#003
[Name: Iun]
[Level: 1]
[Stats: Strength 5, Agility 7, Stamina 5, Mana 4]
[Trait: Slave of the Quest]
[Skills: Hoan Lv.1, Pain Immunity Lv.1, Strong Heart Lv.1]
[Remaining Stat Points: 0]
Iun’s current status window.
And one word that caught his eye.
Slave of the Quest.
“Jiun.”
Iun called out to Gang Jiun with a serious expression.
“Yes?”
“What’s your trait?”
There was no way he was the only one stuck with a trait like this.
A slave?
He hoped Jiun was a slave too.
“Mine is ‘King of the Dead.’”
“King?”
“Yes.”
“Whaaaaat?”
A king? Not a slave, not a commoner, not a noble, but a king?
Polar opposites as different as heaven and earth.
“Haah….”
Now he understood why failing the quest meant death.
If he was a slave, then the red-haired woman who had given him this trait was his master.
It meant that a slave who disobeyed his master’s command had only death awaiting him.
“What’s wrong, Hyung? Is your trait weird?”
Gang Jiun asked Iun with a suspicious expression.
He’s quite sharp.
‘If I don’t tell him at least this much, a crack will form in our current relationship.’
Since hiding everything unconditionally wasn’t the answer, Iun frowned and replied immediately.
“It’s a bit like that.”
“What is it?”
“Slave.”
Of course, he hid the modifier “Quest.”
Because it was clearly a special ability that only Iun possessed.
‘You never know with people. He could point a knife at me at any time.’
He was thinking ahead.
“A slave? Just a slave?”
At that, Gang Jiun asked again, as if to confirm.
“Yeah. A slave. Anyway, do you have any other skills besides summoning Skeletons?”
“No. Right now, I obviously only have one. Later, every time my level goes up, I’ll gain one skill matching my trait.”
As expected, Iun’s trait was special.
‘When he says “obviously one,” he must mean everyone has just one right now.’
He currently had three skills.
There was no telling how many more he would gain.
And it was as plain as day that in this changed world, skills would be a great source of strength for survival.
“Hyung, do you not have just one skill?”
Gang Jiun seemed to sense something odd in his conversation with Iun and pressed further.
“Of course I have just one. I asked because I’m a slave and you’re a king. I was wondering if you had more.”
It was a plausible excuse.
Because unlike the others, Iun currently lacked even basic knowledge.
“I suppose you would think that. So what’s your skill, Hyung? You didn’t use it when we fought, so is it a passive?”
‘He must be curious.’
They had joined hands out of mutual need.
From Gang Jiun’s standpoint, he needed to know Iun’s skills.
‘Because continuing to stick together while trusting only in my kitchen knife is too risky.’
“Yeah. It’s a passive. A skill befitting a slave. ‘Strong Heart.’”
Gang Jiun’s strength was absolutely necessary right now. That was why Iun had thrown him one of the skills he possessed.
“So that’s how you could kill goblins with a kitchen knife?”
“Right. Let’s start moving again now.”
There was nothing good about talking too long, and chatting endlessly outside was dangerous.
This was something both Iun and Gang Jiun knew well.
The two carefully began moving toward the hospital.
“Hyung. I think we’re late?”
A seven-story commercial complex.
At the first-floor entrance, corpses were strewn about along the broken entry door.
A building without even a single intact window.
On the third-floor outer wall, a sign reading “Blue Pine Surgery Clinic” hung crookedly, as if about to fall at any moment.
“It’s too far to go somewhere else. Let’s just try going in. Even if there’s no one there, it’s a hospital, so we’ll manage somehow. Put the Skeletons in the vanguard.”
Iun and Gang Jiun carefully passed the entrance and headed for the stairs.
The elevator seemed to still be working, but they headed for the stairs, thinking they would be safer.
They placed two Skeletons in the vanguard, and one in the rear in case of an unexpected situation.
‘This is reassuring.’
Sandwiched between Skeletons, Iun felt quite safe.
As they maintained formation and were about to go up from the first floor to the second, and then to the third—
“Kieeeek?”
“Kikik!”
Two goblins encountered at the landing.
The stairs were narrow enough for only about two people to stand side by side.
At the front, the two Skeletons tangled with the goblins, and it quickly became a chaotic melee.
With Skeletons and goblins all tangled together.
