chapter 9

Stabbing and slashing. Kicking and punching. I bravely ran through the goblins and had to stop with about one-third of the way left from where I could see their village on the mountain. Suddenly, goblins appeared like bees.

“Urgh, there are too many of them.”

I had wondered why this quest needed a party of four. It was because there were too many goblins. Additionally, they were much stronger than the previous ones. The good thing was that it was easy to level up.

[Your level has risen!]

There were 20 of them every time they appeared, so I could feel my experience going up. I was now level 7. I cleaned up the goblins, pounded my back, and drank a potion.

“These kids are hard.”

[You have taken a low grade health potion.]

[100% of your health has been restored.]

“Kyah. I like to drink after exercising. Keke. This is delicious. The strawberry taste is pretty good.”

I thought it would be pretty good if I sold these as drinks in real life. It might not be popular with adults but its taste would be pretty good for younger friends. I smiled unknowingly. I had 120 potions remaining.

…I did it alone for nothing? Some regrets came. It was clear that I would run out of potions in the mountains. Even now, I couldn’t imagine how many goblins would come out of the mountain.

“Eh, it is better to have more potions…”

Just then, a strange sound was heard.

“Kyaaak!”

“Eh? What is that?”

“Kyaaack!” It was a woman’s screams. She seemed to be alone. “These bad guys, stay away!”

The voice was coming from the forest to the left. She seemed to be in danger so I carefully approached through the bushes. Then I could see someone fighting. It was a slender woman in white clothes with a white hoodie. She had her back to a tree and swung her staff to keep goblins from approaching.

“Don’t come! You’ll be hit if you come!”

“Kiruk! Human! Delicious! Eat!”

…Was she really alone? A woman who wasn’t discouraged by so many goblins in front of her was quite interesting and I wanted to watch a bit more, but my conscience didn’t allow me to ignore her crisis. Therefore, I shook the branches.

“Giruk…?”

The nearest goblin turned and I quickly threw a rock at it.

[You have dealt 10 damage.]

“Ack! Human!”

It wasn’t a weapon so it didn’t do much damage. Tsk. The one hit by the rock shouted loudly and the other goblins looked around. I had one thing I wanted to ask them. “Do you usually wash your teeth?”

“Kik! Goblin wash! Wash well!”

“Goblin! Clean! I’m clean!!”

“Human! Tease goblin! Eat!”

“Why do you smell like that if you wash? Are you sure you’re washing properly?”

The goblins had red faces as they exchanged words with me and then they rushed to my side. The first one to come was the one hit by a rock.

“I’ll tear apart your mouth! Kiiik!”

I turned to the goblin swinging a sword and kicked the goblin. This seemed to be the signal. All the goblins started to jump in. Yes, it tasted like this…!

“Come, come!”

I faced the goblins in a 17 against 1 fight. Like Hong Gildong, who shone in the east and flashed to the west, I ran around like a carp in jumping season. Then there was someone muttering in a low and quiet voice.

“Cool…”

The woman in white clothes who had just been in danger. She looked at me like I was a prince on a white horse. Soon, all the goblins scattered into ash and I slowly walked toward the woman. Then…

“Huh?”

“Eh?”

I was perplexed. Surprisingly, she was someone I knew.

* * *

My wife, Yoo Seonyeong had stomach cancer. It was only discovered after a long time and she became a terminally ill patient with a time limit. She was originally given six months but would maintain her life for nearly two years. It was all thanks to the woman in front of me.

“It’s been a long time, Father. Has it been one year?” Kim Sujeong—she was the warm-hearted doctor in charge of my wife’s surgery. At least, she was such a person in my memories.

“Yes, it’s been a while. You… have you been well?”

“I’m enjoying my life as you can see.”

…She was living happily.

“I’m glad. Are you enjoying the game as well?” I asked her.

“Yes, I’ve been on vacation for a long time and appeared like this. Haha…” She laughed and changed the topic. “It is nice to see you enjoying Arcstar. I thought you were a wonderful prince on a white horse when fighting the goblins just now.”

Kim Sujeong blushed slightly and I laughed. “You must’ve seen my white hair and mistaken it for a white horse. Kekeke.”

“By the way, what level are you? You fought very well.”

