Waking up the next morning, he felt his body sore from sleeping on the hard cave ground. The morning air felt cold, and the bonfire in front of him was already dead.
He looked out of the cave and saw that the rain had stopped.
Groaning, he got up and left the cave, carrying a backpack filled with items he had gathered from the cave, which he thought would be useful for his trip.
He had collected 40 items, but most of the backpack's contents were food and drinks, so that number would definitely decrease as he consumed them.
While walking, his mind returned to the system screen he read last night.
[You will be able to return to the real world after you reach level 100.]
Remembering that he couldn't leave the castle until the system allowed him to.
'This is crazy,' he thought worriedly. 'What if Mom finds out I'm missing, and she gets sick?'
He continued to walk straight ahead, while lost in thought.
Subconsciously, he looked up at a large tree and saw a bird's nest. His eyes spotted something sparkling among the straw and dry leaves that made up the nest.
"Is that one of the gems the system mentioned?" he wondered.
Curious, he climbed the tree. Reaching the nest, he saw a sparkling blue rectangular gem. His eyes widened as he took it and examined the gem.
Ting.
[You obtained a Blue Gem.]
[Total Gemstones: 1]
'Finally, I found one,' he grinned happily.
Krieek! Krik! Krieekkkk!
However, he suddenly heard sounds like several large crickets calling at each other.
He looked down from the tree cautiously, and his body immediately stiffened in fear.
A few small, green creatures with pointed ears walked beneath the tree while talking to each other. And they wore animal skins to cover their private parts.
'Goblins!'
The goblins that were walking below him looked exactly like creatures from the games he ever played.
He didn't dare to move until the goblins were out of sight. Then, with a trembling hand, he put the blue gem in his backpack.
Goblins were group creatures. If there were several goblins in one area, it meant their nest was not far away.
And the goblins wouldn't hesitate to attack him, especially if there were many of them.
'What a troublesome game,' he thought.
Wanting to avoid the goblins, he looked around and saw smoke, likely from a campfire, rising into the sky.
'It can't be from a goblin. Goblins are afraid of fire.'
After considering for a moment, he decided to head towards the smoke.
'Who knows, maybe there are other players. At least, another human.'
He carefully climbed down the tree. Once on the ground, he looked right and left in caution, then walked towards the smoke.
***
Unfortunately, he encountered the ruins of buildings that looked like wooden houses and fences, which were used as nests by the goblins.
Didn't want to get caught, he climbed to the top of one of the trees and watched them, finding safe way to pass the nest.
Dozens of goblins, male and female, acted like humans in the nest.
They chatted, joked, and even fought. The difference was that they didn't cook their food, they just tore and cut the meat they hunted, then ate it straight away.
Ash shuddered, seeing them eating raw meat that was still bleeding fresh.
However, he felt even more nauseous when he saw some of the goblins gnawing on body parts shaped like human hands and feet.
He tried his best not to vomit. The goblins might catch him if they heard him.
Finally, he managed to calm himself down and not vomit.
Just as he was about to get down from the tree and leave, he saw a pile of colorful gemstones lying carelessly near one of the buildings in the center of the nest.
'If I can get that many, I will finish the game sooner.'
He was hesitant to leave or take the gemstones. He thought over and over.
Finally, he decided to take the gemstones but would not face the goblins, who were much more numerous.
From where the goblins got the gemstones didn't matter to him. All he needed was to leave this game ASAP. He wanted to quickly return to his mother.
So, he would use tactics.
***
Ash stayed in the same tree for two days. He only came down when he needed to fulfill his basic needs. The rest of the time, he stayed in the tree to eat and sleep.
He observed the movements of every goblin until he discovered their habits.
'I am a Hunter after all,' he thought. 'Not all Hunters will hunt their prey head-on. They can also use strategies like traps.'
***
Ash straightened his jacket and continued to observe the goblins with binoculars he got from the cave.
He had piled up some of the wild animals such as rabbits, wild boars, that he had managed to hunt, then put them at the entrances to the nest. The goblins greeted the gift warmly, straightly feasting on the meat.
At night, the goblins would usually go straight to sleep after they were full.
But several goblins would patrol around the nest, and he found out that they patrolled in groups of three to five.
This was his chance.
"Activate Shadow Sword," he mumbled.
Ting.
[Skill: Shadow Sword.]
[Status: Activated.]
The Shadow Sword skill had a stealth feature that helped him approach his prey without being noticed.
But this skill was not for stealing like Thief. This skill could only be activated if there was prey.
So, he had to do something about the goblins.
He climbed down from the tree and began to sneak among the ruined buildings.
Without any sounds, he placed all the dry leaves and twigs he had collected on the sides of all the goblins' houses and the wooden fence that surrounded the place.
When finished, he started burning each of the leaves and twigs he put, with the matches he brought.
After done, he ran back to the tree where he left his things and waited.
Not long after, the fire started to grow bigger, reaching the roofs of the ruins.
The goblins, who had been sleeping, woke up and started screaming frantically.
They tried to get out of the ruined buildings, but Ash had placed stone or wooden blocks on all the exits and windows.
The fire grew bigger and burned all the wooden buildings, as well as the goblins inside.