[9 more kills needed to be recognized as a Goblin Warrior.]

The message that appeared right after I killed an unnamed Midgardian.
I wasn’t unaware of what this meant.

‘A clue to ascend to the 5th floor.’

I proceeded and killed another Midgardian who was approaching.

The moment he was hit by my Power Strike, he collapsed.
He was a monster created by the trial, and it seemed like he couldn’t withstand my Power Strike.

‘His health must be just under 100, right?’

That couldn’t be true.
If the Soul System had affected his health, he would have at least had 100.

“You damn goblin.”

For instance, there were Midgardians who remained unharmed even after taking my Power Strike.

He seemed disgusted by my resistance and scowled before launching a spear.
He kicked the ground with his short legs and rolled to avoid the thrust.

Since Cheolpo Samgong was on cooldown, I couldn’t allow myself to attack.

‘Done.’

I used Cheolpo Samgong and immediately threw myself at him, landing a punch.

My small, goblin-like hands struck the Midgardian’s abdomen.

If this were in reality, the Midgardian would not have died from a goblin’s weak punch.

‘Good news.’

If the Soul System was at play, this was advantageous for me.

[You have defeated an unnamed Midgardian.]
[9 more kills needed to be recognized as a Goblin Warrior.]

The message updated.

‘For now, I need to kill 7 more.’

The message was guiding me.
It was a feeling of comfort I hadn’t experienced in a while, so I decided to follow it without any doubts.

[7 more kills needed to be recognized as a Goblin Warrior…]
[Goblin Warrior recognition... ]

The battle in the village was close to a melee.
Goblins were dying all around.
Amid the chaos, I just had to hide and kill the Midgardians.

“Y-You! Keurek!”

A goblin called out to me.

“What are you doing sneaking around? Keurek.”
“…Aren’t we killing those things?”
“Right. But why are you stealing someone else’s hunt? Keurek.”

Stealing?

‘Is that how it’s seen?’

I wasn’t the only one who needed to be recognized as a Goblin Warrior.
It was a task for all players as well.

“Shouldn’t be touching them? Keurek.”
“It’s not that, but there are rules here.”
“…I didn’t know. I just got here.”

I had been on the 4th floor for less than 30 minutes.
I jumped in because a fight was happening right in front of me.

There was no special reason for interfering with someone else's hunt.

‘There were a lot more goblins being pushed back anyway.’

It was rare for goblins to win.
Most of the goblins resisting were being ganged up on.

“Keurek. You just got here?”
When I said I was a newcomer, the goblin’s expression softened.
He was still ugly, though.

“I guess if you didn’t know, that’s fine. Keurek. Okay.”
“Is there anything I should be careful about? Tell me about the rules.”
“…I’m busy right now. Later. Just know that it’s advantageous to kill as many Midgardians as possible.”

The goblin said that and left.
He swung a hand axe to kill a nearby Midgardian.

“Keurek!”

He was easily blocked by a Midgardian, but the goblin didn’t stop.

‘Didn’t seem like I was being suspected.’

The goblin killed the Midgardian with a single strike.
However, the Midgardian didn’t seem to notice and just passed by.

Since the battle was so intense, the Midgardians couldn’t properly gauge their health.

That worked out fine for me.

‘Sometimes, I’ll use Blinding Poison Needle.’

The damage of Blinding Poison Needle is something no regular monster can withstand.
It’s essentially a one-shot kill.

[You have defeated an unnamed Midgardian.]

I had killed 10 enemies by now.

The message updated again.

[4th floor, Defeat the Humans.]
A legendary hero recognizes you as a warrior.
Warrior promotion bonus, stats +3

I had promoted to Goblin Warrior.
My body grew bigger, and the fatigue vanished.

I could feel the meaning of the promotion in my body.
But what caught my attention wasn’t the promotion.

It was the bonus.

‘What’s this?!’

I quickly opened my status window.

My stats had grown.
With the promotion to warrior, my stamina and agility had both gone up by 2.

And on top of that, I got a bonus stat.
A full 3 points.

‘It’s my choice where to invest, right?’

The stats that immediately drew my attention were Health and Luck.
I particularly focused on Luck.

‘For the sake of testing my hypothesis, investing 1 point in Luck seems right.’

