บท 154: Soaring. (3)
4.
Naturally, I was the only person in the room who had their eye on the Dokkaebi Race—, or Goblins. The others all looked over the list and reacted in different ways.
"Dragons can be considered the pinnacle race. So I'm sure this Dragon Sub Race is the best on the list."
"Look at the picture. They look just like Dragons. Would you be able to communicate with them?"
"There are many intelligent races…."
"Ah, that's true. Hmm."
The Count eagerly perused the list. It was almost as though she was looking for the freshest apple in an open air market, On the other hand, the Black Dragon Master furrowed her eyebrows slightly, and the Heretic Questionner's eyes twinkled.
"My Lady! I have a question!"
"Mm, I like students who are good at asking questions. It gives me a chance to show off. Heretic. I'm happy that you're willing to help me show off."
"Can our Tower only pick one race?"
"Good question."
The Lady smiled brightly and rubbed her face against her pillow.
"But that is also your choice."
"Oh? What do you mean 'our choice'?"
"I'll now give a little something to the top seven."
Srrk.
A holographic window appeared in front of me.
[The Lady Who Walks Through the Mirage sponsors you by giving a start-up subsidy.]
[You've received 700 race points!]
[You currently have 700 race points.]
This wasn't a reward that I had known about before I returned.
And as the Lady said, it was a privilege that was only granted to the top seven hunters. It was something that I wouldn't have even been able to dream of in the past, back when I didn't even have a title.
"Now, it's time for Swordy, our number one, to choose!"
Of course, to be precise, it was a reward that we 'may receive,' not one that we had already received.
"There are a total of ten disasters that will occur from the 31st to the 40th floors. Every single one of these disasters will be devastating! Your main goal is to survive those disasters and help your civilization prosper. That's why you'll need to make a choice… Will you put it all in one place? Or will you distribute it?"
"Put it all in one place?"
The number one hunter, the Sword Saint, frowned slightly at the strange phrase.
"What do you mean?"
"It's exactly as it sounds. You can choose to spend all 700 points on a single race. Or each of you from 1st to 7th can choose a race. In that case, you would use 100 points on each."
The Lady chuckled slightly.
"Naturally, if you chose to put all 700 points into a single race, there would be much to gain. You would have a much better start. However, the risk also increases. If that race is destroyed, then you will all be destroyed with it. On the other hand-."
"If we each pick a race, the risk would be spread out among us. Even if one race perishes, the other six would still have a chance." (TL: The author put 'five' here, which I'll assume was just a brainfart)
"Mhm! You caught on quickly."
"..."
The Sword Saint tapped his chin. The old man's eyes narrowed.
In the past, the Flame Emperor, who was ranked one, had probably chosen 'all in one' without any hesitation. Then, he controlled the Elf Race as he pleased. The opinions of the other rankers and guild leaders were all completely ignored.
But the Sword Saint was different.
"…Evolution is the art of diversity and chance."
The Sword Saint was a wise adult.
"The changes that a race undergoes in the wild are limitless. In order to survive in a brutal world, diversity is one of the first things that must be achieved. I don't know how valuable 700 points are, but I don't think it's worth more than 7 races."
"Heh."
"We'll choose to 'distribute,' my Lady."
The Lady looked like she was having a lot of fun at that moment.
"Are you sure? If you pick 7 different races, you will be able to fight among yourselves. It's possible that someone could stab someone else in the back."
"If you look at the big picture, fighting is just a part of the competition."
The Sword Saint spoke calmly.
"Those without rivals will eventually fall."
As he said that, the old man turned to look at me. No words were spoken, but I understood the message hidden in his eyes. The sword fight we just had. It was still vivid in our heads.
I nodded
"Mm."
The Sword Saint also nodded his head.
"I'll say it again. Our Tower chooses to distribute the points."
"Good!"
[The Lady Who Walks Through the Mirage welcomes your choice.]
"Then, each of you from 1st to 7th will be able to choose a race to rule! Ah. By the way, guys, you are not allowed to select one race multiple times. This means that if someone selects a race, no one else can choose it."
The Lady then sat on one of the chairs in the cafe. Without any of us realising he'd disappeared, Hamustra returned with a coffee. As she took a sip of a smoothie that was filled with chocolate chips, the Lady winked at us.
"Take your time! It's fine even if you want to deliberate for 120 years. There's no specific time limit for selecting a race."
There wasn't a need to think that much about it.
The number one hunter, The Sword Saint, was the first to make his selection.
"I choose the Pure Race."
"Ahhh…"
Sad sighs flowed from different parts of the room. The Pure Race. They were similar to humans like us. Although they didn't have any special traits, we would be more familiar with them than any other race. There must have been a lot of hunters who wanted them as well.
"Well, that's a good choice. What will you choose, Death King?"
