Luke exhaled, rubbing his temples as he scrolled through the system interface. The glowing blue screen hovered in front of him, casting eerie light onto the cavern floor. He read over the village stats again, lips twisting into a frown.
[ Goblin Village Management ]
Population: 21
Morale: Low
Resources: Extremely Low
Defenses: Nonexistent
Tech Points Income: 7-9 TP per day
Infrastructures:Rune Light: 7-9 TP per day.
The numbers weren't great, and the reality was worse. After the cult attacked the last village, they'd barely escaped with their lives. The goblins had suffered heavy casualties—mostly the men. That left Luke, Grut, Rok, and Zog as the only adult males. The rest were females and children, exhausted and wary, eyes shadowed with the weight of survival.
And now, on top of all that? They had a new wildcard in the mix.
A wolf. No, the wolf. A massive, battle-scarred she-wolf, lurking just beyond the firelight with her three pups. Right now, she was playing nice. Tomorrow? Maybe not. Luke still wasn't sure if she'd calmed down because she understood the situation… or if she was just waiting for an opportunity to snack on a goblin or two.
His fault, really. He had, after all, kidnapped her pups first. Whoops.
Luke swiped the system screen away and turned to Grut, who sat sharpening a crude stone knife near one of the half-built huts. The goblin's green skin was smeared with dirt, his usual grin replaced with an uncharacteristic grimace.
"We're stretched thin," Luke said, folding his arms. "We need to finish these shelters, get some real walls up, and start securing food. How much wood do we have left?"
Grut glanced up. "Enough for two more days. Maybe three if we don't waste it."
"Then let's not waste it." Luke turned, scanning the cavern's first layer. The place was almost ideal—bioluminescent fungi lit up the tunnels with a faint blue glow, mana crystals jutted from the rock walls like forgotten treasure, and it was just spacious enough for expansion. But deeper down…
His eyes flickered to the tunnels leading to the lower layers. The second layer was even wider, more accessible, but the third? That was where he'd fought the Broodmother. That place needed serious clearing before it could be useful.
One problem at a time.
Rok and Zog approached, their expressions serious. "Scouts say tunnel still smells like death," Rok reported. "Big spider bodies still rotting. We need to clean."
Luke grimaced. He had definitely gone overboard with exterminating the spider colony, and now they were dealing with the aftermath. "Yeah, I figured. If we don't get those corpses out, we'll have worse problems than just the smell."
Zog grunted. "We eat them?"
A long, awkward silence.
Luke blinked. "...You want to eat the giant spiders?"
Zog shrugged. "Meat is meat."
Grut made a face, shaking his head. "Zog, you sick."
Zog bared his teeth in a grin. "You soft."
Luke pinched the bridge of his nose. "Hard pass on eating eldritch dungeon spiders. Pretty sure that's a one-way ticket to parasite central. We'll burn them instead."
Rok gave an approving nod. "Fire good."
"Exactly." Luke looked back at the half-built village. "Alright, here's the plan. First, we focus on finishing the shelters. Second, we clear out the corpses from the lower layers. Third, we start laying down runes to fortify this place."
"And fourth?" Grut asked.
Luke sighed, glancing toward the wolf mother again. She watched them in silence, yellow eyes gleaming in the dark.
"Fourth…" He exhaled. "We figure out what the hell we're doing with her before she decides for us."
The goblins looked at the wolf, then at Luke. No one spoke for a long moment.
Then Grut smirked. "You could marry her."
Luke groaned. "I hate all of you."
Luke exhaled, rubbing his temples. Managing a half-starved goblin village and a volatile giant wolf wasn't exactly what he envisioned when he got dumped into this world. But here he was. If he didn't get things in order soon, they were all screwed.
"Alright, new plan," he said, snapping his fingers to get Grut's attention. The goblin straightened, ears twitching.
"Grut, you're in charge of training the female goblins in archery. Take the bows we salvaged from the old village." He gestured toward a pile in the corner, where battered wooden bows and stone-tipped arrows lay next to a few leather bedrolls. Nearby, goblin children huddled close to a rune light he had created earlier.
Grut frowned. "Humans might come back." His voice was low, wary.
Luke nodded. "Which is why we're not just hiding. Pick a few fast ones. You remember that goblin girl who wanted to join the hunts but you turned away just 'cause she's female?"
Grut blinked, then slowly nodded. "She's… eager."
"Good. Train her and the others. We need every advantage."
Rok and Zog exchanged glances. "And us?" Rok grunted.
"You two get to clean up the spider corpses."
Rok visibly cringed. "Disgusting."
"Oh, you'll love this next part." Luke smirked, holding up a glowing mana crystal. "Before you toss the bodies, dig these out. You saw Shiki collecting them from beasts, right? We need them."
