Goblins

Goblins.

Notorious as cockroaches, they could be found in nearly every plane with even the slightest connection to "Western Fantasy."

These small creatures were inherently greedy and vile. If their species' average intelligence did not rank at the bottom among sentient beings, they might also be described as "cunning" and "deceptive."

Their overwhelmingly "evil" racial alignment, coupled with the poor productivity caused by their low intelligence, meant that their survival was often tied to "plunder" and "theft."

Moreover, their species had no females, forcing them to reproduce by abducting females of other sentient races.

To some extent, this gave them an even worse reputation across the multiverse than Abyssal Demons and Hell Devils.

Individual Goblins were extremely weak. An ordinary Farm Woman armed with a Pitchfork could easily deal with an unarmed, basic Goblin.

But just as Hunter Maji had described earlier—

These little creatures were like the stray dogs found everywhere in town.

One alone was no threat, but once they gathered in groups numbering in the dozens, or even hundreds—

The Goblins' courage and destructive power would surge exponentially.

Raiding caravans, attacking villages...

Especially once the size of their tribe reached a certain point, elite individuals capable of leadership would naturally emerge.

Given enough time and unchecked growth, they could even become a kingdom-level disaster.

At present, the Goblin tribe being investigated by the Stinky Fish Rotten Shrimp squad might not yet have grown large enough to raid towns.

But they clearly already possessed the ability to actively attack humans.

The gradually cooling corpse of Elki—the humorous Gnome who had once enjoyed making ill-timed cold jokes—was proof enough.

"Roar!!!"

An inhuman roar suddenly rang out through the forest.

Like a startled jungle beast, the Half-Orc Ga Gu sprang to his feet, both hands tightly gripping his bloodstained Hand Axe.

The sudden attack and the death of his teammate seemed to have awakened some ancestral glory within this mixed-blood bastard with thin Orc blood.

His subtly lengthening fangs and the visibly swollen, reddening muscles all over his body showed that the Half-Orc was entering some kind of combat state.

Hunter Maji was the quickest member of the entire Stinky Fish Rotten Shrimp squad.

Almost the instant that black Wooden Stick emerged from behind Elki's head, he reacted.

While shouting a warning, he slung the Longbow from his back and nimbly scrambled up the towering Hardbark Oak behind him, using both hands and feet.

His lean figure vanished into the dense canopy in an instant.

Though Xia Nan hated to admit it, he was undoubtedly the slowest to react in the entire squad.

For more than thirty years before crossing over, he had practically gone straight from classrooms to offices. He had never even killed a chicken;

And in this life, he was no more than an honest farmer who worked the land from dawn to dusk.

One moment, he had been considering how to pry more information about this world out of Elki. The next, the Gnome had been struck in the head with a Wooden Stick right before his eyes, brain matter spilling out.

Xia Nan's mind went completely blank. Though instinct made him lift the One-handed Sword resting across his knees, his body remained frozen in place, as if locked in a rigid stupor.

Until...

"Whoosh!"

His hair fluttered as a violent gust scraped across his cheek, leaving behind a sharp sting.

A Wooden Arrow shot through the shadows between the trees, flying down from the canopy overhead.

"Aah!"

A shrill cry of pain rang out behind him.

Xia Nan shuddered and instantly came back to his senses.

The world, which had seemed as though someone had pressed the mute button, suddenly came alive again.

There was no time to thank Maji for coming to his aid from above. He spun around at once.

His gaze swept over the scene, and his pupils contracted!

Two small, hunched figures stood there.

Their rough, dark-green skin was covered in scars. Their crimson eyes brimmed with cunning and malice. A single filthy brown rag covered their lower bodies, while beneath their thin limbs, the outlines of swelling muscles could faintly be seen.

At some point, two Goblins had silently crept up behind him!

If Maji had not warned him, he would likely have suffered the same fate as Elki.

A chill ran through Xia Nan's heart. He subconsciously tightened his grip around the Sword Hilt wrapped in coarse rope.

"Wacha!"

Their Stealth had been exposed, and one Goblin even had its foot shot clean through by the Wooden Arrow from above, pinning it firmly to the ground.

These naturally cowardly monsters seemed to have lost the courage to continue their attack in that instant.

It merely raised the Wooden Stick in its hand at the young human before it in a threatening gesture.

The pitch-black shaft reflected a dangerous orange-red glow under the campfire's light.

Looking at the rusty nails embedded in the Wooden Stick, Xia Nan suddenly recalled the horrific sight of Elki's shattered skull.

As though struck by some stress response, spurred by the lingering fear in his heart, he stomped forward with his right foot while bending his sword arm to gather strength.

"Thud!"

His foot sank into the soft muddy ground almost instantly.

Like roots growing downward into the earth to draw nourishment from the soil.

An indescribable power erupted from beneath his foot, flowing through his bones and muscles, gathering the strength of his entire body along the way.

Before finally pouring out through the blade.

[Whirlwind Slash]

Screech—

Accompanied by a shriek of tearing air, the lingering mist churned violently.

A sharp silver gleam with a beautiful arc flashed before Xia Nan, gone in an instant.

At that moment, time and space seemed to freeze.

The meticulously maintained blade, combined with a technique practiced hundreds of thousands of times, made the Goblins' skin, muscles, and bones as fragile and helpless as sandpaper.

"Proficiency +1"

A line of translucent text flashed before his eyes.

Xia Nan felt two brief moments of resistance through his hand, and then, just as he had done over countless days and nights before, he completed a diagonal upward slash from left to right with his One-handed Sword.

Blood splattered.

What fell onto the muddy ground were severed Goblin hands, half skulls, foul-smelling innards, and their filthy, steaming blood.

The two treacherous monsters that had attempted to ambush him were cleaved in half by a single strike, as easily as the countless stalks of rice he had once cut in the fields.

For a moment, the forest seemed to fall into dead silence.

High above in the towering canopy, Maji unconsciously loosened the Longbow he had already drawn to full tension.

He stared at the two mangled corpses in the clearing, his eyes shifting before he looked again at Xia Nan, who was slowly exhaling as he sheathed his sword.

His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and undisguised astonishment filled his face.

"This the fuck is a rookie!?"