Chapter Summaries

Andeno stopped a boulder that threatened to crush the rescue party, but the group soon learned that hundreds of Goblins were surrounding them. Yang Yu persuaded the divided adventurers to stand their ground and form a defense while they waited for Andeno to recover and reinforcements to arrive.

• Andeno caught the rolling boulder and held it while the adventurers worked together to stop it, then collapsed and was carried to safety for treatment.
• The adventurers argued over whether to retreat or continue the rescue, and Yang Yu warned that their route back was likely trapped.
• Andeno explained that Mentor Tella was monitoring their movements and that the guild would likely recall high-level adventurers.
• Scouts spotted at least five hundred Goblins surrounding the group in the canopy.
• Yang Yu urged the adventurers to fight together rather than flee, and they formed a defensive line around the wounded.

Yang Yu helped the adventurers defeat a goblin ambush, but his teammates repeatedly stole the finishing blows and left him short of leveling up. After the battle, Andeno thanked him and asked what else was troubling him.

• Yang Yu and the adventurers fought off the goblins while He Meng watched from a tree hollow.
• Several adventurers repeatedly finished off goblins Yang Yu had weakened, frustrating his attempts to earn experience.
• Andeno and his recovered disciples joined the battle, routed the goblins, and killed the last one.
• Yang Yu remained level 19 and complained inwardly that the NPCs had stolen his kills.
• Andeno thanked Yang Yu for uniting the group and asked why he seemed worried.

Yang Yu and Andeno discovered that magical beads in the trees had been monitoring their party, and Yang Yu received a legendary quest to eliminate the hidden mastermind. After Yang Yu proposed scouting while the party waited for reinforcements, Andeno chose him to lead the scouting mission.

• Yang Yu pretended to recognize that the canopy might hide the enemy’s surveillance, and Andeno sent mages up to investigate.
• The system gave Yang Yu the legendary quest Source Extermination, which tasked him with subjugating or conquering the target and promised major rewards.
• The mages found more than twenty tiny beads containing strange traces of magic, and Andeno crushed them after having mages memorize their magical signature.
• Andeno concluded that the beads had monitored the party and asked Yang Yu what they should do next.
• Yang Yu suggested sending scouts while the others conserved their strength and waited for reinforcements, then described the qualities the scouts would need.
• Andeno pointed to Yang Yu as the best candidate for the scouting mission.

Yang Yu followed signs of a fleeing group through the forest and found the Silverwind Squad surrounded by Goblins. He attacked the Goblins with Bai Jin’s lightning magic and drew their charge toward himself, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Yang Yu used Bai Jin’s Scan to locate the forest’s watchers, avoided their dense cluster near a cave, and continued deeper into the woods.
• Yang Yu found fresh tracks and battle marks, then followed them toward a fleeing group pursued by Goblins.
• Yang Yu discovered Seka Mens and the Silverwind Squad surrounded by more than thirty Goblins, with their MP and stamina nearly exhausted.
• Yang Yu told Bai Jin to cast her lightning spell, which struck both the Goblins and the Silverwind Squad and gave the group a chance to recover.
• Yang Yu taunted the Goblins and drew them into charging at him, while Seka Mens warned him to run.

Yang Yu held off a group of Goblins until Seka Mens and his companions recovered enough to help defeat them. After settling his grudge with Seka Mens, Yang Yu learned that they had escaped from the Goblins’ main camp and that prisoners taken from certain cages never returned.

• Yang Yu and Bai Jin slowed the Goblins’ advance, and Yang Yu held them back while Seka Mens’s party watched.
• Yang Yu’s low damage output left him unable to finish the Goblins, so Seka Mens and his companions joined the fight and defeated them.
• Yang Yu told Bai Jin to rest when her aim faltered, then privately resolved to find a way to remove her Frailty attribute.
• Yang Yu teased Seka Mens for misjudging him before asking whether the party had escaped from the Goblins’ main camp.
• Qi explained that she had stolen a key to help them escape, while Seka Mens described the strange cage and the smell of blood, suggesting the Goblins had taken prisoners away for a grim purpose.

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.