CHAPTER 22

 Expansion of Power (4)

"Huff! Huff! Huff!"

Baek Seung-min was sprinting desperately through the underground parking lot.

"Screech!"

"Kyahhh!"

"Kreee—! Kreeeek!"

Behind him, a swarm of goblins—more than a few dozen—were chasing in a frenzied pack.

"Damn it!"

The sight of the goblins wielding kitchen knives and scissors, likely scavenged from somewhere, was pure horror.

Even a mere graze from their blood-and-dust-caked blades looked dangerous.

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

The goal was in sight.

"Kiieeek!"

He could feel them right on his back.

Sensing the imminent danger instinctively, Baek Seung-min mustered all his strength and leaped.

Thud!

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

The moment he threw himself through it—

"Now! Stab them!"

"Inhale—!"

"Whoa, you really lured a lot of them in."

Three men who had been crouched against one of the walls suddenly emerged.

Each of them wielded a makeshift spear—long poles with kitchen knives attached to the ends.

Crude as they were, they were more than enough to hunt goblins.

Thud!

"Squaaawk!"

"Gotcha!"

The goblins paid no heed to their dying kin, charging recklessly toward the humans in front of them.

That was their way.

For every fallen goblin, another would lunge at the enemy, slashing and biting.

Their strategy was sheer numbers—overwhelming even stronger foes through relentless sacrifice.

But—

Thunk! Clang!

"Krrrk?"

"Kreee?!"

The goblins' charge was abruptly halted by an invisible barrier.

Their all-out attack, paid for with their comrades' lives, was stopped cold by an unknown force.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Meanwhile, the three men inside the barrier continued skewering goblins with ease.

Trapped between the invisible wall and their own frenzied allies, the goblins had nowhere to run, making them easy prey—like dolls in a claw machine, picked off one by one.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

"Graaaghh!"

"Kiieeek!"

The men dispatched them with mechanical precision, as if they had done this countless times before.

By the time nearly half of the goblins had been slaughtered, the remaining ones started to realize the situation and attempted to flee.

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

"These bastards are making a break for it!"

"Just stab wherever you can!"

As the goblins began their retreat, the men boldly stepped beyond the barrier.

The goblins, having lost their fighting spirit, were too focused on escaping, offering little resistance before being skewered by the makeshift spears.

"Hey! I've got something fun to show you."

One of the men spoke as they finished off the fleeing goblins.

"Hheup!"

He hurled the crude spear with all his might.

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

"Kkyaaaek!"

"Nice! Did you see that? You saw that, right?"

"Boss, nice shot~."

There wasn't a trace of fear toward the goblins in the men's expressions.

If anything, they looked overly relaxed.

And for good reason—this wasn't their first time hunting like this.

It had been five days since the Goblin Quest appeared, and the four people here, including Baek Seung-min, had already completed the quest to hunt ten goblins using this method.

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

"Hey, how many have you all taken down?"

"Hold on. Hmm… I'm at twenty-two."

"I win, then. I've got twenty-four."

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

Once the initial quest to hunt ten goblins was completed, a similar follow-up quest was given.

This one required them to kill 100 goblins, but unlike the first quest, there was no penalty, so there was no pressure.

It was just a way to keep count of how many they had slain.

The man holding the spear muttered to himself while doing some quick calculations, then said,

"So, just the three of us alone have already taken down over a hundred?"

"For real? Already?"

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

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

"Haah, fuck, Seung-yeop hyung! You said there were at most a dozen or so!"

When Baek Seung-min snapped at him, Baek Seung-yeop responded in an irritated tone.

"What's your problem now, huh?"

"Do those look like a dozen to you?"

"They seemed about right to me."

"Haah… fuck."

Baek Seung-yeop then flashed a big, easygoing smile and patted his younger brother on the back—though not lightly.

"Come on, everything worked out fine. What's the big deal? We're even getting a new home soon."

"I almost died because of you!"

"Ha. Little bro."

Baek Seung-yeop frowned and said,

"Who came up with this hunting method?"

