I stared at the Goblin Great Chief.
It was looking at me too. Its gaze was completely different from an ordinary Goblin's. There was intelligence in those eyes. The eyes of a predator looking at prey.
Goosebumps rose over my skin, but I had no intention of backing down.
'It's bigger than an Orc. But I can fight it.'
I had faced five Orcs on the Primitive Planet. This situation was no worse than that one. At least I was not alone.
"I'll fight too."
I spoke to the guide.
The guide turned her head. Our eyes met. She looked surprised.
"This is your first Dungeon......."
Her voice trailed off. You want to fight an E-grade boss in your first Dungeon? That was probably what she meant.
I said nothing. I simply looked the guide straight in the eye.
The guide studied my face, as if checking whether I was trembling or merely bluffing.
Silence passed for a moment.
"...All right."
The guide nodded. She seemed to have read something in my eyes.
"What about those two?"
I glanced behind me. Han Dongmin and Choi Yuna were pressed against the wall, trembling. They were in no condition to join the fight.
"Don't worry about them. The two of us will have to do this."
The guide continued quickly, her eyes fixed on the Great Chief.
"The Goblin Great Chief is different from an ordinary Goblin. It's highly intelligent, so feints rarely fool it, and its patterns are irregular."
"What are its weaknesses?"
"The nape of its neck. That's the only place without thick muscle. But you can never target it from the front. The creature isn't stupid."
The nape of its neck. I committed that to memory.
"And watch out when it throws its club. If that hits you, it's over."
"Understood."
I thought for a moment. The guide would tank it while I moved around behind. It was similar to our formation during the Orc hunt.
"I'll circle behind and look for an opening. Please hold it in place from the front."
The guide looked at me. Then the corner of her mouth rose slightly.
"You're calm. Good. Watch for the right moment, then move. Don't overdo it."
"Okay."
I gripped the spear tightly. Sweat beaded on my palms, but they did not tremble.
Spearmanship LV.1. Weak Point Detection. Consecutive Thrusts... I had enough cards to play.
"Grrrrr..."
The Great Chief slowly rose. Its enormous 3-meter body towered over us. It rested its club on one shoulder and grinned, baring its teeth.
It was clearly mocking us. Were only two of us really daring to challenge it? That was probably what it meant.
'Laugh while you can.'
The guide raised her shield in front of her. I began moving off to the side.
The battle began.
Silence.
1 second.
2 seconds.
TAP—!
The guide moved first. A charge, shield forward.
CRASH—!
It collided with the club. A deafening crash. The shock wave slapped my cheek.
"Urgh!"
The guide was driven back, but she held firm.
I moved to the side. Slowly. My eyes remained fixed on the Great Chief.
DING!
[Weak Point Detection Activated]
My vision changed in an instant. Red points appeared on the Great Chief's body. One on the nape of its neck.
And.
'...What?'
There was another point on the right side of its chest. Its heart? Why was it on the right instead of the left?
'The guide doesn't know.'
She had only mentioned the nape of its neck. This was information known only to me.
A plan formed.
'I'll pretend to target its neck, then stab it in the right side of its chest.'
The creature was intelligent. It would read my gaze. I would use that against it.
CRASH—! CRASH—!
The guide fought desperately. Her sword flashed. She targeted its arm. Blocked. She thrust again. Blocked once more.
A crack formed in her shield.
"Urgh...!"
The guide's arm began to tremble. She was nearing her limit.
'Not yet. Wait.'
"GRRRAAAAAH!"
The Great Chief roared. The cavern rang.
BOOM—!
The club slammed down. The guide's shield shattered.
"Guh...!"
The guide flew through the air. She struck the wall and spat blood.
"Grrrr..."
The Great Chief approached the fallen guide. It raised its club, ready to finish her off.
She would die.
She would die if this continued.
'Now!'
I kicked off the ground.
TAP—!
My body rose. 2 meters. 3 meters. Into the air.
I raised my spear in a Javelin Throwing stance.
I aimed at its neck. Deliberately. Staring straight at it.
"Grrr?"
The Great Chief turned its head. Our eyes met. Golden irises.
It read my gaze.
Just as I expected.
It wrapped its left hand around the nape of its neck. The instinct to protect its weak point.
An opening.
At the same time, the right side of its chest was exposed. It must have thought my puny spear was nothing as long as it did not hit a weak point.
'Got you.'
I swung my arm.
WHOOSH—!
The spear flew. Not at its neck. I had known where I was aiming from the very beginning.
The Great Chief's eyes widened. 'Tricked.' Was that what went through its mind?
Too late.
THUNK—!
The right side of its chest. Pierced through. The spearhead burst out of its back.
"Grr... urk..."
Black blood poured out. The club fell. So it really was the heart? Had no one known about the weak point because it was in a different position?
THUD.
The enormous body dropped to its knees.
I landed. My knees buckled. I held on.
I looked up, breathing hard.
The Great Chief looked at me too. The light was fading from its golden eyes.
"Grrr..."
It toppled forward.
BOOM—!
The floor shook. Dust billowed upward.
Silence.
'...I did it.'
My heart pounded wildly. My hands trembled.
But at the same time, an irrepressible smile spread across my face.
STEP. STEP.
Footsteps. The guide approached.
There was blood around her mouth, but her expression was bright.
"You made that much easier."
She spoke with a smile, then stared intently at me.
"By any chance... what did you do before this?"
"Pardon?"
"Before you entered a Dungeon. Were you a soldier? A martial artist?"
"No."
I shook my head.
"I was just a convenience-store clerk."
"......."
The guide was briefly lost for words.
