"MOOO!!"
Whether it had understood Geon-mu's words or not, Nandi flew into a rage and began to run.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
An earthquake broke out with every movement of a body that easily topped three tons.
The horn came flying in, aimed at Geon-mu's spleen.
A thick line of horn, weighted with force and dyed red with killing intent.
It gave off killing intent fierce enough to shake even a tank armed with good items.
Yet Geon-mu's body did not waver in the slightest.
His state of mind was already different from when he had faced goblins.
He would meet it by drawing together everything he had.
Cultivated force began to gather in both of Geon-mu's hands.
The internal force he had expanded and stored up through the Great Azure Essence.
He drew all of it up into both hands.
In Geon-mu's hands a distortion of space arose, like a heat shimmer on a spring day.
The second form of the Heaven-Breaking Divine Art.
The instant Geon-mu's hands touched that red line, they traced a graceful curve.
The thick red straight line moved along the path of that curve.
"Moooo??"
Nandi's eyes went wide.
Its head had been lowered so that it saw the ground, and now it was looking up at a blue sky.
The head that had risen high into the air drove into the ground like lightning.
"Return Flow."
THUUUD!!
The bedrock sank and the mountain shook.
At the center of a crater mark, as though a meteor had fallen, Nandi's head was buried deep in the ground.
Nandi kicked and scraped at the earth with its hooves, straining to pull itself free.
Geon-mu had no intention of humoring Nandi's resistance.
He took up a goblin warrior's sword in both hands and severed Nandi's tendons.
Precise and practiced.
He knew exactly where to aim, and with nothing but the strength he had, he cut through tendons like steel.
CLANG!
The sword he had forced in shattered as well.
As each one broke, Geon-mu drew out two more.
He still had twenty-three left.
He swung a sword only three times.
Sacrificing six C-Grade short swords, he brought down the boss monster, Nandi.
Nandi had become a cripple that could not even move.
Its head fallen against the ground, Nandi breathed out with difficulty.
HUFF, HUFF!
It moved with all its might, but all it stirred up was a wind of sand.
Nandi denied its own helplessness again and again, and at last gave up.
Geon-mu looked at Nandi as it stared quietly at him, and offered a short prayer.
"Go on to a good place, Master Ox."
Geon-mu cut Nandi's throat.
To kill quickly and without pain. That was the greatest mercy Geon-mu could give an enemy.
Nandi's ragged breathing stopped.
Thick blood flowed and spread, and a moment later a message appeared before Geon-mu.
[You have passed the <Goblin King's Second Trial>.]
When the trial ended, message windows began to appear in a flood.
[<God of Destruction and Creation> is delighted by your battle.]
[<Administrator of the Heavenly Treasury> watches you closely.]
[<One Who Leads Death with Claws> acknowledges you.]
The onlookers must have gotten their fill of entertainment, for they sent messages of praise.
What mattered to Geon-mu was not those messages.
'To think using Return Flow would cost me this much internal force.'
It was internal force he had only just expanded with the Great Azure Essence, and part of it was that he was not yet used to a beginner's senses, but the disappointment was enormous.
The second form of the Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, Return Flow.
To let an opponent's attack flow past and strike it back at them.
Further still, to amplify the attack and return it more painfully.
But what had Geon-mu done?
Strictly speaking, he had not returned it.
At its true power, the Return Flow Geon-mu drew out would have shattered both horns and gone on to crush the skull itself.
Feeling his strength to be lacking, Geon-mu had settled it by driving Nandi into the ground.
His internal force was that insufficient, so the form had not been completed.
'Internal force alone cannot overwhelm an opponent.'
What if he met an enemy stronger than this?
He had failed to use Return Flow properly even now, so what if he could not so much as plant them in the ground the way he had Nandi?
He would be taken apart with no answer for it.
'That cannot happen.'
Geon-mu had come back here to break this wearisome cycle.
The place where he could find the thread of it was precisely the trials and gates manifesting in the present world.
