Thwack. Thwack. Thwack!

A variety of structures rose across what had been a barren plain in Asvillam. Goblins scurried about, felling trees to clear plots and yanking stones from the earth.

Whenever a building was set in place, they turned to hauling in supplies and tidying the interiors.

Byeonggap had expected a quick job, but it dragged on far longer than anticipated. Even placing a single warehouse demanded deliberation—would this spot do, or would it block a path? Too many variables to simply rush through.

Still, all construction wrapped up before evening crept in. The Asvillam of ragged tents was gone, replaced by a tidy residential quarter of neatly aligned buildings.

‘Not bad.’

The settlement, lit by Sun-Lanterns, actually looked pretty decent, even through the lens of a modern aesthetic.

Sure, compared to the dense concrete forests of Earth, it lacked sophistication. But the soft, gentle atmosphere here—that was something no city could replicate.

‘Total comes to 541,900 crystals.’

The small notebook in his hand was crammed with figures. He’d jotted down the cost every time he installed a building.

Fifty-two buildings in all, consuming just over five hundred thousand crystals of wealth.

‘About the same as bringing in Doran. When you think of it that way, it’s a bargain.’

Tucking the notebook into his pocket, Go Byeonggap made a circuit of the residential zone.

Where the settlement met the forest, a dining hall stood. It was the largest structure in Asvillam at the moment.

South of the mess hall sat a storage warehouse and the houses for Doran and Ea. Farther west were twenty-four dormitories, set aside for the goblins alone.

‘Hope the kids like it.’

The goblin lodgings had cost Byeonggap the most thought. Each building could comfortably house eighteen to twenty of them.

For the big ones like the giant goblins, ten was probably the limit.

Either way, they wouldn’t have to cram fifty or sixty into a cramped tent anymore.

‘I’ll need to buy bedding tomorrow.’

Of course, the buildings from the Ancient Shop came as empty shells.

Like buying a car with no options—just a bare chassis.

Bedding, furniture—all that had to be sourced separately. Outfitting 326 goblins was going to cost a small fortune. But it was money he’d already decided to spend, so he let the worry go.

Anyway. To the east of the dining hall, buildings for various purposes had been erected.

North of the residential quarter stood a workshop for Byeonggap himself. He’d moved his alchemy apparatus there, making it easy to tinker with odds and ends. Right next to it sat a small house, his alone.

“Fulfilling my dream of owning a home right here in Asvillam. Hah.”

Go Byeonggap let out a hollow laugh. Out there, he was a renter scraping by month to month—but here in Asvillam, he had a house, even a personal workshop. It was enough to make a ghost weep.

“Wait a minute. It’s not just owning a home, is it? When you think about it, isn’t all this land mine? I’m not just a landlord—I’m practically the Land Emperor. That’s a hell of a feeling.”

Muttering these idle words, he stepped a little beyond the housing district. On what had been a barren field now stood a tall clock tower.

Truth was, he’d had it built just for the hell of it. Though that didn’t mean it was purely ornamental.

‘Could use it as a gathering spot for the kids, tell time, or if worse comes to worst, climb up and smoke a cigarette.’

Behind the clock tower stretched a wide field. Walking south a bit, he spotted a chicken coop with a fenced enclosure.

The chickens were thriving, healthy as could be. Beside the coop sat a storage shed stocked with livestock supplies.

Didn’t this look like a proper territory? Even he had to admit it was impressive.

«Whoooaaa!»

«Seriously. Asvillam is. Legendary!»

«My heart. Swells with pride…….»

The goblins returning from their mining work couldn’t hold back their awe at the new lodgings.

Their mouths hung open as they rolled their eyes around like raw recruits just transferred in.

«Dorma, what do you think? Pretty good, huh? Right?»

«My Lord…….»

Dorma looked like he was about to cry.

«It feels like a dream. Even the old Asvillam was magnificent…… but to express this current beauty, I think I’d need to compose a poem.»

«Aw, don’t lay it on so thick.»

That’s what he said, but he felt great.

«Truly, My Lord is incredible. It’s as if you work miracles.»

