Chapter 38: Exitra’s Bloody Reckoning

Something obviously unusual was happening.

“Kieeeek!”

Survival instinct!

The Goblin Shaman’s instincts were screaming a warning.

They were telling him that if he didn’t kill this human right now, something terrible would happen.

The Goblin Shaman swung his staff toward him.

“Damn it!!”

Seeing this, Alfredo rushed to block the attack.

Exitra was standing there completely defenseless.

‘Damn it! I could’ve just let him die and saved myself the trouble! Why did I protect him?!’

If Exitra died here, it would be easy to report to his father.

All he’d have to say was, “A monster killed him!” and that would be the end of it.

Yet, without even realizing it, he had moved to protect him.

It wasn’t a decision made with reason—his instincts had taken over.

Before Alfredo could think, his body had already acted to shield him.

Clang clang clang!!

Alfredo barely managed to block the Goblin Shaman’s attack.

‘Damn it!!’

“Brother!!”

“It’s fine.”

Exitra reached out his hand.

All the pooled blood—every drop on the ground—rose into the air and instantly wrapped around the Goblin Shaman.

Clenching his fist, he spoke.

“Blood Saw!”

Vwoooom!

Whoooosh!

The gathered blood wrapped itself tightly around the Goblin Shaman’s body.

“Kieeeek?!”

The blood began spinning at tremendous speed.

Then something remarkable happened—

The Goblin Shaman’s tough hide, which couldn’t be pierced even by a dagger, finally began to tear.

Slash slash slash slash!

Looking closely, the blood wrapped around the Shaman had taken the shape of jagged saw teeth.

Those rotating teeth were slicing into the Goblin Shaman’s body.

If it couldn’t be cut in one strike, Exitra would grind it down until it was severed.

However, the skill consumed an extreme amount of spirit power.

Blood Saw might look simple, but it was a complex construct, which caused spirit power consumption to skyrocket.

‘I have to end this in one strike. That thing’s weakness is…’

Then, a skill suddenly popped into Exitra’s head.

‘Why hadn’t he thought of it until now?’

‘If he had known from the start, this fight would have been much easier.’

‘Idiot… Weakness Detection!’

[Name: Krake Retro Reblo…]

[Weakness: Lifespan, Cannot use magic, Loses rationality, Neck is weaker compared to the rest of the body]

‘Found it.’

Exitra’s gaze sharpened.

The last line—

The neck was weaker than the rest of the body.

That was the target.

‘I’ll finish this in one blow…’

“Haaaah!!”

Exitra shifted the Blood Saw’s form again, this time concentrating all its power on the neck.

“No matter how strong you get from a blood ritual, if your head’s gone, it’s over.”

“Kieeeek!!”

“Haaap!”

Exitra swung, severing the Goblin Shaman’s neck.

“Kieee…”

The head dropped to the ground and rolled away.

The Shaman’s huge body collapsed onto the earth.

Thud!

[Quest ‘Cause of the Torrential Rain’ cleared.]

[You have gained 10 points.]

[Achievement ‘Goblin Shaman Slayer’ obtained.]

[Achievement ‘The Revenge-Crazed One’s End’ obtained.]

“Phew…”

Exitra finally straightened his back.

He checked his remaining spirit power—it was dangerously low.

If that last attack hadn’t ended the fight, he would’ve been completely drained.

‘Good thing I boosted it beforehand.’

He only had about 50 points of spirit power left.

If he hadn’t raised his spirit power before entering the village, the fight might have turned against him.

It was truly fortunate he had prepared.

“Somehow… it’s over.”

— [Wow…]

— [He actually killed it like that?]

— [Hahaha Exitra, loved the way you yelled the skill name~ I clipped it~ >_<]

“Ah… please… just don’t export that anywhere else…”

— [I’ll think about it.]

— [Trust the viewers~]

— [Now! Let’s get to work. So many places to send it~]

“Haaah…”

Exitra let out a long sigh, feeling as if he had just created a black mark on his history in exchange for 100,000 won.

