4 Greasy Grass
*𝐶𝑅𝐸𝐴𝐾~*
A crispy sound of broken branches resounded throughout the place.
Kiro hurriedly put away the newly harvested ten pieces of Greasy Grass inside his pocket; scanning around at his surroundings, Kiro was trying to find out the source of the noise.
Then a small figure size of a small child appeared. It has dark green skin, a sharp yellowish sight, illuminating in the dimmed corner of the forest, with its long nose and long ears that can't be found in his former world.
Kiro was petrified after seeing the gruesome appearance of the monster; before he cautiously walked backward.
Seeing Kiro moving backward in fright, both of its eyes flash with confidence. Like it found an easy prey to hunt.
The monster moved forward, step by step; It was as if it was trying to intimidate Kiro.
Yes, the monster Kiro faced was Goblin.
Kiro's grimace face seemed like he saw a ghost; It was so pale, and he couldn't budge. It was as if he became like a child; who was afraid of canines.
"Wa—what is that thing? A monster? No, that's not right! How come there's a monster here?" Kiro uttered those words in panic.
There was no monster in the middle of the forest the last time he came here, but he forgot a single fact; at that time, there was a mysterious voice accompanying him here. Because of the absence of the mysterious presence, those monsters who were frightened by its presence would naturally come back to their respective camp.
"Kekeke." The Goblin swung around its wooden mace. If you look closely at the club, a tint of blood could be seen.
Ultimately, Kiro urged his body to move forward while he used his newly enhanced brain; Kiro quickly drew an alternative path inside his head. Then he kicked the ground hard, as he ran away with all of his might.
But the thing is; Kiro never understood the nature of the Goblin. It wasn't included from the basic knowledge that he attained last time. There wasn't a single explanation about the monster. It only mentioned that monsters exist in this world, so naturally, Kiro was ignorant about the monsters of this world.
The scary thing about the Goblin, it wasn't because they're strong; In fact, they are weak Kiro could even fight one barehanded if he wasn't terrified by its presence. But this was his first time seeing an actual monster; also a cunning one at that, the Goblin held good at intimidating skill from a clueless person like him.
The reason the Goblin was considered dangerous was that they never hunt their prey individually; If you find one, expect there will be another to appear.
*𝑆𝑤𝑜𝑜𝑠ℎ*
A sharp sound flew toward Kiro.
An arrow pierced through Kiro's calf, making him stumble down to the ground.
"Argh!" Kiro shouted in pain as he looked at his bleeding calf. Kiro reached out to the wooden shaft to remove the arrow; however, he found out that his body wasn't listening to his command.
"Heeee! Kekeke!" The Goblin screeched with weird laughter as the Goblin walked to Kiro's direction; who was shivering on the muddy ground.
Kiro gazed at the Goblin in horror. His face went deathly pale in fright; for Kiro, the Goblin did not differ from a grim reaper. While observing the Goblin moving closer to him step-by-step, Kiro could hear his heartbeat hammering his chest wildly.
*𝐵𝑎-𝑑𝑢𝑚 * 𝐵𝑎-𝑑𝑢𝑚 * 𝐵𝑎-𝑑𝑢𝑚*
In every step of the Goblin made, the louder his heartbeat became.
Eventually, the Goblin reached Kiro's side; while laughing crazedly, the Goblin raised its wooden mace—smashed it to Kiro's damaged calf.
"AAAH! No—no s-to... Stop—please stop!" Kiro pleaded in fright. He didn't expect that after getting hit by an arrow; the Goblin would mercilessly shatter his leg.
But the Goblin did not stop; subsequently, after hearing Kiro's plea. An inexplicable sense of excitement rushed through the Goblin's thought; leading it to crush the other uninjured leg of Kiro.
"AAAH!" He screamed in agony. Kiro wanted to faint, yet he couldn't; the foreign substance that drilled through his body was even affecting his consciousness.
Kiro's eyes dimmed; glancing at both of his limbs that were smashed to the point he couldn't even feel his lower half. A trace of overwhelming helplessness destroyed the last drop of his clarity.
Swiftly the Goblin stopped toying at him, as it observed the reaction of Kiro; the Goblin wasn't satisfied at all, as if it lost all the fun. The Goblin stretched out at the back of its rag garment and a small knife appeared on its palm.
