Chapter 36: Goblin Shaman’s Feast

He had entered as the heir to a fallen family.

The last time he logged out of the game, he had been in the reception room, and behind him stood Alfredo.

— [I wonder how Exitra will handle this…]

— [Because of this, I couldn’t concentrate on my exam today! Anyway, take responsibility!!]

Goblin Shaman.

A mutated goblin born with mana.

Goblins born with mana were called Shamans, and unlike other goblins, they were quite intelligent.

In addition, Goblin Shamans used something called “sorcery” rather than “magic.”

Sorcery, unlike magic, rarely involved direct attacks on an enemy.

Instead, it specialized in debuffs and curses.

It could even control the weather to some extent.

— [But is it even possible for a Shaman to make it rain like this??]

— [I’m curious about that too!]

— [Oh wow, look at that downpour, that’s scary lol.]

“I’m curious about that as well.”

No matter how capable, a Goblin Shaman was still bound by the limits of the “goblin” category.

For such a Goblin Shaman to create this kind of torrential rain?

Logically speaking, it was almost “impossible.”

And yet, this Goblin Shaman had done it.

That meant the Shaman had turned the impossible into possible—and there had to be a reason for it.

‘I can guess what it did, but…’

He had a hunch, but couldn’t be certain without seeing for himself.

“I’ll need to check it out first.”

— [Alright, let’s gooo~!]

— [We have to see it with our own eyes!]

— [lololololol!]

“Then I’ll unpause the game.”

Exitra released the pause.

“Sir.”

Alfredo spoke up.

His expression wasn’t good.

He clearly didn’t like the fact that he had to ask Exitra to clean up the mess he had made.

“What will you do?” Alfredo asked nervously.

Exitra smirked and asked, “What would you like me to do?”

— [So evil!]

— [He’s going to help anyway, but still asks lol.]

Alfredo bit his lip.

It was as if saying those words would crush his last bit of pride.

Seeing this, Exitra placed a hand on his head.

“Never mind, let’s go.”

Sometimes you had to use both the whip and the carrot for the best results.

If he dragged this out any longer, Alfredo’s favorability might actually drop.

‘If he’s come to ask for my help despite disliking me, it must mean I’ve gained enough favor points.’

It was precisely because Alfredo had some goodwill toward him that he had come to ask.

Otherwise, Exitra might have had to waste time investigating the cause of the rain from scratch.

“You can guide me to the village, right?”

“Yes.”

***

Exitra and Alfredo arrived at the location of the goblin village.

“As expected, the effect is concentrated here.”

The heavy rain was falling only on the territory.

It was only natural.

“There’s no way they could make it rain like this over a wide area.”

— [Exactly.]

— [Honestly lol, the funny thing was, when I ran a bit past the territory border, it stopped raining lol.]

— [Yeah, that border was kinda fascinating…]

The area where it rained and where it didn’t was clearly divided—it was indeed strange.

“Is that it?”

“Yes.”

Alfredo nodded.

The goblin village was about a thirty-minute run west from the territory—close if you called it close, far if you called it far.

‘I was going to clear this place out eventually anyway.’

If a goblin or orc village was nearby, there was no telling what might happen later.

And if a monster settlement was too close, the territory’s people would feel uneasy.

It was best to nip such threats in the bud.

“For now… the condition isn’t great.”

“Ahem, I may have gone a little overboard…”

The goblin village was in rough shape.

In one corner lay piles of goblin corpses.

Some huts had been destroyed, likely from Alfredo enthusiastically testing out his new dagger.

“Haa…”

— [Wow, just how wild did he go?]

— [Aww~ our little bro was so happy to get his new dagger~?]

At least the Goblin Shaman was still here.

They needed to take it out quickly to stop the rain.

If they didn’t, there was no telling what damage the territory might suffer.

“‘The territory is already in the worst state possible, and now this downpour… If it continues…'”

— [The God of Broadcasting welcomes you.]

— [You’re blessed.]

— [How does a streamer manage to have things blow up like this every time?]

— [Territory at minimum state + torrential rain = ??? Honestly curious lol.]

