Report
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Griffin Scans
Translator – Hero of death
Proofreader – Sleepyhead
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Chapter 12 - Goblin’s den
“Kiieeek!!”
A monster with rough green skin and nothing but a ragged cloth covering its privates.
I had been on edge, wondering what kind of monster might appear—but when I saw the familiar form of a goblin, I actually felt a sense of relief.
Goblin packs usually moved in groups, and this one numbered around 20. But we were cadets of SEAL Academy, the most prestigious of the prestigious. Their numbers were far from enough to pose a real threat.
Shraaak!
I slashed my sword horizontally, and a blue ichor burst from the goblin's bisected body, following the arc of my blade.
Without hesitation, I stepped forward again.
With each swing, a goblin’s shrill scream followed.
As I leisurely cut them down, I took glances at how my teammates were doing.
Ha Tae-san used a single-edged curved blade to cleave goblins in half, while Lee Jung-hoon skewered his enemies with a spear like shish kebabs.
Despite her earlier grumbling, Lee Mi-jin displayed sharp, precise swordsmanship.
Lim Yu-ah, without the slightest tremble, loosed magic arrows that struck right between their brows.
Though we’d been a little tense for our first real battle, the power gap was obvious. We handled the goblin horde with ease.
“That wasn’t so bad. Nobody got hurt, right?”
Ha Tae-san flicked the blood off his sword as he spoke. Everyone nodded, signaling they were fine.
After checking in on everyone, Ha Tae-san continued.
“Looks like the objective of the exercise is to reach the summit while avoiding monsters. We’ve already lost some time—we’d better get moving.”
“It’s basically a test of endurance. As long as we don’t lose our sense of direction, we’ve got this.”
We all nodded at Jung-hoon’s comment.
In the end, the real challenge was getting past all the obstacles and reaching the summit as quickly as possible.
“I brought a jungle machete.”
Lim Yu-ah proudly pulled a machete from her bag.
It was the perfect tool for cutting through dense jungle.
“Oh! Nice!”
Ha Tae-san and Jung-hoon looked at her with approval.
Lee Mi-jin, however, seemed irritated as she glanced around, frowning.
“Two should be enough, right?”
“You brought two?”
Jung-hoon’s eyes widened at Yu-ah’s words.
“I’ve got three. Just in case you know?”
What exactly does “just in case” mean for her?
We hadn’t even been told we were coming into a jungle. Bringing three machetes wasn’t just thorough—it felt borderline prophetic.
“I’ve also got plenty of snacks to keep our energy up. Let me know if your blood sugar crashes.”
Even so, as a teammate, she was an incredible asset.
Having taken down the goblins, we were preparing to move forward in a light, confident mood.
But was that really all?
Was racing to the summit truly the best way?
The hint Samchil gave us kept circling in my mind. He’d said this was a test. I wasn’t sure what he meant, but something about our current approach didn’t feel like the “right” answer.
I had a feeling there was more to it.
It wasn’t just about getting there quickly—there had to be a smarter way to come out on top.
Even as the others chatted, I couldn’t shake the thought.
If there is an answer… where is it?
If this is a real test, the answer has to be something anyone could find.
That’s only fair.
Which means… it should be nearby.
I stared at the sky for a moment, then looked around at our surroundings.
I thought back to when we landed here, but nothing in particular stood out.
And then—my eyes fell on the corpses of the goblins.
Normally, I’d have ignored them, but my heightened senses caught something: the ragged cloth they wore.
A disgusting excuse for clothing with no sense of style whatsoever.
But that very detail sparked something in my mind—like lightning striking.
“I’ll clear the path with Jung-hoon using the machetes. Ji-hoon, you take the rear and…”
“No. That’s not it.”
“What isn’t?”
Everyone turned to look at me, confused.
“This isn’t something we can solve just by running fast.”
“What are you talking about?”
“How long do you think it’ll take to reach the top of that mountain? Even at full speed, at least five hours. If we factor in encounters with monsters, we’d be lucky to make it in eight.”
“So we don’t have that kind of time.”
I pointed to the goblins’ clothing. “There has to be a shortcut. Look at what they’re wearing. Doesn’t something seem off?”
“What exactly?”
“Their rags.”
Everyone looked at the crude scraps they were wearing, roughly stitched together from animal hide.
“This is definitely Greg hide.”
Gregs were goat-like creatures native to high-altitude zones. They were staple prey for mountain monsters and also considered useful game by hunters.
“So how would goblins hunt Gregs in the mountains?”
Goblins usually lived in swamps or dark caves. They wouldn’t bother climbing into highlands to hunt Gregs.
Which meant…
“No way…”
“Exactly. There must be a portal connecting their cave to a higher elevation.”
“That would explain everything and it would definitely be a shortcut.”
“That’s all just theory. What if you’re wrong? Are you gonna take responsibility?”
Mi-jin butted in, as usual.
I ignored her and addressed the others instead.
“How many chances do we get to be first? I can’t guarantee it, but the evidence is strong.”
“All the more reason to be cautious. If we screw this up, we might not even make the time limit.”
It was Mi-jin again.
But I’d already decided she wasn’t worth listening to. I didn’t have time to humor someone who opposed everything on principle.
