《Second Hand Hero》 Out with the trash Being summoned is like having your insides pulled out through your brain. I hit the ground on my hands and knees and tried to empty out the contents of my stomach. The fact that there was nothing to be emptied did not bother nor slow my reaction at all. I had only a moment to wonder why I was facing cobblestone before my hair was grabbed by two cold, ironclad hands that yanked my head up to meet the gaze of an older-looking man in robes. ¡°Oh look, a wizard!¡± said my reeling brain, but what came out of my mouth was closer to ¡°erp.¡± The wizard really wasn¡¯t that much older as I stared at him. I¡¯m not really a spring chicken myself, more on the other side of the hill and heading down, if you know what I mean. He gave a small grunt of either disgust or disappointment and gave a dismissive wave. I was then unceremoniously dragged out of the building and dumped into the back of a cart on top of several other bodies. To my horror, they didn¡¯t seem to be as alive as I was¡ªwhich wasn¡¯t very alive to begin with. Shortly thereafter, the cart gave a lurch and began clacking down the cobblestone road between old-world buildings. The best I could do was watch as the dark stone buildings slowly passed by, accompanied by the smell of feces and wood smoke. My body didn¡¯t start responding until we had left the small city, out of a gate, and had traveled well into the patchwork farms that surrounded it. At some point, my mind stopped playing tilt-a-whirl inside my skull and began to calculate that things were not adding up. The first was that the armored guards were actually armored. From head to toe, they were covered in some form of medieval chainmail. The second oddity was the horse-drawn cart. How did I get into the middle of a bad renaissance festival? The third, and most troublesome, was that I had no idea who or where I was. I sat up slowly and asked, ¡°Where are we going?¡± to which one of the soldiers, sitting on the back of the cart, replied, ¡°Out with the trash,¡± followed by a blow to the back of the head. I awoke sometime later, with a splitting headache, on top of the pile of bodies again. However, instead of being in the cart, we were now on a forest floor with no one else in sight. I crawled off the pile and took stock as best as I could. I¡¯m lost, I have no idea where I am, no idea what happened, and my memory was very foggy. That there was a pile of dead bodies behind me did little to help keep my calm. Visions of memories swam in my head from before, but they seemed distant and far away. The forest didn¡¯t help much either. It was an old-growth forest with tall oaks and maples among others. Thick undergrowth grew in rows and islands beneath the trees, broken up by large mossy rocks. I wasn¡¯t sure if this area had any wildlife, but I really didn¡¯t want to meet with anything dangerous empty-handed. Rubbing the back of my head, I decided to at least get a club to help defend myself. After a little searching, I settled on a small dead tree that had the density of a baseball bat. With a little back-and-forth work, I managed to snap the old roots and pull it out of the ground. I placed the top part between two trees and, with a little effort, broke it into a useful size just a little shorter than myself. One end was the root ball, blunt and heavy, the other sharpish and pointed. It was the best I was going to do. With my new weapon in hand, I started to take a closer look at the surrounding area for anything useful. I heard a bush rustling as if something was in it. It seemed to just be a large bush, but it gave out a yelp¡­ which I involuntarily echoed as I flailed backward. From the bush erupted three small, greenish humanoids, two male and one obviously female. Each held a small club and the tallest only came up barely past my belt. At first, I thought that they were going to attack me, but instead, they whirled around to face back the way they had come. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Help us, hero!¡± the tallest one said, his club pointed back at the bush. From the bush erupted a giant rabbit, white with red eyes and a large horn on its head! It charged at the female who had run next to me. It was fast¡ªfaster than she could dodge¡ªand it skewered her in the left leg. She howled in pain, but before she dropped, the rabbit pulled its horn out and tried to turn for another run. I was not going to let that happen. With a strong jab, I pinned the huge rabbit to the ground, driving the broken end of my tree between its ribs. It thrashed and struggled, trying to either spear me or free itself, and I held it in place, driving the sharp end through the beast and into the ground. The other two goblins leapt on the little beast, finishing the job with their clubs. I stood there, dumbfounded, trying to figure out what was more unbelievable¡ªan aggressive stab-happy rabbit with a unicorn horn, or that I just saved what appeared to be three goblins. I released the pulverized rabbit and one of the goblins snatched it up. The other goblin tried to help up the wounded female. ¡°We don¡¯t have time, it''s almost nightfall! We need to be back. It¡¯s not safe here,¡± said the shorter of the two males. ¡°I know, and we need to get the hero back as well,¡± said the taller goblin. ¡°Please don¡¯t leave me,¡± she pleaded with the taller goblin. Her hand was wrapped around the bleeding wound in her leg. ¡°You are too heavy and hurt. We can¡¯t. I¡¯m sorry, Uru.