"Creak, Creak, Creak"Crispy sounds of broken branches could be heard.
Kiro hurriedly put away the newly harvested 10 pieces of Greasy Gra.s.s inside his pocket. Looking around at his surroundings, he is trying to find out the source of the sounds.
Then a small figure size of a small child appeared, It had dark green skin, sharp yellowish eyes, long nose, and long ears.
Kiro was petrified for a moment before cautiously moving backward.
Seeing Kiro moving backward in fright, both eyes flash with confidence, as if finding easy prey.
The monster moves forward one step at the time, It was as if trying to intimidate Kiro.
Yes, the monster is a Goblin.
Kiro faces as if he saw a ghost, his face was so pale and he couldn"t move an inch, It was like he became a child who"s afraid of dogs.
"W-what is that thing? A monster? No that"s not right! How come there"s a monster here?" (Kiro) uttered those words in panic.
It is true that there was no monster In the middle of the forest the last time he came, but he forgot the fact that there was a mysterious voice accompanying him here at that time. Now the mysterious presence wasn"t here anymore. Those monsters who were frightened by Its presence will naturally be coming back to their own respective camp.
"Kekeke." (Goblin)
The Goblin swung around the wooden mace It was holding. If you look closely at the mace, a tint of blood could be seen.
Finally, Kiro urges his body to move, using his newly enhanced brain, he quickly draws a new path of exit inside his head. Then he runs away with all of his strength.
But the thing is, he never understood the nature of the Goblin, It wasn"t included from the basic knowledge that he attained last time. There wasn"t a single explanation about the monster, It only mentioned that monsters exist In this world. So naturally, Kiro was completely Ignorant about the monsters of this world.
The scary thing about the Goblin wasn"t because they"re strong. In fact, they are weak. Kiro could fight one even If he was barehanded, But It was his first time seeing a monster, what"s more, a cunning one that Is good at intimidating a clueless person like him. The reason why the Goblin was dangerous is that they never move alone. If you find one, expect there will be another one will appear.
"Swish`
A sharp sound flew at Kiro.
An arrow pierces through Kiro"s calf, making him stumble down to the ground.
"Argh!" (Kiro) shouted in pain, he looked at his bleeding calf, He stretched his hand and tried to reach the shaft and remove the arrow. But he found out his body wasn"t listening to him.
"Heeee! Kekeke!" (Goblin) shouted with a burst of weird laughter.
The Goblin now walks toward Kiro who is laying on the ground, While dragging Its wooden mace.
Kiro looked at the Goblin with an ashen face, for him, the Goblin was no different from a Grim Reaper. Seeing the goblin moving closer, step by step. His heartbeat was running so fast.
"Bdum, Bdum, Bdum"
Each step the Goblin made, the faster his heart rate became.
Finally, the Goblin reached him, laughing like a crazy madman, the Goblin lifted up his wooden mace and smashed it on Kiro"s calf where the arrow imbued in.
"AAAAH! N-no, s-to... Stop! Please stop!" (Kiro) shouted In fright, he didn"t expect after getting hit by an arrow, the Goblin will mercilessly smash his leg.
But the Goblin did not stop, hearing Kiro"s shout, an inexplicable feeling rush through the Goblin, making It, to smash the unharmed leg of Kiro.
"AAAAAH!" (Kiro) shouted in pain, he wanted to faint but he cannot, the unknown drug that paralyzes him was even affecting his consciousness.
Kiro"s eyes lost their colors, looking at both of his legs that were smashed to the point he couldn"t even feel his lower half. A trace of helplessness overcomes his reasoning.
Suddenly the Goblin stopped toying at Kiro, seeing the reaction of Its prey, It wasn"t satisfied at all, as if it lost all the fun, It reached out at the back of Its rag clothes, a small knife appeared at Its palm.
Slowly walking near where Kiro is while playing at the knife on Its hand, waiting for Kiro to shout once more and beg for mercy. But It failed to get what It wanted.
Losing its patience, stabbing Kiro"s abdomen.
"Splash"
A puddle of blood came out of his stomach, Kiro"s expression finally changed from helplessness to bitterness. Finally, hatred, a flash of hatred came through at his whole being.
