23
Footsteps gradually drawing closer.
"You said we were being driven?"
As Kim Jisoo, who hadn't heard the sound, tried to approach, Baek Woojin merely turned his head slightly and brought his index finger to his lips.
Not failing to understand what that gesture meant, Kim Jisoo stopped her approaching steps and closed her mouth. Then, gripping her staff tightly, she stared at where Baek Woojin was aiming his sword.
"No need to answer. I'm going to act a little rough from here on, but it's all an act, so don't panic too much and just play along appropriately."
Whatever he intended to do, Baek Woojin's serious expression made the words "seems like we're being driven" feel much more real.
When Kim Jisoo nodded, Baek Woojin slowly approached her side and stood face to face, looking at her.
Kekekeck!!
"……!!"
As the bushes right across rustled and the unpleasant cry of a goblin rang out, Kim Jisoo's eyes, which had been wearing a vague expression despite her tension until then, widened roundly, and her face stiffened.
The very moment the shaking bushes parted and the ugly green-skinned goblins revealed themselves.
"Kuheok?!"
Kim Jisoo grabbed Baek Woojin's hand that had instinctively wrapped around her throat as her breath was suddenly cut off.
Kerek?!
Kekekeck!!
Baek Woojin, who had grabbed Kim Jisoo by the throat and taken a stance to swing his sword, released her neck in time with the noisy goblin cries coming from behind and turned his body toward the goblin pack.
"Heok! Heok! Heok!!"
Kim Jisoo, whose two feet had left the ground for a moment, rubbed her neck where Baek Woojin's handprint remained vividly and blankly stared at his broad back.
But that was only for a moment.
Kyaahhh!!
Six goblins armed with hand axes of unknown origin and worn-out swords came rushing in, and Kim Jisoo, snapping out of her daze at the sound, recoiled in terror and raised the staff in her hand.
"Stay still. You'll draw aggro."
"Y-yes?"
Despite the clearly urgent situation, Kim Jisoo lowered the staff she had raised again, compelled by the excessively calm low voice. And then she saw it.
Thwack!
A hand axe, who knows when it was drawn, flew through the air as if tearing it apart and shattered the skull of the goblin running at the front.
"Have another one."
Baek Woojin, picking up the second of the two hand axes he had attached before entering, swung his left arm wide in a throwing motion once more toward the goblin pack that had faltered at the sudden attack.
Kerek?!
All five goblins squeezed their eyes shut and raised the swords and axes they were gripping tightly in front of them.
Kee──
The hand axe flew in and smashed right through the chest of a goblin that was trying to slightly open its tightly shut eyes.
Kihyaaaahk!!
Two of their kin had died before they could even properly engage, but the remaining goblins, realizing that Baek Woojin had no more weapons to throw, roared in fury and charged again.
"Have another one."
And a slaughterhouse dagger flew right into the brow of the one that had roared first, embedding itself deep.
Now only three goblins remained.
As their numbers were reduced by half, Baek Woojin charged without hesitation at the goblins who finally wore expressions of fear.
The distance closed in an instant, and the first targeted goblin had its upper body slashed diagonally without even a chance to react.
Keck!!
The second goblin right next to it had its jaw kicked and tumbled across the ground.
Clang!
"The days of competing in strength with you lot are long past."
The third goblin, the only one to attempt a counterattack, lost its grip on the hand axe it held after just a single clash and was split apart by Baek Woojin's sword.
Thrust!
Having finished off the one he knocked down with a kick to the jaw by stabbing his sword through its head, Baek Woojin retrieved his thrown hand axes and returned to Kim Jisoo, who was sitting blankly.
"Get up. We don't have time for this."
"No……. Help me up."
She had witnessed a scene that gave her plenty to say, but since the situation didn't seem like one where they could be exchanging stories as Baek Woojin had said, Kim Jisoo held her tongue and took his hand to rise from her spot.
"It seems the cleanup over there is finished as well, so let's regroup quickly."
Following behind Baek Woojin, Kim Jisoo finally couldn't hold back and asked.
"But why did you choke my neck earlier?"
"To show that I had no use for a hostage."
"A hostage?"
"Yes. Fortunately, there were only six of them so I didn't let go, but if there had been more, one or two would definitely have targeted Hunter Kim Jisoo. That's why I told you not to use magic either. If they knew they'd be attacked, they'd target you, who's easier to go after than me."
"I see……!!"
At Kim Jisoo's rough breathing, seemingly out of breath despite not having run far, Baek Woojin cut his words short.
In the first place, the situation itself where an E-rank hunter was explaining things to a D-rank hunter wasn't exactly normal.
"Hey──"
The melee DPS guy, who had been standing among the pile of goblin corpses right after breaking through the bushes, was about to swing his sword but let out a deep sigh of relief and slumped down upon recognizing who it was.
"I said to wait──"
"I'm sorry, but that's no longer an option."
Baek Woojin cut off the tanker, who was the leader, and explained the situation.
"We were driven?"
"Whether you believe it or not is your freedom, but if you don't believe me, I'll act independently from here on. For reference, the bag with the heart is in the back, so grab it yourself if you want. Of course, you're not getting my share──"
Mid-sentence, Baek Woojin scratched his head with the hilt of his sword at the sounds coming from all directions.
"Damn it!!"
"Are these goblin bastards really this smart?!"
Unlike Kim Jisoo the mage, the tanker and melee DPS who generally had superior physical abilities sensed the sounds from their surroundings just as Baek Woojin did, and thanks to that, they realized his words were true.
"Han Byungsoo! How──"
The DPS guy called out the tanker's name to ask what course of action they should take.
"I'll break through, so you grab Jisoo and follow."