“I’m not curious. I just want to solve it quickly.”

But first, there was something he needed to do.

“One moment…”

Exitra opened his status window.

[Name: Raiders Exitra]

[Title: Official Successor]

[Class: Spirit Mage]

[HP: 1,000/1,000 Spirit Power: 4,250/5,000] <Stats> Strength 10 Agility 10 Stamina 10 Wisdom 5 Spirit Power 50 Points: 10]

He allocated all 10 points into Spirit Power.

He needed to boost his Spirit Power for the upcoming battle.

“Done.”

Looking at Alfredo, Exitra said, “Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

Leading the way, Exitra entered the goblin village.

The place was eerily quiet.

How to put it…

It felt empty.

There was no trace of life.

“What on earth…?”

Normally, monsters were hostile toward humans.

The village was their territory, after all.

If a human entered, they would usually go berserk.

But now there was no reaction at all.

Perhaps that was why…

A strange tension filled the air.

— [The calm before the storm…]

— [It’s even more unsettling because it’s so quiet…]

— [My heart’s racing…]

— [What if they suddenly jump out?]

— [Eek! I’m bad with jump scares!!]

They were right—it was the kind of silence that came right before something big happened.

“Sir.”

“What?”

“Don’t you hear something?”

“What sound?”

“Um… I think I hear chewing sounds?”

“Chewing sounds?”

Crunch… crunch…

Slurp… slurp…

Crunch…

It was unmistakable.

There really was a sound of something being eaten.

It sounded like someone was tearing into raw meat with their teeth.

The noise was disturbingly vivid, and it made him feel uneasy.

“Over there?”

The sound was coming from the largest hut in the goblin village.

Judging from the strange skull decorations around it, this was most likely the goblin shaman’s dwelling.

‘No way…’

Exitra used the Flashback skill to recall a memory.

The goblin shaman… the sudden downpour…

A way to make the impossible possible…

When those three things came together, something clicked in his mind.

‘It can’t be…’

Exitra cautiously approached the goblin shaman’s hut.

The sounds grew louder.

Someone inside was eating something.

“Ugh!”

“Urgh!”

As they drew closer, both Exitra and Alfredo clamped their hands over their noses.

A thick stench of blood wafted out from inside, making their heads spin.

Crunch crunch crunch!

Slurp slurp slurp!

The chewing sounds continued.

Exitra slowly pushed aside the cloth that served as the hut’s door.

Maybe because it belonged to a special goblin, the hut’s interior was surprisingly spacious.

Inside, a horrific scene unfolded.

— [Whoa! What the hell?!]

— [What is that?!]

— [Seriously, what’s going on here?!]

— [Isn’t this 19+ content?!]

The inside of the hut was a sea of blood.

The moment Exitra saw it, he hastily hit pause.

“Ah, one moment…”

— [Huh? Why?]

— [Why are you cutting it off all of a sudden?!]

— [Whaaat—?!]

— [Wow, this is a proper mukbang. Which YouTuber is this guy?]

“If we keep going like this, it’s going to be a problem. You know my stream is rated for all audiences. If I show this as it is, my stream will get shut down. So, let me adjust the settings real quick.”

— [Ugh…]

— [You killed the mood. Take responsibility!]

— [But honestly, no choice. If you kept going, the stream really would’ve been cut.]

— [Ox]

Exitra opened the options menu and adjusted the settings.

In the graphics section, he lowered the age rating to 15+.

At 18+, you could see blood spurts when heads were cut off, bones and gore in detail, and even rotting corpses.

But at 15+, the visuals would be toned down for a younger audience.

“Alright. Let’s get started, shall we?”

Just as Exitra was about to resume the stream, it happened.

[MissionMan has donated 10,000 won.]

<Wait! Exitra! Want to take on a mission??>

“Hm? A mission?”

— [Ooh! A mission!]

— [Right, you’re about to fight the goblin shaman. I was wondering what felt missing—there was no mission.]

— [Ah, I totally forgot about that.]

— [By the way, where’s the Chairman? Isn’t he on a losing streak against Exitra? Maybe he’s scared?]

