Chapter 13

13. News

The new Goblins quickly adapted to Ashvilam.

There were no complaints that the bed was uncomfortable or the food wasn’t good. There were no Goblins who refused to mine crystals. The Goblin followed Ko Byeong-gap, saying, “Yes, yes.”

Being the Goblin Lord, an unknown title, was so convenient. It was different from blowing your nose without using your hands.

All Ko Byeong-gap had to do was provide food for the Goblins. With 90 mouths, the amount of food was considerable, so he had to go around the cracks once every two days.

However, there was no increase in the number of troubles since hunting was required to make money anyway. Rather, things became much easier.

E and F-rank cracks could be cleaned up quickly with a few Goblins. That day, he found an E-rank crack with 20 Goblins. The monster that came out of the crack was an F-class Horned Wolf.

It was a monster whose agile and horned movements were intimidating. Also, its teeth were like harpoons, so once bitten by them, there was no escape.

“Be careful not to get bitten. If you get bitten, don’t forcefully remove it, but cut its nose. Then, it will go away on its own.”

“Yes, sir!”

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“And please don’t get hurt. Potions cost a lot.”

“Yes!”

The Hob Goblins, with their crude weapons at their fingertips, clashed with the Horned Wolves. “Kae-gaeng!” screams were heard from all directions.

was

‘They fight well.’

The Goblins, although not very reliable, were a subtly strong set of monsters. They were also humanoid monsters that were rare to find in the lower ranks.

One of the strengths of human-like monsters that the combat power of each individual might be mediocre, but when combined, they were terrifying. In addition, even if nothing was outstanding about them, their dynamic was good.

The Hob Goblins complemented each other and created a solid defense. A distant enemy was shot down with an arrow or a spear, and an enemy that came close had their head smashed with their clubs.

The Giant Goblin Turka was a powerful D-class monster, so he didn’t have to worry. Didn’t he have the stamina to withstand a few bullets? Even the teeth of a Horned Wolf couldn’t penetrate deeply into his leather.

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Kiriyan, who was a C-class, was a sore mouth to talk about. He was protected by the Hob Goblins and unleashed attacks with lethal force. His stamina was just that, but he had the best qualities as a dealer.

More than 30 Horned Wolves were quickly cleared. As for injuries, they were all minor abrasions.

‘It’s definitely fast. If I had been alone, it would’ve taken an hour at the earliest. But, of course, it would be faster now.’

It was quite nerve-wracking to bring only a gun and deal with 30 Horned Wolves. He would have to go around looking for a good spot. Also, if he tried that even once, he would have to use half of his potions.

“Come on! Let’s collect the magic stones and get some meat.”

“Yes!”

The Goblins moved in unison. They dug into the chest of the Horned Wolves and pulled out their clotted blue magic stones. The chunks of meat that had been harvested were moved to Ashvilam.

The process of killing monsters, cleaning up after them, and killing monsters again was repeated. All he did was drag the Goblins around and shoot a few shots from behind.

Had it been about an hour and 20 minutes since he entered the Back World? The boss monster, a Rake Wolf, appeared.

An E-class monster that was 1.5 times larger than an Arctic wolf, the largest wolf in existence. Its strength, size, and speed were also threatening, but the blades on its two-pronged tail were particularly terrifying.

‘Still, it’s a low-level monster.’

Tada Tada Tada Tada!

Boss monsters were always taken care of by Ko Byeong-gap. There was no particular reason; he just wanted to.

The Rake Wolf was shot and killed by eight bullets without even the chance to resist.

Ko Byeong-gap cut off the Rake Wolf’s tail and took it. It was a loot that could be turned into pocket money if it was put up for auction.

“Well done. Everybody go back to Ashvilam and heal the wounded with potions. Do you know where I left the potions?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Yeah, you guys take a break from work today.”

The Goblins said yes and went back to Ashvilam. He took the loot and magic stones and went outside.

It was already dark outside. It was partly because he started work late that day and partly because he dealt with two cracks to make more money.

He hurried back to Seoul and headed for the association. He was supposed to get paid the magic stones and he had to put the loot up for auction.

He took a ticket and waited for his turn to come. Even though it was late, quite a few people were waiting.

A man sat next to Ko Byeong-gap. When he realized that something smelled fishy, he realized the man was covered with blood and dirt.

‘Oh… No manners.’

Fighting monsters inevitably made your body dirty. That was because the dirt on your body disappeared when you leave the Back World, but the blood and filth would still remain.

It was basic manners to wash your body before coming to the association. If someone couldn’t afford it, they would at least have to change their clothes. Even Ko Byeong-gap carried extra clothes in his car. However, some people visited the association without wiping their bloody bodies.

