Goblin

Chapter 3 - Goblin

Although Zwei was determined to explore the forest, he still had to make preparations.

The tattoo on his hand was still there, but when he focused on it now, only the "Exit" option appeared.

Zwei walked around the campsite twice, confirming that aside from the two chests, it held nothing else noteworthy.

He then decided to open the blue chest first. The chest was 1.5 meters wide, and roughly one meter in height and width. It contained only a few scattered items.

The most eye-catching item inside the chest was a palm-sized green crystal that felt warm to the touch. Sparks would flicker inside it from time to time.

Zwei picked up the unknown crystal and inspected it.

A moment later, similar to his clothes, information regarding the crystal abruptly appeared in his mind.

…

[Return Crystal (Consumable)]

Tool/Temporary Item

You can return to the camp in "Night Forest · Outskirts" by using this mysterious crystal.

…

Realization dawned on Zwei. This crystal should be something resembling teleportation scrolls used to return to cities.

Setting the crystal aside, he inspected the other items.

Besides the eye-catching crystal, the chest also had a bottle of green Emergency Potion, three pieces of hardtack, and a coarse cloth bag. The bag was just slightly larger than his palm, with a red drawstring at its mouth. Just a light tug on the string was sufficient to open the bag.

As for the Emergency Potion and hardtack, the former could be used to heal external wounds quickly, while the latter could be used to replenish stamina rapidly.

However, the value of those two items was no match for the cloth bag's.

…

[Temporary Pocket (Normal)]

Mysterious Item/Temporary item

Can hold nine kinds of inanimate items in stacks of up to 20 units. Liquids are calculated in standard bottles. Weight isn't calculated.

…

This was the spatial item that was essential for all protagonists of transmigration novels!

Zwei burst into tears upon seeing this Temporary Pocket. Although it was a bit small and even temporary, he was at least receiving the protagonist treatment!

After storing the crystal, potion, and biscuits in the bag, Zwei tied the pocket to his waist. He then turned around and opened the red box.

However, the red box was empty. Instead, the symbols representing the eight different Academy Resources appeared on the box's mouth, and beside each of these symbols was the number 0.

Is this thing supposed to convert miscellaneous items into resources?

Zwei couldn't be certain about his assumption.

Let's experiment with it after I find some useless items.

Zwei decisively closed the chest and sorted out his attire. After ensuring that he could use magic here, he entered the forest.

Initially, Zwei had been secretly worried that he would have a difficult time traversing the dense forest. He was also wary of snake and bug bites.

However, after walking for a while, he dismissed these concerns and focused all his attention on staying cautious.

In forests, beast paths would form in places where beasts frequently passed, and Zwei had stumbled on precisely such a path. However, the beast path he currently stood on was outrageously large as if a road roller had passed through this place. Even so, despite the possibility of large creatures frequenting this path, Zwei still chose to follow it, as it was much easier than struggling through the dense jungle.

Another thing to note was the lack of bugs here. While he wasn't sure if it was because this place wasn't the real world, but even after walking for 10 minutes, he hadn't seen even an ant.

And since there weren't any bugs, he naturally didn't have to worry about snakes.

In short, Zwei had walked on the beast path for over a dozen minutes before he heard a soft whistle coming from the front.

This was the first time he would face an enemy since transmigrating. Being extra careful, he hid between two trees beside the path. While using the dense branches as cover, he nervously looked toward the origin of the sound.

A short moment later, a nearby bush in front of him rustled, and a green head with barely any hair on it appeared in his vision.

Immediately afterward, the other party's one-meter-tall body emerged from the bush. The lower half of the creature's body was wrapped in dirty rags, which left its bulging belly and thin upper body exposed to Zwei's eyes.

That was a goblin.

This was a classic monster. The assumed hunting level for goblins was Level 1, and even ordinary people wielding weapons could subdue a goblin.

However, like slimes, goblins were one of the few monsters that would receive a +2 level correction depending on the size of the group they were in. In other words, a normal goblin's hunting level could range from Level 1 to Level 3.

Furthermore, as goblins reproduced in large numbers, powerful mutants would sometimes be born, some of which were even Level 7 or 8 monsters.

In fact, the unlucky magician, the predecessor of Zwei's body, had once encountered a mutated goblin capable of instantly casting the second-circle wind magic Lightning Cluster.

In the end, the unlucky magician, who had been an Apprentice Magician at the time, had only managed to survive after taking the initiative to run away.

Fortunately, the goblin that just jumped out of the bush wasn't one of these mutated goblins. Be it its malnourished body or its cautious hyena-like movements, it looked nothing like an elite monster at all.

In that case, I can attack!

After waiting for the goblin to turn around slightly, Zwei immediately sent a Magic Bullet smashing into the back of his opponent's head.

The sudden attack caught the goblin completely off guard. As the goblin staggered from the attack, blood spilled out of its mouth and nose. Moreover, as the blow had hit the back of its head, it even forgot to escape.

Zwei did not hesitate to send another Magic Bullet, directly splitting the head of the stunned goblin.

Goblins were creatures that bullied the weak and feared the strong. When they encountered small animals or docile herbivores, they tended to show their fierce and cruel side. They would even torture and kill weak animals for fun. However, when faced with powerful monsters, they would flee in a panic.

At this moment, the severely wounded goblin started screaming in fear while clutching the wound on its head. It finally thought to escape. However, would Zwei give it this opportunity?

The third Magic Bullet followed shortly after, beating the goblin within an inch of its life. In the end, it died before Zwei could walk up to it to deal the finishing blow.

"Three shots for one, huh. Not bad." Walking out of the bush, Zwei felt a little nauseous as he looked at the goblin's corpse.

Sure enough, it's tough for an ordinary person, who hasn't even killed a chicken before, to commit slaughter without hesitation.

Zwei sighed over the meaningless thought. Just as he was about to distance himself from this corpse, he suddenly thought of the Collection skill that came attached to his clothes.

Resisting his nausea, Zwei crouched before the Goblin's corpse and stretched out his hand.

"Collect."

As if the Goblin's corpse had its passage of time accelerated by tens of thousands of times, it decomposed at an extremely unscientific speed. In the end, only a skeleton remained.

Simultaneously, a dirty rag appeared in Zwei's hand.

After carefully examining the rag, however, he immediately tossed it away as if he had gotten an electric shock.

…

[Goblin's Rag]

A worn-out piece of cloth dropped from a Goblin's body. It seems useless.

…

"What the hell! Isn't this the goblin's underwear?!"

Zwei hurriedly plucked a leaf resembling a mulberry leaf from a nearby tree and desperately wiped his hand with it.

"This fraudulent Collection skill!"