"Welcome," came a weak voice from across the room.

It was a woman, likely one of the town’s servers. Her ash-brown hair was tied back, and she wore a worn, medieval-looking leather vest over a plain white shirt that hung down to her waist. She looked pitifully frail, her expression one of resigned melancholy.

Maybe it was her thin frame or the hollow look on her face, but she seemed so vulnerable. I wanted to say something but ended up just nodding in silence. This wasn’t exactly the time or place for cheerful small talk.

Until the server approached, Keyal shifted on his feet, glancing around the dim adventurer’s guild. Every corner of the room held bandaged, slumped, or even dismembered adventurers. Some women eyed him with blank, haunted expressions, their clothes soaked with blood. 

‘What a cheery place…’ he thought. Though he kept that comment to himself, of course.

He tried to make it look like he was sympathizing with their pain, even though, in truth, he didn’t care in the slightest. Strangers' suffering meant nothing to him, and he only worried about staying on good terms with the people here.

The guild’s staff and anyone connected to the guild master—first impressions mattered with them. If he built some rapport early, it might be helpful later on. So, Keyal played the part of a sensitive, compassionate young man, casting glances that suggested he was deeply moved by the struggles around him.

“Oh… Sir…?”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just… the atmosphere here is… well…”

His performance seemed to be working. She softened a little, her lips turning up in a small, comforting smile.

‘Nice. This actually works.’

***

"So… you’re looking to join the adventurers’ guild?"

"Yes."

The server handed him a dusty, worn piece of parchment. Cobwebs clung to it, and a faint stain suggested it had seen better days. Taking a feathered quill, Keyal began writing his name, focusing intently as he tried to replicate his game nickname.

𝓚𝓮𝔂𝓪𝓵. Yeah, that’s how I wrote it.

Remembering how it looked on-screen, he did his best to mimic the same style, though his handwriting was… well, let's just say it looked like a child’s scrawl.

"Hmm… have you never written your name before?" she asked, examining his lopsided attempt.

He blushed as the guild staff and nearby adventurers noticed. Some laughed, others just smirked, and even a few with bandaged limbs couldn’t help but snicker at his awkwardness.

‘Ugh… this is humiliating…’

Hunching his shoulders, he ducked his head in embarrassment. He hadn’t been laughed at like this in his life, even back in Korea. It was as if he were some lost fool in a strange land, mocked by strangers.

‘…Just wait. I’ll pay you back for this later.’

He promised himself he’d succeed and then rub it in their faces.

***

The first quest was simple.

"Please clear out the goblins in the nearby goblin lair."

Apparently, a group of goblins in the forest had been pillaging the village, even kidnapping children and women. When the villagers asked adventurers to handle it, they’d all refused.

‘Of course they did.’

Most adventurers are prideful. Handling goblins—not even goblin warriors or lords, just basic ones—was beneath them. He, however, was low on money, so he’d accepted the quest. Under normal circumstances, he would’ve declined outright.

‘Now, if it were Celestials, that’d be different.’

Waving his hand in the air, Keyal called up his status screen with a muttered word.

[Status Window]

The familiar text filled his view, and Keyal quickly dismissed it with a smirk.

‘It’s a minor quest anyway; I don’t expect any boost to my stats.’

======

**Quest**

- Defeat 20 goblins in the goblin lair.
- Defeat 2 hobgoblins.

Rewards will be provided upon completion.

Failure will result in death.

A sudden death warning. 

‘Seriously… that’s extreme.’

He paused before pressing the “Accept” button.

‘I mean, come on, getting killed for failing to kill a few goblins? This is nuts…’

**Accept quest? [Y/N]**

He sighed, placing his hand over the “YES” button.

‘It’s a stingy reward, but I guess it’s better than dying.’

With a bit of grim amusement, he started down the path toward the goblin lair.

***

Before long, Keyal reached the goblin cave, holding a torch as he descended.

With each step, the echo of his footsteps sounded hollow, and he couldn’t help but feel a little on edge. It was just goblins, but his heart pounded regardless.

As he ventured deeper, the light from outside grew smaller and dimmer until he was enveloped in darkness, with only the torchlight guiding him. The smell was foul, like something had been rotting, and it turned his stomach. 

Keyal remembered that goblins were low-level, tutorial mobs in *TBG Heroes*. They had little intelligence and acted on base instincts, pillaging and kidnapping for food and pleasure.

Yet, when he finally saw them, his expectations were shattered.

The goblins were gathered around a fire like primitive humans. They sharpened weapons made of bones and cared for wolves that served as their hunting companions.

‘Is this… real?’

He blinked. They weren’t supposed to be like this. They were behaving almost… like humans. But as he looked closer, he saw why these creatures were called monsters, why they were despised as evil.

He spotted goblins tearing apart children and feasting on their limbs, others forcing themselves onto captives, ignoring their desperate pleas.

‘Wow. Monsters are monsters after all.’

A thick black mist began to form in his palm. The demonic energy, dark like his own hair, started to spread as if to coat the entire area, inching toward the goblins and their prey.

‘Well then, let’s get started.’

The goblins sensed the approaching demonic aura, turning to see him at the entrance of the cave. But it was already too late; the entire area was shrouded in the mist.

One by one, the goblins fell, their lifeforce absorbed by the dark energy, and Keyal’s eyes glinted with a crimson hue as he grinned.

‘Time to crush them.’ 

By the time the goblins realized the threat, it was far too late.