#002
[Finally connected! Hey! Iun! Don’t cry! It’s going to get even rougher from now on.]
It was the red-haired woman who had given Iun his trait.
[Alright! First, I’ll explain the situation to you, so listen well.]
To think that her idea of meeting would take the form of this quest-style message.
It was slightly disappointing, but without even the leisure to feel that way, shocking content was delivered.
[Earth will soon be destroyed.]
“What?”
At her words, Iun unknowingly let out a sound.
Destroyed?
Suddenly?
[There’s no reason. Earth just got unlucky, that’s all.]
To think it would be destroyed simply because of bad luck.
It was truly absurd.
[Anyway, if Earth is destroyed, you’ll obviously die too, right?]
The word destruction meant ceasing to exist.
That was only natural.
[We’ve prepared something for you! Kill the calamity to stop Earth’s destruction!]
Calamity?
“Kill the calamity? What is it? A human? Or a monster?”
Iun asked at the sudden development, but she didn’t answer.
[0/1]
[Time Limit: Until you die]
[Reward: Earth’s survival]
[Failure: Earth’s destruction means your death, doesn’t it?]
[Difficulty: SSS]
She was simply finishing the quest.
And it didn’t end there.
[Alright! This one’s a quest that’ll help you right away!]
As if she were a god, she immediately sent the next quest.
[Kill the goblin in front of the door! Stronger monsters will appear from now on, so you need to become desensitized to death!]
[0/1]
[Time Limit: 10 minutes]
[Reward: It’s a skill, but random. This can’t be helped due to system interference.]
[Failure: What do you think will happen? It’s obviously your death. Should we meet the calamity and die together?]
[Difficulty: F]
“Can you not hear me? Or are you ignoring me?”
He kept trying to talk, but.
There was no answer at all.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even in this situation, the monster kept banging on the iron door.
‘Shit. I don’t know. For now, I have to kill that monster called a goblin no matter what. That’s the only way I survive.’
Irritated but now with a purpose, his gaze changed.
Like that of a predator eyeing its prey.
The Iun who had been cowering and trembling was no more.
“First, figure out the situation.”
Iun opened his phone.
“Damn. Was that disaster alert just now the last one?”
But as if communications had been completely cut off, his phone was dead, and the TV he turned on just in case was the same.
“Looks like there must be a ton of goblins out there.”
Otherwise, the communication network wouldn’t have been severed so easily like this.
“Guess I have to find out for myself… First, I need to deal with the one in front of the door.”
Iun began rummaging through his house.
He came out to the living room with an armful of thick books, tape, and clothes.
First, he took off his top, taped thick books to his abdomen, wrapped several layers of clothes around both arms, and wound tape around them.
Since he might get stabbed by a dagger again, he had to prepare thoroughly.
Arms wrapped in books, tape, and clothes. It looked crude and unsightly, but it was the best he could do in the current situation.
Next, he grabbed a proper blade—a kitchen knife—that could kill a goblin.
“Since I can’t beat it to death with my fists.”
And lastly.
He brought a blanket from his room.
“Ready.”
Iun put his clothes back on and finished all preparations.
Having already made up his mind, he firmly grasped the door handle without hesitation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The moment the banging stopped.
‘Now!’
He pushed roughly and forcefully.
Kug!
From the heavy impact, it seemed he had landed a solid hit for now.
The thing would definitely rush at him in excitement.
‘Wait.’
Iun slowly removed his hand from the handle and then lightly placed his foot so the door wouldn’t close completely.
As if setting a trap.
‘Come!’
“Kiiiiik!”
Just as expected, the goblin stuck its fingers into the slightly open gap and flung the door wide open.
He had considered using ‘Hoan,’ but since he had a sure trap, he discarded the uncertain option.
Iun immediately threw the blanket he had prepared in advance.
“Kik! Kik!”
Its vision suddenly blocked, the goblin let out strange shrieks and began flailing about.
What remained now was Iun’s attack.
Gripping the kitchen knife tightly, he swung it down at the goblin.
Pik!
‘Damn! The blanket kept me from stabbing properly!’
The kitchen knife had struck the goblin’s head.
It was the place made of the hardest bone.
Despite the unexpected recoil, he fortunately didn’t drop the knife, but he had given the goblin time.
“Kiiiiik! Kiiiiiiik!”
Seemingly even more excited, the thing shrieked and threw off the blanket, charging at Iun.
The goblin was aiming for Iun’s thigh.
‘If I dodge back, I die. I have to kill it somehow, right now.’
He had only momentarily gained the advantage of a surprise attack; if the fight dragged on, it would become increasingly unfavorable.
The blood continuously flowing from his arm would slow his body, and the goblin, a seasoned hunter, would keep targeting that weakness.
Iun boldly didn’t avoid the goblin’s attack.
Puuk!
He even took it to let it stick in deeper.
“Kirrrrr!”
