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2. Goblin Lord

“Oh, Byeong-gap. It’s a while since you’ve been here.”

Nurse Lee Ji-yeon, who was guarding the hospital desk, pretended to know. Ko Byeong-gap smiled awkwardly and bowed.

“Good morning.”

“Did you come to see your mother?”

“Yes, haha…”

“Go on up.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Ko Byeong-gap went up to the hospital room where his mother, Park Young-ok, was. Nurses murmured as they looked at his back.

“He’s a good son, a good son.”

“Yeah, it’s sad to see.”

“Huh? Who’s that?”

“You don’t know? That’s the son of the lady in room 403.”

“In room 403… Oh! That’s him?”

“Yeah.”

Kim Yu-bi, the new nurse who had come in only recently, admired the man. She then asked Ji-yeon, “But why is it sad?”

“Isn’t it a pity that his mother is terminally ill?”

“Oh, well, I guess so.”

“Well, sometimes, he’s a bit fierce. We’d be in big trouble if we spoke like this in front of our patrons.”

“Hehe, I’m being careful. He must be rich, by the way? He’s doing in-patient care.”

“Definitely rich.”

Lee Ji-yeon clicked her tongue with pity on her face.

It had already been three years since Ko Byeong-gap first came to that hospital. Lee Ji-yeon had watched him become more impoverished day by day. She also knew that the hospital expenses he barely met every month were costing him everything.

Lee Ji-yeon muttered to herself, looking dimly at the stairs where Ko Byeong-gap had disappeared.

“He can barely make enough money to pull through it.”

* * *

“Mom, I’m here,” Ko Byeong-gap said as he entered room 403. No answer came; his mother was asleep.

Park Young-ok was a victim of the “Phantom Disease,” which affected only 1,200 patients in Korea.

These patients slept most of the day, fighting the disease.

A full cure was yet to be released. However, by acquiring a red magic stone from a class-B or higher monster, and thereby a special solution made by dissolving it, the progression of the disease could be dramatically slowed.

It was simply a money-saving cure for many patients who couldn’t afford the hospital bills.

However, Ko Byeong-gap wouldn’t give up. His mother was the only family he had left in the world. And rumors that someone who was receiving medication had been cured completely persuaded him not to give up.

Ko Byeong-gap plopped down next to the bed. He looked at his mother’s face for half an hour without saying a word.

“Mom, I…”

Creak!

As soon as he was about to say something, the hospital room door opened, and a woman entered. It was Park Young-ok’s caregiver, Choi Ji-ok.

“Oh, you’re here, Ko Byeong-gap?”

“Hello, ma’am.”

“Aigoo, you came to see your mom when she was sleeping. What are you doing?”

“It’s all right. I just wanted to see my mother’s face.”

“It’s a shame, though. It’s been a while,” Choi Ji-ok said, replacing the bedpan. “Don’t worry too much, Byeong-gap. Young-ok has been eating well, taking walks from time to time, and she seems to be getting better.”

“Ah, really?”

“Well, Young-ok is also working hard. Who in the world wouldn’t cheer up when their son’s working so hard to pay their medical bills?”

Ko Byeong-gap laughed bitterly. He glanced at Park Young-ok and whispered, “Ma’am, just in case, don’t mention to her that I’m a hunter.”

“Gosh! Okay! No matter how talkative I am, you’re afraid I’ll tell Young-ok? Don’t worry about it.”

“Yes, thank you.”

“But Ko Byeong-gap, I’m also a parent with children, so always take care of yourself. Not long ago, I was watching the news, and it reminded me of you, Byeong-gap.”

“Yes, I’m always careful.”

“Well, there’s nothing as sad as a child going before their parents.”

After chatting with Choi Ji-ok for some time, Ko Byeong-gap stood up.

“Oh, are you leaving already?”

“Yeah, I just dropped by.”

“You’re in the middle of a busy time. Yeah, go ahead. Be assured that I’m taking good care of her, so don’t worry. Always take care of yourself.”

“I look forward to your kind cooperation, ma’am.”

He bowed and left the hospital.

Choi Ji-ok sighed, with a sympathetic expression on her face, after Ko Byeong-gap left.

“What a selfless man. What kind of crime did he commit in his past life to have to deal with this harsh treatment? Tsk, tsk, tsk.”

