The Fighting Dog of a Ruined Organization

If the Murim Alliance has 5 major factions, the Esper Hunter has 4 major guilds.

Blue Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

Befitting guilds named after the guardian gods of the four directions, each exists in the east, west, south, and north districts respectively.

Besides these, many small and medium-sized guilds have gathered to form an association, which is the Esper Hunter, and Han Se-hee is the head of the Hunter Association.

Among the 4 major guilds, the Vermilion Bird Guild isn’t particularly strong.

But unlike other guilds that face checks from Carpe Diem and the Murim Alliance, the Vermilion Bird Guild has established itself from the roots in the southern district, making it difficult to keep in check.

Why? Because the Vermilion Bird Guild has the longest history in the Esper Hunter. As the first guild of superhumans, it has been established for a long time in the southern district, leaving no room for other organizations to intervene.

That long history is now at risk of being swallowed by Carpe Diem since the current master, Choi Ji-a, took power.

“Listen well, my comrades! We must kill the monsters so that citizens can sleep peacefully.”

Even as Choi Ji-a is gradually losing the southern district to Carpe Diem, she’s still only interested in monster hunting.

Wasn’t that woman 29 years old? I heard she rose to the position of master 9 years ago, and in those 9 years, she turned the Vermilion Bird Guild into a guild obsessed with monster hunting.

Originally, the Vermilion Bird Guild wasn’t an organization particularly interested in monster hunting. I heard it was a guild that wielded a lot of influence within the district.

“Some say! That we are gangsters, that we are trash! But what if we are gangsters? As long as we can live proudly, that’s enough. If there are any gangsters who can’t live proudly, leave this sacred party immediately!”

I don’t know if this is an act or not. If it is, I don’t know why she’s acting.

One thing for sure is that Choi Ji-a is also a possessed person.

Fitting the name of the Vermilion Bird Guild, her hair is orange, and her eyes are orange.

She has a sharp overall impression with unnecessarily large breasts, but seeing that they don’t shake when she moves, it seems she’s padded them.

“Those with great power need to give back just as much! Isn’t that why you all have gathered here? Stand tall and proud! Puff out your chests!”

She’s literally puffing out her chest as she speaks, but seeing that it doesn’t jiggle at all, it’s definitely fake. True to the Vermilion Bird Guild, she’s gone and done a vermilion bird job on her chest.

“We are heroes!”

Well, never mind about the chest.

She has a seriously strange way of thinking for a gangster. That’s why I think it’s an act, but if we assume it’s not an act, we could also see it as a problem occurring during the possession process.

The essence of the soul might have been consumed by the essence of the body, turning her into someone obsessed with monster hunting.

I don’t know which is real. Whether it’s an act or not, whether she’s possessed and consumed, or if she’s someone else entirely.

There’s nothing I can know for sure right now, but from what’s visible on the surface, Choi Ji-a is a hero who’s only interested in monster hunting.

For now, since I can’t guess anything either, I have no choice but to actively follow the hero’s words.

It’s not like I can do anything against someone with a combat power of 80,000 anyway.

“Don’t think goblin hunting is trivial. Even goblins have cores, and our human city is maintained based on those cores. You can achieve two birds with one stone for humanity, so fulfill your glory on the battlefield!”

Core.

The core is what clearly makes this world a work of fiction.

When Carpe Diem was first created, they began researching cores, which are essentially the nuclei of monsters. As a result, the discipline of core studies was created, and through this, the human city produces and uses all resources.

What does this mean?

It means that in this world, everything from electricity to water to oil is all created by refining cores. There are no complex disciplines used in the real world anywhere.

Only core studies.

Everything comes down to core studies alone.

Therefore, killing monsters to obtain cores is absolutely necessary for the survival of humanity, which means that history itself has flowed in a way that gangsters had to rule.

The author is a crazy bastard.

“With that, we’ll ignite our fighting spirit by calling ourselves real men.”

Shit. Even at the end, it’s still the military, you bastard.

“Parents and siblings~ Trust in me~ And sleep soundly~”

It’s morning, for fuck’s sake.

“Lecture over!”

