Shi Hanfeng nodded in satisfaction to himself.
Although the process was a bit bumpy, overall, the gains were substantial.
Six Goblins, six silver coins, plus a plump-looking Wild Strawberry and a piece of seemingly high-quality Beast Meat.
Adding it up, this income was almost half of what he paid Hans and the others as their reward.
This Talent ability dropped from monsters was far more appealing than the fixed commission from the Adventurers’ Guild.
As expected, Talent is the primary force of production.
However, the Main Quest completion notification still hadn’t appeared.
“There must be remnants inside.”
Shi Hanfeng lowered his voice, breaking the silence deep within the cave.
“Don’t let your guard down. There might be Goblins hiding in the dark corners, ready to launch a sneak attack.”
At his words, Hans and Gelte, who had relaxed a bit after easily dealing with the six Goblins, immediately tensed up again.
They gripped their swords and shields tightly, scanning the dark cracks in the rock walls around them with caution.
The three continued to advance into the depths of the cave, their steps careful.
The torchlight flickered, stretching their shadows long and short across the rough cave walls, like lurking monsters.
The deeper they went, the stronger the stench became, mixed with the sour smell of decaying meat and an indescribable, stale odor belonging to the nest, making Shi Hanfeng, who had just started to adapt to the cave’s smell, feel nauseated again.
The ground beneath their feet grew muddier and stickier, each step making a squelching sound that sent chills up their spines, forcing them to wonder what exactly they were stepping on.
Finally, the narrow passage came to an end.
Ahead was a relatively spacious cavern.
In the center, a dying campfire burned, its weak flames barely illuminating a limited area, making the shadows at the cave’s edge seem even deeper and more ominous.
The scene under the flickering firelight was disturbing.
Bones of all kinds littered the ground, densely packed, leaving almost no place to step.
Small bones, like those of wild rabbits or foxes, were scattered everywhere, gnawed clean, not even a scrap of flesh remaining.
Larger skeletons, possibly wild boars or deer, were piled carelessly in the corners, their white bones still bearing clear tooth marks and signs of violent tearing.
Most of these bones were broken apart, obviously to suck out the marrow.
The entire bottom of the cave resembled a brutal slaughterhouse canteen, silently telling of countless bloody feasts that had taken place here.
Hans carefully scanned the area in the firelight.
Aside from bones, there were only more bones.
No sign of living green-skinned creatures.
He breathed a slight sigh of relief, his voice rumbling from within his helmet.
“Mr. Rakshasa, looks like those were all the Goblins in this nest. Normally, Goblins don’t gather in large numbers, and now we’ve wiped them out in one go. But look at this shabby place—there’s not even a decent piece of loot.”
Instinctively, he wanted to step into the seemingly “safe” depths of the cave to search.
“Wait.”
Shi Hanfeng’s voice sounded, signaling for Gelte to follow.
“You two, back to back, shields up, move in slowly.”
Compared to what his eyes saw, he trusted the uncompleted system task notification more.
There must still be something hiding here.
“Ah? Oh… yes!”
Hans felt this Mr. Rakshasa was a bit too cautious, but his strength and generosity were overwhelming.
His word was law.
He and Gelte immediately followed the instructions.
Their sturdy backs pressed together with a solid clank, shields raised, forming a human fortress as they stepped carefully into the fire-lit area at the bottom of the cave.
The moment their boots fully entered the light—
Two small, swift shadows burst out like tightly coiled springs released.
The rusty daggers in their hands targeted the spots Hans and Gelte couldn’t fully cover with their shields—the lower legs and the backs of their knees, protected only by simple leather trousers.
Sometimes you had to admit—when it came to dirty tricks, Goblins were as talented as humans.
“Watch your lower bodies!”
Shi Hanfeng warned as he moved, but it was already too late.
Shhk!
Even though Hans and Gelte tried to twist and block the moment they heard the shout, the ambush was too fast, too sudden, and aimed too low and cunningly.