¡± I stood there, with my mouth open, staring at the sight. My mind was not quite willing to accept what my eyes were telling it. "I think we got a stupid one," said one of the goblins while giving me a disappointed look. At the comment, my mouth finally snapped shut. ¡°I could just carry her on my back,¡± I said. Both goblins turned to look at me, surprised. ¡°She¡¯s tiny. I can carry her on my back. Wrap her wound and let''s move before another¡­ whatever that is finds us.¡± I knelt down and ripped off part of my shirt and used it as a bandage. ¡°Help her up. If we have no time to waste, then don¡¯t waste it,¡± I said, motioning to my back. At first, it seemed as though they would argue, but after sizing me up, they helped the female up to a piggyback position. I quickly figured out that under their simple loincloths, they wore nothing, but chose to say nothing for any number of awkward reasons. With that, the goblins led me on through the underbrush. Several times they tried to make me go faster, but between the added weight and my old knees, I could only move so fast. The forest stretched on for a few hours. It was a simple temperate forest, filled with large broad trees with familiar leaves. I could identify the occasional oak, maple, or black cherry, but many of them I had never seen before. The underbrush was like a young man''s first beard¡ªsporadic but thick in patches. The terrain was mostly level, but I could tell we were heading higher slowly. The trees finally gave way and we made it to the goblin village just as the sun was going down. Long shadows stretched across the wide meadow and up the hill in the center. The village was located on the top of the hill, surrounded by a flimsy wooden palisade. Behind us, the sounds of the creatures of the night helped quicken our pace up the dirt path to the sole gate in the stick palisade. I was happy to see tall grass, goldenrod, and little purple asters as we walked the sandy dirt path up to the rickety stick fence. As we approached, I could make out a figure on the sole watchtower who gave a sign to the gate guard to open the gate. We were ushered through the gates and into a circle of waiting goblins of all ages. The gates were barred behind us and I felt slightly safer even though I was literally head and shoulders above their defensive wall. I let the wounded goblin down as gracefully as I could, and she was escorted off to the left toward a low building made of sticks with a thatched roof. The crowd parted, allowing an old-looking goblin with a long white beard and a staff decorated with colored rocks, little skulls, and feathers to approach us. No Real Choice I didn''t get back up after Uru left my shoulders. Instead, I sat on the hard packed dirt, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from my eyes. There has been no conversation on the way back and after a short time of marching through the forest I had neither the time nor inclination to have a long winded discussion. What did go through my mind was the simple, yet profound thought, "What am I doing?" Sitting in the dirt, surrounded by hungry looking goblins only increased my hesitation. At the time, I hadn''t considered any other options. Their were actual monsters, there were actual goblins, one was bleeding, and I had no idea who or where I was. Personally, I considered myself far to calm given the situation. If only I could remember who I was, perhaps then I could figure out why I was not in an absolute panic... ¡°Gor,¡± the tall goblin said, bowing to the old goblin, ¡°we found another hero alive and brought him!¡± The other goblin added, ¡°And we have food!¡± holding up the rabbit-like thing. Gor, addressing the two goblins, asked, ¡°Is that what injured Uru?¡± ¡°Yes,¡± they said in unison, ¡°but the hero speared it, and we killed it.¡± ¡°At least there will be something to eat in the village tonight. Come, hero, there is much to explain,¡± said Gor, turning around and heading down the dirt path into the village. My two companions left with the vorpal bunny (my name for it), so I felt as if I had no other option accept to follow the old goblin. With a tired sigh, I climbed back up on my feet and followed him deeper into the village. I couldn''t help but look around at the little village as we walked. The three largest buildings were long and low, built like primitive longhouses with sticks and bark. Woven reeds or tanned hides served as doors. Smoke escaped from a hole in the center of each, curling away lazily in the evening sun. A three posted tripod watch tower stood close to the single gate, manned by a goblin with