Chapter 157: Be A God (3)

[You have purchased Prey Search.]

[You have used 5 species points!]

[You now have 865 species points.]

I bit into a cow's skin. Actually, it looked nothing like a cow and had thorns on its back like a hedgehog, but there was a reason I called it a cow.

Mooooooo!

It cried just like a cow.

Moooo! Mooooooo!

The animal screamed helplessly, struggling and fighting back until its demise, but it was all in vain. It was powerless against my teeth and claws, and most of all, the goblins’ bamboo spears.

Thump!

The cow eventually collapsed. The goblins who were on the hunt with me stamped their feet with excitement.

“

Kirrrrr! Ke!

”

“

Kereuk, kekegor, gorreuk!

”

[Successful hunt!]

[Your species has acquired a perfect understanding of this animal.]

[You can no longer gain species points by hunting its kind.]

[Your species has reached the maximum level in hunting experience.]

[You can no longer gain species points by hunting.]

Tsk, I guess we’re done with hunting now.

—Zombie... Let's leave already... Please... You did everything you could here...

Okay, now let's go foraging!

—Shit!

[You can no longer gain species points by foraging.]

After days spent foraging, the goblins started using red or green mud to mark themselves with crudely flashy drawings. For some reason, even their body odor diminished. I didn’t know if this was the mud or the power of the Primordial Fashionista trait, but I could finally say goodbye to the stench that evoked a blend of soybean paste stew and midsummer sewers.

That wasn’t all.

[Terras have become experts in foraging and hunting!]

[Their fear of large animals has faded.]

[You have received 50 species points.]

[You now have 1015 species points..]

“

Gor.

”

I wagged my tail in satisfaction.

Good. Now I've done almost everything I could for them.

The goblins started playing with mud. They could form groups and hunt large animals, so they were very ahead in the species race. The foundation for the great goblin civilization was now ready.

There are no more species points I can gain.

It looked like my colleagues were in a similar situation.

[The Viper, leading Skians, has cleared the stage!]

[The Sword Star, leading Purens, has cleared the stage!]

More and more of my colleagues cleared the stage and left. The Viper, who ruled over the dokkaebi, was the first. The Sword Star was next. The rest of my colleagues would be wrapping up the stage one by one.

Still, I felt somewhat sad.

Ah... If possible, I also want to teach them things like letters and aura...

—What’s the problem? Just go ahead and do it.

The problem is that I can’t, even if I want to.

A sigh escaped from my lion snout as I read through the Civilization Store. It had almost every possible item available, including what I wanted the goblins to have. The problem was that it was unattainable.

Item search: letters.

The item window soon showed up.

Letters.

Description: The species will invent their writing system. Leaving written records is much more effective than relying on oral tradition! Unlike fleeting voices, letters endure through time.

Cost: 4,500 species points

※ Purens inherently have this skill.

Shit. The price is crazy...

The total of the points I had was 1,015. I had spent some here and there for hunting and other things, but even if I had saved up all of them, it wouldn't have been enough to purchase this. Yet Purens had it by default. The system was so broken.

The Guardian chuckled.

—It's your fault for choosing goblins. Heh.

Purens weren’t the only ones with a bonus. Actually, they were a species with few bonuses. Sylvans, the elves ruled by the Countess, had Mana Sensory and Aura Sensory from the beginning. Both skills cost 6,200 points.

Once again, I realized how mid goblins were.

Of course, I believe they will shine and crush both humans and elves, but I feel sorry for them.

—I think the one you should feel sorry for is yourself, Zombie.

I don’t care about the other skills, but I want my guys to have at least a writing system. Is there really no way to collect 4,500 points...?

[The Paladin, leading Fingills, has cleared the stage!]

Even the Paladin cleared the stage. There were only three of us left on the thirty-first floor: The Inquisitor who ruled over Shellmounts, the Black Witch with her Bloodborns, and me.

I stopped contemplating.

That's it. I’ll forget about purchasing Letter using orthodox methods.

—Huh?

Even if I accumulate 4,500 points, I can't buy it because it's a waste. I can't pour all these precious points into one item. And since when did I start using orthodox methods? I always weaseled.

—What are you talking about?

I can teach them how to write myself!

From that day on, I started my challenging fight with the goblins.

“

Grrrr, gor. Ah. Kerr, ah.

”

Guys, pay close attention. A. This is A.

