired body experienced a slight rest, I began to check for any other monsters that would come for me.

It was then I realized something. The noisy battle sounds I heard coming had stopped.

Chapter 8: Goblin Warrior (2)

Demon King

'Who won?'

My mind was racing. However, nothing would be altered just by my mind racing. Thus, I decided to first take a bite out of the Goblin Fighter's arm.

My health started to slowly rise and the pain from my wound subsided.

'This is good.'

I started to move again. This time I headed towards another tunnel.

I was in an unusually quiet tunnel. At this place, a goblin appeared. Now, goblins were nothing to me. I didn't even need my sharp steel sword, a rusty knife was plenty. I struck it dead.

[You've earned 9 EXP.]

[You've earned 1 Bronze.]

The monster's domain is definitely not equally divided. If I had known this, I would've never fought with the Goblin Fighter in the first place.

However, what was more concerning than that was the EXP. The EXP from fighting goblins had dropped down to 9.

It was probably due to the disparity between levels. Things like this happen frequently in games. Catch as many of the weaklings as one likes, but one doesn't level up. One cannot get stronger. It became painstakingly obvious.

"Whew…. I think I can head back to the entrance from here."

After all I had done to avoid the Goblin Warrior, there was no way that it would come through this path. At least I hoped. I threw myself to that tunnel.

Just how much did I walk? All of a sudden, several goblins came running into the tunnel. Instantly I knew that I was closer to the dungeon's entrance.

"Creak?!"

"Cureeeak!"

Firstly, I wielded my knife and killed them one by one. I was not familiar with a gang versus one person, but these goblins possessed no knowledge or skill. They just collectively came running towards me.

I attacked those closest to me first, kicking and slashing them. Their fists were of no harm to me.

There was no more space in inventory for all these goblins, so I haphazardly got rid of most by eating them.

Now, what was I to do?

Should I stay in this area a bit longer? Or would it be best to check on the situation….

I contemplated for a second but eventually moved forward. There was nothing beyond that could possibly scare me anymore.

This could be from my monster's body's instincts or an attribute from the Ebon heart. I wasn't too sure. However, I knew that it was definitely accurate in determining whether a situation was safe or dangerous. I felt it since the moment I was born as a Goblin.

Given that I wasn't in immediate danger, I also wanted to scope the situation of the battle. Knowing this would help me plan out my future actions moving forward.

I walked slowly. The right path seemed to open up, as my footsteps matched it perfectly.

There I saw several Goblin Fighters on the floor, slain. There were way more Goblins than Goblin Fighters.

The floor was drenched in scarlet blood. It was a literal blood bath. Moving quickly, I avoided stepping in the blood, worried that it might make noise.

There were humans up ahead. Unlike me, these people still had their partners and were together, with their original human bodies.

However, I did not envy them. Humans were all dead right now. Any corpse that looked female had been stripped to the bone.

Even witnessing this, I felt absolutely nothing. I've watched countless of Goblins die and the majority of those I also killed. But are the deaths of humans and Goblins comparable? Why was it that I felt nothing watching these humans die?

It was because I had become a monster. If I was human, at the very least I would feel something. Realizing this fact, I suddenly felt so empty. However, this was not the time to be wallowing in my feelings.

I realized the winner had become a Goblin Warrior and for some reason, it only devoured the female corpses.

I thought about it. Unless you possess the skill of Predation, it's not like you're going to build strength by eating humans. You just eat till you're full then leave.

Hmm, I guess the only reason why it eats females instead of the two males is probably due to the fact that the flesh is softer.

Turns out I was wrong. It was actually near humans. I failed to notice its presence, as it was still as stone.

"Ukkk....!"

Instinctually I almost screamed, but I immediately shut myself up. This guy wasn't trying to hide from me. Even though, my senses were telling me that I was in no harm.

What is going on?

"Cree, Creeeaaak..."

It seemed to me that it was observing me. I couldn't tell if it was wailing or laughing, but it started to head towards me.

The jacket was ripped and stabbed through violently. The knife and sword were shoved into the stomach and chest. Its Bastard Sword was sprawled on the floor.

I had to be dreaming.

One side didn't have an advantage over the other. This was a lose-lose situation.

"Creak, Creeaak…."

As I was relishing in the thought, the Goblin Warrior raised its hand towards me. Shockingly, something popped out of that hand. A very faint, string-like, white light.

This thing touched me. I instantly felt a sharp pang throughout my entire body. Lightning, this had to be lightning! The Goblin Warrior was shooting out lightning! The likes of a Goblin Warrior!

It took its hand back after a series of attacks. One side of its lips was raised, smirking at me. The Goblin Warrior was unable to even recognize his wounds. Was it really looking down on me right now?

"Kuuuuk….!"

I was unable to move right now, afraid, and in pain. I wanted to turn back and make a run for it. I was almost certain that if it was another Goblin Fighter, it would've done so.

However, I ran with full force towards it. Caught off guard, the Goblin Warrior raised its hand once again, and lightning popped out. I was able to endure it, as it was weaker than the attacks previously.

I forced my tender and aching body to move, reaching for the Goblin Fighter's arm from inventory. I started gnawing at it and felt a small surge of energy coming back.

Suddenly, the Goblin Warrior was near me. Its eyes were fluttering open and shut. This was expected.

Its lightning ability was a front. Even if it still had the strength to use magic to attack, it would've used it all whilst fighting the mercenaries. Despite the state of its body, was it really saving mana right now? Now, this is what you'd call a dumbass.

Of course, its weakened lightning ability was more than enough to drive out Goblins. But man, Goblins really aren't that bright.

I'm not like them.

I took out my sharp, steel sword. The Goblin Warrior's face had turned completely white and was unable to move. I stole a look at its wound, which could not be stabbed more violently. Seeing me, it started to slowly inch its body backward.

I was wary of it and distanced myself, factoring in the chance of it attacking me with its last strength.

But, it could barely move. Just as I thought, there was a limit to its strength.

With all my strength, every last ounce of it, I aimed my sword straight for his stomach and shoved it in.

"Hukkk!"

It shrieked in utter pain. Its intimidating arm was of no comparison to my scrawny one, which it swung about to knock me down. I ducked low to avoid it and shoved my sword in even deeper.

Instead of knocking me down, its arm was flailing about in the air and it fell to the floor dead.

My revenge was successful.

[You've earned 700 EXP.]

[You've earned 95 Bronze.]

[Level Up!]

[You've attained Swordsmanship Level 5.]

I thought that the amount of EXP I gained from only hitting the Goblin Warrior with a finishing hit was weird. It seemed to me that this world was all about gaining much from little effort. Maybe it was because the mercenary who was supposed to get the EXP had died instead.

To sum things up, it seemed like I earned this crazy amount of EXP by slaying the Goblin Fighter solely by my own self.

It hadn't been too long since my last level up, but here I experienced it again. My body that was once a mess from the lightning magic was now completely healed and normal.

I felt the utter happiness that was coming from the depths of my soul. But, I didn't shout. It would be a waste to call attention to myself, after all I did to run away from the Goblins.

'Fate was on my side.'

It was true. My luck was unbelievable. It was as though someone somewhere had felt sorry that he or she had turned me into a goblin, and completely set this whole thing up.

I now didn't have to worry and tremble in fear about the Goblin Warrior coming back to kill me. It only took me this one experience to level up, and I obtained a multitude of powerful prey.

…Multitude?

I stopped thinking up until this point and looked down at the Goblin Warrior's lifeless body. It was then I saw a female corpse that had been eaten down to her bones and the uneaten corpse of a male mercenary.

'Eating….humans?'

My heart then split into two. When I was human, there would be no contemplating. Thus, it was more shocking for me. I was astounded at the fact that I didn't feel any disgust at the thought of eating humans.

It was then I resisted. For the first time, I resisted my belief that staying alive and getting stronger was not mutually exclusive.

I knew that I had to be prepared to kill a human to stay alive. But, eating a human was a different story. Humans will kill each other to stay alive, but they absolutely don't eat each other.

So that's what it is.

I realized something. I still regarded myself as a human.

Human food wasn't the only thing I was craving. Stuck in a tiny dungeon amongst the bodies of Goblins, I had been longing for the human life that I once had. A foolish idea.

Though one thing was certain. The moment I decide to eat a human I could no longer identify with humankind, even if there was a chance I turned back. I couldn't return back to society.

There was no way I could nonchalantly meet eye to eye with a human. Not my mother, father, siblings, nor friends.

Standing at the crossroads, my following actions were that of a coward. I placed the two male corpses into inventory. A bad decision.

There was no humanity left in me to abandon, and furthermore I couldn't help but acknowledge the absolute needs of my monster body. That is why I decided to delay making a choice. I know I'm talking about myself, but man I was a coward.

'Someday, and probably not far in the future, the time will come where I have to make a choice.'

I was able to justify my actions by convincing myself that when I did make a decision in the future, it would be firmly and without wavering.

Along with the Bastard Sword on the floor, I took out the knife and sword shanked into the Goblin Warrior's body and placed them into inventory. Afterward, I individually moved the Goblin Warrior and Fighter's corpses to a safe location, far away from the entrance and Goblins.

I gave up on the Goblin corpses, as it would take way too much time to move them.

Finishing moving the corpses, I firmly made up my mind on the spot.

"What a sight."

I was looking at this corpse. It was so big that I questioned if I could finish it all. However, I had to finish it all in one sitting. There were no more spots left in inventory, and I could not allow myself to pass up on eating a monster that would make me stronger.

After making my mind up, I tore off the Goblin Warrior's arm. This muscular arm was way different from that of a Goblin and a Goblin Fighter. Not an ounce in my body wanted this food, but I threw away all thoughts interfering with my determination to get stronger.

"Thank you for this food."

I finished it whole, after removing his scrappy leather jacket or otherwise what had become trash. My Predation skill helped me quickly eat him. It didn't taste too bad.

At this point, I was beyond full but suppressed all emotions and turned my head towards the Goblin Fighter's corpse. Even before I ate it, I felt my body change.

My slender arm which had become more muscular since becoming a Goblin Fighter became even bigger. Even more, my insides felt like it had grown.

This wasn't all of it. It was different from a Level Up. I felt something like I had something new that was filling my insides up.

I became stronger. But how? I soon found out when I looked at the status window.

[Stamina increased by 2.]

[Health increased by 3.]

[Magic increased by 1.]

[You've earned a new skill, Lightning Magic.]

[Swordsmanship increased to Level 6.]