Absolute Dweller

Chapter 11: Goblin Hunt (1)

[Episode 03] Goblin Hunt (1)

After finishing their meal, Ha Dong-geon’s party descended to the first floor of the apartment.

“Dong-geon, do we really need to check the first floor? I saw earlier that even the glass windows were shattered, and the condition is beyond words.”

“Still, we need to check. Didn’t you hear what Mr. Jaehyun said? We came here as a rescue team.”

Their first mission was to find all the survivors scattered throughout Building 114 and send them up to the 30th floor.

Kim Geon, adjusting his glasses, asked, “…But is it really necessary to find the survivors? We could just start the operation without worrying about it.”

At that moment, Moon Byeong-ho sent him a cold gaze and spoke.

“Are you doubting him right now?”

“No, it’s not like that. I just meant…”

Ha Dong-geon stepped forward and conveyed Kim Jae-hyun’s intention.

“Though you probably already know, the key to this operation is to lure in a massive number of goblins into this apartment. It would be fortunate if the operation goes smoothly and we can handle them all, but if we make a mistake, the survivors on each floor could be in danger. So, we want to take preventive measures before that happens.”

Although Kim Jae-hyun had never explained it in such a way, Ha Dong-geon’s words sounded convincing.

“That’s the deep meaning behind it! It’s an operation to ensure the safety of the survivors! Okay, okay!”

Kang Deok-su nodded vigorously in agreement.

“I knew you were an extraordinary person from our first encounter. Seems like you’re quite impressive.”

Two women echoed his words, making a fuss.

“Yeah, yeah.”

“He seems quite handsome, doesn’t he?”

“Wow. Hye-rin, are you interested?”

“Um, a bit?”

“Look at this. Seems like it’s genuine, right?”

“Unni, I’ve been single for three years. It’s about time to start dating, right?”

“Ahaha, that’s hilarious.”

Kim Geon glanced at his companions with a slightly uncomfortable expression.

‘…Everyone’s acting weird.’

He couldn’t understand how they could trust that man so much in such a short time since they met.

‘…Sure, he seems likable, and I acknowledge his abilities, but…’

Kim Geon was generally distrustful of people. Preferring logical judgment over emotions and valuing logical reasoning, he found his friends’ behavior strangely off.

‘Especially that guy, Moon Byeong-ho.’

Perhaps because that man offered to help rescue his grandmother, it seemed like everyone had become his devoted followers.

At that moment, Ha Dong-geon spoke up.

“Enough chit-chat. Let’s get started. We never know when goblins might pop up, so everyone stay alert.”

“Okay.”

“Sure~.”

They began searching for survivors.

“Let’s start from Unit 101.”

Fortunately, entering the units on the first floor wasn’t challenging. Both Unit 101 and Unit 102 had their front doors wide open.

“Ugh…”

The condition of the units on the first floor was much worse than expected.

The state of Unit 101, once a stronghold for goblins, was nothing short of a wild cave. Although the goblins had only stayed for a few days, the traces left behind by dozens of goblins were more intense than imagined.

“Ugh. The smell.”

The place was filled with a severe stench from the goblins’ scattered excrement and decaying remains of half-eaten bodies.

“Let’s start searching.”

Without specific instructions from Ha Dong-geon, everyone naturally scattered to explore the interior.

“No one here.”

“This room is clear.”

“Same here.”

Just as the search was about to conclude with no significant findings.

“Ugh. Bleghhh!”

The sound of Yu Hye-rin, who was checking an inner room, vomiting up her recent dinner, echoed through the area.

Rushing urgently to Yu Hye-rin’s side, Ha Dong-geon frowned deeply as he discovered something.

“Hye-rin, are you okay?”

“Ah, unni. There, over there, human bodies piled up…”

Inside the restroom, goblin-eaten human corpses were stacked layer upon layer.

The number of dead people was roughly estimated to be dozens just from the bodies in the restroom.