[The Chairman has donated 50,000 won.]

<I was going to make an offer, but that guy beat me to it. I’m just watching for now.>

— [As expected!]

— [We knew you wouldn’t disappoint, Chairman!]

“A mission, huh… let’s hear it first.”

[MissionMan has donated 10,000 won.]

<Defeat the goblin shaman using only one spirit, and I’ll give you 100,000 won!>

— [Oh!]

— [Ah, learning from the last mission, I see, haha.]

— [Will Exitra accept this mission…?]

— [But using only one spirit is going to be rough. There’s no way the goblin shaman is weak…]

“Hmm…”

Exitra thought for a moment.

Defeating the goblin shaman with only one spirit would be extremely difficult.

He would need to choose the one spirit that could definitely be effective in this situation.

‘Shamans have innate elemental resistance…’

Because shamans were born with mana, they had resistance to water, fire, wind, and earth attributes.

Attacking with those elements wouldn’t be very effective.

That meant he would need to summon a spirit with a different attribute entirely.

‘What would be best? Ice? Or maybe wood?’

While Exitra pondered, the Chairman made his move.

[The Chairman has donated 50,000 won.]

<I’m in! If you beat the goblin shaman with just one spirit, I’ll give you 500,000 won!!>

— [Whoa!!]

— [Half a million won!!]

— [The Chairman’s in—everyone pile on!!]

— [Go big or go home!]

The jackpot mission was on.

Soon, other viewers started adding money to the prize pool.

[SafeVault has donated 10,000 won.]

<I heard you’re “King of Safe Assets,” so if you succeed, I’ll add another 100,000 won.>

[Letri has donated 1,000 won.]

<Just a little—50,000 won from me.>

[FocusedViewer has donated 5,000 won.]

<Me too…>

It seemed that simply hearing “safe asset” made people throw money in.

— [Wow. These guys hear ‘safe asset’ and instantly throw money.]

— [You’re betting again?! What if you lose everything like last time, haha.]

The mission pool quickly surpassed 2 million won.

It was an absurd amount.

“Alright. I’ll accept the mission.”

The difficulty had just shot up, but it was too much money to refuse.

If it was over 2 million won, it was worth at least trying.

But the missions didn’t stop there.

[Chuunibyou has donated 1,000 won.]

<When you fight the goblin shaman, shout your skill names out loud—100,000 won.>

— [Oh snap!]

— [What kind of mission is that??]

The stream was now flooded with all sorts of weird missions.

“Skill names?”

Even Exitra looked surprised at the unusual request.

Shouting skill names out loud…

— [Wow, seriously, what kind of mission is this, haha.]

— [That’s so embarrassing.]

— [That’s instant blackmail material.]

“So… as long as the skill name sounds convincing, it’s fine?”

[Chuunibyou has donated 1,000 won.]

<As long as it sounds convincing, yes.>

“Alright. I’ll do it.”

It was just shouting skill names for 100,000 won.

It would take a bit of mental fortitude, but it was doable.

“Alright… let’s begin.”

Exitra unpaused the game.

The visuals changed immediately due to the new settings.

‘That’s better.’

The gore was noticeably toned down.

The blood was lighter in color, the nearby corpses looked less decayed, and the overpowering stench of blood had lessened.

Crunch crunch…

Slurp slurp slurp…

“Ugh… that thing’s eating its own kind…” Alfredo gagged as he spoke.

He was right.

The goblin shaman was eating another goblin—cannibalizing its own kin.

The chewing stopped, perhaps because it had heard voices.

The goblin shaman slowly turned to face them.

Its face was smeared with blood, and its eyes were as red as blood itself.

“Hu…man… you…!”

As expected from a shaman, it could speak a little of the human language.

It fixed its gaze squarely on Alfredo.

“You… killed… my kin… human… I… kill… you…”

The shaman tossed aside the goblin corpse it had been eating and rose to its feet.

It reached for a long staff lying nearby.

A surge of hatred, rage, and murderous intent radiated from it.

“Kieeeek! Kill!!”

The battle began.