Chapter 13: Rune-Cursed Goblin

Evan moved close to the goblin village with Reynold and Alan.

The three of them then split up and began splashing goblin blood in different areas.

After scattering all the goblin blood, Evan moved to the entrance of the village.

Reynold and Alan soon followed him.

“Young Master, are you really going in?” Alan looked at Evan with a worried expression.

Even for someone like him, he wasn’t confident he could protect Evan in the chaos of a fight against goblins.

At that moment, Reynold grinned and bared his teeth.

“Don’t worry! I’ll protect the Young Master with my life!”

Evan looked toward the village entrance.

“No need to worry about me. Worry about yourselves. The battle is going to get chaotic from here on.”

He held his breath, as if waiting for something.

Moments later, a commotion erupted from within the goblin village.

“Kyaaaah!”

“The smell of blood! Blood!”

It was the furious voices of goblins.

The strong scent of their own kind’s blood.

The pervasive, fishy smell would make them think many of their kin had already been killed.

From the entrance of the village, a swarm of goblins began pouring out.

They scattered in every direction, chasing the smell of blood.

This was the second part of Evan’s plan.

Lure the goblins out of the village with the scent of blood and fight them outside.

It was far better to fight in the forest than in terrain advantageous to the goblins.

Evan quickly used all the buff scrolls he had bought from the shop.

[Attack speed increased by 10%. Duration: 00:10:00]

[Agility increased by 10. Duration: 00:10:00]

[…]

“Good. They’re coming. From now on, don’t let a single one survive.”

Evan rose to his feet, gripping his Dire Sword.

As soon as the goblins came within range, he swung his blade.

Slice—!

Thud!

He decapitated a goblin in a single blow.

Just like he had done in his previous life, Evan began the goblin massacre.

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

[…]

Goblins rushed at him relentlessly, and Evan swung his sword without pause.

He had already slain thirty of them.

‘I’m already level 19.’

The more prey there was, the faster he grew.

He was on the verge of reaching level 20.

‘Once I hit level 20, the next tier of the shop unlocks.’

Level 20 meant much more in the early stages of the game.

It granted access to Tier 2 shop items.

Also, most equipment had a level 20 requirement, which made this a significant milestone.

‘It’s also the mark of moving beyond a beginner hunter.’

Evan looked around, searching for more goblins.

But it seemed all the ones who had come out were already dead—only corpses remained.

Reynold wiped off the blood as he caught his breath.

Alan sheathed his sword and approached Evan.

“Young Master. I think that’s the last of them.”

His expression showed disbelief.

Evan’s combat skills had left a deep impression.

Evan looked at Alan’s stunned face and let out a quiet chuckle.

“Alright. Let’s head into their stronghold now.”

“Y-Yes…”

Normally talkative, Alan could only give a short reply at this moment.

Reynold, on the other hand, seemed cheerful, as if he had enjoyed the hunt.

Following Evan with a bright grin, the three of them entered the village.

‘The boss still hasn’t appeared.’

The goblins they had taken down so far were all low-tier.

Goblins were monsters that lived in groups.

And those groups always had a leader.

As they moved deeper into the village, it appeared strangely empty.

Only the huts the goblins lived in remained.

Evan walked further inside.

Then—

‘Something feels… off.’

The more he examined the village, the more Evan felt an unshakable sense of unease.

‘The structure matches a typical goblin design…’

But upon closer inspection, it was too well-crafted to be goblin work.

Everything was neatly shaped and well-constructed.

‘It’s like they deliberately made the exterior look crude and goblin-like… but the buildings themselves are much sturdier than expected.’

Feeling this strange disconnect, Evan’s eyes fell on one of the huts.

‘A storage hut for the goblins?’

Having fought goblins many times before, Evan recognized it instantly.

His eyes sparkled.

He turned to his two companions and said, “I’ll check this place out. You two look elsewhere. There might still be stragglers.”

“Understood!”

Reynold responded enthusiastically and ran off to search, while Alan tilted his head in slight confusion before heading off.

Left alone, Evan slowly recalled what he knew.

‘Goblins are surprisingly knowledgeable about herbs. Some alchemy books were even based on goblin methods.’

A storage hut would be full of herbs the goblins had gathered.

And many of those herbs were considered high-grade.