It wasn’t easy to intervene, but Iun had to move.
‘I’ll help too.’
He couldn’t just leave it to the two Skeletons because it was difficult and dangerous.
If he just watched and the Skeletons got taken down, it would be a big problem.
He had to kill them decisively while he had the advantage.
Moreover, the 10-minute quest restriction.
Iun prepared to rush out immediately and asked Gang Jiun,
“The Skeletons won’t attack me or anything, right?”
“Yes. They move according to my will, so they’ll never attack you, Hyung.”
“Got it.”
As soon as Gang Jiun finished answering, Iun ran toward the goblin on the left.
And he pushed the back of the Skeleton standing in front of it.
He intended to use it like a shield.
“Kieeeek?”
Surprised by the sudden situation, the goblin and Skeleton embraced each other.
Stab!
Iun thrust his kitchen knife between the bones.
“Kiiiiiiek!”
The goblin screamed in pain as the kitchen knife lodged in its side.
It struggled, but entangled with the Skeleton, it couldn’t move.
Iun didn’t stop.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
The goblin, repeatedly stabbed by the crazily swinging kitchen knife, soon lost its life.
Now only one remained.
He grabbed the Skeleton in front of him and shoved it directly at the remaining goblin.
The bone, riddled with holes, effectively blocked the goblin’s movements, and the Skeleton, held in Iun’s hands, struggled to kill the goblin.
Both sword and shield.
Just like before, Iun thrust the kitchen knife between its ribs.
And.
“Kieeeek….”
Before long, the goblin stopped moving, and Iun immediately checked the quest message.
Seven minutes remaining.
‘So I have to kill the goblins inside the hospital precisely.’
The count remained [0/5].
‘Then that means there are five more goblins inside the hospital.’
He might not be able to handle it alone, but with Gang Jiun’s Skeletons, it was more than enough.
“Iun Hyung.”
“What?”
“Still, they’re my summons. Aren’t you handling them too roughly?”
Gang Jiun said this, yet he was smiling pleasantly.
Iun’s combat skills.
A smile of satisfaction that his choice hadn’t been wrong.
“I’m going to handle them even more roughly from here on.”
Moreover, Iun also answered with a smile.
Because he, too, was satisfied with traveling with Gang Jiun.
Iun set down the Skeleton he was holding.
“Let’s go. We don’t have time.”
They went back up the stairs.
Arriving at the third floor like that.
Walking down the corridor and reaching the hospital entrance, the glass door was already broken, and blood was smeared on the doorframe.
‘Are we too late?’
Looking inside, there were quite a few corpses, and the situation didn’t look good.
If the hospital staff were already dead….
Iun looked over his own body.
Perhaps because he had moved violently, the bandages were half-undone, and blood was flowing enough that the size of the wound was visible from the outside.
‘Not feeling pain well is nice, but…’
There was the downside of not knowing how much strain his body was under.
“Skeleton No. 1! Go in alone and look for goblins. If you meet any, just run back toward me.”
There was only one entrance anyway.
Gang Jiun intended to keep this place guarded with two Skeletons, and use the remaining one to lure out the goblins inside the hospital.
His judgment was appropriate.
Then!
As if reacting to Gang Jiun’s words, human voices were heard from inside the hospital.
“Human voices? S-save us! There are people here!”
“Please save us!”
“Please help us!”
‘Thank goodness. Someone was alive.’
Iun was in a situation where he needed to be treated as soon as possible.
“Jiun. We’re going straight in.”
He decided to charge in.
‘If people are gathered in one place, there are definitely goblins with them.’
There was no reason for them to hide with prey right in front of them in a place they had already occupied.
“Please! Save us!”
As he ran urgently, blood spurted from his wound again, but Iun didn’t stop.
Soon, they arrived at the operating room.
‘So they were holding out with a skill.’
In the corner of the operating room, five people were inside a transparent barrier, and—
“Kikik!”
“Kieeeek!”
“Kikikik!”
Three goblins were standing in front of them.
‘Impressive.’
At their center, a beauty in a white gown caught the eye. Unlike the others, she glared at the goblins with sharp, unfrightened eyes.
Holding a scalpel in her hand.
‘She must be the doctor. There’s no reason she would be wearing someone else’s clothes.’
Fortunately, a doctor had survived in the hospital.
