Prologue

The first ray of sunshine has not gone out yet. Dawn was yet to break. The cold slums of Rawrblarg were eerily quiet except for the intense rhythmic pounding sound echoing from a dark alley.

"Ah...Uagh! Agh! Please stop, …I…c-can't t-take it anymore! Uagh…!"

It's not what you think it is. This is serious.

"K-kuya¹…Kuya Roberto. It's all my fault…"

Tears fell down Neil's eyes as he watched his older brother getting beaten up. Like most goblins, both of them wore worn-out charity clothes.

"Blargh…"

The poor older sibling, Roberto, vomited a lungful of blood after being clobbered by an orc. With his fragile body of a goblin, he was effortlessly overpowered. The thug wore a white muscle shirt with an 'Eren's' logo. On his head was a black cap positioned sideways and a gold chain hung around his neck.

"Ah…please help me, my brudda…"

Neil raised his eyebrows and begged for his brother to be saved when he saw a person walk past by. He couldn't see the face because of a mask covering it but it had green skin, pointed ears, and an at least recognizable masculine figure. Neil was sure that he was a hobgoblin.

However, the stranger looked away and pretended he didn't see anything. Using puppy dog eyes was not a skill a goblin could utilize in this situation. Especially with those ugly and disproportionate facial features. It looked like a bucket of smashed crabs.

"Spitting on my Eren's shirt now, huh? Pretty brave, aren'tcha? What, you wanna get back at me?! Come on, gimme some of your talk no jutsu sh*t, you sick sonuva…I told you to keep quiet, idiot!"

The orc smacked Roberto's face for the last time before giving an "ah sh*t, here we go again".

It was too late for the orc to realize his mistake as a crowd of goblins, hobgoblins, and a few ogres gradually form. They were yelling, throwing small stones, and spitting on him. He panicked and attempted to run away, but one of them stripped his pants off in an attempt to stop him. Luckily for him, he wore boxer briefs so he wasn't completely naked and got away in a van.

During the invasion of Undead King Kridulus the Dead, the Kingdom of Vathium enslaved a portion of the 'green races' for military purposes. After thwarting the Undead King's plans of world domination, the green races slowly developed human common sense and demanded equality, giving rise to the Green Lives Matter or GLM movement. This was one of those situations.

"Did you get a shot?!" The hobgoblin earlier who was apparently a middle-class journalist named Edwardo shouted at his assistant, Fea. He was actually hoping for the violent scenes to be longer so he'll get more pay.

"N-n…I…"

Fea clearly wasn't used to being yelled at by people yet. She was visibly shaking and her eyes were welling up with tears. It was also her first time seeing such violence so couldn't help trembling and messing with the camera.

"What? What are you waiting for? Talk! Stop acting like some elven royalty!"

He shouted at her face. He tried to force her mouth to open up but it was only counter-effective. It wasn't rare for goblins to be treated unfairly since they were pretty much the lowest of hierarchy alongside kobolds anyway. Even their own evolved kind highly belittles them.

"Haagh…I shouldn't have gotten a goblin from San Antonio District. This is the reason why your district has never produced even a single hobgoblin. How did you even pass the test?"

'Guess, she'll just end up like me then, huh.' Edwardo thought. Though she was special because of her decent skills with the camera, she lacked the goblin spirit. She wasn't as reckless as her peers but she was also far too timid.

He tried to remain a calm professional but the expression on his face still turned bright red, steaming with anger.

'When did it turn out like this? What went wrong? I don't even care about this GLM sh*t anymore. I even told my son to get beaten by an orc just to get a scoop.' He kept repeating those words all the while letting his thoughts flow and reminisced about his past.

'Oh yeah. My entire existence was a mistake itself.' He was already wondering if he chose the better option in the game of life. To play seriously, to half-ass it, or to not even play at all. As an evolved hobgoblin, he would normally only be able to work as a cleaner of some sort. The reason being that some evolved hobgoblins, unfortunately, retain their abnormal lack of intelligence. Thus, they face discrimination second only to goblins and kobolds. Such is the life of a potential main character.

'I'm tired. I'm sure I did my best. Even if I had a reset option, I doubt it'll do much. Should I just…die?'

"I'm pretty sure she meant, 'no, sir, I have the full footage'. Isn't that right, little girl?" A boy in a school uniform called out to him. He had been watching the two the whole time. Though his eyes looked emotionless, he gave the impression that he was largely interested in the old man.

"A full footage? Really? That's even better!"

"Y-yes, sir."

Edwardo cried out in delight. Knowing that he won't lose his seventh job this year created a newfound hope in him. Although…there was just one small—no, large problem.

"Mr. Hobgoblin, do you know the little guy. He was looking at you for a long time now." The boy pointed behind the hobgoblin.

"Huh?"

He turned around to see Neil fall after halfway running towards him. His face was covered in mud which was dirt mixed with the perfect blend of snot, sweat, and tears.

"Papa? Is that you?"

Edwardo pursed his lips and swung his head. His bad luck went away as quickly as it came but came again as quickly as it went away.

"Nope. I absolutely don't know the little imp. Now if you'll excuse me…"

With snot and tears on his face, the little changeling pulled on his shirt. The filth was getting on his only suit. He quickly pulled himself away and hit his son's head with a notebook.

"G-get off me! I don't k-know—"

"No, papa! Why didn't you help us? Why do you never help us at all?!"

Neil didn't seem to mind his father hitting and denying him. What's more important was the condition of his older brother. He was literally dying here. His last sibling. This was already the fifth time that his father ignored him so he was already used to it but he could never get used to seeing any of his siblings dying helplessly.

"Papa! Papa, why are you—cough—Papa…Kuya is…"

Since his light hitting didn't seem to work, he slowly hit harder until at last, he gave him a kick, sending him flying a few feet before he hits the ground with a resounding 'crack'. Although a goblin's recovery rate was fast, it didn't prevent him from feeling the pain, be it physically, mentally, or emotionally.

He knew that there was nothing he could do whenever his father acts like this. He gave a downhearted look and made an effort to say one last 'Papa…', yet no voice came out of his throat. It was as if even his own vocal cords were telling him to just shut up and go away.

He quietly turned away and dragged his half-dead brother.

The bystanders' hatred for the orc earlier didn't seem to mind this new commotion. In their minds, it was just nothing but a kid getting in the way of his father's job. Even if they cared about it, there was nothing they could do. They were just other goblins too. A dumb helpless species.

"Are you sure about this, Mr. Hobgoblin?"

The schoolboy presented a question, making the father feel a little guilty. But he had already made up his mind. It was his last chance to survive in society but his family just drags him down.

"W-what do you mean?"

"Are you just letting your son go away and hate you for the rest of his life?"

The young lad pressed him once more.

"He's a goblin anyway. He is a dumbass."

"Well. In the off chance that the rumors about them being vengeful are true, you might want to watch your back."

"Shut up! Don't butt into another's family matters. I was a goblin too so I know this sh*t. You? You're just a kid who doesn't know anything about reality. While you high-class human kids are having a nice time in some school, we goblins had been working our asses to death, waiting for diners to throw out their leftovers!"

"Whatever you say…Then, I'll be going now. Good luck."

He turned and went his way to school all the while Edwardo glared at him. But the student didn't seem to be intimidated nor did he look like feeling pity for the boy who got his ribs broken because of his own father. He gave an air of apathy.

"Strange kid…I thought he was just one of those typical edgy teens who just lashes out whenever they lose an argument. Now that I think about it, his expression didn't change even once throughout the whole conversation."

To take it off his mind, he too left to report to his boss with the little female goblin following him.