Record of a Thousand Lives c5

Author: Flatter
The Author of this story, Flatter, has full rights over this story, and I am translating this work with his permission.

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Chapter 5. Goblin Habitat

Choi Chang Suk frowned.
Kang Yoonsoo didn’t really seem that strong.
Even if Kang Yoonsoo had a high level, it was hard to beat so many monsters like this.
There was even a trap in the entrance as well.

Right then.
He could hear footsteps from the other side of the cave.
He could see goblins running towards them in a giant group.
These goblins were different from the typical green ones.
They were red, and their body was bigger as well.

“Kyak-! Kyararak-! Kyarorok-!”

Choi Chang Suk took out his sword.

“s.h.i.+t, so there were remnants. It’s a hobgoblin mob! Everyone get ready for battle!”
“Kyaruru-!”
“Haa-!”

The red goblins charged with their daggers pointing forwards.
Choi Chang Suk, who was standing at the very front, swung his sword.
Ching-!
The opponent’s dagger was broken, and the hobgoblin’s chin was sliced deeply.
He then stabbed the hobgoblin deeply in the heart as it screamed.

“Hah…… Hah…… d.a.m.n it!”

There was no time to even breath.
Another goblin swung its sword at him.
When Choi Chang Suk closed his eyes due to being exposed to such an attack, Hong Garam struck downwards with his axe.
The hobgoblin fell, spilling out its guts in the process.
But there were still many hobgoblins around them.

Lee Yuri shouted from the back with a voice that contained a tinge of fear in it.

“I got the wrong place! This is a hobgoblin den, not a goblin cave!”
“It’s too late to run! Stop crying like that and start shooting!”

Hobgoblin.
They were a subspecies of a goblin that possessed red skin.
They armed themselves with weapons that they took care of, and they were much bigger than a typical goblin.
There were many skilled warriors in their midst, and each of them were at least level 30.

Choi Chang Suk’s level was 36.
The levels of the other three were about 30.
He could fight on his own, but he was outnumbered far too much.
There were about a hundred hobgoblins surrounding them.
The hobgoblins had sealed off the exit and surrounded them.
Each and every one of the hobgoblins were nimble, and skilled.

‘s.h.i.+t. Just how does he manage to hunt these things?’

Choi Chang Suk looked over at Kang Yoonsoo as he swung his sword.
Kang Yoonsoo was fighting by constantly alternating between the sword and the spear.
His skill in being able to lightly dodge the attacks from the hobgoblins, and being able to kill them in a single strike made him resemble a demon.
It looked like he had killed up to thirty hobgoblins by himself already.

‘Is he actually really high leveled?’

Kang Yoonsoo’s equipments were quite strange, but this was the only conclusion Choi Chang Suk could reach.
After all, it was impossible to fight like this in the first place without a lot of experience.
While levels raise someone’s physical power, the user was the one who had to have the skill to be able to make use of it.

But Choi Chang Suk’s prediction was wrong.
Kang Yoonsoo’s level was only in its 20s.
It was the lowest in the group.
But it was hard for anyone to believe that the movements of his were from a low leveled person.

“Urk–!”

A hobgoblin’s sword pa.s.sed by, and blood shot out of Kim Minsoo’s shoulder.
His defense was quite weaker than others in the first place.
He pressed down on his injury with his hand due to the pain that came from it, and a gap appeared within the group.
In an instant, three hobgoblins came towards Kim Minsoo.

“Mercenary’s Fighting Spirit!”

Hong Garam quickly activated his cla.s.s-specific skill.
Cla.s.s-specific skills.
Once someone chose his cla.s.s, he was able to attain a cla.s.s-specific skill.
The amount of these skills would rise as one kept advancing.
Skills could be earned by learning from an expert, reading special texts, or buying it with money.

Hong Garam’s eyes began emitting a red light.
His muscles bulged, and he immediately swung his axe with force.
Crack–!
The three hobgoblins were immediately killed, and the fragments of their corpses were flown all the way to the other side of the cave.

“T, thanks, Garam!”
“Hah, hah!”

Hong Garam knelt down on the ground without even being able to respond.
The skill ‘Mercenary’s Fighting Spirit’ raised one’s physical strength immensely in a short period of time, but it also brought a lot of stress on the user.
And a two-handed axe used up a lot of strength in the first place.
This wasn’t a technique that could be used much, unless one was a veteran who was able to endure immense muscle pain.

