Demon King

Chapter 3: Goblin (2)

“What… what…”

I recalled what had happened previously and chewed my fingers. Did I really eat an entire goblin? It was outrageous. But my swollen stomach confirmed it.

It didn’t hurt. Rather than being sick, my throbbing body was wonderful. It proved the explanation of the predatory skill of restoring physical strength. However, I thought I’d absorb some of the victim’s power, but it did not seem to have strengthened me. Why is that? Is the goblin too weak?

At that moment.

[Goblin Predation 1/1]

[Achieve Quest!]

[You got 100 experience]

[You got 10 bronze.]

[You got 1 lowest health potion.]

[Level up!]

Lastly, the moment the glass window appeared, my body was refreshed enough to be incomparable to the recovery of stamina through predation.

Why? That was obvious because I leveled up!

Has my level risen? I wasn’t sure about the experience, but my level was something I could raise!

If the predation was a wash, then the level up was a bath. If predation was plain coffee, then leveling up was a venti Starbucks. The feeling at the moment of leveling up was euphoric and addictive.

“Ahhh…”

There was no change in appearance, but I was able to see that I was stronger because of the level up. The Status proved it.

[Gang Si-ha (Fate)]

[Goblin Lv 2]

[Strength – 8 Health – 10 Magic – 5 Luck-???]

[Skill-Ebon Heart, Predation Lv1, Escape Lv1]

Muscle strength increased by 1, and physical strength increased by 1. It was a subtle change, but the difference was extremely significant for me. It was hard to describe the feeling of stats rising in an instant unless you experience it yourself.

Killing a goblin earns experience, and even completing quests earns experience. If you gain a lot of experience, then your level goes up, and you get stronger when you level up.

And the stronger you are, the more likely you are to survive.

“More.”

I need to be stronger. I will definitely be stronger in the future.

I must save… No, I have to live. And to live, I must be stronger.

As if someone had read my mind, what I needed now appeared before my eyes.

[Quest generated]

[You have done a successful predation. But it is not enough. You have to eat more goblins and develop your abilities. Prove the minimum qualification to live in a dungeon.]

[Goblin Hunting 0/20]

[Goblin Predation 0/20]

At one time, the figure doubled, but I was not dissatisfied with it. Experience can be earned by catching ten goblins, and I finished the quest once. This quest will not be different.

My life that should have ended has been revived in this dungeon. My body was turned upside down, but I have what I need to survive. Someone who I still don’t know is giving me a quest.

There are many unknowns, but it does not matter now. The only thing that matters is to survive and, if possible, to be strong.

I woke up in the seat. Holding a stone that was easier to lift than before, I walked the passage carefully, but with glowing eyes.

I found a goblin hanging around the pathway and looked carefully around first. The goblin was wandering stupidly; there seemed to be no other way beyond the aisle. I have to do it now.

I don’t know when he will look back. I approached him quickly and carefully.

But damn! The moment I almost reached him, I stepped on the stone on the floor!

“Ki !?”

The goblin was frightened and turned. At that moment, I hit his face strongly back and forth with the stones I was holding.

“Ki-yi-yi!”

The goblin screamed, and unconsciously raised his fist. It hit my face precisely.

I was so sick that I wanted to scream, but have you experienced it before? The moment the arm contracts, the blow desists!

I endured the pain, and ran towards him.

“Kii!”

“Stop!”

He fell on the floor and hit his head sharply. I clenched my fist and knocked him down. He was desperate, but I was also desperate.

Then, for a moment, he raised his hand and traced the floor. He was grabbing a stone as I did. Where is it?! I knocked down his arm and picked up another rock nearby and hit it on his forehead.

“Kee-i-yi!”

If you can’t finish him, you die! Only that thought filled my mind. Again, my heart was racing. Naturally, my hands became faster. I continued to hit down the stone.

“Key, key, key…!”

The goblin gradually discontinued fighting back at a certain point and eventually stopped.

[Goblin Hunt 1/20]

[You gained 10 experience]

[You got 1 bronze.]

“Pant… pant…”

I shook my breath and put the stone down. I monitored the sound I made while fighting and monitored for other monsters.

