Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

YuWon, with nothing better to do, bought out the cache key and began looking for the hidden treasure somewhere in the college. The description said the key would guide the owner to the treasure, so he had hoped to get the reward easily.

However, no matter what YuWon did, he couldn't get the key to react. There was no glow, no sound, nothing. The key remained unchanged, leaving him frustrated.

"Just my life..." YuWon sighed in frustration.

He shook the key next, hoping it would trigger it. But the key remained lifeless in his hand. Eventually, YuWon started walking around the building.

If the cache was in the building, then surely the key would react once he was close to it. He didn't know if that would happen, but he was running out of ideas. It was his only hope.

It took a while but YuWon roamed every floor, from the basement to the empty classrooms on the top level. He checked every corner, every room, every nook and cranny that he could think of, but the key didn't so much as twitch.

After searching and fighting goblins for four hours, he was tired, both physically and mentally. He was about to give up the search in frustration, but just then, he remembered a place he hadn't looked at.

"The terrace!"

He hadn't been up there since his fight with those goblins early on. It seemed unlikely that the hobgoblin found the deserted place and turned it into his treasury.

But YuWon figured that since he had checked everywhere except the terrace and the ground floor, he might as well search the terrace before heading down.

With nothing to lose and a lot of time to spare, YuWon headed for the stairs that led to the terrace. But as he climbed, something strange caught his eye. The walls had these weird, red symbols all over them.

I'm pretty sure these weren't here before.

The markings looked fresh. Meaning someone had drawn them in the last hour or so. YuWon ran his fingers through the marking. The texture was sticky, and the familiar smell made his stomach churn.

"Blood?" he mumbled, wiping off the gooey mixture on his pants.

Following the revelation, YuWon stopped climbing ahead. The sight of blood wasn't new to him. But the markings were way too organized to just be a coincidence.

Someone had to have deliberately placed those markings everywhere. But why? YuWon stood rooted to his spot, debating whether he should continue his search.

After looking at his watch, he realized the checkpoint skill was still on cooldown, which meant if he died, he would have to start over from before the fight with the hobgoblin.

Dealing with the hobgoblin isn't the problem here.

YuWon knew he could handle the hobgoblin again if he had to, but the idea of facing Soo-Ah and Min-Joon afterward made his blood boil.

He didn't want to see them or anyone else from his past for a while, because he didn't know what he would do to them.

One didn't have to be a genius to know that the smart thing was to leave. The markings, the blood—everything about this screamed danger.

Let's leave for now.

For once, YuWon trusted his instincts. But just as he was about to back away, the key in his hand vibrated a little and a notification appeared before him.

[The Awakener has discovered the cache. If the awakener opts to leave the area, their ownership of the cache will be nullified, leading to the allocation of the reward to a different Awakener.]

"So I can't even leave now?" YuWon mumbled, scratching his head.

He didn't want to take unnecessary risks, but losing the reward after all, this would be a huge blow. Besides, he would have to go to the terrace eventually. Even if he dies, he would have to defeat the hobgoblin and get back to the same place.

Besides, if he died, at least the next time he would have a plan in place. So in a twisted way, YuWon had nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

"I've already beaten the zone, boss," he muttered, trying to reassure himself. "There's no way something stronger than that hobgoblin is lurking around here. Two bosses wouldn't share the same territory… right?"

With a deep breath, he climbed onto the terrace, only to be greeted by a gruesome sight. Unlike how he remembered, the entire terrace was littered with human corpses.

Their bodies were so severely damaged and contorted that it was impossible to understand how it happened.

Just six hours ago, there had been nothing here but the remains of the goblins he had fought. Now, the terrace looked like a massacre site out of a horror movie.

What is that thing?

Other than the corpses, at the center was a decorated pillar that looked more like an altar. The whole thing was soaked in blood, surrounded by human skulls.

It was a sight that made his stomach churn. Thankfully, by now YuWon had seen enough corpses to not throw up. Still, he couldn't just shrug off the strange aura around the place.

Even though YuWon could respawn, he had no intentions of staying there for long. He approached the altar cautiously, and as he did, the key in his hand glowed brightly, confirming the cache was somewhere around the altar.

"These fucking chills..." YuWon mumbled, looking around. "Let's just break this shit, take the reward, and get the hell out of here."

But before YuWon could do anything, he felt a presence behind him. Someone was watching him. He spun around to see a tall, arguably curvy goblin standing behind him.

She had pale green skin and long white hair that covered half her face. She wore ragged clothes that barely covered her body, and unlike the other goblins he had encountered, she was strikingly beautiful.

So beautiful that for a moment, YuWon forgot she was a monster. No one could blame him, though. The goblin looked more like a woman than any of the grotesque creatures he had fought before.

Strangely enough, she kept staring at the club in his hand and tilted her head as she asked, "Did you kill my father?"

YuWon blinked, stunned not only by her words but because she could speak. It was the first time he had heard a goblin speak and was processing it, but the silence only fueled her anger and she lunged at him.

YuWon stood frozen in his place, but his instinct kicked in at the last moment, prompting him to jump to the side and save himself.

But even though he was safe, he noticed that his body had turned sluggish, and he was having trouble thinking straight.

He couldn't seem to tear his eyes away from the goblin and realized it must be the altar's effect. If it hadn't been for the key's constant burst of light that snapped him out of his daze, YuWon was certain he would have been dead by now.

However, he wasn't safe just yet. The goblin attacked again, this time faster than before. YuWon swung the club with all his strength, trying to stop her. But to his horror, she caught it with one hand and crushed it like it was nothing more than a twig.

YuWon couldn't believe that the club that destroyed concrete walls and floors snapped into pieces and fell to the ground.

However, he had no time to be shocked. The goblin attacked him again. But she couldn't control her momentum and both of them fell over the railing and crashed in the courtyard below.

Every part of his body screamed in pain. But miraculously, he was still alive... even though he couldn't move. He could feel his cracked ribs and a broken arm, which was a good thing because he was feeling something, at least.

But unlike him, the goblin looked unharmed as she grabbed his neck, lifting him off the ground.

"I'll ask you one more time," the goblin hissed. "Did you kill my father?"

"That... ugly bastard... was your father?" YuWon smiled through the pain. "You should thank god... for having... taken after your mother..."

The goblin wasn't pleased with YuWon's witty comment and raised her claw to sever his head. But just as she brought her claws down, something pushed her away, and she went crashing through the wall on the other end.

YuWon once again hit the ground. Only this time, he saw a skeleton standing over him through his blurry eyes.

"YuWon!"

He heard a familiar voice. But everything turned dark before he could see who it was.