Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Episode 2. I Have to Save Them

“Throw me that knife!”

At Jinho’s shout, the teacher flinched.

Frozen with her attention fixed on the goblin in front of her, she finally moved her hands. The kitchen knife she had been gripping with both hands flew through the air. Thrown really was the right word. Rather than handing it over, it was closer to simply letting go of it.

The kitchen knife spun through the air toward Jinho, blade first rather than handle first.

‘Crazy. If you’re going to throw it, you should slide it along the floor.’

He could curse later. First, he had to survive.

Jinho twisted his body reflexively. The tip of the flying knife swept right past his cheek, leaving behind a sensation like a cold gust of wind. Then came a clatter as it struck the floor. Strangely, that sound alone seemed unusually loud.

The problem was that in that brief opening, the goblin had already moved.

Its eyes were fixed directly on him.

Gleaming muscles twitched beneath its green skin, and its long, thin legs kicked off the floor. He had thought something that size would be slow. It was only a little bigger than a dog and much smaller than a person.

Of course it looked like it should be. But it wasn’t. The creature lowered its body and charged as if gliding. It was a strange movement, neither running like a human nor sprinting on all fours like a beast.

“Shi—!”

Jinho threw himself to the floor.

His fingertips reached for the kitchen knife’s handle first. The metal handle was colder than he expected, and damp. Whether it was sweat from the teacher’s hands or something else, it felt slippery against his palm like a knife used in a kitchen. The instant he gripped the handle, the goblin was already right in front of his face.

Jinho swung the knife instinctively.

Whoosh!

Unfortunately, all he heard was the sound of it cutting through empty air. It had not even grazed the goblin’s shoulder. The creature twisted its body sideways and slipped away far too easily.

Jinho immediately thrust his arm out again. This time, it was something resembling a stab. Arm, shoulder, stomach, leg. It did not matter where. As long as it pierced somewhere...

Whoosh—

He missed again.

Jinho felt as if his body no longer belonged to him. He could clearly see it with his eyes. But his arm could not keep up. His body was one beat, no, two beats slower than his eyes. His opponent was small, low, and fast. Terrifyingly fast.

“Waaaaah!”

The children’s crying behind him grew louder. The sound made Jinho even more impatient.

And infuriatingly, the goblin became even more relaxed. As if it had known Jinho would react this way, it pretended to retreat once before immediately darting toward his left leg.

Jinho hurriedly stepped backward and brought the knife down.

But he had aimed at the wrong spot. The creature merely twisted its waist slightly to avoid the blade, and in that brief instant, something caught Jinho’s foot.

A low wooden chair.

A child-sized chair, similar to the one he had thrown earlier.

‘Damn it.’

His body pitched forward.

Once his center of gravity collapsed, there was no time to recover. Jinho fell forward, and as though it had been waiting for exactly that, the goblin came down on top of him.

Bang!

The two of them rolled across the floor together.

His back hurt. His elbow was scraped. It was sheer luck that he had not let go of the kitchen knife in the process. A rank smell suddenly surged up near his face. It was coming from the goblin.

A stench like muddy water, rotten grass, and wet animal hide all mixed together. The kind of horrible smell that could never be experienced through a TV screen.

“Huh, ngh...”

His breath caught.

The goblin climbed on top of him. Thanks to that, Jinho got to see its face from point-blank range.

Its teeth were uneven, and whether because it never washed, sticky saliva-like filth clung around its mouth. Its eyeballs, which looked like grotesque imitations of human eyes, were far too small and glossy.

The creature raised the rusty knife in its hand.

Jinho reflexively raised his own kitchen knife.

Clang!

Metal struck metal.

His wrist went numb.

For something so small, it was strong. Far stronger than he had expected.

His palm and wrist took the full impact of blocking the blade. Jinho gritted his teeth and endured it.

‘If I get pushed back, it’s over.’

That was the only thought left in his mind.

There was no way the knife skills he had learned in the kitchen would come to mind in a situation like this. No, those had never been meant for knife fights in the first place... In any case, all he could think about was somehow getting the monster off his body.

