chapter 12
Episode 12
Ko Min-soo, Song Dae-beom, and Min So-yul felt that Kang Tae-min was right.
The dungeon was not a human domain.
The battles with the goblins he encountered all over the mountain had already reached double digits.
“Kiik-!”
“Search!”
Ko Min-soo defeated the goblin with his unique strength and boxing skills. A bare fist alone split the goblin’s jaw and crushed its nose.
He was able to deal with 5 of them at once.
“Song Dae-beom, 2 o’clock!”
“ancient!”
However, Song Dae-beom could not act like that. First of all, the reason why I had to keep the minimum rate was the first, and the second was because, unlike training, this place was open.
Even if the magic circle was installed, there was no guarantee that it would come that way, so I had to stick to the opponent directly, and it was difficult to fine-tune the magic circle because I was in a hurry.
“hahahaha… write… .”
“Daebeom, are you okay?”
After the battle, Min So-yul handed over the potion he had prepared. However, it was Song Dae-beom who received the potion.
It was because the magic circle was formed in a hurry, and the mana consumption was jagged, and the stamina was not as good as Go Min-soo.
‘Fuck, that’s embarrassing.’
No one said anything, but Song Dae-beom felt ashamed. It was because he was ashamed of himself for not being able to perform very well, unlike his courageous appearance.
“Song Dae-beom.”
Taemin Kang called him.
Song Dae-beom sighed and turned his head. Maybe he’s trying to tell me to go back because I’m becoming a burden?
“Think more flexibly. Remember what you learned during the special training.”
Fortunately, that wasn’t the case. Rather, the words that came back were advice.
Song Dae-beom quickly returned to training. It was not difficult to recall because it was a memory engraved in the body.
‘… Are you doing what you were taught?’
But it didn’t help much.
Seeing Song Dae-beom’s expression, Kang Tae-min added another word.
“Just because it’s an installation type, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be ejected.”
“Yes? That… .”
As Song Dae-beom tried to continue, his mind flashed.
‘Why didn’t I think of that?’
Certainly, his ability is an installation type. However, he can decide what can be installed. If that’s the case, wouldn’t it be better to install a magic circle on an object that can be ejected or thrown?
“Sam, why did you… .”
“Didn’t I tell you from the beginning?”
Taemin Kang intercepted his words as if he had read his mind. Song Dae-beom nodded with surprised eyes.
Wasn’t what he taught during the special training how to lure the enemy while running away?
“Hunters must first learn to survive before killing their enemies. People only want to go that way if there is an easy way.”
“Is it the easy way?”
“Yeah, killing one enemy is easy. But surviving is difficult.”
Kang Tae-min tried to continue talking, but kept his mouth shut for a moment. The three people who followed suddenly wanted to know why.
I immediately found out why.
A hiker had collapsed in front of them on their way. No, I wasn’t a hiker anymore.
It was a severely mutilated corpse that had been hacked to pieces by goblins.
“ah… .”
“eww… .”
“Tsk.”
Min So-yul sighed briefly and covered his mouth, while Song Dae-beom frowned in disgust. Go Min-soo ended with a short tongue click.
“… And saving someone is even more difficult.”
Taemin Kang continued with a heavy voice.
The three students swallowed dry saliva and looked back at him. No matter how awakened they were, these three were students. The body couldn’t get used to it.
“The longer we delay, the more victims there will be.”
“then… Shouldn’t we hurry?”
At Ko Min-soo’s words, Kang Tae-min turned to him.
has definitely changed
There was no ‘Knuckle Cannon’, a villain who was calm even after bursting people with his own hands.
Taemin Kang nodded and moved on.
“It is as you say. I’m sorry for this person, but the recovery of the body is later. in action.”
“Yes, four… !”
With Song Dae-beom’s answer, the three students quickly followed.
* * *
The occurrence of a dungeon break was immediately reported to the Association.
“This is an emergency! Everyone please move quickly!”
“Follow the instructions and descend!”
Dispatched association staff quickly took control outside the perimeter.
Then, with a wheezing sound, the drones soared into the sky. Drones quickly spread out in all directions to observe the interior.
It would be nice to check within the overlapping boundary, but there was no choice because the signal from the drone could not be caught once the boundary was crossed.
“Have the guild hunters departed? Is it a situation where we need to call security hunters?”
The field manager asked a question to his subordinate.
When a dungeon break occurred, the first thing to do was the hunters of the guild in charge of the area.
Police hunters belonging to the association were assigned responsibilities to prioritize awakened criminals and villains rather than monsters and dungeons.
It was because it was difficult to respond if the villains were active while the security hunters entered the dungeon.
“Yes! I’ve just checked. We will arrive in 30 minutes.”
“30 minutes, 30 minutes… .”
It was a moment when the field team leader frowned.
“manager!”
