Goblin Workshop In Me

116. Meeting

Prick!

It was as if a thousand birds were singing to him. When the wonderful high-pitched sound hit his ears, a chill ran down his spine.

The world sometimes flashed, but Ko Byeong-gap didn’t like his vision to go white. So once he got goosebumps throughout his body, he would quickly close his eyes.

Lightning fell from the sky, or rather, lightning bolted from the ground up. Suddenly, after a few seconds, the foul smell of burning spread, and it was terrible.

‘Who could it be?’

Ko Byeong-gap guessed who he saw out there that ran up the small hill. There weren’t many people with superpowers in Korea. Moreover, it was particularly rare for people to be able to exert that much power in terms of lightning.

Finally, at the top of the hill, Ko Byeong-gap quickly scanned the situation below. A strange smile spread across his lips.

“I was wondering if it was true.”

A man wearing a hood was waving his hands in the air. He gestured as if he were conducting a ghost band. Blue plasma splashed from his fingertips.

Those movements were familiar to him since he had seen it so many times during the expedition.

There were two more people besides the man. Unfortunately, he could only see their vague silhouette, but he couldn’t recognize their appearance.

“If I go now, I’m only going to get myself cooked.”

At least, he wanted to wait until the rain of lightning stopped. The disturbance soon stopped. It was more of a one-sided massacre than a battle.

After the chaos, Ko Byeong-gap hurriedly ran off. He showed his presence on purpose, so the people on the other side would notice him.

“Someone’s coming.”

“Yeah, I don’t think it’s a soldier. Do you think it’s a hunter?”

“I don’t know.”

“… Huh? Wait, isn’t that Ko Byeong-gap?”

“Who?”

Jeong Seon-kyung frowned and soon wrinkled her face.

“What? It really is Ko Byeong-gap. Hey! Why are you here?”

She shouted, almost like a scream. In no time, Ko Byeong-gap, who came closer, answered with a quiver.

“Oh. I thought you looked familiar, but it is you, unnie.”

“Why are you here?”

She freaked out like she saw a ghost. No, she would’ve been calmer if she had actually seen a ghost.

Ko Byeong-gap briefly looked around the three of them. Jeong Seon-kyung, Shim Seung-seop, and Han Chang-hoon were all members of Group C. He was quite curious about how they got together again. If Jeong Seon-kyung hadn’t shaken him, he would’ve asked immediately.

“You didn’t apply? Why didn’t you just stay at home? Where did you come from?”

“But unnie, are you here because you volunteered?”

“No way. The guild chairman had no choice but to come to us because he was so desperate. Why would I ever come back to this damn place?”

“Well, that’s true.”

Ko Byeong-gap smiled and looked at the other two.

“Mr. Chang-hoon, Mr. Seung-seop. I haven’t seen you for a while. I didn’t expect to see you again like this.”

“Ah! I knew you were somebody, but now I remember. We owe you a lot, right? I’m glad to see you again.”

Han Chang-hoon extended his hand with a big smile. On the other hand, Shim Seung-seop, who had a blunt personality, only raised his head a little.

“Why are you alone? What about your party?”

Jeong Seon-kyung seemed to have a lot to say.

“No, I’m here alone.”

“What?”

“Come on, let’s not do this. Let’s move. It’s late, so why don’t we start looking for a campsite first?”

Han Chang-hoon intervened in the middle. Shim Seung-seop also seemed to want to leave quickly, so he agreed to move.

They wandered around looking for a place to camp. Meanwhile, Ko Byeong-gap explained his situation.

He said that he didn’t get assigned to a unit after writing an application but crossed the military belt on his own.

After hearing that, Jeong Seon-kyung and Han Chang-hoon exchanged glances saying, ‘This guy is crazy…’

“I thought you were a weirdo, but I didn’t expect you to be like this. Did you come here because you don’t have anywhere else to go? Do you have three or four lives buried in your backyard?”

“Well, it’s not like that.”

Ko Byeong-gap couldn’t bear to say, ‘I’m here to farm Goblins,’ so he decided to gloss over it.

“I want to know what’s going on. It’s not unusual these days, but I didn’t want to be assigned to the army, so I acted on my own.”

“Oh my God.”

“Byeong-gap, did you say you came over eight days ago? Do you know what’s going on out there?”

Han Chang-hoon asked. Ko Byeong-gap shook his head with a firm expression on his face.

“It’s not good. Monster Waves are happening down there too. It’s not as bad as it is here, but it’s killing people every day.”

“Wow, I’m going crazy. What should we do?”

“What do you mean, what can we do? Illumination is terrifying.”

“Is that right? Hagiya, there are so many hunters in Illumination.”

“Illumination is our enemy.”

“What?”

“What?”

Ko Byeong-gap spoke reflexively and scolded his careless mouth inside.

Jeong Seon-kyung and Han Han Chang-hoon looked his way with faces that seemed to ask for an explanation. The only person who didn’t seem interested was Shim Seung-seop.

“Illumination is the enemy? What are you talking about?”

“That’s…”

“Let’s camp over there.”

Shim Seung-seop said, pointing forward. They were buildings that had been used as government offices in North Korea in the past.

About half of it was crushed, but it wasn’t bad for resting for a while. The three nodded in agreement and then went inside.

There were no signs of monsters nor humans, only the thick smell of mold. The party unpacked and sat around. Han Chang-hoon took out preserved food from his backpack and laid them out.

“Mr. Byeong-gap, you should have a drink too. It’s not going to be insufficient because I brought enough.”

“Thank you for the meal then.”

“Just finish what you were talking about.”