only one leg. He sat on the single level made of lashed together logs that I could walk under without touching it with my head. Near it was a shrine of some sort made from white river rocks carefully placed in a pile and surrounded by enormous rib bones that equaled my height. At the top of the hill I could see goblins sitting around a large open fire or standing in line next to another hut for food. My stomach announced it''s belief that we should join them, but it was not to be. The old goblin reached his ¡°house,¡± another hovel made of slightly larger sticks and thatching. Without pausing, he walked through the open door. I bent down, nearly in half, to look inside. Within the building, a crude fireplace had a cheery little fire throwing light into a single room. For furniture, large flat rocks and logs had been placed. Seated on one of the rocks was another human! The other human waved and looked excited for the company. ¡°I¡¯m Park Jinwoo, nice to meet you!¡± he said with as much of a bow as he could muster in the low room. I took a seat across from him, facing the fire. Jinwoo had short black hair and was definitely Korean. He looked very young, probably only a teenager, and a rather skinny one at that. Come to think of it, all of the goblins seemed rather skinny. My more-than-ample spread would stick out like a sore thumb in this village. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. ¡°Let me explain,¡± said Gor. ¡°You are a human hero summoned from another world at the time of your death. The human kingdoms summon you to be used as weapons in their wars. The summoning is rather random; they never know what they will get. If you survive the summoning, an Assessor looks to see if and what type of abilities you have. If they don¡¯t think you are useful, because of age or a skill not useful in combat, you are sold as a slave or tossed out into the forest to die.¡± ¡°Jinwoo has the misfortune of having a skill that helps plants grow in a very small area. This is useful for a farmer, but not for a warrior.¡± Jinwoo gave a little shrug and added, ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m also from a city. I don¡¯t know anything about farming. The only thing I¡¯ve been able to do is grow some herbs and berry bushes, but they only give berries once or twice a year.¡± Gor continued, ¡°Like you, he was abandoned. As the spirit-talker of our tribe, I was given a vision that showed me this¡ªand that even though you are secondhand heroes, you could help us. As you can see, goblins are small and weak. It is hard for us to provide enough food or even keep the village safe. In fact, the only thing that keeps the other demihumans from raiding us is that they already know we have nothing.¡± ¡°In our world, humans have taken most of the areas that are safe from the nodes. Nodes cause monsters to spawn, like that horned rabbit that attacked earlier. The bigger the node, and the closer you get to its center, the stronger the monsters that can spawn. Since we could never defeat a human army, we must live here between three nodes and the humans as best as we can. I would like to ask you to stay and help us. I know this is a lot to understand, so think it over tonight. Even if you have no skill, you are far stronger than a goblin and could help us.¡± "If this is true and I''ve been summoned to wherever this is, why do I have no memory of before?" I had to ask. I knew too many things, just sitting here, to believe I had amnesia. "It is both a blessing and a curse bestowed by the summoning ritual. Your former life is stripped from your memory, but not your knowledge. The spirits also tell me that you died in your previous life; that is how they can summon you to begin with. Your soul reforms your body as it remembers¡ªthis is why you are old with a beard, but Jinwoo is young. It takes the memories, but often adds strange skills and powers. It''s these additions that could make you helpful to us and why we tried to save you." Gor started to walk out the door. ¡°Use my house tonight. I will attend to Uru¡¯s wounds. She is a good fighter; we can¡¯t afford to lose her.¡± A small goblin carrying two small bowls entered immediately after Gor left. In each bowl was a small lump of meat and some brown liquid. He gave the first bowl to me with a little bow and then repeated the act with Jinwoo. Without saying anything else, he scurried out the door back into the night. ¡°You caught something today. It¡¯s better than nothing. I still wish I could find some rice, but I don¡¯t even know where to start looking,¡± said Jinwoo. ¡°They really need help. I can make plants grow faster and produce more, but all they have are some blackberry bushes and medicinal herbs. Gor keeps me around for that, but I don¡¯t know what else to do, so I try to help hunt. What is your name, and do you know if you have a skill?