Shinnoda, riding a massive cat, returned gallantly to the goblin village.
“Huh.”
“Noda, that’s…”
The disturbance in the village had calmed down for now.
The students were first surprised to see Shinnoda riding on a clump of fur and then realized that the furry clump was actually an upperclassman, which left them in shock.
Even though the Academy was highly merit-based, they couldn’t bring themselves to outright defy their senior.
“Why? Is there a problem?”
Shinnoda was completely unaware.
He just enjoyed riding on the soft, fluffy cat.
‘What a shame I can’t fully feel this sensation because of the scales. I should give it a try when I go back to Earth.’
He was even feeling regretful about it.
“Noda, I need you to look at something.”
At that moment, a group covered in blood approached and called for Shinnoda.
He nodded and dismounted.
“What’s the matter?”
When Shinnoda asked, the children merely gestured for him to follow, looking troubled and averting their eyes.
They led him to a hut.
There, a large number of students were gathered around something, murmuring amongst themselves.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
Shinnoda pushed through the crowd.
There was the corpse of a female goblin and a human woman who was naked as the day she was born.
It seemed as though she hadn’t bathed in a long time, and her hands and feet were missing, presumably having been cut off.
“Ehhuu. I, human. Human. Please have mercy.”
She was missing all her teeth, causing her speech to slur.
The ghastly sight made the students slightly wince and turn their heads away.
The sight of them doing so only added to her unimaginable misery.
“I, Academy…”
Her name was Kim Hyo-jung.
She was two classes ahead of Shinnoda, meaning she was currently a third-year student.
“Looks human enough. And she appears to be pregnant…”
A female student whispered to Shinnoda.
Naturally, his eyes went to her swollen belly, confirming her suspicion.
‘I’m confused.’
He was flustered as he tried to recall memories.
This was an unfamiliar scenario.
‘Ah, it might have happened before.’
In truth, Shinnoda had skipped over insignificant dialogue or flavor text in every loop except the first and second.
Thus, the minor details of what happened after the goblin village’s destruction had not stuck in his memory.
“Everyone, please leave for now.”
He took a blanket originally intended for his own use from his luggage and handed it to Kim Hyo-jung.
With a bow of gratitude, she accepted it.
*
Kim Hyo-jung was your average D-rank Awakened One.
Awakening was a blessing granted only to a few, but even among the Awakened Ones, hierarchies existed.
The most ambiguous rank was D-rank.
It was a frustrating classification; too valuable to abandon the path of an Awakened One, yet too weak to aim for the role of a Hero or Hunter.
“I will become a Hero!”
With such dreams, she pushed forward.
After enduring great efforts, she managed to scrape into the Academy with a low practical score but high written test results.
However, that wasn’t the end of it.
She faced disdain from other students.
“Did you hear? She didn’t even pass the practical. How did she even get in? Did she pull some strings?”
“Her written test was perfect, though!”
“What’s the point of having good written test scores if they don’t apply in the real world… tsk.”
Nobody was on her side.
Even fellow D-rank individuals were fiercely competitive.
After all, anyone who could make it into the Academy at D-rank was bound to be an extraordinary individual.
“Looking for party members for the Gigantic Forest – no brutes, please!”
One day, an opportunity arose.
An unexpected opening in a dungeon party, which she usually didn’t get the chance to join.
“Hey… can I join you? I’m D-rank, but my skills are quite useful! It’s called ‘Blood Lover’ – it confuses enemies by splashing my blood on them!”
The class’s “social butterfly,” C-rank Oh Ju-min, waved her away with a dismissive gesture.
“Can’t you at least trust me for once? Let’s try working together today and I’ll leave if it doesn’t work.”
“Ah, sure, just take her along.”
“If she can just take the blows, that’ll be enough~”
Oh Ju-min reluctantly agreed after her friends’ insistence.
And that was the start of her misfortune.
…
In the ‘Gigantic Forest,’ they hunted without much difficulty.
Kim Hyo-jung easily subdued the monsters using a water gun filled with her blood.
Against low-rank monsters, it was almost as effective as a real gun.
“Hey, Kim Hyo-jung, your skill is actually quite good, huh? Is it an intelligence-based skill? It doesn’t really pair well with tankers though.”
“Yeah, it’s intelligence. Thanks.”
“Ah, such a waste. Tsk.”
The party members briefly showed interest in Kim Hyo-jung upon hearing about her skill but lost interest once they learned it was intelligence-based.
Kim Hyo-jung was built to be a tanker.
Yet, with an intelligence-based skill, this made her a “mangae” (a poorly built character).
‘Is it because she’s poor?’
‘She would have been useful if she had gone for an intelligence build. It would have worked for a Hero build too.’
The reason she didn’t go for the intelligence build was due to a lack of money and luck.
Her initial stats were focused on strength and physical power, and ‘Orbs of Growth’ didn’t enhance her intelligence.
‘Orbs of Growth’ occasionally appeared on the market in small quantities and could be bought for a hefty sum, but that was only possible for the children of wealthy families.
