I really hoped that Mushy didn’t mind that I lost all the spores she told me to spread. Maybe the soldiers in the carriage would pick them up and throw them out, thereby accidentally spreading them for me. That was wishful thinking. Even if they did that, I wouldn’t be able to find out.
I would have to tell Mushy what happened and let her decide on what should be done. I could lie to her, but my earlier lies left such a sour taste in my mouth that I couldn’t bear to do it.
Anyway, this was a problem for future me. I stretched my legs and continued my journey.
I had spotted a goblin encampment up ahead. I wanted a closer look, so I crept towards it while keeping an eye on my surroundings. There were plenty of trees and bushes around to provide me the cover I needed.
Once I got to a safe viewing distance, I simply observed. 100 metres from me, there were approximately 15 goblins working together to build shelter for themselves. They seemed to have come upon this area recently. It was almost certainly a bad spot for them to choose. They were visible from a path that was frequently travelled. Other humans would surely see them and report them to the relevant authorities. Whether it was the guards or the guild, I didn’t know.
Above the heads of the goblins, I noticed that they ranged from level 5 to level 15. Most were lower level than me. I didn’t know if that meant I was stronger than them, though. If a goblin were level 5 and all their level-up points went towards increasing their Body stat, would that mean they could beat me in a fight?
I didn’t think that was the case. The goblins were so much smaller and skinnier than me. If a goblin and I were both at Body level 0, I would certainly win. So, it stood to reason that a goblin couldn’t beat me in a battle of strength just because they had a few points in Body.
As I watched the green creatures from afar, I couldn’t shake the uncanny feeling that I was staring at humans. Their behaviour was so similar to ours. A group of goblins laughed together while using branches to hammer things into the ground. One goblin gathered wood to feed the fire, one prepared food, and one sat around lazily doing nothing. That one was the most human of all.
I even saw two goblins in a certain kind of position together. I stared in awe as they engaged in an unmentionable activity. I didn’t know goblins had those kinds of techniques. And they were doing it out in public. The other goblins didn’t even bat an eye. How obscene. It seemed that goblin culture was far less prudish than human culture.
What made them different from animals was that they all spoke. They all participated in vibrant-sounding discussions. From their reactions, I knew they told jokes to one another. Some of them quibbled. The only level 15 goblin was having a rather serious chat with another goblin. They pointed at their weapons while speaking. The building arrangement of these goblins was primitive, but their language was not.
My eyes focused on the blazing fire in the middle of their camp. The flames let off a horrible stench, so I was curious to see what they were burning. Within the fire there were two charred human corpses.
My stomach turned. It was a horrible sight. I hated seeing death, and I hated smelling it more. These goblins were murderers. I already knew that much. Goblins killed humans. Humans killed goblins. That was the natural cycle of this world.
There was one question to which I could find no answer in the books of the library. Why? Why did they kill each other?
Hyde once told me that humans attack goblins because goblins attacked humans. Could all this bloodshed have come from a simple cycle of violence?
Goblins did not see humans as food; that was apparent from the untouched human corpses currently burning. Goblins didn’t want human resources. They had no need for gold or silver. They were content with living primitive lives. When a goblin ambush occurred, the only thing of value taken was human life. Then what reason did they have to attack humans? Was it the same reason that humans attacked them?
I didn’t know the answer. No book even approached the subject. There was a clear lack of consideration given towards monsters in human literature. They were always addressed as lesser lifeforms.
I supposed that meant it was up to me to figure it out.
The firewood collecting goblin departed from the camp to find some more branches. I stalked him. He would be my target. After 15 minutes, he had travelled sufficient distance from his brethren, so I made my move.
I grabbed him from behind and jabbed my needle into his neck with expert precision. “Shh, sleep.” I wasn’t trying to kill the goblin. I was an acupuncturist. I knew all the pressure points on a human body. I could relieve pain or cause it. I could block meridians or make them flow. And of course, I could knock someone out with a precise attack to their neck. The needle was thin enough that the goblin didn’t even lose any HP.
Now that he was unconscious, I planned to tie him up and question him.
The goblin turned around and said, “Euarhg?” He lifted his hand and scratched my arm with his long, pointed fingernails. The scratch drew blood.
I recoiled. “How are you still conscious? I know I didn’t miss. That move would’ve knocked any human out.” My one mistake was that I didn’t account for goblin physiology being different than human physiology.
[Status effect: Bleeding]
[Lose 1 HP per second.]