“What’s going on?!”
At the call of another employee, he immediately turned around. Radar was in front of him.
The drone launched by the association emits magic waves to observe the internal situation and displays the results on the radar.
The team leader opened his mouth before the employee could explain.
“What is this… ?!”
I didn’t even need to explain. It was because the number of monsters marked on the radar was formidable.
“All of them are goblins, to say the least.”
“Relief? Are you happy?”
The employee who spoke at the team leader’s sad eyes shuddered.
“If there are this many goblins gathered, there must be a superior species! Damn, judging by the scale, I’d say there’s a Hobgoblin squad… .”
The leader’s eyes twinkled. But that worry didn’t last long. He gritted his teeth and immediately gave the order.
“We raise the crisis level to Code Yellow and request additional support from the guild. If it is difficult, ask the association for emergency assistance!”
The crisis stages designated by the association are color-coded.
It is determined by considering various factors, such as the size of the Dungeon Break’s overlapping space, the size of the magic wave generated, and the number of victims caught up in the overlapping.
A total of 6 stages, in order of safety: blue, green, yellow, orange, red, and worst of all, black.
The team leader gave an order to upgrade to the third level among them.
“Yes!”
It was time for the staff to quickly carry out the order.
“T-T, Chief!”
“What else… .”
The team leader hurriedly turned his head. But something was strange.
“what… ?”
The number of goblins identified on the radar was rapidly decreasing. A group with a different wavelength from the goblins spread out like a squad.
“Has the guild contacted you that you have arrived?”
“Oh, no.”
“No, then what the hell… ?”
No one answered the team leader’s self-talking questions.
No one ever thought that they were troublemakers at the academy.
And, above all else, there was something else.
“I can’t believe these four people… .”
A group with particularly fast movement speed stood out. And looking in their direction, the destination was clear.
“Are you going to the core?”
Attacking the core with only 4 people?
The manager couldn’t believe it.
It was because there were more monsters there than anywhere else.
* * *
“Eat this!”
Song Dae-beom installed a decompression-type explosion magic circle on a stone and threw it.
With a click, the stone hit the goblin, followed by a banging explosion.
After that, he would look for other prey right away, but now it was different.
“Ooh, wow!”
This time there were survivors. He was a hiker who hurriedly came down, chased by goblins.
“Damn, why are you so slow!”
Song Dae-beom gritted his teeth and ran forward. Then, I pressed the face of the goblin that was about to pounce on the hiker with my palm.
“Kiet-!”
The magic circle engraved on his forehead glowed, and Song Dae-beom picked him up and threw him towards the goblins that were following him.
“Kyaa-!”
“Kit-!”
At the same time as colliding with the same people, an explosion exploded with a flash of light. Song Dae-beom hurriedly raised his hand to block the meat flying in all directions.
“Ew… !”
The clothes were all covered in blood. However, he immediately turned his head to confirm the hiker’s survival.
“Cheer, cooer… .”
“Slowly, eat slowly.”
A hiker whose heart was about to explode was drinking Min So-yul’s potion, gasping for breath.
“All of this has been taken care of.”
In the meantime, Ko Min-su eliminated the other goblins and approached Kang Tae-min.
“… This?”
However, among the goblins that Kang Tae-min killed, there were disparate corpses mixed in.
Unlike the other goblins, it was large and its skin color was closer to gray than green. Above all, he was wearing leather armor.
“It’s Hobgoblin. It’s a superior species of goblins.”
Kang Tae-min answered as he stood up on the floor with a bloody etiquette injector.
“The fact that a high-ranking species appears is proof that it is close to the core.”
“Ah, then… .”
“thank you! Thank you very much!”
Before Ko Min-soo could speak further, a voice mixed with tears was heard.
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Looking back, I saw an elderly hiker bending over to Song Dae-beom.
“Oh, no. so far… .”
“no! I lived thanks to you. I really thought it was over… I thought I would never see my family again… .”
The hiker was speechless and wept. Song Dae-beom looked at him with a bewildered face.
‘Oh man… It feels so strange.’
How many experiences have he received sincere gratitude from being pointed at as a troublemaker?
Song Dae-beom did not even know that what was rising in his heart was ‘rewarding’.
‘It’s not bad though.’
The hiker also thanked Kang Tae-min, Ko Min-soo, and Min So-yul.
“The three of you, take him down.”
“… Yes!?”
“Sam?”
“What do you mean?”
At Kang Tae-min’s words, the three of them looked back in amazement.
“You weren’t going to go to the core, were you?”
“I solve the core by myself. This is too dangerous for you guys too.”
“But… .”
“I could die.”
Taemin Kang cut off Min Soyul’s words. At the word death, the three recalled the corpse of a hiker they had seen on the way.
“The follow up so far has been good enough. And I can’t let him go alone.”