Meanwhile, the goblin was certain of its victory.
Because the human before it would now scream in pain and crawl on the floor.
But it didn’t know.
That Iun had ‘Pain Immunity.’
“You son of a bitch. This time, I’ll stick it in properly.”
Iun grabbed the goblin’s head with one hand,
Puuk!
and precisely plunged the kitchen knife into its fixed neck.
“Kieeeek!”
Kkwadeudeuk!
Remembering something he had heard somewhere, Iun twisted the plunged knife to finish it off perfectly.
“Huk… Huk…”
Thud.
Watching the goblin whose breath had stopped along with the green blood spurting from its neck, Iun also slumped down.
Trembling hands and a heart beating like mad.
‘I survived.’
Killing something was not an easy task.
[Quest completed.]
[Acquired the skill ‘Strong Heart Lv.1’.]
Just then, as if to console Iun’s trembling heart, the quest was completed and a skill was created.
Just like when he had saved Isanghyeon, the skill was applied quickly.
His heart, which had felt like it would burst, found calm in an instant as if by a lie, and his rough breathing and trembling hands also settled as if nothing had happened.
Iun calmly pulled out the dagger embedded in his thigh.
Blood gushed out, but there was neither pain nor trembling.
“Hup.”
Iun energetically rose from his spot.
Fortunately, it seemed he hadn’t hit a nerve, so there was no great impediment to walking.
“This… I won’t bleed out and die before reaching the hospital, right? I need to hurry.”
Wrapping bandages haphazardly as if fixing a toy, Iun quickly cleared the goblin in front of the door and stepped outside.
The remaining problem was reaching the hospital before collapsing.
Honestly, even if he got there, he didn’t know if he could receive normal treatment, and he might die fighting goblins outside.
Everything was uncertain.
Even so, Iun calmly found something he could do.
‘I can’t go by car.’
The outside viewed from the studio apartment corridor was nothing short of a mess.
It seemed quite a few people had already tried to escape by car; vehicles were tangled together.
In the current situation, if he went out by car he would obviously get isolated, so he had no choice but to use his two legs.
Having arrived at the first floor as carefully as possible, Iun surveyed the outside through the shattered entrance.
‘That’s a relief.’
While Iun had been dealing with the goblin, the outside situation had changed as well.
Only numerous corpses were scattered here and there; no goblins were visible.
Perhaps they had entered the studio building to hunt humans, just as they had burst into Iun’s home, or they had gone outside.
‘Roughly 15 minutes to the hospital.’
He felt he could endure that much.
He moved while hiding his body using structures and cars as much as possible.
“Damn.”
Despite being so careful, he encountered a goblin before long.
A small goblin.
Because of that, it wasn’t easy to find one hiding among intricately tangled cars.
“Kiiiiik!”
It rushed at Iun without hesitation, and Iun also drew his kitchen knife to face it.
A pure, primitive physical fight.
The one who stabbed the knife in first would win.
Thinking it was faster than a sluggish human, the goblin boldly thrust its dagger.
Iun was the same.
Reach was clearly longer for Iun, so he thought his kitchen knife would pierce the goblin’s neck first.
‘Even if I get stabbed first…’
Furthermore, Iun had armor made of layered books.
Tuk! Puuk!
“Kirk… Kirrrk…”
It was fortunate.
The goblin’s dagger was blocked by the book armor, and Iun’s kitchen knife was lodged in.
‘At this rate…’
The moment he thought he might be able to make it to the hospital without issue.
“Kiiiiik!”
“Damn!”
An unexpected goblin sound came from behind him.
Iun turned his head in a hurry.
‘Too late.’
A goblin had already approached right to his side.
Perhaps because it was a dangerous situation, the dagger looked as long as a long sword.
“Attack the goblin in front of you!”
Just then, a third party’s voice cut in.
At the same time, a dagger shot out from behind Iun’s waist area.
Puuk!
It severed the breath of the goblin that had been trying to kill Iun.
“Now what the hell is this.”
The goblin had fallen, but Iun, who had quickly turned around, couldn’t relax.
Because the owner of the dagger was a new monster made of bone.
Iun gripped his kitchen knife tightly and focused on its movements.
“Don’t worry! I summoned it!”
Then, as if trying to calm Iun down, the owner of the voice raised his hand and revealed himself.
“Second floor?”
A man in his twenties wearing horn-rimmed glasses and holding a baseball bat was standing there.
He was a man living on the second floor of the same studio apartment as Iun, someone with whom Iun had exchanged greetings when passing by.
“That’s right. You live on the third floor, right?”
“Yes.”
“Where are you headed?”
“I need to go to the hospital because of an injury.”
He examined Iun’s wound and nodded.
“So it was you who killed the goblin on the third floor.”
“Yes. I killed it.”
“Thanks to that, I was able to come outside too. Thank you.”
Iun had a question about his words.
