Chapter 21

“A runt?! A runt?! Did he call me a runt?”

“He insulted us! He insulted us, human! Take him down! Take him down!”

“Kill him! Kill him! Rip off his head and limbs! Skewer him on our spears!”

The goblins armed with daggers, venomous stingers, and shortbows swarmed jae-yeon, cursing at him relentlessly.

Despite being only about three feet tall, they were not to be underestimated. Though their bodies resembled those of children, their muscles were monstrous. They moved faster than one could imagine and could jump as high as their own height. Their grip was stronger than that of an average adult, so once snared by them, it wasn’t easy to break free.

Well, no surprise there. These bastards have higher levels than wild boars.

If these guys were weaker than wild boars, Red Excalibur wouldn’t be at this level. Even if they were classified as ‘General’ like beasts spawning from the outer points of the chessboard, they still remained monsters.

‘Of course, for me, they are just food.’

Wild boars were actually more troublesome enemies. Compared to the thick necks of wild boars, which required considerable force to cut through, goblin necks were easy to sever, akin to plucking the stem off a strawberry.

“Keeek! The human is coming! Coming!”

“I will kill him! Me! I will!”

“I’ll stab with my stick, stick!”

Naturally, there were also challenges unique to fighting goblins. After all, being intelligent creatures, they employed malicious strategies and tactics. However, their combat skills were lacking; instead, their attacks were erratic and unpredictable, making them difficult to anticipate.

However, as soon as the green wave covered me, I realized it:

‘Two stabs on the foot. One stab on the shin. Five stabs on the thigh. They are trying to make my lower body a mess.’

And additionally…

‘Anesthetic poison. Right shoulder.’

I accelerated forward, kneeing a goblin aiming for my lower body and crushing several others with my feet.

Ching-chang!

The flying anesthetic dart was swept away by my sword.

[Parring successful!]

‘Oh, this can be parried.’

With mixed emotions, I swung the orc warrior’s sword.

Kwaduduk!

Green blood splattered everywhere. The moment four heads flew off into the sky, there was a dizzying sensation at my temples.

Ping!

Tilting my head, I narrowly avoided an arrow.

“Hahaha! A marksman?!”

Laughing heartily, I slammed down my sword.

Pook!

The goblins charging straight at me couldn’t withstand my immense power and collapsed en masse.

“Keeek?!”

“Human! Human! Strong! Strong!”

“Attack together! Attack!”

“I-I’ll stab with this spear!”

Despite the blood spraying through the air, they continued to charge aggressively. However, I blocked them, repelled them, trampled on them, and crushed them. Although I lacked the strength to kill dozens with one blow, my battle sense allowed me to remain unharmed amidst their wave-like assaults.

[Incomprehensible Combat Divination]

This ability was both a curse and a blessing for me, preventing me from ever advancing beyond an entry-level psychic while enabling me to outperform other psychics. With near-supernatural perception, it granted me intuitive foresight of impending combat situations.

I could predict most attacks beforehand, so I wouldn’t be sniped at or fear blind arrows. The problem was when I knew about it but still got hit; however, now with enhanced stats, this isn’t an issue anymore.

[Fatal Strike!]

The goblin’s neck was severed. Even if I just swung my arm randomly, they would fall like ninepins, allowing me to slaughter them regardless of their position. With Unsolvable Combat Divination, I didn’t receive a single scratch amidst the chaotic melee.

‘It’s as easy as shooting fish in a barrel!’

For me, the real challenge is dealing with enemies strong enough to bypass my divination abilities. These low-level minions pose no threat. Of course, if surrounded without respite, continuous attrition can exhaust one’s stamina and lead to defeat.

“Logout!”

I return to Earth. After drinking water and getting some rest,

“Login!”

I enter the battlefield again.

[For unknown reasons, your Stamina has increased by 1 point!]

As I continuously engage in intense battles, my stamina increases.

‘Is it because my strength exceeded its limit, causing my stamina to increase accordingly?’

With this thought, I continue fighting relentlessly. Naturally, my soldiers aren’t idle either.

“Assist Lordship! Kill the monsters!”

“For humanity!”

While I dive into the goblin horde, creating chaos, the soldiers who have taken in refugees act as a formidable barrier against the goblins, akin to a massive levee.

“Hold the shields high!”

“Spear thrusts!”

“For those clinging to the shields, smash them with swords!”

The soldiers fiercely shout, slaughtering the goblins. Of course, not only goblins perish;

“Stick with your spears! Spears! Spears!”

“Ack! N-Numbness…!”

An unacceptable number of soldiers were falling. Even if they had been assigned classes, it wouldn’t have made much difference. A bloodless cold weapon battle was nothing more than a dream. Despite being well-equipped with leather coats, casualties among humans were inevitable.

However…

For every human soldier that fell, five—no, at least ten goblins went down alongside them.

Just as planned.

With me causing chaos amidst their ranks, the goblins couldn’t fully concentrate on the soldiers ahead. They struggled to fight even when focused solely on the front lines; how could they effectively engage while constantly worried about attacks from behind?

And most importantly,

The number of goblins dying by my hand alone was staggering.

[Critical Hit!][Critical Hit!][Critical Hit!][Critical Hit!]

Kwahdak! Kshak! Pook!

With one swing of my sword, six goblins died. Dozens of frenzied goblins tried to knock me over by piling on top of me, but I stood firm and shoved them aside instead.

“Aaack!”

“Don’t push! Don’t push!”

“Kyaaarrrk!”

