Recaps

Yang Yu learned that the Goblins were holding captives for periodic sacrifices and discovered the likely location of their hidden mastermind. He accepted Seka Mens into his group and arranged for Bai Jin to escort the exhausted Silverwind Squad to safety.

• Yang Yu questioned Seka Mens, who revealed that Elite Goblins entered and left a large cabin where the mastermind was probably hiding.
• Seka Mens marked the Goblin camp on Yang Yu's map and offered to guide him, but Yang Yu initially refused because the Silverwind Squad was exhausted.
• Qi, Iron Wall, and Luo Keke urged Seka Mens to accompany Yang Yu, and Luo Keke healed him with her remaining strength.
• Yang Yu gave the Silverwind Squad some herbs and accepted Seka Mens, warning him to control his impulses.
• Yang Yu asked Bai Jin to lead the squad to the forest's edge and instructed He Meng to protect Bai Jin.

The Goblin King sent Elite Assassin Goblins to ambush the Rescue Corps while ordering its other forces to attack from both sides. After learning that the Goblins might be performing a ritual to create an artifact, the Rescue Corps headed for their main base, where the Elite Assassin Goblins began targeting its members.

• The Goblin King ordered an Elite Assassin Goblin unit to move into position and instructed its ambush forces to attack from the front and rear, using the trap unit as bait.
• Yang Yu reunited with Andeno and shared the Rescue Corps's intelligence about the Goblins' ritual; Andeno warned that it might be connected to an artifact forged during the Goblin Emperor's reign.
• Andeno gathered the Rescue Corps, and its members agreed to find the Goblins' main base, defeat them, and rescue the missing adventurers.
• The Rescue Corps avoided the Goblins' watchful eyes but caused a commotion when weak Goblins attacked near the pit where the stone spheres had been hidden.
• Ten Elite Assassin Goblins spotted the advancing Rescue Corps; two split off to coordinate with the surrounding forces, while the others prepared to sow fear by attacking a young man carrying a shield.

Yang Yu and Andeno’s party were ambushed by Elite Assassin Goblins, who blamed their failed opening attack on Yang Yu’s luck and launched a direct assault. Yang Yu faced one Goblin in close combat and countered its charge with a sword strike through its chest.

• Yang Yu used [Intercept] to block a Deathly Dart, surviving the Elite Assassin Goblins’ attempted assassination.
• The Elite Assassin Goblins decided to attack without waiting for their main force, while Andeno ordered the party to stay alert.
• The Goblins killed several scouts with darts, then leaped from the treetops and struck the adventurers.
• Seven Elite Assassin Goblins engaged the party while one attacked Yang Yu, who judged it vulnerable despite its speed and high attack power.
• Yang Yu blocked the Goblin’s first attack and wounded its arm with a counterattack.
• Yang Yu took the Goblin’s [Phase Charge] slash, activated [Sudden Killing Intent], and pierced its chest with his sword.

Yang Yu helped the Rescue Corps turn back an Elite Assassin Goblin attack, then advised Andeno to destroy the magical eyes guarding the route to the Goblin base. As the corps prepared to break through and raid the hidden boss, Yang Yu planned to save his strength for the boss and his quest.

• Yang Yu killed an Elite Assassin Goblin, and Andeno and the other adventurers exploited the remaining Goblins' surprise to defeat them.
• Andeno and Seka Mens admired Yang Yu's composure, while Yang Yu lamented that the corps had taken most of the available experience points.
• Andeno rallied the Rescue Corps, and the team continued toward the Goblin base despite further attacks.
• Mages discovered dense magical eyes surveilling the forest, and Yang Yu whispered to Andeno to destroy them before advancing.
• Andeno ordered the corps to destroy the magical eyes and prepare for battle, while Yang Yu resolved to conserve stamina for the boss and his Source Extermination quest.

The Goblin King recalled how it rose from a starving goblin to the ruler of a united tribe and explained its plan to lure adventurers into the forest. After the plan repeatedly went wrong, it ordered the tribe to prepare for war and decided to lead the expedition itself.

