Yeon-hee, as expected, isn’t great at making decisions in situations like this. It’s not just her lack of experience; I remember that even in her past life, she preferred simple confrontations.
In short, she hates anything that gives her a headache. That’s why no one bothered her with those kinds of things.
Controlling and maintaining dozens of summoned creatures was already impressive enough to leave anyone dumbfounded.
As I watched her deep in thought, Yeon-hee whispered to me, “Uh, should we follow them too?”
I paused for a moment before nodding. Was my agreement helping her decide?
“Well… I don’t really want to join those guys, but if we just tidy up the small fries from behind…”
Eventually, we moved towards the village again.
‘I’m not sure how far I can distance myself from Yeon-hee right now.’
Since hitting Level 3, it felt like I could walk within my sensory range without much worry.
That distance was about 10 meters.
It was far too short to plan something. Ultimately, we decided to focus on the small fry that would be coming from behind, based on Yeon-hee’s suggestion.
“I have plenty of arrows and… uh…”
Upon arriving near the village and settling into a suitable position, she couldn’t collect her thoughts. This was her first large-scale battle, and she looked very tense.
‘It’s not really our problem. Will 30 people, including a Boss Goblin, be able to defeat 100 goblins?’
Thinking simply, “I only have to deal with 3 or 4 goblins alone,” would be a huge mistake. Goblins become stronger in groups.
Still, I believed they must have some sort of faith in their strength. No matter how low their rank, humans are sentient beings, right?
However, a moment later, watching the hunters surrounding us, I felt a cold chill run down my spine. Pairs were coming in from various directions.
It seemed like a hastily assembled team of 30 made it difficult to maintain proper formation and, since coordinating opinions was a hassle, they just decided to fend for themselves.
And the goblins’ tendency to grow stronger when gathered together was being ignored. But that was a very foolish decision.
‘Isn’t this going to come up in the hunter exam?’
This must be one of the issues with the hunter exams, which are conducted more casually than a driving license.
“Ugh… they shouldn’t spread out like that…”
Yeon-hee mumbled worriedly.
‘Right… thinking like that is normal. With the Boss Goblin around, the range of goblin traits would increase; spreading out like that is suicidal. The standard would be to break through and take down the Boss Goblin first… Are they thinking they can just wing it and escape if things go south?’
Even if they don’t handle the edges, at least 50 goblins will get the buffs simultaneously.
I don’t know about life or death, but I expected the hunt to go awry.
I quickly grabbed Yeon-hee’s hand.
“What?! Are we running away?”
I shook my head and pretended to shoot an arrow.
“Yeah, let’s catch a few from a distance and then run. Il-wol, can you keep an eye out for the timing?”
Nod—
We climbed the tree beside the bushes we were hiding behind and settled on a branch.
‘I didn’t realize I would already be utilizing adhesive.’
Since I had only bones, I was light enough to worry less about breaking a branch while sitting up high. The skeleton had quite a few advantages.
As I comforted myself with that thought, I surveyed the battlefield from above.
The nine guys who said they’d take down the Boss Goblin were the most numerous. They seemed to share the same guild since their emblems looked similar.
Their equipment wasn’t too shabby for this level, and their builds looked solid, which made me hold onto some hope.
Phew phew phew—
‘Oh? Fire arrows too? They’re not complete pushovers after all.’
As the fire arrow flew toward the village huts, it ignited instantly, engulfing the area in flames and smoke. Confused goblins began to rush out frantically, among them the Boss Goblin.
– Uwaaaaaa!
– Kill them! Target the Boss Goblin first!
The start had been successful, and teams attacking from several directions were now engaged in combat with the goblins at the outskirts.
“Whew…”
Thud—
Thud—
Yeon-hee’s arrows flew sharply, dealing steady damage to the confused goblins.
But…
‘It’s too far. I can’t finish them off in one shot.’
Still, even if I just dealt some damage and left, the experience points would be nice.
Kiehehe!
Sometimes a goblin would slip past the attacking party and head our way, and I’d leap from the tree, smashing its head with [Slam].
Pah—!
Kheh?!
– You have defeated a goblin!
Thud!
Thud—
At the entrance of the village, chaos was unfolding, and even if the goblins were hit by Yeon-hee’s arrows, they couldn’t pinpoint the archer’s position.
