Weapon-Eating Bastard [EN]: Chapter 104

The magic eye trembled violently.

Though his appearance clearly resembled the Mountain God of Cheonwisan, the goblin’s presence felt fundamentally different.

It was like classifying cats and tigers as the same species, yet recognizing they are not the same being.

The Mountain God of Cheonwisan, as seen through the magic eye, and the goblin before me had a fundamental difference in their very essence.

‘What on earth is this…’

The boundary between his body and the world seemed blurred. Flames, earth, and mist swirled within him, all enveloped in a hazy, milky light.

What kind of being could possess such a form?

At that moment,

Zzzzz!

A strange sound, like straw rubbing together, echoed inside my head.

‘Ugh!’

Immediately after, I felt a burning pain in my head and optic nerves.

The magic eye was overloaded.

It was only a fleeting moment, perhaps less than three seconds, but the being before me possessed such an immense presence that it was impossible to fully comprehend.

His presence was too great to be contained.

I urgently suppressed the magic eye and broke out in a cold sweat.

Gulp.

I swallowed dryly and looked at the goblin again.

I felt an overwhelming sense of awe, as if facing a massive mountain rather than a living creature.

“…That is.”

The being looked down at me.

His unkempt hair resembled a lion’s mane, and bronze muscles rippled beneath his unbuttoned leather vest.

A pair of eyes, revealed through his shaggy bangs, gleamed coldly.

‘He’s looking at Heukya.’

I realized his gaze was directed at Heukya.

Ignoring the pain in my eyes and head, I straightened my back and bowed respectfully.

“Lee Cheol, descendant of Sungmoo Lee-ga [a family lineage], humbly greets the Land Spirit.”

I was certain.

This goblin was the blacksmith who created Heukya.

‘The blacksmith deity mentioned in the Heukya Record is this goblin.’

I took a deep breath to release the tension and looked at the goblin.

“Sungmoo Lee-ga…”

The goblin murmured softly.

It was a faint voice, as if recalling a distant memory.

However.

Crunch!

That moment was fleeting, as the goblin suddenly ground his teeth and glared at me.

Thump.

I felt my heart sink.

The blue light in his eyes was as fierce as a blade.

Just making eye contact made me feel like the ground was collapsing beneath me.

In the silence, the goblin spoke again.

“I have never allowed humans to enter my territory.”

A deep, heavy voice that echoed as if from inside a cave.

“If you continue to disturb the forest… I will not stand idly by.”

The goblin, having said his piece, turned and walked away.

“Please wait a moment!”

I desperately tried to grab him.

However, my hand waved uselessly through the air.

Whoosh!

The goblin dissipated into mist.

All that remained on my fingertips were dewdrops.

-Leave.

Like the sound of the wind blowing from Hallasan Mountain [South Korean volcano], like the sound of trees rustling in the forest.

The goblin’s voice echoed in the air.

And immediately after.

Whoosh!

Like a video with skipped frames, the entire landscape before me changed.

Behind me was the iron wall guarding the dangerous zone of Hallasan Mountain, and in front of me was a dense primeval forest.

“This is… the entrance?”

This was none other than the entrance to the gate I had passed through in the morning.

Against my will, I had been returned to the beginning of the forest.

‘I’ve been kicked out.’

And so quickly that I didn’t even realize it.

Even the Mountain God of Cheonwisan’s magic couldn’t do this.

Folding the earth to use Shukuchi [a teleportation technique] or swapping the place where one sits, and moving someone else’s body to another place—is that even possible?

Yet, I had been kicked out so blatantly.

‘Why was I kicked out?’

It was hard to understand.

The Heukya Record described the goblin who forged Heukya as a very friendly being to humans.

Not only the Heukya Record, but goblins in general tend to like humans.

Of course, they punished wicked people, but that only applied to those who committed clear wrongdoings.

So I expected there wouldn’t be a big problem.

“To think I’d be turned away at the door without even having a proper conversation.”

Kieeeeeek!

Again, a chilling monster’s cry echoed from the darkness of the forest.

Looking at that darkness, I reflected on my hike so far.

The hours I spent wandering through the mountains covered in the blood of monsters flashed through my mind.

‘…Okay. Fine.’

Suddenly, I felt a surge of defiance.

I don’t know what happened, but I need to know the reason.

Either way, I had to climb the mountain again because of Heukya’s seal.

I turned around and left the dangerous zone.

* * *

After returning to the gate that managed the dangerous zone, I could only return to the city after receiving sterilization and disinfection at the entrance.

I definitely didn’t give up.

Now that things had turned out this way, I decided to prepare thoroughly and try again.

‘That reminds me.’

I glanced around.

I could clearly feel unfamiliar presences sticking to me.

I was the one who found the presences of the spirit creatures in Cheonwisan.

It wasn’t difficult to sense this much.

‘The Black Squad. They’re moving quite fast. Did they bring in all the personnel from the south?’

They were suppressing their presence as much as possible, and they were changing the tailing personnel by area, but I easily detected their gazes.