• The Goblin King remembered surviving its early life by outsmarting other goblins and hunting humans for food and equipment.
• After nearly dying in a human ambush, the Goblin King found a ruby in Orochi’s abandoned nest and gained ancient knowledge that awakened its Imperial Bloodline.
• The Goblin King used its newfound power to take control of the goblin tribes, develop their strength, and claim the Ancient Goblin Emperor’s inheritance.
• The Goblin King began a long-planned scheme to lure adventurers into the forest, but a falling boulder and the Rescue Corps’ actions exposed its eyes and disrupted the plan.
• The Goblin King sent its Goblin Assassin Corps after the adventurers, then ordered its forces to enter combat readiness and announced that it would lead the expedition.

The Rescue Corps reached the Goblin village and discovered a powerful Goblin King guarding the settlement. Andeno transferred command to Yang Yu, who prepared to lead the group through the coming battle and try to keep everyone alive.

• Seka Mens showed the Rescue Corps the Goblin palace and identified the Abyss Traps along their route into the village.
• Yang Yu assessed the Goblin forces, and Andeno planned a surprise attack during a guard shift change.
• The Goblin King Jane Raji Cide appeared on the palace platform, and Yang Yu saw its formidable level and status.
• Andeno decided the Rescue Corps could not retreat and handed command to Yang Yu, whose orders he made higher priority than his own.
• Yang Yu ordered the Rescue Corps to learn their unit assignments and follow his commands so they might survive.

Yang Yu organized the adventuring party to face the Goblin King’s army and learned [Shield Counter] by claiming its quest reward in advance. As the goblins launched their attack, Yang Yu directed the party’s defenses while Andeno prepared to hold off the Goblin King.

• The Goblin King, Goblin Emperor Jane Raji Cide, led its troops into battle against Yang Yu’s group.
• Yang Yu formed a defensive formation and asked Andeno to stall the Goblin King.
• Yang Yu claimed [Shield Counter] in advance from the rescue quest, accepting a penalty to experience gains, and learned the skill from Andeno’s demonstration.
• The Goblin Elite Assassination Unit circled behind the party and began the battle by firing a dart, which Yang Yu intercepted with Phantom Shield.
• The Goblin King charged with its army, and Yang Yu ordered the priests to buff Andeno as the two sides clashed.

Yang Yu used a feigned withdrawal to lure the Elite Assassin Goblins into attacking, then led the adventurers in defeating them while Andeno battled the Goblin King. With the assassins eliminated, Yang Yu ordered the supposedly exhausted fighters back into the battle against the Goblin army.

• Andeno charged into the Goblin formation and fought the Goblin King while Yang Yu directed the Rescue Corps against the Goblin army.
• Yang Yu called selected adventurers off the battlefield and had them pretend to be exhausted, making the Goblins press their attack.
• Yang Yu and the adventurers faked further signs of weakness until the Elite Assassin Goblins decided to launch a surprise attack.
• The adventurers counterattacked and destroyed the Elite Assassin Goblins, while Yang Yu drank a potion and continued commanding despite his bleeding abdomen.
• Yang Yu called out the adventurers who had been acting and ordered them back into the fight against the Goblin army.

Andeno fought the Goblin King while learning that it had deliberately grown stronger and laid traps for the Rescue Corps. The Goblin King discovered its army was being devastated by the Rescue Corps, and Andeno challenged its rigid command of the Goblins.

• Andeno and the Goblin King traded powerful blows, and the Goblin King explained how it had used humans' neglect of weak monsters to grow stronger.
• The Goblin King claimed its forces had trapped the reinforcements and killed the elite force, while Andeno suspected Yang Yu had disguised the team's movements.
• The Goblin King tried to break Andeno's resolve by claiming the Rescue Corps had been destroyed, but then heard that its army was losing badly.
• Andeno taunted the Goblin King for commanding an army that could not adapt, and the Goblin King roared in anger.
• The Goblin King recalled that it had kept the other Goblins ignorant so they would obey every order without question.

Yang Yu drew the Goblin King into a duel and dodged its attacks while the Rescue Corps fought under Seka Mens’s command. The Goblin King realized its troops were losing despite their numerical advantage, as Yang Yu continued stalling for time.