“I’m in,” said Jung-hoon.
“I think it’s worth trying,” Yu-ah also agreed.
“Let’s do it. I think we have a real shot.”
Tae-san nodded.
That was enough. Our destination was now the goblins’ cave.
—----
—--------------
The bowstring was taut.
Yu-ah had loaded a magic arrow.
Hunters who specialized in bows could weave mana into their arrows.
In front of us was a low cliff and a pitch-black cave. Two goblins stood clumsily on guard duty at the entrance.
Whoosh!
A subtle slice of air, and an arrow flew.
She loosed only one—and aimed not at the goblins, but into the empty air off to the right.
The glowing arrow traced a long arc through the sky, circling wide through the forest and bursting out of the brush to the side of the goblins.
A near-perfect half-circle.
Thwack!
The arrow pierced through both goblins' heads, and they collapsed without a sound.
An incredible shot.
The slightest miscalculation of string tension, finger position, or mana infusion could’ve ruined it. But she nailed it.
We entered the dank, humid cave.
The moment we stepped in, the foul stench of goblins wrinkled our noses, and darkness settled over our vision.
“Ugh, seriously.”
Mi-jin covered her nose, gagging.
Somehow, that made me like her even less.
We lined up and moved carefully.
Yu-ah provided the only two light sources—one for me in the lead, one for Tae-san in the rear.
Again, all thanks to her magical, bottomless bag.
Honestly, I had assumed her overpacked bag would cause trouble. But she turned out to be the most helpful of all.
The real problem was Mi-jin, scowling and sighing like the world owed her something.
“Kiieek.”
“Ggueeek.”
As we ventured deeper, goblin cries echoed intermittently from the darkness.
In near-total blackness, even familiar monster sounds could strike fear.
How long had we been walking?
The tunnels widened and grew more complex. The cave was bigger than we’d expected.
Now came the real question—how do we find the portal?
The answer, actually, was simple.
If you don’t know, ask the homeowner.
We planned a goblin kidnapping.
“Kuueeek.”
We lured one in and dragged it silently to a corner of the cave.
Stupid goblins are easily baited with shiny things—it was like fishing.
The real problem came after.
We couldn’t talk to it. So we had to use gestures and threats.
We pointed at its hide, mimed Greg’s movements, and threatened its life.
Goblin intelligence wasn’t high enough to scheme or betray us. Their thought process was simple:
“Danger. Want to live. Obey.”
So we weren’t worried about a double-cross.
Just a frontal betrayal, maybe.
Thunk!
When it tried to take a shortcut through a different tunnel, I smacked its head.
That finally did the trick. Its amber eyes went wide, and it nodded before shuffling forward to lead the way.
We tied a rope leash around its neck and followed.
The sound of goblins grew distant.
Finally, it felt like we were on the right track.
“Kiiieeek!”
Yu-ah gave the goblin a piece of candy out of pity, and the dumb thing got excited and took the lead.
It flailed its arms like it was waving us over.
If it had a tail, it’d be wagging like a puppy.
Despite its grotesque looks, I found myself thinking it looked kind of… cute.
“We found it.”
Eventually, we reached a dead end and just as expected, a magic circle was inscribed on the wall.
It had to be a portal. We were right.
“Nice work!”
Yu-ah tossed it some chocolate, and the goblin lit up with joy, grinning from ear to ear.
It bounced around, unable to contain itself, like an excited child.
Then—
Shlunk.
Mi-jin cut the goblin down.
The rest of us froze, stunned, and stared at her.
“...What the hell?”
“That stinking thing tried to come near me. Gross.”
A wave of anger surged through me.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
I grabbed her by the collar.
She looked at me like I was crazy.
“You were killing goblins earlier too. Don’t act like you’re some saint. It was going to die anyway.”
“It helped us! Why kill it for no reason?!”
“I told you. It smelled.”
Killing monsters isn’t wrong.
But we used that one. It was just a dumb creature that liked chocolate.
Killing it over something so petty? That was just cruel.
“…Forget it.”
I shoved her away. I didn’t want to talk to her anymore.
“Let it go,” Tae-san said, trying to calm me down.
Everyone was glaring daggers at Mi-jin, who just shrugged, as if to say, So what?
Tatata-tak.
That’s when we heard it—a strange sound near our ears.
Footsteps.
They were getting closer fast. Definitely not goblins.
From within the darkness, a shadowy face emerged into our faint light.
With a nasty smirk—
“There you are, you bastard.”
It was Park Jong-pal.
…How the hell did he find us?
And he wasn’t alone.
“Shin Seung-won?” Jung-hoon muttered. If memory served, Shin was the leader of Team 7.
One by one, more figures arrived, torches in hand.
Teams 5 and 7. All part of Kim Woo-tae’s gang.
And their hostility was clear.
This wasn’t going to be easy to walk away from.
“How’d you get here?”
I asked—and Jong-pal grinned slyly.
“How do you think? It’s all thanks to you, Jung-hoon. Appreciate it, buddy.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to Jung-hoon.
He wore a cold smile.
~~~~~~~~~~~Chapter End~~~~~~~~~~~~