“Let’s call it a day here.”
“Alright.”
As Oh Ju-min, who was somewhat the leader, suggested going back, the party members nodded in agreement.
At this point, Kim Hyo-jung decided to make her move.
“Would it be okay if I could join next time? I wasn’t bad today, was I?”
In other words, she was asking to become a permanent member.
However, Oh Ju-min showed hesitance.
Typically, students began managing their connections early on, only forming bonds with those who had a promising future.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think that would be possible.”
“Because I’m a “mangae” with no future?”
“Um, well… this spot is temporary because the usual member is sick with the flu. It’s not that we dislike you or anything.”
Kim Hyo-jung turned her back on them.
A single tear escaped her eye.
“Let me finish hunting first.”
With a voice laced with tears, she spoke.
Oh Ju-min looked troubled.
It was painful for him too, lacking social experience, to reject her so bluntly.
“I’ll keep hunting a bit longer. Opportunities like this don’t come often.”
Of course, to enter the ‘Gigantic Forest’ officially, a party was required.
Typically, the groups formed in the first semester of the first year went together, but Kim Hyo-jung’s group didn’t include her well.
“Eh, uh, sure. Be back before evening.”
And with that, they left.
In such low-level dungeons, it was usually not dangerous to hunt alone, and since they figured Kim Hyo-jung wouldn’t be coming back to the dungeon anyway, this was their way of being considerate.
It turned out to be the last time they saw her.
Kim Hyo-jung was captured by an unexpected group of goblin scouts and dragged back to their village.
Initially, she was almost eaten, but after the goblins tasted her blood and became entranced, the situation took a different turn.
Her skill, ‘Blood Lover,’ captivated those who came in contact with her blood, but because her rank was too low, she could only enthral them without the ability to control them.
“No. No. Please not that…!”
And so, Kim Hyo-jung endured unspeakable horrors at the hands of the goblins for years.
Both physically and mentally, she was utterly broken.
Her several escape attempts cost her her hands and feet, which were subsequently burned to prevent regeneration.
Additionally, she bore the child of a green-skinned monster.
Every day, Kim Hyo-jung regretted her actions.
‘If only I hadn’t tried to continue hunting that day.’
‘If only I hadn’t foolishly aimed for the Academy with my D-rank abilities.’
‘If only I had been just a little stronger.’
When she was conscious, not a single second passed without blaming her past self.
Simultaneously, she hoped for salvation.
‘Oh Ju-min must know I’m here… When are the rescue teams coming?’
‘It’s all Oh Ju-min’s fault. If only he had let me join the party…’
‘Please, anyone, help me…’
As a year passed, this hope faded into meaninglessness.
Now, all she desired was death.
She wished that some reckless goblin would accidentally kill her.
Then, on a certain day, the village erupted into chaos.
“Kerrlek. Kerrr.”
“Die, you bastards!”
“Ah, blood splattered. That’s disgusting. Chomp.”
“Kerrlek. Kerrlek!”
“Ouch, that hurt. Did you hit me? That punk is resisting. Take a headshot!”
“Kerr…”
Outside the hut, the sound of goblins’ “Kerrlek” mingled with familiar Korean voices.
Kim Hyo-jung’s eyes widened.
“Ah, please… have mercy.”
She painfully tried to rise.
Without hands and feet, crawling on all fours was the best she could do, and even that was difficult to balance.
“Kerlek, Kerr.”
The other female goblins trembled.
This was the moment when the roles would reverse, and they would face what they had done to the giant human female.
Creak.
The door to the hut opened.
The figures that emerged were clad in armor.
They were the forces following Shinnoda.
Their swords and armor were drenched in goblin blood.
They didn’t immediately rescue Kim Hyo-jung.
Her appearance and the situation were too shocking.
“Na, sahrum. Ha.”
Kim Hyo-jung lost control of her bladder.
The physical abuse by the goblins had rendered her unable to control her bodily functions.
“Uh.”
“Uwgh.”
Several students showed outright disgust and stepped back.
Kim Hyo-jung sobbed in sadness.
At that moment, footsteps were heard.
Thud. Thud.
The steps lacked the heavy clank of plate armor.
Creak.
The person who entered was a red dragon knight.
Kim Hyo-jung had never seen such a magnificent suit of armor in her life.
The knight produced a blanket and handed it to her.
With a deep, resonant voice, the knight spoke.
“Everyone, please leave for now.”
In the knight, Kim Hyo-jung perceived kindness.
The red knight covered her with the blanket, allowing her to guard her modesty, and shielded her from exposing such an embarrassing state to others.
‘This knight must be my savior…’
She bowed her head in gratitude, despite her limited teeth, doing her best to express her thanks.
After enduring indescribable torment for hundreds of days, Kim Hyo-jung was finally rescued by Shinnoda on this day.
It happened much sooner than in the original timeline.
The original protagonist would typically deal with the goblin village during winter break of the second year.
