Chapter: 2
Chapter Title: Goblin
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"Kiruk... Hey... Open your eyes..."
"Hey? You okay? Kiruk..."
The voices pulled me awake in a flash, and I looked up at the sky.
"Water..."
My voice came out more normal than I expected. No, more than that—
'I didn't die. Was it a dream... Choi Seul-gi... Where's Choi Seul-gi?'
I lifted my head slightly, and various sights flooded into my view at once. Someone had heard me and was splashing cold water on my face.
The chill of the liquid sliding down my throat hit before the water even touched my skin. The refreshing sensation spread from my mouth through my whole body, as if it were waking every single cell.
Naturally, I shot upright in an instant.
"Kiruk!"
Startled, a green-faced goblin let out a scream and toppled backward. The monster held a gourd filled with water. Without caring about the circumstances, I lunged at it, snatched the gourd, and started gulping it down greedily. I had no idea why the goblin was trying to wake me, but oddly, it didn't feel off. Probably because I could read the worry in its eyes.
Normally, I'd be swinging a sword in panic or scrambling to run. Maybe because I'd been running endlessly before collapsing, but my body didn't care about anything else—it just demanded water.
Strength returned to my limp hands as I lifted the stolen gourd and shoved it against my throat.
'Water. Water...'
Clean water, something I hadn't tasted in ages. The glugging sound in my ears was pure bliss. It was like a clogged sewer finally draining—ridiculous metaphor, but fitting. I was too thrilled to even wipe the water spilling from my mouth.
Once the urgency passed and I set the gourd down, my faint reflection appeared in the remaining water. A green face—a goblin's face, unmistakably.
"Urgh... Aaargh!"
That's when I pinpointed the odd feeling from before. In shock, I hurriedly looked around.
The backdrop was a dense forest—the same one from the 'Tutorial.' As I scanned in astonishment, an elderly-looking goblin spoke to me. Its language was incomprehensible, yet it translated clearly in my ears.
"Wh-where... is this..."
"Kiruk... Finally coming around, huh... Tsk. Young ones these days have no manners."
"..."
"Do you not remember how you ended up falling here?"
"..."
"No idea why, but it seems we all got dropped in the wrong place... Kiruk... A voice in my ear... You really don't remember? It said something like... 'Tutorial begins.'"
Before opening my eyes, I'd definitely been human. I glanced at my hand—green, as expected. Incredibly small. It was enough to make me think I'd really become a goblin. And the goblins' 'language,' which shouldn't have been audible, rang clear in my ears.
"Kiruk... Can't you hear my voice?"
"I... think I heard it too. But how we got here... I don't... really know."
Looking around, I sensed other goblins watching me besides the elder ones. Even with past experience, handling this many goblins would be impossible. As a 5th Grade Summoner to begin with, three goblins was my limit.
First things first: grasp the situation and piece it together. I sank into thought again, slowly.
Seeming to understand I had nothing to say, the elder goblin shuffled off. I examined my arms and legs once more. Only now did I notice how much lower my viewpoint was, even standing fully.
My hands had sharp claws, my feet the same—inhuman talons. Opening my mouth, I felt sharp fangs.
I didn't know exactly what happened, but one thing was clear: I'd turned into a 'monster.' A low-tier one near the bottom of the continent's food chain. A goblin.
The surroundings matched the 'Tutorial' site I'd experienced before. Decades ago, I'd done the Tutorial here as a human.
Standing still and surveying longer, the female goblin who'd held the gourd earlier spoke up.
"Kiruk... Handsome face, but no manners at all."
"...?"
No clue where 'handsome' came from, but she was staring right at me.
"I fetched water for you, and not even a thanks..."
I couldn't read goblin expressions as a former human, but she seemed to be glaring. Come to think of it, how did I even know that goblin was female? She looked no different from me.
Not exact, but it seemed my entire race had changed. Still, I couldn't ignore her glare, so I spoke again.
"Sorry..."
"Fine, whatever... Kiruk."
"Anyway, where're you from?"
"I... don't remember well."
"Hmm... Doesn't matter. You look fine—wanna mate with me?"
No way in hell. What I saw was a green monster. I wasn't impotent, but no spark of desire either.
"Not right now."
Her face soured instantly. Must've been a huge insult. But from my side, her offer was the rude one.
"Whatever... Kiruk."