Jinho shoved at something like the back of its neck with his left hand. A slick, damp sensation stuck to his palm. As though mocking him for it, the goblin pressed its body down even harder.

The teacher’s trembling voice came from behind him.

“No, no...!”

The children were crying even louder.

Some were crying without even knowing Jinho’s name, while others could not say anything and only sobbed.

The sound made Jinho even more desperate.

Then something strange happened.

His vision should have blurred from fear, yet instead, one spot came into sharp focus.

Below the neck.

A place beneath the goblin’s jaw, around where the collarbone should have been, where the skin looked thinner than elsewhere. It rose slightly, trembling faintly every time the creature breathed.

The instant the goblin inhaled, the flesh beneath its jaw parted for just a moment. Jinho could see nothing but that opening.

Almost reflexively, Jinho drove the kitchen knife into it.

Thud.

He felt the sensation travel through his fingertips.

Like piercing tough leather before sliding into something softer inside.

The goblin froze.

Only for an instant.

Then, in the very next moment, its mouth opened wide.

“Kraaaagh—!”

A scream exploded right in front of his face. Hot bodily fluid splattered across the back of his hand and wrist. Jinho instinctively squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The kitchen knife was buried deep beneath the goblin’s neck. It seemed the force of their fall had driven it in while they were still tangled together on the floor.

Jinho did not stop there.

His body understood before his mind did that he could not stop.

He had no resolve to kill. He had to save them. Whoever it was.

If he let go now, it felt like his own throat would be cut next. Jinho grabbed the kitchen knife’s handle with both hands and gritted his teeth.

“Die...!”

And pushed it in all the way.

“Die, fuck...!”

The goblin thrashed.

Its short arms clawed wildly through the air. Its nails grazed Jinho’s chin and struck his shoulder. Once, they raked across his cheek as though slapping him. A sharp pain spread. Even so, Jinho did not let go.

The struggling lasted only a few seconds.

To Jinho, it felt like several minutes.

Before long, the strength left its arms.

Its body suddenly became heavy.

The goblin’s corpse collapsed on top of Jinho. Somehow, it felt heavier dead than it had while alive.

Exhausted, Jinho could not move for a while.

His breathing was ragged. Every time his chest rose and fell, the goblin’s corpse moved with it. The pounding of his own heart echoed in his ears.

Only then did the children’s crying reach him again.

“Teacher!”

“I’m scared...”

The teacher was still standing off to one side of the room. Both hands were awkwardly raised as though clutching at empty air, and her face had gone completely pale. Jinho barely managed to push the goblin’s corpse aside. Feeling all the strength drain from his body, he planted a hand on the floor and tried to get up, only to stagger again.

The kitchen knife was still clenched in his hand.

Only then did the reality of what he had done begin to sink in, just a little.

He had killed it.

For real.

Even if it was a monster rather than a human, he had just stabbed to death something that had been holding a knife over him moments ago.

His stomach churned.

His hands shook uncontrollably.

He had won.

Even if it had only been a single goblin.

Jinho let out a long breath and was about to return the knife to the orphanage teacher when it happened.

ROAAAAAR--!!

A tremendous roar erupted from somewhere not far away. It sounded as though the entire building were vibrating.

“...W-what is that?”

Startled by the heavier, deeper, far louder sound that could not even be compared to the goblin’s scream, Jinho looked around.

At the same time, dull thuds rose through the floor. The fluorescent light hanging from the ceiling trembled faintly, and dust showered down.

The children screamed again, and at the same time...

CRASH!

With a second impact, the wall burst apart.

Chunks of concrete and dust poured into the room all at once. Jinho instinctively twisted his body as though to shield the children. His vision was instantly swallowed by gray dust, and he began to cough.

But he could not close his eyes. Something was pushing its way through the collapsed wall.

Four legs.

Curved horns.

Hot steam spreading with every breath.

The sound of concrete fragments grinding beneath its hooves each time they pressed against the floor.

It was a bull.

