Chapter 57

57 Gourmet Day

A total of 133 new Goblins entered Ashvilam. There were 36 Normal Goblins, 74 Hob Goblins, 17 Giant Goblins, 5 Beast Goblins, and a Goblin Priest.

These Goblins were basically similar in appearance. They all had dull, gray skin, ugly faces, pointy noses and ears, and rather poor hair.

There were slight differences between the types, but their overall framework didn’t deviate much. Still, each had their own distinct characteristics, so there was no difficulty in distinguishing them from each other. For example, the Normal Goblins were only about 140 centimeters tall, but the Giant Goblins easily exceeded 2 meters.

In that sense, the Goblin Priest ‘Varmond’ also had its own personality.

‘They look similar to Dorma. Are they from the same family?’

The Goblins were divided into four main families, Normal, Hob, Royal, and King. Giant, Beast, Albino, etc., were mutated classes but were also included in those four categories. They were all descendants of Hob Goblins; that was why Gobung and Kiriyan felt like cousins.

Anyway, Dorma, the Goblin Shaman, was of the was also from the same Royal family, but seemed to have undergone some mutation like Kiriyan.

‘What was it? I read it in the Monster Paper… Ah!’

“Right! Holy Goblin!”

Ko Byeong-gap smiled brightly and snapped his fingers. in front of him, seemed somewhat embarrassed.

“…Yes?”

“It’s nothing.”

Of course, such distinctions were only made by humans. The Goblins thought of themselves as the same race, nothing else.

Whatever the situation, it was a pleasure to see a high-ranking Goblin come to Ashvilam.

‘That’s a nice tattoo.’

face and across the upper half of his body were like flames or flower petals. a Goblin Priest through those tattoos.

“Well, how do you feel about coming to Ashvilam?”

“…I’m still dumbfounded. It’s like I’m dreaming.”

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have been nervous; he kept licking his lips several times. He couldn’t even look directly into Byeong-gap’s eyes.

“Hey, why are you so self-conscious?”

“I think I’m nervous because it’s my first time seeing the Lord. I’m sorry.”

“That’s enough, don’t be sorry. Just relax.”

“Yes, yes, yes.”

Byeong-gap waited for Varmond to calm down. What they were going to talk about now was also depressing.

When he seemed to calm down enough, Byeong-gap hurriedly opened his mouth.

“Okay. Now let’s hear about it, even a little bit. I don’t know what happened to you guys.”

“It happened more than fifteen days ago.”

story.

About fifteen days ago, the Back World, which was originally home to the Goblins, suddenly collapsed. They instinctively sensed danger and willingly came out.

Outside the world, it was really bleak. The only thing that welcomed them was the ground and the chilly night air.

To make matters worse, it tormented them to the point of hunger. Hunger was a sensation that they have never felt in the Back World.

‘That’s right, because the other kids also felt hungry after they got out of the crack.’

The Goblins weren’t the only ones feeling hungry. Other monsters also starved over time.

“It just happened out of the blue. A herd of monsters attacked us and began to eat us. The same goes for other monsters. The weak were eaten helplessly.”

The Goblins barely survived by eating monsters weaker than themselves, but that wasn’t good enough. As time went by, hunger and their injuries began to kill them off one by one. When they were about to be wiped out, Byeong-gap suddenly appeared like a savior.

‘That must be why we didn’t see any of the lower monsters. They’ve all been eaten.’

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It was all top monsters that blocked Group C. Now that he thought about it, they were the survivors of the jungle. Not all monsters are on the same side, Byeong-gap realized.

“It’s been a long time, but you don’t have to worry about anything now. There’s nothing dangerous for you here.”

“Thank you very much for taking us away.”

“Thank you, psh. Of course, I’m your Lord.”

Byeong-gap slowly rose to his feet. He had been in Ashvilam for too long, and it was time to go back.

“Stop and get some rest. If you have any inconvenience or questions while living here, go to Gobung or Dorma. You know who they are, right?”

“Yes, I know.”

“Alright, if you have any questions, they’ll kindly answer them. I wish I could stay here, but I’ll be busy for a while.”

“I see.”

“Anyways, welcome to Ashvilam.”

Byeong-gap sent Varmond back to his quarters. After that, he went straight to Gobung.

After dinner, the Goblins joined forces to clean up and were now ready to go to bed. He was able to find Gobung among them.

“Gobung.”

“Oh, yes, Lord!”

“Come here for a second.”

Gobung rushed towards him. There was no time left, so he brought up the subject right away.

“There are new kids.”

“Yes.”

“If tomorrow is bright, give them potions and engrave them their textbooks. Do you know where the potions and textbooks are?”