The Goblin saw Kiro"s bloodshot eyes, out of excitement It stabbed Kiro"s rib cage after it hit his shoulder.
Moving closer to Kiro"s face, looking at him as if a dead prey, the Goblin raises Its knife high in the sky, aiming at Kiro"s heart.
Suddenly Kiro"s body that can"t be moved, charged like a crazy beast to the Goblin, at the last moment he avoided the knife for stabbing his heart and piercing through his left shoulder. Using his teeth, biting the Goblin"s neck, a portion of Its meat came off. Spitting out the meat on the ground.
Kiro looked at the Goblin who doesn"t understand what is happening and not knowing how Its prey manages to move.
The Goblin was so shocked, It was caught off guard, holding at Its bleeding neck, finally stumbled on the ground and stopped breathing.
`Ting!~"
"Congratulation, You just unlocked a new feature!"
-Special Quest.
-Killing a monster [Cleared]
-Attain a Single Level [Cleared]
Status: Completed.
-Quest Reward.
-System Upgrade, Is now functioning.
Status: Unlock.
-Checking the user"s body.
-Large damage from both legs.
-Severe damage from the abdomen, Immediate treatment is required.
-Minor damage from the rest of the body
-Grade E paralytic poison has been removed.
"Would you like to use your sp points to regenerate your body?" (???)
Kiro who"s busy looking at the dead corp of the Goblin heard a childish voice coming from his head.
"What are you." (Kiro) asked in a cold and desolate voice.
"I am Fixie Bot, An a.s.sistance fairy from the System Upgrade." (Fixie)
"What do you mean by sp points and regenerating my body?" (Kiro) asked as if he couldn"t be bothered, after experiencing a life and death situation, he already has a firm resolution to die.
"SP point is a pointing system that you will get after leveling. With the help of System Upgrade, you can use your SP point to heal your body and return a missing limb, as long as you do not die, your body can be fixed. But the point deduction was based on the level of your body since your body was still on the beginner stage. The point deduction won"t be that much." (Fixie)
"So, there was something like that. I don"t care about the points right now, hurry up and fix me." (Kiro) said, then looking coldly at the inner side of the forest.
"Okay, Master~!" (Fixie)
After saying that, Kiro"s body regenerates at breath neck speed.
Looking at his body regenerate with his naked eye, He didn"t put it in his mind at all, after experiencing torture and torment, at the moment, there wasn"t a single thing, that could shock him. After this unforgettable experience, Kiro"s have a significant mentality growth.
Because of Greed, he almost died, because of his rash action even though someone already warned him beforehand, but he didn"t take them seriously. Perhaps subconsciously he felt like he wasn"t talking to a real person, It was like, everything was just a dream.
At his nearly dying moment, he only realizes everything is real, everyone around here is real.
He too can die, can feel pain and he is vulnerable from this world, like anybody else.
He couldn"t help but mocking himself from being an Ignorant and for being a fool.
"Haa~ Why do we humans need to have a setback first before learning from our mistake?" (Kiro)
After taking a good look at his limbs, Kiro grabs the wooden mace that is laying on the ground, then charges toward the inner side of the forest.
***
Upon entering the vast woods, Kiro felt that his senses improved and his physical body strengthened.
Looking around the forest, he finally saw his target. Another Goblin appeared before him, but this time, the Goblin looked so thin and frail.
Holding a crude bow at Its hand, the Goblin aims at Kiro, but even before It can release the arrow, a flying wooden mace smashes at Its face.
The Goblin falls from the tree, Kiro walks toward the Goblin direction, with a wicked smile on his face, trying to Imitate the Goblin who frightened him to death.
Finally, he reached his destination, grabbing the wooden mace that smashed at the Goblin face.
Lifting It up, smashing the wooden mace once more to the Goblin face.
He keeps smashing the Goblin until It becomes a meat paste. It was like he used the Goblin as an outlet to release all of his build-up stress.
After looking at the scene before him.
Kiro finally realizes what he did, throwing the wooden mace on the ground, hugging both of his shoulders, weakly kneeling from the ground, staring blankly from the pool of blood he made.
A moment later, he pukes dried meat and the soup he ate.
***
Staring blankly from the ground, Kiro already lost count of what time It is.