• The Goblin King spotted Yang Yu directing the Rescue Corps and moved to attack him, but Andeno struck first and was knocked into the wooden palace.
• Yang Yu stepped forward, dodged the Goblin King’s attack, and taunted it by predicting its question about how he had evaded the blow.
• Yang Yu handed command of the Rescue Corps to Seka Mens and focused on baiting the Goblin King into attacking him.
• Yang Yu dodged the Goblin King’s repeated attacks while waiting for the Rescue Corps to gain the advantage and for a priest to heal Andeno.
• The Goblin King recognized that Yang Yu was stalling and saw that its troops had fallen behind in the battle.

Yang Yu outmaneuvered the Goblin King as it tried to transform, then drove it close to defeat with the Rescue Corps’ magic and his own counterattack. The Goblin King split apart and self-destructed, leaving Yang Yu and the Rescue Corps caught in a massive explosion.

• Yang Yu told the Goblin King that the Rescue Corps had suffered no deaths, prompting it to realize its assumptions about an elite unit had been wrong.
• The Goblin King began shifting its Intelligence into Speed and Strength, but Yang Yu ordered the Rescue Corps to attack before the transformation finished.
• Yang Yu used [Sudden Killing Intent] to steal the Goblin King's Flame-Forged Longstaff while the mages bombarded it with magic.
• Yang Yu countered the Goblin King's attack with [Shield Counter], leaving it badly hurt but still alive.
• The Goblin King split apart and announced that it would perish together with Yang Yu, then self-destructed as Yang Yu warned the Rescue Corps to get down.

Yang Yu survived the stronghold’s explosion, freed the imprisoned adventurers, and reached Level 20, the commoner level cap. The surviving Goblin King fled toward a cave to recover, but a trap there impaled it with spears.

• The Elite Assassin Goblins stayed hidden in Area F and followed their captain’s orders to wait for the Goblin King’s message.
• Seka Mens searched for Yang Yu after the explosion, then heard him complaining about the Goblin’s poor loot as he emerged alive.
• Yang Yu and Andeno freed the imprisoned adventurers, while Andeno treated their wounds.
• The rescue quest ended, and Yang Yu reached Level 20, the level cap for a commoner, earning 100 free attribute points and a lottery draw.
• The wounded Goblin King survived the explosion and planned to recover in a cave before rebuilding its forces and taking revenge on humanity.
• Purple light engulfed the Goblin King at the cave entrance, and spears shot out and pierced its body.

Bai Jin and He Meng killed the Goblin King and recovered a ruby necklace, while Yang Yu remained troubled by reaching his level limit. At a secret meeting, Hooded Man Number Nine persuaded the others to use adventurers to investigate President Big Pancake Face’s hidden laboratory.

• Bai Jin explained that Yang Yu had sent her and He Meng to ambush Goblins at the cave, but her illness prevented her from finishing the Goblin King alone.
• He Meng killed the Goblin King, then digested its corpse until only a ruby necklace remained, which Bai Jin collected for Yang Yu.
• Yang Yu attended the adventurers’ celebration without joining in, still worried that his level had reached its limit.
• Hooded Men Numbers Two, Three, Five, and One presented suspicions and evidence linking President Big Pancake Face to foreign dealings and inhumane research.
• Hooded Man Number Nine convinced the meeting to recruit adventurers to search the president’s secret laboratory for decisive evidence.
• After the others left, Hooded Man Number Nine wondered whether he, too, was protecting his own interests.

After reaching his human limits, Yang Yu chose to stop being human and unlocked a Fusion function that could raise his level cap by turning him into a hybrid. He learned that He Meng had grown dramatically stronger after eating a strange Goblin, and Bai Jin gave him the red gemstone loot from their task.

• Yang Yu rejected training, farming, and becoming a mechanic after his four lottery draws produced only junk, then chose to stop being human.
• The system added Fusion, which let Yang Yu collect Species Essence and make sugar cubes to raise his level cap.
• Bai Jin brought He Meng to Yang Yu, and He Meng's Slime Charge knocked him down.
• Yang Yu checked He Meng's status and discovered that it had become a powerful level 23 Royal Slime.
• Bai Jin said He Meng had eaten a strange Goblin and handed Yang Yu the red gemstone loot, triggering a new quest.

Yang Yu learned that the Goblin Emperor’s Legacy quest had been triggered by a necklace, then tried to understand Bai Jin’s mysterious illness. The next morning, he asked Andeno about Species Essence and was warned that it could corrupt those who used it.