“I know!”

“Good good.”

Byeong-gap nodded his head with satisfaction and patted Gobung’s shoulder.

“You are going now. Are you?”

“Yeah, I should go.”

“When are you coming again?”

“Well, I don’t think I can come back for a while. I’m busy with work.”

“I’m sorry to hear that…”

“There’s not much time left. Please take care of the children until then.”

“Don’t worry! Don’t worry!”

“Okay, I’m leaving. Good night.”

“Good night! Good night!”

Byeong-gap smiled at him and left Ashvilam.

The forest was quiet where he fell. He looked around and checked if there was anyone who had seen him. Fortunately, there was no one around.

He went straight back to camp. Today was supply day, so several teams had gathered together again. As he returned to the tent, he saw several S-class hunters gossiping in one place.

‘Nothing’s changed.’

The massive Monster Wave incident in Africa had officially spread.

The association’s position was to carry on operations, and there seemed to be no room for reversal.

Hunters talked for hours about the issue.

“The government has blocked the hunters from leaving the country.”

“Huh? That’s not what I heard. I heard some guilds are recruiting dispatch, and some of them have already flown away.”

“I think they’re being ordered to go back home. It was also like that last time.”

“Aren’t we supposed to help? There… I know they don’t have the right infrastructure there, let alone enough Hunters.”

“But honestly, do they need any help? I heard they’re one of the poorest countries. They wouldn’t even be able to give out a proper reward, would they?”

“Why are you thinking about the money? We’re going to save people because they’re dying.”

“So, what’s the situation now? Does anybody know?”

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“I’ve heard that one country after another is going bankrupt.”

“Then there is no damage to Korea?”

Words poured out of over thirty mouths. Seeing all kinds of brainstorming ideas pouring in, it seemed like they couldn’t agree on one thing tonight.

Byeong-gap passed them and returned to his tent. He was also curious about the world’s situation. However, whether they liked it or not, they had to be tied up on North Korean soil until December 23. He concluded that there was nothing good to think about.

‘Let’s get some sleep.’

He fell asleep, hoping that the expedition would end soon.

***

The expedition was full of talk and trouble, but it went smoothly.

The news that reached them from outside from time to time was rather hideous, but it didn’t really affect the expedition.

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“Take the hot pack.”

“There are five today, aren’t there? That’s good because it was a little cold when I slept last night.”

November 30, the 69th day of the expedition.

Area 41 Recapture Complete, nothing special.

“Please eat.”

“Ah. Why did they give us wild vegetables bibimbap again? Damn association bastards!”

“Why do you keep eating it if you don’t like it?”

“What nonsense is that? Even just smelling it makes me vomit.”

December 6th, the 75th day of the expedition.

They recovered the 50th area back. Jeong Seon-kyung had a grudge against their food, but other than that, there were no problems.

“Wow, what is this? Is there a problem with the sky? What’s with all the snow?”

“I know. Tomorrow is the supply day.”

“I can’t even sleep because I’m covered in snow. What do we do, captain?”

“Well, we will march tonight. Everyone, get ready. We’re going straight to the supply point.”

December 15, the 84th day of the expedition.

They completed the recapture of Area 55, but there was a huge snowfall afterward. Group C boldly marched at night and managed to reach the supply point safely.

That was how their days went. As a result, the expedition, which seemed to last a lifetime, was already coming to an end.

“Finally the last supply, Mr. Byeong-gap.”

“I know.”

Byeong-gap received the last supply from Jang Yong-il.

Jang Yong-il’s expression became brighter after Jo Gwang-hoon had disappeared. Seeing this, Byeong-gap’s heart warmed up.

“Let’s stay on our toes until the end and get out safely.”

The final operation started with determination.

With the high ground in front of them, the attack squad of Group C performed their missions more enthusiastically.

“Kek!”

“Kyaep!”

The 56th, 57th, and 58th areas were swept away as if hit by bulldozers. The hunters advanced relentlessly, pulverizing all the monsters in their path.

“That’s really amazing.”

The porter, Jung Ho-yun, stuck out his tongue. All Byeong-gap could do was sympathize with his admiration.

‘All I can say is that they’re so carefree and strong.’

Even though he had seen it every day for the past three months, they still amazed him. The strength of the top 2% was truly great.

Could they even be placed in the same category as humans? He often thought that.

‘I’ve become very strong, but I can’t even imagine touching, let alone becoming, an S-rank like them… And if S-rank is like that, how strong is SS-level?’

At this point, even an SS-class hunter could cut the Pacific Ocean in half and it wouldn’t be unbelievable.

