Cough-!
And those hunters whose stamina was running low, especially in such chaotic battles, found it hard to continue dodging even blind swings.
In the end, one hunter took a solid hit from the club swung by the Boss Goblin.
– Ugh… S-save me—
Bam!
The Boss Goblin smashed down with the club again, crushing the hunter who had collapsed after taking a hit to the chin.
– No!! Sacred Water!! You bastard!!
One death became the trigger for the excitement in the battle to spike, and the inexperienced F-rank hunters were swept away by the atmosphere, leading to reckless fighting.
The goblins, who would normally have been easily subdued, were surprisingly good at dodging my attacks, and their incoming strikes felt heavier, snapping me back to reality, but the situation was already spiraling out of control.
My body dragged on the ground like a wet sponge, and in this urgent moment, an odd wave of sleepiness washed over me.
In the brief lapse of my focus, I was attacked by a goblin that had snuck up on me, and feeling that I couldn’t take it anymore, I broke formation and turned to retreat.
It was a literal ragtag bunch.
– Hah— damn it!
In the midst of it all, when I got my bearings back, I noticed that the number of fallen hunters had exceeded ten. It was rare to have so many casualties in a low-level dungeon like a goblin dungeon, especially after several decades since dungeons began appearing.
It was truly a major disaster.
– Aaaah! My leg! Don’t tear it off— don’t tear it!
I saw a woman being held by her legs by two goblins, getting her thighs bashed in with a club.
I couldn’t see where her weapon had gone, and she was just screaming and cursing.
And she couldn’t leave that person alone, so Yeon-hee dashed a little further forward, pulling back her bow.
Thwip— thunk!
Thwip! Thwip!
Kyaah!
The arrows struck the goblins’ arms and legs, and they glared at us while rushing forward.
[Acid Spray]
Pwaah—
Khiyaah!
[Slam]
Thwack—!
Kyaek?!
I pounded the head of a goblin in a panic that had just seen its club break, then turned to check on the Boss Goblin.
‘Did I miss my chance to retreat? The number of fighters left is so ambiguous that I can’t just give up…’
Around the Boss Goblin, there were still about ten goblins left, and 19 hunters had survived, but it was, in fact, the hunters who were stumbling backward.
‘The most we can do is throw out some [Double Smash], [Multi-hit], or [Slam] in this large-scale battle, and that’s just insane.’
Of course, the Boss Goblin had injuries all over too. One of its wrists was missing. But it was clear that if we just endured a little, we could win.
If we won this battle, we could achieve the [100-man Battle] achievement.
But.
‘Greed brings disaster.’
“Ah… I’m running low on arrows…”
Yeon-hee had only 20 arrows left in her quiver. It seemed like there were no arrows left in the space too. I hurriedly picked up the quiver that had belonged to a dead archer and handed it to Yeon-hee.
She hesitated for a moment before putting the arrows into her inventory. Yeon-hee’s eyes gleamed as she prepared the bow string; it looked like she was feeling a little greedy.
A good opportunity to acquire low-rank runes and achievements.
‘I didn’t expect this much profit, but since it’s come to this, should I push it to the end?’
This precarious balance was likely made because both Yeon-hee and I were here. Now that we weren’t too far from the hunters, they started to pass messages to us.
“Hey! Can’t you get that Skeleton Soldier to stick close to the Boss Goblin?!”
“Huh? Th-that’s a bit…”
“What are you dragging your feet for? Can’t you see everyone’s dying?!”
‘Not the best thing for the person who made us jump into the fray themselves to say…’
I positioned myself in front of Yeon-hee to block their sharp gazes. While we communicated among ourselves, I saw goblins charging forward again.
“Damn it!”
The Boss Goblin’s targets were, of course, the hunters who had taken its wrist, so goblins weren’t coming toward us.
Then, the injured hunters began to creep in our direction, and Yeon-hee bit her lip upon seeing them.
‘The more distractions there are, the more power is exerted by her type.’
She always disliked complicated situations and preferred to be alone, but strangely, when we reviewed the results of past battles in the guild, she performed the best when there were more people to protect.
She was probably gearing up to defend the three hunters behind her now.
“Il-wol— let’s move a bit closer. And if possible, deal with the Boss Goblin too.”
Nod—
I bent my upper body and slowly moved forward.
Clang— bam!
