Chapter 8

The arrow pierced through the air and stuck in the white-eyed goblin’s forehead.

It let out a piercing cry. Without delay, Yura also shot an arrow. If it had been a hairy insect, it would’ve gotten hit again while it was writhing in pain. But this monster was different.

It dodged it!

Even though the white-eyed goblin was in pain, it managed to escape Yura’s arrow. It even charged to the area the arrow had come from.

“Ack!”

It started shaking the tree that Yura had climbed by violently slamming its body against the trunk.

“Wh-what is it doing?!”

“Hold on! I’ll try to lure it away!”

Yusu drew his bowstring, but it was no use. The monster had made Yura its target, so it ignored Yusu’s arrows. In the meantime, Yura’s tree was slowly starting to lean forward. If she fell, her injuries from the fall would be minimal compared to the damage she could suffer from the white-eyed goblin’s attack.

Will Yusu be able to solve this?

When I glanced at him, his look of panic showed he had no idea what to do.

Is this really the best he can do?

They needed a more elaborate approach. Their strategy of moving separately was actually a pretty good idea, but... First of all, once they had fired an arrow, they should’ve moved. The act of firing revealed your location just as much as anything else.

Second, once Yura had become the main target, they should’ve divided up their roles. Yura should’ve taken on a Tanker-like role to try and buy more time. As the main damage dealer, Yusu should’ve used that time to get as many attacks as he could.

If all else failed, it would’ve been a different story if they had shot the monster’s eye.

The eyes were a common weak spot for all monsters. For the white-eyed goblin, the best attack was to gouge an eye out.

“Arghhh!”

With Yura’s screaming in the background, I awakened that familiar feeling.

Spatial Interference.

During the fleeting moment where I had my eyes closed, many things passed through my mind. I picked out the information that I needed such as...

The coordinates above the white-eyed goblin’s head.

I felt the wind rush through my ears. I suddenly reappeared out of thin air, and the monster let out a surprised shriek. It bared its teeth and tried to attack my legs. But I was quicker as I plunged the karambit and gouged out one of its eyes.

In agonizing pain, the bastard took a couple steps backwards. But that was just the beginning of its troubles.

“Yusu!”

As if he had been waiting for my cry, he drew back his bowstring, and an arrow came flying.

As soon as it hit the other eye, the monster lost its sight and flailed around.

“Save Yura first!”

“Okay!”

While Yusu went to help Yura, I went to finish off the white-eyed goblin. It was only taken out for a moment by the loss of vision. It sniffed a couple of times before it turned its head in my direction. It had smelled the blood on my karambit and began to charge towards me. It was fast, but I had the upper hand. Once again, I activated my Skill, and the blue sky filled my field of vision.

I looked down and saw the monster right under me. I spun lightly in the air and fell while putting all my weight on the karambit.

While the karambit specialized in cutting and not piercing, that didn’t mean I couldn’t use it for either purpose with a bit of force. I buried it deep into one of its arms and sliced it off.

The white-eyed goblin finally fell and rolled on the ground.

“Just like now...”

When I turned around, the twins were staring at me in a daze.

“If you meet an intelligent monster and just use simple tactics like you guys did, it will lead to your defeat. If you’d encountered this on a regular recon mission, there would’ve been casualties. I’ll report this when we get back, so think hard about how you’ll need to fight in a battle.”

“Okay...”

“We understand.”

They still looked a bit dazed. As they had always been revered as geniuses, this was probably a huge blow for them.

But why was a white-eyed goblin even around these parts?

When I was previously at the indoor gym, there weren’t really any monsters around here other than hairy insects and low-grade monsters. I would’ve known if a monster like the white-eyed goblin had appeared.

I’ll report this and suggest that reconnaissance be increased around the gym.

The twins didn’t say a word while we walked back. They seemed to be lost in thought.

***

A heavy thudding sound rang from the entrance, made by tapping on an oiled cloth that had been dried. It signaled a reconnaissance team had returned.

Everyone turned their attention to the door to check that everyone had come back safely. I too was on edge.

The distinct, foul stench of monster body fluids wafted in. Today’s reconnaissance was done by the B team, led by Minjoon. He was at the front of the group, and aside from a scratch on his forearm, he looked fine. Behind him, I saw people dragging the monster.

I silently started counting them. Everyone here was probably doing the same. One, two, three, four, five...

And six and seven.

At the very end, one person being carried on someone’s back was almost passed out. I turned my head.

That person was probably going to die. After putting the wounded in another tent, Minjoon headed towards Woo-do. On the way, he nodded to me. It signaled that I had to hear this, too.

“Keep running.”

“O...kay–”

“Come back... quickly–”

The twins huffed out their replies as they were nearly crawling on the floor from today’s basic training. I left them and headed towards Woo-do.

***

“Oh, Minjoon... You worked hard. How was it today?”

“One person got severely injured.”

As I came in, Woo-do greeted me with a look.

“How are they doing?”

“They probably won’t survive the night.”

“Oh dear...” He frowned slightly. The amount of outside tasks that needed to be completed kept increasing, but the people were physically weak and kept getting injured or killed. New survivors that came couldn’t compensate for the losses, and dealing with the corpses was a hassle since they could attract monsters.

