Jam-sil subway station, situated at walking distance from the Lotte World—A Theme park in Song-pa—and a little distance away from the Olympic Park. The area saw a lot of visitors with these attractions, but in the last two weeks, this place was better known for another thing that appeared out of nowhere.

A Blue gate about 4 meters tall whirled midair, many were fascinated by it as this reminded them of the portals they’d read about in novels or seen in comics. To them, it was like a door to another world, but this Gate turned out to be a doorway to hell instead.

The monsters that came out of it turned the once-bustling area into a burning landscape where only corpses could be seen. But it wasn’t all bad, to balance the scale humans got abilities to protect the common populace from danger. One such human arrived at Jam-sil Station in a hurry.

“Where are the monsters that came out of that?” Ryu Ji-Hu asked wiping the sweat on his brow. The day had turned out to be more hectic, and it didn’t seem to slow down.

His uniform was torn in a few places with blood stains but no one dared to question it, most of these soldiers here had a hard time opening their mouths. They couldn’t even breathe properly as the scent of blood in the air was so potent that they could taste it on their tongues.

“Colonel Ryu, they went south and reached the Gate near the Song-pa Public Library,” The leader of the group answered. He too was not in great condition at the moment but someone had to answer.

What happened here left them shaken, the team that was stationed near this gate was killed instantly. All the rescue teams could do was take as many civilians away from the route while the Hobgoblins beelined for the other gate wreaking havoc along the way.

“What about the Last Monster?” Ji-Hu asked. This issue turned out to be worse than he initially thought.

From what they have seen, the Gate had two types of monsters. First were the normal monsters that broke out of the Gate before, then came a bigger monster and it was magnitudes stronger than the earlier ones. The gate here has returned to the color before the monster came out, it meant that this monster was now roaming free.

The leader nodded hesitantly to confirm his thoughts, he saw it from afar and as ashamed as he was to admit it. Fear gripped his heart at the sight of that terrible being, In the moment he ordered his team to fall back—leaving many civilians to die because of his cowardice.

“You do not need to think about it, there was nothing you could’ve done to that sort of monster. They could easily destroy armored vehicles.” Ji-Hu understood their feelings, these were army men who swore to protect the civilians and yet they ran away. But he didn’t blame them for it, they were powerless and the faster they accepted the easier it would be for them.

“Even gathering the best Awakened in the Army we were barely able to defeat a Blue Gate’s last monster near the Blue House. So, you have done well despite not having any of such inhuman abilities,” Ji-Hu patted the leader’s shoulder. They did their best while risking their lives, no one could ask anything more of them.

‘Looks like this Last monster has a coercion effect like the one in Jong-No, but a strong effect,’ Ji-Hu tried to compile the information in his head while the squad there looked at him with shining eyes, the ones who were hit the most by guilt even shed a few tears.

[Sir! We have spotted the last monster that left from Jam-sil Subway Gate!] The leader’s in-ear crackled.

He had asked the support unit to track the monster with a drone after he calmed down. It was a good decision, he immediately turned to Ji-Hu to relay this information, but he saw the man staring in the distance his yellow eyes nearly bulging out.

“How is that on the same level… as that Dog-like monster?” Ji-Hu muttered.

His Glasses reflected the scene of a twenty-story building in Seok-chon—directly south—being snapped in two like a wooden stick. All of them watched as the top half of the building toppled over to the side, crashing into the building in front of it as the land beneath their feet trembled.

“S-Sir that’s…” The leader had his mouth agape.

Was something like this possible for that Monster? Or was it a new one? No matter the answer spelled disaster, how were they going to deal with it? If something like this reaches the populated areas then how many lives will be lost? The questions were endless with no good answers.

Ji-Hu squinted his eyes suddenly, in that moment he caught two blurs. So, he was sure that they had time as someone had engaged the monster. As long as that smaller blur can keep it tied up in that area they can gather their forces, and hopefully, they are enough to not allow any more losses.

“Tell the headquarters to call on the teams working on the other gates—whether affiliated with the government or not—and evacuate the surrounding areas on the double!” Ji-hu had no time to lose.

The team in Jam-sil watched in awe as he stepped on yellow platforms that formed below his feet when he dashed for Jam-sil Bridge contacting his recovering team. There was no time to lose after all they could not sit on their asses while someone else is doing their job.