No, a monster that looked like a bull.

It was in a completely different weight class from the goblin. Large enough to trample three or four small children at once. Its back looked higher than the doorframe, and its neck was short and thick.

Its breath spread from its nostrils like red steam. Dark, dried blood clung to the tips of its horns, looking like traces left behind from having already gored something.

The teacher covered her mouth and stumbled backward as though about to collapse.

The children could barely even make a sound and only cried.

Only then did Jinho move.

He hurriedly pulled out the kitchen knife that had been buried in the goblin’s neck. Black blood was clotted along the blade. If someone asked what he could possibly do just because he was holding it, he had no answer. Still, it was better than being empty-handed. This knife was the only thing he had.

The bull-like monster’s eyes slowly turned toward Jinho.

The instant its gaze landed on him, Jinho knew.

This was different from before.

The goblin had been frightening. He could have died. But at least it had felt like something might somehow work out if he fought it. In fact, he had won, even if only by practically rolling around on the floor.

‘But this is impossible...!’

His legs trembled.

He could not put any strength into his hands.

The bull took one step forward.

Thud.

With that single step, the room seemed to grow slightly smaller. Jinho glanced behind him. The children. The teacher. The open emergency exit. Should he make them run? Should he get everyone out first, even now? Or should he draw its attention himself?

His mind refused to work in a situation with no answer.

While he hesitated, the monster moved first.

The bull slowly lowered its stance. Its enormous head came down close to the floor, and the tips of its horns aimed directly at Jinho. Its hooves scraped against the concrete, scattering dust.

Jinho twisted his body instinctively.

And at that exact moment.

BOOM!!!

The bull charged.

It moved at a speed completely at odds with its massive body. It did not hit him head-on. Jinho barely managed to throw himself to the side. But even though it was only the monster’s shoulder that grazed him rather than its horns, his body was still launched into the air.

His vision flipped.

The next instant, the wall slammed into his back.

Thud!

His breath caught.

“Ghk...!”

All the air rushed out of his lungs at once. His entire spine rang, and his left shoulder tingled as though it had been dislocated. He had not dropped the knife, but the sensation in his wrist had gone dull. His head was foggy too. He knew he had to get up immediately, but it felt as though his body could not understand the command.

‘I have to get up...’

But his legs would not obey.

The bull slowly turned around.

The sound of its horns scraping against fragments of the collapsed wall clawed at his ears. It did not rush toward him. Instead, it approached Jinho again with confident steps, as though thinking that since its opponent was not dead yet, it simply had to stomp on him one more time.

Jinho braced a hand against the wall and tried to push himself upright. One knee buckled. It hurt as though the inside of his ribs were being torn apart. Every time he inhaled, somewhere in his side throbbed before his lungs even seemed to fill.

‘No.’

He tried to breathe in, but the inside of his ribs hurt first, as though they were about to split apart. Jinho tried to stand again, only for his knees to give out first.

The bull lowered its head again.

This time, it was closer.

‘Can I do this?’

Even if ten goblins were bundled together, they would probably still be less frightening than this one bull.

Of course, Jinho was still gripping the kitchen knife. But it was far too thin and light to face something like that.

‘Even if I stab it, there’s no way that’ll stop it.’

The bull raised a foreleg.

An enormous shadow loomed over Jinho’s head.

This was the end.

Strangely, no grand resolve came to mind. There was no desperate cry that he wanted to live, nor any determination to at least save one person. It was too late for any of that. It was already too late.

Only one utterly simple conclusion came to mind.

Is this where it ends?

Jinho could not close his eyes.

There was not even time to.

That was when it happened.

Something appeared in the center of his vision.

Translucent letters.

At first, he thought his vision had blurred. But no. They were definitely words. An impossible sentence floating in midair.

[Experience point settlement has been completed.]

Jinho’s eyes trembled.

The bull’s hoof was already coming down.

[Awakening conditions have been met.]

The shadow hanging over his head grew darker.

Jinho swallowed.

The final sentence appeared.

[Would you like to awaken?]