Chapter 6: Their Own Judgment (2)

Seeing the goblins swarming from all directions, I chose one path.

The one with the fewest numbers.

A goblin running towards me lost its balance and fell.

The ground was uneven, and there were many obstacles.

Swish Stab

I stabbed the fallen goblin’s neck with the metal rod and lowered my upper body.

“Kiek?”

A goblin flew over me.
It was a goblin that had jumped at me from behind.

Whooosh

Charging forward, I pulled out the rod I had stabbed with and swung it downwards in a large arc.

Thwack— Crash!

The goblin in mid-air was hit by my swing and slammed onto the ground.

Its spine seemed broken.

“Kirrk.”

Next, another goblin swung its claws at me, but its movements were clearly visible.

Slightly moving just one foot, I dodged the attack by a hair’s breadth.

‘Slow.’

Literally.

The me from an hour ago and the current me are completely different.

I’ve already killed over 10 goblins, and haven’t allowed a single effective hit so far.

“Kiaaaak!”

Spinning my body, I dodged a goblin charging from the side.

Simultaneously, using the centrifugal force, I swung the rod and smashed the head of a goblin on the other side.

“Keck.”

It was a violent movement I couldn’t have performed before.

Human joints have limitations.

Leveling up didn’t just improve stamina and strength.

My overall physical functions, including agility and flexibility, had improved unbelievably.

Tadat

I can’t stand still.

Charging forward, I kicked away a goblin aiming for my legs.

Swoooosh

Then, sliding over a car, I landed, recovered my posture.

Immediately turning, I stabbed the goblin that jumped after me with the rod.

Hooking the goblin’s body onto the car frame, I pulled the rod free and leaped towards the trunk of the vehicle.

Thump

A goblin charging at me slammed its head into the side of the car and collapsed.

“Kieeeek!”

Circling around one vehicle, I reduced the number of goblins one by one.

Stabbing, swinging, sometimes kicking.

Then, when the number of goblins could be counted on one hand.

“Kigik… Kkik.”

I saw the goblins hesitate instead of charging.

“Heh.”

Laughter escaped me.

These ugly monsters are no longer my match.

“So you do feel fear?”

The goblin in front of me flinched.

I immediately rushed forward and kneed its face.

Then, stepping on the fallen creature, I slowly drove the rod into its chest.

“Kiririk…”

Finally, the remaining few goblins turned their backs.

Before they could scatter, I charged again.

My level rose.

---

One skill changed the tide of the battle.

【Target Perception】

Detects the presence and emotions of targets within a certain range.

That target included monsters, not just humans.

Through ‘Target Perception’, I felt it vividly.

Fear rising within the goblins, who were previously filled only with killing intent.

Of course, their fear was also discernible from their expressions and actions.

“Hyungnim! Are you okay?”

After the fight ended, Jang Hoseop ran over.

He handed me water and asked if I was hurt anywhere.

“I’m fine.”

“Wow. You’re really amazing. No, how do you move like that?”

Jang Hoseop’s excited voice echoed in the quiet street.

“Did you learn spear techniques or something? Are there places like that in our country?”

“No, that’s not it. I just fought while imagining how to move efficiently.”

“Oh… Hyungnim. Are you perhaps a genius? A genius of spear arts… Ah, does that sound weird?”

Jang Hoseop praised me, almost excessively.

But I moved very simply.

“It looked that way because my physical abilities improved due to leveling up.”

“Aw~ Still. Just having good physicals doesn’t mean everyone can do that, right?”

Anyway, it feels good.

It’s been a while since someone praised me like this continuously.

“You dodged like you had eyes in the back of your head, like whoosh whoosh. I almost screamed while hiding.”

Being able to dodge goblin attacks without looking was thanks to the general skill ‘Target Perception’ obtained at level 10.

Because ‘Target Perception’ isn’t seen with the eyes, but simply felt.

Jang Hoseop doesn’t know about my skill.

He explained his own skill in detail but didn’t ask about mine.

“Anyone can do it if they map out the surrounding information in their head.”

“What? Uh… Me too?”

“Yes. Mr. Jang Hoseop can do it too.”

It’s true I received help from the skill.

But even without the skill, I could have fought similarly.

So I tell Jang Hoseop he can do it too.

“How? Ah, I’m not prying! If it’s difficult to talk about…”

“When you open a door at home. Do you visually check where the handle is and then carefully open it?”

“What? That’s… I think I just open it subconsciously?”

“It’s like that. When getting water from the dispenser… or sitting on the toilet. You know it’s there without needing to look, right?”

When fighting goblins, I mapped out everything in my head, down to the small pebbles nearby.

To that, I added the goblins’ movements felt through the skill.

However, the specific actions couldn’t be known just through the felt presence.

That part was filled in by imagining the goblins I encountered on the bridge.

So, even without the skill, I could have fought similarly.

Because goblins always make noise.

“No, but still… This isn’t home?”

“It’s an unfamiliar space, but the principle is the same. Just map it out more specifically and meticulously.”

Through this battle, I felt it.

‘Target Perception’ really complements my imagination, which I call visualization.

“So Mr. Jang Hoseop should also practice imagining. It will be helpful.”

Because ‘Target Perception’ accurately informs what needs to be estimated just by sound.

Without seeing, you don’t know the goblin’s posture.

But you can know how far away it is, how fast it’s approaching, whether it jumped, and things like that.

“What does that mean… Hyungnim. At the end of the explanation, you could just say ‘See? It’s easy’, right?”

“What? I didn’t say it was easy.”

“No, that’s not what I meant… Um. Some people can’t gauge distance well even when they can see.”

That’s why practice is needed.

I wasn’t capable of visualization at this level from the beginning either.

