CHAPTER 12

Goblin Hunt (2)

Choi Hyung-jun, having come down to the first floor, was drenched in cold sweat, his entire body trembling like a leaf.

Yoo Hye-rin, watching him with concern, spoke to him.

"Sir, are you really okay?"

"I-I-I'm f-fine!"

He didn't look fine at all.

"Sir! Don't worry! You're a man, so you must have been to the military, right? Okay?"

Kang Deok-su, patting him on the shoulder in encouragement, looked at him expectantly.

"…I was exempt."

"???"

Kang Deok-su scanned Choi Hyung-jun from head to toe, then asked sincerely,

"With that body?"

At over 180 cm tall and with a robust physique, he could easily be mistaken for an athlete.

An exemption? For someone like this?

Seeing Kang Deok-su's bewildered expression, Choi Hyung-jun quickly explained.

"T-this is all fat. I used to be even worse. It's not muscle."

"Come on…"

No matter how you looked at it, it was definitely muscle.

"Focus."

At that moment, the team's leader, Ha Dong-geon, gathered everyone's attention.

"The briefing starts now."

They were in the first-floor hallway.

Before entering the goblins' stronghold—the underground parking lot—it was time for one final strategy check.

"The ultimate goal of the driven hunt is to lure as many goblins as possible up to the 30th floor."

They had already experienced the existence of the transparent wall on the 30th floor once before.

Just before receiving their citizenship, Kang Deok-su had swung his bat against the transparent wall to test its strength.

Thanks to that, they were sure.

"The goblins don't have the strength to break through the transparent wall. On the other hand, we can attack them from within."

That made the purpose of this operation clear.

"Our job is to lure as many goblins as possible up to the 30th floor."

Ha Dong-geon pointed toward the emergency stairwell leading down to the basement.

"For that reason, we will attack both B1 and B2 simultaneously."

Kim Jae-hyun, who had assigned them this mission, had even considered repeating the driven hunt multiple times.

Since goblins were cunning, he planned to lure in as many as possible, even if it meant overexerting themselves in the first attempt.

The strategy was simple.

"We split into two teams—one will provoke the goblins on B1 first, then lure those on B2."

The key to the plan was that the team on B1 had to hold off the goblin wave until the B2 team could make it back up.

Everyone turned to look at Choi Hyung-jun.

It was only natural—his role was to use the emergency stairwell's steel door as a shield to hold back the goblins on B1.

No one knew exactly why, but Kim Jae-hyun had specifically ordered that this role be assigned to him.

Given his size, it was an optimal role.

Just then, Kim Gun quietly raised his hand.

"Speak."

"…What if more goblins show up than we expected? Won't we end up trapped on the 30th floor?"

Kim Ga-young waved the bow in her hand dismissively.

"That would actually be perfect for us. As long as we're safe, I can take them all out by myself."

"Ga-young's right. We have bows, and a horde of goblins stuck behind the transparent wall is just a shooting range for us."

Kim Gun glanced at the group, as if questioning whether they truly believed that.

Then, he struck at the core issue.

"…What about the bodies? …A mountain of goblin corpses will pile up. How do we deal with that?"

"..."

"…If the corpses pile up too much, we might not be able to move at all."

A heavy silence fell over the group.

Then, Moon Byung-ho casually spoke up.

"He will take care of it somehow."

Choi Hyung-jun nodded in agreement.

"That's right. If it's him, he'll handle it. Besides, I don't think it'll even become a problem. This is his plan, after all."

Kim Gun looked at the two of them with displeasure.

And then—

"Kiik?"

A familiar sound made them turn their heads.

At the far end of the hallway, three goblins were staring at them blankly.

The first to react was Kim Ga-young.

Thwip!

After ten days of relentless encounters with goblins, her body now reacted instinctively.

"Screee—aaagh!"

Thunk!

Two arrows pierced straight through the foreheads of two goblins.

And then—

Thud!

The last one was taken down by Kang Deok-su, who had already rushed forward and swung his bat at its head.

Kim Gun looked on in disbelief.

"…Senior. Then why did you even bring a bow?"

"Oh? Yeah, huh?"

Kang Deok-su wiped the blood off his bat and muttered,

"I did it without thinking…"

"Huh?"

Just then, Kim Ga-young murmured in shock.

"…They're disappearing."

"What is?"

Kim Ga-young immediately pulled out her phone and turned on the flashlight.

"!!!"

Under the beam of light, the goblin corpses were vanishing in real time.

"…This is…"

Kim Gun, astounded, looked toward Moon Byung-ho.

Moon Byung-ho smiled knowingly and said,

"See? That's how he handles it. He answered your question directly."

Kim Gun opened and closed his mouth, unable to respond.

[Citizen Ha Dong-geon's trust level has increased.]

[Citizen Kim Ga-young's trust level has increased.]

[Citizen Yoo Hye-rin's trust level has increased.]

…

…

From the Absolute One's perspective, Ha Dong-geon's party's situation was being monitored in real time.

Just in case, he had opened his eyes—and sure enough, the entire party's trust level had risen significantly.

Now, he could even check messages while using the Absolute One's Sight.

At first, the overlapping vision had been disorienting, but he had since learned to split his awareness like using a dual monitor.

Watching their astonishment, he thought,

'That was lucky.'

It wasn't intentional, but thanks to Kim Gun's question and the goblins appearing right on cue, the timing made it seem as if he had responded to them directly.

As if he had been watching them and made the goblin corpses disappear in response to Kim Gun's question.

'Well, I was watching, so…'

Because of this—

[Citizen Moon Byung-ho's trust level has reached 50.]

[Loyalty has been unlocked.]

[Citizen Moon Byung-ho's loyalty has surpassed 30.]

[Citizen Moon Byung-ho has met the conditions for vassal registration.]

Moon Byung-ho, whose trust had already been rising rapidly, had now surpassed 50.

'In just a few hours…'

He had already fulfilled the requirements to become a vassal.

Ha Dong-geon's party was growing in trust quickly, but they still had a long way to go before reaching 50.

The common factor between Choi Hyung-jun's family and Moon Byung-ho was that both had been psychologically unstable.

Since he had personally filled their emotional void, it had a direct impact.

'Either way, this is good. The faster I gain vassals, the quicker my growth… Wait, what?'

Checking Moon Byung-ho's citizen info, he couldn't help but gasp.

[Name: Moon Byung-ho (Lv. 10)]

Trust: 55Loyalty: 88

'What the hell…?'

He had expected maybe 40 or 50.

But 88?

'…Well, it's not a bad thing.'

In fact, it was great.

It meant there was now someone completely devoted to him.

'Looks like I found the perfect moment to register my next vassal.'