• Yang Yu examined the pink-quality Goblin's Hand of God necklace and discovered that it triggered a hidden quest to find and clear the Goblin Emperor’s dungeon.
• Yang Yu asked Bai Jin about her illness, but she refused to explain its cause and said she had to find a cure herself.
• Yang Yu decided to seek another way to help Bai Jin and went to the Adventurers' Guild tavern the next morning.
• Andeno posted quests to hunt the Goblin King's remaining forces and invited Yang Yu to join, but Yang Yu declined.
• Yang Yu asked Andeno about Species Essence, and Andeno explained its benefits and warned that it could corrupt its user into a monster.

Yang Yu learned about the Dragon God Tournament and the Library of All Things as possible paths to Species Essence and useful skills. Tella recruited him for a secret investigation of the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild, promising that the task could also lead to Species Essence.

• Andeno told Yang Yu about the Dragon God Tournament and recommended the Library of All Things as a source of knowledge about other races and skills.
• Yang Yu asked Andeno about Bai Jin's Disease, but Andeno admitted he knew little about it.
• Tella approached Yang Yu, offered him a high-paying task, and privately promised it could help him obtain Species Essence.
• Yang Yu followed Tella to the mage instructor's VIP room and agreed to keep their discussion confidential.
• Tella asked Yang Yu to infiltrate the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild and gather evidence of its alleged collusion or dark research.

Yang Yu accepted a dangerous mission from Tella and learned that the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild sought help against the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild. Afterward, Tella reported to Carlo Joy that he had found an extraordinarily capable young man and urged him to arrange an escape route.

• Yang Yu questioned Tella about the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild and inferred that it was behind the mission.
• Tella confirmed that Yang Yu could choose a Skill Scroll suited to his class, and Yang Yu accepted the mission.
• Yang Yu asked for Species Essence and learned that the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild possessed some, allegedly stolen from the Plantfolk and used to make Life-Restoring Potion.
• Yang Yu finalized the mission's rewards, schedule, and plans with Tella, then left to seek information about Bai Jin.
• Tella contacted Carlo Joy, praised Yang Yu's judgment, and agreed that Carlo should arrange an escape route in case the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild captured the adventurers.

Yang Yu investigated Bai Jin and realized the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild had offered him a hidden reward for completing its mission early. He went to Ge Gen’s jewelry store to reclaim the Glass Bead, but negotiated a new sale instead, leaving with 39,999 gold coins and Ge Gen keeping the bead.

• Yang Yu gathered information about Bai Jin and inferred that the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild had added a hidden reward for completing the mission ahead of schedule.
• Yang Yu visited Ge Gen’s jewelry store to use his agreement to buy back the Glass Bead and secure money for a possible escape.
• Ge Gen told Yang Yu that he had found a buyer willing to pay 200,000 gold coins for the Glass Bead.
• Yang Yu warned Ge Gen that the bead could eventually be replicated, but Ge Gen said he was willing to accept the risk and offered him 50,000 gold coins.
• Yang Yu declined the full offer and agreed to let Ge Gen keep the Glass Bead for 39,999 gold coins.

Yang Yu offered to obtain the Life-Restoring Potion for Bai Jin and asked her to join his party, explaining that he valued her abilities as a companion. The chapter ended with Yang Yu reaching out his hand and waiting for Bai Jin’s answer.

• Yang Yu returned to the inn and told Bai Jin he had learned why she wanted the Life-Restoring Potion, then explained that its auction price was beyond what she could afford.
• Yang Yu’s account of the potion’s scarcity and the sellers’ control of its supply dashed Bai Jin’s hope of saving enough money or waiting for its price to fall.
• Yang Yu said he could get Bai Jin the potion, and she misunderstood his offer as romantic interest and proposed becoming his lover.
• Yang Yu clarified that he wanted Bai Jin’s intelligence, magical talent, and [Healing Prohibition], and said he would not force her to love him.
• Yang Yu asked Bai Jin to join his party and share in his grand adventure, then reached out his hand to her.

Yang Yu brought Bai Jin into the mission and prepared to infiltrate a research institute in Chuanyang City to obtain medicine. The chapter ended with Yang Yu realizing that the old man waiting for them was the president of the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild, whom he had just insulted.