Although he had seen human corpses during the ten-day battle with goblins, this was the first time Ha Dong-geon witnessed such a gruesome scene.

Ha Dong-geon spoke, “There seems to be no one here, so let’s move on to the next.”

The situation in Room 102 wasn’t much different.

The entire house was filled with broken items, and in the corner of the restroom, human corpses were piled up and decaying.

The only fortunate thing was that they didn’t encounter goblins during the search.

“Let’s go up to the second floor.”

The situation on the second floor wasn’t much different.

Breaking the glass from the outside would allow for easy intrusion, making them vulnerable to goblin attacks.

Thankfully, things improved from the third floor onwards.

Although the corridors were still surrounded by goblin excrement, the front doors were securely closed.

Knock, knock, knock.

Ha Dong-geon lightly knocked and then said, “Are there any survivors inside?”

Knock, knock, knock.

“If there’s anyone inside, please respond!”

However, from the third floor onwards, a different problem arose. Since there was no way to open the sturdy iron doors, they couldn’t enter and check inside.

Therefore, after trying a few times and getting no response, they had no choice but to give up.

“Let’s go up.”

It was when they arrived on the fifth floor.

Knock, knock, knock!

“Is anyone there? We’ve come to rescue you! If you’re inside, please respond!”

As they were knocking with little hope, it happened.

Clank.

For the first time, the door opened.

However, it didn’t open completely.

There was a safety latch and locking device, preventing the door from being forcibly opened from the outside.

Through the slightly ajar door, a man stuck his head out, scanned Ha Dong-geon’s group, and asked.

“Are you really the rescue team?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

The man still wore a doubtful expression.

“Then, could you give me some water? My throat is really dry.”

In response, Ha Dong-geon took out a 2-liter bottle of water from his backpack and handed it to the man.

“Here you go.”

As Ha Dong-geon silently handed over the water, the man looked at him in surprise, then asked again.

“Are you really the rescue team?”

“While we’re not affiliated with any government agency, it’s true that we’ve come to rescue the survivors in this apartment. If you join us, you won’t have to worry about water or food.”

The man stared at Ha Dong-geon for a moment, then, with a determined expression, closed the door.

A little while later, the door opened again.

Creak.

The second door to open had no safety latch.

In front of the entrance, behind the man, stood two awkward-looking children – a boy who seemed to be in high school and a girl who looked to be in middle school.

“I might not fully understand what you’re saying, but I’ll trust you. So, if we follow you, you’ll make sure we don’t have to worry about food?”

“Of course.”

The man nodded and extended his hand, introducing himself, “I’m Hong Jung-su. Nice to meet you.”

After a brief handshake, Ha Dong-geon directed his team, “Ga-yeong and Hye-rin, take them to the 30th floor and then rejoin us.”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

Hearing this, Hong Jung-su hesitated and asked, “30th floor? Shouldn’t we be going out to the 1st floor?”

Having stayed hidden inside the house since the appearance of the monsters, Hong Jung-su was completely unaware of the current situation.

His daughter, who was next to him, spoke up.

“Dad, come on. It must be a helicopter. Let’s go up quickly.”

She, too, was ignorant of the situation.

Kim Ga-yeong addressed them.

“Well, not exactly, but if you go up, you can have a warm meal and even take a shower.”

The one who reacted to this statement was Hong Jung-su’s son, asking eagerly.

“Shower?! Is that true?”

In response, Kim Ga-yeong smiled and replied.

“Yes, indeed. And it’s warm water, too.”

Upon hearing this, Hong Jung-su’s son urged him.

“What are you doing, Dad? Let’s go up quickly.”

“Oh, uh, okay.”

***

[The number of citizens has reached 90.]

[Experience points and settlement funds earned by citizens increase by 90%.]

With this, the number of citizens reached 93.

Checking the citizens’ status through the citizen management window, there didn’t seem to be anyone particularly outstanding among the newcomers.

‘Out of 93 people, is there only one person with an awakened ability?’

The only person with an awakened ability was Ha Dong-geon.

