The dismantling work was finally finished. The team stood before a mound of goblin carcasses, the air heavy with the metallic scent of blood.
Han-wool wiped his hands on a rag and looked at Seonwoon, waiting for the next order.
Seonwoon pulled out a small, worn pamphlet from his pocket. "We will proceed according to the 'Monster Hunting Guide Book'."
It was a famous manual, written by the country's top researchers. It was designed to guide new Hunters and minimize the death rate of promising rookies.
"Here is the plan," Seonwoon read aloud.
"We pile the corpses in front of the village entrance. Then, we set them on fire."
Han-wool and the others nodded. It was a textbook provocation strategy.
"The scent of burning kin will drive them into a frenzy," Seonwoon explained. "They'll rush out blindly. That's when we lure them into the dense forest. Je-won will use the shadows to assassinate the lower-ranked goblins, and the rest of you can pick off the survivors."
Seol-a raised her hand, looking worried. "But who will light the fire and lead the run? I am a Mage; I don't have the stamina to outrun a rage-induced goblin wave. And Je-won needs to be in position to surprise attack them."
"I'll do it," Han-wool stepped forward calmly.
Seonwoon looked skeptical. "You? Can you really distract them and survive? You're a Porter, and an F-Rank at that."
"I will be safe," Han-wool lied effortlessly, his face a mask of confidence. "I possess a unique passive skill that increases my running speed. It's useless for combat, which is why I'm stuck as an F-Rank, but for running away? I'm the best."
Han-wool knew he had no choice but to lie. He needed to be alone with the corpses. If the party saw what he was about to do—prying open chests and eating monster hearts—they wouldn't see a survivor; they would see a psychopath and hand him straight to the Hunter Association.
Seonwoon studied him for a moment, then nodded. "Hoh! So you have a speed skill? Alright then. It's okay to entrust you with this job. Don't die, Sung Jin-Woo."
"I won't."
As the party retreated into the shadows of the forest to set up the ambush, Han-wool turned his back to them.
He moved quickly.
He gathered the scattered corpses into a massive pile right in front of the wooden gates of the goblin village. But before he stacked them, his knife went to work.
Slash. Squish.
Han-wool sliced open the chest of a Warrior Goblin. He reached inside, past the ribs, and grabbed the heart. With a practiced motion, he sliced the center of the organ.
A round, black marble fell into his palm.
[Goblin Core]—also known as a Mana Stone.
It was repulsive to most, but to Han-wool, it looked like candy. He tossed it into his mouth and crunched down.
Crunch. Gulp.
Bitter fluid exploded in his mouth, followed by a surge of heat in his stomach.
> [Ding!]
> [You have consumed a Monster Core.]
> [Strength has increased.]
> [Health has increased.]
>
He didn't stop. He moved to the next corpse, and the next. Like a machine, he harvested the cores and consumed them.
> [Ding!]
> [Agility has increased.]
> [Mana has increased.]
> [Stamina has increased.]
>
Finally, he found the corpse of the Mage Goblin he had identified earlier. He swallowed its core whole.
> [Ding!]
> [Because of constant eating of toxin-filled cores, you have gained a new stat: Resistance to Poison (Lv. 1).]
> [Ding!]
> [By consuming a Mage Goblin Core, you have stolen a skill!]
> [Skill Obtained: «Darkness» (Lv. 1)]
>
Han-wool wiped the black blood from his mouth and mentally commanded, 'Status Window.'
A smile crept onto his face.
Yes! All my stats have risen above 10.
For a normal human, the average stat was 5. An average F-Rank Hunter was around 7 or 8. He had already surpassed the limits of his rank in a single dungeon run.
But it's not enough, he thought, his expression darkening.
He thought of Amartya, the Lich King.
When Amartya is first born in the Mount Chiri Dungeon, he will be roughly as strong as an E-Rank Dungeon Boss. With his current stats, Han-wool could probably handle Amartya alone.
But the goal isn't just to kill Amartya. The goal is to survive 'The Day of Beginning.'
To do that, he couldn't do it alone. He needed to gather the strongest people of the future—diamonds in the rough like Baek Woojin—and raise them up.
"Time to work," Han-wool muttered.
He struck a match and tossed it onto the pile of corpses, which he had doused in the goblins' own flammable fat.
WHOOSH!
Flames roared to life, licking at the wooden gates of the village. The smell of burning goblin flesh was acrid and immediate.
"KIEEEEEK!"
"GWOOOR!"
Screams of rage erupted from inside the village. The gates burst open, and a wave of green skin poured out. Dozens of goblins, their eyes bloodshot with fury at seeing their burning kin, spotted the lone human standing by the fire.
They charged.
Han-wool grinned. He turned on his heel and sprinted toward the treeline.
"They're fast. But I'm faster".
The mad goblin wave chased him, crashing into the underbrush, abandoning all strategy in their blind rage. They entered the deep, dense shadows of the forest—exactly where the trap was set.
Han-wool leaped over a fallen log, spun around to face the oncoming horde, and shouted at the top of his lungs:
"I have arrived! Kill them all!"