I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 82

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[082] Goblin Gladiator
The moment I beheld the creature’s colossal frame, a notification blazed across my vision.
Ding—!
[Bull of Knossos]
“A savage, uncontrollable instrument of destruction!”
“Enraged by captivity at human hands, this bull will gore every living thing in its path into dust!”
“The crowd is in a frenzy! By disguising yourself as a lower-tier monster, your physical constraints are lifted, granting you strength beyond your natural limits!”
“Should you actively ignite the spectators’ passion, you may secure even greater stat increases!”
Released from its cage, the bull began its rampage, slaughtering Goblins indiscriminately.
Each time its horns gored one of its own kind, crimson blood and severed limbs sprayed across the arena as the Spectator Seating erupted in thunderous applause and roars.
I watched the Goblins scatter in panic before the bull, my mind already calculating.
‘I need to capture their attention.’
To deliver a fatal blow to that beast with this pathetic frame, I needed far greater stats than I currently possessed.
To achieve that, I had to do something no one else would dare—something to shock the crowd.
My gaze swept across the Arena floor.
Scattered everywhere was the refuse left behind by careless spectators.
I seized a tattered crimson cloth fragment and advanced toward the bull.
“Wait… what is that Goblin doing?”
A few spectators watched me with bewildered expressions.
While everyone else fled the bull’s onslaught, I moved against the tide of Goblins—impossible to ignore.
‘Watch closely, all of you.’
I bowed deeply toward the Spectator Seating with deliberate flourish, then snapped the crimson cloth open like a matador’s cape.
Come here, you brainless beast!
Moo…?
The bull froze momentarily in confusion, but the instant it saw the fluttering cloth, it snorted and charged forward with feral fury.
I waited until the last possible moment before hurling myself from its path.
The bull, thwarted, tilted its head stupidly for a breath—then caught sight of the crimson cloth again and charged once more.
This time too, I drew it to the brink before sidestepping.
“Incredible! The Goblin is toying with the Bull of Knossos!”
“The Arena crowd is beginning to fixate on your performance!”
“Strength and Agility surge dramatically!”
‘Now my body is finally loosening up!’
As the Arena’s fervor intensified, I felt my limbs grow lighter, more responsive.
Channeling my elevated stats, I began executing increasingly reckless and audacious maneuvers.
“Astounding! The Goblin leaps over the bull’s head with acrobatic precision!”
I vaulted perilously across its skull, then slid between its legs in a daring slide.
Playful as a Goblin should be, yet radiating charisma.
I did not merely evade the bull—I taunted it with crude insults.
Filth! Excrement! You’re not even worth the droppings of a Lesser Rat!
Moooooo!!
—At least those glute muscles are solid!
Smack! I timed my strike perfectly as the Bull passed by, slapping those generous buttocks, and the Spectator Seating erupted in raucous laughter.
「Your antics have the spectators cheering wildly!」
「Strength and Agility increase explosively!」
‘So buffoonery plays well with this crowd.’
Having gauged the audience’s appetite, I immediately shifted tactics, amplifying the absurdity of my performance.
—Hey, you oversized brute! Look over here!
I wrapped a crimson cloth around my waist like a skirt and began swaying and dancing.
Combined with the Goblin’s naturally gaunt frame and protruding belly, the sight was utterly ridiculous—but what did it matter?
I was a Goblin, after all.
“That’s it, that’s it! Look at that little pest prancing about!”
“That massive Bull is actually struggling against a single Goblin?! Do more!”
The crowd was utterly absorbed, their enthusiasm reaching fever pitch.
A Goblin—the lowest-tier monster—was toying with a colossal Bull.
What greater entertainment could there be than such an unexpected spectacle?
From the Bull’s perspective, it was absolutely maddening!
“Ah! The Bull of Knossos is enraged and rampaging! But how much longer can that fragile Goblin endure?!”
After taunting the Bull for a while longer, I glanced at my log window.
‘With these stat increases, I should be ready to finish this soon.’
The show had been entertaining enough—time to move toward the finale.
—Comrades!!
I bellowed with all my might, and the Goblins scattered across the Sandy Ground flinched and turned toward me.
Though those completely demoralized still only watched from a distance.
I shouted again.
—Will you surrender like this?! Raise your heads! And listen well!
—That enormous beast, those humans up there laughing down at us—they’re all merely living creatures!
—If we’re destined to be trampled to death anyway, shouldn’t we at least bite at their ankles?!
—If we’re to die gored by horns, shouldn’t we claw out their eyes before we fall?!
As I delivered this speech while dodging the Bull’s relentless attacks, the Goblins began rising one by one.
Inspired by the sight of me standing alone against the colossal Bull, they cried out with newfound resolve.
「Your stats are greatly enhanced by the passive skill [Chaos]!」
「The [Rhetoric] skill activates! Charisma is added to your eloquence!」
I drove the point home to them.
—I have a way to handle that brute!
—W-what should we do, Gob—?!
—Search everywhere! There must be something useful among the tools the humans dropped!
The Goblins scattered in all directions and began rummaging through the Sandy Ground, sinking up to their knees in the process.
—I-I found a rusted sword!
—A broken spear!
—A torn net…? What can we do with this, Gob?
Beyond that were shattered shields, broken daggers, and more….
‘Good, this should be sufficient.’
─Hey you! Hold onto this for me!
─Goblin? Gob-gob?!
I thrust the red cloth into the hands of the burly Hobgoblin beside me and rushed forward.