“Practice makes perfect. Make the imagination as close to reality as possible.”

“Ah… No, that’s not what I mean.”

Jang Hoseop looked frustrated.

Then he finally said something that left me speechless.

“Hyungnim’s words are like… Buy stocks when they’re low and sell when they’re high. It’s like that, you know?”

Suddenly, my US stocks came to mind.

A graphics card company whose stock price plummeted early this year.

I can still remember how I felt back then.

“Uh… Hyungnim?”

“I understand what you mean.”

My mood suddenly soured.

---

I cut off and collected the goblin heads and fingers.

The knife on the multitool was sharp, making it easier than expected.

The bones were simply crushed with Jang Hoseop’s hammer.

Knock Knock Knock

And we arrived at the pharmacy.

Surprisingly, the pharmacy’s glass door was intact, but the inside wasn’t visible.

It seemed deliberately covered.

“Wh-who is it?”

When I knocked on the locked door, a man’s voice was heard.

“It’s people. Could you open the door?”

“Are you perhaps the rescue team?”

“No. Just passersby.”

Soon, the sound of several people murmuring came from inside.

Many were saying it was dangerous and to be careful.

Someone said even making noise like this was risky.

“It’s not dangerous.”

“What? Really?”

To reassure the people, I said it was safe.

Soon, the cloth covering the glass door was pulled back.

The blinds installed on the large glass window next to the door also went up.

“Good heavens…”

A man in a white coat looked at me, startled.

It was probably because I was covered in a lot of goblin blood.

“Is it really safe? There were many monsters…”

There were many people inside the dark pharmacy.

Everyone asked repeatedly if the goblins were definitely gone.

I answered yes several times.

“Can you open the door now? I need medicine.”

“Ah, yes.”

The man who first answered me is the pharmacist.

Just as he reached out to open the door.

“No!”

Another man grabbed the pharmacist’s wrist.

The pharmacist whose wrist was grabbed turned around.

Then he spoke as if coaxing.

“Look. There are no monsters now.”

The pharmacist stepped aside so the person behind could see outside.

Thanks to that, my eyes met the man who had shouted “No!”.

“See? I’ll open the door?”

“Ah, but I told you not to open the door.”

The man who still insisted not to open the door even after checking outside.

The man looked to be in his early 20s.

He had baby fat on his face and a thin build.

His bowl-cut hair and long, narrow eyes were striking.

“That person is injured. Immediate first aid is needed…”

“What if we all die because of that?”

The man with narrow eyes glared at the pharmacist.

His voice gradually rose.

“What?”

“I told you those things outside are goblins!”

“I told you it’s safe now!”

“Safe my *ss. Can’t you see that person covered in blood?”

The narrow-eyed man turned to the crowd and spoke.

“Look at that blood color! Goblins have poison. If we let that person in, we’ll be in danger too!”

The pharmacist looked at me, startled.

“Is that true?”

“I don’t know either.”

“Do you have any unusual symptoms? Like chills or dizziness. Or difficulty breathing…”

The pharmacist asked me various things.

There were no other specific issues.

“Excuse me. How do you know goblins have poison?”

While I explained my condition to the pharmacist.

A woman inside the pharmacy asked the narrow-eyed man.

“Of course goblins have poison. Even if it’s not poison, maybe pathogens or something… Anyway, bad things can spread, so we have to be careful.”

He had a somewhat plausible reason.

However, judging by his tone, he wasn’t speaking with certainty.

I called out to the narrow-eyed man through the glass door.

“Are you certain goblin blood has poison?”

“Poison or whatever, there must be something.”

“Have you perhaps awakened a fundamental skill?”

“Fundamental… what?”

I thought the narrow-eyed man had awakened and was speaking from using a skill.

If that were the case, I would have immediately run towards a hospital.

‘He doesn’t seem to know what he’s talking about.’

The problem is, I wasn’t just covered in goblin blood.

I was bitten, and also scratched by goblin claws.

Even a wrong bite from a mad dog can be fatal.

What about a green-skinned monster?

So I couldn’t be complacent.

“Let’s do this. Could you come into the hallway? I’ll grab the necessary medicines and come out.”

As people grew anxious due to the narrow-eyed man’s opinion, the pharmacist suggested a compromise.

“Alright.”

Though slightly annoyed, this was acceptable.

At least I could achieve my objective.

However, the narrow-eyed man stopped the pharmacist again.

“If you go out, that’s it.”

“What?”

“If you go out, you can’t come back in.”

The pharmacist looked at the narrow-eyed man with an incredulous expression.

“This is my pharmacy. Who are you to…”

“So what if you get infected by that person outside? Don’t you think about the others?”

The sun is setting.

Not a single light is on in the surrounding buildings, including the pharmacy.

‘Means there’s a problem with the power supply too.’

Meaning there isn’t much time.

Because darkness will soon fall.

“I understand you’re worried about infection. I’ll be careful. If you’re concerned about airborne or droplet infection, then anyway…”

“Ah, I don’t know. If you go out, that’s it. Just know that.”

The narrow-eyed man cut off the pharmacist.

His expression and tone were rude.

“Hey, I told you this is my pharmacy! And listen to me…”

“Wow, look at him pulling rank with his pharmacy in this emergency situation.”

“When did I pull rank?”

Finally, the pharmacist also raised his voice.

The conversation flowed in a strange direction.

“It’s true! Is it okay just to satisfy your own conscience? Making others look like the bad guys…”

“Enough! If you’re so anxious, you go to another floor. Get out!”

The pharmacist laid hands on the narrow-eyed man.

Grabbing his arm, trying to push him out the door leading to the hallway.

“Huh? You’re pushing people?”

The problem was that the narrow-eyed man had companions.

Two men who had been standing idly approached the pharmacist.