Gaosi didn't rush to act.
Instead, he first chose to prick up his ears and observe his surroundings.
Besides the stone the Goblin was sitting on, there were no other obstacles by the pond; the terrain was open, making it an ideal environment for a head-on confrontation.
Once he left the bushes he was currently in, there would be about ten meters of exposed distance to the Goblin's location, under the sunlight.
Ten meters sounded close, but if he charged out making noise, it would be enough for it to react, so he had to circle around to its back, then quietly sneak close to it and launch a surprise attack.
Moreover, he had to seize the opportunity to attack the Goblin while it was grinding its weapon; it would be even better if he didn't give it time to grab its weapon and get into formation.
A prepared mind against an unprepared one, armed against unarmed, plus the inherent physical advantage, the battle should be completely one-sided.
Gaosi's mind raced.
Having formulated his plan, he didn't hesitate, immediately crouching and moving slowly, trying to minimize any sound.
Then, he gradually moved to directly behind the Goblin.
Once in position, he clenched the dagger in his hand; whether from nervousness or excitement, his hand began to tremble.
The sweat secreted in his palm made his skin grip the rough dagger handle more firmly.
He swallowed hard.
He looked at the Goblin sitting on the stone not far away.
The little green-skinned creature had its back to him, picking its foot and humming as it ground a stone spear, looking very relaxed.
It wouldn't be long before the dagger in my hand would end its life.
Gaosi took a deep breath; in his previous life, he had probably never actively killed anything except accidentally stepping on ants or insects, and now, about to kill a living being, he needed to do some mental preparation.
Moreover, as a monster, the Goblin somewhat resembled humans, which made the burden of this killing even greater.
However, it truly deserved to be killed.
Gaosi closed his eyes.
The moment he saw the Goblin, a childhood memory surfaced in his mind as if in response to a trigger.
It was from the original body's childhood, when over a dozen Goblins attacked the village where he lived. Although the adults in the village organized themselves and drove the Goblins away with pitchforks and sickles, a neighbor girl a few years older than him was abducted and never returned.
There's no need to elaborate on her fate.
This was just what the original body had personally experienced; on this land, similar tragedies had been countless for thousands of years.
Gaosi opened his eyes again, but this time, there was no longer any hesitation or doubt in them.
He pressed his right thumb nail firmly against his index finger knuckle; the stinging sensation from the pressure made his right hand stop trembling, restoring its steadiness.
He held his breath, slowly crawling out of the bushes in a near-crouching manner, using both hands and feet.
At this moment, apart from the chirping of birds and the buzzing of insects in the forest, there was not a single other sound.
Even the wind had calmed, and the pond was ripple-free.
Gaosi crawled to about three meters from the Goblin, then stopped, not continuing to crawl.
This was already a very close distance; he could even see the coarse hairs in the folds of its green skin and the peristaltic changes in its muscles caused by its breathing.
Slowly standing up, he rose gradually, controlling his movements like playing the 'Red Light, Green Light' game as a child in his previous life, allowing the blood to flow smoothly through his body again.
Once his body was no longer stiff.
He took a deep breath, then suddenly launched his attack!
He took a big stride!
His toes firmly pressed against the ground, and the explosive recoil pushed his body forward sharply.
Taking three steps in two, he directly leaped onto the stone surface.
The Goblin, engrossed in grinding its spear, seemed startled by the sudden loud noise, shuddered, and instinctively tried to grab the stone spear it was rubbing on the stone.
But Gaosi, who had already made full preparations, would not give it this chance.
He stomped his right foot down hard, putting his entire weight onto the wooden handle of the stone spear.
The Goblin failed to grab it, grasping at air, and immediately tried to reach out again.
Gaosi was quick-footed and sharp-eyed, directly kicking the stone spear away.
Then, before the Goblin could sit up, he pounced on it, using his left hand to grab the back of its right head and smash it against the stone surface, while his left knee directly pressed down on its back, similarly using the weight advantage of his larger size to pin it against the stone.
"Waa waa waa! Waa waa!"
The Goblin let out a sharp shriek, unable to move under the pressure, but still struggled with all its might.
The fangs so close, and the splashing, foul-smelling saliva, made Gaosi's pupils involuntarily constrict.
Even when pinned face down on the stone, it still burst forth with an astonishing will to survive, its slender arms waving its grey, sharp claws, attempting to scratch his right arm at an unnatural angle.
Unfortunately, this was an extremely difficult angle to exert force from, and Gaosi's cloth armor also covered his forearms.
Its scratches merely scraped against several layers of cotton cloth armor, causing little damage.
But this intense struggle and the fierce resistance rushing at him still made Gaosi's breathing heavy, and his heart rate rapidly accelerated, as if it would leap out of his chest.
Battles between low-level adventurers and monsters were never elegant.
Gaosi didn't give it any more room to struggle; he increased the pressure on its head with his left hand, while clenching the dagger in his right, aiming, and exerting force from both his shoulder and elbow simultaneously, plunging the green-glowing dagger into its vulnerable neck.
The dark green skin was instantly sliced open by the metal blade as if cutting tofu!
"Puch!"
Bright red blood erupted from the wound made by the dagger like a surge of mercury.
The blood instantly soaked Gaosi's arm and clothes.
Swallowing hard, Gaosi felt the unwillingness and madness of the creature beneath him, still struggling and attacking even while bleeding profusely. He gritted his teeth and twisted his wrist, savagely stirring the dagger within the flesh a few times.
This bleeding action accelerated the Goblin's death.
"Ya... gurgle... ya...."
The sounds the Goblin made were already intermittent, like a broken bellows.
Before long, the Goblin beneath him finally lost its last breath of life and stopped moving.
Gaosi gasped for breath, stood up, and stabbed the Goblin twice in its left and right chest to ensure it was completely dead.
Finally, he set the dagger aside and collapsed onto the stone, as if all his strength had drained away.
As a hunter, this body's stamina and muscle memory for using weapons were naturally not that bad; he just needed time to adjust.
Gaosi felt his chest heaving violently and the clearly audible, strong heartbeat within it; he was still somewhat dazed.
He glanced at the Goblin, which had already become a cold corpse, and the sticky, glaring red blood on his hands; everything felt incredibly unreal.
This was not a game, nor an adventure, but a real, actual killing.
He sat quietly by himself for a while.
Once his breathing had calmed down again, Gaosi's unease from his first kill finally subsided somewhat.
Human adaptability is very strong.
Even though he still felt a bit awkward, he had calmly accepted the fact that he had taken a Goblin's life.
"Goblin killed *1"
"Monster Compendium officially activated!"
"Total monsters killed: 1. First Blood achieved, reward received: Mage profession skill 0-level cantrip 【Mage Hand】, Intelligence +1. Next stage: total monster kills accumulate to 10."
"You have accumulated 1 Goblin kill!"
"Obtained title 'Goblin Hunter', this title will upgrade with kill count."
"Current effect: Bane. In combat against Goblins and related evolved species, attack damage is additionally increased by 10%."