I acted quickly.
I immediately distributed the 3 points.

2 points into Luck and 1 point into Health.

1 point in Health is 10 extra health.
It may not mean much to others, but it does to me.

‘What if I survive a near-death experience by a difference of 10 Health? I could survive thanks to Survival Instinct and Grade 4 Regeneration.’

Health 10 wasn’t just a number.

My body heated up.
When I kill a Midgardian, I get bonus points, so how could I just sit still?

I rushed toward a nearby Midgardian.

‘Steal? Who cares.’

I had no time to think about that.
I was focusing on killing the Midgardian in front of me.

[You have defeated an unnamed Midgardian.]

But this time, the same message didn’t pop up.

‘Is there another condition?’

I had already been recognized as a warrior.
There was no way the same objective would be assigned again.

“Th-Thank you. Keurek.”

A goblin struggled to rise.
He was the goblin who had almost been killed by a Midgardian.

Looking him over, his condition was dire.
He was bleeding profusely, but that wasn’t the worst part.

‘His arm is completely mangled.’

It was a mess.
That’s probably the most accurate way to describe it.

The Midgardian I killed earlier had done that to him.

“Are you alright?”

Though it was a goblin I hadn’t seen before, I couldn’t ignore his state.
The goblin sighed in relief.

“…I’m fine. As long as I hold out through the wave, I’ll recover.”

“Recover?”
I raised an eyebrow, and the goblin seemed surprised.

“Wait. Did you just get here during the wave from the third floor?”
“Yeah.”
“And you’ve become a warrior?”

The goblin looked me over.
Once recognized as a warrior, my appearance had changed, so it was obvious.

“Yeah.”

I didn’t deny it.

‘We don’t know each other’s faces. There’s no need to hide anything.’

We all looked like goblins, so it was fine to show off my abilities.

“…Good. It’s really lucky that a strong one like you came up.”

The other goblin earlier was the same.
The reaction toward the newcomer wasn’t bad.

It felt like a welcome.

‘Maybe we have to team up.’

The wave.
Midgardians pushing into the settlement.
And the Tower’s message.

I had a rough idea of what kind of trial it was.

“Do we have to stop the Midgardians?”
“Either stop them or hold out. We need to do one of those.”

Stopping meant annihilating the Midgardian group.
Holding out meant just surviving.

‘Are the goblins that are running away focusing on holding out?’

It was practically impossible for a goblin to hunt Midgardians alone.
The stat difference was too great, making it difficult.

The goblins only had one choice.
To hunt together.

“Players each have their own skills, but the Midgardians don’t have any skills.”

The players had the advantage with skills.

“Get him! Damn, shoot him!”

The flying goblin.
Looking closer, he wasn’t just hovering in the air.

“Craaack! You damn goblin bastards...!”

He was drawing their attention.

“Done. Killed him!”
“Finally!”

The goblins on the ground were targeting the backs of the Midgardians, who were desperately trying to kill the flying goblin.

‘The Midgardians appear to be monsters, but their intelligence is much lower than humans, right?’

It seemed like the monster AI was just dumb.

‘Or maybe the flying goblin had some skill to draw aggro.’

Either way, the players teamed up and defeated the Midgardian group.
Some of them even promoted to warriors.

‘Amazing.’

They continued hunting.
With the strength of the goblin warriors, other goblins also started killing Midgardians one by one.

‘This is good.’

There were more goblins than Midgardians.
With the numerical advantage, it wasn’t hard to win.

They were actually holding off the wave quite well.

“Goblin. Kill them!”

The number of Midgardians was rapidly decreasing.

Perhaps because they were monsters without intelligence?
Despite the sharp decrease in their numbers, they still charged at the goblins without fear.

“Keurek! Help!”

At some point, the sounds of battle ceased.
The remaining Midgardians, four or five of them, were now eerily silent except for the sounds of their growling.

“Keek!”

A goblin had fallen.
It was impossible to face Midgardians alone.

“Shouldn’t we kill them all?”
“...Yes.”
“But why...?”

No one was stepping up to finish it.
Why were we leaving a few Midgardians alive?

“You probably don’t know yet, since it’s your first time... but we can’t completely defeat the wave. We need to survive until it ends.”
“Why?”
“If we completely defeat the wave, the next one will be harder.”