"…"

"Me."

He continued speaking as if he hadn't expected an answer.

"I made the strategy, the twins made the spears… and you agreed to be the bait, didn't you? Said you were fast enough to handle it?"

"That was…"

"In the end, no one got hurt, and everything went smoothly. So what's your problem? If you don't like it, should I kick you out of the team? Even without you, we've already taken down over 100."

"…"

As the atmosphere grew tense, the twin brothers, Moon Ji-hoon and Moon Sang-hoon, quickly stepped in to defuse the situation.

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

"Yeah, Seung-min was great as the bait. Dude's seriously fast."

"For real, thought he was Usain Bolt~."

Hearing their playful remarks, Baek Seung-yeop finally relaxed his expression.

"Phew. This brat really pisses me off sometimes. Cursing at your hyung like that?"

Sensing that the tension was easing, Moon Ji-hoon nudged Baek Seung-min and urged him,

"Seung-min, come on. Yeah, cursing at your hyung was a bit much~. Apologize already."

Still looking down, Baek Seung-min mumbled,

"…Sorry."

Baek Seung-yeop didn't even glance at his brother as he grabbed his spear.

"Whatever. Let's go up to the 21st floor. Time to claim our new place."

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

Confident that they were the first team to slay 100 goblins, they stepped into the elevator.

However, reality didn't quite match their expectations.

"Sorry, but another team has already claimed the reward."

"…A team beat us to 100?"

"Yes."

Baek Seung-yeop let out a dry chuckle.

"Oh, Davin. You're just trying to mess with us, aren't you? It's not funny. Stop joking and hand over the house already."

"I'm not joking."

With a bright smile, Kim Davin continued speaking.

"They're actually coming over right now—the team that defeated 100 goblins before you did."

Baek Seung-yeop and his group turned their heads to see the team Kim Davin was referring to.

Approaching them were a muscular man, a middle-aged man with a dignified aura, and a woman who looked like she enjoyed chatting.

Overwhelmed by the presence they exuded, Baek Seung-yeop unconsciously took a step back.

Kim Davin spoke to the muscular man, Kim Min-ho.

"How did it go?"

"It's settled. We gave up on getting a new house, but instead, they agreed to supply our house and Ji-ho's place with electricity, food, and other essentials. Also, Ji-ho's daughters are exempt from doing quests."

"Huh? Weren't Ji-ho's daughters minors? Minors should already be exempt from quests, right?"

The answer came from Nam Ji-ho himself.

"They're both adults."

"Ah, I see."

Nam Ji-ho's wife, Moon Hae-ri, chuckled as she spoke.

"Hehe, our kids do look young for their age. They take after their mom."

"R-right? Haha."

"If they take after me, they should be good at archery too. But their dad here worries about them too much."

Honestly, Baek Seung-yeop thought they resembled Nam Ji-ho more, but he chose to keep that thought to himself.

Just then, as if he had just remembered, Kim Min-ho spoke up.

"Oh, right. We also made a deal to get a supply of bows and arrows from Ji-ho's place."

The compound bows that Nam Ji-ho and Moon Hae-ri had were originally just borrowed until the goblin hunt was over.

Hearing that they were now receiving them permanently, Kim Davin tilted her head in curiosity.

"Bows and arrows? Are you planning to keep hunting goblins?"

"Yeah. Mr. Jaehyun personally asked us to clear out some more goblins in the area. Those damn goblins—no matter how many we kill, they just keep coming."

Baek Seung-yeop, who had been quietly listening to the siblings' conversation, suddenly interjected.

"Wait a second. Isn't this favoritism? You guys are insiders, and on top of that, you're getting extra bows and arrows? This isn't fair!"

Hearing Baek Seung-yeop's fiery protest, Kim Min-ho clapped his hands and turned to his sister.

"Oh, that reminds me! He actually said something similar. He mentioned that it might seem unfair… so he decided to give similar benefits to the second and third-place teams as well. He wants them sent to the 30th floor."

