CHAPTER 17

Quest Reward (3)

Busan (釜山).

The region was so mountainous that its very name contained the character for "mountain" (山).

During the Korean War, countless refugees flooded into Busan, leading to a distinctive phenomenon: entire communities forming on the mountainsides.

What started as makeshift shantytowns gradually became permanent settlements, transforming into the city's signature hillside neighborhoods.

Because of the densely packed houses covering the mountains, Busan became a maze of narrow alleyways.

"Run!"

Ha Dong-gun's party was racing through a narrow alley, with dozens of goblins shrieking as they chased after them.

Despite their small stature, the goblins were frighteningly fast, and the distance between them and the party was steadily shrinking.

Then, at the very rear of the group, Kang Deok-su suddenly turned around and roared.

"You bastards!"

Wooong!

A brilliant white light flashed, revealing Kang Deok-su clad in radiant full-body armor, wielding a gleaming halberd.

"Hup!"

He lunged at an incoming goblin, thrusting his halberd forward.

Squelch!

"Screeech!"

The goblin was impaled, its blood spraying as it was sent flying into the air.

But taking down a single goblin wasn't going to change anything.

The true threat of goblins lay in their ability to swarm and overwhelm their enemies.

"Kieeek—!"

"Kyah!"

Two goblins attacked Kang Deok-su simultaneously from both sides.

One of them even carried a sharp butcher's knife, making it particularly dangerous.

However—

Clang!

"Kik?"

"Gack!"

The goblins' claws and knives were utterly ineffective against Kang Deok-su's full-body armor.

"Die!"

Slash!

Each time he swung his halberd, a goblin's life was mercilessly taken.

Blood sprayed in all directions.

Slice!

After losing several comrades, the goblins finally realized that attacking Kang Deok-su was pointless. Clever as they were, they quickly switched tactics.

They ignored him entirely and dashed past him instead.

"You little punks!"

Kang Deok-su tried to block the narrow alleyway, but he was only one man.

Squelch!

For every goblin he cut down, three or four slipped past him, closing in on the rest of the party.

"Kikik!"

The goblins cackled as they escaped Kang Deok-su's range, but their laughter was short-lived.

Thunk!

An arrow shot straight through one of their heads, instantly killing it.

"Don't worry about the ones slipping past!"

"Got it!"

Even if a few goblins managed to get by, the relentless barrage of arrows ensured that they wouldn't live for long.

Thanks to that, Kang Deok-su could go all out without worry.

"Come at me!"

Slash!

Protected by his sturdy armor, he swung his weapon with impunity.

Seeing their numbers dwindle to barely a dozen, the goblins' confidence began to waver.

More than half of them had already been wiped out by Ha Dong-gun's party.

"Kiiik! Kiik!"

"Kiiiieeek—!"

Sensing their impending doom, the goblins tried to flee.

But their escape route had already been cut off.

From the opposite alleyway, a black beast appeared, blocking their path.

"Grrrrr!"

O Won-ju, who had momentarily left to deal with another group of goblins, had returned.

Now surrounded on both sides, the goblins had no chance of survival.

What followed was nothing short of a massacre.

"Kyaaaak!"

"Kiiiiiik!"

From the front, a human in gleaming silver armor swung his spear, while from behind, a monstrous black beast tore them apart.

In this cramped alleyway, the goblins had nowhere to run or hide.

Even if they tried, arrows would hunt them down with pinpoint precision.

"Kiiiiek!"

It took mere seconds for the remaining goblins to be wiped out.

[Citizen O Won-ju has completed the quest.]

'Nice. This time it worked.'

After several experiments, they had finally pinpointed the threshold where goblin hunting wouldn't incur any extra costs.

'So I need to hunt exactly 100 goblins just to break even? That's tougher than expected.'

They were testing when the base quest cost of 30,000 won would disappear.

For 10 goblins, the cost was around 23,000 won.

For 30 goblins, it was about 15,000 won.

Somewhere between 30 and 100 goblins was the break-even point.

[Citizen O Won-ju has used up all available daily quests.]

[Evaluating quests completed by Citizen O Won-ju…]

[······ Evaluating ······]

Even while reading the notifications, he kept Absolute Eye active.

By now, he was so used to it that he could even eat while maintaining the skill.

Slurp—

He calmly ate his ramen while watching Ha Dong-gun's party.

They encountered a few more goblin packs along the way, but none posed a threat.

O Won-ju's overwhelming combat prowess made sure of that.

Although Kang Deok-su and Moon Byung-ho also did well, they simply couldn't compare.

O Won-ju alone had slain over 140 goblins.

'Ridiculous.'

In her beast-like transformed state, she tore through goblins like an actual monster.

It was no wonder Ha Dong-gun's group initially mistook her for an enemy.

At this rate, they would reach Moon Byung-ho's grandmother's house without issue.

And then—

[Citizen Kim Ga-young has completed the quest.]

[Quest cost: 2,142 won deducted.]

"Two thousand won?"

O Won-ju wasn't the only one receiving quests.

Ha Dong-gun's entire party had been given identical quests to hunt 10 goblins.

Same conditions, same time limit, same rewards, same penalties.

Yet the cost difference between O Won-ju and Kim Ga-young's quests was massive.

Even though he had expected some discrepancy, the gap was larger than anticipated.

'This confirms it. Quest efficiency varies significantly depending on the participant's skill level.'

O Won-ju, at level 33, had to hunt dozens of goblins just to break even.

Meanwhile, Kim Ga-young could achieve the same result with barely a dozen kills.

'Kim Ga-young, new quest: Hunt 13 goblins.'

Just as he adjusted the quest parameters—

[Evaluation complete.]

O Won-ju's daily quest review had finished.

[132,966 won has been deposited into the Absolute Homebody's wallet.]

'Huh?'

This was unexpected.

When assigning Kang Deok-su physical training quests, the reward was always "a small increase in strength."

Since O Won-ju's quest was about hunting goblins, he had assumed the reward would be "a small amount of experience."

But instead, it was a large cash payout.

'Is the additional reward randomized?'

It actually made sense.

Unlike simple exercises, hunting 140 goblins was a significant achievement.

'A bigger challenge means a bigger reward, huh?'

Just as he was about to brush it off—

[Citizen Moon Byung-ho has completed the quest.]

[Quest cost: 40,930 won deducted.]

Unlike the others, Moon Byung-ho's quest required him to teleport 10 times, with the reward being teleportation mastery.

He was the only one given a skill-based quest to accelerate his growth.

[Evaluating Moon Byung-ho's completed quests…]

[······ Evaluating ······]

'What kind of reward will this one bring?'

Since all his quests were related to skills, the reward would likely improve teleportation proficiency.

But then—

[Jackpot!]

[Congratulations.]

[You have obtained a skill point.]

'…Wait, what?'

He stared blankly at the notification.

'I can get skill points from this?'

Checking his status screen, he confirmed it.

[Available skill points: 1]

A grin spread across his face.

"This is huge."