‘First, let’s save them.’
The goblins hadn’t noticed Iun yet, so he carefully aimed for their backs.
Stab!
His dagger lodged in the goblin’s nape, and immediately afterward, three Skeletons rushed at the remaining two goblins.
A perfect ambush.
Though it seemed the momentum had already shifted, Iun didn’t let his guard down and surveyed the surroundings.
‘Two remain.’
Because there had to be a total of five goblins in the hospital.
Then the woman holding the scalpel shouted.
“Above! Above!”
Iun hurriedly looked up at the ceiling.
“Kieeeek!”
“Kikikik!”
Two goblins hanging from the ceiling jumped down at Iun simultaneously.
But he was already prepared.
He instantly rolled across the floor, evading their attacks.
“Kill the goblins!”
As the Skeletons moved at Gang Jiun’s command, Iun followed behind and shoved his kitchen knife between the bones.
[Quest completed.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Silent Footsteps Lv.1.’]
Quest complete.
Now there were no goblins left in the hospital.
Iun approached the woman, who was still holding the scalpel, and asked point-blank,
“You’re a doctor, right?”
She was the one who had warned him of the danger.
‘She’s drop-dead gorgeous, like a celebrity. Now I see why there were so many patients.’
Up close, she was no joke.
“Yes. That’s right. Is it because of your wound?”
She asked, looking at the wound on his body.
‘Does she also have Strong Heart?’
No particular emotion showed on her expression.
“Uuuurk!”
“Damn it!”
“Ugh.”
‘That must be what’s normal.’
The people next to her retching or frowning with their eyes closed.
Because barely half a day had passed, it was too early for anyone to become numb to blood and death.
“Yes. Please treat my wound. I’ve lost too much blood.”
“Alright. What’s your blood type?”
“Type B.”
“Are you sure? We don’t have time to test.”
“Yes. I’m sure.”
“Lie down.”
She pointed at the operating table, where a corpse was draped over the half-torn surface.
Iun calmly put down the corpse and climbed onto the messy operating table, lying down.
The transparent barrier soon disappeared, and she busily moved to prepare for surgery.
She navigated the messy operating room, gathering blood packs and various medical supplies.
“Hyung. I’ll guard the entrance.”
In the meantime, Gang Jiun seemed to judge that there was nothing for him to do here and headed to the entrance.
Then, four people quietly followed behind him.
They left without even a word of thanks.
Iun knew well, too.
That it was safer to be next to Gang Jiun, who commanded Skeletons, than with him, a patient.
“Do you feel slighted?”
Perhaps worried by the look in Iun’s eyes as he watched them while lying down, she asked.
“What would I feel slighted about? That’s the right thing to do to survive. I would do the same.”
“Still, you were the one who rushed in risking your life, yet you didn’t hear a single thank-you?”
“I killed the goblins to survive. If my body wasn’t like this, I wouldn’t have come here in the first place.”
On top of that, since there was also the quest, there was no reason to receive thanks from them.
Because everyone had acted for their own benefit.
At Iun’s words, she gazed at him quietly.
“You’re honest. Thank you for saving us. My name is Cha Suyeon. And you?”
“Iun.”
“Your age?”
“I’m thirty-three, but why do you ask?”
“Then you’re my oppa.”
He had never expected to be called oppa in a hospital, let alone in this situation, so Iun was quite embarrassed.
“What are you so surprised about? It’s not like you came here as a patient, but I’m right that you’re my oppa, aren’t I?”
“I suppose so.”
“Then feel free to call me comfortably. Suyeon.”
“So suddenly?”
Should he call her bold? Or cool?
“Then should I count down for you? To a hundred? Will you call me Suyeon after that?”
As he had felt from the first time he saw her, she was no ordinary woman.
Cha Suyeon seemed to have finished preparing for the surgery, loaded the medical cart with supplies, and approached Iun.
“Let me tell you in advance, I won’t be using anesthesia.”
“Why? Are you afraid I’ll harvest your organs?”
Cha Suyeon playfully held up her scalpel, pretending to threaten him.
“Yes.”
Iun answered sharply.
“Really? Funny. Why would I harvest organs in this situation?”
“You never know. I’ve never seen a female doctor with a tattoo like that on her shoulder before.”
A tattoo occasionally visible through the torn gown.