With my claw, I drew the letter A on the ground. I made it big in case they missed it, but the goblins gathered around me just tilted their heads in confusion.

“

Keeeeerrrr?

”

“

Kekerukker?

”

As expected, they didn’t understand a thing, but I wasn’t the type to ever give up.

“

Gorrr! Gaa, ah, ker, ah!

”

Look! A, A, this is A!

I growled and pushed the goblins as if I was a teacher. They flinched in surprise.

“

Gar... ... ?

”

“

Gor, gor?

”

The goblins got up and walked away.

[The Terras are afraid of you.]

[The Terras are confused because they are unable to understand you.]

After a while, the goblins quietly brought me some of the cow they had caught this morning. It was well-grilled, so it was easy to eat.

“

Kekerukker...!

”

The goblins bowed on the ground and cried.

[The Terras brought you this to appease your wrath.]

“

Krrrrr! Gaah! ah, kar!

”

Are you serious? Do you think I’m angry at you because I want to eat meat? That isn’t what Mommy wants! I’m just trying to give you a headstart for your future, why can't you understand that? If you keep gorring and playing all the time, the elves and humans next door will hunt you down and turn you into goblin toast. Is that what you want to become? The elves’ walking experience point bags?

“Ker, kerrrr...”

I didn't give up and tried teaching letters, but it was a huge failure. The goblins couldn't even learn the letters A, B, and C. They somehow memorized A, but they were like, “What in the world is this?”, “I don’t know...”, and “I don’t know why we have to do this...”

They became noticeably discouraged. This was the first time I encountered a challenge while leading the goblins.

Is it really impossible for them to learn the alphabet because of their default intelligence? Weird. I remember that, when the Fire Emperor reached the thirty-third floor with the elves, the goblins could also write... Are the goblins too dumb because it’s too early for their brains to develop...? I don’t think so...

I was deep in thought.

If I teach them letters this way, it’s obvious that they’ll forget them soon.

The goblins had to realize the benefits of learning an alphabet. Otherwise, even if I managed to teach them the letters one by one, they would all be forgotten in less than a generation. How could I give meaning to these letters?

Huh? Wait a minute.

An idea occurred to me.

Just because I’m trying to teach them how to write, that doesn’t mean I have to use an actual alphabet.

Yes, just because I was teaching the alphabet, that didn’t mean I had to teach them the letters one by one! I jumped up and roared.

“

Krrrrrr!

”

Gather around!

The goblins gave up on eating the meat and gathered around me hesitantly. Everyone's ears were down like downcast puppies. Perhaps their facial expressions meant to communicate “Is he going to do something strange again?”, “

Ugh,

I don’t like this.”, “It would be nice if he covered us with mud like usual.” In short, they were sulking a bit.

“

Krrrr. Keeerr... Kekerukker, Gor, Ke.

”

Now, now, it’s okay. You know I like you guys, right?

I put mud on my front paw and spread it on the goblins, tickling them. The goblins stopped sulking. Instead, the outline of a smile appeared on their faces.

“

Gorrrrrr.

”

“

Kerr, ker!

”

These guys easily sulked, but they also easily forgot why they were sulky in the first place. My brilliant mud-smearing skill melted the goblins' hearts. After the awkward tension went away somewhat, I showed some letters to the goblins.

However, the characters were slightly different from before. I drew something with my claw: ■, a square which I filled in. Then, I balled up the mud and piled it next to the ■.

“

Gorrrrrr.

”

Look, guys. This is mud. Mud. Muuuud. Do you understand?

“

Kerrrrrr...?

”

The goblins looked around confused, not really understanding what I was showing them. However, I didn't mind and decided to take my time.

Days passed. Every time I applied mud to the goblins, I drew a ■ on the ground.

That wasn't all. Whenever I had time, I marked the goblins’ bodies with symbols.

This is daytime. The sky is bright.

○.

It is night now. The sky is dark.

●.

That's the sun. Isn’t it dazzling?

☆.

This is the moon.

★.

This is water. Water. Small river.

~.

What if the water is a little deep?

~~.