To achieve his purpose, whatever he entered, Geon-mu had to win.
So what should he do next?
'Level and stats. Those two.'
The sure thing was to raise his level and put points into his stats.
Once his resolve was set, Geon-mu lifted his head toward the sky and called out to one particular bastard.
"Oi, little-dick king."
[<Goblin King> flinches.]
Seems he knows he's being called now.
Geon-mu did not draw it out; he simply crooked a finger at it.
The Goblin King could tell what that meant.
[You have won the <Goblin King's Wager>.]
[You have obtained the <Goblin King's Platinum Box>.]
"And......."
[You have won the <Wager of the God of Destruction and Creation>.]
[You have obtained the <Gift>.]
He pays up on time.
Geon-mu expressed his thanks with a nod of the head.
[<God of Destruction and Creation> blesses your victory.]
[<Goblin King> wails.]
Two bastards had lost on this wager, and their reactions were worlds apart.
The Goblin King was wailing, and the God of Destruction and Creation was delighted.
"I did exercise hard, after all......."
The time had come for a beef party.
Geon-mu glanced sidelong at the sprawled Nandi.
A great deal of the blood in its body had drained out when he cut its throat.
Geon-mu laid his blade against Nandi's body.
"Let's see, this is the tenderloin, and if I cut here, that's a T-bone steak?"
While living in the fantasy world, he had learned the butcher's trade.
During his mercenary days he had learned from a friend who had come out of the livestock business, so he knew all the theory needed to break down livestock.
The dismantling took him three hours in total.
It was the size of nine grown men, so even for a practiced Geon-mu it was not easy.
"Whew, this should be enough......."
Geon-mu looked at the <Goblin King's Platinum Box> card he had received as a reward.
[Goblin King's Platinum Box]
Type: Consumable Item
Grade: A+
A box given only to those who show satisfying results in the Trial of the Goblin King.
That the Goblin King, famous as a miser, handed over a platinum box is something well worth taking pride in.
Upon destruction, you acquire items.
Goblin Gold Coin x3,000
Potion of Experience Leap x1
Title <Golden Goblin Hunter> x1
You may choose one of the following.
Trait <Goblin King's Authority (A)>
Summoning Right for Subordinate Goblin Elite Warriors x3
Goblin Gold Coin x2,000
The Goblin King's Authority (A) was a trait obtainable only when you contracted with the Goblin King.
Every monster of the goblin kind would follow the trait's owner and could be commanded by them; it was an authority that granted the rank directly below the Goblin King.
The summoning right was exactly that, the summoning of three elite warriors.
They were warriors who had fought in step with one another, so if Geon-mu gave good orders they looked capable of being turned into a decent fighting force.
But if asked whether either of those two appealed to him, they did not.
'They're goblins.'
Elite or otherwise, they were goblins in the end.
Geon-mu hated goblins.
[You have destroyed the <Goblin King's Platinum Box>.]
[You have obtained 5,000 <Goblin Gold Coins>.]
[You have obtained 1 <Potion of Experience Leap>.]
Converted, it came to a total of 500,000 coins obtained.
Geon-mu did not sell it anywhere; he used all of it.
[<One Who Leads Death with Claws> expresses doubt at your choice.]
"I just hate goblins."
[<One Who Leads Death with Claws> consents.]
A swift agreement.
It seemed he too understood the visceral revulsion goblins brought on.
[<Goblin King> sighs.]
The one who heard that was apparently growing tired now.
Of course, not a single ounce of pity crossed Geon-mu's mind.
Geon-mu converted the lot into Exchange coins and started shopping.
[You have purchased <Hundred-Year Bamboo Salt (F)> for 100 coins.]
[You have purchased <High-Grade Pepper (F)> for 20 coins.]
[Hundred-Year Bamboo Salt]
Type: Consumable Item
Grade: F
Salt roasted inside bamboo and aged for a hundred years.
