CHAPTER 22

Expansion of Power (4)

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Baek Seung-min was sprinting through the underground parking lot as if his life depended on it.

"Kiiik!"

"Kyahhh!"

"Kkigik—! Kkigigik!"

Behind him, a swarm of goblins—more than dozens—were chasing him in a chaotic mob.

'Damn it!'

Whether they picked them up somewhere or made them themselves, the goblins were wielding kitchen knives, scissors, and other sharp implements, making them terrifying to behold.

Just brushing against the bloodstained, dust-caked blades they carried looked dangerous enough.

'Just a little more, just a little more!'

The goal was within reach.

"Kkiiiik!"

He could feel the goblins closing in right behind him.

Sensing the imminent danger, Baek Seung-min used all his strength to jump.

Taat—!

The entrance to the first basement level of the apartment complex.

The moment he threw himself through it—

"Hey! Stab them!"

"Hooop!"

"Whoa, you brought a lot of them."

Three men who had been crouched against a wall suddenly revealed themselves.

Each of them was armed with a weapon that resembled a spear—a crude contraption made by attaching a kitchen knife to a long pole.

But even such makeshift weapons were enough to hunt goblins.

Pwoook!

"Kkiiieeek!"

"Oof!"

The goblins charged forward, completely unfazed by their comrades being slaughtered beside them.

That was their way.

When one goblin died, another would immediately leap at the enemy to scratch, bite, and tear.

Overwhelming enemies with sheer numbers, even if they were much stronger—that was how goblins hunted.

However—

Tung! Kaga-kak!

"Keek?"

"Keek?!"

Their reckless charge was halted by an invisible barrier.

The attack, executed at the cost of their comrades' lives, was completely blocked by an unseen force.

Pwoook! Puk! Puk!

Meanwhile, the three men inside the transparent barrier continued stabbing the goblins relentlessly.

The goblins, now crushed between the barrier and the chaotic mass of their own kind, had no room to escape.

Like a claw machine picking out stuffed toys, the men chose and killed goblins at will.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

"Kkeeeekk!"

"Kieeeek!"

They executed the goblins with mechanical efficiency, as if it were second nature.

When about half of the goblins had fallen, the remaining ones began to flee.

"Hey, hey! Look! That one's running!"

"These bastards are trying to escape!"

"Just stab anywhere!"

As soon as the goblins turned to run, the men boldly stepped out of the transparent barrier.

The goblins, having lost their fighting spirit, were too busy fleeing to put up any real resistance. One after another, they fell to the crude spears without even managing a counterattack.

"Hey! Watch this."

One of the men spoke as he finished off a goblin.

"Hup!"

He threw his makeshift spear with all his might.

The spear flew several meters and struck a fleeing goblin in the back.

"Keaaaak!"

"Nice! You saw that, right?"

"Boss, nice shot~."

There was no trace of fear toward the goblins in the men's expressions.

If anything, they seemed overly relaxed.

It was no surprise—they had repeated this kind of hunt multiple times.

On the fifth day since the Goblin Quest appeared, the four of them, including Baek Seung-min, had already completed the quest to kill ten goblins using this method.

The man who had thrown the spear turned to the others and asked,

"Hey, how many have you guys killed?"

"Hold on. Hmm. I'm at twenty-two."

"I beat you. I'm at twenty-four."

They were referring to the number of goblins recorded in their quest log.

After completing the initial quest to kill ten goblins, they immediately received another similar quest—to kill one hundred goblins.

Unlike the first quest, the second one had no penalties, so it wasn't too burdensome.

It was more of a way to keep count of their kills.

The man with the spear did a quick calculation in his head and spoke.

"So, the three of us together have already killed over a hundred?"

"For real? Already?"

"Wow. At first, I thought killing a hundred would take forever."

At that moment, Baek Seung-min, who had been catching his breath, protested.

"Haah, fuck! Seung-yeop hyung! You said there would only be a dozen at most!"

When Baek Seung-min snapped at him, Baek Seung-yeop responded irritably.

"What's your problem now, huh?"

"Does that look like a dozen to you?!"

"Close enough."

"...Fuck."

Baek Seung-yeop simply grinned and patted his younger brother's back.

The force of the pat was anything but gentle.

"Hey, everything turned out fine, didn't it? What's your problem? We're about to get a new house."

"I almost died because of you!"

"Ha. Kid."

Baek Seung-yeop scowled.

"Who came up with this hunting method?"

"..."

"Me."

Without waiting for an answer, he continued.

"I made the strategy, the twins made the spears... and you agreed to be the bait, right? You said you were confident in running fast?"

"That's..."

"In the end, no one got hurt, and it all worked out fine. So what exactly is your issue? You want out of the team? We're already over a hundred kills without you."

"..."

Sensing the tension rising, the twin brothers, Moon Ji-hoon and Moon Sang-hoon, stepped in to defuse the situation.

"Seung-yeop hyung, just let it go. Seung-min did well."

"Yeah, Seung-min was great as bait. He ran crazy fast!"

"Agreed. Like Usain Bolt~."

With their teasing, Baek Seung-yeop's scowl softened.

"Haah. This kid really pisses me off. Where does he get off swearing at his hyung?"

As the mood lightened, Moon Ji-hoon nudged Baek Seung-min.

"Hey, Seung-min. C'mon, you went too far swearing at your hyung. Apologize."

Baek Seung-min lowered his head and mumbled,

"...Sorry."

Baek Seung-yeop ignored him and picked up his spear.

"Whatever. Let's head to the 21st floor. Time to get our new place."

"Out with the old~ in with the new~."

They were certain they were the first team to kill a hundred goblins.

However, reality was slightly different from their expectations.

"I'm sorry, but another team has already received the reward before you."

"...Someone killed a hundred goblins before us?"

"Yes."

Baek Seung-yeop chuckled in disbelief.

"Come on, Da-bin. You're messing with us, right? Not funny. Just give us our house."

"I'm not joking."

Kim Da-bin smiled and pointed.

"They're coming right now. The team that beat you to it."

Baek Seung-yeop and his group turned to look.

A muscular man, a middle-aged man with a composed air, and a cheerful-looking woman were approaching.

Baek Seung-yeop involuntarily took a step back, overwhelmed by their presence.

Kim Da-bin turned to the muscular man, Kim Min-ho, and asked,

"How did it go?"

To be continued...