Reborn in the Survival Adventure Game-Chapter 84: No skills

His name was Nek.

He was just another goblin in the village—short legs, long ears, always a little dusty. Nobody paid much attention to him. Not even the ring he wore.

The same ring everyone had.

The one that glowed when you unlocked a skill.

The one that changed your life.

Nek had watched it happen to others, one after another.

A boy picked up a broom and became a [Cleaner]. A girl cooked soup and became a [Chef].

Even Gar the lazy goblin fell out of a tree and somehow got [Climber Lv. 1].

But Nek?

He worked.

Really worked.

He chopped wood until his arms ached. Hauled rocks with the builders. Helped fix roofs, dig tunnels, scrub walls. But his ring never lit up. Not even once.

He checked it every night. Tapped it. Stared at it.

Blank.

He didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

"Maybe I'm broken," he whispered to himself one evening. He sat on a log behind the bakery, where the smell of bread used to comfort him. Tonight it didn't help.

That's when Tikka found him. The goblin teacher. She always noticed things.

"You okay?" she asked.

Nek shrugged. "Yeah."

"You don't sound okay."

He gave a tired smile. "Everyone's leveling up. Getting cool skills. Some even got titles. And me? Nothing."

She handed him a cup of warm tea.

"You know," she said, sitting beside him, "not all rings glow fast. Some people are like sparks. Quick to flare. Others are embers. Quiet. Steady."

"Are you saying I'm an ember?"

"I'm saying maybe you haven't found your fire yet."

The next day, Nek got up before sunrise. The board at the town hall was already covered in job notes. Hunting. Farming. Fishing.

But one job was still there. The one no one picked.

"Clean underground water tunnel."

Nek signed his name.

He climbed into the narrow space, waist-deep in cold, dirty water. He scraped off moss, pulled out dead leaves, even found a rat skeleton.

No glow.

No skill.

Just sore arms and a soaked tunic.

Still, he showed up the next day.

And the next.

Then he helped Garin haul compost, even though the smell made him gag. He helped Dorgrim sort iron scraps for tools. He stayed after dark to carry buckets for the brick-makers.

Still nothing.

Still empty.

But he never stopped.

That night, while lifting a heavy basket of firewood into the schoolhouse, he felt something strange.

A warmth on his finger.

Ding.

He dropped the basket, heart racing. Tapped the ring.

It glowed.

[Helper Lv. 1]

[Stamina Lv. 2]

He froze.

His hands shook.

He read it again. And again.

He didn't get [Warrior]. He didn't get [Crafter] or [Hunter].

He got [Helper].

He laughed.

He laughed so hard he fell on the floor.

It wasn't flashy. It wasn't cool.

But it was his.

And he earned it.

He didn't tell anyone that night. He just went home and slept deeper than he had in weeks.

The next day, everything felt different.

Not the village—just Nek.

He picked up tools without being asked. He carried things faster. He started guessing what people needed before they said it.

And the ring kept glowing.

[Helper Lv. 1 → Lv. 2]

[Strength Lv. 1 → Lv. 2]

He passed Tikka near the square. She raised an eyebrow at his glowing ring.

"You found it," she said.

"I did."

"You proud?"

He nodded. "I finally heard it. The sound. The ding."

She smiled. "Welcome to the path."

He chuckled. "It's a weird path."

Later, while helping fix a window, he overheard two villagers talking.

"You hear about that goblin kid, Nek?"

"Yeah. He's always running around helping people."

"He got a skill just for that?"

"Guess so."

One of them laughed.

"Wish I thought of that first."

Nek just kept working.

A few days passed. Then something new popped up on his ring.

[Title Unlocked: Honest Worker]

[Perk Gained: +2% XP for every task done with heart.]

He blinked.

Heart?

He never thought it mattered.

But now... it did.

One evening, a new goblin boy approached him.

"Um... how'd you get your skill?" the boy asked, holding up a ring that hadn't lit yet.

Nek smiled.

"I just didn't stop."

He didn't become famous.

He didn't become strong.

But Nek became someone people trusted.

And somehow... that meant more.