Volume 1 Episode 11
011
The goblin hunt had begun.
‘Perdes’s Honey.’
An item that could rarely be harvested inside an E-Rank Gate.
It was an item capable of luring goblins with the uniquely sweet fragrance emanating from the honey.
The instructor, Kim Seung-yeon, had lured an appropriate number of goblins using the item, and the hunters were now facing them.
"……….."
A heavy silence.
Gulp.
Within that silence, only the sound of hunters swallowing dryly echoed.
They were all extremely tense.
Tremble, tremble.
They were people who knew what it meant to become a hunter.
That was.
‘Hunters.’
It meant becoming hunters who hunted something.
In other words, it meant they had to kill the goblins before their very eyes.
"I-I can’t do it."
But even though they all knew it in their heads, their bodies couldn’t follow through.
The pupils of the hunters facing the goblins shook uncontrollably, and their bodies grew stiffer by the moment.
‘It’s only natural.’
Watching those hunters, the instructor, Kim Seung-yeon, thought,
No matter how many videos you watched, you could never get used to monsters.
"Grrr…."
There were things you could only know by seeing them for yourself.
"Those are goblins, the lowest grade of monsters."
It was about understanding what a monster—that which a hunter had to hunt—truly was.
"D-Damn it…."
Some hunters took steps back under the surging fear.
"This is… more than… I imagined?"
The hunters’ minds were filled with terror.
"Grah…. Gaaaack."
The goblins, about half the size of a human and drooling, had their eyes narrowed to slits.
"Given the right circumstances, even an ordinary person could take one down."
Kim Seung-yeon opened his mouth while watching those goblins.
"T-Those…."
Overcome by the fear emanating from the goblins before them, not a single hunter could step forward easily.
No, they couldn’t even muster the will to step forward.
"W-What are we supposed to do? How on earth…."
The hunters looked back and forth between the goblins and Kim Seung-yeon.
In their gazes toward Kim Seung-yeon, there was a plea to be saved, a demand for a solution.
‘This is the best part.’
But to Kim Seung-yeon, the meaning behind those gazes was the last thing on his mind.
Because this very moment was one of the few satisfying moments in his life that had fallen to being a tutorial instructor.
‘No matter when I see it, it’s never bad.’
The faces of rookie hunters, terrified when facing a monster for the first time.
Kim Seung-yeon felt ecstasy every time he saw that.
‘What a damper.’
But there were indeed those who were different.
Those who interfered with his enjoyment.
"Yun Hyeon-gi."
Yun Hyeon-gi, the youngest son of the Tyrion Guildmaster, stood there without the slightest fear even after seeing the goblins.
"Isn’t this your first time facing goblins in person?"
Kim Seung-yeon asked in a somewhat displeased tone.
"Yes."
"Have you ever hunted them before?"
At the ask-just-in-case question.
"Yes. About twice."
An unexpected answer came back.
At that, Kim Seung-yeon’s eyebrows twitched slightly.
"Wow…."
The rookie hunters exclaimed in admiration.
"As expected, Tyrion is different."
They had known Yun Hyeon-gi received preliminary education, but they never imagined he had actually hunted goblins.
"I see."
That was the end of that.
Having finished his admiration, Kim Seung-yeon spoke to the hunters.
"Hunt."
And Kim Seung-yeon threw something.
Thwup!
What he threw was the item capable of luring goblins, Perdes’s Honey.
"Kih, kieeeek!"
The instant the goblins saw the item Kim Seung-yeon threw, they lunged forward.
* * *
"Kuhk!"
Since it was their first time fighting goblins, the hunters were terrified and some were injured, but once the battle began,
"Th-this is…."
The hunters were steadily dealing with the goblins.
"It’s more manageable than I thought?"
The movements they had repeated countless times for the battles that would take place in the Gate, in this place.
The combat styles and behaviors of goblins they had seen in videos.
"Turns out it’s no big deal, right?"
Those things came out naturally once the tension eased.
It was the moment the grueling training showed its worth.
Shrrk!
As a result, the sound of ripping flesh rang out clearly without cease in the area.
"Kieeeek!"
The goblins’ roars filled with agony rang out.
"B-behind you!"
And through this battle, the hunters felt things they hadn’t felt during training and gained something.
"Kieh!"
A goblin trying to seize a hunter from behind and strike.
Kwaang!
Another hunter seeing that swung a heavy hammer and slammed the goblin’s head into the ground.
"Th-thank you."
This was exactly what the hunters had gained.
Teamwork, and camaraderie.
Because they were sharing life-and-death stakes through this battle, they had unknowingly grown closer.
"Leave the back to me. You focus on the front."
"Yes, sir!"
The hunters were doing their utmost to create one-on-one combat situations with the goblins.
Because multi-enemy combat, where a rookie hunter had to worry about numerous variables, was difficult.
However.
"Kih, kieek!"
He was different, displaying overwhelming performance.
Tadadak!
Yun Hyeon-gi rushed forward alone without hesitation toward the two goblins charging at him.
Swish!
Once the distance closed to some degree, Yun Hyeon-gi moved his body with swift speed and swung his sword.
And a moment later.
Shrrk!
A chilling cutting sound rang out, and simultaneously, the goblins’ heads fell to the ground.
Thud. Thud-thud.
They had been severed by the sword Yun Hyeon-gi wielded.
"Huu…."
Looking at the heads lying on the ground, Yun Hyeon-gi let out a short breath.
