Another group of goblins appeared and closed in on me like I was the finish line to some race.

In this group, none of them had swords.

“Know your place, trash.”

There was truly no challenge to mowing them down.

A few strokes of my trusty sword made quick work of the mob of goblins.

That makes seven goblins since my last level up?

I didn’t get another level?

Why are goblins so useless?

You know, this is taking too long.

When the next group of goblins came, I killed all but one of them. Instead of killing the last goblin, I simply chopped its arms off and kicked it around a few times.

The last goblin quickly fled in terror.

I’m sure this goblin will lead me back to at least a few of its friends.

Although the dungeon was semi dark, it wasn’t difficult to track the goblin at all.

All I really had to do was follow the trail of blood from the two stump arms.

I didn’t spot any light sources, but I could still clearly see the ground and down quite a distance in each direction.

Eventually, the tunnel widened out into a rather large cavern.

Inside the cavern was thirty or so huts with goblins ambling about.

The goblin I had followed had collapsed in the middle of the village and was sobbing wearily.

I hadn’t imagined that the goblins had formed a village in this dungeon… If they have food, I will have struck the jackpot!

After sneaking into the village, I found a little corner and hid. From there, I watched the proceedings.

A hunched figure walked out of what looked like a central tent.

It was holding a staff in one hand, and a tome in the other.

The figure read the tome silently and the tip of its staff began to glow, after which it tapped the armless goblin in the head.

The glow transferred from the tip of the staff to the goblin’s body.

An apparition of a lady wearing a white robe appeared above the goblin. She pointed at the goblin and vanished.

The goblin’s iris turned golden, as if a drop of golden ichor had been dripped into its eye.

It then trembled slightly before passing out.

The goblins in the surroundings were so shocked that some also fainted. Others bowed down to the central goblin, which had now surprisingly half-regrown his arms.

The central goblin was carried back into the hunchback’s hut.

A celebration of sorts was then carried out. A boar was roasted and some kind of drink in a keg was rolled out.

My question is, where’d they get the wood?

Should I just kill them all right now to steal the food?

But if I just sneak in after they go to sleep, I’ll be able to get more free meals since I can just come back whenever I’m hungry.

If I kill them all off right now, it may be unprofitable!

In that case, it's decided.

I will wait until they go to sleep. Then I’ll go and eat all their food. Hahaha~

❦

Back at the goblin village, most of the goblins had gone to sleep. There were a few guards, but they were posted at the entrances and not across the village.

I casually walked in and tore off a few chunks of boar and helped myself to some of the drink.

It was pretty good. The boar was well cooked and the drink tasted like some sort of cider.

I look forward to future dividends to this investment.

Hey, what about the weird golden-eye goblin?

I wonder how much EXP I would get from killing that one?

Hmmm, it should be fine if I kill just one.

Killing one shouldn’t impact their meat making capabilities.

It’s decided then.

After I finish this food, I’ll go kill him.

What kind of idiot kills on an empty stomach when there’s a free meal to be had?

In a very short amount of time, I had finished my pork chop. I was about to reach for another when I remembered the golden goblin.

Begrudgingly, I got a refill for my drink and hefted my sword.

I’ll take some for the road…

I hacked off another chunk of meat and put it in another mug. I’ll come back for this later.

Inside the central tent, the hunchback was passed out in a corner with his tome over his face. In the other corner, the golden goblin was laid on the ground.

Huh. I swore this guy was a foot shorter the last time I met him…

Oh well. Who cares?

I lifted up my sword and stabbed it down into its eye.

Instantly, it began shrieking in a high pitched scream.

I lifted my bloody, brain-covered sword out of its gaping eye-hole, and stabbed it back into the goblin’s throat.

*gurgle*

「Title Awarded: 『Slayer of the Chosen One』」

《EXP Threshold reached, Human LV7 > LV8》

《EXP Threshold reached, Human LV8 > LV9》

《EXP Threshold reached, Human LV9 > LV10》

「Level Threshold reached, Skill Point (1) granted.」

[README: Skill Points may be used to upgrade any aspect of yourself or your ability to perform any action. Upgrades focusing on a portion of yourself rather than yourself as a whole will be proportionally stronger.]

…

Huh, so he was a chosen one.

Oooh, three levels and a ‘Skill Point?’ So levels aren’t totally useless after all?

Wait, the lady must have been the one to bless that goblin thing! If I maim more goblins, maybe there’ll be more chosen ones!

More chosen ones = more levels!

Unfortunately, the hunchback goblin waking up interrupted my excitement.

I fled outside, half on fire as a large blast set the hut ablaze.

“Insolence,” a voice whispered. As it spoke, the air trembled violently.

I picked out a dagger from my fanny pack and threw it just as the goblin mage walked out. A thin eggshell-like membrane over the mage deflected the dagger.

The goblin mage smiled slightly and straightened its back.

Our eyes met for a brief second.

When one plays enough RPGs, one knows when to fight and when to flee.

I picked up the mug with the meat in it and fled for my life.

“Entering Reprisal, level one,” the golden-eyed mage said.