The team in Jam-sil got to work Ji-Hu left them, but they were soon surprised to see a helicopter flying over their heads. It was too sudden, and seeing how it wasn’t a military helicopter gave them doubts but they didn’t do anything. It could be that the combat team was using this one as most of the helicopters were busy in rescue operations.

[M-Monster…] The leader near Jam-sil Gate was brought out of his thoughts. The drone operator sounded unnaturally terrified.

“I-It’s alright, we are going to gather all of the Awakened in the army to fight that thing, it will be okay. They are strong you know? They already stopped monsters from two gates today, and there will be help from others too.” The leader spoke far quicker than he had ever done before.

Rather than calming others, it was a way to reassure himself that it would be alright. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to get out of his fear, and being frozen wasn’t something he wanted to repeat. But there was just one mistake.

[S-Sir, I am not talking about the one from the gate…] The voice on the other side trembled even more. What could be more monstrous than something that split a whole building?

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“What do you …mean?” The leader asked but he did not get an answer.

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There was a popular saying among Goblins, it was that they could smell a Hob(Goblin) from 20 kilometers away. That was true, this was one of the instincts they developed to pick off the stray Hobs or run away before their armies reached them.

But there was another popular saying among the Goblins: Goblin Warriors are short-lived. The way they became Goblin Warriors—by killing Hobs—got them in trouble, all of the Hobgoblin Warriors were given a mission from the moment they became one.

[Mission: Regaining The Spirits Of The Deceased.

Rank: C+

Objective: Kill 1000 Goblin Warriors and recover the items.

Reward: Evolution to a Hobgoblin General, Favour of the Hobgoblin Sorceress, Elderwood Halberd (B-)]

[Mission Progress: 999/1000]

The Hobgoblin warrior vacantly stared at the flashing yellow panel in front of him. Thin cracks formed on the streets with his every step. He had only one goal since that faithful day, and he has done everything to achieve it.

‘The Sorceress… The Sorceress…’ Repeating these words in his mind he kept marching as success was finally upon him. Upturned cars were on fire, broken walls were strewn along with mushed corpses under his feet painting the cracked asphalt.

“That… way…” A hoarse voice came from his throat and he changed his direction to the right, he could smell the filthy blood of the lowly creature that was about to die. It was running away from him because it was hurt.

But that didn’t matter, soon he found the one he was looking for lying on his belly in the middle of the road with a trail leading up to it. The stench of his blood became thicker with each step, and soon he was walking in the blood of the Goblin Warrior.

He kicked it and the body rolled over, it had a dagger running through his head as lifeless eyes were left open. Standing over it he finally understood, the prey he had been searching for so long has been snatched from his claws. There was no necklace, nor the gloves he had to recover, this was just a corpse stripped of all value.

“GRRRRRRRRAAAAAA!!!” His shout shook the area his stomp that crushed the head of the dead Goblin warrior like a watermelon. But without a care for it, the Hob Warrior continued to stomp away at the lifeless body turning it into mush as cracks kept spreading beneath his feet.

“Who…Took…My…Prey?” His voice laced with anger, and the veins on his thick neck threatened to burst as he grabbed onto his club’s handle. But as said, heaven doesn’t leave questions unanswered. So, his answer arrived from the sky... landing on top of his head.

“Keep your shouting down mutt. Can’t you see this is a no-honking zone?” An unknown tongue reached his ringing ears as his face was driven into the crater.

Do-yun looked down at the fish and he was disappointed because this guy lacked common sense. But even with his taunting words the Hobgoblin warrior kept on lying on the ground.

“You didn’t die, did you?” He tilted his head wondering if this boss was also a no-show.

A jump from the tenth floor shouldn’t be enough to kill this one. And he was correct. The club of the Warrior went through the place he was standing on before as he jumped. The warrior got up to his feet and landed a straight punch on his abdomen, it sent him straight through an ambulance and he crashed into the emergency room.

“That’s more like it.” Shaking it off, he walked out of the rubble deftly patting the dust off his clothes before turning his black eyes towards the Hob Warrior.

Now on its feet, the nearly 3-meter tall giant towered over his surroundings. His red eyes gleamed in anger when he pointed the bronze spiked club towards Do-Yun and let out an angry roar. With that necklace and gloves on his person, it was clear who took his prey.

“Keeikkh kkeeiih!!!” But the declaration was not understood by the one it was spoken for.