«Hey, that only happened because you all worked hard. If it’d been just me, would I have even dared to try? Ea helped a lot too.»

«Heh heh heh. Indeed. But I wonder if we deserve such generous treatment.»

«What are you talking about? We bought all this with the crystals you guys mined.»

Go Byeonggap put a cigarette to his lips as he continued.

«Truth is, we’ve still got a long way to go. If I want you guys to carry on living on your own when I’m not around, there’s still a ton of things to fix up.»

Hearing that, Dorma was startled. His face flushed as he asked.

«M-My Lord, what do you mean by not around? Are you leaving somewhere?»

«No, it’s not like that……. Someday, I’m gonna have to step outside the fog. When that time comes, I might not be able to keep an eye on this place. I’m just saying I want to prepare in advance.»

«Ah, I see, My Lord.»

«By the way, Dorma—when we leave Rock Mountain, I’m taking you with me.»

Dorma was far too skilled to leave behind as just another quarry worker.

Dorma nodded, his face bright with pleasure.

«Of course, Lord. I will serve you until the end of days.»

«Good. Now let’s head over and grab some—»

«Goblins! Time to eat!»

«Idiots, come eat!»

Right on cue, Ea and Doran shouted from above, waving their ladles.

«Let’s eat.»

«Care to join me, Lord?»

«Sure. Let’s go.»

Byeonggap and Dorma made their way to the dining hall.

Inside, goblins were scooping food onto clean dishes and eating—sitting right on the bare floor.

Byeonggap let out a quiet sigh.

‘Tables. I need to get tables in here first. What’s the point of a dedicated dining hall if they’re just squatting on the ground?’

He decided right then: he’d bring in tables first thing tomorrow.

* * *

The next day.

Byeonggap was already barreling down the road in his 1-ton truck since dawn. His destination: the site of an abandoned factory in Yangpyeong County.

He’d been there once before, on a subjugation mission. No matter how hard you looked, you wouldn’t find a single soul around—just a hollow factory building, gaping and empty.

There was only one reason he was heading back here now: to pick up an order.

He pushed the pedal down, wanting to arrive before the delivery guys.

By noon, he’d reached the spot. The factory compound stood wide open; no one had shown up yet.

Byeonggap took a moment to light up a cigarette, savoring the calm.

“If the landowner ever finds out, he’ll have a damn heart attack.”

Funneling goods into Asvillam.

Small items were no problem at all.

But when it came to bulky stuff—bedding sets, furniture—taking a large load inside posed a real issue.

“Because I’ve got nowhere to stage them.”

It wasn’t like he owned a personal warehouse. And there was no way he could pull off the stunt of quietly dumping a pile of merchandise into Asvillam in plain sight of everyone.

So he’d decided to borrow a nice, spacious stretch of land for a while—without the owner’s knowledge, of course.

Not long after, the goods he’d ordered began arriving one after another.

The delivery guys all gave him the same look: “Wait, isn’t this an abandoned factory? Did we get the address wrong?”

Byeonggap quickly ushered them forward.

“Right here. Just set everything down over here, please.”

“Ah… right, right.”

Boxes and crates piled up inside the old factory.

Three hundred fifty bedding sets. Multi-person dining tables, the kind used in schools and military barracks. Plus a whole bunch of daily necessities.

By the time he was done, he’d shelled out over ten million won today alone.

‘I knew I had to brace for it, but at this rate, my back’s really going to break. I’ll have to start making the simpler stuff myself.’

Byeonggap glanced at the long dining tables and grimaced. Now that his Alchemy mastery rate had gone up, he figured he could make something like that on his own.

“Hup!”

“Aish, my disc’s killing me!”

Sweat pouring down their faces, the delivery crew hauled the goods inside. Byeonggap jumped in to help them work.

While the others crowded around to move a single item, Byeonggap hauled multiple pieces by himself.

His bizarre performance made people’s eyes go wide.

Time passed, and at last every object was inside the abandoned factory. Byeonggap checked carefully, worried something might have been missed.

Soon, a satisfied expression settled on his face.