The dungeon was quiet. There were no other monsters. It was a massive dungeon, so he got away with the battle without attracting more monsters.

“Okay then…”

I had to drag the goblin and move it, but presently it’s in the middle of an open passage. It is a space where you can guard your surroundings.

I looked down at the goblin’s body. I didn’t feel nauseated like the first time. Instead, it seemed to be a nutrient that would heal me.

“I will enjoy this food.”

In this way, I started a new life as a goblin.

How long has it been since I opened my eyes with a goblin’s body? I don’t know. After receiving the quest, I killed and ate 16 goblins.

I leveled up to 5.

[Gang Si-ha (Fate)]

[Goblin Lv 5]

[Strength – 11 Stamina – 14 Magic – 5 Luck-???]

[Skill-Ebon Heart, Predation Lv1, Escape Lv1]

Whenever I leveled up, my strength and stamina increased by 1. When I ate ten goblins, I gained one stamina.

I did not sleep. I wondered why I wasn’t sleepy. I couldn’t find the next target even though it was quite a while since I ate a goblin, I felt tired from then on and realized it.

So far, I recovered my health by predating and leveling up. Fatigue disappeared by restoring physical strength.

Sleep is fatal. No matter how vast the dungeon is, if you are unlucky, you will face an enemy. It wasn’t once or twice that I felt frustrated and fled. Predation has become an essential skill in order not to sleep.

‘I want you to come out with one.’

It was a little easier to deal with goblins from the moment l reached level 4. It hurt less when I was hit, and I did more damage when I hit.

I was becoming more deadly.

But it made me more nervous at the same time. Some goblins had a higher level, and I might encounter a goblin stronger than me.

I had to hunt all goblins carefully unless I knew the level of the goblins in advance.

As I quietly stepped into the new aisle, I found prey. I picked up a stone with a very familiar form and approached it carefully.

Goblins are dull. Their hearing is excellent, but the other senses were lacking. They lack the so-called sixth sense.

But before I could approach him, he looked back at me.

My heart seemed to stop. A knife was in his hand. It was coarse and rusted, but it was a knife anyway.

“Kyap.”

He laughed. I come to see now that his upper body was slightly more developed, unlike other goblins. I could tell that he was stronger than me. Much stronger.

Immediately after realizing it, I threw the stone I was holding on to him and started running.

“Kyap, Kirp!”

He was chasing behind me with an eerie sound. I ran desperately, and I escaped. Deep inside my body, I was feeling something that was fluttering like a tiny fountain, maybe my mana was being consumed little by little.

My magic was garbage and escape skills do not last long.

That’s what I thought at first, but I wasn’t worried. After I ran out, this time, I began to lose my health. There were quite a few times that I recovered my health from predation so that I could have the feeling of stamina.

It’s good to be able to keep running. But what if that runs out? At that time, I could only wait for death. It’s horrifying.

I couldn’t help worrying, and I suddenly looked back. Fortunately, the distance between the goblin with a knife and me was gradually getting farther.

So that’s how it works, even if I have the escape skill, I can only use it when I escape a battle.

If I keep going this far, wouldn’t it be possible to get out of the way if I find another passage twice in this complicated dungeon? Then I can live! A little hope began to appear.

But he had one more method that I never thought of.

“Kiyak!”

It’s very annoying. Then at that moment, he nodded as if he was determined.

Then he threw the knife at me. It was clumsy, but the blade was aiming at me accurately.

“Okay!”

It could not be avoided. It was a miracle if I, who was only desperate to run away, avoided the knife thrown by an enemy with higher physical abilities than me.

A knife stuck in my thigh. It wasn’t deep, but I couldn’t afford to stop and pull out the knife now, and it was so painful to run.

It seemed like a flame was coming out of my thigh. I sensed that I was going to fall.

But what happens next if I fall? I’d die. That guy will kill me without irresolution, like how I killed all the other goblins. It was a goblin’s nature.

If I fall, I will die. Have I survived hell, only to die again in a more pathetic way than when I was a human?

I hate this. I cannot die. I must survive. I want to live. I want to live!

At that time, the Ebon Heart jumped vigorously.