It had been a while since Seo Jun-Ho had watched a memory projection. He quickly skimmed through the blood kobold lordâs daily life.
âI donât have much time, so letâs do 3x speed...â
The video sped up. When the blood kobold lord was born, it had been similar to the other blood kobolds, but it grew faster than them. Its body had already resembled a normal blood kobold when it was only a year old, and when it was two years old, it became the strongest warrior of the pack. And when it turned three, it awakened its magic and rose to the position of a lord. The blood kobold strongly believed that it was fated to become a king.
âIt kept going after that.â
The kobold lord absorbed other packs through invasions and wars, and as time passed they got bigger and bigger. Eventually, they numbered seven hundred blood kobolds and five hundred regular kobolds. He became the ruler of the Hainal Mountains, with an army numbering over a thousand.
It had thought that the world was under its feet, but it was wrong. And one day, they found him.
âThe fiends.â Seo Jun-Ho turned on the volume of the video.
âIs it this guy?â
âIt should be. Unless there are two blood kobold lords in the Hainal Mountains.â
âLetâs get right to it, then.â
It had taken only one woman and one man to neutralize the entire army in twenty minutes. The kobold lord was currently kneeling at their feet.
âTheyâre definitely stronger than I am right now.â Seo Jun-Hoâs eyes narrowed. The two fiends in the video seemed even stronger than Kal Signer. Being at that level, their names and faces would be somewhat publicâŚBut Seo Jun-Ho couldnât recognize them at all. Though to be fair, they were both wearing masks that covered their entire face and only their eyes were visible.
âIs he some nouveau riche? Itâs all shiny,â the woman commented.
âWe donât have time to chit-chat. Hurry up and feed it the demon jade.â The man urged.
âYes, yes~,â she said sarcastically, raising a black gem.
âDemon jade? Is that what itâs called?â
The gem seemed to be a form of condensed demonic energy, and it was two fingers big. The woman let out a low laugh and approached the blood kobold lord.
âHere, you like gems, donât you? Iâll put it in your chest so you wonât forget me.â
She swiftly buried the demon jade into the blood kobold lordâs heart.
âKrrrrâŚKuh! Kung!â
The sky filled the screen, and the scene shook as if the blood kobold lord had fallen to the ground. The blood kobold lord thrashed in pain.
âKung! KuuhhhâŚKuh!â
The blood kobold lord rolled on the ground as if it were on fire, and it looked down at its chest. Its body trailed with gems, partially covering its sculpted muscles. Above them, black veins had started to spread, like the roots of a tree.
The fiends talked casually as they watched the blood kobold lord thrash in pain.
âBut why a blood kobold lord? I feel like we skipped a few steps here,â the woman said.
âAfter the commandersâ meeting, they told us to bring concrete results, so it canât be helped.â
âOh my, why must they be so meddlesome when we do all the dirty work? Do they have a death wish or something?â
âWatch your mouth. If the commanders heard that, youâd be dead.â
â...Hmph, criticism is unavoidable when you have that much power.â
âAnyway, weâre just following orders. Itâs still nice that itâs easy.â
Unlike the woman, the man didnât seem remotely angry. He tapped the blood kobold lordâs head.
âIt doesnât seem like it hurts anymore, so get up before I tear your heart out,â he said calmly.
The blood kobold lord panicked and scrambled up. But because it was so big, it ended up looking down on the two fiends.
âAh, my neck hurtsâŚâ the woman muttered, eyes narrowing. The blood kobold lord understood and got down on its knees. The two fiends nodded as they watched.
âLooks like the dosage was right,â the woman commented.
âHm, there donât seem to be any side effects either⌠It recognizes its superiors too, so Iâd say thatâs a success.â
âWeâre testing intelligence and military power, right? Do you think this guy will be able to take down Gilleon on its own?â
âIâm not sure. I suppose we wonât know until we try. The higher-ups just want research material anyway. They want to see how monsters perform with the demon jade⌠That way, they can decide whether or not itâs worth investing in.â
âHmmm.â The woman knocked on the blood kobold lordâs head. âYou stink, you big dog. Since you live in the Hainal Mountains, you know where Gilleon is, right?â
The camera shook as the blood kobold lord rolled its eyes in confusion. The woman sighed and stomped on its hand with her high heels.
âIdiot.â
â...!â It swallowed a cry of pain, whimpering. The woman pointed somewhere.
âIf you walk that way, thereâs a city, okay? Thatâs Gilleon. Your job is to attack the city and overtake it. Thereâs no time limit, so you do your best. Understood?â
As the woman took out a wet wipe for her hand, the man spoke, âLetâs get going. We have to go get the ingredients now.â
â...Haaa, what in the world is she making? Why do we need to get those sorts of ingredients?â The woman sighed.
âI donât know. We just need to follow orders. Thatâs the easiest path we can take.â
âYes, yes. You obedient little fucker~ Must be nice getting all their approval~â
âYou should listen to orders too. You always get in trouble because you donât listen.â
The two fiends left, and the video ended.
âHmmm.â Seo Jun-Ho went through it again, but nothing else in the blood kobold lordâs life was helpful.
âDemon jadeâŚâ
If a monster absorbed such a gem, it would become even more powerful, and it would be able to use demonic energy. According to the memories, it was still in the testing stages.
âBut if they get more material about the demon jade to studyâŚâ
The fiends might be able to train even stronger monsters, maybe even boss monsters, which would have to be hunted in raids by Guilds.
âThat would be badâŚâ
Countless people would die. This blood kobold lord had become incredibly intelligent to the point that it was able to plan a landslide to bury the humans alive.