What if the water is very deep?

~~~.

“

Kerrr...

”

“

Keruk? Ker, ke?

”

The goblins were confused at first but slowly began to understand my drawings. They didn’t understand or accept why A meant A but they managed to understand that ■ meant mud. My initial approach had not been the right one.

Okay. They still had a lot to learn. The world is wide.

There wasn’t much that goblins knew about the world. Despite how vast it was, what goblins saw, felt, smelled, and heard was really only a handful of it.

“

Keruk.

”

Sky.

“

Kerruk.

”

Earth.

“

Ker.

”

Meat.

“

Ke.

”

Water.

The goblins saw something blue stretching above their heads. What they were standing on was hard but sometimes soft. The scent of the centipede meat getting cooked was pleasant. They heard the quiet splashing sound of something that felt refreshing when they drank it and good when they jumped into it.

“

Gor!

”

This was the sound they made when they were happy.

“

Kerrrr...

”

And this was the sound they made when they disliked something. In the goblins’ words, they could only describe six different things. Only six. This was enough to describe their world. Six drawings rather than dozens of letters made up the alphabet the goblins needed now.

Swoosh—!

One day, it rained. While the goblins played and washed themselves in the rain, I showed them certain symbols.

Water.

~.

Black sky.

●.

Water falling from the black sky.

●~.

Rain.

I looked up and pointed to the rain pouring down. The goblins followed my gaze and glanced over at the rainwater.

Rain.

After who knew how long, the goblins spoke up.

“

Kerukke?

”

“

Kerukke. Kerukke.

”

The goblins pointed to the rain and imitated the ●~ symbol I had drawn on the ground.

“

Kerukke!

”

Rain.

The goblins looked at me as if asking if they were doing it right. I nodded, satisfied with their efforts.

“

Gor.

”

Good.

[Terras have discovered a writing system!]

[Terras have gained a new trait:

Legacy of Record

!]

Legacy of Records

Grade: E (A)

Effect: Terras have realized the endless possibilities of symbols! Their drawings don’t just look cool but can also be used to express aspects from the world.

“○.” This means sky to Terras.

“■.” This means mud and earth to Terras.

“○■.” Hence, this means sky and earth to Terras. In other words, this is how Terras describe their world.

From now on, Terras will develop their logograms. They will leave behind drawings of what they love, and their texts will describe their lives.

May luck be with them.

※This trait may change depending on how history unfolds.

What? I only taught them a few symbols, but I was very moved.

“

Kerukke, Kerukke!

”

“

Kerukkerreuk!

”

The goblins were busy drawing. I felt strangely sad, happy, and somehow lonely. Was I really happy? Or just proud of them? I couldn’t really describe what I was feeling.

[The Black Witch, leading Bloodborns, has cleared the stage!]

After fifteen days, even the Black Witch cleared the stage. Now only the Inquisitor and I were left on the thirty-first floor.

It looks like the Inquisitor is also taking his time teaching his people something.

In the meantime, I taught the goblins numbers. At first, I tried to teach Arabic numerals, but the goblins couldn't understand them at all, so I compromised and taught them Roman numerals.

Ⅰ. Ⅱ. Ⅲ. Perhaps because it was simply made of lines, even the goblins understood Roman numerals.

Though I really wanted to teach them the four basic arithmetic operations...

These guys don't understand concepts such as subtraction...

After all, they were goblins. They didn't understand that numbers greater than six existed. Well, I guess I was expecting too much from them at this point.

I've taught everything there is to teach. Right?

𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

—Yeah, I think so.

I nodded.

It’s time for me to leave too.

On that night, I slipped out of the settlement when the goblins were all asleep. They would be very sad after they found out I was gone. However, I couldn’t leave a lion among them before I headed onto the next stage because it could attack them.

“

Krrr, gorrr..

”

Goodbye, guys.

I licked a young goblin's forehead. The young goblin was asleep, unaware of the world around him. “

Gorrr...

”

You’re adorable.

I got as far away as possible from the goblin settlement Goru. Time passed, and darkness fell, only the buzzing of insects and the distant pitiful cries of goblins could be heard.

“

Kekeruk... Ker....

”

It seemed as if they already noticed that I was gone. The goblins were crying out my name, Kekerukker. I quickly disappeared into the darkness without looking back.

Live well! Become great goblins! Let’s meet again! I cleared the stage!

The Tower responded.

[The stage has been cleared!]

[The quest is still in progress.]

[You are going to be immediately teleported to the thirty-second floor]

[Your reward will be given after you enter the thirty-second floor.]

Swoosh!

White light enveloped me.