Ch.551Chapter 21. Blood Pack (11)

Goblin Unit 3.

Of course it’s me.

I’m Goblin Unit 1 acting as Goblin Unit 3, also Unit 0, and simultaneously the same person as Goblin Unit 2 who died in the explosion with that massive bomb over in Osaka.

However.

“Ugh, this crazy…! Block it!”

“Is that really Goblin?! Where’s the mask?!”

Just by causing a slight misunderstanding, I can turn the situation into complete chaos.

“You, are you really Goblin?! You’re not Goblin!!”

[I am Goblin!!]

As if I’m pleading that I am Goblin, as if I’m constantly claiming that others aren’t Goblin and only I am.

[In this world, only I am the one and only Goblin!]

As if only I am Goblin, I shout it myself and deceive everyone.

When I act like this.

How would those who grew up watching various power battle shows since childhood react?

Would their judgment be based on information as Haeguneul execution squad members, or instinct as villains smuggling blood overseas with S-rank after defecting?

“Damn, could it be a Goblin replica?!”

Someone made a statement that could cause misunderstanding.

“Mark 3! The third Goblin means—”

[Uoooooohhh—!]

Then I charge at the person who said those words, swinging my Goblin club with a roar that the original Goblin would never make.

[I! I!]

THWACK!!

[I said I am Goblin!!]

I am Goblin.

I declared myself as Goblin, yet they’re arbitrarily defining me as Goblin Unit 3.

Thud, THWACK, thud.

I strike their head repeatedly, almost cruelly.

This is only to break through the mana shield and cause a concussion to knock them out.

[How insolent!!]

SMACK!

It was just a series of attacks to break the cradle when the mana shield’s body protection function was concentrated on the head.

“C-crazy…! His skull cracked!!”

“T-that monster…! What kind of monsters is The Syndicate mass-producing?!”

[Mass… producing…?]

After breaking the cradle and rolling one Zenros execution squad member with my foot, I twisted my head toward the one who said “mass-producing.”

[You’re not suggesting that I’m… mass-produced, are you…?]

“H-huh…!”

[Answer me!!]

THWACK.

I rushed to the execution squad member who treated me like a mass-produced item and struck his head with my club.

[Answer me! Who’s mass-produced! Tell me!]

“S-stop…!”

[Who are you calling mass-produced!]

“Ugh…!”

Agony flashes in the eyes of the execution squad member as he blocks the attack by crossing his arms in an X.

Though he hates to admit it, he needs to acknowledge it to survive right now.

“Y-you….”

“Seeing how you bully the weak, you do seem like a mass-produced type.”

Swish.

Red blood whips past beside me like a lash. I deliberately dodge it by a hair’s breadth and leap backward.

“B-Bathory!”

“Should an ability user abandon their beliefs just because they might die?”

Swish.

Blood bubbles around Bathory, writhing like tentacles.

“That’s a mass-produced type. The original doesn’t yell so frivolously, you know?”

That’s not true.

“The original Goblin has never shown anger like that in any situation. Ever heard of ‘cold fury’? Goblin isn’t like that.”

I’m just shouting because I want to, but they’re treating me as fake because I’m showing a completely different appearance.

“Well. The most likely possibility is that you’re a clone…. Hmm.”

Bathory stroked her chin with slender fingers, then raised her head as if she’d realized something.

“You showed your face, and Goblin’s face resembles Do Ji-hwan…. Goblin Unit 3…. Goblin died… hmm, oh my, look at this?”

[You call me… Unit 3…?]

I lightly tapped my Goblin club on the ground, changing its form.

[It seems you’ll only come to your senses when you’re dead.]

“Oh my, I haven’t done anything bad enough to be executed yet?”

[Just calling me merely Unit 3 is enough reason for you to die.]

What defines a being?

“Just by saying that, you prove you’re not Goblin.”

The physical body?

Abilities?

“Goblin doesn’t talk like that.”

It’s belief.

“If you were Goblin, you’d say something like this: Those who commit wrongs never realize whether their actions deserve execution.”

I didn’t expect to receive an explanation of Goblin’s behavioral principles here from someone who isn’t even a Goblin expert.

“Or maybe you’d say something like this: Knowing your actions are evil yet still doing them is what makes them wrong.”

I know well.

I know as well as anyone which people Goblin executes and by what standards.

“You see, I’m a Goblin fan. A die-hard fan. So….”

Swish.

“I can’t acknowledge a clone that doesn’t match even a fraction of the original’s dignity.”

The scattered blood around Bathory forms a shape.

A scythe much larger than Bathory, like something death reapers from medieval European folklore might use, with a blade gleaming blood-red.

“I should kill you quickly and find the original. Hmm, The Syndicate must be in trouble too. It seems the original Goblin has betrayed them.”

