Byung was just born, but this didn't stop the orcs from knocking him unconscious soon after he was brought into this world, only for him to awake in a room filled with cries of babies.
It was too dark for him to make out anything of importance, but one by one, the cries disappeared.
And all Byung could think about was the worst-case scenario, which was that they were killing the babies that showed signs of weakness.
This guided him not to cry. Byung didn't understand what was going on or if this was even real to begin with, but if he 'died' in this world, then he would wake up in his decrepit body in his world.
"We have taken all the weak ones. What remains are the strong ones," a voice echoed in the dark, and Byung felt a sense of relief when he heard he was regarded as strong.
This world felt like a case of survival of the fittest, and Byung had qualified to be regarded as strong right from the jump. This must be a good start.
"Phew! That was close!" Byung thought to himself as the individuals walked through the dark with a lit stick.
"I'm off to a good start," Byung thought to himself. However, he couldn't help but worry about what he had stepped into, as what waited for him behind the door was unknown.
Byung was taken away and immediately spotted a goblin standing outside, holding a chart in his hand, as if it were an item.
"Farm… sector is sort out. Take ones to mine," the goblin instructed the other goblin holding Byung. The language was broken, and Byung instantly recognised it was a different language—but once again, he could understand it.
"Yes…" The orc holding Byung exclaimed before tossing him in a carriage with the other babies that showed signs of strength.
Byung realised at that moment he had made a terrible miscalculation, because he assumed being strong was for the best; however, being a farmer sounded like a better life on second thought.
Right from a young age, due to goblins ageing differently, it took Byung only a few years to start working in the mines.
He realised the harsh conditions they were forced to work in, as they had little to no food to eat, but the minerals they were mining could easily change their lives.
Byung couldn't understand why and how they were so poor when they had so much ore, yet they still used weapons made of stone.
It was clear that they had no idea how valuable it was, and Byung gathered from his months there that other mines had different minerals of varying value.
If anything, the other races were taking advantage of them, because this way they wouldn't need to do the dirty work themselves.
Byung realised they were content with this life because those who did an exceptional job were offered a woman to breed with—which was the ultimate reward all goblins thrived for—but he also noticed the mortality rate among goblins was low.
They had tried to use other races to make up for the lack of females of their own, but even with this, not all babies survived the process, while the woman always died regardless of the outcome.
The chances that a goblin could and would be born healthy were a meagre 20%.
So goblins knew the work they were doing was essential to their survival; otherwise, extinction was teetering at the edge, and this was something they couldn't risk.
Byung was curious about one thing—it didn't matter which race they bred with, the baby always came out as a goblin regardless of the species of the female.
"You work good. Have water," a goblin praised Byung. Byung was only a few months old and was already outworking even goblins older than him, and he was grateful he could experience the full functions of a working body.
"Thanks. Finish soon," Byung was quick to show his appreciation mixed in with determination as he adopted their way of speaking so he wouldn't raise any suspicion. He had no idea where he was, but at this point, he was sure this was not a dream.
Byung was grateful to have a functioning body and wasn't about to take it for granted by being idle. He was appreciating the gift that god had granted him, and this meant he was doing a lot more than goblins his age.
This caught the attention of the person supervising the mine in that specific area.
However, there was a section of the mine that remained unexplored because it was believed that those who went that deep often never came back the same.
No, that wasn't correct—they never came back. However, this was a rumour told to control the goblins from mining places they weren't authorised to, because their tools wouldn't let them.
However, Byung wanted to prove himself even further; he wanted to see what this body was capable of, as he had noticed distinctive changes to his body that differed slightly from his peers.
He also knew there was a technique to mining, but why were their tools made of stone?
Did they not know they could make a stronger variant with the ore they were mining?
Byung entered deeper into the mine, and before he knew it, he reached a dead end.
"Huh?" Byung thought to himself. If the stories were true, then why is there a dead end here?
"I knew it, it was all bullshit," Byung muttered to himself with a sigh of relief.
He looked back and saw that the light at the end of the tunnel was the size of a needle.
"Wow, I didn't know it was this far ahead," Byung thought to himself.
But he had already come this far—there was no going back at this point, not anymore.
Byung looked right ahead, but the blocked path was suddenly opened.
"Wasn't there something blocking this path…?" Byung was confused about this but simply chuckled about it.
"I must be tired… I should have taken that drink," Byung blamed it on dehydration as he stepped onto the just-opened path.
The moment he stepped a foot in, it felt like he had entered a different dimension altogether.
The entire place was littered with gold, and there was no doubt that this discovery would force them to promote Byung to mine more adventurous mines.
But something was sitting in the corner—it looked like a goblin, but it was different.
He turned around to alert the others of his find, but the path that was opened only a few minutes ago had closed.
"Is this a joke?" Byung questioned out loud, truly believing this was a hallucination.
He could understand the first time, but the same instance happening twice? That was unlikely.
[Ding!]
A cyan screen appeared right in front of him, causing him to stumble onto the hardened floor littered with treasure.
[User found!]
[System binding in progress…!]
[System successfully bound!]
[Evolution Rebate system successfully activated!]