3.
[Purchased 'Prey Search'.]
[5 points have been deducted!]
[You currently have 865 race points.]
"Krrrr!"
I bit into the bull's skin. It was an animal with spines sticking out of it like a hedgehog, and it didn't look like a cow at all, but there was a reason why I called it a cow.
-Mooo!
And that was the sound it made.
-Moo! Moooo!
The bull let out a soft cry. It struggled and resisted as much as it could, but in the end, it was useless. Even this strange bull creature could not withstand my teeth and claws, not to mention the sharp spears of my goblins.
-Kirrk! Ke!
-Kerk, kekego, gork!
['Hunt' successful!]
[You have gained complete knowledge of this prey. Hunting this animal will no longer give any race points.]
[Hunting experience maxed. Hunting no longer gives any race points.]
'Well, then. That's it for hunting.'
-Zombie… Let's get out of here already… Please… It's like you forgot everything else…
'Good. Now, it's time to gather!'
-Dammit!
And many peaceful days passed just like that.
[Gathering no longer gives any race points.]
Now, the goblin's bare skin was no longer visible. Instead, the goblins used red and green mud to paint their clumsy but eye-catching tattoos.
And somehow, the bad smell went away. I wasn't sure if the mud had some kind of deodorizing effect or if it was the power of Primitive Fashionista, but the soybean paste-like smell that had been brought by the summer heat had all but vanished.
That wasn't all.
[The Goblin Race has distinguished themselves as 'Hunter-Gatherers'!]
[The fear of large animals in the Goblin Race is slowly fading.]
[You have received 50 race points.]
[You currently have 1015 race points.]
"Gor."
'Okay.'
I wagged my tail in satisfaction.
'Now, I've done almost all I can for them.'
The Goblins started out playing with mud, and now, they were able to hunt large animals.
But this was just the beginning. The soil upon which the great [Goblin Civilization] would flourish had been tilled.
'I can't get any more race points.'
Were my other companions in similar situations?
[Venomous Snake who guides the Noble Race declares 'clear'!]
[Sword Saint who guides the Pure Race declares 'clear'!]
The number of people declaring 'stage clear' gradually increased. Viper was the first to declare it. The Sword Saint came second.
And I was sure that the rest were also wrapping up this stage as well.
'Ahh.'
I clicked my tongue in disappointment.
'If possible, I'd like to pass on [Text] or [Aura] or something like that to them. This is really….'
-What's stopping you from passing it on to them?.
'I can't do it even if I want to.'
I sighed with my lion's mouth before looking at the Civilization Store. The Civilization Store had most of the items we'd need, and what I wanted to pass on to the goblins was clearly marked.
'Item Search. Text.'
A holographic image appeared in front of me, displaying the item.
The problem was obvious.
+
[Text]
Description: Your race develops characters. Keeping records in writing is much more effective than word of mouth! Unlike a voice, which disappears as soon as you stop speaking, text can weather the passage of time.
Price: 4500 Race Points
※The Pure Race starts with this skill.
+
'Dammit. What a crazy price….'
It was too damn expensive.
I currently have 1015 points. I spent a lot of points hunting and doing other things, but even if I saved everything I earned, I still wouldn't be able to afford 'Text'. And yet, the Pure Race were able to start with such an expensive item.
Was there any racial balancing?
-It's your fault for choosing goblins. Kekeke.
It wasn't just the Pure Race who had bonuses.
In fact, even the Pure Race wasn't much.
The Count's Fairy Race, or Elves, had [Mana Reaction] and [Aura Reaction] from the start. Both were skills that cost 6200 points.
I once again felt just how bad the goblin's start was.
'Even though I'm sure these little guys will ascend to the heavens in the future and gobble up both the Pure Race and Fairy Race, I still feel sorry for them.'
-Shouldn't you feel sorry for yourself instead, zombie?
'I'm not sure about anything else, but I at least want to pass on Text. Hmm. Is there really no way to acquire 4500 points…?'
The voice of the Tower sounded again.
[Crusader who guides the Ocean Race declares 'clear'!]
Even the Crusader declared clear.
Now, there were only three people left on the 31st floor. The Heretic Questionner who ruled the Snail Race. The Black Dragon Master who ruled over the Vampire Race. And me.
'Mm.'
I decided to stop thinking about it.
'That's it. I just need to stop trying to get [Text] through conventional methods.'
-Huh?
'Even if I did manage to save up 4500 points, it would be a waste to spend them like that. I can't imagine pouring all of my precious points into a single item. And since when did I start using conventional methods? I've also resorted to trickery.'
-What are you talking about?