Huh?

“Oh my, you don’t even know why you were cloned? Hehe, I can tell just by looking at your face.”

She’s writing her own scenario, and I’m listening, but what is she trying to say?

“Do Ji-hwan is Goblin.”

As expected.

“Did the original Goblin fall into Baek Seol-hee’s arms and develop a sense of justice? It seems The Syndicate was betrayed? So they created Unit 2 and Unit 3. Unit 2 died in that explosion in Osaka, and Unit 3 is standing right in front of me?”

[…….]

She’s creating her own narrative.

But.

‘I rather like it.’

The thinking of people like her is exactly the ideal that our Syndicate desires most.

If someday Do Ji-hwan must reveal his identity as Goblin.

-I was a villain of The Syndicate, but thanks to Miss Baek Seol-hee, I realized something.

-Yes, I found love-

In this way, he could overcome a crisis.

‘What a shame.’

If this were being uploaded to the internet in real-time or spreading as information elsewhere, everyone would think, “That makes sense.”

But right now, there’s no sign of that happening.

Even if information from here is being leaked to other places in real-time, at least it’s not being leaked through electronic or magical methods that we’re monitoring.

But if someone comes later and reads the memory of this place with something like psychometry, they would say:

-According to Bathory’s deduction, Goblin is a clone, the third one. Her dying message before she was killed… you could call it that.

So.

[Listening to you, I can no longer bear it.]

I grabbed the Goblin club, which I had transformed into a fairly broad sword, then placed my hand on my waist.

[I’ll show you. That I am Goblin.]

With a belt created from magical power.

[Transform!]

I lightly call out, changing my outer appearance to a “Rider” form.

“Ahahahaha—!!”

Bathory’s frivolous laughter rings out loudly as she stands before the execution squad.

“Rider?! Haha, how funny! Goblin abandoned the Rider form months ago, and now you’re transforming!! Ahaha! And you call yourself Goblin!”

I could transform after a long time too.

“As I thought, you’re not Goblin!!”

Though slandered, I absolutely refuse to yield.

[I am.]

The original is.

[Goblin—!]

Because it’s me.

* * *

“That guy’s having fun.”

“…Let him enjoy himself.”

Watching Do-Rider charging toward the blood whip with a greatsword from a distance, Yoon Hye-ra and Hyun Se-rin smiled faintly while fidgeting with their weapons.

“Unnie. Should we change our concept too? Maybe I could try fighting with a gun-blade?”

“You can’t even do one Taekwondo form properly.”

“…I’m S-rank, you know?”

“Pine caterpillars must eat pine needles to survive. Just stick to what you’re good at. Besides….”

Hyun Se-rin pointed to the golden bridge in her hair.

“We’re in the perfect position to pull the clone card too.”

“Clone, huh.”

Yoon Hye-ra also touched her golden hair, then threw forward the fan in her hand.

“I guess a clone doesn’t have to use the original’s weapon, right?”

Whoosh.

“Then, should I try using this? I saw other flame sorcerers using something like this.”

With a flash of flame, the fan disappeared, and a long red staff appeared before Yoon Hye-ra.

The somewhat mechanical design had one peculiarity: the body was made of “gold.”

And at the end of the staff was a bead mixed with gold and red colors.

“Unnie, what do you think?”

“Are you cosplaying as a magical girl or something?”

“Hmm, that might be good too? It’s good to emphasize being completely different from the original. Past laundering, past laundering.”

“What about coming out?”

“We can just reveal ourselves to those we want to take revenge on later, right?”

“…That’s true.”

Whiiiing.

The gun and sword in Hyun Se-rin’s hands disappeared.

“Rather than living with old names like Miyoung or Chunja, it might be better to live as a clone.”

And in her hands, green wind swirled, wrapping around like gauntlets.

“Right. Living as completely new versions of ourselves…meow.”

Hyun Se-rin closed her eyes briefly, then covered her face with magical power to put on a cat-like mask.

“Unnie, isn’t that meowing concept a bit much at your age?”

“Women don’t age after 17, meow.”

“Wow, you have no conscience.”

“I’m a villain, so it doesn’t matter.”

“Ah, correct answer.”

Eeeeeeng—

Beyond the bridge to Ganghwa Island, cars bearing the Hero Association mark are approaching.

“I’ll take above. Unnie takes below. Let’s stay far apart so we don’t embarrass each other. How about it?”

“Sounds good, meow.”

“…Ugh, oppa should have heard that.”

Whoosh.

In the place where the two women departed.

“…….”

A young man holding a golden staff silently stood blocking the heroes approaching from across the bridge.

“Living as a clone.”

Black Taejo looked at his face reflected in the staff once, then greeted the arriving heroes with a smiling face, staff in hand.

“…A good day for identity laundering.”