"What? No, wait, hey!!"
The tanker, a hunter named Han Byungsoo, thrust his shield forward with his left hand and just charged forward like a broken bulldozer.
He said he'd break through, but it was essentially the same as running away to survive on his own. As a tanker, his stats would have increased accordingly, and if he used the skill that temporarily hardened his skin, it wouldn't be difficult to push through no matter how many goblins blocked the path.
'Impressive.'
This was genuine admiration.
They clearly looked like longtime friends, yet the moment their lives were in danger, he chose to save himself without any hesitation, abandoning his party members and friends he had known.
"That bastard!!"
The DPS guy, instantly realizing he had been abandoned, slammed his fist into the innocent ground, expressing his sense of betrayal and anger.
"Kim Jisoo!!"
"Y-yeah?"
The mage, who seemed to understand how the situation was unfolding but couldn't properly accept it, answered in a startled daze.
"Can you use magic──"
Kyaahhh!!
Screams of goblins came from the direction the tanker Han Byungsoo had run, and even a rough listen made it clear their numbers were far from ordinary.
"Taesoo, hey?"
"……."
At the sound of the goblins, the DPS guy turned his head in that direction and didn't look back at Kim Jisoo even when she called his name.
"No, no way, right?"
"I'm sorry."
The DPS guy, Taesoo or whatever his name was, dropped his bag and ran in the direction they had come from.
"Ah……."
Whether she couldn't accept the fact that she had been abandoned by friends she had been exchanging lame jokes with just an hour ago, Kim Jisoo dropped even her staff and slumped to the ground.
'As expected, you can't trust others.'
The sudden breakdown of the trio's relationship served as another reminder that his choice to grow stronger on his own was not wrong.
"Hunter Kim Jisoo."
"……."
Baek Woojin approached Kim Jisoo, who was sitting on the ground blankly staring down, and lightly slapped her cheek.
"……?"
"Do you want revenge?"
"Re... revenge...?"
Thanks to the tanker who ran ahead, the pursuit had been delayed a little, but that delayed time had been entirely eaten up by the DPS guy running off, and the goblin packs closing in from all directions were now within arm's reach.
"I have no intention of helping you get revenge, but at the very least, I can help you eat dinner at home tonight."
Helping her wasn't out of pity or such emotions.
He needed her to create the situation he desired.
Above all, if his guess wasn't wrong, there was a high probability that this situation had occurred because of him.
"We don't have much time. What will you do?"
"P-please help me... I'll do whatever you tell me to."
"Then let's get out of here first."
Baek Woojin grabbed Kim Jisoo's hand and pulled her to her feet. Then, together with her, he ran in the direction the DPS guy had fled earlier.
"Heok! Heok!!"
"You should exercise more regularly."
"Once I get out of here!! I, I'll definitely! Do tha- Gasp!!"
"Just run."
Honestly, even if he carried her and ran, it wouldn't be a big problem.
The hunt had continued for over four hours, but since he hadn't participated in direct combat, he had preserved all his strength completely intact.
That was also why he could maintain his composure even with goblins closing in from all directions. If push came to shove, he could just enhance his body with mana, climb a tree, and escape.
Of course, he had no intention of actually running from the goblins.
"Let's rest for a bit."
"B-but... is it really... okay?"
"Yes."
Leaving Kim Jisoo, drenched in sweat and gasping for breath, to rest for a moment, Baek Woojin surveyed the treetops around them once more.
"What are you looking for?"
"Let's go."
"What?!"
However they were luring the goblins, even though they were running at a pace matching Kim Jisoo's speed, considering the goblins' speed, they should have opened up enough distance by now.
But for some reason, after stopping for just a brief moment to catch their breath, the goblins' cries could already be heard from all directions again.
'Not encountering any goblin packs while fleeing is also abnormal.'
It seemed likely that, using the same method they used to lure the goblins, the wandering goblin packs in their escape direction had also been relocated somewhere.
'The more I think about it, the more pissed off I get.'
Leading Kim Jisoo, who was panting so hard that she'd die from running out of breath faster than being violated by a goblin, Baek Woojin finally arrived in front of a massive wooden palisade after crossing through the forest for a long time.
"Heok! Heok! It's here!!"
"The boss area, the goblin settlement."
"The core! Let's break the core!!"
"Wait."
Kim Jisoo, who looked like she'd collapse from exhaustion at any moment, suddenly found strength from who knows where and ran to find the entrance to the palisade before Baek Woojin could even grab her.
"You're going to be very disappointed."
Sure enough.
"It's not here?! Why?! Why is it not here?!"
Kim Jisoo, who had entered the settlement first, ran around frantically searching the empty settlement like a madwoman.
When the boss died, the dungeon core would appear in the boss area, and only by destroying it would the dungeon disappear. And in the goblin settlement where the boss's core should have been, no matter how much Kim Jisoo searched the vicinity, not even a stone that could pass for one was visible, let alone a core.
Baek Woojin decided to leave Kim Jisoo alone until she tired herself out and stood in front of the palisade entrance.
'It's wider than I expected. Better than having all sides open, at least.'
He coolly slapped the cheek of Kim Jisoo, who was streaming tears and trying to cling to him.
"H-huh?"
"If you've come to your senses, grab your staff and start chanting your spells."
With only one entrance, they wouldn't be attacked from all sides, but conversely, it also meant they had no corner to escape to—a location with a fatal flaw.
Even so, Baek Woojin chose to face the goblin pack in this location.
'Yes. Don't go anywhere, just sit there and sneer.'
Baek Woojin kept his eyes on the monkey sitting on a tree some distance away, its lips curled into an unpleasant smirk, as he fiddled with his hand axe.