After Choi Ji-a’s lecture, which in many ways triggers military PTSD, ends, the goblin extermination party officially enters Nam-gye.

To be honest, it would be a lie to say I’m not nervous. Everything I’ve faced in this world so far has been just humans.

It’s my first time leaving the human city and crossing the border. No matter how weak the others in the party are compared to me, it’s my first experience like this, so I can’t help but be nervous.

There can always be variables in a fight.

“Haha, Mr. Woo Hyeon-woo. Don’t be too nervous. We’re just up against goblins. We’ll win.”

Baek Ji-hwan, that carefree bastard. This is why seasoned sergeants are no good. They think it will always be peaceful because it’s always been peaceful.

Even though Choi Ji-a said that complacency is another form of death.

Ah, saying it like this makes me feel like I’ve become a private. Choi Ji-a seems like a field grade or general grade commander.

Still, originally privates survive better on the battlefield than sergeants. Screw the sergeants.

“Oh, really? Then I’ll trust Sergeant Baek’s words and try to relax.”

“Sergeant? What’s that?”

“It’s a thing. A really cool title.”

“Sergeant, sergeant… It sounds like an abbreviation for ‘disabled idiot’. You wouldn’t be calling me such a thing, would you, you incompetent one?”

Wow, how did he know that sergeant means disabled idiot? As a bonus, corporal means corpse idiot.

“Haha, how could I say such a thing? Sergeant means the leader of soldiers.”

“Hmm, a title that suits me perfectly as the party leader. Good. Call me Sergeant Baek.”

Sergeant Baek? More like Stupid Disabled Idiot. Nice, I’ll accept that suggestion.

“Now, look at this. It’s a map of Nam-gye’s geography. The goblin horde is estimated to be at the location I’ve marked here.”

Know yourself and know your enemy, and you’ll win every battle.

It’s a maxim that some granddaughter or whatever said, and that Mohanya said to engrave in your heart.

If we just know the location of the goblin horde, it’s possible to grasp the situation in advance using Situation Observation.

I looked at the location on the map and then muttered while imagining it in my head.

“Situation Observation, observation location—Nam-gye.”

As I used Situation Observation while imagining the location where the goblin horde was estimated to be, an additional field of vision was added to my sight.

In that view, there were numerous goblins. The phrase ‘moving in hordes’ might be exactly right.

How many of them are there? Looks like there could be 100.

I should check their combat power.

『Combat Power: 501』

『Combat Power: 576』

『Combat Power: 693』
.
.
.
There are many of them, but they’re all weaker than me using Body Energy.

But there’s something strange. Somehow, these stupid goblins are standing in orderly rows and columns.

If anything, it feels like our party is moving with less order in our formation. If General Choi Ji-a saw this, she’d probably get angry and ask if we’re the Tang army.

But who are they looking at while maintaining these rows and columns?

As I wondered and looked, I saw a goblin wearing a headband. The band had an orange feather attached, giving the impression of a leader.

『Combat Power: 1,075』

Is that bastard the goblin shaman? Somehow, if I kill some goblins to raise my combat power and then fight, I might be able to win.

“Here, eat.”

“Keuruk!”

“You eat too.”

“Keuruk keuruk!”

The goblin shaman was distributing black dumplings to the goblins standing in rows and columns.

What are those? They look like something that might appear in a martial arts novel, it’s unsettling.

“Hey, Mr. Gu Ja-gon.”

“Huh?”

“Do you know what black dumplings are?”

“Black dumplings?”

“Yeah, about this size.”

“Why are you suddenly asking about that? It’s the Black Spirit Pill.”

“Black Spirit Pill?”

“Yeah, it’s an elixir made by manufacturing certain black medicinal herbs in specific ratios. If you eat one, you’d have no regrets.”

“Oh, really? What happens when you eat it?”

“If you can absorb it properly, you become 7 times stronger. Even if you can’t absorb it, you become 2 times stronger.”

“Two times?”

Shit, we’re fucked.

『Combat Power: 1,002』

『Combat Power: 1,152』

『Combat Power: 1,386』
.
.
.