Hans felt a chill on the outside of his left leg, followed by a burning sting.
Gelte’s calf was also slashed, blood instantly staining his trousers.
“Damn beast!”
Hans cried out in pain, both shocked and furious.
But that brief distraction was enough for Shi Hanfeng.
With the first wave of damage absorbed by others, he moved the instant the Goblins launched their attack.
Crack!
A cold flash sliced through the air, faster than the attackers.
It swept past the neck of the Goblin that had just leaped from the shadows and hadn’t had time to dodge.
With tremendous force, its ugly head separated from its neck, flying off with a triumphant, vicious expression, green blood spurting from the stump like a fountain.
One down.
Shi Hanfeng didn’t pause.
He twisted his wrist, the sword point darting like a viper in a reverse angle.
The other Goblin, having just struck, tried to slip back into the darkness, but Shi Hanfeng’s sword pierced straight through its temple.
The blade tip emerged slightly from the other side.
Its body froze, then collapsed limply.
The world went silent.
Only the crackle of the campfire and Hans and Gelte’s heavy, pain-filled breathing could be heard.
At that moment, at the edge of Shi Hanfeng’s vision, the long-awaited, semi-transparent notification only he could see finally appeared.
[Main Quest: Destroy Small Goblin Tribe (1/1) – Completed]
[Calculating rewards…]
[29 days remaining until Return Time. Return immediately?]
No.
Returning with just the Base Reward wasn’t his style.
It wouldn’t be right not to farm a bit more as a hoarder player.
He hadn’t even checked the quest rewards properly when another, more ornate, celebratory virtual window popped up, almost filling half his view.
[Clean Sweep of a Threat Point—Congratulations!]
[Obtained: Wooden Treasure Chest ×1 (Open to receive random white to blue quality items)]
It was nice to get extra rewards, but seriously, how many games did you stitch into this?
Seeing the treasure chest, identical to those in gacha games, Shi Hanfeng’s eyelids twitched.
Still, an extra gain was an extra gain.
Joy surged in his heart.
But he suppressed the urge to open the chest immediately.
Now wasn’t the time to check his loot.
“How are you two?”
He turned to look at the pair examining their wounds with gritted teeth.
“It’s fine… just a scratch…”
Hans sucked in a breath, trying to sound tough, but cold sweat already dotted his forehead.
“Lord Rakshasa,”
Gelte was more straightforward, his voice muffled and honest.
“Hans says he’s fine, but I can’t handle this. Please heal me first.”
He pointed to the not-so-deep but steadily bleeding cut on his calf, his face pale.
“?”
Hans looked at his teammate in disbelief, as if hearing the ship of friendship sink with a splash.
“No need to worry about the number of heals, Lord Hans. Ensuring both of you recover is no problem.”
Shi Hanfeng replied, casually casting two Wishes of the White Flower, healing their not-so-serious wounds and patching up their fragile friendship.
Unlike in games, where each skill could only be used once per turn, here, as long as you had enough mental strength, you could cast continuously.
Far more practical than popping potions in real combat.
He hadn’t used it earlier because he was focused on finishing off enemies first.
Hans and Gelte’s injuries weren’t serious, but if those two sly Goblins had escaped back into the darkness, things would have gotten troublesome—he didn’t have night vision.
“Ahh, that’s so much better. Thank you, Mr. Rakshasa.”
Hans exhaled, full of genuine gratitude.
The hard days of toughing it out or gulping down expensive potions—he never wanted to go back.
Once you experience instant healing, there’s no returning.
Gelte also nodded vigorously, his deep voice rumbling with thanks.
“Thank you!”
“It’s nothing.”
Shi Hanfeng waved it off, then carefully surveyed the Core Area of the Goblin Nest.
“Search around, see if there’s anything worth noting.”
But as they searched, the relaxed atmosphere grew heavy again.
This place was far more shocking than any scene from an anime or game.
Besides animal bones, they found more traces of humans in the shadows of the corners.