"Really?"
"Yes."
The guide pointed behind us.
Han Dongmin and Choi Yuna. The two were still pressed against the wall, trembling, even though the battle was over.
"That's how an ordinary person reacts."
The guide spoke.
"Freezing like that when you see an E-grade boss in your first Dungeon is normal."
She looked at me again.
"But you, Junhyeok... I think you'll climb even higher than me."
"Thank you."
The guide rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a business card.
"Call me later if you ever need anything."
I accepted it. 'Park Jeongsu. D-grade Hunter. Guide specialist.'
"Even though I'm only D-grade."
She scratched her head and smiled.
"Thank you. I truly mean it."
Without her today, things could have gone terribly wrong.
The guide nodded and walked over to the Great Chief's corpse.
"I'll finish this."
THUNK.
Her dagger sank into its chest.
VWOOOOOM.
The corpse began to glow. Green light. The 3-meter body slowly melted away. Its flesh vanished. Its bones crumbled. It became dust.
And at its center.
A single red gem remained.
A magic stone.
It was the size of a fist. Light swirled inside it.
The guide picked it up and tossed it to me.
"This should fetch a decent amount. It's an E-grade magic stone."
"You're giving it to me?"
"You're the one who killed it."
"...I'll accept it gratefully."
I took the magic stone. It was heavy. I felt warmth against my palm.
At that moment.
DING!
[Planetary Ruler System]
Boss Defeat Reward
Target: Goblin Great Chief (E-grade)
Method: Weak-point penetration
▸ Points Acquired: +200P
▸ Current Points: 202P
[Available for use in the Point Shop]
'200 points.'
The corners of my mouth rose.
Two hundred points meant four Dimensional Transfers. Or two Physical Enhancements. I could also imprint new techniques on the Primitive Humans.
My options had expanded.
RUMBLE.
One side of the cavern split open. Blue light leaked through the gap.
A portal.
"The exit is open."
The guide helped the other two to their feet. Their legs were still weak.
I looked one last time at the spot where the Great Chief had fallen. Only a black bloodstain remained.
'My first Dungeon clear.'
I gripped the magic stone in my hand. It was warm.
Not a bad start.
***
When I returned home and opened the door, the familiar reek of mold assaulted my nose. My cramped, damp studio apartment. But today, the smell did not seem so bad.
I showered first. Hot water ran over my body. Blood and dust washed away.
After my shower, I lay down on the bed.
DING-DING.
My phone rang.
[Deposit] 4,000,000 won
Sender: Awakened Center Settlement Department
"......."
I rubbed my eyes and looked again.
Four million won.
It was real.
'Four million from one Dungeon run?'
It was more than I could make working at a convenience store for an entire month. I had earned it in just a few hours.
Of course, it was only this much because the magic stone was E-grade. An ordinary F-grade Dungeon would have paid far less. The Dungeon mutation had actually worked in my favor.
'What should I do with this money?'
I thought for a moment.
Equipment? It was still too soon. Anything worthwhile cost tens of millions of won.
Move somewhere else? It was not urgent.
'I'll save it.'
I had no immediate use for it. It would be better to keep it until I needed a large sum later.
I put down my phone.
Something else was more important.
'Points.'
The moment I thought of them, a window appeared before me.
[Planetary Ruler System]
Point Shop
Current Points: 202P
━━ Planet Support ━━
▸ Dimensional Transfer (1 use): 50P
▸ Blessing: Increased Hunting Success Rate (24 hours): 20P
▸ Blessing: Accelerated Injury Recovery (24 hours): 30P
▸ Knowledge Imprinting (Basic Technology): 40P
━━ Ruler Enhancement ━━
▸ Spearmanship LV.2: 80P
▸ Physical Enhancement LV.3: 80P
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
200 points.
Should I invest in myself? Level up Spearmanship? Physical Enhancement? My combat power would rise immediately.
But.
'No.'
I placed a hand on my chest. THUMP. THUMP. I could feel 100 lives beyond my heart.
I had learned something from playing the game thousands of times.
There was a limit to how strong the Ruler alone could become in the early stages. The race had to develop before true strength emerged. Once more Awakened appeared and civilization grew, their power would begin to increase explosively.
Now was the time to sow seeds.
'I'll invest all of it in Knowledge Imprinting.'
40 points × 5. Exactly 200 points.
I selected Knowledge Imprinting five times.
[Knowledge Imprinting (5 uses)]
200P will be consumed.
Techniques suitable for the current stage of civilization will be transmitted.
'Confirm.'
VWOOM!
My heart grew hot. It felt as though energy was draining away. Something flowed out from deep within my chest.
Far away. Toward the planet inside my heart.
DING!
[Knowledge Propagation Complete]
New knowledge has been transmitted to the Primitive Humans.
Transmitted techniques:
▸ Agriculture (Seed cultivation, harvesting) ✓
▸ Animal Husbandry (Animal domestication) ✓
▸ Pottery (Storage/cooking) ✓
▸ Bow and Arrow (Long-range hunting) ✓
▸ Basic Construction (Expanded shelter) ✓
Civilization Stage: Primitive → Early Tribe
Estimated Development Speed: ▲▲ Accelerated
'Done.'
A smile spread across my face.
The system had automatically selected the techniques needed to advance from the current stage of civilization.
Agriculture. Animal husbandry. Pottery. Bows. Construction.
All of them had been essential to the development of early civilization in the game too. The system had made the optimal choices.
Now the Primitive Humans would leave the cave. They would build houses, cultivate fields, and raise animals. They would shoot bows and fire pottery.
This was the beginning of civilization.