The Forest of Monsters


    In a goblin tribe that resembled a garbage dump, hundreds of ugly, half-sized goblins gathered in a circle, their greedy eyes fixed on a freshly caught wild boar in the center. Their stomachs growled with hunger, but none dared to rush forward—because standing beside the boar was the towering figure of their chieftain.


    This goblin chieftain was nearly as tall as a human, a veritable giant compared to his one-meter-tall kin. Not only was he tall, but he was also grotesquely obese, his belly swollen with fat—a prime candidate for high blood pressure, cholesterol, and diabetes.


    "Burp!"


    After tearing into the boar and devouring half of it, the chieftain let out a satisfied belch, wobbled to the tribe’s only structure—a shabby thatched hut—and collapsed inside. The moment his thunderous snoring began, it was like a dinner bell ringing. Without their leader’s oppressive presence, the starving goblins lunged at the remaining half of the boar, ripping it apart in a frenzy.


    Soon, nothing was left but a bare skeleton. The goblins, now full, scattered and sprawled wherever they pleased, embodying the philosophy of "eat today, worry about tomorrow later."


    Only when the adults were asleep did the goblin infants crawl out from their hiding spots, desperately licking the mud-stained traces of blood left behind.


    "This is bullshit. I need to find a way out!"


    One particular goblin infant watched his kin gnawing at dirt and felt a surge of frustration. His name was Li Qinwu—a transmigrator from Earth. A week ago, he had been an avid Mount & Blade player, on the verge of conquering the game’s world, when he suddenly dropped dead from exhaustion… only to wake up in this fantasy world as a goblin.


    At first, Li Qinwu was in denial. His despair only deepened when he realized the adult goblins treated their young like trash, abandoning them in the weeds without a second thought. In this untamed wilderness, survival was hard enough for a grown man—let alone a defenseless goblin infant.


    Just as he was about to give up and hope for a quick death, the very Mount & Blade system that had killed him appeared in this world—along with three free attribute points.


    Li Qinwu immediately dumped all three into **Vigor**, a stat that boosted his proficiency with one-handed, two-handed, and polearm weapons—and, as the name implied, his overall vitality. This allowed him to survive the most vulnerable stage of goblin infancy.


    For days, he hid in the undergrowth, surviving on nothing but grass. He observed the tribe closely and noticed something disturbing: while the adults occasionally brought back prey, not a single scrap was spared for the infants.


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    Even worse—there were no female goblins in the tribe.


    "Then where the hell did I come from?"


    His question was answered when he saw the hunting party return with live female animals. The implications horrified him.


    But the real nightmare came when, one day, the hunters returned empty-handed—and turned on their own kind. The weakest goblin infants were the first to be eaten.


    That was when Li Qinwu understood: Goblins were monsters without kinship or loyalty. If he wanted to live, he could rely on no one but himself.


    Now, on his 14th day in this world, Li Qinwu had grown rapidly—goblin maturation was frighteningly fast. He could finally stand and walk.


    Staring at the boar’s skeleton, he picked up a rock and methodically smashed the tusks free.


    "If I sharpen these, I can make four daggers. And if I find a good branch… maybe even a spear."


    His stomach growled violently, a sharp pang of hunger twisting his gut.


    "Damn it! I’m starving!"


    Goblins burned through energy at an alarming rate, and grass alone wasn’t cutting it.


    "Eat first, then make weapons. After that… maybe I can hunt something."


    Just as he was about to leave, his eyes locked onto the boar’s intact leg bone.


    "Marrow. There’s still marrow inside!"


    He smashed the joint with a rock, freeing the leg bone, and dragged it into the forest.


    None of the adult goblins cared—bones were inedible, after all. But a few starving infants had been watching.


    And where there was food, they would follow.


    Unaware of his pursuers, Li Qinwu only wanted to get far enough away to build a fire. The tribe ate everything raw, and he feared drawing attention if they saw him cooking. Plus, if they realized bones held edible marrow, he’d lose his only chance.


    The leg bone was too tough to crack open by force—he needed fire to weaken it first.


    Exhausted and dizzy from low blood sugar, he finally reached a secluded valley. The wind carried the scent away from the tribe, reducing the risk of discovery.


    Collapsing to the ground, he forced himself to chew more grass, fighting off the lightheadedness.


    "Hold on, Li Qinwu. Roasted marrow is coming!"


    Gathering dry branches, he built a small fire pit. Using stolen rope, he crafted a simple bow drill—a trick he’d learned from survival shows.


    As he worked, a notification flashed in his mind:


    [+1 Smithing XP]


    "Huh? Smithing?"


    Opening his Mount & Blade skill panel, he saw his Smithing skill had increased from 0 to 1.


    "Just making a bow drill gives XP?"


    In the game, smithing required using a town’s forge to craft weapons. But here, the system had adapted. His skill tree now included options like Mithril Alloy Crafting and Weapon Enchantment—features absent in the original game.


    A spark of excitement ignited in him.


    "If smithing works… does that mean troop recruitment does too?"


    In Mount & Blade, players could recruit soldiers from villages and towns. If he could figure out how to do that here, he might actually stand a chance in this world.


    "Heh… from today onward, I swear—no more grass! Meat, every damn meal!"*


    With a crazed grin, he lit the fire and placed the leg bone over the flames. Soon, the scent of roasting marrow filled the air, making his stomach clench painfully. The primal urge to devour it nearly overwhelmed him, but he forced himself to wait.


    Instead, he picked up the four boar tusks and began grinding them against a rock, shaping crude blades. He then split the end of a sturdy branch, wedged a tusk inside, and bound it tightly with rope.


    [+1 Smithing XP]


    [Crude Spear Crafted]


    He hefted the flimsy weapon. It was better than nothing, but leveling smithing would take forever at this rate. The first perk required **25 XP**—how many spears would he have to make?


    Returning to the fire, he pulled out the now-brittle leg bone and smashed it against a rock. It split open, revealing rich, fatty marrow.


    Li Qinwu’s eyes turned bloodshot.


    "I! AM! A CARNIVORE!"


    He dove in, slurping up the life-saving nutrients. After two weeks of grass, the taste of animal fat was euphoric.


    Just as he reached for the second half of the bone—


    Crack.


    A twig snapped.


    Li Qinwu’s head snapped up.


    Eight half-grown goblins emerged from the bushes, their green eyes gleaming with hunger—fixed directly on the marrow in his hands.