This was not the time for popups! The System distracted me from the next swing the goblin made. I stumbled backwards and luckily tripped over a tree root, which caused me to dodge the claw swipe. The goblin tried to use my vulnerable position to his advantage, but on my back, I kicked the goblin away with both legs.
What was my HP at now? I quickly checked and saw that I only had 47 HP remaining. I had less than a minute to defeat this goblin. And plus, after the fight, I’d need enough time to bandage my wound.
I got up off the floor. I had to act quick because of the time limit. Wait, no I didn’t. I used my Cleanse skill and the blood from my wound stopped leaking. The injury didn’t heal but I was no longer bleeding. “I am a genius.”
I couldn’t afford to take more attacks. I could only Cleanse once more, and at 10 HP I would be knocked out.
The goblin charged me. I put down my pack and threw my bedroll at him. He was hit and staggered with a thud. Using the time that bought, I pulled out my rope.
It didn’t buy me any time at all. The goblin was on me like King Kong. I was dancing from left to right, avoiding blow after blow. The creature was fast, but I was faster, even with my -1 Body. Whenever he got close, I would wrap the rope around his arms. I wouldn’t be able to tie him up in the fight, but I was hindering his movements. After he was tangled in enough rope, he had no choice but to try and pull it off. At that moment, I used the opportunity to stab my needle into his neck again.
This time, I picked a different spot. During the fight, I had carefully inspected the anatomy of the goblin and found how it differed from humans. Because goblins were shorter and longer-limbed, the pressure point was lower on their necks.
“Euarhg?” the goblin said before attacking me again.
Damnit, I was sure that would work. I stabbed another location. Nope, not there. How about here? I pierced several locations and eventually I found his knockout point. The goblins neck was littered with dozens of needle holes. “Let that be a lesson. No pressure point can escape a master acupuncturist like me.”
At any point I could have defeated this goblin by means of physical violence, but that wasn’t what I wanted.
I used my rope to tie him up completely and then waited for him to wake up. After an hour of waiting, I regretted my decision to KO the creature. A human would’ve been awake far earlier. I munched on some snacks in the meanwhile.
Slowly, the goblins eyes opened.
“Hey, you. You’re finally awake,” I said. My niece loved using that line on me whenever I passed out on the couch.
The goblin growled at me and tried to escape his restraints.
“That won’t work. My knot work is top notch. Or top knot-ch. Get it?” I quietly laughed to myself.
The goblin was not amused. He writhed against his restraints so painfully that I saw his HP bar lower. He was injuring himself just to escape. The rope burn he was inflicting on his wrists and ankles was disturbing. At one point I could’ve sworn I heard his bones cracking.
When he finally had enough of his self-destructive behaviour, the goblin started screaming at me. Loudly. Very loudly. Saliva dribbled out of his mouth as he screeched. There was no language spoken by him. He was displaying his pure guttural hatred for me.
This rage was unlike any animal. I was not looking into the eyes of a predator looking at their prey. This rage was beyond such base instincts.
Veins appeared all over the goblin’s body. Spit splattered onto the ground as he shrieked. His eyes were bloodshot and locked onto me.
I was thankful we were far enough away from his tribe that his cries couldn’t be heard. The goblin’s voice choked and became hoarse, but he kept howling.
This resentment wasn’t normal. This goblin hated me with every inch of his soul. He wanted me dead. He would claw my eyes out if only the ropes didn’t bind him.
“What could possibly have driven you to this rage?” My words didn’t register in his mind. “Where does this fury come from? I know this isn’t indignation stemming from me knocking you out. It’s so much more.” The deeper I stared into his eyes, the more I felt like I was looking at a spiralling abyss of animosity.
“This anger towards me, and towards humanity, where does it come from? Maybe you were the victim of an attack by humans. Perhaps a relative of yours was killed by them.” There were a thousand possibilities. I sighed. “If only you could understand me. Things would be so much easier.”
The goblin voice was lowering, not because his anger lessened, but because his throat couldn’t take much more abuse.
I ruffled through my bag. “I know. This age-old trick will work. I’ll give you some food and then we become friends.” I pulled out some dried figs and tried to feed the goblin. As my hand neared his mouth, he tried to chomp my fingers off. “Yikes. Not a fan of fruit?” I ate the figs myself. “You know, if I was brought into this world without knowing a thing, I probably would’ve killed you in self-defence. And I would’ve killed all of your kin if they attacked me. Once I did that, I’d likely become radicalised by Hyde to kill any goblin at all. Even the ones that did me no wrong.”
