Solo Leveling: Banishment of the Anomaly

The cave loomed in the distance like a hungry maw, cloaked by overgrown moss and the flicker of roasting fire. Joo-Hee crouched low, her hand against the dirt as [Nature Resonance] pulsed through her fingertips, syncing with the land.

The whispers of the forest guided her—branches tilted, vines tensed, and the wind changed direction. She'd found a nest.

"Found it! A cave in the southeast of this road."

From the shadowed brush, she observed and discovered that inside had at least seven goblins, lounging and laughing around a pitfire.

Greasy smoke curled upward as blackened meat sizzled on spits. Her nose crinkled as the stench reached her like an annoying fly.

Then she saw it—the meat wasn't boar. It wasn't even a beast.

It was goblin flesh.

"Filthy bastards... In both my lives, this is the first time I've witnessed cannibalism. How utterly disgusting...!"

The fire crackled. The goblins roared in laughter.

Over the course of slaying hundreds, her grasp of the [Goblin Tongue] had sharpened. All it took now was a little focus. Though she couldn't speak it, their words came through—clear as day.

"Killed da brat with da big ears—cried so hard before I bit 'is neck!"

"Hahaha! The girl ones squealed when we played! But they broke too fast!"

Joo-Hee's eyes stayed sharp, unflinching. She didn't flinch. She didn't even blink.

And yet, something boiled.

A deep, rising, thrumming anger vibrating through her bones. Even her breath was heating up.

She wanted to kill them.

Slowly.

But just as she was about to snap her fingers and summon a torturous end, something else caught her ear.

"Kekeke… that golden merchant's weapons really cut good."

"Yeah… that gold-skinned bastard goblin is gonna give us better soon, kekeke!"

Joo-Hee's eyes narrowed, shining as if she saw countless shimmering stars.

"...Golden Goblin?"

"Wait… you mean that legend that brat Da-Sol said was real?!"

A grin curved her lips as she covered her mouth as she muttered, "This is getting interesting... Well, that should be enough. You've served your purpose already."

She stood tall, fully visible and no longer hidden.

"Hmmm... To repay them, I guess a painless death will do."

Two goblin rangers' eyes widened, sensing someone's presence closing by.

"SOOOMEO—NEE IS HERREE—!"

"HUUMAAAN!"

"KEKEKEK! KILL HER!!"

Arrows flew from crude bows. But Joo-Hee didn't move.

She simply interlocked her fingers and stretched her arms with a pleasant pop of her knuckles.

The arrows slammed into a sudden burst of brambles that erupted before her, forming a shield of countless intertwining hexagonal green shards.

It was her skill, [Nature's Embrace], twisting the air with a surge of vibrant emerald energy.

She looked at the goblins with cold amusement, already well-acquainted with the predictable, repetitive attack patterns typical of their kind

The goblin berserker with the axe and the one wielding a crude black sickle lunged forward, frothing at the mouth, eyes bloodshot with that twisted rage unique to their kind.

But they never reached her.

The barrier remained firm, an emerald wall of interwoven energy born from her mastery of her skill.

With a simple flick of her fingers, [Verdant Growth] responded like an obedient servant. The wooden bows held by the goblin archers suddenly wriggled like alive and grew wicked thorns, impaling their wielders' hands.

Screeches of agony pierced the air.

The thorns didn't stop as their cellular structure reformed. As they burrowed deeper, the goblins' blood mingled with mana, triggering a cascading effect.

Joo-Hee clenched her fist and the thorns bloated the goblins' limbs grotesquely before bursting outward, turning them into spike-riddled monstrosities—barely recognizable as once-living beings.

And still, the others didn't flee, even attacking, and that was their final mistake.

Except for one—a scrawny goblin, clutching what looked like a cracked dusky small orb, vines long-dead wrapped around its edges. It bolted in a panic, limbs flailing.

Joo-Hee slammed her palm to the earth.

"Hey, Greeny," she said, tone amused but deadly, "Where do you think you're going?"

The ground responded violently.

Purple roots erupted, splitting the soil like spears of destruction. They converged and twisted, forming a massive tree-like structure. The trunk made of roots encircled the area, sealing the goblins inside like prison bars made of life itself.

And the goblins, so often ruled by rage, trembled.

They felt it now. The human before them was no ordinary prey. She radiated the presence of a predator, one they instinctively knew they could not afford to underestimate

But then, the goblin shaman, unlike the rest, stood tall while trembling. Fear twisted his features, but desperation drove him. He raised the broken orb high, and his tongue unleashed an ancient chant, raspy and ritualistic.