Outstanding at drawing out the inherent flavor of ingredients.
[High-Grade Pepper]
Type: Consumable Item
Grade: F
Precious pepper.
There was a time when it cost more than gold.
They were spices of a value beyond comparison with what was sold on the open market.
But they were of no use in battle, directly or indirectly, so their grade was F and they were not well regarded.
"The price dropped because it doesn't sell? How does that make sense?"
Geon-mu could not understand it, but to anyone else it was Geon-mu who would be beyond understanding.
Spending coins on spices, as Geon-mu was doing, was a luxury among luxuries.
To Geon-mu, who had little interest in weapons and equipment, it was a market that made no sense.
"If it's cheap, all the better for me."
Geon-mu took out the frying pan he had brought.
He began to cook a steak.
Steak seasoned with pepper and salt, seared through in one go over high heat!
"......."
The result was a single lump of coal.
Even if the look of it was garbage, surely the inside was all right?
He bit off a mouthful to test it.
"PTOOEY!"
Salty, spicy, and bitter.
Geon-mu hurled the lump of charcoal far away.
"This is nearly my first time cooking, so what can I expect?"
He had been so bad at menial work that nobody gave him any, so cooking went without saying.
In the end, his knowledge amounted to what he had picked up over someone's shoulder.
But such failures become the nourishment for moving forward.
Undaunted, Geon-mu slowly learned how to cook.
After two failures, the steak he finally managed on the last attempt was polished off in an instant.
It was a steak large enough to fill a twenty-four-centimeter frying pan on its own, and even so it did not fill him, so only after grilling and eating two more could he be satisfied.
"A pleasant way to fill a stomach."
Geon-mu stroked his belly.
With his appetite settled, Geon-mu faced one problem.
"What am I going to do with all this meat?"
Left out on a low mountain it would draw insects, and once insects came it would rot.
He had no wish to waste top-quality beef he had only just come by.
[<God of Destruction and Creation> points to his own gift.]
"A gift? Ah."
Geon-mu recalled that he had been caught up in the wager with the Goblin King, and opened his wallet.
[Gift]
A gift given by the <God of Destruction and Creation>.
Upon destruction, you acquire the following item.
Subspace Pocket (A) x1
He thought he understood why the god had pointed to his own gift.
Geon-mu used it at once.
[You have destroyed the <Gift>.]
[You have obtained the <Subspace Pocket (A)>.]
[Subspace Pocket]
Type: Equipment Item
Grade: A
When equipped, you become able to touch an independent space.
Goods may be stored and carried within that independent space.
Living things cannot be stored.
Usage: 0%
"To think I would see this here."
Geon-mu looked at the bracelet the <God of Destruction and Creation> had given him and felt a wave of nostalgia.
In the fantasy world it was an item the legendary mages each possessed.
The reason Geon-mu, who had almost no point of contact with magic, had been able to obtain a subspace pocket was that he was the only man on the continent to have killed a dragon.
He had given them faith that he could bring true peace, so they had made one for him out of goodwill.
It felt exactly like the one he had used back then, so his instinct was correct.
"With this I can store all the beef."
Inside a subspace, no creature could get at it, and it was always maintained in the same state, so the meat stayed fresh.
Geon-mu put the beef, the bones, and even the hide inside.
Usage: 12%
It boasted more room than he had imagined.
"Thank you."
[<God of Destruction and Creation> wears a satisfied smile.]
A question suddenly came to him.
His prized forces had been killed, so how could he smile like that?
Geon-mu put even the hobgoblin corpses inside and cleaned the area thoroughly.
He had to stay several more days, so anything that would spoil his sleep had to be cleared away in advance.
Seeing the sun beginning to sink, Geon-mu went back into meditation.
For the moment he trained around internal force rather than physical conditioning or raising stats.
When hunger came he grilled meat and ate, then began meditating again.
A week later, Geon-mu stopped meditating.
"This should do it."
It was time to come down the mountain.