As he exhaled, Alfredo looked at the beheaded Goblin Shaman.

“Is it over now?”

“Huh?”

— [Ah! That line!]

— [Nooo! Why would you say that…!!]

— [Flag!!]

— [But its head is gone, right? Doesn’t that mean no flag?]

“Are you sure it’s dead?”

“Can’t you see? It’s dead, so there’s no more—”

Vwoooooom!

A deeply ominous sound rang out.

From the dead Goblin Shaman’s corpse, something began to pour out, and a strange phenomenon occurred.

The corpse that had just been lying there began to rise.

And—

“Kieeeeeeeeeeek!!”

A scream echoed from outside the hut.

[Sudden Quest ‘Lingering Grudge’ has appeared. Accept? (Y/N)]

— [Ooh.]

— [Well, this is…]

The flag was strong.

“Hmmm…”

***

Dogry was watching a donation video sent in by viewers.

The footage showed Exitra entering the Goblin village, followed by the battle.

“Wow, he actually pushed his younger brother out of the way to block that? That’s not just a friend shield, that’s a brother shield.”

— [Real wholesome lol]

— [Look at the brother’s shocked face hahaha Why’s he so cute???]

— [Little bro cutie~]

“Wow. I think his morals might be even worse than mine.”

— [No no no, your morals are still worse, Dogry.]

— [Nah~ Not a chance~]

— [How dare you compare?]

— [Compare something comparable, please.]

— [You’re still number one in bad morals.]

Dogry bristled at the chat’s teasing.

“Hey! What’s so bad about my morals? I’m actually pretty decent, okay?”

— [You’re the one who always trolls in team games.]

— [You literally laughed while saying, ‘Even if they curse me, I’ll live long.’]

— [You’re still the top in bad morals. No comparison.]

— [Don’t even try. Unbeatable.]

“Tch.”

Dogry clicked his tongue.

He had no real comeback, because the accusations were true.

“Anyway…”

Dogry kept watching the video.

“Blood Needle!”

“Blood Shield!”

“Blood…”

“Why is he saying stuff like that?”

— [That’s because there’s a mission on it.]

— [Someone said if you shout cool-sounding skill names while killing a Goblin Shaman, you’ll get 100,000 won, so he’s doing it lol.]

“Wow… that’s seriously embarrassing.”

It was basically the same as creating a black mark in history.

Just look at him.

It might look kind of cool now, but later, it’s definitely going to be a blanket-kicking moment.

“Blood Needle~ Blood Shield~ Ooh~ so cool.”

— [Dogry, do you want to try it sometime too?]

“Me? If you pay me, sure. I’m good at that stuff~”

Dogry wasn’t shy about anything.

He’d been in this business long enough that the time for feeling embarrassed about things like this had long passed.

His “anti-cringe resistance” was maxed out.

Even if you told him to shout a skill name at the top of his lungs, he’d proudly bring a megaphone and do it.

But because of that confident attitude, the viewers’ reactions started to cool.

— [He already shaved his head and got a waxing, so saying a skill name is nothing.]

— [True…]

— [Eh, boring.]

— [These days, it’s no fun teasing him anymore…]

The viewers lived for tormenting streamers.

What they wanted to see was a streamer feeling embarrassed, ashamed, annoyed, distressed, and miserable.

These days, Dogry wasn’t giving them much of that flavor.

— [Tsk tsk, I’m getting tired of this now.]

— [At least in the past, there was some fun in teasing him. Lately…]

— [Is this… the “honeymoon phase” ending?]

“But still…”

Dogry kept watching the video.

What caught his attention was the spirit Exitra had summoned and the way he was attacking.

“Wait, that kind of spirit exists? This is my first time seeing it.”

— [Same here.]

— [You’d have to actually play a Spirit Mage to know lol.]

“And that Goblin Shaman… was it always that strong? I’ve fought a Goblin Shaman before, but it wasn’t nearly that tough…”

Dogry was also playing Heir of a Fallen House.

Of course, he’d chosen various traits and progressed through the story to a certain extent.

During that process, he’d received a quest to wipe out a Goblin village.