“No issues.”

“Yes. Please sign here. … Yes! Thank you.”

“Good work.”

He sent all the delivery staff away.

“Whew, when am I gonna move all this again? Tch. Gotta get busy.”

His job wasn’t done. He sent every last item from the mountain of goods into Asvillam.

In truth, that part finished quickly.

Byeonggap stopped by Asvillam briefly to have the incoming supplies organized, then returned to Seoul.

After returning the rental truck and heading home, his eyes suddenly snagged on a clothing store.

‘Come to think of it, I should buy some clothes for Ea and Doran.’

Doran and Ea were the only women in Asvillam.

The goblins were wild enough to live perfectly fine naked, but Ea and Doran had a softer edge to them.

Shouldn’t he at least buy them underwear? The thought nagged at him.

‘Underwear aside. Should I buy them pads too? Nothing’s gone wrong so far.’

Needless to say about the goblins, but Byeonggap himself didn’t know much about women.

He did know, though, that they went through ‘some kind of magic’ for a few days each month.

‘Are goblins and spirits the same as humans? This is bugging me. And I’ve got no one to ask.’

Asking directly would be embarrassing.

But pretending not to know forever didn’t feel right either.

He stood on the roadside like an idiot for several minutes, thinking. Finally, he made a decision.

Biting back his embarrassment, Byeonggap stepped into a women’s clothing store. The first floor was the underwear section.

With nowhere to look, he was sweating cold until a saleswoman latched onto him.

“Oh my, buying a gift, are we?”

“Ah, yes.” “Your girlfriend? Or your mother?”

“Uh…”

“How old is the person you’re buying for? Do you know the size? What style do they like? This line is a bit flashy, and that side is more basic.”

“……”

“I’ll guide you through it slowly. Hehe!”

Byeonggap was dragged along by the saleswoman, force-fed knowledge about women’s underwear. Needless to say, none of it was the slightest bit useful for a hunter’s job.

‘A cup? B cup? Neither of them looked that big… Should I just go with A cup? What’s 85A, what’s 75A? I’m gonna lose my damn mind.’

He dropped about fifteen sets of women’s underwear into the basket. He worried the saleswoman would see him as a crazy pervert.

After the underwear shopping, he swept the racks clean, loading up mostly on everyday clothes. He hurried to the checkout as if fleeing the scene.

“That’ll be one million one hundred thirty-nine thousand won total.”

“Huh!? How much?”

Go Byeonggap nearly jumped out of his skin. A few pairs of underwear and some scraps of clothing, and it’s over a million won. Absurd.

In the end, he paid the 1.13 million won. On the way back, he stopped by the mart and bought two boxes of sanitary pads too.

‘I need to think twice about adding more women to Asvillam.’

Go Byeonggap decided to mull that problem over seriously. Two were already too much to handle—if he expanded further, he might not be able to cope.

Exhausted, Go Byeonggap returned home.

He visited Asvillam carrying an armful of embarrassing items.

He quickly found Ea and thrust the bundle at her, almost tossing it her way.

«You sort those out and share them with Doran. I bought plenty, so it shouldn’t be short.»

«Huh? What’s this—oh my! It’s clothes! Are you really giving these to us?»

«Yeah. And those are s—»

«Hm? What are you two up to?»

«Doran, look at this! Your Lord brought clothes for us!»

«Really? Wow. They look similar to the ones he’s wearing?»

The two of them beamed with joy, rummaging through the clothes.

In the midst of it, Doran picked up a pair of panties and held them up to her eye level.

«But what’s this? Is this also clothing? Wearing this, all my skin would show, wouldn’t it?»

«Doran. That’s called underwear.»

«Underwear? What’s that?»

«Underwear is something you wear underneath your outer clothes… Hm? Doran, where did your Lord go?»

«Huh? What? He was just here—where did he go?»

«Looks like he slipped away. I didn’t even notice him leaving. He could’ve at least said something.»

Go Byeonggap, who never backed down even before dozens of monsters.

He had to taste the bitterness of retreat for the first time in a long while.