However, the man who had been at the forefront from the beginning showed no signs of intimidation despite Lee Kang's imposing presence.
"Goblins are nothing, and that strange monster can just be avoided! Are you really going to let that bastard go, huh?"
He was openly signaling others to attack Lee Kang together, but humans are truly honest when faced with the fear of death.
Everyone seemed to step forward but then retreated, constantly rolling their eyes while watching each other's reactions.
"You idiots!"
Eventually, the man who couldn't hold back anymore boldly charged toward Lee Kang. He seemed to have no intention of backing down from the start.
I'm not sure what grade human he is, though.
From Lee Kang's perspective, with that level of confidence, he must be at least a Grade 5 or Grade 6 Human.
Kruruuk! Kruuk!
Four armed goblins rushed toward the man.
Since they were fully equipped goblins, each one held well-sharpened White Bone Swords in both hands.
"These goblin bastards, where do you think..."
He had looked down on Lee Kang from the beginning. Not to mention the even more insignificant goblins.
The man tried to swing his sword 'casually,' as if shooing away annoying flies.
Until now, thanks to his superior physical abilities, goblins would have lost their lives with a single strike.
Even meticulously armed goblins are still goblins by nature.
So the man swung his sword forcefully at the goblins as he always did.
But right at that moment.
Whik! Hwooot! Shiiik!
All the goblins effortlessly dodged the man's attack.
The goblins' evasion was top-notch, synchronized with Lee Kang's "Memory Injection" ability, which had transferred all his past life experiences to them.
They might be mere goblins to some, but Lee Kang could sense the skill of seasoned veterans in them.
Due to the goblins' unexpected clean evasion, the man's sword cut through empty air without hitting a single one.
This caused his center of gravity to shift forward.
In normal circumstances, it would have been a simple mishap.
But Lee Kang's goblins immediately caught the man's opening.
And all the goblins simultaneously lunged toward the man with full force, thrusting their swords.
Kieeeet! Kiet!
Puhk! Puuuhk! Puhk!
"Kuheok! Euheok! Kuheuok!"
Something astonishing happened, shocking everyone watching except Lee Kang.
Mere goblins—'goblin bastards'—had taken the life of a Grade 6 Human.
He hadn't died helplessly from the attack of a powerful monster like a troll or a Muscle Ghoul.
He died because his first attack failed pathetically against the insignificant goblins, who then exploited his weakness.
Kieeeeeet!
Shwaeek!
Denggeng!
The goblins even displayed the thoroughness to behead the man to ensure his death.
"..."
"...They finished him in one go."
All members of the Kim Baek-cheon Company froze as if turned to ice. Fear crept up, making their knees weak.
They had never encountered a Death ability user before.
But aside from lack of experience, they had never even dreamed goblins could fight so intelligently.
Everyone had witnessed it clearly.
The goblins' combat just now wasn't the reckless fighting of insignificant Grade 9 monsters.
It was a high-level evasion and clean counterattack, like watching skilled swordsmen in battle.
Only four out of 85 goblins had stepped forward, yet the situation was resolved too easily.
If the remaining 81 goblins possessed the same skill level as those four... further combat would be meaningless.
No one said it out loud, but they all felt it inside. That they couldn't possibly stand against Lee Kang.
Kwajik!
Lee Kang used Oyacha to pulverize the dead man's corpse as an example.
The massive figure crushed down, turning what had been a human into something resembling minced meat.
Lee Kang gestured over it.
The remains of what used to be a man... now a pulp... were de-boned, transformed into necromancy tools, and then disappeared.
"Shit, we're fucked."
"Should we call the boss? What should we do?"
"What the hell would we call him for, you idiot! If we tell him we couldn't handle one person, do you think the boss will let us off?"
All the Kim Baek-cheon Company members retreated far away in fear. They didn't want to die like dogs.
"Hmm."
Lee Kang gestured again, intending to intimidate them further. A gesture encouraging the goblin army to advance.
Then.
Click-clack! Chuk! Chuk!
The goblins began moving in an orderly fashion, rapidly closing the distance with the organization members.
"Aaaah!"
"Run! Run, I said! Move it!"
A scene befitting the idiomatic expression "running away is the best strategy" unfolded in all directions.
Though it wasn't his intention.
In the process, gaps appeared in several areas, and Lee Kang expected the women there to escape.
He thought there would be people like Kim Ju-min who longed to break free from captivity.
"..."
But not a single one ran away. As if they had learned helplessness, they just stared blankly.
Although it was their choice, their future didn't look particularly bright.
For now, they would be kept alive as important sources of income for the Kim Baek-cheon Company, but someday they would be discarded.
Just like the Cheondan cult had done.
If a situation arose where the cost of food and maintenance exceeded the income their value generated...
Such vile organizations would mercilessly cut mouths to feed. It's simple. They would just sell them off.
Human trafficking will become as active a trade as food and grocery trading in the future. Especially for women, who would be in higher demand.
Lee Kang looked at Kim Ju-min sitting on Oyacha's shoulder and asked.
"Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine. I'm fine..."
Though quite a grotesque scene had unfolded, she didn't seem shocked by it.
She just seemed eager to escape this hellish place as quickly as possible.
That made sense.
This place wouldn't hold any good memories for her, so she would want to escape the nightmare soon.
Lee Kang returned all his minions to the subspace except for the one Oyacha that Kim Ju-min was riding.
Then he began moving along the road. The destination, as before, was Yeonnam-dong.
After his display of skill, the Kim Baek-cheon Company gang would no longer block his path.
Since there would be no further confrontation, Lee Kang could also focus on traveling comfortably.
≪You have acquired 1 'Additional Purchase Voucher' as a reward for completing the Fifth Selection Process mission.≫
≪Additional Purchase Voucher≫
≪You can purchase items that are sold out or discontinued.