‘But there seem to be some people who are quite capable. I should consider forming separate teams.’

Among the 83 people Ha Dong-geon rescued so far, some had relatively high levels.

Common among them was their consistent self-management, all possessing well-toned bodies.

Among them was a level 15 man, and his entire body seemed to be packed with muscles, almost like a bodybuilder.

‘Absolute Dweller’s Eye.’

Using the skill, the emergency exit area came into view. There, six new arrivals were standing, catching their breath.

“It’s this way.”

Following Ha Dong-geon’s guidance, they headed toward the direction of Choi Hyeong-jun’s house.

Choi Hyeong-jun’s house had its front door wide open, allowing a clear view inside.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the multitude of shoes filling the entire entryway.

The number of shoes was so vast that they extended outside the front door in rows.

It looked like the scene at the entrance of a room during a college retreat, especially considering the overwhelming number of people.

“You can come in.”

“···Alright.”

What was even more overwhelming was the scene inside the house.

It was packed with people as if hosting a home party.

Considering the small space of about 30 square meters, having over 90 people inside was unimaginable.

Due to the limited space, most people couldn’t sit or lie down properly, so the majority was standing.

Choi Hyeong-jun’s house had completely transformed into a refuge for survivors.

“Anyone that hasn’t received their first rice ball?!”

“Here! It’s our turn!”

“Could you please pass this to those people over there?”

Moreover, Park Hye-won had become like a cafeteria aunt, tirelessly preparing and serving food.

In one corner of the kitchen, Choi Na-yeon and Choi Seo-yeon, who would normally be sleeping in the master bedroom, were sitting close together, nodding off.

Due to the unexpected guests, they were forced out of the bedroom.

“······I feel a bit sorry.”

Still, there was no other choice.

As much as I wanted to invite some of them into our house, only Choi Hyeong-jun, registered as a vassal, could enter.

‘Should I add the kids as well?’

Currently, all members of Choi Hyeong-jun’s family were in a state where they could be registered as vassals.

This meant that not only did their truth level exceed 50, but loyalty also exceeded 30.

I wanted to bring the two kids into our dwelling and let them sleep in my bed, but I couldn’t bring myself to do it.

‘It’s a shame.’

Registering as a vassal leads to a significant level increase and gaining special abilities.

Moreover, the efficiency of earning experience points and money was twice as high as other citizens.

However, it was a tough job to send kids who hadn’t even entered elementary school yet to hunt monsters.

“I must use vassal registration exclusively for Ha Dong-geon’s party.”

Or I could consider registering those with higher levels among the newcomers as vassals.

♬♪♬♩~

I heard the ringtone and deactivated the Absolute Dweller’s Eye skill. Then, I moved to the entrance and opened the door.

“Open.”

Pressing the doorbell was Ha Dong-gun, who had just entered the entrance. Since he hadn’t obtained the vassal status yet, the authorized space for him was only up to that point. He stood there and started reporting.

“These newcomers are the last survivors.”

“Have you already checked all the floors?”

“Yes. I just confirmed the 29th floor and came back.”

“Thank you for your hard work.”

Although not reaching the goal of 100 people, having 93 was still a decent number.

“Choi Hyeong-jun’s house is almost full, and this should be enough.”

A whopping 90% bonus experience.

Even if only 70% was distributed to Ha Dong-gun’s party, you could still receive 120% total experience points.

“Wait a moment.”

With Ha Dong-gun in front of me, I closed my eyes and used the skill.

‘Absolute Dweller’s Eye.’

This time, I used Absolute Dweller’s Eye on the area where Choi Hyeong-jun was, not in the homebound area. He was working hard near the emergency exit stairs, cutting and peeling something, connecting them again, and placing them on the stairs’ floor.

After concentrating for a while, he straightened his back.

“Deactivate Absolute Dweller’s Eye.”

Preparations were complete. I gave Ha Dong-gun a meaningful smile and said, “Now, let’s move on to the Goblin Hunt, Step 2.”