The Emerald Forest was densely overgrown, with towering trees that made it difficult for sunlight to penetrate.
The chilling atmosphere sent a shiver down Gaosi's spine; he kept feeling a cold presence behind him.
Compared to ordinary low-level adventurers visiting the Emerald Forest for the first time, Gaosi actually had a natural advantage.
As a hunter active in the outermost reaches of the Emerald Forest, he was not entirely ignorant of the environment here.
He had several familiar "hunting grounds," and he had left various markers throughout the woods to guide him to these areas.
Furthermore, he had the "map" guidance from the adventurer's handbook; any area he traversed would illuminate its surroundings on the map.
This prevented him from facing the first hidden danger for novice low-level adventurers: getting lost.
Yes, compared to the monsters one fought with real weapons, the vast, boundless forest itself was the potential crisis. With impenetrable trees and monotonous scenery, it was impossible for an ordinary person to orient themselves within it, let alone find their way back to the main forest road and, from there, return to human civilization.
Countless new adventurers lost their lives, swallowed by this forest every year. Gaosi had encountered human skeletons several times during his past hunts.
Unfortunately, their clothing and equipment had vanished, likely plundered by the native inhabitants of this forest—various monsters.
If not for the existence of those monsters, Gaosi might have achieved his dream of buying a house simply by scavenging the legacies of adventurers.
Gaosi pondered this internally, but his steps were not slow. Relying on the original owner's memories and the various marks left on oak tree trunks, he arrived at a rarely visited hunting ground.
There were definitely Goblins in the vicinity of this hunting ground, and their numbers wouldn't be too many.
The reason Gaosi came here first was also guided by relevant information in his mind.
It was something that happened about a month ago, not too long ago.
At that time, he hadn't caught any prey for several days, so he opened up this "hunting ground" and set a few traps, which yielded some small gains.
However, one early morning, as dawn broke and the forest mist was thick, he came to check his traps, only to find bloody traces left by triggered traps.
The prey had clearly been snatched away by "someone" who got there first.
He quickly determined the thief was a Goblin.
The human-like footprints on the ground, though not numerous, were very clear.
Those footprints were only about the size of a human child's foot, and they were barefoot. Perhaps it had rained recently before that day, so the footprints pressed into the soil were remarkably distinct.
Clearly, it was highly unlikely that a shoeless child would be wandering deep in the dense forest in the Emerald Forest. Excluding this absurd assumption, the remaining possibilities for the target were only a few types of humanoid monsters.
Among these, the common Goblin matched the body size and footprint size most closely.
After deducing that this hunting ground should be within the activity range of a small Goblin tribe, the cautious Gaosi abandoned this hunting ground and never returned in the time that followed.
He collected his thoughts, returning to reality.
"Still, I need to be careful. Although I didn't see too many footprints nearby that time, and they all seemed to come from the same Goblin, that doesn't mean there's only one Goblin active in this vicinity."
Gaosi thought to himself, and his mind began to recall information about Goblins.
Goblins are a species of pointed-eared, dark-skinned, murky-eyed, slender-limbed, not-too-strong male dwarves, and they are gregarious creatures.
They prefer to eat meat and occasionally pick berries, but their low intelligence and the vile traits inherent in their bloodline mean that these infamous monsters, incapable of any productive labor, are accompanied by plunder and robbery from birth to death.
Not only do they need to plunder for food, but even the process of procreation, which normal creatures undergo, this race cannot complete within their own tribe, relying solely on snatching females of other races to reproduce.
Among these, they particularly favor humans, individuals similar in stature to themselves. Therefore, many villages have long suffered from the ravages and harm brought by Goblins, who raid food, tools, and women, threatening the survival of human settlements and trade caravans, truly a history of notorious misdeeds.
As for the actual combat strength of Goblins.
In Gaosi's memory, these green-skinned little monsters were about as strong as his impression from his previous life; non-special individuals had relatively weak single combat ability. In a one-on-one situation, an ordinary farmer with a weapon could handle them.
But precisely because of this, Goblins usually compensate for their lack of individual combat strength with numerical superiority, excelling in ambushes and group encirclements. Once their numbers swell, they can become a terrifying disaster.
What's worse, these filthy creatures, Goblins, possess a rampant reproductive capacity like rats and cockroaches. A female Goblin giving birth often produces a litter of several offspring.
The survival rate of Goblin young is also extremely high. In less than a year, they can develop from a newborn, mouse-sized infant stage to a sexually mature adult.
After reaching adulthood, Goblins continue to be controlled by their primal urges, plundering female individuals for the next round of reproduction.
It can be said that this is a race that cannot be killed or eradicated, like an original sin of nature.
Also, because Goblins enjoy harassing humans, especially small villages, human understanding of this monster race is almost the deepest among all monsters.
Even illiterate village children can describe their characteristics in a convincing manner.
“Goblin, you're first!” Neither his original body nor Gaosi, who had received a normal modern education, could feel any empathy or pity for creatures like Goblins.
Forget theories about disrupting the natural ecological balance; the best outcome for humanity is the complete extinction of this creature.
Although he was giving himself a pep talk, Gaosi would not let down his guard.
The Goblins in his memory were weak, but practice makes perfect. He had never killed a Goblin before, so he naturally had to treat this with utmost seriousness.
There is only one life, both for him and for the Goblin.
As long as it's a living creature, it has an instinct for survival.
This was a true struggle! Not some adventure.
Gaosi took a deep breath.
First, he untied his package and buried it under a large tree with fallen leaves.
His dagger was already coated with paralyzing poison.
During lunch, he had specifically found a window seat where the sun could dry and harden the herbal juice on the dagger's surface. Now, the dagger's original silvery blade gleamed with an eerie green light.
He hadn't placed too much hope in this cheap paralyzing poison.
You get what you pay for; it might have some slight effect, but it definitely wouldn't be an instant one.
The real fight would still depend on the dagger itself.
He gripped the dagger, and the memories of this body's past use of the dagger gradually surged into his mind.
After a brief adjustment, he squatted down, pushed aside the accumulated fallen leaves, and searched the ground for traces.
This was a hunter's habit; living creatures always leave traces of their activity, especially creatures with low intelligence that don't conceal their tracks.
Footprints, hair, droppings, food scraps, activity trails.
The seemingly calm forest actually concealed countless pieces of information.
Although Gaosi was young, he had trained with his father since childhood, so even though he was just a novice hunter, his ability to gather information was proficient.
After all, as a second son, Gaosi had to make his own way, and for a hunter or mountain dweller who dealt with the forest, the most important skill was information gathering.
Hunting techniques and trap-making skills were secondary; if one's information gathering ability wasn't up to par, a hunter couldn't be considered competent.
“Found it!”
Gaosi was delighted to discover another clear footprint.
It looked very fresh, possibly left just within the last two days.
This meant that the Goblin was still active nearby recently.
“Maybe picking up my prey that time left a deep impression on it, so it occasionally comes to this area, hoping to get something for nothing again?”
Gaosi felt he had guessed the reason.
With the clue, Gaosi began a more meticulous search around the footprint and soon found more footprints and traces of droppings.
The subtle clues on the ground quickly led him deeper into the forest.
Before long, he arrived at a small pond not far from his "hunting ground."
Carefully pushing aside the bushes, the scene came into view.
He had found his target for this trip.
A small green-skinned monster was leisurely sitting on a stone about knee-high, sharpening its stone weapon, a stone spear.
Goblin, I found you!
Gaosi held his breath, but the eyes hidden in the bushes gradually brightened.
In his view, this was not just a Goblin, but the starting point of his professional journey in this other world.