“What else?”

“We’ve confirmed that the hairy insects are trying to move their habitat.”

“Phew...” Woo-do lowered his glasses and looked at Minjoon for an explanation.

Minjoon stood close to the map. “At first, hairy insects could be found from here to there.... Today, we went all the way and didn’t encounter even one.”

As he pointed out the area, the situation seemed dire. The hairy insect’s habitat wasn’t that large. It wasn’t a strong monster and had to hunt in groups. But the fact that it wasn’t seen in its territory meant that something was wrong.

Is the sudden appearance of the white-eyed goblin nearby related to this?

That was the only recent thing that had changed.

“So it’s come to this?”

“Since we keep hunting them, they must be running away.”

“Then what kind of monster caused such an injury today?”

Minjoon’s face darkened at his question.

“I saw it when I used my Recon Skill. While hairy insects are F-grade, that monster was...”

As your Recon Skill level increases, you must be able to see a monster’s grade even if you don’t know its name.

“...a D-grade.”

Woo-do suddenly jumped up from his seat. He grabbed Minjoon’s forearm with a strength that belied his old age. Cautiously, he asked, “Are you sure?”

“Yes, we were barely able to escape. That was when the injury happened.”

So this was why the hairy insects were running away. Since a D-grade monster was coming, they had no other choice. The white-eyed goblin may have been pursued by it, too.

But since our residence was here, we couldn’t run away. And with the hairy insects gone, we would have problems with our food supply.

Before my transmigration, I don’t think there had been an issue like this. I had never heard of the emergence of a D-grade monster. And if there had been an incident, everything would’ve been destroyed by this time.

Were the things that I was changing having an influence? Right now, the number of people at the indoor gym was twice as much as the first time. We needed more supplies, and hairy insects were even being hunted by boat. Was that why? I had no idea.

“What did it look like?” If I heard its description, I may be able to identify it.

“It wasn’t that big. It was so fast that I couldn’t see it clearly, but it looked like a black dog with three heads.”

Cerberus!

The famous three-headed dog of legend. Unfortunately, it was something real inside the Gate. The name came from its legendary counterpart, but just because it looked like a dog didn’t mean it had a dog’s intelligence. In fact, it could have simple conversations with humans.

“They’re tricky... Unlike simple-minded monsters, the three heads of the cerberus talk to each other. It’s quite a smart bastard that can hunt and set traps.”

It was a deadly opponent, even for the twins as they were weak against the more intelligent monsters. They were getting better as they sparred with me, but... They still had a long way to go.

“There’s still some distance between us and the monster, but we’ll need to think of countermeasures soon.”

Woo-do nodded at that. A subjugation force would have to be formed.

***

“Oh? Seoha!”

When I turned my head, I saw Dajeong standing there. Her clothes looked like she had rolled around in a dirt pit.

“Why are your clothes like that?”

“Ah, I was chopping firewood.”

Her bright, smiling face didn’t match the situation. Dajeong was in an ambiguous position as combat personnel, but chopping firewood was effective in raising strength. You could see results if you did it consistently.

“What did you talk about with Mr. Woo-do?”

“Not much. I heard the recon report from today.”

Dajeong’s face hardened slightly at that. No doubt it was because of the casualty. In the end, the seriously injured recon team member had died. Dajeong was probably chopping firewood so the body could be cremated.

“Minjoon led the recon team today, right? Is he having a hard time?”

“He didn’t look like he was.”

Minjoon hadn’t shown that he was sad about losing a comrade. From the beginning, it was rare for him to show emotion. That is, though he sometimes showed his dissatisfaction or fussiness, he hid personal feelings such as sadness or joy.

“He may not show it, but he must be having a hard time. You should comfort him.”

“I don’t think that’s the case…”

“Why me and not you, Dajeong?” I asked in a slightly mischievous tone.

Dajeong’s face quickly turned red. She was really easy to read. “W-w-why me? I’m not even that close with Minjoon...”

“But you know he thinks fondly of those in our mart group.”

While he wasn’t obvious about it, he did sometimes show his consideration for us. I guessed Dajeong had no idea, judging by her puzzled expression. If she didn’t know, oh well.

“Oops, I need to finish this soon... I’m gonna get going, Seoha.”

“Okay. Sorry for keeping you when you have a lot to do.”

“See you later!” Dajeong hurried off. I smiled slightly and waved at her.

Yeah... I hadn’t just gotten older during the month I had spent here. My terrible communication skills had improved to a normal level. If those who had known me for a month were asked their opinion of me, would it have changed from “a rude child” to “an okay person once you got to know her?”

“Dajeong really is clueless, isn’t she?”

I heard his footsteps getting closer.

“Lee.”

“How come you call Dajeong by her first name, but I’m just ‘Lee’? Isn’t that a bit much?” Chansong asked in a coy pretense of being hurt.

He had also gone out with Minjoon to do reconnaissance, so he must be tired.

But the fact that he hadn’t changed his clothes before coming to see me meant he had something to discuss.