And not just any tattoo, but a dragon’s head.
“It was a momentary lapse.”
“You paid quite a lot of attention to it for a momentary lapse, didn’t you? You have them all over your back too, don’t you?”
“Want me to show you? It’s a tiger on my back.”
She was quite something.
“Are you really doing this without anesthesia? It’ll hurt.”
Cha Suyeon cut the crude bandages and poured disinfectant.
It was a large wound, so even disinfecting it would be painful, yet Iun didn’t frown once.
“I guess I can just proceed.”
Cha Suyeon examined his complexion once, then proceeded with the surgery in earnest.
“Tell me if you can’t stand it.”
“Yes. By the way, whose was that protective barrier from earlier?”
“Mine.”
‘She can treat wounds and possesses a barrier skill.’
Moreover, she was unusual enough to fit well in this changed world.
He didn’t know what kind of person she was, but she was exactly the person needed for the current situation.
“Suyeon. From today, we’re one-of-a-kind siblings in this world.”
***
“It’s all done.”
Although Iun hadn’t received many sutures before, looking at the cleanly treated wound, he could tell Cha Suyeon was a doctor of outstanding skill.
“So you weren’t just trading on your looks?”
“Is that a compliment or an insult?”
“Hahaha! Of course it’s a compliment.”
Iun continued speaking with a smile.
“What are you going to do from now on?”
“Shouldn’t we wait for the military or police first?”
Indeed, they didn’t know.
That the goblins were just the beginning.
The quest to kill the goblin in front of the house had clearly told him to prepare to fight stronger monsters.
“You never know. Monsters that guns don’t work on might appear. It seems like traits were given to prepare for that.”
“Come to think of it, that might be the case.”
Cha Suyeon seemed to understand Iun’s words immediately, nodding and falling into thought.
“So, how about we move together for now? As a way to prepare in advance.”
“Is the friend who came with you coming too?”
“Of course.”
And Iun nodded.
If the three of them were together, they wouldn’t easily be taken down.
“Okay. Then the people gathered here will all come with us too, right?”
“The others too?”
Honestly, he hadn’t thought about them at all.
Because only their frightened expressions remained in his mind.
“Yes. It won’t be a problem, right?”
Still, thinking it over carefully, there seemed to be no need to cast them out.
Because the more hands, the better.
“Yeah. Let’s move together.”
“Alright. Then get dressed and come out slowly. I’ll go out first.”
Cha Suyeon went outside immediately, and Iun slowly got up from the operating table and sat down.
‘First, I need information. There must be more that I don’t know.’
Now that the urgent fire was put out, he needed to learn everything the others had heard in their dreams.
He thought all of it would be of great help for survival.
He put his torn clothes back on and headed straight for the entrance.
Three Skeletons were keeping watch at the entrance, and the people were sitting on the sofa resting.
And Cha Suyeon.
Having changed into a new doctor’s gown, she was talking with Gang Jiun.
‘Because Jiun is also included among our saviors.’
She was probably expressing her gratitude.
“Huh? Iun Hyung. Are you okay?”
Gang Jiun, who had been talking, spotted Iun.
“Yeah. I can move fine.”
“That’s a relief. Thanks to Suyeon noona.”
“She’s quite skilled. By the way, shall we talk about what to do now?”
Iun slowly turned his gaze to look at the others.
But their reaction was strange.
Expressions as if they were ignoring him?
“Hyung. We already made a plan.”
“Huh?”
It seemed the others had already talked with Gang Jiun before Iun arrived.
“We decided to hold out until the army arrives. There’s only one entrance here, so as long as I have my Skeletons, we can somehow block it.”
It was a reasonable judgment in Iun’s opinion, too.
Of course, on the premise that the only monsters were goblins.
‘Anyway, there’s no better way in the current situation….’
Unless something changed, it would be difficult to change Gang Jiun’s decision.
Iun decided to gather information during that time.
“You’re right. Jiun, let’s do as you say.”
And.
“Got it, Hyung. Just trust me. I’ll keep this place safe.”
Gang Jiun smiled confidently, as if he had already become the leader of this place.
***
One hour later.
“Haah….”
Iun let out a deep sigh, his expression strange.
It was like the expression of someone forcing down something incredibly bitter.
There was only one reason.
“Is anyone willing to go to the convenience store with me?”
Damn quest….