If you use 2 vouchers, you can also acquire titles whose limited distribution has been completed.
However, you must meet the required conditions for acquiring the title.≫
The reward for passing the Fifth Selection Process had also arrived.
Although he already knew the content when it was first mentioned, it was still a mouthwatering reward upon seeing it again.
'I'll keep it for now.'
There were no items in the shop that he absolutely needed to buy right now, no matter what.
He planned to save the Additional Purchase Voucher for now, to potentially target titles he couldn't get due to insufficient conditions or missed timing.
Selection rewards were always satisfying, but this one had particularly strong merit.
The glowing red ticket.
The Additional Purchase Voucher, also called the 'Blood Ticket,' would further accelerate killings among survivors.
After all, giving another chance at items or values that couldn't be obtained before was the same as buying time.
It was a devil's temptation that was impossible to resist. And it was a reward just as difficult to obtain.
How long had they walked toward Yeonnam-dong?
Thanks to having come quite a distance from Mapo-gu Office Station, they were now free from surrounding gazes.
Most survivors were gathered near Mapo-gu Office Station, so this area was almost uninhabited.
Occasionally they did encounter survivors, but those people would be startled just by seeing Lee Kang's Oyacha and hurriedly flee.
The symbolism of Oyacha was beyond imagination. Its grotesque appearance also played a significant role.
"You can get down now. The road is getting increasingly uphill, and it's not easy for this fellow to climb with its sluggish body."
"Ah, yes. Thank you. What's his name?"
"Oyacha."
"Ah, Oyacha. Thank you, Oyacha. Thanks to you, I could come all this way comfortably."
Oyacha twisted its body in response to Kim Ju-min's affectionate patting of its head and shoulders.
With its belly fat that didn't fold properly all twisted up, it was quite an eye sore from Lee Kang's perspective.
But Kim Ju-min's gratitude toward Oyacha was sincere, so Lee Kang could only smile slightly.
After confirming Kim Ju-min had dismounted, Lee Kang put the remaining Oyacha into the subspace as well.
Being out in the open consumed a massive amount of energy in real-time, so rest was essential for it.
Kim Ju-min stuck close to Lee Kang's side.
Rather than a sign of familiarity, it was likely due to instinctive fear of an unsafe place.
Lee Kang was probably the only person who had protected and rescued her since the Day of the End.
So it was understandable that she walked right beside him, sticking close like to an older brother.
She kept bowing her head and expressing her gratitude to Lee Kang. It sounded like words she had been holding back.
"Thank you for saving me. Really, thank you. I thought I was going to die there, defiled... But thanks to you, I'm alive."
"Thankfully I'm not an uncle yet."
It was intended as a joke, but it probably didn't sound particularly funny.
Despite Lee Kang's lame joke, Kim Ju-min smiled brightly and said without minding:
"I'll repay you somehow. Whether as a porter or whatever. I just really want to know if my parents are alive."
Lee Kang was 100% certain that Kim Ju-min's parents were alive.
Family missions are only activated when the survival of all related people is certain. There are no exceptions.
But Kim Ju-min, experiencing this for the first time, wouldn't know that, so the future still seemed uncertain to her.
Thud.
Tadadak.
When Lee Kang took a step, Kim Ju-min immediately followed with one.
With no immediate threats or concerns, Lee Kang naturally changed the subject.
"Why did you end up alone at Mapo-gu Office Station, away from your parents?"
He had a rough idea since there were several academies nearby. But he was curious if there might be another reason.
"My home is in Yeonhui-dong. But there was a good art teacher at Mapo-gu Office Station... I went to the academy as usual, and then..."
"So you were at the academy when the world changed."
"Yes. And it turned out that the floor below the art academy was occupied by scary men from the Kim Baek-cheon Company."
"What was it originally?"
"Seeing only the 'Happy Day' sign, I thought it might be at most a multi-level marketing or employment agency. But it turned out to be an illegal loan brokerage company."
"Money from the shadows laundered in the light, and in the dirtiest way possible."
"...I think so."
Being still a student, Kim Ju-min wouldn't know about money laundering. Of course, that's not the important issue.
"You must have been through a lot."
Lee Kang offered as much comfort as he could. Saying anything more might only hurt her.
"Afterward, I was immediately captured by the Kim Baek-cheon Company gang along with my teacher, and after going through all sorts of situations, here I am now."
He didn't probe further.
The memories during that time couldn't have been good ones, and they weren't memories worth recalling.
He also didn't ask about the art academy or the teacher.
Given that she hadn't mentioned anything from when she left Mapo-gu Office Station until now, the conclusion was already evident.
'Death.'
Despite her forced smile, Kim Ju-min's face was already darkened by the deaths of many people.
She was barely holding on to her emotions, stained with all kinds of trauma and fear, solely with the desire to meet her parents.
Lee Kang didn't want to make her precarious emotional tightrope walking more dangerous by using curiosity as an excuse.
'If her home is in Yeonhui-dong, we'll need to continue past Yeonnam-dong. I'll have to go there and come back.'
Lee Kang slightly adjusted his plan.
Having fully committed to the family mission, it was right to see it through. That would also ensure a more definite reward.
Kurururung. Gururung.
Kwaang! Wakwaang!
The sky over Yeonnam-dong, which quickly grew closer.
Dark clouds had been pouring lightning continuously since earlier, remaining stationary.
A living hell where it seemed no one could survive, approaching to within less than 500 meters.
But right at that moment.
"Hmm."
Looking south just in case, Lee Kang's vision caught sight of untimely dust being raised.
And that dust was rapidly approaching, not away from them, but toward them.
It was.
"The field boss is still alive."
This was clear evidence that the Kim Baek-cheon Company's field boss monster hunt had failed.