The Lady turned to me.
The hunters in the room also turned to look at me.
Everyone was looking forward to what I'd choose.
-Zombieee….
Bae Huryeong pulled at his hair.
-I'd rather you picked something else, Zombie. Huh. Even actual zombies would be better. What about Elves? They have good potential. They look good, have a long lifespan, and have fairly high magic power too. Let's go with Elves. Yeah? Elf.
I spoke in a solemn tone.
"I choose the Dokkaebi Race."
-Aaaagh! You psycho! Nutcase! Crazy bastard!!
Bae Huryeong cried out as he rolled around in the air.
Below him, all of the hunters in the room made a '?' expression in unison.
"Dokkaebi Race?"
The Black Dragon Master decided to be the group's representative.
"What's that?"
"If you look at the list, it is entry number 103."
"Huh? 103? 103…"
My companions all began to look through the list. And after scrolling for a while…
"..."
Everyone became quiet.
"Huh…?"
The Black Dragon Master rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand.
Did she think that she'd read something incorrectly?
But she was fine. We were all the same. She saw what I saw, and I saw what she saw.
+
[Dokkaebi Race]
Extinction Grade: A (Very Dangerous)
Proverb: 'Keruk! Goruk!'
Description: A race with every ability spanning across the lower ranks. In a word, they could be said to have low rank compatibility. They have less intelligence than the Pure Race, less combat power than the Noble Race, and less magic power than the Bloodsucking Race! It's amazing! No matter what field you choose, you will find that the Dokkaebi Race is extremely compatible.
From the perspective of most races, the Dokkaebi Race is not pretty. It is a race that completely lacks beauty. That is the best way to describe the Dokkaebi Race. All races, from the Pure Race to the Dokkaebi Race themselves, consider Dokkaebis as 'ugly.'
Ugly!
A little too ugly!
Traits: [Victims of racial discrimination], [Tribal consciousness], [Greed]
+
A group of images floated beside the description.
And no matter how they looked at it, they couldn't see these creatures as anything but goblins.
"Uh, uh…"
The Black Dragon Master gave a rare stutter.
"Death King?"
"Yeah."
"Aren't these goblins? It even says so in the aliases."
"Right. They're goblins."
"…are you insane?"
"Huhu."
I chuckled slightly at those words. The Black Dragon Master was looking at me like I was crazy. In fact, it wasn't just the Black Dragon Master. The other hunters were looking at me in the same way. How could these little crow-tits understand the greatness of a roc? (1)
"Everyone."
I solemnly put my palms together like a lonely saint.
"The goblins, the Dokkaebi Race, is the greatest race in the world."
The Black Dragon Master's expression darkened a bit.
"Death King… you poor thing… I'm so sorry. Did I give you too much work to do lately? I'll be more considerate in the future. How about we cancel all the interviews for this month?"
"Listen closely. Everyone."
I began to preach about the greatness of goblins.
"Let's take a look at the description first. It says [No matter what field you choose, you will find that the Dokkaebi Race is extremely compatible]. Doesn't it?"
"Mhm."
"In other words, their low rank compatibility can be demonstrated in any field. Whether it's intelligence or a case where the use of magic power is necessary, even if they might not be the best, they would be able to respond to any crisis."
"Uh…"
The expressions of my fellow hunters became a bit strange.
It was as though they wanted to ask, 'Is it really okay to look at it like that?'.
"More importantly, they are so pathetic. See? Every race thinks goblins are ugly. Even the description belittled them for being ugly. I… feel like no one else like these children…."
I smiled sadly.
"Children who are persecuted and ignored by everyone. Who are unwanted. Doesn't that feel like the people here in our Tower?"
"...."
"That's right. The goblins are basically our self portraits. It's not that the goblins are really ugly but that our hearts instinctively ignore the goblins… Ah, everyone. I'm sad. We all have the hearts of goblins. In other words, there is an ugly goblin inside every one of us…."
The expressions of the hunters became even stranger.
Their faces seemed to be asking, 'Has this guy finally gone mad?'.
Without being swept into their atmosphere of disbelief, I spoke firmly.
"The Goblins will soar."
"..."
"They'll definitely soar."
"......"
"Don't you think they'll soar? I'm a prophet, okay? Do you not believe me?"
"Ah. Fine. Fine. Do what you want."
My extraordinary momentum made the Black Dragon Master retreat. For some reason, I felt like she was trying to make as much distance between us as possible, but it might have just been my imagination. After all, my friendship with the Black Dragon Master was strong. Of course.
"Ahahahaha!"
[The Lady Who Walks Through the Mirage] laughed heartily.
"R-, right. Fine. So you will be choosing the goblins, Death King?"
"Yes. My heart is pure without even a sliver of doubt."
