That morning, the sun had just begun to rise when Lee Jun awoke in his small cabin within Goblin's Grove. The fog that always surrounded his private dungeon remained as thick as ever, but something about the air felt... different.
Today was harvest day.
"Wake up! We're harvesting today!" Jun shouted as he opened the cabin door.
The goblins scrambled out eagerly. Godon, now accustomed to leading, immediately began organizing the others. Some goblins were assigned to pull out the radishes, others carried the baskets, and a small team was posted as guards along the perimeter.
The 450-square-meter field had been fully tilled and planted. After 10 days, the radishes had grown large and ripe—faster than crops in the outside world, thanks to the unique properties of the dungeon environment.
A Bountiful Harvest
One by one, the radishes were plucked from the soil. The goblins' laughter echoed between the swaying leaves. Though their hands were small, their movements were swift and efficient—thanks to practice and Godon's leadership.
Jun weighed and recorded each load as the goblins brought them in. The final total came out to about 2,250 kilograms of radishes.
"Not bad... not bad at all," Jun murmured to himself.
He decided to set aside 500 kilograms for personal and goblin consumption. The rest would be sent to the market with help from his parents.
But just as the sun began to dip below the horizon, something strange occurred.
The Trembling Fog
From the northern edge of Goblin's Grove, the dense fog—which had always remained still—began to ripple. It pulsed faintly, as though something was moving just beyond the boundary.
One of the goblin guards came sprinting toward Jun.
"Grogh! Groghh!" it cried, pointing toward the north.
Jun's expression hardened. "Something's coming?"
Godon nodded quickly and called all the goblins back to the cabin.
Jun stood alone at the edge of the field, gripping a crude wooden spear. Silence. Nothing appeared. But the air grew heavy… as if something—or someone—was watching from beyond the veil.
"You're just watching, huh...?" Jun whispered, tightening his grip.
Minutes passed. Still, no attack came. No movement. Only that suffocating pressure.
Eventually, Jun retreated and shut the door of the cabin behind him.
A Quiet Night, But Not a Safe One
That day's harvest was complete. Some of the radish baskets were taken outside the dungeon via Jun's portal and left with his parents to be sold in the market.
But that night, Jun couldn't sleep. He sat near the small fire inside the cabin, staring at the neatly stacked radishes.
"I need to start thinking about building a defense system... before it's too late."
The shadows in the fog had yet to reveal themselves. But Lee Jun knew one thing—peace never lasted long in the world of dungeons.