Zog made a face but didn't argue. Rok grunted in reluctant acceptance.
Luke tossed the crystal in his hand, catching it with a grin. He had an idea—a stupid, borderline insane idea, but if it worked, they'd have real weapons. Not sticks and stones, but something that could change everything.
"Until I get my hands on proper tools for gunpowder, we're going to work with what we have," he muttered to himself. "Runic rifles. Magic-powered guns using these little beauties as ammo." He tapped the mana crystal.
A slow, wicked smile stretched across his face.
"Even a goblin child will be able to wield a proper weapon."
The goblins eyed him warily as his chuckle turned into full-blown maniacal laughter.
Zog whispered to Rok, "I think Chief Luke has finally gone mad."
Rok grunted. "Mad makes strong weapons."
Luke wiped a tear from his eye, still grinning. "There can be no peace without war. Sun Tzu said that."
Grut blinked. "Who?"
"...Another world's warlord. Don't worry about it."
He clapped his hands. "Alright, get moving. We've got work to do."
The goblins scattered, each off to fulfill their new roles, while Luke stood there, grinning at the cavern ceiling. War was coming. And this time, they'd be ready.
Luke, Grut, Rok, and Zog spent the entire day working. There was no room for slacking—not when survival was at stake.
Luke took charge of the female goblins, guiding them in constructing the huts. They had limited resources, but with enough hands working together, progress was steady. The makeshift wooden frames were reinforced with planks and rune markings were slowly integrated into the structures, ensuring durability and some measure of protection.
Meanwhile, Grut had chosen a handful of female goblins for hunting. Some took to it with alarming enthusiasm. One, in particular, stood out—Gorlia.
She used to be kind, almost motherly, back when their village still stood. But after the massacre, something inside her had shifted. Her once-warm eyes now carried a cold, simmering hatred. The kind that wouldn't hesitate to drive an arrow through a human child's skull. Luke didn't blame her. He only made a mental note not to stand in front of her while she had a bow drawn.
The second standout was the eldest female goblin, a battle-scarred survivor who had been the de facto leader of the women in the previous village. She carried herself like an elder sister, someone the others instinctively followed. Perfect. Luke needed someone like her—someone to whip the female goblins into shape, like an Amazonian warband.
Rok and Zog, meanwhile, had gathered a team of female goblins to help with corpse disposal. Their task was simple but gruesome—gut the giant spider carcasses, extract any mana crystals, then drag the remains outside and pile them into a single heap. The stench was unbearable, and some of the goblins gagged at the sight of the twitching remains, but none of them stopped.
By the time the sun dipped beyond the horizon, the hunting party returned, dragging their kills behind them.
Grut and his group had done well—two deer, a pile of rabbits, and some small game. What surprised Luke the most was how naturally the female goblins took to the hunt. They were quick, agile, and scarily accurate with their shots.
It made him wonder how things would've turned out if the old village hadn't been bound by outdated traditions. Back then, only males were allowed to wield weapons. Part of that was because the former chief had been a bit of a male supremacist—not out of malice, but simply because that was how things had always been. The thought made Luke shake his head. Ignorance breeds weakness. Adaptation breeds survival by Sun Tzu. (Yes Sun Tzu said that. )
While Grut's group had been out hunting, Luke and the rest had made significant progress on the shelters. Instead of small, cramped huts, they opted for larger communal ones. It was more efficient—easier to heat, harder to destroy, and a hell of a lot more practical with their limited resources.
Rok and Zog had also done good work. Most of the spider corpses were cleared from the first layer, though some still littered the path leading to the second. Regardless, it was a job well done.
Seeing the exhausted but satisfied faces around him, Luke made a decision.
"Alright, listen up!" he called out, drawing every goblin's attention. "We worked our asses off today, so we're having a feast! Someone start a fire—we're roasting some deer meat."
The announcement was met with cheers. It had been a while since any of them had eaten properly, and the morale boost was worth it.
As the scent of roasting meat filled the cavern, Luke approached the giant wolf and her pups. He tossed her a share of the cooked venison, watching carefully as she sniffed at it before eating.
Indifferent. Not hostile.
That was good. That was really good.
Luke allowed himself a breath of relief. At the very least, she wasn't looking to rip their throats out just yet. That's one less problem for now.
The night was filled with laughter, tired conversations, and the comforting warmth of firelight.
It had been a productive day.
Tomorrow, Luke would help clear out the remaining corpses while experimenting with something new—a rune that could absorb ambient mana to light up the entire first layer of the cavern. Maybe even a prototype runic rifle or a grenade.
A grin stretched across his face.
And then he laughed.
Low, manic, and filled with excitement.