Drip. Plop.
Blood flowing down the sword he held.
Yun Hyeon-gi had already hunted five or six goblins alone.
A B-Rank Awakening.
Swordsmanship learned steadily before the tutorial, and experience hunting goblins.
Shrrk!
To Yun Hyeon-gi, with such experience, goblins weren’t even a filling meal.
In a word, it was child’s play.
‘Too easy.’
His starting point was different from the hunters here.
The life he grew up in and the experiences he had gone through were different.
Therefore, it was only natural that he could do this much.
And the gaze of Yun Hyeon-gi, who hunted goblins like that, turned toward
‘This is my chance.’
the man with an expressionless face, Yi Seojun.
‘If you’re hiding something, you have no choice but to show it now.’
Hunting monsters.
No matter how weak goblins were, since they were still monsters, it was clearly dangerous.
Because combat was precisely where one could lose their life if careless.
And….
"Kih, kieeeek!"
Yun Hyeon-gi was deliberately letting some goblins slip by and sending them toward Yi Seojun.
Before long, the result became apparent.
"Kieh!"
"Kiek!"
Yi Seojun, surrounded by five or six goblins.
Whoosh.
Yun Hyeon-gi watched Yi Seojun with narrowed eyes and thought,
‘Now, show me.’
Show me what you’re hiding.
If he had something hidden, having reached this situation, he could no longer hide it.
"Kih, kieh."
"Kieh."
The goblins began moving slowly toward their prey that had been driven into a corner.
Like predators lying in wait for an opportunity, they circled around Yi Seojun.
Then, at that moment.
Taht!
Finally, one goblin leaped at Yi Seojun.
And.
Puuk!
The goblin’s spear blade lodged itself in Yi Seojun’s shoulder.
* * *
The number of goblins Yi Seojun had hunted so far was zero.
Yi Seojun stood facing the goblins without moving.
During that time,
‘He’s up to something interesting.’
Unlike Kim Seung-yeon, who had now completely fallen into a sense of superiority, Yun Hyeon-gi was still paying attention, and what he was doing was obvious.
Even knowing that the goblins had surrounded him at some point, Yi Seojun stood still.
‘With this, I can avoid attention.’
Since it was clear what Yun Hyeon-gi was aiming for, he could play along.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
‘Monsters are a first.’
The monsters he had grown sick of seeing on Planet Lumer.
He had heard that they appeared on Earth and looked into the information.
But there were limits to what one could know without experiencing it firsthand.
—The final stage of the tutorial is a Gate raid.
He had already heard through Kim Juwon that the tutorial process included a Gate raid.
‘This is a good opportunity.’
Yi Seojun thought it was a good opportunity to see Earth’s monsters.
"Kieh!"
"Kiek!"
Himself surrounded by five or six goblins.
As if they had encountered delectable prey, they were drooling at the corners of their mouths.
And a moment later.
Taht!
A goblin charged at him.
Puuk!
And Yi Seojun’s choice was to offer his shoulder.
At that instant.
"Yi Seojun!"
A flustered cry reached his ears.
"Kieh!"
It was the instructor, Kim Seung-yeon.
The flustered instructor hurriedly rushed over and smashed the goblin that had attacked him in one blow.
"Haah…."
Kim Seung-yeon let out a deep sigh.
"What are you thinking?"
He pressed Yi Seojun with a frown.
"Are you telling me you couldn’t even dodge one goblin’s spear?"
Kim Seung-yeon spoke as if he couldn’t believe it.
"……."
But even at his words, Yi Seojun kept his mouth shut.
He merely looked at Kim Seung-yeon with an expressionless face.
"I had some expectations, but you’re an idiot."
Seeing Yi Seojun say nothing, Kim Seung-yeon hurled insults openly.
"Don’t you know that if you get hurt, I’ll be the one in trouble?"
As Kim Seung-yeon said that and quickly wiped out the surrounding goblins.
Swish.
Yi Seojun lowered the sword he had held up.
‘Attention.’
The reason Yi Seojun had offered his shoulder was to avoid Yun Hyeon-gi’s attention.
But that wasn’t the only reason.
There was another reason.
"It’s confirmed."
There was something he wanted to check.
And as a result, Yi Seojun came to know for certain.
Earth’s monsters were….
"Pathetic."
They couldn’t even be compared to those from Planet Lumer.
The only thing similar between the goblins here and the goblins on Planet Lumer was their outer appearance.
—Kihr, kihrruek!
The ones on Planet Lumer were never treated as the lowest grade monsters like those shown on Earth.
Living in groups and coating every tool they used with the poison flowing through their bodies, they were truly little demons.
He had witnessed countless beings much larger than them fall because they underestimated those little demons.
‘These ones.’
But Earth’s goblins weren’t utilizing anything.
No, they clearly didn’t know how to utilize anything.
Wasn’t that why their heads were flying off to rookie hunters like that?
Just as Yi Seojun was thinking this.
Stomp. Stomp.
Someone was approaching Yi Seojun.
"Pour a potion on it right now and treat it."
It was Kim Seung-yeon.
He handed a potion to Yi Seojun.
His voice was filled with sharpness.
Glug.
Yi Seojun poured the potion on his shoulder and thought,
that Earth’s monsters were pathetic.
But.
"I hope you don’t disappoint me."
That there was something yet to appear here.
The greatest villain of all time had returned.