* * *

Ko Byeong-gap returned to his room, which was about six pyeong long.

Originally, he’d lived in a three-bedroom apartment, but it had been a long time since he’d been evicted because of the hospital bills.

In his small, sunny room, he quietly turned his back and sat down. Breathing in slowly, he calmed his mind and body.

‘I don’t know if it’s a good thing.’

With his heart trembling, Ko Byeong-gap opened the door to Ashvilam. A shining hole appeared in the room, swirling as if to suck everything in.

“Ugh!”

Ko Byeong-gap’s body crumpled into the hole. It was like being sucked into a black hole. A few seconds later, Ko Byeong-gap woke up on a vast rocky mountain, not in a shabby room.

“Gasp, gasp!”

Ko Byeong-gap felt cold sweat pouring from him. When he walked through the unknown door, he felt unprepared. He sighed after scanning the surrounding landscape.

“Huh…”

The towering rocky mountain was simply a magnificent sight. He looked around for a long time and then lowered his eyes. More than thirty Goblins stood looking at Ko Byeong-gap. They looked like meerkats.

Seeing the Goblins again made him feel frustrated.

‘How did this happen to me?’

The unprecedented incident began a little way back in time…

Three days ago, Ko Byeong-gap had faced the risk of dying after being trapped in a variant crack. He’d been in a situation where he couldn’t do anything since he’d run out of ammunition and was surrounded by the enemy. It was a moment of desperation.

With his wit, Ko Byeong-gap had succeeded in fatally wounding the Goblin Shaman, the boss of that world. But from then on, things had gone in a strange direction.

He had become the Goblin Lord himself, he later learned from the Goblin Shaman. The Goblins had long been preparing for the resurrection of the Goblin Lord.

Originally, the elected Giant Goblin was to inherit the fate of the Goblin Lord, but the plan had gone awry because of the unexpected disturbance caused by Ko Byeong-gap.

The essence of the Goblin Lord, which they had saved for decades, was absorbed by Ko Byeong-gap.

As a result, he had become the ruler of a race that wasn’t up for grabs.

It wasn’t just Ko Byeong-gap who was embarrassed.

The Goblins, in fact, were the biggest victims.

It was unfair that their plan for decades had ended in vain, but how daunting that the new leader was a human man who slaughtered Goblins?

However, the goblins had quickly embraced reality. It was already water under the bridge, so they had put everything down and demanded Ko Byeong-gap to rebuild their species.

-Lord, please, our people… Stay cool! Cool! Save us!

-Hey! Don’t die! Hey!

The Goblin Shaman had died only after saying what he had to say. He couldn’t get angry because it was Ko Byeong-gap himself who had killed him.

When the Goblin Shaman died, the world had divided, and Ko Byeong-gap had absorbed the surviving Goblins. That was how the case ended.

After that, the sun had risen and set twice, but Ko Byeong-gap still couldn’t decide whether it had been a dream or real life.

The fact that a door to an unknown world called Ashvilam had opened inside his body and that he had become the Lord of the Goblins. The fact that the Goblins were waiting for his visit. There seemed to be no such thing as reality at all.

Ko Byeong-gap approached the Goblins while they remained tense. They looked at each other with sad faces. There was a hole in the ground where the hollow light had disintegrated the Goblin Shaman and the other deceased.

“Huh huh…”

A sad cry was heard.

Before becoming the Goblin Lord, it would have sounded like a beast crying to Ko Byeong-gap, but now, he could understand all the emotions in their voices.

‘Sigh…’

He had mixed feelings. It was the first time he’d felt uncomfortable after killing a monster since he first became a hunter. It felt like a peaceful family had been torn apart. He’d just done his job as a hunter…

After Ko Byeong-gap sighed, he took something out of his backpack.

Three hundred millimeters of low-grade healing potion. Its market value was 450,000 won.

“Come here, those who are wounded.”

Ko Byeong-gap spoke fluently in the Goblins’ language. That was also an ability that had appeared after he became a Goblin Lord.

The Goblins showed signs of caution but flocked without a murmur. There were twenty-one normal Goblins, eleven Hob Goblins, and one Giant Goblin. The total number was thirty-three.

It was originally twice as much, but they had been dying like wildfire over the last three days. That was because they had suffered gunshot wounds and weren’t properly treated. Ko Byeong-gap felt responsible for it.