With some luck, he might find plenty of ingredients for elixirs.

Heart pounding with anticipation, Evan entered the shabby-looking hut.

Just as he expected, he found a considerable amount of herbs.

‘Of course. This place is practically a treasure trove… Huh?’

Then something caught his eye.

Deeper inside the hut, past the piles of herbs.

There were the corpses of various monsters.

Preserved in perfect condition, without signs of decay.

‘This doesn’t make sense. Goblins don’t have the knowledge or skill for this.’

A chilling unease washed over him.

Given what he knew of goblins, this was simply impossible.

‘This is a goblin village… isn’t it? I thought the boss monster would just be a higher-tier goblin…’

His doubts deepened.

But there was no way to be sure without seeing the boss monster himself.

Evan quickly collected the herbs and monster parts from the goblin storage and stored them in his inventory.

Then—

“Reynold! Fall back!”

Alan’s voice rang out from outside.

‘Did they find the boss monster?’

Evan rushed out of the hut.

***

A warning message appeared before his eyes.

[Warning! Boss Monster: Goblin Experiment Specimen has appeared.]

“What?”

This was a kind of goblin Evan had never seen, not even in his past life.

He immediately scanned the area, searching for Alan and Reynold.

Soon, he spotted them in the distance, facing off against something.

“What happened?!”

Evan ran up to them.

Alan pointed with his hand.

“Young Master. Look over there.”

Evan turned in the direction Alan indicated.

There, a grotesque goblin stood.

It was human-sized, with a thin, bony body.

And on its forehead and chest, ancient rune symbols were etched.

‘Rune symbols?’

A monster that used the power of runes.

There was an unmistakable sense of danger in the air.

“Leave that scrawny guy to me!”

Suddenly, Reynold shouted and, without warning, charged at the creature with his longsword.

“Wait! Stop! What are you doing?!”

Alan shouted, but Reynold was already on the move.

Fwoosh!

At that moment, two rune symbols engraved on the goblin’s body began to emit a blinding red light.

“Ugh!”

Reynold winced from the intense brightness and was forced to halt his charge.

Crackle!

The creature’s previously bony frame started to swell.

The transformation continued until the light finally faded.

“Huh? What… What is that thing?”

‘…That’s a Hobgoblin? It was just a normal goblin a moment ago.’

Even Alan was stunned, unable to take his eyes off the creature.

Evan frowned deeply.

‘Rune magic? This just got troublesome.’

A system notification appeared in front of Evan’s eyes.

[The Goblin Test Subject has summoned the power of a Hobgoblin.]

But the creature didn’t seem satisfied.

Tilting its head, it activated the runes once again.

Crackle!

Its body swelled again, and its skin color began to change.

[The Goblin Test Subject has summoned the power of a Hobgoblin Warrior.]

[The Goblin Test Subject has summoned the power of a Goblin Shaman.]

Amazingly, the Goblin Test Subject’s appearance evolved in real time.

From lower-tier species, it was climbing the ranks rapidly.

Evan dashed forward.

‘We have to stop this now!’

He had a terrible feeling.

If this thing kept transforming endlessly into stronger forms, they might even witness the birth of a Goblin Lord.

A legendary goblin at the top of its species—strong enough to command entire legions.

There would be no escape if that happened.

‘To stop it… we have to deal with the source of that rune power.’

At its core, the creature was still weak.

It was only borrowing the power of stronger goblin species.

It had to be those glowing runes carved into its chest and head.

Evan adjusted his grip on the Dire Sword and activated a special effect.

[Used: Wolf Rush.]

[Movement speed increased by 150%. (03:00)]

“Reynold! You see the rune glowing on its chest? Throw a dagger at it!”

“Understood!”

Reynold gave a firm nod without question.

One of Reynold’s strengths was his unwavering obedience to orders.

He infused a gathering dagger with mana.

Taking careful aim at the rune on the goblin’s chest, he hurled the dagger with all his strength.

Whoosh!

Using Reynold’s immense power as propulsion, the dagger flew in a straight line.

It struck the glowing rune squarely in the center of the creature’s chest.

Thunk!

“Kyaaaaargh!”

The Goblin Test Subject, in the middle of its transformation, let out a piercing scream and clutched its chest.

The rune that had been glowing brightly flickered out.

[The Goblin Test Subject has suffered a critical hit.]