¡± ¡°I have no idea,¡± I said, and then finished dinner with one swallow. It wasn¡¯t bad¡ªit just wasn¡¯t enough. Park did the same. ¡°We don¡¯t really have any other place to go. In the woods, we would probably die. And you look¡±¡ªhe hesitated¡ª¡°older than I am. The humans don¡¯t want us,¡± he said dejectedly. Looking up, he added, ¡°I hope you stay. They and I could both use your help.¡± Jinwoo got up from his rock and headed for the door. ¡°I¡¯ll see you in the morning. Sleep in the furs,¡± he said, pointing to some old furs near the fire. ¡°It¡¯ll keep you warm.¡± With that, he was gone into the night. I settled down on the furs as best as a human could on a goblin-sized stack. Luckily for me, exhaustion doesn¡¯t really care what you are sleeping on. I passed out watching the little fire dwindle away. Quick primer in a new world Day 2 I awoke to Jinwoo, Gor, and a bowl of leftover broth from the night before. Gor was eating a bowl of something completely different and noticed my look. ¡°It¡¯s mushroom stew. Some of the foragers brought in a big bunch of them yesterday, but you can¡¯t have any,¡± he said with a grin. Jinwoo added, ¡°Goblins can eat any mushroom without worrying about being poisoned. They didn¡¯t know that with the hero before me. She¡¯s buried out near the creek. Today, you¡¯re coming with me to hunt. We rotate between hunting duties and supply gathering. They call it foraging. Every seventh day, everyone gets a day off to do whatever, but most still go out. Everything found gets shared as much as possible, with the hunters getting a reward share. Today, you¡¯re going to come out with me to learn the ropes, but first, Gor wants to teach you how to look at your statistics and find out what, if any, skills you have.¡± Gor finished his bowl of mushrooms and then sat across from me. He began to chant, eyes closed, softly swaying side to side. When he stopped, he looked at me...but through me. In front of my eyes, small pop-up windows appeared, startling me. They looked like the old action choice windows from early video games. One showed my basic statistics¡ªhealth, strength, etc. The other listed skills. Only two skills showed. One was a strange symbol, the other simply said Lucky. I looked over at Gor with a bewildered face. He also seemed to be intently reading the windows. ¡°Well, what does he have?¡± asked Jinwoo impatiently. ¡°Not much, but there¡¯s a lot of possibility,¡± said Gor with a little sigh. ¡°He¡¯s a basic humanoid with the title of Outsider. He looks human, but I guess he isn''t. His strength is a little below average, agility surprisingly slightly above. He has magical aptitude but no element or any way to use it, and he¡¯s a little slow for speed. Probably because he¡¯s old like me!¡± ¡°No, he¡¯s older than me actually. Older by about ten years. You¡¯d be dead if you were a goblin,¡± he said with a grin. ¡°What kind of world is this where I have game stats?¡± I asked. He shrugged. ¡°What kind of world was yours that you didn¡¯t? It¡¯s just the way it¡¯s always been. If you have the sight, you can see them. If you don¡¯t, you can¡¯t. There are three types of beings in this world. You look human, but humans have to learn their skills. Demihumans are born with skills or earn them as they become stronger, so you fit in that category. They can also learn skills, but it¡¯s slower than humans. Monsters are also born with skills, but they usually can¡¯t learn any new ones. They can evolve into stronger forms with enough experience.¡± ¡°You can gather Chi as you battle or do great deeds. It¡¯s a celestial reward system, so to speak. As you gather Chi, you can become more powerful, maybe learn new skills. These skills are not things like swimming or a new language. No. These skills are true powers.¡± Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. Gor pointed at Jinwoo. ¡°Jinwoo can cause plants to grow faster and give a better harvest than what would be done by just a regular farmer, but he can only affect a small area. If he becomes stronger, so will his skill. Maybe it will affect a larger area, make things grow even faster, or give twice the harvest. Now, if we had more than just berries and my herbs for him to grow, that would be helpful. If he simply practices that skill, it will slowly build, but actual combat will increase it faster. Unfortunately, that is his only ability, but he does have another empty slot. Humans can have a few of these abilities, but having more than three is rare.¡± Gor pointed to himself. ¡°Demihumans start with skills and abilities for their race and then can develop more. I was once a simple goblin, but I had extra slots for new skills from a class and a minor aptitude for magic. I could become something more with time and practice. I was apprenticed to the old shaman back in the old village. In time, I developed skills and became a goblin spirit caller. I also have the goblin racial traits of [stealth] and [dodge], but I also have [spirit talk] and [herbalism]. How many you are given at birth depends upon the gods, your race, civilization, and luck. A human has anywhere from none to eight. Demihumans are born with up to four from their race and may have up to another four. Monsters spawn with up to eight. There are legendary beings that have more, but they are few and far between.