‘Not only did the hunters die, but the goblins grew stronger too. This could be tricky. We only have warrior-type hunters left.’
It wasn’t just the hunters that leveled up by killing monsters.
Monsters also grew by killing people, typically becoming larger and increasing their physical stats, sometimes even evolving into mutants.
Now, around ten hunters were capable of real combat. A man holding a large shield and another wielding an axe were pushing the Boss Goblin, while the rest were dealing with the surrounding goblins, trying to deal damage to the Boss.
Thwack— swoosh—
Luckily, we had a skilled archer on our side, so the Boss Goblin seemed to find Yeon-hee’s presence bothersome. It took a deep breath and pushed the two men in front away to create space.
And then it bolted toward Yeon-hee.
But I, who had been waiting for the right moment, dashed in from the side, splashing acid on its face before ramming into its torso.
– Kyaaaak!
The Boss Goblin rolled around on the ground, clutching its face. It certainly hadn’t expected an attack from stealth.
– Th-that thing! I don’t know what it is, but get on it!
– That robed guy sprayed acid on it!
– Good shot, lady!
I felt rather relieved while watching hunters struggling just to fight common goblins take the opportunity to tease the Boss Goblin.
‘No one would suspect I did anything.’
A Skeleton Soldier spraying acid? Understandably hard to believe even for me.
Health: 11/13 (-2)
And after charging into the sturdy Boss Goblin’s body, I felt a pang of defeat seeing my own health drop instead.
‘This damn body… well, we have to finish this ourselves anyway.’
It seemed like others shared the same thought; I saw three hunters charging straight for the Boss Goblin without helping their comrades.
‘They’re in a hurry.’
As I created some distance, I smiled while watching the hunters boldly attack the Boss Goblin.
Boom—
Bam!
Ugh!
With a huge swing of its club, the Boss Goblin easily knocked one hunter away, then stood up and rushed in with all its might, finally grabbing hold of the hunter’s shield.
“Ugh?! L-let it go!”
The surprised shield bearer curled his mouth when he saw Huang Cheol shoving an axe into the back of a goblin.
“Krah!”
“Die, you filthy bastard!”
But had he thought that shoving an axe in was the end of it? Swinging the stolen shield back carelessly startled Huang Cheol, who fell back, and the Boss Goblin loomed over him, biting down hard on his neck.
“Gahhh! Khiiieeek!”
Gush— crunch— crack!
Thud thud thud—
As the Boss Goblin rolled on the ground, entangled with Huang Cheol, the surrounding hunters began attacking it all at once.
Ultimately, the Boss Goblin lay there, tongue flopped out and lifeless.
“G-get the potions!”
But seeing Huang Cheol spouting blood like a fountain, other hunters panicked, unsure of what to do. At that moment, I dashed forward and smashed the Boss Goblin’s face with my club.
‘Gotta finish this cleanly, guys.’
Crack!
Crackle!
“Ahhh! Po-potion… I-I’m… saved…”
Huang Cheol, who had a huge chunk taken out of his neck, desperately called for his teammates while the other hunters fumbled to bring out a potion. Seeing the message that popped up in front of my face filled me with undeniable satisfaction.
– You have defeated the Boss Goblin!
– You gained a small amount of experience points.
– You have acquired Low-Rank Mana Stone. The stone has been transferred to the Summoner’s inventory.
– Your level has increased.
At the same time, I grabbed the gray rune that emerged from the Boss Goblin’s body and immediately placed it into my inventory.
– You have acquired Rune of Vitality (Low-Rank).
Health +7
“What?! That Skeleton Soldier ate the rune!”
“What?! Why did it eat that?! Hey, Summoner? Tell that skeleton to spit out the rune!”
“C-can we just finish up first…?”
Yeon-hee had a noticeably darkened expression from the relentless urging of the hunters, but she was steadily reducing the remaining goblins with her bow. I quickly distributed the stats I gained from leveling up to avoid any potential disputes.
—–
[Skeleton Soldier Il-wol – Lv.4]
Strength: 15(+3) Agility: 14(+3) Health: 20(+7) Intelligence: 24
Magic Power: 12(+3) Resistance: 0 Sense: 15 Recovery: 1
Traits: Calm, Protection, Thievery, 98 Lives, Adhesion
Skills: Slam, Stealth, Dagger Throw, Acid Spray, Basic Transformation
Equipment: Roughly carved wooden club
—–
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