Something that could cause actual harm—even threaten life—and they themselves experienced it, yet still spoke of goblins with deep, almost blind contempt?
Disdain?
Habitual denigration?
Or something deeper?
“If they’re so weak and worthless,”
Shi Hanfeng stopped tapping and lifted his clear emerald eyes, looking at Hans with pure, naive confusion.
“Why not wipe them out completely? Letting such creatures harass villages and harm innocent travelers would be a huge danger. Wouldn’t it lead to greater losses over time?”
Hans was silent for a moment, as if he’d heard a particularly ridiculous joke, then suddenly burst out laughing.
“Exterminate? Hahaha! Mr. Rochet, you’re too much! Hahaha!”
Hans wiped tears from his eyes, waving his hand.
“Kill them? That’s just a waste of time and effort! What value do they have? Some torn, smelly beast hides? A few sharpened bone sticks used as daggers? Even the rusted scraps of iron they carry aren’t worth taking to a blacksmith!”
He began counting on his thick fingers, making the reality clear for this otherworldly “merchant.”
“Do you know how much the Adventurers’ Guild in Ximu Town pays for clearing a goblin nest or driving them away from a village?”
He held up five fingers.
“At most, five silver coins.”
Hans’s tone was full of helplessness.
“Think about it—a basic healing potion costs a gold coin. That means a newly registered, white porcelain rookie adventurer who can’t do anything but take these garbage jobs would have to clear two whole goblin nests to barely afford a potion.”
“That doesn’t even include injury or equipment wear and tear during the mission.”
He let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping, tiredness and frustration replacing his earlier scorn.
“And besides, can you really wipe them out? They’re like field mice or cockroaches—breed like crazy, hide in rocky cracks and damp, dark holes, popping up everywhere! You might clear one nest today, and tomorrow there’ll be another. What’s the point?”
Hans spread his hands in a gesture of resignation.
“So, this dirty and exhausting work is usually left to reckless youths looking for pocket money in the villages, or white porcelain rookies who can’t do anything but hunt goblins.”
“Adventurers with a bit of experience—Black Iron—who want to make a living would rather clean slimes out of the sewers than hunt goblins. The real threats are to the west: trolls, ogres, and demons. Those are the ones that truly endanger lives.”
Tap!
Shi Hanfeng’s tapping fingers stopped midair.
This time, he caught a few suspiciously familiar keywords.
White Porcelain… Black Iron… goblin nests… endless… low reward…
Hans was still complaining about the hardships of low-level adventurers and how goblins weren’t worth the effort, completely unaware of Shi Hanfeng’s momentary pause and shift in expression.
But in Shi Hanfeng’s heart, it was like a stone dropped into a calm lake, causing ripples to spread instantly.
He knew this script!
As a veteran gamer, he remembered several classic goblin types.
In traditional Western fantasy, they were XP fodder for heroes; in certain games, they had many subspecies and sometimes acted as elite monsters; in certain anime, they were hidden killers that could wipe out newbie parties; and there were hardcore works where the danger of goblins was depicted in stark detail, leaving him with a deep impression.
If this was the world he remembered, then their disdain would make perfect sense.
The gods gave goblins such unreasonable buffs, almost like cognitive filters—those who hadn’t seen their danger wouldn’t hunt them, while those who had suffered from them were too weak to fight back. Add in gods rolling dice for fun…
Why did it feel wrong?
Shi Hanfeng glanced at his own talents and felt reassured.
To avoid any mistakes, he suppressed the churning in his heart and tried a more specific question, keeping his voice steady.
“Sir Hans, from your description, these goblins are weak individually but seem skilled at using the environment and ambushes? Do they have any particular habits? For example, do they especially like attacking lone women? Or abducting human children?”
Hans blinked, as if surprised by the question. He scratched his head.
“Uh… now that you mention it… kind of? Sometimes lost children or lone women go missing in the woods, and it’s often them. These bastards really have no bottom line, and they only pick on the weak! But the details… we’re not sure. No one bothers to study trash like that.”
