Chapter 12: A Mont Too Honest
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Ethan’s heartbeat echoed in his ears — loud, erratic, far too intense for soone standing perfectly still. The adrenaline hadn’t settled. Not yet.
"You..." a deep voice called out.
Ethan blinked, snapping out of his daze.
The group’s leader stepped forward, brushing off so dust from his shoulder. A faint smirk curved his lips as he looked Ethan up and down.
"You sure pack a punch, kid," the man said. "Didn’t expect that from soone so small."
’Small...?’ Ethan’s eyelid twitched.
’I’m 187 centiters tall. Fairly built too. Small? Then what the hell counts as big around here... a damn ogre?’
Before he could respond with sarcasm or confusion, another voice chid in — this ti from a man to the left, wearing a patched leather jerkin and a look of growing suspicion.
"Wait... by any chance, are you an awakened person?"
Huh?
Ethan froze. His expression remained neutral, maybe a little blank. But inside? Full-blown panic.
’System?! Oi! Didn’t you say most people awaken naturally or through so event?! Why the hell are they treating this like I’m so rare unicorn?!’
’Is it... dangerous to admit it? Would I be hunted? Captured? Worshipped? Dissected?! What kind of world is this?!’
In that split second of ntal screaming, a faint chi echoed in his mind.
> [ . . . ]
[ . . . . . . ]
[↺ Scanning—Error: Data mismatch—System frawork incompatible with local technological baseline...]
’That doesn’t help!’
Flustered and still unsure, his mouth moved before his brain could catch up.
"...Yes. I am," Ethan blurted out.
Shit
A short silence followed.
"Tch. Lucky bastard," muttered a man from the back, crossing his arms with a scowl. "Figures. One of those born-with-it types."
Just then, the system finally responded properly.
> [SYSTEM UPDATE – CONTEXT RECOGNIZED]
Notice: The current technological and magical understanding of this world has significantly regressed compared to the System’s point of origin. The phenonon of "Awakening" is not universally accessible or replicable. Only a select few individuals naturally achieve awakening due to genetic potential, environntal exposure, or anomalous events.
Host has unintentionally revealed rare status.
Ethan’s eye twitched.
’So you’re telling ... I’m a walking shiny Pokémon in a world that doesn’t even know what a Poké Ball is?’
The leader chuckled, clearly misreading the silence.
"Well, awakened or not, you’ve earned your place, kid. We could use more hands like yours... especially if more goblins crawl out of those woods."
Ethan gave a stiff nod, still internally screaming.
That’s when the driver — the older man with the cracked glasses and wiry gray beard — finally spoke up from behind the cart.
"Huh? Awakened?" His voice shot up an octave, eyes going wide. "You’re really awakened?!"
He sounded stunned... and oddly relieved.
But the mont he said it, a few of the surrounding n scoffed.
"Tch. Of course, the old man’s excited."
"Guess having an awakened around ans less chance of him dying first."
"Hmph. Lucky bastard just popped into power while the rest of us grind our bones in training halls."
Their grumbles grew sharper, eyes flicking toward Ethan with restrained annoyance. No one made a move, but the subtle shift in energy didn’t go unnoticed.
’Ah. So we’re entering the envy phase. Great.’
Ethan glanced at the driver again. The man was nodding to himself, muttering words like "finally" and "safe, maybe" under his breath.
Then the system chid in again — this ti with clearer context.
> [SYSTEM INFO – AWAKENING RECOGNITION]
Update: While awakening was once a common threshold passed by most capable individuals, recent centuries have seen a drastic decline in awakening occurrences.
Primary causes include: environntal mana disruption, soul strain saturation, and the near-extinction of soul-awakening techniques once used to initiate the process intentionally.
As a result, awakened individuals have beco exceedingly rare.
In response, non-awakened humans have adapted by practicing alternative martial and magical systems through structured cultivation thods, enabling them to access supernatural abilities over ti — though with greater risk and limitation.
Ethan’s brow furrowed slightly as he processed the flood of information.
’So awakening used to be normal... and now I’m a damn anomaly again. Great. And there’s even a whole fallback path for those who fail to awaken?’
He sighed internally.
’Figures. This world’s been breaking for a while, hasn’t it?’
A sharp clap rang out.
The leader raised his hand, commanding imdiate silence.
"Alright, listen up," he barked. "Start collecting the cores. Prioritize the hobgoblins, but grab what you can. Left ears as proof. Don’t forget — the guild won’t pay a copper without ’em."
Several of the n broke away, already used to the routine. Knives ca out. Bodies were flipped. Wet squelches and snapping cartilage followed almost rhythmically.
Ethan stood frozen for a mont, watching with mild horror as one of the more experienced fighters casually slit open a goblin’s chest and dug around like he was scooping soup from a bowl.
’Wait, that’s what we’re doing now? Seriously?’
With a resigned sigh, he crouched beside a nearby corpse. Its skin was clammy, still faintly warm. The stink of blood and bile clung to his nose like smoke.
He forced his fingers around the goblin’s chest, feeling the ribcage shift under pressure. Gritting his teeth, he jamd his dagger between the ribs and cut downward — guided only by half-seen movents of the others.
It squelched.
He reached in.
"Ugh... disgusting."
His hand erged slick with thick, black-red fluids... but nestled in his palm was a faintly glowing shard — cloudy, barely the size of a marble.
A low-grade mana crystal. Not worth much, but it shimred faintly with pale green light. The goblin’s only prize.
Apparently, goblins and hobgoblins didn’t have any valuable body parts worth selling. No horns, no special hides, no alchemical glands.
’Suckers.’
He sighed and moved on, mimicking the ear-slicing part with more ease. By the third corpse, his gag reflex gave up.
The leader returned just as Ethan dumped another ear into a leather pouch.
"You did help in subjugation," the man said, wiping his blade. "So the mana cores are yours to sell. But don’t expect a cut of the escort fee — that goes to the contracted mbers only. The driver’ll handle that part."
Ethan nodded. "Yeah, that’s obvious."
’Even letting keep the cores is generous. I’m just an amnesiac tag-along who fell out of the sky, after all.’
Still, he glanced at the dirty pouch of glowing crystals in his hand and smiled faintly.
’Well... who says no to money?’
With ears collected and cores stashed, the group finally resud their journey.
The wheels of the cart creaked louder now, weighed down by more than just goods. The bloodstains on their boots hadn’t dried yet, but no one seed to care. The forest thinned out gradually, letting the late afternoon sun spill through gaps in the canopy.
And then — over a gentle rise — the first sign of civilization ca into view.
A cheap wooden fence, barely taller than a man, surrounded the clustered rooftops of a small village. A big wooden gate sat at the center, simple but sturdy enough to hold against wild beasts.
Only a single guard stood watch, leaning lazily on his spear with one hand while shielding his eyes with the other.
Ethan exhaled slowly.
’Finally.’
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