"Really?"

With a businesslike smile, Kim Davin turned to Baek Seung-yeop.

"You heard that, right? That works out well for you. Why don't you and your party head up to the 30th floor? He's waiting for you."

"…Fine."

Although Baek Seung-yeop was full of complaints, he chose not to voice them.

After all, all he really cared about was securing a house with electricity, water, and gas.

"Let's go."

♩♬―

[21st floor.]

[Doors opening.]

The moment they got into the elevator, Baek Seung-yeop let out his frustration to his teammates.

"Ha! From what I heard, he's younger than us, but everyone keeps calling him 'that person' with such extreme honorifics. Isn't that ridiculously funny?"

"Seriously. Pfft. What, does he think he's Jesus or something?"

"Jesus? More like a cult leader."

"Yeah! That's exactly it!"

As the twins eagerly agreed with Baek Seung-yeop, Baek Seung-min suddenly threw out a comment.

"Not sure if you guys even have the right to say that when you're literally being protected by his power."

"…"

"Besides, aren't you going there just to impress that person right now?"

The atmosphere inside the elevator froze in an instant.

"Hey, you…"

Just as Baek Seung-yeop was about to say something more—

♩♬―

[30th floor.]

[Doors opening.]

They had arrived on the 30th floor.

"…I'll see you later."

As Baek Seung-yeop stepped out of the elevator and reached to press the doorbell—

Click.

The front door opened.

A man stood in the doorway, exuding an overwhelming presence that made it impossible to approach.

The sheer force of his existence made it difficult to breathe.

"Nice to meet you."

Gulp.

Now that he was face-to-face with him, the arrogance Baek Seung-yeop had displayed in the elevator vanished without a trace.

Standing before the man, he naturally adopted a respectful posture, lowering himself slightly.

"I'm… Baek Seung-yeop."

The man smiled faintly and spoke.

"I've seen the remarkable work of you and your companions. Your method of hunting efficiently using a transparent barrier was quite impressive."

Baek Seung-yeop was taken aback.

"H-how does he know that?"

The hunting technique he had discovered was slowly gaining recognition among survivors.

However, it was still something only a select few knew about.

He never expected someone living in comfort on the 30th floor to be aware of it.

As he struggled with his confusion, the man continued speaking.

"I will ensure that electricity, water, and gas are supplied to units 1301 and 1502 immediately."

Those were the homes of Baek Seung-yeop and his twin companions.

They weren't receiving new residences, but that didn't matter.

What they truly needed was not new housing, but homes with functional utilities.

In fact, having those utilities restored to their original homes was an even better outcome.

"I-is that really possible?"

"Of course."

"But I thought we had to find and bring in other survivors to make that happen…"

"You all have hunted 100 goblins in return. That's more than enough."

Baek Seung-yeop was genuinely elated, his face breaking into a smile—until he suddenly froze.

He had just realized something peculiar.

"How does he know exactly which homes are ours?"

At that moment, Kim Jae-hyun smirked playfully and spoke.

"Oh, by the way, I'm not some cult leader. And I'm certainly not Buddha or Jesus."

"Huh?"

Baek Seung-yeop's skin crawled.

He suddenly recalled the conversation he and the twins had shared inside the elevator.

"N-no way…"

As he turned pale, the man spoke again.

"I have one request."

"Of c-course! Just say the word!"

Baek Seung-yeop was ready to agree to anything.

"It's nothing major. I'd just like you to continue hunting goblins as you have been. Consider these a token of my gratitude."

With that, items began to materialize in midair.

Bags of rice, ramen, onions, carrots, eggs, milk, and other food supplies appeared—along with a set of bows and arrows, and three spears.

Unlike the crude spears they had fashioned by tying knives to sticks, these were proper weapons.

Witnessing such an unbelievable phenomenon firsthand, Baek Seung-yeop immediately bent at the waist in a deep bow and shouted with conviction.

"Th-thank you! We will do our best!"

He looked just like a newly enlisted soldier reporting for duty.