[The Skill Adaptation(Ex) has started to adapt to the Language of Hobgoblins(E), progress 20%...]

“What the hell are you yapping about? Anyways, you want these, right? Bring it on then.” Do-Yun pointed at the necklace with a teasing smirk, almost as if waving a red cloth in front of an angry bull.

“Grr!” It worked, the Hobgoblin may not have understood his words, but he would take those items regardless.

Not intimidated by the smaller body of Do-Yun he charged at full speed. If he can fling him once, he can do it a hundred more times.

“Looking down on me, eh?” Do-Yun on the other hand jumped out of the trajectory of the club. Missing him the swing tore the walls down like they were Styrofoam as the surrounding machines were turned into scraps.

“Well, let me bring you up to speed,” Do-Yun stepped near the stunned Warrior, he sent a straight right to the undefended gut. The Hobgoblin who did not expect the blow to pack that much power, was sent back faster than he arrived.

He crashed through the lobby and passed the back wall, his landing destroyed the first and second floors of what was an electronic shop across the street—now in shambles. But after rolling a few times, the warrior was back on his feet with a metallic taste in his mouth.

“You know how you guys keep hunting so many Goblin Warriors?” With the quick words came an even quicker kick that dug into the Hobgoblin’s sides making him airborne again, he made a rough landing on the road after smashing through the 2nd floor of a building.

This time his eyes located Do-Yun standing on the terrace of the building he was sent through. The human was fast and attacks were powerful, but he wasn’t unbeatable. First, he needed to create some space, grabbing a nearby sedan he threw it towards the target like a ball.

“The Goblin Sorceress gave this necklace a blessing one that will work even when an outsider uses this equipment,” Do-yun raised his right foot to catch the car. The bonnet crumpled as the windshield shattered and the doors went flying, with a little push the car went back to meet another car thrown at him. Using that as a foothold, the warrior jumped up to the terrace of the 5-storey building. Raising the club above his head, he brought it down along with him. His aim was to obliterate Do-Yun, and he did obliterate but not him.

Two thundering sounds echoed through the empty streets, the first came from the explosion caused by the collision of the two cars. The second came from the attack that landed on the building, the impact of that attack traveled through the entire structure, breaking the concrete and glass in a similar fashion as the building crumbled.

“Don’t attack me when I am talking,” Do-Yun frowned.

He was interrupted while he was explaining the important part, so in slight anger, he punched the warrior in the face but with more power. It sent him crashing into the building on the opposite side of the street, but because of his size and momentum, he went through the building and then two others before hitting solid ground. Tumbling over gravel and breaking through a wall, he finally stopped near a playground.

“kiiee…kkkk!” The broken jaw made it hard for him to speak. It was beyond his understanding as to why this tiny human was throwing him around the place like he was a kid.

“Hmm, where was I again?” Do-Yun rubbed his chin arriving in front of the warrior. He wasn’t used to being interrupted so it was rather irritating. He focused on the topic as the Hob scrabbled to his feet to try and attack.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you are curious.” Do-Yun smiled knowingly. This was the Goblin tribe’s well-kept secret that he recently found out. With the Hobgoblin warriors targeting their main force, this was their trump card.

“It is simple really. The necklace doubles the stat points—including the bonus—of the user regardless of race, but only if their opponent is a Hobgoblin Warrior.” Do-Yun pointed at the Warrior with his forefinger.

This was the method that the Goblins used to increase the survival rate of their Warriors while trying to increase the casualties of their enemies, even then it was a hit or a miss. Stats were indeed important, but just stats would not win battles. Many aspects could change the result, and Hobgoblins were superior in most when compared to goblins. The one in front of Do-Yun was among the skilled ones he had seen, his body was without a single scar(Hobs keep scars as part of tradition). But now blood dripped from the corner of his mouth as his jaw was slacked.

“I am done, so you can attack now,” Do-Yun smiled.

“Kk Don’t keiiiekkk Care!” The Hobgoblin shouted.

“What do you mean you don’t care? Did you seriously make me waste my time?” Do-Yun’s face dropped.

Wasn’t this a total waste of time? He forgot that this Hobgoblin couldn’t understand the human tongue, and he couldn’t speak their language at that moment. But that didn’t matter as Do-Yun’s lips formed a devious smirk. There was still another way in which he could teach this Hobgoblin. If words didn’t work then there was only one way.

“I guess, I’ll have to teach you with your body.”