Then he finally decided to move out of the innermost part of the forest. Going back to the open field full of lush green, Kiro saw the cold dead body of the Goblin, then walked lifelessly out of the Diante Forest.
On the way back, Kiro was on the deep thought.
He finally realizes In this world, life can easily be taken just like that, even if the one he killed was a monster, It has a closer figure to a human being, so he couldn"t easily get rid of the bad after taste after his wild action.
He couldn"t help remembering the old saying, the rules of the jungle.
Might is right.
If It wasn"t because another feature of his reward is unlocked, he will be the one who is lying dead on the cold hard ground.
"Without strength to defend oneself, you can only blame yourself for being weak... I never knew I would experience It for myself, before that, I never really got Its full meaning, but now, I finally get the real meaning behind those words." (Kiro)
"If I want to defend, I should have a proper resolve matching that strength, If I cower in fear, do not fight back. It was the same as waiting for death." (Kiro) mumbled those words deep inside him.
"Strength can be attained through hard work, but a strong resolve and unyielding will, Is something that cannot attain through hard work. Even if one train tirelessly for the rest of Its life. If I want to survive In this world, I should never lose my resolve to live. I can die miserably, but I can"t let myself die without a fight." (Kiro) says with firm resolve.
From this day on, Kiro draws a clear line for himself.
***
Going out of the Dainte Forest.
The sun is already pointing at the northwest direction from the sky.
It"s already getting dark, so Kiro didn"t walk anymore instead he ran all the way back to reach the village.
Finally, he saw a familiar wooden watchtower.
Seeing a shadow was approaching, Milo who was looking above the watchtower, cautiously shouted.
"Stop!" (Milo) shouted, looking at the figure below the ground.
After giving it a closer look, he finally recognizes who It is, but seeing Kiro who is bathed with blood, Milo couldn"t help but have cold gooseb.u.mps all over his body.
"Hey, Kiro! What happened to you! Are you okay?" (Milo) Shouted as he hurriedly came down to the tower.
Kiro waited for Milo to come down, he forgot that he was soaked with blood, what is more, his cloth was now tattered.
"Kiro! You are fine right?" (Milo) worriedly said.
He looked at him up and down to check if there was a missing limb, seeing him fully intact, Milo finally gave a light sigh.
"Haah~ You seem to be fine, but what happened?" (Milo)
"It"s a long story, but In short I was attacked by a monster because I don"t have any battle experience. I now look like this."(Kiro) wouldn"t tell him the whole story, he could only tell the truth about being attacked by a monster, after all, it was already too late looking at how miserable he is.
"Haa~ Seeing how lively you can talk and still standing straight I guess the blood wasn"t yours but from the monster, even so, you still need to be careful you know! Are you trying to shock me to death? Well anyway, as long as you survive it is considered as a blessing." (Milo)
"Hehe, sorry about that, Milo, yep can I call you that?" (Kiro) tried to avoid the topic and bring Milo"s name if he can casually call his name without an honorific.
"Well, It is fine, our age gap wasn"t that large, looking at you, I am guessing you"re at age of 18-20 years old, by the way, I am only 23 this year, I am not that old." (Milo)
"Oh? You"re 23? Why did you look like an Old Uncle to me? I thought your age was already in at your mid-thirties." (Kiro) Look at the guy, he couldn"t believe it.
"What did you say punk! Try saying that again, you"ll see if I didn"t fix you up!" (Milo) says as he gnashed his teeth out of frustration.
"Haha, It is only a joke, come on, I need to go back now, or else chief Geoffrey might scold me." (Kiro)
"I think It is already too late from that, but anyways go back now, Old chief Geoffrey is such a nice guy, he even treated an outsider like you this much, didn"t you know he already notify us, If you didn"t come back In the village before evening we will do a search hunt." (Milo)
"... I guess I owe chief Geoffrey an apology." (Kiro) says, he was touched by the old man"s kindness, they barely know each other, yet he does much for him who is an outsider.
"Yep, you better get going, now go, go. Don"t make the old chief Geoffrey worry any more than this." (Milo)
"Okay, thank you for informing me." (Kiro) says, as he gives Milo a polite bow.