'I just need to teach them the characters myself!'
From that day, I began to battle with the goblin's brains.
"Krrrk, gor. Ah. Ker, ah."
'Guys, look at this. A. This is A.'
I drew the letter A on the ground. I made a large carving with my claw in case they couldn't recognize it. But the goblins sitting around me just tilted their heads.
-Kerrr?
-Kekerkker?
Right.
That was a dumb idea.
But I am not a man who gives up easily.
"Gor! Gah, ah, ker, ah!"
'Look carefully! A, A. This is A!'
I growled and nudged at the goblins.
The goblins flinched in surprise before shrugging their shoulders.
-Gar…?
-Go, go?
The goblins then got up and walked into the distance.
[The Goblins are afraid of you.]
[The Goblins are confused by your strange behavior.]
After a while, the goblins returned with meat from a bull they had hunted earlier. The burnt meat was then placed in front of me like an offering.
-Kekerkker…!
Then, the goblins prostrated on the ground and wept.
[The Goblins beg for your forgiveness.]
'No. Are they serious?'
Did they think I was mad because I really wanted to eat bull meat?(1)
Why couldn't they understand when I was doing my best to tell them?
If they kept playing around, the elves nearby would turn them into steamed monster. Did they want to get steamed? Did they want to become an XP farm for the elves in the future?
"Krrrrng! Gah, ah, ker!"
-Ke, kerrrk….
I didn't give up, and I kept trying to teach them characters.
But it only resulted in catastrophic failure.
The goblins couldn't even memorize the ABCs. I think they managed to memorize A somehow. It seemed like they were looking at me with expressions that said, 'What the hell is this?', 'I don't know…', and 'I don't know why we're doing this…'
'Ugh.'
I had finally experienced hardship for the first time while leading the goblins.
'Is it not possible for the goblins to learn characters with their intelligence? As far as I know, when the Flame Emperor went to the 33rd floor with the elves, the goblins also had written language…. Is there a problem with their intelligence because this is a bit early…? That shouldn't be….'
I contemplated in silence.
'Even if I manage to teach them the ABCs like this, they will still forget it eventually.'
The goblins had to feel it for themselves. Why it was beneficial for them to learn this. And what advantages it had for them. If they didn't, they would forget it in one generation or sooner.
I wondered how I could give the characters meaning.
"...."
Huh?
Wait a minute. I had an idea.
'What if I was too focused on stereotypes?'
Right. Just because I wanted to teach them text didn't mean they had to learn the ABCs!
I leaped to my feet and roared.
"Krrrrk!"
'Gather 'round!'
The goblins, who were eating meat, all gathered in a panicked fashion. Their ears flopped like puppies being scolded. If I could interpret their expressions, I'd probably find something weird. Things like, 'Ugh, I don't like this…' or 'I'd rather just put on mud like usual.'
In short, they were sulking.
"Krkr. krrk. Kekerkker, gor, ke."
'Hey, it's all right. You know I like you guys, don't you?'
I put some mud on my front paws before rubbing it on the goblins. Then, the goblins, who had lowered their heads with sullen expressions, finally opened their mouths again, smiling.
-Gogork.
-Kerrb, kerr!
These punks. Making them happy was as easy as making them upset.
My dazzling muddying skills quickly warmed the hearts of all of the goblins. Finally, after calming them down, I showed the [Text] to the goblins.
'Hey! Look, you guys. This is mud.'
But this time, the character was different from what I'd shown them before.
I drew something on the ground with my claw.
■.
First I drew a square before filling it in.
Then I picked up a clump of mud and put it beside the ■.
'Mud. This is mud. Understand?'
-Kerrrtk…?
The goblins had puzzled expressions on their faces. Their faces showed that they didn't understand what I was doing. I decided to take it one step at a time.
Days passed one after the other.
Every time I put mud in front of the goblins, I drew ■ on the ground beside it. That wasn't all. I also drew characters whenever I put mud tattoos on their bodies.
'This is day. The sky is bright.'
O.
'This is night. When the sky is dark.'
●.
'This is the sun. It's blinding.'
☆.
'This is the moon.'
★.
'This is water. Water. The stream.'
~.
'What if the water is a little deeper?'
~~.
'What if the water is incredibly deep?'
~~~.
-Kerr….
-Kerk? Ker, ke?
Although they were puzzled at first, the goblins slowly began to understand my drawings. The goblins couldn't accept or understand why 'A' meant 'ah,' but they managed to understand that ■ meant mud.
'Right.'
It was my approach that was wrong.
'The goblin's world is still very small.'
There was very little in this world that the goblins understood or recognized.