The thought troubled me. On the day I came here, if goblins had ambushed us, instead of us ambushing them, I think I would’ve accepted that goblins were evil.
“If that happened, I wouldn’t be plagued by so much guilt right now. I’d be a monster slayer just like my peers. Or maybe not. It’s hard to imagine what I’d do in situations I’ve never been in.” I still would’ve hated the humans of this world, though. After witnessing what the Human Kingdom was like, I would’ve never accepted it.
I pulled out my chalkboard and drew a crude picture of the goblin and me holding hands. I showed it to him and pointed at it. To my surprise, he looked at it. But then he became even angrier. I suppose he thought I was taunting him. I did just knock him out, tie him up, and then try to build a friendship. I would’ve been pissed too.
I looked above his head.
[Goblin]
[Age: 1]
[Level: 7]
He was only 1 years old. At such a young age he already had so much rage in his heart. What concerned me was his name. He didn’t have one. Or at least the System didn’t show it. He and the other goblins had the name of their species. Were other monsters like this too? Was this a form of inbuilt dehumanisation by the System? After all, it is said that animal farmers never name their livestock for fear of becoming emotionally attached.
I heard many times Earthlings returning to the base and talking about how they slayed a monster. But I’d never heard one of them say I just killed Jeff. Maybe I should do that one day, just to freak them out.
I slapped my thighs and got up. “Well, that didn’t work. Let’s get you back to your buddies.” I pierced a needle into his neck and made him go night-night again.
He was a little heavy to carry with my bag, but I could manage it.
[-97 XP]
[Level Up]
“Oh, shut up.” I swiped my hand at the mention of XP loss, and it registered as a click.
[XP loss due to sparing a monster.]
That was new. I didn’t realise I could be given a reason for my changes in XP. Though, the cause of loss was pretty obvious most of the time, so I didn’t need to know.
Hold on, a devious idea hit me like a freight train. I dropped the goblin and pulled out my needle. “I think I’ll kill you after all, pathetic goblin scum.” I placed the needle against the goblin’s temple. “I’ll pierce your brains from here and kill you.” I let a few moments pass. “Nah, I’ll let you live. I’m a generous man, so I’ll spare you.” I waited for some more moments.
Oh c’mon. Technically I had spared him for a second time. The System should’ve given me XP for that.
“Ugh. Guess I’ll play the slot machine to blow off some steam.” I summoned my gorgeous companion. “You look even more beautiful bathed in the rays of sun that pierce the canopy overhead, darling.” I pulled the lever. “I know I should probably wait until I can use the multiplier but you’re too sexy for me to resist.”
The reels locked in place one after the other.
[Choose your Skill.]
[Spare Monster] [Spare Tyre] [Spare some change?]
The System really loved to run with a theme. I didn’t get a golden reel or a jackpot which kind of depressed me. I suppose I should’ve been happy just to get a payout.
[Spare Monster]
[Banish a defeated monster back to the Demon Kingdom. For each banishment, random loot is awarded depending on monster type and level. Requires 5 MP. (Soul)]
Woah. This actually looked like something nice for once. The MP cost was quite low too. The skill seemed like a pretty harmless way to neutralise threats. I looked at the unconscious goblin. I could’ve used it on him, but I didn’t want to separate him from his tribe. If only I had enough MP, I could have banished them all together. It would be like sending them on a family vacation.
[Spare Tyre]
[Summon a spare tyre for any vehicle that is visible. Can only summon one tyre at a time. The tyre lasts for the duration of 15 minutes. Costs 28 MP. (Soul)]
Yeah, I didn’t want that. What a stupid skill.
[Spare some change?]
[This skill can only be activated at the end of a conversation wherein a person’s opinion of you improves. By asking for some spare change, you can sacrifice all gained affection in exchange for equivalent monetary value. The money received depends on the target’s level, status, wealth, fame, power, and amount of fondness. Needs 19 MP. (Mind)]
Incredible. I really wanted this one. Getting money just for making people like me sounded spectacular. I could just go around making friends and then turn that friendship into GP. I could spend all day flirting with someone powerful like the king, eventually making him fall in love with me, and then turn that love into money.
I’d be rich. My pupils morphed into dollar signs. It was only a shame that it scaled off of Mind. If it scaled off of Soul, I could increase its power and also increase my MP to cast it more often.
I was in no rush to finalise my pick. Even if I acquired it now, I couldn’t use it because my MP was at 15. I closed the System.
I continued carrying my goblin friend towards his village. When I arrived, I saw a slaughter.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter