What Is This Trash?

Dust rose from the stronghold, and the Elite Assassin Goblin squad assigned to Area F saw it from afar.

Several Elite Assassin Goblins felt a vague sense of unease and gathered before their captain. "Captain, something seems to have happened at the stronghold. Should we go back and take a look?"

"No need. That lord will surely handle it. Perhaps this is the arrogant humans' final resistance."

"Do not forget that lord's orders. Remain on standby in this forest and kill any humans you encounter without exception. Do not leave your post unless that lord personally sends someone to notify us."

"Yes!"

The Elite Assassin Goblin Captain lowered its eyes and concealed itself in the forest once more. All it could do was trust its king—trust that its king could truly lead the Goblins back to prosperity.

As the dust settled, every member of the rescue party was covered in soot and grime. The massive explosion had wiped out many Goblins, while the adventurers who had climbed back to their feet finished off the Goblins that remained standing one by one.

Seka Mens anxiously searched for Yang Yu. Yang Yu had been closest to the center of the explosion and had suffered the greatest impact, so something could easily have gone wrong. Yet after searching for a long time, Seka Mens still could not find him.

He couldn't have been caught in the heart of the explosion and turned into dust, could he?

Sorrow welled up in Seka Mens's heart. At the thought of someone as outstanding as himself sacrificing his young life for the entire world, tears could not help streaming down his face.

His grief did not last long. He knew he still had things to do: check on his imprisoned adventurer companions and see whether Andeno, the warriors' mentor, was safe.

Before he had taken more than a few steps toward the wooden house that had become ruins, a familiar, hot-tempered voice came from the smoke.

"What is all this trash? There isn't even a single piece of purple equipment. Is what it wore and carried really the best equipment it had?"

"Ahahaha! As expected of Sir Yang Yu. You managed to defeat an opponent even I could not beat. Take whatever you want from the loot here. I'm sure no one will mind."

"I don't need this stuff. It won't sell for much anyway." Yang Yu looked disgusted. White equipment had never been worth much, and these pieces had their own flaws to boot.

Rather than waste time selling white equipment, he might as well take on a few quests, draw the lottery a few more times, then use his wits to sell what he got and become rich overnight.

"Hahaha, Sir Yang Yu is too modest. Then let the adventurers who came along have these things as spoils of war!"

"Whatever. You split it up. I'm going to let the prisoners out first." Yang Yu weighed the keys in his hand and stepped over the scattered planks, walking out of the dust cloud.

"Wait for me, Sir Yang Yu. I'm coming too. We can discuss dividing the loot after we release the missing adventurers from their cages."

With two dazed priests tucked under his arms, Andeno walked toward the cage that had been turned upside down. He freed the trapped adventurers one by one and treated their wounds.

Seka Mens's worries had been entirely unnecessary.

Of course, Yang Yu had not emerged completely uninjured. When the explosion swept toward him, he activated [Intercept] to block the damage.

But the explosion was too powerful, and it was a continuous area-of-effect attack. Even after taking only 10% of the damage, his HP and stamina had still plummeted to nearly nothing.

With no other choice, he could only hold on by relying on the herbs he carried. Thanks to that, his Drug Resistance had successfully risen from 10% to 20%.

But that was not the only reason he had survived. The main reason was that the explosion had blown him away from its center.

Before [Intercept] ended, he had managed to find a large tree for cover. That was how he had stayed alive.

As Yang Yu freed the imprisoned adventurers, who were also covered in soot from the explosion, the emergency quest on his system ended, and the experience penalty disappeared along with it.

The experience bar that had been just short of full before the battle was finally filled.

Although the quest experience had been cut in half because he had received the reward in advance, 4,000 experience points should have been enough to raise Yang Yu to Level 21.

That was how it should have been.

However, the system's voice rang out in Yang Yu's mind. It was still the cheerful voice congratulating the player, and it even began playing upbeat background music.

[Congratulations to the player for reaching the level cap for the first time. As a reward, the system will provide you with an additional 100 free attribute points and one lottery draw.]

The level cap? Had he reached the level cap already?

Yang Yu turned his gaze back to the system's status screen.

[Attributes

Name: Yang Yu (ID: Rolling Potato) Level: LV20 (MAX) Experience: 2100/2100

Race: Human (Commoner) HP: 321/728 MP: 98/430 Stamina: 116/926

Main Class: Warrior

Secondary Classes: Herbalist Apprentice (LV1), Demonic Beast Tamer (LV1)

Personal Attributes: Strength 68, Defense 67, Intelligence 37, Special Defense 35, Agility 93, Charm 6, Endurance 182, Luck 1

Free Attribute Points: 110

Resistance: Drug Resistance 20%

Evaluation: This seems to be your limit as a commoner.]

Level 20 was actually the level cap. Yang Yu stood dumbfounded. Reaching max level had wasted an entire level's worth of experience, which pained him greatly.

At the same time, he felt somewhat fortunate. Luckily, he had completed this emergency rescue quest first.

If he had completed the Source Extermination quest instead, he truly might have burst into tears.

A thin figure darted through the forest. Its entire body was covered in blood and dust, and it had even lost an arm.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Those damn humans actually dared to ruin my perfect plan!"

This frail Goblin was the Goblin King, Jane Raji Cide. It had survived.

Unlike its previous majestic appearance in magnificent armor, it was now extremely weak, exactly as it had been over a decade ago. This was its true form.

That explosion had not truly been a self-destruction, either. What had exploded was merely the body it had spent many years creating in order to wear high-quality human armor.

Unfortunately, even though it had controlled the explosion's main direction, it had still been caught in it and lost an arm. But to the Goblin King, that did not matter.

As long as it survived, there was still hope for everything.

Everything would begin again from zero. It would not repeat the same mistakes.

It would make a new plan, rise again bit by bit, and take revenge on the man who had shattered all its dreams.

"As long as I hide in that place, I'll be safe. Just like before, I can use that terrifying cave to heal my wounds. This time, I might even obtain treasures from it again.

There are still thirty assassins left. With them, there won't be any problem. I can still control the other Goblin tribes. This time, I'll leave this forest and unite all the Goblins in every forest.

Then I'll find the treasure the Emperor left for me and lead the Goblins through evolution.

After that, I'll take complete revenge on humanity. Old debts and new debts will be settled together."

As the familiar cave entrance appeared before it, a savage smile spread across the Goblin King's face.

Suddenly, a purple light shot out from the cave entrance and enveloped it. Then dense spears flew out one after another, mercilessly piercing the Goblin King's body.