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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Simzy
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The phrase ‘peak of defeat’ exists.
It’s a bizarre internet neologism that reveals the depths of how sick modern society is.
On the Kardashev scale, which delves into the abyss of the universe, it’s roughly a level 3.
Anyway, ‘peak of defeat’ refers to people with strange tastes who derive immense pleasure, reaching a climax, from defeat and ruin.
I, possessing an exceptionally healthy mindset, was experiencing the opposite—the peak of victory.
“WooOOOooo! KROOOOooo! I won! I wooooon!”
Victory, absolute victory!
I roared, praising victory with the feeling of a newly released prisoner.
The thrill of victory reached my brain, making my whole body tremble. This isn’t just any victory.
It’s the first time I’ve won a real war!
We won against more than twenty gobulin warriors!
The combative genes latent in human instinct screamed. Keep winning, win and conquer!
Today’s victory will bring me a fortune!
“I won! I won! KRAAAaaaAAA! We beat the gobulins!”
After roaring for a while, I finally came to my senses and looked around.
Gujuman was lying down, catching his breath, while Song and Jaemison were sitting nearby, quenching their thirst.
It seemed I was the only one making a spectacle of myself.
So I shouted,
“Everyone! Did you see! My technique worked perfectly, splitting the gobulin warrior in half! I think I’ve gained some sort of enlightenment from it!”
My technique worked perfectly. In martial arts stories, there’s always talk of ‘enlightenment,’ and I definitely felt that enlightenment this time.
Next time, I’ll be able to perfectly execute the technique I just performed. Why? Because I’ve done it once. It was a clean hit. That enlightenment remains in my hand!
“WooOOOoooOOOooo!”
“Kick… He’s even crazier than I imagined. Fucking awesome.”
“P-Please be quiet… My ears are going to split…”
“Khahaha! What can I do about the devastating joy of victory!”
Now, let’s get things sorted.
I rubbed my forearm, which had been hit by a stone axe earlier. It didn’t hurt that much… When I rolled up my sleeve, I saw a large bruise.
“Ugh.”
To have suffered an injury… Well, with my health, I can handle a bruise like this without issue. I’ll just apply some medicine, eat well, and sleep well.
“Song! What should we do now?”
“Cut off the gobulins’ noses.”
“Ah, submitting those will complete the request. But what about Ogisu…?”
Ogisu, who ran away earlier, was nowhere to be seen.
“Ogisu! That damn bastard! Forget him! Let’s split the reward amongst ourselves!”
This is the Gujuman I know and love.
Honestly, considering how he kept nagging earlier and how he fell during the fight, I couldn’t think highly of him, but still, we fought and won as comrades until the end.
Therefore, such minor issues should be overlooked.
Ah, but if Gujuman hadn’t yelled earlier, we would have reduced their numbers by half with a surprise attack… Well, I’ll take this as a learning experience.
“Gujuman! You’re speaking very wisely! Of course, Ogisu, who ran away during the battle, gets nothing! Jaemison and Song, do you agree?”
“Kek… Agreed.”
“I agree.”
Perfect.
Whether Ogisu dies while running away or not is irrelevant. The important thing is that we get more silver.
“Then let’s cut off the gobulins’ noses.”
As I took out my dagger, everyone looked around and pulled out their hand axes, daggers, and other weapons.
And so.
I squatted in front of the dead gobulin.
“…”
He was dead, utterly mangled. Even a failed okonomiyaki wouldn’t be this messed up.
Anyway, this guy was killed by my sword. He was sliced cleanly from his shoulder to his ribs.
“Is this my martial art?”
He should feel honored to have died at the hands of a peerless master like me. Erecting a memorial for him in my heart, I cut off his nose with my dagger.
An unpleasant sensation… Oh, but.
“Ah, everyone. I have a question. Can we eat this gobulin meat?”
“What…?”
“What?”
“I’m just trying to save on food costs. And it would be good for our muscles, too. Song, what do you think?”
“…It’s not poisonous.”
“Ooh!”
Then let’s try butchering it!
Squish.
I immediately attempted to skin it. I had some experience skinning, having done it multiple times with Soseonggwi carcasses.
Of course, it was my first time with a gobulin, so there was no way I’d be good at it.
“Fuck.”
Blood spurted, the skin tore, it was a mess. But I needed to gain this experience for later convenience. Like a thrill-killer mutilating their prey, I forcibly peeled off the gobulin’s skin.
Squish.
“Ugh.”
What the hell.
What am I doing.
“Crazy bastard… Stop if you’re going to vomit.”