How had killing one goblin among many scattered around been of help?
The question was easily resolved.
“My skill lets me turn corpses into skeletons. This friend here was made from the goblin corpse on the third floor.”
The clattering bones standing beside Iun.
It looked exactly like a goblin.
Anyway, it seemed skills weren’t exclusive to Iun.
“You have a skill too?”
“Of course. Not just me, every Earthling has gained one skill matching their trait.”
‘One each?’
Strange.
‘I have three, though?’
And they might increase even more in the future.
If he just completed quests without dying.
“Wasn’t it given to you by a red-haired woman?”
“No. Mine was a man in black robes. From what I heard, everyone met a different person.”
“You heard? How?”
Iun was curious how he had conversed with others when all communication networks were cut.
And whether everyone really had just one skill each.
“Because quite a few posts went up before the internet went out.”
It was a simple answer.
It was simply because Iun had slept in.
‘I’ll put this aside for now.’
He needed to figure out the difference between himself and others further, but going to the hospital was the immediate priority.
Iun decided to ask only what was necessary now.
“Can you summon more skeletons?”
“Yes. It’s possible to have up to three right now.”
Not just one, but three.
‘Won’t that be helpful in getting to the hospital?’
Despite trying to be as careful as possible, he couldn’t avoid battle.
If so, moving together was the best option.
Iun judged that he had to move with this man.
Not only that.
The quest to defeat the calamity.
Nowhere did it say to defeat it alone.
“For now, I’m trying to get to the hospital; would you like to come with me? It’s dangerous standing in the middle of the street like this.”
“Yes. Let’s go together. I think I can survive if I stick with you, hyung. How many humans can kill a goblin with a kitchen knife?”
‘Hyung? This guy is similar to me.’
A situation where they moved together out of mutual need. Iun thought the man resembled him in an odd way.
“Ah? Is it okay if I call you hyung?”
That’s why he felt a sense of dissonance at how familiarly he approached, but.
“I’m Iun. Thirty-three this year.”
He accepted it.
“From today, we’re brothers.”
Because he was the same way.
“I’m Gang Jiun. Twenty-five years old.”
And the moment they no longer needed each other, they would be discarded.
‘Unless I judge him to be someone I can trust, that is.’
Anyway, it was time to leave this place quickly.
“Let’s make this one into a skeleton too and go.”
When Iun pointed at the fallen goblin, Gang Jiun created another goblin skeleton.
“You know the Pureun Sol Clinic up ahead?”
“Yes. I know it. It’s where patients line up to go, right?”
“We’re going there.”
“But doesn’t it hurt? Your wound looks big, but you haven’t even frowned once.”
“I’ve been through a lot of rough things, so I’m good at enduring pain. Let’s go that way.”
Iun naturally concealed his skill and headed to the hospital with Gang Jiun.
“But hyung. Will the hospital be safe?”
“Who knows. We can only hope there are people there who can fight like us.”
The two moved on carefully, and occasionally goblin corpses could be seen.
It seemed not everyone had been helplessly victimized by goblins.
“Let’s fill all three.”
“Yes.”
Dragging three skeletons made from abandoned corpses like that, just as they continued moving.
‘At this timing?’
A quest appeared before his eyes.
[A Quest for You]
[You’re going into the hospital anyway, so aren’t you grateful I’m giving you a quest? There will be five goblins inside the hospital. Kill them all!]
[0/5]
[Time Limit: 10 minutes]
[Reward: What do you think? A skill.]
[Failure: Failing or refusing a quest means death! It’s common sense between us, right?]
[Difficulty: F]
Iun stopped walking.
‘Common sense between us? That failing a quest means death?’
“Hyung. What is it?”
Gang Jiun looked at Iun, who had stopped with a serious expression.
“Have you by any chance heard of a quest?”
He had planned to find out later, but this was so irksome that he needed to know if this situation was happening only to him.
If others were doing quests too, there might be a way to avoid dying.
“A game quest?”
‘He doesn’t know.’
Gang Jiun didn’t know that quests currently existed in reality.
If so, what was the difference between him and Iun?
Only one thing.
The trait she had said was tremendous.
The quests were definitely related to Iun’s trait.
“Is there a way to know your own trait and skill? What kind of ability it is.”
“What? You don’t know that?”
Gang Jiun made a strange expression at Iun’s question.
“The being you met in your dream explained all the basics, didn’t they?”
The basics?
He had no memory of hearing any of it.
She had just giggled and said it would be fun.
In the end, it meant only Iun lacked basic knowledge.
‘I guess I should consider it the price of obtaining my trait faster than others.’
He couldn’t complain.
“They were pretty unfriendly.”
“Well, I guess not everyone has the same personality. If you just think ‘status window,’ it appears in front of your eyes. If you touch the parts you’re curious about, detailed explanations come up too.”
The method was simple.
And.
“Shit…”
Iun confirmed his relationship with her.