"Ahh. As I expected. You are so… No. Nevermind. Let's move on."
The race selection continued up to the 7th-place ranker.
The list of our choices was as follows.
+
1st. Sword Saint: Pure Race
– Representative Title – Human
2nd. Death King: Dokkaebi Race.
– Representative Title – Goblin.
3rd. Black Dragon Master: Bloodsucking Race
– Representative Title – Vampire.
4th. Heretic Questionner: Snail Race.
– Representative Title – Slug
5th. Count: Fairy Race.
– Representative Title – Elf.
6th. Venomous Snake: Noble Race.
– Representative Title – Sprite.
7th. Crusader: Ocean Race.
– Representative Title – Mermaid.
+
Crusader, who had been 9th for a while, had risen quickly in the past two months and managed to get to 7th place. Because of this, she had suffered a lot during the reorganization of the African soldiers. But it was also because of this that she was able to participate in this stage.
"Mm. That's it. Now, each of you will get 100 points…."
[The Lady Who Walks Through the Mirage has distributed the subsidy.]
[You have received 100 race points!]
[You currently have 100 race points.]
The Lady put her glass down on the table.
"Shall we get started on the 31st floor?"
Paaht!
Just as the Lady's glass tapped against the table, we were all surrounded by a bright light. A short moment passed.
When I opened my eyes again, I found myself above a primeval forest.
"This is…."
"It's a world where your chosen races live in peace. Look down there."
When I looked down, I saw a bunch of small creatures moving around in the forest. Each race lived in their own separate tribe, and they were all at a primitive level.
"Ohh. The Snails live in swamps!"
"How interesting… The Vampires live in caves."
We all looked around at the different settlements like people visiting a museum.
Was this what an omniscient third-person perspective was like?
We could zoom in and out as we pleased. We even went down and wandered among the primitive members of our races, but they never noticed us.
-Keruk….
-Kerk, ker.
The Dokkaebi people grunted and chirped as they butchered a large centipede with a stone knife. When they took off the centipede's legs and roasted them over the fire, I realised that it smelled strangely like chicken.
-Kerr!
The young goblins devoured the centipede meat as though it was the most delicious thing in the world.
'Centipede chicken?'
Was the giant centipede this world's chicken? If so, then all of the centipede's legs would taste like chicken legs. Just by catching one centipede, you could get dozens of chicken legs.
"The Goblins look so cute like this."
-Are you crazy? Well, you were always crazy….
Bae Huryeong clicked his tongue.
But I fell in love with the sight of these little primitive people living together.
Krrrrr-
Unfortunately, the times of peace were brief.
The towering mountain that stood proudly in the center of the large primeval forest began to shake heavily. It was a volcano. The primitive races might not have been able to see it since they lived under the mountain, but for us, who could see in third person, the lava bubbling within was clearly visible.
"Mm?"
"Oh, no."
My companions were a bit apprehensive.
"This… Isn't this a bit dangerous?"
After a short while, this volcano would erupt. For some reason, we were all able to 'instinctively' realise this fact. The lava would rip through the primeval forest in a savage way, and naturally, the primitive races living within it would be annihilated
At this rate, all seven of the races under our rule would go extinct.
"I'll now give you your quest for the 31st floor!"
The Lady spoke.
"This is the Great Forest of Origin, where many races live in harmony. But as you can see, in a short while, the volcano will erupt and destroy everything!" (TL: Everything changed when the fire nation attacked)
A holographic window appeared in front of our eyes.
[You have received the quest for the 31st floor.]
The text appeared in an instant.
+
[The End of the Golden Era]
Difficulty: E
Mission objective: The end of the golden era has arrived for every race. A volcano is about to erupt in a land where many races and tribes live in harmony. There is no time. You must lead your race to a suitable safe zone!
※However, if you fail to do so, your race will go extinct.
+
Boom!
Almost at the same time as when we received the quest, the first explosion sounded. Lava splashed, and the rocks on the mountain shook. It seemed that these huge boulders could roll over and fall at any moment.
"Uh."
The Black Dragon Master spoke hurriedly.
"Wait a minute. They can't see us or hear our voices. How are we supposed to lead them to the safe zone? Communication in itself is impossible!"
"You're right."
The Lady smiled brightly.
Behind her, boom! Rocks flew into the air. They flew through the sky before landing in the forest below.
-Kirrrr?!
-Keek! Kek!
Even the primitive races were able to detect the abnormality. Some races quickly climbed to the tops of trees and looked at the volcano. The volcano continued to shake, and lava was slowly rising from its crater.
"But you are the guardian constellations of these children. From now on, you will have to take care of them yourself!"
The 31st floor had been opened.
The goblins were panicked and confused.
But I gave them a smile they couldn't see.
'Don't worry. Guys.'
From now on, I will carry you.
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