Dawn, the first light of day.

On a foggy mountain range filled with lush vegetation, the only mark of human civilization that could be seen was a long and winding concrete road. On the side of the road, a man looking to be in his twenties was lying on his back, his head resting on a large backpack carrying his items.

“Rain...?” Yeung mumbled in his sleep, ”It doesn't usually come 'round December, and that rusty smell...? Oh, I get it—“

It wasn't raining.

He blew out air from his nostrils and slowly opened his eyes before saying out loud,

“Time to wake up," As he shook off the lingering sentiments from a fleeting dream.

He raised his upper body, bringing his hand up to cover his eyes from the glare of morning sun peeking from the mountain opposite where he was.

“I thought I could make it yesterday, but evening came earlier than I expected.”

Sleeping by the side of the road wearing nothing but a long-sleeved shirt and loose pants would've been fine anywhere else, but on a mountain this high up the sea level— anyone would've gotten ill waking up the next day.

Yeung, in perfect health, yawned nonchalantly before standing up and doing a light stretch. He took out his phone out from his pocket and stared at its blank screen,

“Ah— Forgot, my phone's dead.”

It was out of battery.

He placed the phone inside a small pocket on his bag's arm strap instead of returning it to his pant pocket to avoid habitually checking it,

“An hour or two, maybe? Just a bit more walking and civilization at last.”

“Huff!”

Holding onto it with one hand, Yeung lifted the heavy-looking bag off the ground and wore both straps in one seamless action, before taking his first step of the day— an hour away from his hometown.

*

“Welcome to Qinc— What?”

A large arch with missing letterings that was supposed to be the town's welcome sign came into Yeung's view.

“What's the point of paying taxes when the government won't even spend on maintenance?”

As he came closer to the arch— careful scrutinizing revealed to him traces of vandalism on its surface.

“Wah—Is this... blood?”

He stared closely at the red markings on the arch as he brought his nose closer for a sniff.

“Nah! Must be some punks playing a practical joke.”

Yeung dismissed it as such. His nose however, said otherwise.

The reason he came to the conclusion of it being blood was because he had a particularly strong sense of smell. That, and he had a familiarity with the smell of blood— without having much contact with it.

“Are kids playing this far out of the town?” Yeung wondered.

He spotted a few small rickety huts made from scrap-wood beside the road, looking as if they had been made by children. Black smoke was coming from their direction, most likely from a bonfire.

“Hey! You kids shouldn't be playing with fire!” Yeung shouted.

It would be a disaster if the fire grew unchecked at this part of the mountain. It was the dry season and the flames could easily spread through the dry plants.

“Is no-one there?” Yeung thought, before spotting movement within the gaps of the poorly made huts.

“Hey! Did you hear what I said? You kids better clean this up, or—“
“GUUAAAAAAAK!!!”

A high-pitched screech coming from the huts interrupted Yeung.

“What the hell!?”

His eyelids closed for a moment as he flinched in surprise. A sharp impact on his right shoulder greeted him as he opened them up again.

Yeung's pupils constricted as he glanced at the right strap of his backpack. An elongated thin piece of wood with a feather on the other end was sticking out from the pocket— rather, it had embedded itself in the middle of his phone.

“Son of a bitch! This is too much!”

Yeung glared at where the arrow had originated but was taken aback by what he saw.

Three incredibly ugly children with green skin wearing nothing but loincloths. They were screeching at him, each holding crudely made weapons.

One of them was holding something that looked like a bow.

“That must be the one that shot this arrow.”

Yeung grabbed onto the arrow on his shoulder and snapped it off, before breaking into a sprint towards the ugly kid.

“Revenge for my phone!!!” He yelled, before delivering a sharp kick to the temple of the kid holding the bow.

The other two green-skinned kids were surprised, not expecting Yeung to arrive by their side in such a quick manner. They raised their weapons and charged at him looking enraged.

“What's up with these ugly kids!? Imma beat you twerps up real good!”

Yeung each gave them a kick to the temple with a force just strong enough to knock them out.

“Their parents won't blame me for this right? It was self-defense, they were swinging at me with... are these clubs? How do you even make these?”

The weapons the kids wielded looked familiar, like the type used by certain mobs in video games.

“Come to think of it, these guys...”
Yeung scrutinized their appearance.

Green skin, idiotic faces, bald, incredibly ugly, loincloths, so unsightly that their parents should have locked them in a basement, uncut nails, just plain ugly—

“Holy sh— These kids are really into cosplay. How'd they make themselves look so much like goblins?”

Yeung noticed one of the goblin-like children regaining consciousness.

“Wah— No way, I know I hit them strong enough to knock them out a few hours. How the hell are they waking up already, it hasn't even been a minute.”

It turned its head towards Yeung.

“GUAAAAAAAAAK!!!”

Pupils filled with unfounded hatred— meeting its glowing red eyes caused a rush of blood to come over Yeung. He suddenly felt like he was spiked with a lot of caffeine— his heart raced and the back of his neck flared up.

He let out a small growl before dashing to the goblin getting up and delivered a kick to its stomach— enough strength to shatter ribs and blow it a few meters away.

“GUAUAK!!!”

“GAAAK!!!”

The other two were also waking up. Yeung gave them the same treatment as the first goblin, showing no mercy.

A second later, he regained his senses.

“Ah—? What did I do!?” He gulped, and bent down beside one of the goblins.

“Are they alive?” He was too scared to check.

This time, however, he was sure that he had used enough force to incapacitate them.

“These are... real?”
Yeung gave goblins a good pinch to make sure they were alive but instead felt their skin— it didn't feel fake. He turned their bodies around, looking for any zippers or velcro to indicate a bodysuit.

Seeing nothing, he took a quick look around him before grabbing onto the goblin's loincloth.

“This isn't child molestation, I'm just trying to make sure of something.” He reasoned with his morality.

Ripping the piece of dirty fabric away, he was faced with something incomprehensible, causing his pupils to constrict and his mouth to involuntarily gape.

“...ah—? This isn't a child?” He muttered.