I spread the net the Goblins had discovered across the ground, then drove spears through both sides using my enhanced strength to anchor it in place.
But this alone wouldn’t be enough.
─Everyone, grab the net!
The moment our preparations were complete, the Hobgoblin being chased by the Bull came charging toward us with a wail.
─Aaaaahhh!! S-save me!!
─Come this way!
The Hobgoblin barely made it through the net, and as the Bull charged after him─.
─Now! Everyone pull!!
As the Goblins and I lifted the net, the Bull, its legs properly caught, tumbled spectacularly across the sandy ground.
I gripped the spear I’d yanked from the earth and shouted at the scattered Goblins.
─This is it! Everyone, pile on!!
The Goblins, suddenly reinvigorated, began a coordinated assault on the Bull of Knossos.
A horde of Goblins armed with chipped blades, shattered shields, and broken spears.
‘Goblins fight like Goblins!’
True to their nature as monsters specialized in group tactics, the Goblins displayed remarkable coordination the moment they began working together.
They relentlessly drove their blades downward, tangled the Bull with the net and toppled it, drove spears into its knees as it struggled to rise, and gouged out every opening they could find.
─Kuooooo!!
As the Bull thrashed and bellowed, all the Goblins riding on it were flung away.
But I alone clung desperately to its horns and drove the broken spearhead into its neck.
Crack─!
With a dull sound, the spearhead pierced through the thick hide.
I hammered the spear fragment with all my might.
With each downward strike, blood sprayed, and the Bull’s fierce resistance and agonized screams echoed across the arena.
At last, with one final death cry, the Bull exhaled its last breath and collapsed onto the sandy ground, casting a massive shadow.
In that moment, silence descended upon the arena.
A profound hush so deep you could hear the breathing of the person beside you.
As everyone stood frozen in shock, I—standing triumphant over the fallen Bull—bowed, and that gesture triggered a deafening roar from the spectator seating.
“W-woooow! That thing is no ordinary creature!”
“That’s already the best moment of the day! What in the world is that Goblin?!”
“An extraordinary upset has occurred! A Goblin has actually defeated the Bull of Knossos! Such a thing has never happened before…! Wait, stop throwing chips! The fighter isn’t a gladiator—it’s a Goblin!”
The spectators, wild with excitement, hurled their betting chips everywhere.
White, red, blue, and even black chips—they scattered like sleet across the arena.
─Just in case, make sure to collect those humans’ valuables.
─Understood, Goblin!
After issuing my orders to the Goblins, I surveyed the spectator seating.
When my gaze met that of my comrades standing ready to leap into the Arena at a moment’s notice, I couldn’t help but smile.
Ding—!
“Your companions breathe sighs of relief upon witnessing you emerge unscathed from your confrontation with the colossal Bull!”
“They gaze upon the breathtaking spectacle of your performance, their hearts overwhelmed by indescribable emotion!”
Malton flashed a grin and gave me a thumbs up, Radi clutched her face and exhaled heavily, while Karen had gone completely pale.
It was only natural she’d be horrified—after all, she was watching her comrade risk his life at her request.
“This, this is magnificent! The atmosphere is absolutely scorching from the very start! Now then, let us prepare for the next match! Please bear with us a moment!”
The door burst open and spear-wielding Guards rushed out. They were here to clear the Battle Ground before the next bout.
But I was already moving swiftly, determined to act before they arrived.
—A blade.
—Y-yes, right here…!
I quickly used the dagger the Goblin handed me to sever the Bull’s horns.
When I drove the blade precisely into the seam, the horn came away far more easily than I’d anticipated.
This trophy would prove invaluable in my next battle.
“Fall back!!”
As the Guards pressed toward us, the Goblins and I obediently retreated into the cage.
After the thick cloth obscured the iron bars and the cage lurched into motion, I found myself back in the Underground Waiting Room.
The Goblins celebrated raucously, savoring the joy of survival.
—We won, boss! We ripped off that stupid Bull’s horns!
—Long live the boss! All of this is thanks to you…!
—Everyone, quiet.
The moment I issued the command in a low voice, I heard a conversation between a man and the Announcer filtering down through the wooden planks above my head.
“Word is already spreading throughout the City that an extraordinarily powerful Goblin has appeared! Reservations are filling up from the general Spectator Seating all the way to the VIP Seating!”
“This is no time to celebrate, you fool! That Bull was a monster sponsored by the Baron of the Neighboring City himself! We were supposed to let it advance all the way to the quarterfinals before slaughtering it for publicity, but if it dies here, the advertising investment goes down the drain!”
“B-but who could have possibly foreseen that a mere Goblin would fell the Bull of Knossos….”
“Damn it….”
‘The situation has become rather complicated, it seems.’
I smiled quietly and continued eavesdropping.
“W-what about the next match? The Bull was originally supposed to face another monster and win, but now all our plans have fallen apart….”
“There’s no helping it. We’ll just have to send that Goblin back out. The crowd is expecting it, after all.”
“Will that be acceptable? The Baron will surely be furious….”
“That’s the amusing part. The Baron was initially outraged, but now he seems desperate to see how that Goblin dies. After all, the mighty Bull of Knossos fell to nothing more than a Goblin.”
“Then….”
“Yes. There’s still a chance. The next opponent is ‘that monster,’ after all. No matter how fortunate this Goblin is, it won’t stand a chance.”
Unaware that the very subject of their discussion was listening from beneath their feet, the Announcer’s contemptible laughter echoed through the room.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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