¡± He turned his attention back to me, his small dark eyes squinting as if trying to figure out a puzzle. ¡°You have eight slots¡ªlots of potential if we could get skills for you to learn. But you also have two. Luck, and a strange one that seems to be a placeholder. I¡¯ve never seen anything like it.¡± Relaxing a little, he continued, ¡°Luck I understand, though. It¡¯s a small bonus, but applies to everything. You¡¯ll hit a little better with a weapon, dodge a little better, find hidden things a little easier. It affects everything you do, but only to a small amount. Let¡¯s hope you¡¯re lucky enough to survive.¡± ¡°It was not a skill that the humans who summoned you found useful. The second one they probably had no clue about either, and you¡¯re old, so they dumped you out with the trash. Most of the summoned don¡¯t survive because you are summoned at the moment of your death¡ªand most people are old when they die. Your spirit reforms your body as it remembers it. You might be a little stronger, faster, healthier because that is how you saw yourself, but if you were old and weak¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°If you cannot be used to fight another human or demihuman kingdom, you are of no use.¡± Gor stared at the thatched roof, remembering as he talked. ¡°We were not always like this¡ªbarely living in a primal state. We had a real town, food, skills, jobs... but a beast came. Most of the warriors were killed. The rest of us fled with what we had on our backs. I asked the spirits for help, and they found this safe haven for us, but we are too few in number and every year we lose more. I fear we will not recover. So again I asked the spirits¡ªthey suggested saving the discarded heroes from the humans. A secondhand hero was better than nothing. You are our last hope. Please stay with us and help us rebuild.¡± The next half hour was spent learning to activate the little boxes. After I could prove to Gor that I could summon the little box, he stood up and headed for the door. With that, Gor addressed me one last time. ¡°Jinwoo will show you around the village and then take you on a hunt. Maybe your luck will give us enough food to fill our bellies for once.¡± With a fading smile, he walked out of the goblin-sized door. ¡°Um, what should I call you?¡± Jinwoo said sheepishly. I thought for a moment. ¡°New world, new name. Call me Grum for now.¡± ¡°Ok, Grum. C¡¯mon, there isn¡¯t that much to show you.¡± Goblin bait Outside, the day was starting to warm up. It was a nice late summer day with a hot sun promising a hot day. The goblin town was finishing up their communal meal while the adults organized themselves into small groups. The goblin men, who didn''t come up to my breastbone, wore a simple fur loincloth or tunic. The women wore either a tunic or a skirt and a sports-bra-type top. They all greeted Jinwoo and me politely, but you could see questions in their eyes as to our usefulness. Doubt was written on their faces and hunger on their bodies. Jinwoo pointed out the watchtower. ¡°Obviously to keep watch. The permanently wounded who can¡¯t hunt or gather usually man it.¡± The tower itself was made of logs held together with a variety of smaller trunks lashed together. In the center were two platforms, the first about ten feet off the ground, the second at the top of the logs another ten feet above the first platform. A small thatched roof kept the sun off the goblin sitting with his only leg over the side. As Jinwoo pointed it out, the goblin waved back. ¡°The hut you slept in is Gor¡¯s. It¡¯s part home, part meeting place for the town. He and I have the only single-person homes here. Everyone else lives in large family homes. To the south of Gor¡¯s house is his little herb garden he uses for medicine. I can only increase a small area, so we planted the berry bushes around the garden. The longhouse by the gate is the sick house. They treat the sick and wounded there. Uru is recovering inside. The other houses are goblin families. Each is usually run by a matriarch," he paused before adding, "the men tend not to live long. There are so few left that the women, like Uru, have joined the hunting parties.¡± ¡°To the north of the tower is the shrine. There are totems for spirits there and a little alter to make little sacrifices. Gor spends most of his time there now, talking and listening to the spirits. They aren¡¯t much help, but that is because they are very weak spirits. He just doesn¡¯t have the strength to summon anything greater. The goblins consider it a holy place, though, and the totems do keep the monsters from spawning close to the town.