“Jaemison, this is all experience. If I can cleanly skin a gobulin later, I can sell the hide and get the meat too.”
“It really… looks disgusting.”
“Hehehe, don’t say that, you should try it too.”
Anyway, I managed to peel off some of the skin from the gobulin’s upper and lower body, but it was incredibly difficult. I felt like I could somehow remove the gobulin meat, but… damn it.
It’s so repulsive!
The stench!
“Ugh, I can’t eat this!”
I immediately stood up.
“I… told you so.”
Jaemison chided me, but this was just because I lacked experience. Thinking that, I looked at Song and…
“Huh?”
Wasn’t Song entering the gobulins’ cave?
“Song! Is it okay to go in there?”
“Collecting spoils.”
“Ah!”
Now that I think about it!
Gobulins are relatively intelligent and social enough to form tribes. It’s only natural that there would be valuables inside their main base.
“Alright! I’ll search with you! Song! Jaemison! Gujuman, you come too!”
“Kek… Alright.”
“Kuh, that’s the spirit.”
And so, we all entered the dark cave together.
Keeek.
Kiek.
But as we entered, we heard strange sounds.
“Song?”
“Gobulin young.”
“Young, huh.”
Well, of course.
Being a cave, there would be young ones.
“Here it is.”
Following the sound, we could faintly see young gobulins huddled together. It was quite dark inside the cave.
“If you’re going to eat, eat these. They’ll be better, at least.”
“Oh.”
Young gobulin meat, huh?
Not bad, but cooking here would be a hassle.
“It’s tempting, but collecting the spoils seems more important right now.”
“Right…”
Crunch!
Song…
Mercilessly crushed a young gobulin’s head, killing it. For a moment, an ominous glint seemed to flash in his eyes.
Crunch!
Crunch!
This ruthlessness, this refined killing intent, and the skill he displayed earlier in cutting down the gobulins…
Song was undoubtedly an unparalleled expert in gobulin hunting. Watching his brutal butchering skills made my heart pound and my hands and feet tremble.
Could the grudge he mentioned have something to do with gobulins?
Crunch!
Crunch!
Song was smiling as he crushed the young gobulins.
Faintly, but intensely.
“Geun-hyeop… There’s another path over there.”
“Okay. Jaemison, let’s go together.”
“Oh, what?”
Feeling a bit creeped out, I decided to stick with the relatively sane Jaemison. Gujuman could do whatever he wanted.
We thoroughly searched the gobulin cave in this manner, cautiously watching out for ambushes.
Our diligent search yielded some results.
We farmed a number of items like scraps of iron, and tools made of wood and stone. There were also plenty of stone spears and axes outside.
“Let’s gather everything and go back.”
“Hehehe, excellent. Song, can we sell these stone spears and axes?”
“We can sell them cheaply at the general store.”
According to the market price, we could sell them for about 5 mun each. So that’s a side income of roughly 150 mun? Split four ways, we could each get about 30 to 40 mun.
Adding that to the 2 silver pieces split four ways…!
We could make a profit of about 530 mun!
We earned this enormous sum in just one day!
“Nvidia, what the hell! You utter noob!”
From today onward, the gobulins and I are one, and an attack on the gobulins’ is an attack on me.
530 mun, what the hell can I do with that?
I can buy anything I want!
“Like a burned heart, like eyes cut by tears!”
Joy made me spontaneously burst into a work song.
After excitedly finishing our looting, we came out of the cave and organized our haul.
Tighten!
We tied the goods together with rope and collected the severed noses. It was a shame to leave the scattered gobulin hides and meat, but the hides were damaged and the meat reeked, so we passed.
Still, I planned to practice my skinning skills whenever I got the chance. Once my proficiency increased, the extra income would be quite substantial. Oh, and since I have a bag now, should I buy some cooking utensils?
Then I could boil a stew right on the spot when I had meat like this. Even if the meat smells a bit gamey, I’m someone who forced myself to eat Giant rat stew.
There’s no reason I can’t eat gobulin.
“Ah, we’re all done! Let’s go!”
Gujuman shouted.
“Hehehe! Good work, everyone! You all have quite the skills!”
“Kek… You too.”
I felt like I would get along well with Jaemison.
“…”
Song nodded silently.
Anyway, the party’s over.
Let’s pack up and go back.
“Phew.”
Fighting weaklings like Soseongwi was just child’s play. This is what real combat was like. A life-or-death brawl.
Today’s experience will be valuable for me. I’ll be able to do better next time.
In any case, my first real commission ended smoothly and pleasantly.
“H-Hey! Everyone!”
That is, until Ogisu, who had run away earlier, reappeared.
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