Chapter 4 – Goblin Encounter

The next day arrived.

I wanted to bathe and shower, but I noticed that while the water was fine, the gas supply had been cut off. Moreover, there was no electricity either. It seemed that the utilities were gradually being cut off.

If I really wanted to, I could buy [Hot Water], so it wasn’t a problem. It was the same for hot food as well. But from here on out, life would probably start getting tough for everyone besides me.

“Actually, thinking about it closely, despite there being skills, there are no levels or anything. Does that mean I can’t easily get stronger like in a game?”

If it were like a story, there would be a status, and you would level up by defeating monsters and accumulating experience. By doing so, your stats would increase, and you would eventually be able to fight even stronger monsters.

However, all that existed were skills. No, maybe it was just like that for me.

It was still possible that other people had a proper Status system. Well, I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.

But if only skills existed, I would have to be very good at using them in order to survive.

“…Well, there’s no point in worrying about how it is for other people.”

With this skill, I could live anywhere I wanted. All I needed was to build an environment where I could earn money, and I would be set. The circumstances of this world were somewhat of a blessing in disguise since the value of having money would probably diminish greatly. And that’s because businesses themselves will no longer be functioning,

Those who leisurely set up stores and do business would slowly begin to disappear over time. Rather, the stores might even become hunting grounds targeted by people who have lost their sense of reason and plunder in order to survive.

It might still be okay now, but when the means for self-sufficiency eventually disappear, the world will become even more desolate. Humans will have to be wary of not only monsters, but also of other humans.

This world was headed towards an apocalypse.

And when that happened, money would lose even more of its value, and my skill would shine even brighter. It wasn’t just money. It was highly likely that goods themselves would become priceless. At such a time, I would become rich by acquiring and selling those things.

“I wonder if it’s finally time for me to be rewarded for how my life has been going so far.”

If that was the case, I could only thank God for giving me this skill.

“Anyway, what should I do today? I want to get some first experience with defeating monsters.”

Of course, I meant against weak monsters. It would be better to gain experience now for the sake of the future. There were some things I wanted to try out.

“…Let’s go out for a bit and see what’s going on out there.”

It was now 10 o’clock in the morning. At this time I would usually be at school getting bullied, but I was glad that I no longer had to endure such depressing times anymore.

I opened <Box>, took out the [Accelerator Shoes], and put them on. The shoes were gray and had no laces, but they were apparently made so that they would always fit as soon as they were equipped.

I had bought a belt holder for the knives, so I carried both knives on either side of my waist. The [Killer Knife] was at my right, and the [Acid Knife] was at my left.

With that, I was ready. I put on my favorite red cap that I always wore when going out and left through the front door.

It was strangely quiet outside. Usually when I went outside, there would be some housewives chatting and gossiping somewhere, but I didn’t hear any voices at the moment.

After walking a little further, I suddenly smelled the scent of blood wafting through the air. It seemed to be coming from a house just up ahead.

I approached the house to check it out. When I placed my hand on the wall and peeked my head around the corner, I was met with a shocking sight.

It was a regular garden courtyard, but the scene before me was incredibly gruesome. There was a man lying on the ground with his head cut off, and beside him were the sorry remains of what I could only guess was a dog.

The entire yard had been dyed red, and I finally discovered the identity of the perpetrator. A goblin-like monster similar to the one I had seen at school lumbered out onto the porch. In its hands was a dagger, stained crimson with blood.

I pulled something out of my pocket.

It was a monocle. Of course it could be used ordinarily for seeing things at a distance, but this was no ordinary item. It was a fantasy item called [Appraisal Looking-Glass] that appraised the target captured in the monocle’s field of vision.

It could show the name and other information about the monster, so I had bought it for intelligence-gathering purposes.

Goblin. Rank F, which was the lowest. Weak to fire and poison.

It could even discover things like the special characteristics of the monster and so on. This was one of the things I’d wanted to try out during this time’s excursion.

As I expected, it’s a goblin. But the lowest rank, Rank F, huh?

Even despite that, they were strong enough to kill ordinary people like this. It was still possible for an ordinary person to defeat them, but they would have to be prepared to a certain extent.

But then again…

Another one appeared on the porch, and the goblins seemed to be having some kind of conversation with each other. With multiple suddenly showing up at once like this, it would be impossible for most people to be able to deal with them.

Perhaps the house itself had most likely been transformed into a dungeon? It was strange that there were no goblins in other houses, but only here. In other words, for monsters to appear, a certain fixed territory had to be transformed into a dungeon. In that case, if all the monsters were defeated, would the dungeonization be lifted…?

One goblin went back into the room, and the other stepped down into the yard to eat dead human flesh.

Ugh… it’s not great to watch.

“…..Alright, let’s give it a try.”

I picked up a pebble and threw it at the goblin that was eating. When the pebble hit the goblin’s head, it turned to look at me. I stuck out a hand and started beckoning it over while making a ch-ch-ch sound. Then, when I heard footsteps coming towards the gate entrance, I withdrew my hand and ducked into a side street.

Coming from the inside of the property, the goblin scurried out into the street and looked around.

…I see. So you can leave the area.

I had thought that they couldn’t leave the dungeonized area, but that didn’t appear to be the case. This only made things more dangerous, since it meant that once monsters spawned from a dungeonized area, they could easily waltz on out into the outside world.