Ko Byeong-gap frowned and went one space to the side. The other waiters grew away from the man, but the bloody man turned his head and began to stare at Ko Byeong-gap.

Ko Byeong-gap didn’t want to make eye contact, so he just stared straight ahead.

‘Why are you staring at me of all people?’

The moment he thought so, the man talked to him.

“… Aren’t you Byeong-gap hyung?”

“Hmm?”

“Hyung, don’t you recognize me? I’m Hyung-cheol, Park Hyung-cheol.”

“Park… Hyung-cheol?”

“Why? We worked together for a while when you were in Kim Ah-jin’s team. Don’t you remember?”

“Ah…”

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Ko Byeong-gap was able to find the man’s face in his memory.

About a year and a half ago, he was a friend who worked with a bastard named Kim Ah-jin.

In fact, they did work together, but they only went together for about two months before Ko Byeong-gap left the team. So he wasn’t that friendly.

In addition, Kim Ah-jin’s involvement with the team remained a bad memory. Ko Byeong-gap wasn’t very happy to see Park Hyung-cheol.

“Oh, I remember… So, how are you?”

So it was just a formal greeting.

“I just hang out. How have you been, hyung?”

“Me too. I was just living.”

“Oh, I see.”

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There was an awkward silence. That was how a conversation was between people who weren’t very close to each other. Maybe it would’ve been better if the other person was a woman.

“Hyung, have you heard the news?”

“What news?”

“Oh, nothing else, Kim Ah-jin…”

As soon as he heard the name Kim Ah-jin, Ko Byeong-gap reacted violently and said, “I don’t really want to talk about that bastard.”

“Ah… Then I won’t say anything.” Park Hyung-cheol bit his mouth right away.

Ko Byeong-gap sighed deeply and said, “Just say it. What news?”

When Ko Byeong-gap asked, Park Hyung-cheol replied as if he had waited.

“The Kim Ah-jin team has been disbanded. Ah-jin hyung died three months ago.”

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“What? That bastard is dead?”

“Given your reaction, you didn’t know.” Ko Byeong-gap made an expression of disbelief.

The naughty bastard whom he thought wouldn’t die until he put his shit all over the walls… had died?

“Why, how?”

“He was wrongly caught in a Variant Crack. He went in thinking it was a C-rank crack, but it was a B-rank. At that time, the seven people that came with Ah-ji had also died. It was on the news. Didn’t you see it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t really watch the news… And Hee-jin too?”

“No, Hee-jin wasn’t there that day.”

Ko Byeong-gap breathed a sigh of relief.

Go Hee-jin was Kim Ah-jin’s lover. What a waste of a woman for a bastard’s lover. Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t understand why she was hanging out with a guy like Kim Ah-jin.

In retrospect, the lovers of Ko Byeong-gap’s bullies were all good people. God damn it, was that some damn law?

“Sigh.”

A sigh came out of nowhere. On the occasion that Kim Ah-jin would die, he thought he would have a toast. However, he didn’t feel very good to hear that Kim Ah-jin had been killed.

‘Kim Ah-jin.’

Kim Ah-jin was a C-class hunter who ran a small hunter training academy. There were hundreds of hunter training academies, but only a few of them were in the country. The rest were all scammers.

Ko Byeong-gap met Kim Ah-jin while searching for an academy to get his Hunter’s ID after being diagnosed as an awakener.

It was a mistake to be fascinated by the fact that he would obtain a certificate for a short time without tuition fees.

Looking back, it made absolutely no sense, didn’t it? He wasn’t some kind of philanthropist, and they were offering free lessons.

If he were a little sober, he might’ve realized that nothing was free in the world, but at that time, Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t do that because just worrying about his mom’s hospital bills made his head explode.

Kim Ah-jin said, “Hey, what do you mean ‘manager’? Call me bro in the future. I think of all the people who come to our academy as my family. Did you say you need money? Then just trust me and follow me. If you hold on tight and learn to work under me for three years, you can become rich.”

And under the pretext of free lessons, he signed contracts. It was a slave contract, pure and simple.

– Tuition is free, but you have to pay for the equipment.

It was an obvious trick, but the funny thing was that there weren’t only one or two people who were caught up in it.

‘After becoming a hunter, I had tens of millions of won in debt. The son of a bitch charged me for using the equipment…’

All the equipment provided by Kim Ah-jin was like trash, but the price was ridiculous. Of course, they were delivered by a bully business that was in partnership with Kim Ah-jin.

-Don’t worry, man. It’s not like me, your hyung, is urging you to pay me back instantly, hmm? My hyung will mediate the cracks and build a team, so pay it back slowly while working. That’s how you build your career. Hey, where else can you find an older brother who takes good care of you like me?