“It certainly is, but… .”
“I trust that you can do it and leave it to me.”
The three of them met each other’s eyes with complicated faces. However, the results were not different.
Taemin Kang was right.
“All right.”
“Sir, we will take responsibility for this person.”
“You have to be careful… !”
Taemin Kang nodded.
Min So-yul kept looking back while he was on his way back, but he soon disappeared.
after everyone left
Kang Tae-min’s serious expression changed to a more relaxed one.
“Performance is fine.”
He deliberately dealt with the goblins slowly for the students’ practical experience. But now that the students had been sent back, there was no reason to delay.
Taemin Kang quickly climbed the mountain with light steps.
* * *
“Is this the headquarters?”
A huge cave was in front of him. And the goblins who stood in front of them had already died at the hands of Kang Tae-min.
He walked leisurely.
The sound of footsteps echoed. This was enough for those inside to notice his presence.
But the goblins didn’t pour out from the inside.
“Uhm… .”
The end of the cave was connected to a huge cavity.
And there were more goblins than there were goblins he had ever dealt with.
Numbers in the hundreds or more.
“Kyaa-!”
“Kiii-!”
In addition to the normal goblins, hobgoblins were emitting ferocious momentum.
And behind that huge goblin wall was a seat. However, because of the large hobgoblins, it was impossible to tell who was sitting.
“Kak-! Kakaha-!”
Immediately, like a command, a shrill cry rang out high.
Along with him, the goblins who were tensed in their muscles jumped forward all at once. There were so many of them that the cavity shook like an earthquake.
However, Kang Tae-min did not mind. No, I rather snorted.
“Kihehehe!”
They raised their weapons in unison. From blunt daggers used by regular goblins to long swords used by hobgoblins, two-handed greatswords, double-edged axes, and double axes.
However, it was not the will of the goblins to take up arms.
“Kihe-?”
“Kit-?!”
“Kyaa-!”
The weapon popped out of their grasp. The power was so great that some goblins had their grips ripped open and bleeding.
The protruding weapons were immediately lined up in front of Kang Tae-min.
“Kyaa, kyaaak… ?”
“Kieek?”
The goblins all widened their eyes at this amazing phenomenon they had never seen before.
And the center of the phenomenon, Kang Tae-min, twisted the corner of his mouth and let out a sneer.
Then, the weapons returned to their owners all at once, along with a blast.
“Kiyi… .”
“Kyaa, kyaha hahahaha… .”
However, the destination was not in the hands of the owner.
Goblins faced various deaths with their own weapons, such as being pierced between the eyebrows, holding a blade, and being stabbed in the heart.
A series of thumps and thumps were heard, and the goblin wall collapsed. The blood dripping from the corpse began to form a pool in the center of the cavity.
And beyond that, the existence sitting on the throne was finally noticed.
Not a dwarf goblin, not a bloated hobgoblin, but rather a goblin with a form close to human.
“The Goblin King.”
As the highest species of goblins, unlike the lower species that behaved like beasts, they were a higher species that could even use magic.
Besides, he was no ordinary Goblin King. A vermillion dungeon core was embedded in the center of its chest.
“Ahli, Diemor.”
The Goblin King, who was sitting on a throne, uttered a low incantation.
The magic book he was holding in his hand fell over and a magic circle floated above it. Following the shape, the puddled blood moved as if it were alive and settled down.
It was a summoning circle that summoned familiars.
“Goooh!”
The floor on which the summoning circle was drawn collapsed as if it were melting, and a strange cry spread from within.
Then a giant beetle appeared. Wearing vermilion uppers like a summoning circle, hard horns sprouted from its head, it walked on two legs with four arms, and its muscles were overwhelmingly large.
The familiar who was summoned at the cost of the blood of numerous goblins recognized the enemy immediately.
“Gooo!”
The bastard screamed and attacked Kang Tae-min. The familiar’s size was so large that Kang Tae-min’s figure was completely covered.
A mean smile crept across the Goblin King’s mouth. There was no doubt of victory.
Unless the familiar suddenly stopped and no strange noises were heard.
“Khehehe-?”
The familiar trembled with a bizarre echo. The Goblin King’s eyes widened.
Something black and red pierced through the hard upper of the familiar and protruded from the back.
It was a rotating saw blade.
As soon as he recognized that fact, blood and flesh exploded with a gurgling sound, and the familiar’s body split up and down.
And behind him was Kang Tae-min, standing in a bloody suit.
“This is called Rip.”
Taemin Kang raised one hand and held up a bladed sword that turned like a chainsaw.
“This is called Tear.”
And in the other hand, there was a serrated sword. It was Kang Tae-min’s favorite anti-monster weapon, Rip&Tear.
“I mean to tear you apart.”
Kang Tae-min explained the meaning of the name in a bright voice.