Kill the goblins

Ash woke up the next morning with a sore body from sleeping on the hard cave ground, and the morning felt cold. The bonfire in front of him was already dead.

He looked out of the cave and found that the rain had stopped.

Ash got up and then came out of the cave carrying a backpack containing items from the pile of things in the cave, which he thought would be useful for him on the trip. 

He had collected 40 items, but most of the contents of the backpack were foods and drinks, so that number would definitely decrease due to his consumption.

While walking, his mind returned to the system screen he read last night.

[You will be able to return to the real world after you reach level 100.]

He remembered that he couldn't get out of the castle until the damn system allowed him to.

'This is crazy. What if my mother finds out that I'm missing and she falls ill...' he thought worriedly.

Ash walked and was lost in thought.

Subconsciously he looked up at a fairly large tree and saw a bird's nest. His eyes saw something sparkling among the straw and dry leaves that made up the nest.

'Is that one of the gems referred to by the system?' he asked himself.

He climbed the tree curiously. When he arrived at the nest, sure enough, he saw a sparkling blue rectangular gem. He took it and looked at the gem.

Thing.

[You obtained a Blue Gem.]

[Total Gemstones: 1]

'Finally, I found one,' he grinned happily.

Krieek! Krik! Krieekkkk!

Suddenly he heard sounds like several large crickets calling each other.

He looked under the tree, and his body immediately stiffened.

Some dwarfish creatures, green in color, and having pointed ears, walked under the tree while talking to each other. They wear animal skins to cover their private parts.

'Goblins!'

The group of green dwarfs walking beneath him was very similar to the ones he remembered from the games he had played.

Ash didn't dare move until the goblins were no longer visible.

He was sitting on a branch with a limp body. He put the blue gem in his backpack with a trembling hand.

Goblins are group creatures. If there are several goblins in one area, it means their nest is not far from where they roam.

And the goblins would not hesitate to attack him, especially if there were many of them.

'What a troublesome game,' he thought.

Ash looked around, and saw smoke seemingly from a campfire, rising into the sky.

'It can't be from a goblin. Goblins are afraid of fire.'

After considering for a moment, he decided to go towards the smoke.

'Who knows, maybe there are other players. At least, another human.'

He climbed down the tree carefully. After arriving at the ground, he looked right and left, then walked towards the smoke.

***

Unfortunately for Ash, he encountered the ruins of buildings that looked like wooden houses and fences surrounding the ruins, which were used as nests by the goblins.

Ash climbed up to the top of one of the trees and watched them.

Dozens of goblins, male and female, acted like humans in the nest.

They chatted, joked, and even fought. The difference is, that they don't cook their food, they just tear and cut the meat they hunt, then eat it straight away.

Ash shuddered seeing them eating raw meat that was still bleeding fresh.

However, he felt even more nauseous because he saw some of the goblins gnawing on body parts in the shape of human hands and feet.

He tried his best not to vomit. The goblins might catch him if they heard him.

Finally, he managed to calm himself down and not vomit. 

Just as he was about to get down from the tree and leave that place, he saw a pile of colorful gemstones lying carelessly near one of the buildings in the center of the nest.

'If I can get that many, I will finish the game sooner.'

Ash was hesitant to leave or take the gemstones. He thought and thought.

He decided to take the gemstones, but would not face the goblins who were much more numerous.

He didn't have any clue of where the goblins got the gemstones. All he needed was to leave this fucking game ASAP. He wanted to quickly return to his mother.

But he will use tactics.

***

Ash stayed in the tree for two days. He only comes down if he wants to fulfill his basic needs. The rest he did in the trees. Eat and sleep.

He observed the movements of every goblin there. Until he discovered the habit patterns of these goblins.

'I am a Hunter after all,' he thought. 'Not all Hunters will hunt their prey head-on. They can also use other strategies such as traps.'

***

Ash straightened his jacket and continued to observe the goblins with binoculars that he got from the cave.

He had piled up some of the wild animals he had managed to hunt, at the entrances to those houses. And the goblins greeted the gift warmly by feasting on their meats.

At night, the goblins would go straight to sleep after they were full. 

Several goblins would patrol the nest. And Ash found out that they patrolled in groups of three to five people.

This was his chance.

"Activate Shadow Dance," Ash mumbled.

Ting.

[Skill Shadow Dance.]

[Status: Activated.]

Ash climbed down from the tree and began to sneak among the ruined buildings.

The Shadow Dance skill had a stealth feature that could help him approach his prey without being noticed.

But this skill was not a skill for stealing like Theft has. This skill could only be activated if there was prey.

So he had to do something about the goblins.

Ash placed all the dry leaves and twigs he had collected on the sides of all the goblins' houses, and the wooden fence that surrounded the place.

When he was finished, he started burning each house with the matches he brought. 

He ran back to the tree where he left his things.

And wait.

Not long after, the fire started to grow bigger, reaching the roofs of the ruins.

The goblins who had been sleeping, woke up and started screaming frantically.

They tried to get out of the ruined building, but Ash had placed stone or wooden blocks on all the exits and windows of the ruins.

The fire grew and burned all the wooden buildings, as well as the goblins inside.