Leisurely walking toward Kiro's direction as the Goblin played at the knife in its hand. The Goblin's eyes flashed with full anticipation. It wanted to hear Kiro's scream of agony and his begging expression. But it failed to get what it desired.
The Goblin lost its patience, then it stabbed Kiro's abdomen.
*𝑆𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠ℎ*
A puddle of blood rushed out from his stomach. Kiro's expression irrevocably changed from bitterness to distress, eventually, resentment, a flash of hatred came through at his entire being.
The Goblin noticed Kiro's bloodshot eyes; out of excitement. It stabbed Kiro's rib cage after it went to Kiro's shoulder.
As it moved closer toward him, the Goblin glanced at him as if he was a dead prey; then the Goblin raised its knife high in the sky, as it darted to Kiro's heart.
Suddenly Kiro's body that can't be moved charged like a crazy brute to the Goblin; at the last moment, he avoided the knife for stabbing his heart while it pierced through to his left shoulder.
Kiro used his sharp teeth to bite off the Goblin's neck. While biting the Goblin's neck a portion of its meat came off from its body. Kiro spat the grisly meat on the ground.
Glaring fiercely at the Goblin who doesn't understand how it happened or not knowing how its prey managed to move. The Goblin stared at Kiro in bewilderment. It was caught off guard, while it held at its bleeding nape; eventually, the Goblin stopped breathing without grasping the abrupt turn of events.
『Ting!~』
『Congratulation, you just unlocked a new feature!』
『Special Quest.』
-Killing a monster『Cleared』
-Attain a Single Level『Cleared』
『Status: Completed.』
-Quest Reward.
-System Upgrade is now functioning.
『Status: Unlock.』
-Checking the user's body.
-Extensive damage from both legs.
-Severe damage from the abdomen Immediate treatment is required.
-Minor damage from the rest of the body
-Grade E paralytic poison has been removed.
"Would you like to use your SP points to regenerate your body?"
Kiro, who's busy looking at the corpse of the Goblin, heard a childish voice coming from his head.
"What are you," Kiro asked in a cold and desolate voice. "I am a Fixie Bot, assistance fairy from the System Upgrade."
"What do you mean by SP points and regenerating my body?" Kiro asked as if he couldn't be bothered after experiencing the helpless situation a while ago. Kiro's firm resolve to die hasn't faded yet.
"SP point is a pointing system that you will get after leveling. With the help of System Upgrade, Master can use your SP point to heal his body and return a missing limb as long as you do not die. Master's body can be fixed." The voice said. "But it based the point deduction on the level of the Master's body, since Master's body was still on the beginner stage. The point deduction won't be that much."
"So, there was something like that. I don't care about the points, hurry, and fix me." Kiro said in a flat tone, then looking coldly at the inner side of the forest.
"Okay, Master~!"
After saying that, Kiro's body regenerates at breakneck speed.
Looking at his body reconstructed with his naked eye, he didn't put it in his mind at all after undergoing anguishing torture and torment. At the moment, there wasn't a single thing that could shock Kiro. Upon this unforgettable event.
Because it blinded him with his greed; it led him to become impatient even though someone already warned him, because of the rash action he made. Kiro almost lost his life. Perhaps subconsciously deep inside; Kiro felt that he wasn't talking to an actual person. It was like everything was just an illusory world.
At his nearly dying moment, he only realizes everything is real, everyone around here is real.
He too can die and can feel pain. He is vulnerable from this world, like anybody else.
He couldn't help but mock himself from being an Ignorant and for being a fool.
"Haa~ Why do we humans need to have a setback first before learning from our mistake?" Kiro muttered lightly. After taking a good look at his limbs, Kiro grabbed the wooden club that was lying on the ground, then charged toward the inner side of the forest.
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Upon entering the vast woods, Kiro felt that his senses improved, and his physical body strengthened.
Looking around the forest, he finally saw his target. Another goblin appeared before him, but this time the Goblin seemed so frail.
Holding a crude bow in Its hand, the Goblin aims at Kiro, but even before It can release the arrow, a flying wooden mace smashes at Its face.
The Goblin falls from the tree as Kiro walks toward the Goblin direction with a wicked smile on his face trying to Imitate the Goblin who frightened him to death.
Finally, he reached his destination, grabbing the wooden club that smashed at the Goblin's face.
Lifting the club, smashing the wooden mace once more to the goblin's face.