If he worked with Kim Ah-jin’s team, at least there was no loss of work. His ability to mediate cracks was, frankly, great. Unfortunately, 20 out of 30 days a month, they went to a subjugation.

However, the amount of money that came into his pocket was only a few million won a month after working so hard.

He had to pay off his debts, and it was huge to take all the fees and everything.

Ko Byeong-gap, unable to afford his mother’s hospital bills, sold the house. Later, he even used private loans. Life had gone downhill.

‘I went to 29 subjugations a month, paid off all my debts from Kim Ah-jin, and escaped. Now that I think about it, it was really hell.’

Just thinking about that time, he would dream about his debt even in his sleep.

“Anyway, Kim Ah-jin’s team was disbanded, and I got out. I still have a little debt left. I just couldn’t do it like you.”

Park Hyung-cheol smiled with a blood-stained face.

“Hyung, you were really great back in the day. People called you a machine because you went to subjugate for whole months on end. Did you know?”

Ko Byeong-gap didn’t want to respond much. Just then, the agent called his number. He immediately stood up.

“Okay. It was nice to meet you. Take care of yourself.”

“Oh, Byeong-gap hyung. Do you have any active teams? I’m trying to form a team this time…”

“I’m not interested.”

Ko Byeong-gap cut off his words right away. He said a word before he left.

“And wash up when you’re done with your subjugations.”

* * *

On his way home, Ko Byeong-gap thought a lot. It was mostly about Kim Ah-jin.

‘Is Hee-jin alive?’

When he thought of Kim Ah-jin, he automatically thought of Go Hee-jin. She was a terrific woman. Her personality was stern, and her face and body were the best. He honestly had a crush on her before.

He thought about visiting Go Hee-jin, but he soon threw the thought away since he didn’t want to reconnect with past ties. He wanted to erase the memory of meeting Park Hyung-cheol if possible.

He recalled Kim Ah-jin again to get Go Hee-jin out of his head.

“Well done, son of a bitch! You’re going to be humiliated because you ate people up behind their backs.”

Meeting Kim Ah-jin in his life was a lifetime mistake, but he also learned a few lessons.

-First, don’t trust people easily.

-Second, there was nothing free in the world and it was hard to make money.

-Third, working alone was the most comfortable.

-Fourth, don’t use people as tools.

‘Don’t use people as tools…’

Ko Byeong-gap brooded over the line. He kept thinking about it until he got home. When he arrived, he went straight to Ashvilam without washing or eating.

Ashvilam’s time was similar to the outside world. Night came when the sun went down in reality. Although it was dark, only a few Goblins were in sight because they were all inside the cave.

It was the table he had found abandoned and brought with him. A potion was placed on it, and Ko Byeong-gap always brought two bottles, but the potion didn’t decrease at all.

That was because the Goblins, who fought with Byeong-gap, didn’t touch it that day.

‘… Heal those wounds!’

He ran into the cave while he bit his lips. In the cave, the Goblins were sweating profusely, digging for crystals. The cave became quite spacious before he knew it.

“Oh, Lord! Are you here?”

Gobung spotted Ko Byeong-gap and said hello. The other Goblins briefly stopped their work and greeted Ko Byeong-gap.

Ko Byeong-gap was a little emotional and got on edge.

“Hey, you fools! When the sun goes down, pack it up and rest. What are you still working on? Do you know what time it is now?”

“… Lord?”

“Clean up and come out!”

“Oh, I see!”

The Goblins cleaned up their gear and rushed out. The Goblins, who were resting outside, also gathered.

“When the sun sets, don’t work and just rest. Okay? Relaxation is the most important thing when working. If you work day and night, you’ll have a bone problem!”

“I, we. Fine. For Ashvilam. Rebuild. Even if it’s hard…”

“Ah, don’t vomit!”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

“And the ones who went to war with me today! Do you really want to die? Go use the potions and heal your wounds right now!”

“Oh, I see!”

The pointed Goblins rushed toward the table.

“If anyone else is sick, don’t hold back and tell me right away. It’ll only cost you more if you don’t do it. Do you understand?”

“Yes, yes!”

The Goblins answered with great nervousness at the sight of the angry Ko Byeong-gap. On command, they sat around the campfire to rest. They then laid themselves flat on the ground and rested.

Ko Byeong-gap didn’t like that either.

“Tsk. You bastards, you don’t even have a blanket, so you’re lying on the dirty ground.”

Ko Byeong-gap planned to stop by a junk dealer or a furniture disposal facility the next day and decided to bring a few beds with him.