That was when he had fought a Goblin Shaman.

“Back then, all it did was stand in the back casting buffs and debuffs with its magic…”

The Goblin Shaman in his memory wasn’t nearly as big.

It had a relatively small build, looked frail, and seemed barely strong enough to even hold its staff.

In fact, once all its allied goblins were dead, the Shaman could do very little on its own, so it wasn’t hard to kill.

But the Goblin Shaman in the video was completely different.

The before-and-after difference was on an entirely different level.

That thing was basically on doping levels of power.

— [That’s not the Shaman I know…]

— [Is this a Strength Shaman? lol]

— [Did it dump all its stats into power? That’s a broken build lol.]

“But still…”

Exitra had taken it down with impressive skill.

Especially his final move—it was astonishing.

‘If stabbing doesn’t work, just grind it down until it’s cut like with a saw’—Dogry never would’ve thought of that.

And then, Exitra cleanly severed the Goblin Shaman’s head.

That was the end of the battle.

“Wow, amazing. He actually killed it like that?”

— [Were Spirit Mages always this strong?]

— [Holy craaap!!]

— [That’s insane!]

— [Did he make something like a saw and go grind-grind-grind?]

— [What do you mean grind lol.]

“Is that the end? There’s still some video left.”

Looking at the video’s remaining time, there was still a bit left.

That meant there was more to come.

“Is it over?”

It was Alfredo speaking.

He looked at the dead Goblin Shaman and said—

“Ah! That’s a flag!”

He really said it…

There were certain lines you should never say in the middle of a fight.

“Is it dead?”, “When I get back, I’m going to confess to her”, “Is it over?”—lines like that.

Once someone said them, there was a good chance the enemy that should’ve been dead would suddenly come back to life.

“Come on, it’s really over now, isn’t it? Look at the Goblin Shaman—its head’s cut off. No matter how much you raise a flag, there’s no way it could come back after that.”

— [He’s right.]

— [If that thing revives, that’s just absurd lol.]

And then—

Woooooong!

With an ominous sound, the dead Goblin Shaman’s corpse began to twitch… and then it got back up!

And then—

***

[Emergency Quest: “Resentment That Won’t Fade” has been generated. Do you accept? (Y/N)]

A quest window popped up.

“Wow…”

It was genuinely shocking.

They thought it was over, but there was still more to come.

“The power of that statement is terrifying.”

— [This is way too strong…]

— [What kind of cursed line can bring even the dead back to life?]

— [That flag got resolved way too fast lol.]

— [Seriously, what’s with that speed? lol.]

“Honestly…”

Dogry looked at the dumbfounded Exitra and said, “It’s clear the God of Broadcasting is watching over him.”

***

[Resentment That Won’t Fade]

[Description: Even in death, the Goblin Shaman could not let go of its hatred for humans or its thirst for revenge.

As it died, it cursed humans endlessly, and the mana twisted into resentment, hatred, and curses resurrected the dead Goblin Warriors nearby.

Among them, one Goblin Warrior directly inherited the Goblin Shaman’s grudge.

If you defeat the Goblin Warrior, the resurrected goblins will return to the realm of the dead.

Hurry and take down the Goblin Warrior.]

[Success Condition: Defeat the resurrected Goblin Warrior.]

[Reward: 20 Points]

[Failure: Triggers follow-up quest, “Attack of the Vengeful Goblin.”]

***

— [Wow…]

— [No words for this lol.]

— [The moment he raised the flag, the payoff came instantly.]

Both the viewers and Exitra were stunned.

After all, killing the Goblin Shaman was already hard enough—no one expected there to be a next phase.

Exitra and Alfredo quickly left the hut.

“Kieeeeeeek!!”

In the middle of the village stood a goblin over 3 meters tall.

It wore simple leather armor and wielded a massive greatsword in one hand.

It was the Goblin Warrior.

Around it, other resurrected goblins shuffled forward, making eerie growls.

Looking at the Goblin Warrior, Exitra let out a sigh.

“What kind of flag did that line set off…?”