Demon King

The Second Evolution (3)

My vision was a little strange. Suddenly the floor was far away, and the ceiling was close. The cave was tiny, and it seemed narrow.

I then found out my body had gotten bigger.

I raised my hand and looked at it. It wasn’t a Goblin’s arm anymore. It was robust and muscular compared to the delicate and slim one I had when I was human.

My legs were also longer. They almost look human, except for the dark, greenish-brown wrinkled skin. The difference was a lot.

I clenched my fist and felt my power. I smiled and called out the status.

[Kang Si-ha (Fate)]

[Hob Goblin Lv 25]

[Strength – 91 Stamina – 90 Magic – 31 Luck-???]

[Skill-Ebon Heart, Predation Lv2, Escape Lv1, Lower Swordsmanship Lv1, Beginner Knife Throw Lv3, Beginner Lightning Magic Lv4, Beginner Sensing Lv6, Beginner Attack Lv3, Beginner Leadership Lv1, Beginner State Resistance Lv3]

It wasn’t the same as when I became a Goblin Fighter. My transformation into a Hob Goblin was beyond my imagination. Strength and Stamina increased by exactly 25, and my then shabby Magic, which was only 6, grew to 31 at once.

It wasn’t much, but the fountain of my heart was flickering five times more than before. Now it felt possible to shoot ten lightning strikes!

Strength, Stamina, and Magic all increased by 25. Could it have been added to my level because I had evolved into a Hob Goblin? Anyway, what was important was the fact that I became stronger.

Everything had changed. Everything! I couldn’t believe that I evolved from a puny Goblin to this!

I was ecstatic that I had finally gotten out of the bottom of the food chain and that there are monsters that will be scared of me!

However, I realized that for as long as I was still in the vast and deep dungeon, I was still a weak monster. Monsters that were stronger than me inevitably existed, as much as the depth and vastness of this dungeon existed too.

But even so, I was happy. My Ebon Heart was telling me that my evolution would not end as a Goblin. My heart is beating so hard!

I need to go ahead. Go down. Further down.

Until there is no longer a place to go to someday. Until there is nothing more to explore. Until I reach the peak of this evolution.

Like in the past, as soon as I finished the evolution process, a glass window popped up to alert me of my new Quest.

[Quest Generated!]

[You have noticed your specialty. Whether you accept the destiny given to you as a curse or a blessing depends on your efforts. You have to go further.]

[Predation of Hunted Goblin Fighter 0 / 1,000]

[Predation of Hunted Goblin Warrior 0/200]

[Predation of Hunted Goblin Knight 0/5]

[Predation of Hunted Goblin King 0/1]

“What!?”

I rubbed my eyes and rechecked the Quest. It was not wrong.

1,000 Goblin Fighters, 200 Goblin Warriors, 5 Goblin Knights, and 1 Goblin King. I had never encountered a Goblin Knight before, and this was the first time I had come across the name Goblin King.

Before, I only had to hunt and prey on monsters on the same level as myself. It was irrespective of whether I evolved into a Hob Goblin or a Goblin Warrior, there was no distinction between them.

But the Goblin King!?

I thought it was too difficult then suddenly; I had this idea.

Wouldn’t it be possible to evolve by just hunting a lot of Goblin Warriors and leveling up? Because I only needed to be strong enough to survive. It was such a dangerous venture, and I thought to myself that I must be crazy!

[The Escape Skill has been lost.]

At that moment, I stopped thinking. I tried to imagine what the text that just came up in front of my eyes meant. I opened the status. The Escape skill wasn’t there.

I knew my Ebon Heart was the reason why it was gone. My heart, which I considered to be my perfect ally, had just swallowed up my chances of surviving a crisis.

Why? My thumping heart couldn’t find answers, but I realized intuitively that this guy was ‘instructing’ me.

“I shouldn’t escape?”

As if I was convinced, my heart started racing.

“Rather than giving you strength and opportunity to escape, I am forcing you to go forward.”

Ha! A bitter smile appeared.

My bitterness soared. It happened so suddenly, but it quickly ate my mind.

From the moment I opened my eyes with a goblin’s body to this moment, the fact that I wasn’t the one in control of my situation angered me.

“I’m not a suicide candidate! What are you talking about? It’s me who decides what to do!”