The habits matched up.
Finally, he asked in a casual, curious tone.
“By the way, Sir Hans, have you ever heard of an adventurer in the guild—a so-called ‘Expert’—who specializes in hunting goblins? Or someone who only takes goblin-related commissions? Maybe they’d have a nickname or something? Like… ‘Goblin Slayer’?”
“Goblin… Slayer?”
Hans and Gelte exchanged glances, both faces filled with confusion and bewilderment, as if hearing such a term for the first time.
Hans frowned, thinking hard, but eventually shook his head.
“Never heard of it. A goblin-hunting expert? Only takes goblin jobs?”
He let out a short laugh.
“Mr. Rochet, that’s a funny idea. Who would do that? It’s dirty, tiring, and pays nothing. You’d have to be crazy. Anyway, I’ve never heard of anyone like that. Gelte, you?”
Gelte shook his head just as blankly.
“Nope. Never. Being an ‘Expert’ at killing goblins? Isn’t that something anyone with hands can do?”
Shi Hanfeng wasn’t disappointed at not getting the answer he wanted. It seemed that either he’d landed in a world with a similar setting, or that expert was still unknown.
There was no point in relying on teammates—newbie tasks would have to be handled alone.
However, judging from Hans’s description of goblin combat abilities and the roughness of their traps, and comparing that to his own knowledge of goblin strength in the Goblin Slayer world…
Given his own stats, as long as he didn’t recklessly charge into an enemy lair and get surrounded, and acted with caution, the chances of things going wrong were low.
“I see.”
Shi Hanfeng quickly masked any regret with a self-mocking smile.
“It seems I was overthinking. My apologies for the wild idea.”
He glanced again at the sleeping Jemie.
“What do you plan for tomorrow? While Jemie’s wounds have healed, he lost a lot of blood and probably shouldn’t undertake dangerous activities right away.”
“Exactly,”
Hans nodded at once, a troubled look on his face.
“Our food and water are almost gone—the water bags are empty. As you can see, our equipment is falling apart. If we keep going, it’ll all break. At dawn, we’re heading back to Ximu Town.”
He glanced helplessly at the peacefully breathing Jemie.
“Sigh, this trip was a total loss! We’ll need a few days to rest and recover, and see if the guild has any high-reward, low-risk jobs—like escorting a merchant caravan. Otherwise, we won’t even have money for food next month.”
At those words, Shi Hanfeng’s emerald eyes sparkled faintly in the firelight.
No rush on the quest—goblins were everywhere, and they wouldn’t run away.
Better to be fully prepared first.
He immediately continued.
“I see. Then, may I accompany you all tomorrow? I’m new to this land and unfamiliar with the roads. If I could travel to Ximu Town with experienced adventurers like you, it would be a great help. Would that be alright?”
Hans’s reaction could only be described as delighted.
“Of course! Absolutely! Mr. Rochet, it would be our honor to travel with you!”
He nearly jumped up in excitement, his voice trembling with joy.
Are you kidding?
Who wouldn’t want a powerful healer who could drag you back from death’s door in an instant as a companion?
It was like pie falling from the sky!
Night deepened.
The campfire crackled on, fighting against the forest’s chill.
Hans and Gelte, exhausted from the day’s ordeals, soon fell asleep by the fire, wrapped in their worn cloaks.
Only Shi Hanfeng remained wide awake.
The drowsiness he’d dispelled earlier had not returned, making it a perfect time to cultivate.
He stowed the Wufeng Sword, leaned against a thick tree trunk, and gazed into the boundless darkness beyond the firelight.
His mind rapidly sorted and analyzed the information.
From what he’d learned, goblins in this world weren’t much different from those in Goblin Slayer—though it was unclear if evolved variants existed as in the original work.
Thinking of how disgusting goblins were in the original, Shi Hanfeng’s fists clenched.
No Goblin Slayer?
No problem.
This player will do the slaying himself.
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