He keeps smashing the Goblin until it becomes a meat paste. It was like he was using the Goblin as an outlet to release all of his fed-up stress.
After looking at the scene before him, Kiro finally realizes what he did, throwing the wooden mace on the ground. Hugging both of his shoulders weakly, trembling as his body fell on the cold hard ground, staring blankly at the pool of blood he made.
A moment later, he pukes dried meat and the soup he ate.
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Staring blankly from the ground, Kiro already lost count of what time it is.
Then he finally moved out of the innermost part of the forest. Heading toward the open field full of lush green. Kiro saw the cold dead body of the Goblin, then walked lifelessly out of the Diante Forest.
On the way back, Kiro was in deep thought.
He finally realizes In this world, life can easily be taken just like that, even if the one he killed was a monster. It has a closer figure to a human being, so he couldn't quickly get rid of the unpleasant aftertaste of his wild action.
He couldn't help remembering the old saying, the rules of the jungle.
Might is right.
If It weren't because another feature of his reward is unlocked, he would be the one who is lying dead on the cold hard ground.
"Without strength to defend oneself, you can only blame yourself for being weak... I never knew I would experience it for myself. Before that, I never really got its full meaning, but now, I finally get the real meaning behind those words." Kiro mumbled those words deep inside him."Strength can be attained through hard work, but firm resolve and unyielding will is something that cannot achieve through grinding, even if one trains tirelessly for the rest of its life."
"If I want to survive in this world, I should never lose my resolve to live. I can die miserably; however, I can't let myself die without a fight," Kiro said with a firm resolve.
From this day on, Kiro draws a clear line for himself.
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Going out of the Dainte Forest.
The sun is already pointing at the northwest direction from the sky.
It's already getting dark, so Kiro didn't walk anymore. Instead, he ran back to reach the village.
Finally, he saw a familiar wooden watchtower.
Seeing a shadow was approaching Milo, who was looking above the watchtower, cautiously shouted. "Stop!" Milo yelled as he looked at the figure below the ground.
Giving it a closer look, he finally recognizes who it was. However, when he sees Kiro bathed with blood. Milo was petrified for a couple of breaths before he called out in fright.
"Hey, Kiro! What happened to you! Are you okay?" Milo shouted in fright as he hurriedly came down to the tower. Kiro waited for Milo to come down. He forgot that he was soaked with blood. Also, his cloth is now tattered.
"Kiro! You are fine, right?" Milo worriedly asked. He looked at Kiro from top to bottom, checking if there was a missing limb from his body. Seeing him fully intact, Milo finally gave a slight sigh.
"Haah~ You seem to be fine, but what happened?"
"It's a long story. But In short, a monster attacked me because I don't have any battle experience, now I look like this." Kiro wouldn't tell him the whole story. He could only tell the truth about being attacked by a monster. It was already too late looking at how miserable he is.
"Haa~ seeing how energetic you are and still walking straight. I guess the blood wasn't yours but from the monster, right? You still have to be careful, you know! Are you trying to shock me to death? Well anyway, as long as you survive, it is considered as a blessing."
"Hehe, sorry about that, Milo yep can I call you that?" Kiro tried to avoid the topic and bring Milo's name if he can casually call his name without an honorific.
"Well, It is fine our age gap wasn't that large looking at you. I guess that your age is at 18 to 20 years. I am only 23 this year, so I'm not that old."
"Oh? Are you 23? Why did you look like an old uncle to me? I thought your age was already in your mid-thirties." Kiro gazed at Milo. He couldn't believe it.
"What did you say, punk! Try saying that again you'll see if I didn't fix you up!" Milo shouted as he gnashed his teeth out of frustration.
"Haha, it is only a joke come on, I need to go back now, or else chief Geoffrey might scold me."
"I think it is already too late from that, but anyway, you are back now. Old chief Geoffrey is such a sympathetic guy. He even treated an outsider like you this much. Didn't you know he already notified us If you didn't come back In the village before evening we would conduct a search hunt."
"... I guess I owe chief Geoffrey an apology." Kiro mumbles. The old man's kindness touched him. They barely know each other, yet he does much for him, who is an outsider.
"Yep, you better get going now. Don't make the old chief Geoffrey worry any more than this."
"Okay, thank you for informing me." Kiro bids him farewell as he walks inside the village.