“Level…? I think I’m level 7.” I didn’t know exactly. I fought for a while without looking at my status window. Was I right? Um, I was right. “Level 7?”

She frowned like she couldn’t believe it. Then she made an expression of surprise. Just as before, the young people these days didn’t believe the words of an old man like me. If they believed my words then I would already be hunting with those young people. At this moment, disrupters appeared.

“Kiik! Over there!”

“Human! Catch them!”

A huge number of goblin suddenly swarmed. It was estimated to be more than 60. The goblins instantly surrounded us and we were unable to escape.

I told Kim Sujeong, “We will have to talk later.”

“Of course.”

Her hands were wrapped in light as they reached out to me. I was a bit puzzled by the sudden situation but I soon smiled.

[You have received the Light’s Blessing.]

[Defense has increased by 44% for 5 minutes.]

[You have received Holy Blessing.]

[Maximum health has increased by 22% for 3 minutes.]

…Was this the buff thing that Mido had mentioned? I felt a feeling of fullness and two lights circled around me. They were revolving around me as if to protect me.

“I’m sorry. This is the only thing I can do.”

At the same time, a window opened in front of me.

[Crystal has applied for a party. Would you like to accept? Y/N]

I looked at it and smiled. “It is enough.”

[A party has been formed.]

At the same time, I shoved my dagger into the neck of a nearby goblin. Blood gushed from the neck of the goblin as I pulled out my dagger and moved among them like the wind. Quick and sleek, elegant yet sometimes powerful. I moved ruthlessly and didn’t show any fear. I didn’t hesitate. It was a long dagger but I mercilessly cut, stabbed, and cut again. The steel of the dagger was covered in blood as it screamed. I listened to it serenely.

“Huh… is he really level 7?” Kim Sujeong’s eyes widened as she watched from behind.

She checked the level floating above my head and laughed. It was ridiculous that a level 7 user could fight 60 goblins on equal footing. She rubbed her eyes in case she was seeing wrongly. Then she became speechless as she once again saw ‘Level 7.’

…However, it wasn’t good to be distracted.

“Kyaaaaak!” Kim Sujeong screamed when she saw a goblin rushing from the side. She had been careless while looking at my level.

“Che, come…!”

She adjusted the wooden staff in her hand and took a posture for hitting people. The moment the goblin approached, she swung her staff. At this moment, the dagger I threw at the goblin’s heart sentenced it to death. The goblin grabbed his chest and turned to ash.

I asked the blankly staring Kim Sujeong, “Are you okay?”

“Huh? Ah, yes. I’m fine. Thank you for saving me.”

“Please wait a little bit.”

I pulled out the dagger that had been inserted into the chest, ignored the flying dust, and ran to the center of the enemies.

“Come! You smelly bastards!”

* * *

After a short period of time, I was able to clean up all the goblins. Facing 60 enemies wasn’t easy but it was better than I thought due to the buffs. We sat on a nearby tree and I gasped roughly.

“Sigh…”

“Are you okay?”

Kim Sujeong approached and shone another light on me. This time, it felt a bit different from the previous ones. It felt like my mind became clearer and my spirit refreshed.

[You have received Slow Heal.]

[125 health will slowly recover in 5 seconds.]

“Yes, thank you.” I thanked her for my gradual rise in health. By the way, there was such magic. How strange.

“Father.”

“Huh?”

“Are you really level 7?”

She still wasn’t convinced. The moment I saw the naive face, I couldn’t help feeling mischievous. “No?”

“Right? As expected, there was something…”

“I’m level 8 now. Kekeke.”

“……”

After a moment of silence, she opened the party window to confirm I was level 8 and made a sound of dismay.

“What on earth happened to you?”

“Well, many things.”

I wished I could tell her the story but now wasn’t the time. I didn’t know when the goblins would attack. It was suspicious that goblins kept coming out so I thought it would be better to move quickly. I told Kim Sujeong, “What do you plan to do? I have to go deeper. If you don’t mind, I think it would be nice to go with you.”

“Of course!” Kim Sujeong replied in a lively voice.

[The user ‘Crystal’ has registered you as a friend.]

…Registering as a friend. I would have to ask her to teach me how to do this.

I stood up. “Shall we move on?”