As he reflected on the final moments of his previous life, Darren was able to identify one unusual detail.
The necklace.
Although he never knew its effect, the fact that it was a Mythical-grade artifact meant it possessed an incredibly powerful ability.
His thoughts were interrupted by a shout nearby.
The elf had delivered her final baby.
The small goblin was placed on the moss beside him.
Looking around once more, Darren noticed two other figures at the far end of the cave.
One was a beastkin woman with wolf-like ears protruding from her head.
She looked utterly exhausted.
There was no bulge in her stomach, which could mean one of two things: either she had given birth earlier, or she had only recently been captured.
There was no baby near her, so he could only speculate.
Beside her lay a heavily pregnant human girl.
It was obvious she would be giving birth soon.
As Darren continued observing his surroundings, one of the female goblins picked him up and spoke in the goblin tongue.
“Baby not cry.
Baby okay?”
To Darren, it sounded like meaningless noise.
He didn’t understand Valcon, the language of monsters.
The goblin who appeared to be the oldest—and likely the one overseeing the births—spoke next, her words slow and deliberate.
“Baby must be strong.
Maybe baby be chief’s son.”
She wiped her hands on a dirty rag lying on the cave floor before continuing.
“Baby not cry, but baby still need food.
Give to me.”
Darren was handed to the elderly goblin.
Almost immediately, she lifted one of her sagging breasts toward his face.
Darren instantly understood her intention.
Breastfeeding.
Looking at the condition of her breast, he felt that drinking from it would be closer to poisoning himself than receiving nourishment.
No matter how much she pressed the dark nipple against his mouth, he kept his lips firmly shut.
“Huh?” the goblin muttered.
“Baby not feed.
Baby need food after birth.”
Unable to get him to drink, she handed him back to the goblin who had first picked him up.
“Feed him.”
The younger goblin took him and guided her nipple toward his mouth.
Darren knew he couldn’t continue refusing.
He had no way to communicate concerns about hygiene.
More importantly, judging by their appearance, these were wild goblins—not slaves owned by another race, but monsters surviving on their own in a forest.
If he refused to eat, there was a very real possibility he would simply be abandoned.
And compared to the elder goblin, the younger one at least appeared somewhat cleaner.
Reluctantly, he latched on.
The moment he began feeding, the other goblins visibly relaxed.
A newborn’s survival mattered.
Every child increased the tribe’s chances of enduring the dangers of the forest.
The goblin feeding him chuckled.
“Baby suck fast.”
Darren fed with every bit of strength he could muster, eager to finish as quickly as possible.
From the corner of his eye, he watched the other goblins pick up different infants.
That was when he realized something.
His new mother had given birth to four children.
One by one, the female goblins left the cave, carrying the newborns through another passage where more babies awaited.
Before Darren could fully process everything he had learned, exhaustion washed over him.
His body grew heavy.
His consciousness slowly faded.
The goblin who had fed him gently placed him onto a bed of grass.
“Strong baby sleep now,” she muttered before moving away to feed another crying infant.
And so Darren began his new life.
Reborn as a goblin.
Living among a goblin tribe deep within the forest.