The night came just in time when they cleared Area 58 completely. Group C sat together and took the final roll call of the expedition.

“Tomorrow, we will be back at the base camp after finishing the last area, 59. We’ll wake up at 5 am.”

“May I ask you a question, sir?”

“Yeah. What is it, Han-gil?”

“Are we going to go back home as soon as we’re done? As far as I know, Group F’s progress is slower than other teams, so are we going to wait for all groups or not?”

Song Han-gil asked a very nice question.

Boo Young-geon hummed a few times before answering bluntly.

“I do not know. I don’t think it’s necessary. It’s not like the headquarters ordered us to support them.”

“Right, they’re behind due to their procrastination, so what can we do to help? All we have to do is finish our work.”

Jeong Seon-kyung also gave strength to Boo Young-geon’s opinion. The others had similar reactions as well.

Rather than earn a few more bucks, they all wanted to go back home and rest soon. It was the same with Byeong-gap, who could live without money.

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“If you don’t have any more questions, I’ll call it a day. Have a good night’s sleep, and I hope you finish your work well tomorrow. And…”

Boo Young-geon hesitated. There was a little embarrassment on his face.

“And you’ve had a hard time keeping up with your poor leader. I’m sorry, and thank you again.”

All the members of the crew had blank expressions on their faces. How could such words come out of that blunt human’s mouth?

There was silence for a moment, and then words of encouragement poured in.

“The captain worked hard, too!”

“Aigoo, what are you lacking? Thanks to the captain, things went smoothly.”

“Yes. Well, sometimes I didn’t like it, but you did a pretty good job.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

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Byeong-gap quietly added a word. The roll call ended in a friendly atmosphere.

“Ko Byeong-gap, cigarettes.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Before going to bed, Byeong-gap came out to smoke with Jeong Seon-kyung for a while. Today and tomorrow would be the last time he would face her for cigarettes.

“Ha… This is finally over. I’ve had enough of it.”

“It’s not technically over yet.”

“Hey hey hey, don’t break the mood.”

Jeong Seon-kyung frowned. Byeong-gap asked a question while he gave an innocent laugh.

“By the way, if we clear Area 59, will we go home right away?”

“I don’t know. We could be sent to another place to get rid of monsters or deal with a crack. Oh, I wish they wouldn’t do that.”

“Listening to you, I don’t think they’re going to let us go.”

“Oh, Ko Byeong-gap. Do you have a paper and a pen?”

“Paper? Yes.”

Byeong-gap rummaged through his waist pouch. He took out a small notepad and pen from inside and handed it to her.

Jeong Seon-kyung scribbled something on the pad and held it out to him.

“That’s my cellphone number. Call me when you’re done with the expedition. Let’s have a drink.”

“Are you buying it, noona?”

“Ha? That’s ridiculous. Is a woman supposed to pay for drinks?”

“There’s no such thing in the world these days. The rich people pay.”

“You pay for the drinks, I’ll pay for the hotel.”

“What? What hotel?”

Byeong-gap didn’t understand what she was saying, but a few seconds later, his face turned red as he pondered her words.

“Bah, what did you just say?”

“Hahahaha! Look at your red face! I’m just kidding, you idiot! Hahaha!”

Jeong Seon-kyung laughed her head off as Byeong-gap chewed on his cigarette filter to kill his blush.

“I thought you were a player, but you had a hard time with that. Anyway, just call me. Noona will buy you everything, no matter what.”

“…Yeah. I’m going to pull out all the stops.”

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Byeong-gap seriously thought about bringing all the 400 Goblins for a feast.

He looked up at the sky, shaking off the burnt-out cigarette butts. North Korea’s sky without any lights revealed tens of thousands of bright, twinkling stars.

“Everything will be fine tomorrow, right?”

“What’s the big deal? We can just do what we’ve been doing. You’re hiding well in the back. Don’t get hurt while we’re running around.”

“I’ll be hiding even if you didn’t say so, so be careful.”

“Hehe. Be careful? Isn’t it unfair to die young at the age of thirty? It’s cold. Let’s go in.”

“Yes.”

Group C was peaceful. There was no significant concern or tension left over the final operation because they had been doing well for the past three months and thought the rest of the day would be the same as usual.

But…

Byeong-gap, who was drunk in the shadow of comfort, forgot about their reality…

‘What is this…’

The land of the north, where the cold wind blew.

A severed body was scattered on the frozen soil; the spilled blood soaked in the ground and turned it red.

“Argh!”

“Hey!”

“Make contact to the radio at HQ right now! Now!”

“Headquarters, headquarters, reinforcements, right now! Need troops at Area 59-4!”

Reality was harsh.