After she left, as I tried sorting things out again, a voice pierced my ears. It solidified my grasp of the situation.
[ The Tutorial now begins. Humans are summoned to random locations. Safe Zone is deactivated. ]
[ Tutorial objective: Survive for 100 days. ]
[ Character window activated. ]
[ Quest window activated. ]
[ Quest - First Battle: You've been inexplicably dragged to a strange place. It's confusing, but survival comes first. Eliminate the summoned humans. (0/10) ]
"Kiruk... Kiruk... Kiruk..."
"What was that... Kiruk..."
The area buzzed in an instant. I wasn't the only one who heard it.
'Monsters went through the same process as us.'
That's all I could infer now—almost certainly. Aside from humans and goblins swapping places, it matched the Tutorial quests from before perfectly. The sudden voice stirred chaos, but soon, presences from the surrounding forest tensed the entire goblin group.
"Humans! Humans!!!"
"Kiruk... Kiruk... Kiruk!!"
The shout erupted right then. On the continent scale, goblins were weak. But that was [Continent] standards. Freshly summoned Tutorial humans couldn't beat goblins.
Physically, humans had the edge in strength or agility. But that wasn't the issue. Humans straight from Earth instinctively feared the alien. Buffs improved their bodies a bit, but not enough to conquer terror.
"Kill them!!! Kill the humans!!!!"
The elder goblin I'd seen earlier raised a crude staff and bellowed. His tribesmen charged toward the human presences. Even other goblins got swept up in the fervor and followed.
I watched briefly, then joined them toward the humans.
No time to think. This was Tutorial Forest—survive first. Ridiculous as reviving as a monster sounded, I couldn't live pathetically again. If the Tutorial worked the same for both sides, I had to complete the quest.
No aversion. In my past life, I'd killed fellow humans countless times to survive.
Pushing through the brush, I spotted the human group. Some clutched Tutorial-issued shields and swords—rusted blades dulled to nothing, wooden shields ready to splinter. Barely weapons. Some were even unarmed.
"What the fuck is this... Fuck... Fuck... FUCK!!!"
"Kya啊啊啊啊!!! Spare me! Please spare me!"
"Monsters. Damn it..."
"Men, step up front!"
"You there! You go fight. You've got a sword and shield."
Even in this body, I understood humans. Total panic, as expected. Flailing humans met charging dagger-wielding goblins. I slipped in cautiously. Advantageous, sure, but blind swings could still kill.
Plus, quest needed 10 kills. Charging blindly wouldn't rack them up fast.
"Kill them! Kill the humans!"
One goblin leaped, stabbing an unknown human's throat. I'd thought it'd be shocking, but no emotion stirred.
As expected, my mindset had shifted too. The sword-and-shield guy crumpled, and their shaky formation collapsed. People fled in terror. Better to stick together for survival—stragglers died 100% in this forest.
I grabbed a dagger from a blindly slain goblin corpse and hurled it at the humans. No point lingering upfront. One at a time was my max.
My smaller hands felt awkward, but the dagger flew true, embedding in a human's forehead.
No need to close in with poor stats. Backline dagger tosses flipped the battle enough.
"Uwa啊啊啊!!!"
"Watch the daggers!!"
"Uwa啊啊啊!!!"
"Run!! Run!!!!!"
Targeting holdouts first, I watched humans crumble one by one, panic spreading. In that short time, I figured I'd downed over eight alone. Most humans now writhed on the ground.
Some goblins chased escapees, thinking it over. I even spotted one devouring a live human.
The fight was done. Crystal clear.
"Food! Food! Kiruk... Kiruk!!"
They tore into humans gleefully. I started to turn away, but a savory aroma hit, drawing my eyes to the feasting goblins.
'Hungry. Shit...'
The meat smell made my nose twitch. Raw human flesh should disgust me, but watching them chow down, nausea rose unbidden.
Then I glimpsed a face. A human killed by a throat dagger, eyes wide open in vain regret.
Drool leaked from my mouth as I stared. Eerily familiar.
Fuzzy, but unforgettable. Decades ago, this was my Tutorial comrade, now the continent's famed 'Twilight Swordsman.'
'What the hell happened...'
No mistaking it—my old acquaintance. Things had gone seriously sideways.
============================ Author's Note ============================
Storm update at 12 tonight... Lots of content!