¡± Jinwoo droned on, pointing out the waste pit, communal kitchen, and an empty storage hut. The roads were only dirt paths meandering between the huts. Goblins sat outside their stick huts talking, working on skins, or doing other menial tasks. There was a general feeling of apathy and loss that cut across all aspects of the little village. So many questions swam through my head. How was I here? Why was I here? What was this place? So many questions, but the sight of people this desperate overrode all of them. For better or for worse, I would help. We started back towards the entrance where three goblins waited for us. They were talking with the little goblin who had been hurt by the horned rabbit. She seemed to be in good spirits, but blood seeped through her bandaged leg. She sat facing the entrance, her club still by her side, occasionally looking out the gate. I could tell that she was missing the hunt. I nodded to her as we passed by. ¡°You¡¯ll be back soon enough,¡± I said, but I knew she needed food to heal properly. For a moment the image of the one-legged lookout flashed in my mind. ¡°Let¡¯s go hunting. How are we going to go about this?¡± I asked as we walked out the gate and into the meadow. ¡°The goblins will spread out into the brush. They are sneaky and small, so they can hide well. You and I will be the targets¡ªbeing large and noisy. The creatures here almost always attack first, think second, so we distract it while the goblins surround it and hopefully beat it to death,¡± Jinwoo explained. ¡°Usually we have about 3¨C4 teams each day. Sometimes we are lucky, sometimes someone gets injured or doesn¡¯t make it home. We are heading east today. There is a little valley that travelers sometimes use to try to slip between the nodes. Something usually pops up there.¡± We walked out of the meadow and into the forest. The goblins gave a little nod and disappeared into the undergrowth. They were small, so they hunted by ambush. The big noisy humans were the distraction they needed. Jinwoo and I continued to walk through the forest. It was beautiful and not unlike the ones back home. There were new trees but also familiar ones like and white pine. I was looking at a black cherry when we heard a rustle in the bushes heading toward us. Jinwoo fanned out to my right, and out of reflex I swung my staff in time to connect with a large-toothed turnip charging out of the underbrush. The thick end of my staff caught the carnivorous turnip thing in the side and spun it around, landing in a heap next to a bush. It jumped back up and flipped around towards me when a club came crashing down on its head with a resounding thud. The little turnip rolled on its side, quite thoroughly dead. The other two goblins came out of the bushes and did a little dance. I picked it up by the tuft of leaves on its head. It weighed about 30 lbs. I wasn¡¯t sure how much was edible, but the goblins seemed happy. "What the hell is this?" I held up the dead vegetable with teeth, trying to make sense of what we had just killed. Stolen story; please report. "Edible," Jinwoo shrugged. "Nice swing." "Thanks, I think. That was more instinct and luck than skill," I admitted, setting the killer turnip down. Jinwoo and I found a long stick and tethered the turnip to it. ¡°Are we heading back?¡± I asked. ¡°No, it¡¯s early yet. Let¡¯s see if we can find one more,¡± Jinwoo said with infectious enthusiasm. ¡°Alright, lead on,¡± I replied. Jinwoo and I hoisted the stick onto our shoulders and moved down into a little valley as the goblins disappeared again. So is this guy good to eat? I don¡¯t know, but the little goblins seem rather happy. Looks like a turnip to me. I laughed, ¡°Me too. Not a big fan of turnips either.¡± My stomach let out a big growl in disagreement. Jinwoo laughed. ¡°We normally don¡¯t come this close to the trade path. I¡¯m hoping that as humans, if we encounter someone, we can avoid trouble,¡± said Jinwoo. ¡°I don¡¯t know about trouble, but I see something interesting!¡± I said. ¡°Over there, that looks like an apple tree!¡± Jinwoo and I approached the tree, and sure enough it was covered in red apples. It seemed odd to me that the apples were ripe in summer, but I guess we were lucky. Unfortunately for us, the tree came with a defender. As I reached out for the first apple, a large dog-sized lizard hissed and charged from behind the tree. The lizard was green and rather chunky, but the most striking feature was two large whip-like tentacles on its back. I was caught in the shoulder by one as I tried to block it with my staff. Although the staff took part of the hit I could feel the whip-like snap against my skin. It hurt like hell and I let out a little yelp. I could already feel blood seep from the cut. I drew back to pull the lizard out from the tree, swinging my stick menacingly at it. I kept its attention while trying to stay out of reach. Jinwoo circled around in an effort to spear it with his improvised spear. The creature whipped its tentacles at me, but instead of retreating, I charged into the whips trying to get inside of it''s reach. It tried to maneuver back to give itself room and backed toward Jinwoo. Jinwoo leapt at it with his full weight, spearing it. The hit stabbed deep but didn¡¯t kill it. It tried to turn to Jinwoo, but as soon as its head swung, I stabbed it hard as well. Pinned between the two of us, its