[Beginner Throwing Skills have been lost.]

With the rising rage, I had no time to make severe judgments. I pulled out a sharp iron sword, held it, and yelled at the top of my lungs. At this moment, there was no thought in my head that I had to survive.

“Don’t threaten me. Don’t try to make me do what you want! I don’t want to be strong; I just don’t want to die!”

Does the Ebon Heart understand what I mean? The heart pounded exceptionally hard. I was in pain.

[Beginner Lightning Skills have been lost.]

At that moment, my reason reached its limit.

I couldn’t do anything on my own. It’s the same from my birth to the day I died, and even after opening my eyes with the goblin’s body.

I tried to focus on convincing myself that my life was precious and that I would survive, and that I should ignore everything else.

But I couldn’t. I wanted to have it my way! My actions, my life! I was able to convince everyone else, but I could not tolerate this damn heart trying to control me and my thoughts.

I am me. I struggled to save my life while I was scared in front of a mighty enemy. It was all me. What will happen after I deny it? Was it really me?

No. No! I don’t want to be told what to do! I want to be me!

I knew I was changing, and I wasn’t hesitant to change. But I wanted it to be on my own will. No one else can force it!

If that’s not how things were going to be, then I was as good as dead, and I’ll crush this fucking heart with my hands and die!

I realized it was only at this moment, that my ego, which was too faint, began to shine.

I’m good as dead anyway, so I was more confident than ever before—an utterly delightful conviction.

But just before I could pierce my skin and drive a sword into my heart, my arm stopped.

At that moment, my heart shook. Then a glass window appeared.

[Ebon Heart]

[You will be able to detect a crisis. Positive corrections are made to all combat activities. The body evolves infinitely as it grows. ???]

Information related to the Ebon Heart was rising in the glass window that raised one question mark to add on the already existing question marks.

“What is this?”

I muttered unconsciously. It was a little cold.

The heart, which had stopped for a moment, resumed its activity gradually. At the same time, a reminder popped up in front of me.

[You have acquired the Beginner’s Black Lightning Skill.]

[Beginner Black Lightning Lv1]

[Magic art for dealing with cursed lightning. Right now, you can only extend the bolt through the palm of your hand.]

Beginner Lightning Magic did not come back. But it seemed like it was for my own good. At first glance, it seemed more substantial than Lightning Magic.

I put the sword back.

I had won. I succeeded in engraving my determination on my heart that was trying to control my life freely without listening to me, its owner.

[Are you sure you want to abandon the Quest?]

I laughed out loud. The Quest is not related to the Ebon Heart.

That was a stupid idea. I shook my head slowly.

“No way!”

I was just scared for a moment and thought that I could evolve without finishing the Quest and just level up on my own. I didn’t want to take such vital risks. But I was wrong.

As I thought soberly about things, I realized that I couldn’t change what I needed to do in the Quest. Evolution was possible only after completing the Quest unconditionally.

The conditions for evolution were presented in the Quest, and the task was to catch a Goblin Knight and the King someday.

However, I still had some uneasiness.

Why do people always rush me to do things? Will this ever stop? Why do I need to kill a Goblin Knight? Will I be able to kill the Goblin King? Don’t you ever feel scared? Have you ever thought of just running away? So many thoughts flooded my mind.

First, my Escape Skill disappeared. Then, my heart tries to dominate me, even though it was my own heart.

It hurt my self-esteem, and so I tried to push away all the grievances, anger, and anxiety I had.

I had survived and struggled so arduously, but there I was, impulsively trying to kill myself. It was extremely contradictory.

Only

I think my actions were right; what I lacked so far was just resolution. When things became too much to handle or didn’t go my way, I poked myself in the heart.

I continuously exposed myself to the risk of death, unable to take even a little rest. Kill, eat, kill, eat. My mental state was not normal; it must have been affected a lot. Come to think of it; I think this series of events will eventually make me go crazy.

I do not want to die. What’s more ironic was that I was yelling, and if I continue shouting so loudly in the dungeon, I will attract unwanted attention and possibly die.

I needed to stabilize myself and control my mind. The stupid things that happened should never happen again.

But before that…

I raised my head.

Goblin Fighters with rusty swords were pouring in from all sides of the corridor.

I had to pay the consequences for my actions.