Once two of the people in the group became unable to fight, things quickly became worse.
And Lee Yuri was only shooting a few arrows from the back, without even being able to hit her targets.
Actually, her arrows usually managed to fly towards Kang Yoonsoo and Choi Chang Suk, which effectively managed to hinder them in combat.
Then, Kim Minsoo, who was on the ground due to his injury, stood up.

“s.h.i.+t. Spirit of The Sword!”

The cla.s.s-specific skill of the swordsman, Spirit of The Sword.
It raised the strength of its user much less than the skill ‘Mercenary’s Fighting Spirit’, but it allowed the user to forget his pain for a moment.
It also raised the sword’s attack, and lessened the energy consumption of the sword.
Kim Minsoo swung his sword with vigor, even with a wound on his right arm.
Hong Garam, too, overcame his pain and began to fight once more.

After a few hours, the hobgoblins were all killed by the four.
The last one had been killed by Kang Yoonsoo’s spear.
The group sighed in relief after the last hobgoblin died.

“Wow, to think we killed this many hobgoblins. I can’t believe it.”

Hong Garam said this as he ma.s.saged his arms.
Kim Minsoo asked a question as he applied bandages on his injured arm.

“Chang Suk, how many did we kill?”

Choi Chang Suk answered after taking a look at the terminal.

“99. That’s too bad. We would’ve completed the request if we killed one more. Wait, before that.”

Choi Chang Suk turned around, and glared at Lee Yuri. She flinched, and looked down.

“Hey, Lee Yuri. What the h.e.l.l is this? You were supposed to find a goblin habitat with your skill. So how the h.e.l.l did we end up with hobgoblins? We almost died, you know.”
“Sorry, but I found out that there was something ‘amazing’ in the cave with my skill.”
“Dear G.o.d. You should’ve at least checked the levels of the monsters in the cave. I know there’s only a small chance of your skill succeeding, but we’re risking our lives here, you know. Honestly, you know you’re the only one in the group that’s not doing your job properly?”
“What? Aren’t you being too harsh on me here? It’s not my fault that the skill gave me false results.”
“Ah, f.u.c.k. You really are getting bold, just because I’m being kind to you because you’re a girl, aren’t you?”

The two began to argue with more vigor as time pa.s.sed.
Lee Yuri began crying, and Choi Chang Suk made a cruel, annoyed face.
Kim Minsoo and Hong Garam became delighted at seeing the annoying Lee Yuri being scolded, and ignored her.

Kang Yoonsoo, on the other hand, was quietly sitting down on a stone at the other side of the cave.
His level rose by ten in the battle.
Once again, he invested all his stat points in strength. His level was now 31.

Kang Yoonsoo looked at Choi Chang Suk’s group for a moment.
He could see a man and a woman fighting each other, and two men watching the fight from the side.

“I killed you many times in the past.”

When Kang Yoonsoo spoke, the area suddenly became quiet.
Choi Chang Suk frowned deeply.

“What?”
“I had almost died here in the past thanks to you. And I killed you for the first time in my tenth life.”

The group’s eyes became hostile as they looked at Kang Yoonsoo.
Kang Yoonsoo ignored this, and kept talking.

“I decided to try something new once. I tried traveling with each of you. Kim Mins...o...b..trayed me during a werewolf hunt and ran away. Hong Garam stole my weapon and ran while I was sleeping. Choi Chang Suk stole away my achievements to become a leader of a mercenary group. Lee Yuri did all kinds of evil acts under the guise of a young girl. I was betrayed by you many, many times.”

Kang Yoonsoo’s indifferent tone was extremely cold.
Choi Chang Suk walked towards Kang Yoonsoo with a hostile face.

“What is it that you want to say?”
“I never regretted killing you people. This fact never changed in any of my lives, it seemed.”

Choi Chang Suk grabbed onto Kang Yoonsoo’s collars violently.
Kang Yoonsoo just looked at him with an indifferent face.
Choi Chang Suk made an angry face while chewing his lips.

“Ha! Look at this b.a.s.t.a.r.d saying whatever he wants because he fought a little well just a moment ago. You think you can say anything just because you have an open mouth?”

Right then, the insides of the cave began to tremble.

Koom! Koom! Koom!

A giant creature could be seen moving towards them from the other side.
The creature clearly looked like a hobgoblin, but it was many times larger than a normal one.
Choi Chang Suk let go of Kang Yoonsoo’s collars, and immediately put his hands on his sword hilt.

A giant, red hobgoblin revealed itself soon after.
Its giant machete on its hand glinted in ferocious light.

“Kurororok-!”

[Giant Hobgoblin (Boss, Level 48) has appeared.]