‘I’ve gotten well positioned.’
I climbed back up the tree and continued to watch. Since the goblins were thrown into considerable disarray at the beginning of the fight, the hunters had an overwhelming momentum.
In fact, except for the area where the Boss Goblin was located, the fight in other regions was heading towards the villagers.
But…
‘Why is everyone so confident when they can’t even get close to the Boss Goblin? Wasn’t it because they have fought him once before?’
The possibility I was clinging to was based on the assumption that the nine hunters charging at the Boss Goblin would successfully pull off a well-coordinated attack they had prepared in advance.
But the scene before my eyes was just a bunch of newbies relying solely on equipment and skills. Thankfully, there were five warrior-type hunters in the front lines; otherwise, they would have already been surrounded and turned to mush.
‘Some people really need to get hurt once to learn their lesson.’
Clicking my tongue at their foolishness, I jumped down from the tree and positioned myself before Yeon-hee, taking out the goblins that flowed out from the outskirts one after another.
[Slam]
Whack! Smack smack!
‘Hand over your club, you little brat!’
Having already matched up with a goblin, Yeon-hee could trust me and kept drawing her bow towards the entrance.
– Huh? Where’s this arrow coming from?
– Over there! It’s the Skeleton Soldier! There’s an archer behind him!
– You idiot! Skeletons don’t spawn in this dungeon!
– No, that’s the new class, Summoner!
– Shut up and help over here!
– So that’s a class that controls monsters? Creepy…
So creepy.
That was a familiar opinion towards Yeon-hee, but what about her?
“Whew— focus…”
She was trying hard to ignore the murmurs and concentrated on shooting her arrows.
‘That’s a relief. But she should be able to manage somewhat; after all, she was a kid who alone roamed dungeons for almost half a year. What about her arrow supply?’
Even though the world had turned into something like a game, there was an unnecessary level of reality concerning equipment, and the same applied to arrow supply. She probably wasn’t prepared to keep firing arrows as freely as this.
So far, it seemed alright, but I needed to keep a close eye on the remaining count. The hunters that had briefly guarded us began to relax as I was dealing with goblins and not attacking them, and they focused again on battling the Boss Goblin.
Swoosh!
The burly man, who was the most insistent about taking down the Boss Goblin, swung down his hefty axe and decapitated a goblin guarding the Boss Goblin.
However, the defensive wall near the Boss Goblin still looked sturdy. But I was having the time of my life.
Whack! Bang!
I had managed to take down my third goblin and collected three clubs that were completely intact.
‘Facing them one by one isn’t a problem at all.’
Now, my stats weren’t significantly different, not to mention the reach advantage worked entirely in my favor. As I casually swung my legs to hold them back and hammered down with the club, they would inevitably stumble, dance a bit, and fall over.
Just like that, five minutes had passed since the fight began, and the air on the battlefield began to shift subtly.
Uwaaaaaah—
The Boss Goblin, who had simply been watching his minions fight, finally joined the fray with a club twice as thick and long as a normal goblin’s.
Only about 50 goblins remained by his side. It was natural for him to wear an angry expression, considering that more than half of his kin had died in just a few minutes.
‘That shrewd Boss Goblin always waits until the hunters tire out.’
Most of the hunters were now panting heavily, and that strategy had clearly paid off.
– Haah, haah… They don’t die easily because of their traits!
– Damn… Can we really finish them off, Hwang Cheol?!
– Shut up and push forward! We can definitely catch him! There are still less than 50 left, and we are still 30 strong! Runes aside, we have achievements at stake!
Indeed, thinking purely in terms of numbers, if each person just took out two goblins, it would be an easy win.
No matter how low-rank the hunters were, goblins were manageable, regardless of their fatigue.
‘That big guy’s name is Hwang Cheol… I feel like I remember it faintly.’
I used to have pretty good memory as a human, but since becoming a skeleton, it felt like everything just slipped away like a mirage.
Thud—
Thump—
– Grreeah!
The only archer among the hunters, besides Yeon-hee, fired an arrow at the Boss Goblin, but it was easily deflected by his club.
Woosh—! Thud thud—
The Boss Goblin wasn’t particularly skilled compared to regular goblins. He was simply swinging his club around, but the power behind those swings was something you only truly felt when you were up close, making the idea of jumping in to fight him quite unappealing.
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