The combat power of all the goblins doubled, and the goblin shaman’s combat power—

『Combat Power: 2,150』

—We’re screwed.

“Fellow countrymen! We who have been oppressed until now have finally received the blessing of the gods!”

“Keuruk! Keuruk!”

“We have seen countless of our brethren die at the hands of humans! But this time is different! This time, we can overthrow the humans and rule over them!”

“Keuruk! Keuruk!”

This time is different, my ass. No matter how strong you become, you’ll all die if just one Choi Ji-a shows up.

Of course, if we fight you now, we’ll probably die.

“We will reclaim the will of the world that they have occupied! We will become the protagonists of this era!”

“Keuruk! Keuruk!”

What’s this about the will of the world?

It’s true that the reason why monsters target the human city hasn’t been revealed yet. I guess this ‘will of the world’ has something to do with it.

Right now, our survival is more important, so I should tell that bastard Baek Ji-hwan to call the officers.

“Sergeant Baek, I have something to tell you.”

“What is it? Are you scared? If you’re scared because you’re incompetent, you can always stay by my side.”

This bastard, really. Should I just let him die?

“Actually, me being incompetent is a lie.”

“What? Then what ability do you have?”

“I have long-range observation ability and combat power measuring ability.”

“Combat power measuring? Do you mean you’ll personally act as a combat power measuring device?”

It seems he has no intention of believing the combat power measurement. Maybe it would have been better to deny it even now.

“The combat power measurement was actually a joke. But the long-range observation ability is real.”

“Oh, really? So what did you see?”

“I saw 100 goblins all eating Black Spirit Pills given to them by a goblin shaman.”

“Puhahah!”

Gu Ja-gon, who had been listening silently beside us, burst into laughter.

“Hey, old man, don’t talk nonsense. There’s no way there are enough Black Spirit Pills to give to 100 goblins. It’s such a rare elixir that I might get to eat it once in my lifetime, if at all.”

“Then what did I see?”

“You must have gone crazy and seen things! Or maybe you were hungry and just saw them eating dumplings. Anyway, even if goblins eat it, they can’t absorb it, so what’s the point of eating Black Spirit Pills?”

“Didn’t you say it increases by 2 times even if they can’t absorb it?”

“Two times, how cute.”

Baek Ji-hwan said with a smile.

“Goblins are just goblins. Can a cockroach defeat a human even if it becomes 2 times stronger? Similarly, even if goblins become 2 times stronger, there’s no way we’ll lose. You worry too much. Is it because you’re incompetent?”

That damn incompetent, incompetent.

These fucking bastards are so carefree because they can’t see those combat power numbers themselves.

Those guys could kill you with just one punch right now.

I’m going crazy with frustration, but there’s a change in my view of the goblin horde. Under the command of the goblin shaman, the goblin horde is dispersing in an orderly manner and starting to run towards us.

Are they planning to surround us? This is not good. We only have about 30 people, there’s no way to fight against a mob.

Of course, surrounding 30 people with 100 goblins might create an awkward picture, but since we’re much weaker, there’s a higher chance we’ll be defeated.

“Hey, it looks like the goblins are planning to surround us?”

“The goblins have used their brains quite well. But we are 30 people, not enough to be surrounded by 100.”

I know that too, you blockhead.

“Now, everyone take out your weapons. Let’s show the goblins our strength!”

Saying that, Baek Ji-hwan drew his sword. Gu Ja-gon also took a stance while flashily wielding his staff.

Come to think of it, doesn’t combat power increase according to proficiency when wielding a weapon?

I hadn’t thought of that. Surely Baek Ji-hwan and Gu Ja-gon are stronger now than before.

I check their combat power.

Baek Ji-hwan – 『Combat Power: 1,000』

Gu Ja-gon – 『Combat Power: 960』

The weakest goblin right now is 1,002?

“I’ll ask one last time, Sergeant Baek.”

“What is it?”

“Are you really not going to call for reinforcements?”

“Why would we need reinforcements? Now I’m starting to get annoyed too.”

Alright, now I’m annoyed too and can’t stand it anymore.

I don’t care if you all die or not.

I just need to survive.