whips flailed but didn¡¯t have enough room to get in a full swing. The goblins whooped and joined in the fray, beating the skull of the lizard until it finally died. Everyone sank to their knees for a moment and then began to laugh. Two of the goblins came to see my wound. A cut slashed diagonally across my arm, but thankfully not very deep. The skin around it was already turning an angry purple. I knew I would regret that hit as soon as my adrenaline wore off. We happily ate our fill of the apples. The goblins were in good spirits from the two kills and the extra food. The three introduced themselves as we ate. Gum was the oldest and largest; he had been on the mission to collect me. He believed old Gor (as they called him out of earshot) about the heroes. Not everyone had. Two kills and apples only reaffirmed his belief. Thurm and Kun were brothers and, for the life of me, they looked and acted like identical twins. They hadn¡¯t been too sure about the idea of heroes, but apparently my injury had changed their opinion as well. They explained that they had seen a goblin cut in half¡ªor nearly in half¡ªby one of the tentacles. That was why they had hesitated before jumping in (they admitted guiltily). Jinwoo and I took off our shirts¡ªsomehow we still had our otherworld clothes¡ªand filled them with apples. Thurm and Kun hefted these improvised sacks as Jinwoo and I lifted the stick now bearing two creatures. I added a few apples to my pocket before we set off back home. The walk back was mostly uneventful. No new attacks, creatures, or other difficulties. Lucky again, I thought to myself. We arrived back at town later in the afternoon and quickly drew a crowd. The goblins stood on one of the large sitting rocks and began tossing apples to the crowd, admonishing the greedy to make sure everyone got one. The head cook, an older female goblin who seemed to have a perpetual scowl, almost broke a grin upon seeing the turnip and the lizard. She quickly set her underlings to dragging the carcasses back to the kitchen. Jinwoo had attracted a small crowd and was happily retelling the fight with some modest embellishment. I took the opportunity to slip away. I wandered to the sick house to find Uru sitting on the same log. She tried to stand as I approached but gave out a squeak and sat back down. I sat next to her and pulled out the apples from my pockets and gave them to her. ¡°No, I can¡¯t take those,¡± she said. ¡°You need them, and there are plenty to go around. To heal, you need food¡ªand the faster you heal, the faster you can join us in the hunt again,¡± I said, pushing them back into her lap. She stared down at the food. I could tell she was considering something, but I couldn¡¯t understand what. In a village of starving people, the answer should be obvious. Deciding, she quietly said, ¡°Thank you.¡± Uru seemed a little embarrassed. I wasn¡¯t quite sure if I had done something wrong, but I decided not to push the issue any further and returned back to Gor¡¯s house. Kun (I think) escorted Gor back to his house and returned my shirt. He was still all smiles as he left. I could hear some laughter and talk from outside. Gor examined my arm and produced a little pot of foul-smelling ointment. ¡°This will help it heal. It¡¯s the best I can do,¡± he said, gently dabbing some along the cut. ¡°The other hunts came in as well. You seem to be the only one that got hurt, and every hunt brought back a kill. It is the most food we have had in a while.¡± ¡°I thought of something. Tell Jinwoo to collect the seeds from the apples. Maybe he could grow a tree or two,¡± I said. ¡°It might take years, but it wouldn¡¯t hurt.¡± Gor nodded and went to the door, calling out to a passing goblin. After a quick exchange, he returned. ¡°I¡¯m glad you survived your first hunt. There might be reason to hope after all. Tomorrow you will rest,¡± he said, looking at my arm. I moved it¡ªit was sore but usable. ¡°No, I can take it easy with the foraging. Besides, I thought I saw a few plants as I was walking that Jinwoo could use.¡± ¡°Okay then, but I will instruct your group to build you a house. You can watch over them while they collect the materials. I¡¯d like my house back,¡± he said with a grin. I wandered out into the evening air as the goblins stoked their fires. I was given an apple and my usual bowl. This time, there was an actual stew in it instead of just broth. It tasted vaguely of turnip and wild game. I ate the meat and turnip chunks with a sharp stick and then drained the last of the thin stew into my mouth. It still wasn¡¯t much, but better than the night before. At the end of the dinner, the old chef goblin came out with the lizard hide and gave it to me. I guess it would do for the beginning of my bed... or something. The skin itself was thick and rough like sandpaper. The inside had already been scraped clean. I brought it back to Gor¡¯s little house and placed it in a corner and sat for a while thinking about the day¡¯s events before slowly drifting off to sleep, half on and half off the hide.