• Yang Yu promised to protect Bai Jin, and she agreed to accompany him on the adventure and help with the mission.
• Yang Yu explained the plan to infiltrate the research institute and steal the medicine, and Bai Jin accepted after hearing the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild might be colluding with another country.
• Yang Yu chose two defensive skills from Tella’s scrolls, though Tella said he could only take one and promised another if he exceeded the mission requirements.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin traveled to Chuanyang City and entered an alley to meet their contact.
• Yang Yu mocked the elderly-looking contact for being sent out by the merchant guild, then discovered that the man was the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild’s president.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin began their plan to infiltrate the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild’s research institute by posing as down-and-out adventurers seeking work. At the underground agency, a robed recruiter selected their résumés but doubted they were reliable.

• Yang Yu apologized to Carlo Joy for his blunt remarks and urged him to protect the Giant Umbrella Merchant Guild’s credibility while pursuing the mission.
• Carlo Joy accepted Yang Yu’s proposal to begin the infiltration without further discussion, and led him and Bai Jin to a concealed employment agency.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin changed into shabby adventurer clothes and waited at the agency with wine and fennel beans as bait.
• A robed man arrived seeking workers, bribed the agency’s old man, and requested candidates who met his strict requirements.
• The agency’s old man handed the robed man résumés for Yang Yu and Bai Jin, and the recruiter questioned whether the pair were reliable.

Slarat offered Yang Yu and Bai Jin a high-paying security job at a pharmaceutical company and challenged them to prove their strength. Yang Yu and Bai Jin accepted the test, setting up a fight against Slarat.

• Slarat reviewed Yang Yu and Bai Jin’s résumés and heard the agency owner describe them as dangerous former adventurers.
• Slarat approached Yang Yu and Bai Jin to offer them work protecting a pharmaceutical company from hostile competitors.
• Bai Jin proposed using their wages to buy herbs and sell potions, prompting Yang Yu to scold her over their past debts and failed business.
• Slarat explained that the job involved dealing with spies and assassins, then offered three hundred thousand per person each month, plus food, lodging, and bonuses.
• Yang Yu eagerly accepted the offer, but Slarat required them to endure his attacks for ten minutes or defeat him before he would hire them.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin posed as desperate adventurers to infiltrate the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild by passing Slarat’s test. Slarat hired them to protect the factory and left the agency with them after inspecting their luggage.

• Slarat led Yang Yu and Bai Jin to an underground arena and challenged them to prove their abilities.
• Yang Yu claimed he would fight alone, then pretended to struggle as he dodged and blocked Slarat’s attacks for ten minutes.
• Slarat judged Yang Yu qualified to protect the factory, and Yang Yu flattered him while asking about Bai Jin learning at the pharmaceutical factory.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin presented their luggage for inspection, and Bai Jin distracted Slarat with her strange potion.
• Slarat paid the agency fee and left with Yang Yu and Bai Jin.

Yang Yu and Bai Jin infiltrated the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild's research institute under Slarat's escort and met their instructor, Asna. After Asna's Charm spell made them compete over her, she ordered them to follow the rules and report to their rooms.

• Bai Jin and Yang Yu arrived with Slarat at the research institute, which Yang Yu recognized as a prison-like facility inside the city walls.
• Slarat led them into the busy first-floor potion workshop and introduced them to their instructor, Asna.
• Asna used Charm on Yang Yu and Bai Jin, then demanded to know who had sent them.
• Yang Yu and Bai Jin each declared their devotion to Asna and began arguing over who could serve or possess her.
• Asna stopped their quarrel and ordered them to follow a soldier to their rooms, obey the rules, and avoid causing trouble.

Asna directed the Silver Orchid Merchant Guild’s research institute to Charm adventurers and turn them into weapons, while Slarat worried about dwindling manpower. Yang Yu and Bai Jin entered the institute as undercover workers, but Yang Yu was the only one who escaped Asna’s Charm.

• Asna told Slarat to recruit more adventurers, protect the Pharmaceutical Research Department, and investigate two employees who had resigned.
• Slarat escorted Yang Yu and Bai Jin to their cramped dormitory and instructed them to follow Lady Asna’s rules.
• Yang Yu realized Asna had Charmed him and used all his available attribute points on Charisma to break free.
• Bai Jin remained Charmed, so Yang Yu provoked her into arguing with him about Asna and prevented her from revealing their undercover identities.