[Power of the Forerunner decreased by 30%.]

‘Just as I thought. Destroy the runes, and the creature loses its power!’

Certain now, Evan charged at the goblin with all his might.

As he ran, he gave Reynold another command.

“Reynold! Launch me into the air!”

Reynold hesitated for a moment, then dropped to one knee and interlocked his fingers.

Evan stepped onto Reynold’s hands.

With all his strength, Reynold hurled Evan upward.

Using the momentum, Evan flew toward the Goblin Test Subject.

He gripped the Dire Sword tightly in both hands and plunged it straight into the creature’s forehead.

Squelch!

“Graaaaargh!”

The Goblin Test Subject let out a shriek and began to stagger.

Gwooooooh!

Dark energy started pouring from its body.

[The Power of the Forerunner has been destroyed.]

[The Goblin Test Subject is disintegrating.]

“Ugh!”

The black aura engulfed Evan completely.

A searing pain ripped through his throat like it was on fire.

[You have been poisoned by a foul toxin.]

[Poison Resistance skill has activated.]

[Poison Resistance skill proficiency increased!]

[Poison Resistance skill level has increased.]

Moments later, the Goblin Test Subject vanished without a trace.

With the creature gone, Evan crashed to the ground.

“Kh… Damn it… What a filthy bastard, right to the end.”

[Level up!]

[Level up!]

Evan gained seven levels in a single moment.

Still lying on the ground, he slowed his breathing and focused on recovering.

He had been poisoned, but thankfully, the resistance skill had kicked in and kept him alive.

“Young Master!”

“Sir! Are you all right?”

Alan and Reynold rushed to Evan’s side.

Evan clutched his head and slowly pushed himself up.

“I’m fine. More importantly, start preparing to leave.”

To make sure nothing was left behind, Evan scanned the area.

There was something on the ground where the Goblin Test Subject had disappeared.

‘Did it drop this?’

Cautiously, Evan picked it up.

It was a black crystal engraved with a red dragon crest.

But he couldn’t sense anything from it.

When he tried to inspect it, all he got were question marks.

‘So aside from the rune power, we still know nothing.’

He decided to shelve that thought for now.

There was no way to investigate further at the moment.

And he had something more urgent to do.

‘Now that I’ve cleared this place, I need to create the Mana Core.’

That was the whole reason he came here in the first place.

Evan focused and tried to recall everything he knew about Mana Cores from his previous world.

‘First, I need to draw the magic circle. Then gather the materials required to activate it…’

In his old world, he could easily get those materials through the Hunter Association’s vendors.

But this world was different.

Here, everything was controlled by merchants.

If you weren’t connected to the merchant network, getting rare items was next to impossible.

‘Doesn’t look like I’ll be able to gather the materials easily.’

***

While pondering the problem, Evan remembered the goblin warehouse they had raided earlier.

He had seen some familiar-looking materials in there.

Evan quickly opened his inventory.

His guess had been right.

‘Yes. These are materials for making a Mana Core.’

Not everything was there, but it was far better than starting from scratch.

Still, a new question came to mind.

‘There’s no way all this just happened by chance. Someone was collecting these for a reason… probably to create a Mana Core.’

Evan thought back to the Goblin Test Subject.

Its bizarre appearance and strange powers…

It was too odd to write off as just a regular goblin.

‘Normally, I’d laugh at the idea of a goblin trying to create a Mana Core… but that one was different.’

It had probably chosen this location specifically because of the mana rift nearby.

‘And it was smart. If it had completed the Mana Core…’

Even the thought of what might have come next made Evan shiver.

A disaster on the scale of a Goblin Lord could have emerged.

“At least we stopped it before that happened.”

Evan pushed the thought aside and started searching for the boss room of the goblin village.

It was almost certain now that the Goblin Test Subject had been trying to create a Mana Core.

So the boss room had to contain the final piece.

‘That hut over there…’

At the center of the village stood a larger hut, much bigger than the others.

It had no roof, which was a little strange, but it was the biggest structure in the village by far.

It had to be the boss room.

With confidence in his guess, Evan approached it cautiously and opened the door.

Creeeeak!

The old wood groaned as it opened, revealing the inside of the boss room.

But then—

“What the… What is this…?!”

Evan stared in shock at the sight before him.