Broken skull fragments covered in filth, a cleanly gnawed human arm bone with twisted finger bones curled in agony, as if the person had died in great pain.
Half a rusted Iron Badge, faintly engraved with the image of an Axe, symbolizing some kind of identity.
There were also scraps of rough cloth, likely part of clothing, now used by Goblins to line their nests.
Judging by the badge’s design and the fabric quality, the deceased was probably a hunter who lived off the forest.
“These damned bastards…”
Hans’s voice carried suppressed anger and a trace of sadness.
He could guess that the traps set by the Goblins outside—their knowledge and techniques—probably came from this unfortunate fellow.
His fate might well mirror that of many adventurers or hunters who underestimated Goblins.
Gelte bowed his head in silence, fists clenched.
Shi Hanfeng watched silently.
He crouched down, gathering the scattered, unidentifiable remains into one spot as best he could.
Then, with his sword, he dug a shallow pit in the ground.
Hans and Gelte understood, silently coming over to help.
They placed all the human bone fragments they could find into the pit, along with the half badge and cloth scraps.
Then, with earth and stones, they built a small grave.
Shi Hanfeng stood before the grave, silent for a moment.
He wasn’t a priest; he couldn’t recite complicated prayers.
He simply bowed his head slightly, whispering words only he could hear.
“Rest in peace. Your vengeance is taken.”
Hans and Gelte imitated the gesture, clumsily offering a salute and murmuring, “May Divine Wish guide you to peaceful rest,” and similar words.
Afterwards, Hans and Gelte began skillfully cutting the left ears from the two last-killed Goblins—proof required by the Guild to verify completion of the quest.
Shi Hanfeng stepped aside, turning his back to the fire and the small grave, silent.
To Hans and Gelte, the powerful and experienced Mr. Rakshasa must have seen such scenes countless times.
But only he knew, when he first saw those broken human bones by the fire, especially the half badge that represented a specific profession and perhaps a hunter with family waiting for his return, his heart was far from calm.
His grip on his sword tightened involuntarily.
It was the instinctive discomfort and anger that surged up as a human witnessing the cruel murder and desecration of his own kind by other races.
In his previous life, when he read , he started with a strange misunderstanding, thinking it was just another unserious manga.
Attracted by the beautiful priestess on the cover, he ignored the risks and kept reading.
A few chapters in, he realized he’d been fooled by the cover, but also drawn in by the story.
He was captivated by the protagonist’s extremely pragmatic style, and the work’s raw, anti-heroic passion and brutally realistic narrative.
He kept reading.
But even then, the scenes on the page couldn’t compare to reality.
He hated Goblins, but that was all.
If you haven’t suffered, don’t urge others to be virtuous.
Not having experienced it himself, he couldn’t feel the kind of hatred that the Goblin Slayer had carved into his bones, making it his only reason to live.
He was here first to complete the quest, to survive, to become stronger.
The bloody events depicted made him respect the threat of Goblins and act with caution.
During Goblin subjugation quests, he always took proper care.
He considered himself mentally prepared.
But when everything was laid bare before him, the despair and pain in the air, the gnawed bones, the shattered lives—
It still brought a sense of physical and psychological discomfort.
A pure unhappiness.
Real evil, no matter how weak, brings a shock incomparable to anything through a screen.
He exhaled softly, sheathing the Wufeng Sword back into his pack.
“Let’s go when you’re ready.”
His voice had returned to its usual calm, betraying no emotion.
“The smell here is just too much.”
“Yes, Mr. Rakshasa!”
Hans quickly packed the Goblin ears, stowing them in his pouch.
The three took one last look at the humble mound of earth, raised their torches, and left the nest of blood and sin behind.
From entrance to exit, it had taken less than an hour, yet the journey from the dim cave to the bright forest felt like crossing into another world.
Shi Hanfeng squinted, feeling the warm sunlight filtering through the leaves onto his face.
He thought to himself—
Since it made him unhappy, these unpleasant monsters should pay a little more.