The world was vast, but the goblins had only seen, smelled, heard, and felt a handful of things.
-Kerk.
Sky.
-Kerrk.
Ground.
-Ker.
Meat.
-Ke.
Water.
The goblins saw something bright and blue over their heads. Under their feet, they felt something hard though it was sometimes soft. As the centipede cooked, they smelled something pleasant. The soothing trickle always greeted them when they went to drink at the stream or the loud splash and nice feeling as they jumped in.
-Gor!
If they liked it, they said they liked it.
-Kerrrtk….
And if they didn't like it, they said they didn't.
And so, there were about six things in the goblin world. This meant that six words were enough to describe their world.
Six 'pictures' rather than dozens of characters.
Those were the characters the goblins needed for now.
Shaaaa-
One day, it rained.
The goblins ran around, washing themselves in the rain.
I showed them some characters.
'Water.'
~.
'Dark Sky.'
●.
'Water falling from the dark sky.'
●~.
'Rain.'
I raised my head and pointed at the rainwater drenching the world.
Following my lead, the goblins also looked at the rain.
'Rain.'
-....
After a short while.
The goblins opened their mouths.
-Kerkke?
-Kerkke. Kerkke.
The goblins pointed towards the rain. Then, they imitated the ●~ that I drew on the ground.
-Kerkke!
'Rain.'
The goblins looked at me as if to ask if they were right.
I nodded my head in satisfaction.
"Gor."
'Good.'
Suddenly.
[The Goblin Race has developed text!]
[The Goblin Race has gained the new talent 'Legacy of Records'!]
A window appeared in front of me.
+
[Legacy of Records]
Rank: E (A)
Effect: The Goblin Race realizes the endless possibilities of drawing! Although their drawings aren't the prettiest, they can still express things in the world. The Goblin Race knows that these patterns have meanings.
'O.'
For the Goblin Race, this means the sky.
'■.'
For the Goblin Race, this means mud and the ground.
'O■.'
This means the sky and the ground, and the Goblin Race has taken this to represent the world.
'O■.'
For the Goblin Race, this means the world.
From now on, the Goblin Race will develop new pictograms. The Goblin Race will leave records of the things they love, and their text will contain their stories.
Best of luck to them.
※However, this characteristic can change depending on how history progresses.
+
"...."
This was surprising.
I only taught them a few drawings, but I managed to avoid spending Race Points.
-Kerkke, Kerkke!
-Kerkkerrk!
The goblins then left me alone and excitedly began to draw symbols. Watching them, I felt strangely sad, happy, and lonely all at the same time. It was quite the indescribable feeling.
[Black Dragon Master who guides the Bloodsucking Race declares 'clear'!]
A few days later, even the Black Dragon Master declared 'clear.'
Now, there were only two of us left on the 31st floor. Me and the Heretic Questionner.
'I bet the Heretic Questionner is teaching them something.'
In the meantime, I taught the goblins numbers.
At first, I tried to teach them Arabic numerals, but they couldn't understand them, so I settled for roman numerals instead. I. II. III. Because they were made of simple lines, even the goblins could understand roman numerals.
If I could, I would have liked to teach them some basic arithmetic as well.
'These guys don't understand the concept of subtraction yet….'
Goblins were goblins.
They couldn't understand that a number greater than six existed.
But I couldn't expect so much from them so soon.
'I taught them everything I could. Right?'
-I think so. Hey…
I nodded.
'It's time to leave now.'
That night, I left the Goblin Village as they slept.
The goblins would probably be very sad when they found out I was gone.
But I couldn't just leave the white lion's body in the village as I left the 31st floor. After all, it might attack the goblins and hurt them.
"Kr. Gorrr."
'Goodbye. Little guys.'
I licked the forehead of a young goblin with my tongue.
-Gorr…
The little goblin continued sleeping without even noticing.
'Cute thing.'
I headed as far away from the village as possible. Time slowly passed. In the dark night where there was nothing to keep me company but the sound of bugs, I soon heard the sad cries of goblins in the distance.
-Kekerk… ker....
Did they already notice that I'd left?
The goblins continued to cry out 'Kekerkker', my name.
But I disappeared into the darkness without looking back.
'Live well! Get big and strong! I'll see you all later!'
I whispered those words in my heart.
'I declare 'stage clear'!'
The Tower's voice responded.
[Stage Clear!]
[The 31st floor stage has been cleared.]
[Compensation will be settled after entering the 32nd floor.]
[Chain layers in progress—you will be sent directly to the 32nd floor!]
Whoosh!
A bright light filled my eyes.