âThe only good thing is that they have to wait several months for every experiment.â
It had already been a few months since the blood kobold lord had been given the demon jade. Of course, the fiends could conduct multiple experiments at once, but seeing as there was no news, they couldnât have done much harm yet.
âI have to get stronger as fast as possible.â
He had thought so before, but the fiends were dangerous.
Seo Jun-Hoâs face was stiff as he walked toward the broken wall to step out.
âStop.â The Frost Queen, who had been keeping watch, shoved her hand in his face and shook her head. âNG.â[1]
â...NG?â
âIt wonât be dramatic if you come out so plainly. Stumble a bit when you step out with sweat pouring down your face. And lean on the wall with your shoulder, if youâd like.â She commanded.
âAll the sweat has dried up.â
âCan you not use Booster? Hurry up!â
She sure had a lot to say today.
âDeep breaths⌠This is all for PP. The PPâŚâ
Seo Jun-Ho obeyed the directorâs instructions. He went back inside the walls and drenched himself in sweat with Booster.
âHuff, huffâŚâ He stepped out with great difficulty, gripping the wall. He leaned his shoulder against it like he was in a Hollywood film, and looked up at the glaring sun.
âThe sun⌠is so brightâŚâ
âCut!â The Frost Queen clapped as she yelled, âthat was a great shot. Iâm impressed.â
âHow was the line?â
âHm? OhâŚÂ About the sun, you mean? Weâll cut that, of course.â
She was ruthless. Seo Jun-Ho scoffed.
He retrieved Cruel Executioner and started walking down the hill. Below, the battle had already ended.
âSeo Jun-Ho,â Baek Geon-Woo called as he approached. âYou look very tired. Let me lend you my shoulder if youâd like.â
âShoulderâŚâ Seo Jun-Hoâs surprise showed on his face.
When he was Specter, he had been a hero and the hope of all humanity. No matter how tired or hurt he was back then, he could never show his fatigue or pain because he was a hero. If he was tired, the entire world would be on edge.
âBut nowâŚâ
Seo Jun-Ho gave a tired smile. He felt a bit happy that he could lean on someoneâs shoulder when he was worn out.
âIâm really happyâŚâ
Baek Geon-Woo stopped in his tracks. âWhat do you mean⌠By that?â he asked carefully.
âIâm just happy that we won.â
â...I see.â Baek Geon-Woo seemed a little warier now.
Seo Jun-Ho leaned against Geon-Wooâs shoulder as they walked toward the battalion. Weaver and Rhodi wiped the blood from their swords and approached them.
â...Player Seo Jun-Ho.â
They didnât say anything and simply patted his back. Even though the knights were of much higher status than people like Players and Adventurers, they looked at Seo Jun-Ho with deep respect.
âThanks to your heroic deed, 497 people were saved,â
âWe will submit a detailed report of your outstanding performance to the city lord.â
â...More people survived than I expected. Itâs a relief,â Seo Jun-Ho said.
âItâs all thanks to you.â
Weaverâs armor was covered in blood as he scanned the kobold corpses covering the mountain. âLet us return to our city,â he whispered.
***
Even though it had only taken one day to get there, it took them two days to return. The mountain path had been destroyed by the landslide, and there were multiple people injured, so it only made sense that it had taken them longer to come back. When they arrived at Gilleon, they were greeted by medics. Seo Jun-Ho was resting after receiving basic treatment when Phivir approached him.
âPlayer Seo Jun-Ho, you made an overwhelming contribution to the competition and placed 1st. Soon, the city lord will summon you to award your merits,â he said.
âIâll be waiting,â Seo Jun-Ho replied.
â...Let me thank you once again, in place of my subordinates.â
The knights left, and the Players and Adventurers split off to go for drinks. Of course, they didnât forget to thank Seo Jun-Ho.
âWe lived thanks to you, sir Black Knight. I personally donât like Players very much, but Iâll be supporting your work.â
âDid you film a video again? You should edit and upload it as soon as possible so you can take advantage of the buzz.â
â...I will repay you one day.â
âIf you ever come to the Mad Slide guild house, weâll treat you like a king.â
When everyone else left, one man remained. The man looked squarely at Seo Jun-Ho.
â...No matter how I think about it, Iâm very glad that I participated in the competition,â Baek Geon-Woo said.
âDid you level up a lot?â
âNo.â Baek Geon-Woo shook his head and smiled, looking up at the darkening sky. âI shouldnât have spent so much time focusing on strengthening my body.â
â...What?â Seo Jun-Ho was confused.
âYouâre a wolf in sheepâs clothing. From now on, I will focus more on training my mind, not just my bodyâŚâ
âOh, okayâŚâ Seo Jun-Ho wasnât sure if Baek Geon-Wooâs decision was the right one. However, it was the path he had chosen after thinking it over by himself, and Seo Jun-Ho knew that Baek Geon-Woo wouldnât give up halfway.
âThis is my community ID. Please contact me if you need any help at all.â
Seo Jun-Ho accepted the small post-it and nodded. âIâll contact you. And Iâm not just saying this⌠Baek Geon-Woo, you will become strong.â
âHahaha, is that so? I know you have a good eye. Iâll train hard.â
As Baek Geon-Woo left, the Frost Queen spoke, âContractor.â
âWhat is it?â
âCan I scold you now?â
â...Canât you wait a little longer? Let me eat and take a shower first.â
âHmmm.â She thought for a second and shrugged. âWith my endless benevolence, I will show you mercy this time. I shall scold you tomorrow.â
âThanks a lot.â
If her benevolence were truly endless, couldnât she just let him go?