It seemed the person who came to me as the Southern Branch Manager had conveyed the story well.

‘But I don’t intend to meet them right now.’

I thought about suppressing them with force to shake them off, but that would make the relationship tense.

It was more advantageous to subtly make them anxious and gain leverage in future negotiations.

And the matter of Heukya was the top priority over them.

Tap!

I pretended to walk naturally and then abruptly turned into an alleyway.

“… !”

The woman who had been following Lee Cheol at a distance of about 20 meters widened her eyes and quickly followed into the alley.

However, there was only a flickering sodium lamp and a black cat in the alley.

The woman immediately tapped her earpiece.

“This is number 17. Announcing. I lost the target around 19:20:30. Location is alley number 19 in area A.”

The woman who made the call hurriedly pushed off the ground.

No, she stopped trying to push off the ground and glanced back at the alleyway.

“…”

She narrowed her eyes and stepped into the alleyway.

The cat gnawing on the feed on the floor. Food waste piled up under the streetlights…

There was nothing else.

The agent turned her eyes and left the alley.

A very short time passed, and

Swish!

I released the aura I had been wearing all over my body and landed on the ground.

Ganggi Art, Mirage.

It was the application of the stealth technique created with my aunt to the aura skill.

Although the skill level was not as high as other techniques, it was enough.

‘If I go out like this, they’ll stick to me again right away…’

I immediately created a mask in the form of a perfect fit for my face with Mujin.

I absorbed the Manmyeon Cheolpi ability [ability to change appearance] with Black Energy.

Changing my appearance with Mujin, which had that ability, was a piece of cake.

Swish.

The moment I used magic power, the shape of my face changed.

Next, I poured magic power into the Eunhan [clothing] I was wearing.

Whoosh!

The size of the Eunhan was reduced to about the size of a dress shirt, and the mysterious patterns that had surfaced on the surface scattered and changed like paint smearing.

Of course, it wasn’t an ability I had.

I was just using the power that Eunhan originally had.

I finished preparing and slowly moved my steps.

“…?”

I still felt eyes following me.

But the clothes I was wearing had changed, and my appearance had changed.

The Black Squad would experience a tracking failure for the first time in a long time.

I felt the gazes gradually falling away and walked leisurely down the street.

* * *

I went to downtown Jeju.

First, I started buying the necessary items as they came to hand.

‘Even if it takes time, I have to make another meeting with the goblin.’

I was thinking of holing up in the mountains for days.

Just like when I prepared the necessities when visiting my ancestors’ graves, I prepared thoroughly this time as well.

No, I prepared even more thoroughly than then.

First, the first thing I got was water.

I bought about 10 liters.

I don’t know if I can find a water source to use as drinking water inside, but water was the most important thing.

Next is food.

I went to the Hunter’s Association and got some ration-type food.

One a day is enough, but I bought seven with a little extra.

I prepared for lodging, such as getting supplies, and headed straight back to the gate.

“… Are you going in again? Didn’t you just come out?”

The officer checked the identification card for going out that I had received from my family and looked embarrassed.

“You’re a level 6 hunter… so there’s no problem with passing through. But it’s already too late, are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It’s better at night.”

The officer’s expression became ambiguous.

Better at night? Does that even make sense?

Of course, humans are weak in the dark.

I’ve heard that warriors can handle mysterious power called magic power, so there’s no problem with night maneuvers, but it’s only that ‘there’s no problem’, it’s never smooth.

On the other hand, nocturnal monsters see the world better at night.

It’s bound to be disadvantageous.

Even professional hunters challenged that forest out of curiosity every time, but they came back with a very tired face.

Going at night was no different from suicide.

“Ahem! Well, you can go in, but what if something goes wrong? It would be better to go in the morning, even if you go in.”

It would be troublesome if an unexpected accident happened after letting him pass through.

The identification card stated that he was an adult, but he was a hunter who looked quite young.

I was worried that he might go in and die.

‘No way!’

The officer was startled and asked in a worried tone.

“Um, by any chance, did your business go bankrupt, or do you have too much debt, or did your girlfriend dump you?”

“Yes…?”

I burst out laughing without realizing it.

“Haha! Are you going to commit suicide?”

“No, well, there are people who climb up the barrier here and try to fall off, and there are people who want to die and ask to be let in. Ahem! You shouldn’t make the wrong choice. You must have worked hard to become a hunter at a young age…”

I tried hard to hold back my laughter.

Still, the person seemed kind.

It wouldn’t be a problem to just let me pass through, but he was stopping me like this.

I subtly showed the luggage on my back.

“People who go to die don’t bring this kind of thing.”

“Ah, come to think of it, what is that?”

It was a backpack that looked like it contained an unusual amount of items at first glance.

“Anyway, I’m going to stay for a few days, so it doesn’t matter whether I go in tomorrow or today.”

“… Yes?”

What did he just hear?

For a few days?

Only then did the officer’s gaze go to the heavy luggage on the hunter’s back and hands.