“Before that, what have you been doing? You don’t have porters, and your composition is too simple, so I don’t think you’re an attack squad. Also, I’m curious how the three of you got back together.”

“Oh, it’s a little long to explain…”

Jeong Seon-kyung gave a rough explanation of their duties. In summary, it was as follows.

Not long ago, a large-scale military force was deployed near Sinpo, South Hamgyong Province. Sinpo was a strategic point in contact with the pier, so as many as 17 S-class hunters and 62 A-class hunters were mobilized.

The subjugation seemed to go smoothly, but yesterday, contact with the subjugation team was suddenly cut off. The headquarters hurriedly tried to locate the whereabouts of the subjugation squad through satellite observation.

However, an unidentified force field was spread around Sinpo, and the observation satellite priced at hundreds of billions of dollars was no different from scrap metal of the same weight.

The headquarters was simply in turmoil.

17 S-class, 62 A-class. There were 170 other hunters gathered under them. If they died, there would be a huge power gap. So a reconnaissance team was set up to determine whether they were alive or not.

Jeong Seon-kyung’s party was the reconnaissance team.

“It’s just a coincidence that the three of us got together like this. We happened to all be volunteers, and we knew each other, so we formed a team.”

“I see. So you were heading to Sinpo?”

“Oh, we’ll probably be there by noon tomorrow.”

“But what if all the hunters that were deployed are dead?”

Instead of answering, Jeong Seon-kyung had a bitter taste. Han Chang-hoon, who was reading the room, answered instead.

“If that happens, they would bomb the site. It wouldn’t be an ordinary monster if it could harm a subjugation squad of that size.”

“I see.”

“Hope they’re safe.”

Jeong Seon-kyung’s worried voice made the atmosphere solemn. She looked back at Ko Byeong-gap with a stiff face.

“Now that we’re done talking, why don’t you tell us? What do you mean that Illumination is the enemy?”

“Hmm.”

“Actually, I’ve had a bad feeling before since their actions are so weird. You know something, don’t you?”

Ko Byeong-gap looked around the people in the hall one by one. As far as he knew, none of them belonged to Illumination.

That time, he looked at their necks and hands. The hexagonal pendant, which symbolized the Six-rays Bridge, wasn’t seen. Despite this, he thought it was too early to judge them, but in his experience, those were reliable people.

Ko Byeong-gap organized his thoughts and spoke slowly.

“I’m sure everyone knows about the Six-rays Bridge.”

“I know. They’re a pseudo-religion.”

“Right… Is there anyone here who is a follower of Six-rays Bridge?”

He asked just in case. No one responded.

“I don’t think so.”

“What is it? Don’t hesitate to tell us.”

“This is purely my hypothesis. So, believe it or not, it’s up to you. It’s just that I’m pretty sure…”

His audience looked as if they were asking him to speak quickly.

Ko Byeong-gap warmed up and got to the point.

“Maybe… Mankind will be destroyed soon.”

***

Ko Byeong-gap told them almost everything he knew.

Of course, he excluded the parts related to Ashvilam. If he told that part, they wouldn’t understand. The contents related to Seo Si-hee also went through some adaptations.

He made a few tweaks, but the story he told them was without probable error. The three listened with concentration. They made an impression or tilted their heads occasionally, but they didn’t act repulsed.

Ko Byeong-gap’s conspiracy theory ended with the message that the believers of Six-rays Bridge would exterminate mankind.

Even Shim Seung-seop, who rarely showed emotions, opened his mouth wide. The other two were no different.

“Well, is that… Is it true?”

“I told you, it’s just a hypothesis. But don’t you think it’s not at all ridiculous when you look at the situation?”

“Oh my God…”

“Well, where is Seo Si-hee now? Has she already set out to catch Go Geon-ryong?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t been in touch with her since that day.”

“Oh my God. To have something like this happen…”

“Look at this.”

Ko Byeong-gap raised his left hand. He showed the hexagonal ring on his ring finger.

“This is what I said earlier. I took it from a hunter from Illumination. I tested it, and it was true. The monsters didn’t attack me.”

“Illumination, those bastards! Are they going to join the monsters and kill humans? Who do they think will be beaten?”

Jeong Seon-kyung jumped to her feet. Ko Byeong-gap quickly dissuaded her.

“What are you going to do?”

“You don’t know? I’m going to let people know right now! Or at least face all those in Illumination!”

“Calm down. I told you. Even if people believe it, there will be problems. How do you stop the monsters from coming down when the troops are gone?”

“But I can’t stay still!”

“Even SS-class Seo Si-hee is hiding because she can’t do anything about it. It’s not something you can solve by yourself.”

“That’s right.”

Shim Seung-seop said abruptly. As his gaze turned, he gave a look of annoyance.

“Well, apart from what Byeong-gap said, we have work to do right now. First of all, we have to finish it. We need to see if people are dead or alive.”

“… Tsk!”

Jeong Seon-kyung chewed her lips and swallowed her anger. Soon, she took a cigarette out of her arms and left.

Shim Seung-seop sighed quietly and asked Ko Byeong-gap.

“I guess you don’t have any other plans either.”

“Yes, I’m not proud of it, but it isn’t something I can handle alone.”

“Well, I think we’d better keep quiet for now. As you said, I think it’ll only add to the confusion.”

“I agree with you. Even so, the whole situation in the frontlines is a mess…”

There was silence in the hall. Each person had a lot to think about. Soon after, Jeong Seon-kyung returned, and Ko Byeong-gap broke the silence.

“There’s one thing I’d like to recommend to you. Just survive for now, and please think about it. We need to figure out how to get around this situation.”

They spent the night in the shabby building. As soon as dawn rose, they set out on the road.