The losing goblins tumbled down like dominoes, causing both soldiers and their opponents to momentarily pause at the sight. It was truly a display of Herculean strength! With superhuman power backing up my movements, I could do anything as per my desire. When I swung my sword with full force, the goblins were smashed away like they had been hit by a car.

“Haha.” Laughter bubbled out of me. Unable to contain my excitement, I roared, “Ha-ha-ha-ha!”

It was completely different from fighting orcs. These small monsters were light and had flimsy bodies that couldn’t withstand my sword swings.

The most fun thing in this world is slaughtering helpless enemies. Any gamer would agree with me on that.

“Ackkk! Eeeek! A monster! It’s a monsterrr!”

“I’m running away! Running! Ruuuunnnn!”

“He’s too strong! We can’t beat him! We caaaan’t!”

Despite their initial fierce resistance, the fearless goblins eventually started to crumble. Once those at the back of the group turned tail, the rest quickly followed suit, and before long, all the goblins began retreating.

This marked the climax of the battle.

Historically, the highest number of casualties during any war occurred when one side retreated.

“Drop your shields! After them!”

“Kill every last one!”

“Run! Whoever lags behind is a pussy!”

The elite soldiers, possessing both strength and speed, unleashed their wild instincts and charged after them. They weren’t alone; even civilians from the village joined the pursuit, armed with bone swords or daggers.

Despite being swift, many goblins were exhausted from chasing down refugees and engaging in battle, so few managed to escape successfully.

“We’ve won big!”

“Wooooo!”

Cheers erupted but quickly subsided as they began post-battle cleanup. The deceased bodies needed to be collected, and the wounded required treatment.

Fortunately, the potions I distributed earlier proved effective and helped heal most nonfatal wounds. Meanwhile, the goblin corpses…

Fwsssh…

After a short while, all their bodies scattered like dust on the ground. The blood that had pooled everywhere evaporated without a trace.

“Oh…”

“My goodness…”

The villagers stared blankly as hundreds of bodies disintegrated before their eyes.

“They’re different from magic beasts. What exactly are these things? Are they even living beings?” Stonestone pondered aloud.

In response, I pulled out a bundle of potion bottles. “This might be our new reality we need to adapt to.”

“A new environment…”

Items remained where the goblins’ bodies had vanished. Based on Revenge’s official website, this was their drop table:

[Red-Tipped Goblin (Regular) Drop Items]

Regular-class Summoning Stone (Rankless), Short Sword (Regular), Short Bow (Regular), Healing Potion (Regular), Bone Arrows, Goblin Clan Stamp (Shop Exclusive), Gold

No rare items.

It wasn’t surprising that everything was regular rank, but the lack of food in the drop table meant self-sufficiency would be challenging.

I can’t be responsible for feeding my subjects forever. Eventually, we’ll have to venture into the wild boar field.

As I pondered this, I was surprised by the short bows collected by the soldiers.

Huh? Look at these.

I had initially ignored it, assuming it was just some shoddy goblin bow, but upon closer inspection, its quality seemed better than expected. The elasticity of the wooden bow itself wasn’t bad, and the bowstring made from the hide of some unknown animal appeared sturdy as well.

In Revenge, this would be classified merely as white-rarity miscellaneous loot, but here, it could prove quite useful for military purposes.

It’s not necessarily related to what they use or wield. After all, wild boars don’t drop bone swords despite wielding them.

The drop tables in Revenge lacked any clear logic, as items were determined arbitrarily by the developers. While drops might seem connected to the monster, like how wild boars dropped boar leather, hellhounds also dropped armor (hellhound armor), and giant lions occasionally yielded magic skill books, making it difficult to predict based on appearances alone.

“Hundred.”

“Yes, Lordship?”

“Gather all soldiers who have experience shooting bows and create an archer unit. Cut branches to make practice arrows and train them, even if it’s basic training. We’ll camp here for tonight.”

“As you command.”

The preparations for camping began immediately. Soldiers assigned others to gather firewood while sorting out the refugees. The maids, led by Flower, now a priestess, treated any injured individuals. Usually, absorbing refugees could be problematic due to insufficient supplies, but we had ample resources, allowing us to smoothly integrate them without issues.

“Wow, is this really for us? Meat stew…!”

“I can’t believe we’re having roasted meat outdoors…”

“Huh…huh…delicious…”

As the refugees gradually regained their composure from their terror, Stonestone and soldiers began gathering information here and there.

“Good job. You’re doing well.”

I watched this scene unfold before checking my inventory.

My inventories for Ardenia, Revenge’s Killian 1, Killian 2, Killian 3, and Killian 4 were all empty.

Upon realizing this:

‘Oh, I’m out of meat.’

Despite stocking up across four characters, it had all run out. While other players ignored wild boar meat, I collected vast quantities; however, with thousands of mouths to feed, it eventually depleted.

‘Well, I need to replenish.’

I sat in my custom-made carriage and watched the busy soldiers moving around.

“Log out.”

The piles of bodies disappeared, along with all the people who were eating meat stew while shedding tears beside them.

Then…

Ding-dong!

“Welcome. Are you looking for something?”

“Sky Mountain. Four bottles, each 1.5 liters.”

“Yes. Would you like it bagged?”

“Nope. Please leave it to our retriever.”

I placed the mana-active beverage favored by mages into the gold retriever’s bag that accompanied the customer.

Beep!

“Have a nice day.”

Ding-dong!

After watching the man exit the convenience store without much of a farewell, I looked towards Cheddar sitting at one side of the counter. I could see Killian diligently hunting wild boars.

“I have to start charging soon…so I will be on Earth for a while. Welcome!”

With a bow, Han Jaeyeon, the convenience store employee, greeted her new customers.