[Episode 03] Hunting (4)
“Kkieeeek―! Kkieeeek―! Kkieeeek―!”
The black beast, drawn by the cries of goblins, arrived in front of the emergency staircase of an apartment building.
The goblins were so excited that they didn’t even pay attention to themselves and were just busy climbing the stairs.
The beast howled in anger at him.
“Kuuuuuuuuu!”
Only when the black beast roared at the goblins did the goblins react.
“Squeak!”
A goblin suddenly rushed towards the intruder.
Ugh!
The black beast bit the neck of one of the rushing goblins.
“Kkikkik!”
The jaw force was so strong that a goblin died instantly with just one blow.
That was just the beginning.
Crunch!
Where the black beast’s claws had scratched, goblin skin and entrails poured out.
“Keeeeeek!”
With each movement of its teeth, with each swipe of its sharp claws, a goblin’s life was snatched away.
“Crrrrrrr!”
The goblins, terrified by the appearance of the predator, took a step back.
But there was no place to escape in the cramped emergency staircase filled with goblins on all sides.
“Giggle?”
“Squeak!”
Even a mouse will bite a cat when cornered.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“Kyaak―!”
As if they had made a promise, the goblins all rushed toward the black beast.
“Keeeek!”
They crawl over your body, scratching with their claws, biting with their teeth, pulling out your fur.
The combined attack of a dozen goblins was threatening enough, but the black beast was completely unscathed.
This was thanks to the thick layer of fat surrounding the entire body.
“Kwaaak!”
Crunch!
No matter what the goblins did, they were only focused on killing one more goblin.
However, if the goblins’ power was only this much, the goblins who had settled in this apartment would have been annihilated by the black beast long ago.
Most goblins were unable to harm the black beast.
Even if they were their fingernails or toenails, they couldn’t penetrate the thick layer of fat that the black beast had.
However, goblins were extremely clever and knew how to use tools.
The human homes they plundered contained many dangerous items, and the goblins who possessed them also posed a great threat to the black beast.
Phew!
A sharp knife dug deep into the black beast’s back.
“Kwaaah!”
The black beast slammed into the wall, growing nervous.
Kuung!
The goblin that had been stabbed died instantly with his head shattered, but there were plenty of goblins who could replace him.
Phew!
This time an awl was stuck in his thigh.
The black beast stamped its feet in irritation, and the goblin that had stabbed the awl into its thigh died instantly as its chest caved in.
With each movement and footstep of the black beast, the goblins died, but the number rushing towards him only increased.
“Keeeeeek―!”
Goblins continued to pour in, and the knives, awls, scissors, etc. embedded in the black beast’s body were recycled over and over again by other goblins.
Phew! Boom! Phu!
He would thrust the knife deeper with a body slam, hold the handle and put his weight on it to open the wound, or pull out the scissors and stab again.
The wounds continued to grow, and it was difficult to endure even with the most monstrous regenerative powers.
“Kwaaah!”
Now it was the limit.
Her heart filled with hatred wanted more blood, but her instinct for survival was stronger.
“Crunch!”
Now it was time to slowly get out of the way.
At that moment, as I was trying to escape out of the emergency stairs,
Phage, phage, phage!
Something ominous was heard from above.
“······Huh?”
And the next moment.
Slurp-
“!!!”
He felt some overwhelming force pass through him, and soon he was unable to move.
and.
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Plop!
The goblins’ heads exploded all at once.
For a moment, an unknown fear enveloped my whole body.
It was because I realized it instinctively.
That right now it’s like putting your head in the jaws of a beast.
A fear so great that it could not be compared to the feeling of a knife or an awl digging into my body tightened my throat.
I feel like a bug caught in the clutches of a giant.
Then at one moment.
[Citizenship granted.]
“ha-!”
The force that had bound him was gone.
Parsac—
At the same time, the black beast’s outer appearance melted away, and what appeared inside was a middle-aged woman with a haggard face.
As the tension eased, she soon lost consciousness and collapsed.
***
“······.”
Sudden level up.
Increased corner area.
Hundreds of goblins died instantly.
Everything was sudden, but this was the highlight.
『Name: Owen Ju (Lv. 33)
Reliability: 9
Awakening Ability: Werebear
Experience distribution rate: 0%
Settlement distribution rate: 0%
★Quest Granting Exit』
Wearbear (A grade)
He transforms into a bear and all his physical abilities and regenerative powers are maximized.
For some reason, this was a new citizen who was accepted right after the area around the house was expanded.
But the specs are unusual.
Up to level 33, A-rank ability.
It was like a pumpkin rolling in on a vine.
That wasn’t all.
[Citizen Ha Dong-geon’s trustworthiness has reached 50.]
[Loyalty is open.]
[Citizen Yoo Hye-rin’s trustworthiness has reached 50.]
[Loyalty is open.]
······
······
All of Hadonggun’s group achieved trustworthiness level 50.
And one of them met the registration requirement by reaching loyalty level 30 while achieving trust level.
[Citizen Kang Deok-su’s loyalty has surpassed 30.]
[Citizen Kang Deok-su has met the conditions for registration.]
After checking, Kang Deok-su’s loyalty was 31, barely exceeding the minimum standard.
‘Registered as a guest, Kang Deok-su.’
I registered as a guest right away without any hesitation.
Woohoo!
『Name: Kang Deok-su (Lv. 25) [+]
Title: [Third Species]
Trust: 52 Loyalty: 31
Awakening Ability: Steel Knight
★Quest Granting』
Steel Knight (B-Rank)
Summons a halberd and steel armor that protects the entire body.
‘It seems that the level of the phantom is proportional to the grade of the awakened ability.’
Choi Hyeong-jun, who has the C-class ability of a gorilla’s strength, was level 20, Kang Deok-su, who has the B-class ability of a steel knight, was level 25, and lastly, Moon Byeong-ho, who has the A-class ability of teleportation, was level 30.
The level is determined based on the grade of the ability that is awakened the moment you register as a vassal.
‘Is the level of ability completely random?’
Comparing the information windows of the three, the level of ability seemed to have nothing to do with trustworthiness or loyalty.
If Moon Byung-ho acquired A-class abilities because of his high loyalty, then Choi Hyeong-jun, who also had higher loyalty, should have acquired B-class abilities.
However, he awakened a C-class ability, and Kang Deok-su, who barely met the minimum standard of 31 loyalty points, acquired a B-class ability.
‘It would be nice if I could know the conditions for higher level abilities to appear.’
This was a major issue.
In order to make the most of the 10-person limit on vassal registration, it was better to accept people who awakened higher-grade abilities as vassals.
‘Also, what happens if you accept someone who already has awakened abilities as your vassal?’
Hadonggun and a woman named Oh Eonju who was just accepted as a citizen.
The two people had the ability to awaken even before registering as a resident.
What would happen if we registered such people as vassals?
“Ugh···.”
While I was deep in thought, I heard a sound like air escaping from behind.
When I turned my head, there was Kang Deok-su with a shocked expression on his face. He asked with a blank expression.
“What the heck···?”
The expressions on other people’s faces weren’t much different.
A whirlwind of emotions was swirling through each person’s expression.
Horror, horror, and awe.
I think I have a rough idea of how I look in their eyes now.
‘I’ll look like a monster.’
What surprised them was not that the goblins had been turned into electric grills.
“Just now, something···.”
Something incredible has happened.
They instinctively felt that the lives of hundreds of goblins that had filled the emergency stairs had evaporated in an instant.
That’s why he has such a terrified expression on his face.
He spoke to them.
“The operation is over. Now, all survivors, please return to your homes.”
It was not possible to keep citizens gathered at the Choi Hyung-jun family’s house forever.
‘With this level-up, the emergency stairs, elevators, and hallways on each floor are all included in the corner area.’
Thanks to this, I can now use the elevator freely.
‘In effect, this apartment is now safe.’
Strictly speaking, the entire apartment had not yet become their home, but it was similar in that they had taken control of the stairs and elevator, effectively conquering all the passages leading up to the upper floors.
This meant that there was no need to worry about monster invasion, unless it was something like a Kellykan that came in through a window.
“If you are lacking water or food, you can take this with you.”
After purchasing plenty of water and ramen and placing them in the hallway, he spoke to Choi Hyeong-jun.
“Now, please clear away all the wires.”
“Yes, yes!”
Clink Clink
In the hallway, the only loud sound was Choi Hyeong-jun organizing the wires.
‘The Eyes of the Absolute.’
I felt the overall feel of the new area I had acquired by using the skill.
We were able to confirm the figure of Owen Ju lying unconscious on the emergency stairs.
‘It’s the first floor.’
I went to the elevator with an indifferent expression, turned on the power, and pressed the call button.
Wooooow
The elevator worked normally and soon arrived at the 30th floor.
♩♬―
[It’s the 30th floor.]
[The door opens.]
I calmly got into the elevator and headed to the first floor where Owen Ju was.
***
The moment the elevator doors that Kim Jae-hyun was riding in closed.
“ha-.”
Everyone sat down, holding their breath, as if they had made a promise.
Before he left, the immense charisma emanating from him weighed down the entire space.
Because of that, even breathing was difficult.
Hadonggun slowly approached the emergency stairs.
Cheolgeudeok- Cheolgeudeok-
The state of the emergency staircase, revealed behind Choi Hyeong-jun diligently organizing the wires, contained the intense moment as it was.
Water still pooling, soot marks left on the floor and walls by the current, emergency lights completely out, etc.
Although not a single goblin corpse remained, the urgent moment was still vivid in my mind.
“······.”
Goblin hunting with electricity was honestly amazing.
I saw the potential and was convinced that this approach would quickly reduce the goblin population.
‘The problem is what comes next.’
Immediately after the corpses of the electrocuted goblins disappeared, I couldn’t breathe for a moment.
It was a situation where some tremendous force was overwhelming him and he couldn’t move.
Meanwhile, Ha Dong-geon watched the end of the goblins on the emergency exit stairs.
‘My head exploded at the same time.’
Luckily, there were some goblins who survived the electric attack. Their heads exploded all at once at one point.
Of course, if that was all, Ha Dong-geon wouldn’t have been so shocked.
Because I thought he must have used some special superpower.
however.
‘The important thing is that the emergency stairs became quiet immediately after that happened.’
The presence of those many goblins suddenly disappeared.
As if someone had erased them from the world.
‘Why?’
From the beginning, I couldn’t shake the thought that this entire apartment was under Kim Jae-hyun’s influence.
then.
‘Are you testing us?’
Hadonggun looked back at the situation once again.
And I noticed one change.
‘Byungho.’
Moon Byung-ho, who showed extraordinary faith in Kim Jae-hyun, had a sudden increase in his physical abilities.
‘Even when luring the goblins to the 30th floor, we were able to overcome several crises thanks to Byungho.’
I’ve known Moon Byung-ho for a long time, but he wasn’t a kid with much presence.
He may have done a good job, but he was definitely not the team’s ace.
Even during the recent ten-day battle against goblins, his performance was somewhat overshadowed by that of others.
‘But then the person suddenly changed.’
It was from that moment on.
The operation began, and immediately after, Moon Byung-ho’s body was enveloped in a bright light.
From then on, he started to act very actively as if he had changed as a person.
If it was because it was his choice.
If it is a reward for the loyalty that Moon Byung-ho showed towards him.
‘···I’m scared.’
Where does that man’s ability end?
Is it really true that the powers he possesses are superpowers that suddenly awakened one day as if they were his own?
‘No, but in the first place, is Jaehyun really a human like me?’
The unknown became fear, fear soon became awe, and it soon came down to one conclusion.
‘···Whether human or not, the conclusion is the same.’
It was his choice that had to be made in order to be saved from this fu*king world.
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