Ko Byeong-gap healed the Giant Goblin first. It was in the worst condition because it has been shot more than a dozen times. If it hadn’t been for its unique, tough vitality, it would’ve run out of breath.

He divided and applied a portion of the healing potion to the Giant Goblin’s wounds.

He used up an entire bottle of healing potion just to cure it. Still, it couldn’t heal without it.

“It’s a monster, so it’ll get better after ten days of rest.”

He treated the rest of the Goblins with the remaining two bottles.

“Whoa, that was close.”

After the treatment, he was lost in thought as he lowered the empty potion bottle.

‘I’m crazy. I don’t even have enough money to bring to the hospital; I can’t believe I lost 450,000 won to these monsters.’

Even if he lamented, though, he had already used the potions. Still, seeing the Goblins get better made him feel better. Ko Byeong-gap stretched his waist and looked around the surrounding landscape.

The place was truly mysterious and curious, and where he was standing was in the middle of an unknown mountain. He walked a little and found a flowing stream. Trees were spread all over the place, giving it a lively appearance.

However, there weren’t many areas that he could identify. Beyond the stream, the landscape was obscured by fog and was completely invisible.

‘Shall I go?’

Intrigued, he moved on. He jumped past the lush trees and leaped over the stream. He then suddenly turned around and saw a group of Goblins staring at him with a question in their eyes.

“What are you looking at? What do you see?

“Wow…”

There were no more Goblins who would bite his throat in madness and slaughter. They were gentle sheep in front of Byeong-gap.

Were these the Goblins that had acted and looked like beasts?

“What do I do about them?” Ko Byeong-gap bleated, but no one listened.

He felt strange as he got closer to the fog. Originally, no matter how thick the fog was, the range of visibility would increase when approached, but now there was no such effect at all.

Finally, he reached the brink of the foggy area. Ko Byeong-gap felt exhausted by the absurdity.

‘What was that?’

An invisible barrier was divided into a shrouded zone and a zone that wasn’t in obvious layers, like water and oil.

Bang! Bang!

Ko Byeong-gap punched the invisible membrane. There was a wave of ripples, but it showed no sign of breaking.

Realizing that there were no more clues to help him, he returned to his original position. The Goblins followed him, maintaining a distance of about twenty steps. This time he moved in the opposite direction, to where a huge rock wall was located.

As he passed through the vast field, he saw the rock wall right away.

“Wow…”

Ko Byeong-gap found a cave of a fairly large size. It wasn’t a special cave, but he hadn’t seen one in all his life, so it felt amazing. He unthinkingly approached the cave and came to his senses.

‘I wonder what’s in here?’

He forgot because various things were complicating his thoughts, but it was an unknown space. It meant that there might be some danger lurking inside.

The dark cave was suspicious, no matter how it looked. Ko Byeong-gap turned and flicked his finger at the Goblin crowd.

“Hey, come here.”

“Huh?”

“Come quickly!”

When Ko Byeong-gap spoke up, a Hob Goblin gasped.

“Lord sir…”

“Have you ever gone in there?”

“I’ve never been in.”

Even if the Goblins were fluent in saying “Lord sir,” their general language proficiency was poor.

The Goblin Shaman had communicated with humans without difficulty, but those below him could only speak in limited vocabulary.

Nodding toward the cave, Ko Byeong-gap said, “Go in.”

“You, Lord sir?”

“Why are you saying ‘Lord sir?’ Go in.”

The Hob Goblin who had been pointed out turned his eyes piteously and walked into the cave, bowing his head.

Ko Byeong-gap stared at the entrance of the cave nervously. However, contrary to his expectations, no disturbance was heard from it.

The Hob Goblin reappeared a minute or two later.

“Why are you coming out already? Anything there?”

“It’s blocked. It’s blocked. Nothing. Nothing.”

“Really? If that’s a lie, be prepared.”

“Lie. No, not lie.”

“I said be prepared if you’re lying.”

Ko Byeong-gap, regretting not bringing a lantern, carefully entered the cave. The inside was dark, humid, and quiet.

‘Jagiya, there must be some kind of treasure in a cave like this.’

He was about to turn around, feeling a steam leak behind him. A hologram appeared before Ko Byeong-gap’s eyes.

[You have entered the Crystal Mine.]

[Mine crystals to raise money for power generation.]