"Trees of deception… hail the kin of everlasting roots…"

"Shower thy mercy… and grace me, a being of worship of deity Gral—"

Runes flared mid-air, spiraling around the glowing green orb.

Joo-Hee's eyes narrowed, pupils flickering blue. "A real magic user?!" she thought. "I change my mind... I'll capture you."

Just then, she sensed movement.

Another goblin, a thief, skittered behind her, dagger raised.

Without even turning, she swiped her hand sideways.

The ground beneath the thief buckled, then cracked violently, woods bursting upward, numbing his limbs mid-leap. He was dragged down and cocooned in thorny vines, muffling his scream.

The other four goblins panicked, only to be ensnared one by one, pinned against the floor, mouths gagged with petals and stems, their struggling forms twitching as nature itself punished them for daring to resist.

Only the shaman remained, trembling frantically. It stopped chanting as each rune disappear to thin air. It knew it cannot win against her.

And with that, Joo-Hee... was smiling.

She walked forward, boots crunching over gnarled roots, her sword humming faintly in her hand, yet unused.

"What kind of deity answers the plea of a monster? I wonder..." she asked, more curious than mocking.

"Sigh... It really is a pity I can't converse with you yet, Goblin."

This was the last incomprehensible thing that the goblin shaman heard before he was struck unconscious.

A vine, swift and silent, whipped her across the temple, cocooning her body in a thick mass of tangled roots. Her final expression was a mix of fear and plea of death—then, nothing.

The rest of her companions?

Long dead.

Pierced, strangled, crushed. Reduced to little more than rotting flesh and gore-stained soil.

Joo-Hee exhaled deeply, stretching her arms as the tension left her limbs. The living roots around her softened, falling back into dormancy.

Nature, once weaponized, now returned to stillness.

She looked and amid the fallen and blood-soaked mess, two items stood out.

A crude black sickle, its edge chipped and its surface etched with ancient sigils and a dusky orb, barely held together by thread-like cracks, faintly pulsing with corrupted violet energy.

Joo-Hee crouched, her hand hovering above them. "Thoth," she commanded, "Run a scan on these two as always."

A second later, a green notification blinked across her vision:

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[Scan in progress... 78%... Complete.]

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Item Name: Black Sickle of Goblin Headsman (Slightly Damaged)

Rank: C

Description: Once wielded by an executioner of the fallen Goblin Kingdom of [Gorbal], this weapon retains the residual hatred and ritual aura of thousands of executions.

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Item Name: Corrupted Purple Tree Orb (Damaged)

Rank: B-

Description: A condensed essence of the century-old [Yambol Tree], corrupted by undiscovered black magic. Purification is highly recommended before usage.

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Joo-Hee grinned, eyes lighting up with delight. "Interesting... So even a minor monster world like this has history… a fallen goblin kingdom, cursed relics, and tree cores?"

Her curiosity ignited.

"How unfortunate," she muttered under her breath as she glanced around the eerie chamber. "If I had more time, I'd love to explore this place further... creepy as it is."

"And that golden goblin..."

"I better get to that monster merchant first before completing this quest. There's no telling what rare things I could miss if I don't."

The two items resting in her hands weren't just drops—they were evidence. Proof that the Golden Goblin held greater value.

Both items pulsed with usefulness and would fetch a high price once restored, especially the Orb. It wasn't just magical but was alive, just sick.

She set them aside for now.

Reaching into her side pouch, her fingers brushed against something smooth and firm.

She drew out the previous three golden tickets. They shimmered faintly in the light, each one glowing softly with the unmistakable aura of otherworldly energy.

Her eyes narrowed on the first one, [Basic Stat Acquisition Golden Ticket].

Without hesitation, she held it between her fingers and tore it cleanly down the middle.

In an instant, the interior of the hollowed tree was swallowed in blinding white. The world around her vanished, replaced by a vast, serene emptiness.

Crack—!

Thousands of glowing green lines surged into existence, tracing across the white void like a lattice of living veins. They pulsed softly, forming a separate space untouched by time.

A familiar chime echoed in her mind, and the system interface appeared before her in radiant gold:

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[Golden Ticket – Series 1 has been used.]

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[Initiating Host Configuration Protocol...]

[Establishing connection to Core Attributes...]

[Syncing with Soul Signature...]

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[The rights of the host has been refactored. Stat Aquisition Mode has been initialized.]

[You may now acquire and register one innate stat.]

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[Please choose one from the following:]

...

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