Episode 15: The Goblin Marshlands (6)
Once the orc that had been wandering around the corpse finally retreated, Akan approached the body with cautious steps.
'At least I got the whistle.'
[Goblin's Whistle]
[Description: Goblins react to the special frequency produced when the whistle is used.]
The whistle had no particular effects other than serving to call goblins.
Akan gathered the fragments scattered nearby in addition to the whistle, then moved in the opposite direction from where the orc had disappeared.
'If I blow the whistle nearby, I might get attacked by the orc. There's no need to invite unnecessary danger.'
Using the whistle from afar would be meaningless for calling goblins, but Akan had already thought of a solution for that.
'Recording.'
Screeeech—.
Using Recording, a 2nd Circle neutral-type spell, he recorded the sound of the whistle.
In the case of the Recording spell, since it captured the generated sound exactly as it was, the whistle's special ability would be activated normally.
Worried that the goblins might react for no reason, Akan proceeded with the recording at the smallest possible volume.
'When I play back the recorded spell later, I just need to use it together with the Sound Up spell.'
The recording was finished in no time.
Akan named the completed file [Goblin Summoning] and stood up from his spot.
Now, he just had to proceed with the operation according to plan.
As he retraced his steps, he saw the orc still wandering around nearby.
Akan quickly hid his body in the bushes and raised his mana.
'Recording. Playback file [Goblin Summoning]. Cast location: a spot 30 meters away from the orc.'
Screeee—.
As soon as the settings were complete, the same sound he had recorded began to echo through the empty space.
It was too quiet for the orc to react to.
But soon, when the Sound Up spell was invoked, the whistle sound grew loud enough to resound thunderously through the forest.
Shwiiiek!
The orc reacted.
As if it had heard the sound, the orc's eyes reddened as it moved toward the place the noise was coming from.
The orc soon arrived at the source of the sound.
It searched every inch of its surroundings to find goblins, but there was no way it would discover goblins that weren't there.
Had about 3 minutes passed like that?
Small shadows revealed themselves from afar.
Kreeeek!
Keeek!
They were goblins.
The goblins that had gathered after hearing the whistle discovered the orc's presence and began to squeal loudly.
The roughly twenty goblins formed a battle formation in perfect order and simultaneously attacked the orc.
Shoo-shoo-shook!
Paralytic poison stingers flew quickly toward the orc.
Watching the orc get struck by the stingers without even a chance to resist, Akan was certain of the goblins' victory.
'Goblins are monsters whose synergy amplifies the more their numbers increase. The orc is quite strong, but it's impossible for it to overcome nineteen goblins alone. I just need to wait for the right moment and reap the benefits.'
Using the enemy to control the enemy.
The battle between enemies would lead to everything benefiting Akan.
However, as the battle continued, Akan's pupils gradually grew larger.
'...It's stronger than I thought?'
Pow!
Kieeeek!
The orc was a one-man army.
It rampaged through the goblins alone, slaughtering them mercilessly.
The goblins had formed something of a formation to resist the orc, but the orc crushed them with overwhelming strength.
Kuaaaaaah—!
The orc's maw stretched wide open, and Fear spread to the surroundings.
As the goblins' bodies temporarily stiffened at the predator's momentum, the orc did not miss the timing and trampled them.
Crunch!
A goblin's head burst apart!
In an instant, five goblins were taken down.
Though fourteen goblins still remained, at this rate, it seemed the orc could kill them all.
'I think I'll have to step in on this one.'
Akan revised the plan in his head.
If the orc was this strong, it would be impossible to sit back comfortably and reap the benefits.
While the goblins still had numbers remaining, there was a need to balance the scales.
'The goblins are being pushed back one-sidedly because of the orc's overwhelming physical ability. Then, I should weaken the orc's physical abilities with curse magic.'
Ooooom.
Akan raised his magical power.
The orc was strong.
But now that Akan was intervening.
The orc would never make it out alive.
* * *
It had already been thirty minutes since Akan left his spot.
Go Chang-hyeok, who had been on guard against goblins that could rush in at any moment, finally exploded.
"Just when the hell is this guy coming!"
He was thoroughly annoyed.
The break had already ended twenty minutes ago.
They had finished preparing to face the goblins and were waiting, but Akan was nowhere to be seen, to an almost unreasonable degree.
If they checked the mission window, they could roughly tell what was happening, but people didn't think Akan would actually be fighting goblins.
Akan was a mage.
No matter how weak goblins were, they weren't weak enough to lose in a one-on-one fight against a mage.
It was true that a mage's magic was powerful, but the goblins wouldn't allow casting time.
With such complacent thoughts, they had been waiting endlessly for Akan.
'Don't tell me he actually kicked the bucket? Damn it! He still had his uses, so this is problematic!'
An ominous thought crept up.
Thinking he might be dead felt refreshing, yet worries about the next mission swirled in his head.
"...Chang-hyeok hyung. Do you think something terrible might have happened to Akan-hyeongnim?"
It was Gim Sin-ho.
Acting as bait was dangerous even for Gim Sin-ho, who had high agility.
Naturally, if it was Akan the mage, the chances of being caught by goblins while luring them were high.
"No way. He'll be fine."
"Still..."
"Even if something terrible did happen to him, there's nothing we can do. If we go into the forest, there's a marshland deep enough for your feet to sink in. Right now, our highest chance of survival is to pull the goblins here and fight. If Akan-hyeongnim doesn't return... we'll have no choice but to complete the mission ourselves."
It might have sounded cruel, but Go Chang-hyeok judged his own thinking to be correct.
Jang Min-ho actively agreed with Go Chang-hyeok's opinion, and most people didn't say he was wrong.
Except for one.
"No, Chang-hyeok oppa! How can you so coldly abandon someone whose life or death hasn't been confirmed? Of course we have to go rescue him! If he died because we didn't help, what are you going to do later? This may be the other world, but that's still a crime. Leaving someone to die when you know they're dying is a crime of omission."
It was I Min-yeong.
Even faced with I Min-yeong lashing out with a furious expression, Go Chang-hyeok did not back down.
He had no intention of risking his life to save Akan when he would hesitate to go rescue even someone he had feelings for.
"A crime? Well spoken. What if we all die trying to rescue him for nothing? That would be murder. You're killing everyone here with your opinion!"
"Why are you being so extreme? We can just carefully search the surroundings without taking risks! You said the remaining goblins are ones we can beat even if we just fight them head-on. The goblins' forces aren't superior to ours, so isn't it wrong to just wait here forever? Don't give such a terrible example."
I Min-yeong didn't back down either.
Faced with I Min-yeong clearly spitting out everything she had to say, Go Chang-hyeok lost his words.
I Min-yeong was right, to be honest.
Though the terrain condition of the marshland was worrying, the remaining goblins weren't a great threat.
It was just an excuse because he didn't want to go save Akan—if it had been someone he had feelings for, he might have gone immediately.
"But..."
Go Chang-hyeok couldn't think of anything to say.
He had no confidence in winning against I Min-yeong, who was fully riled up, with words.
For Go Chang-hyeok, who had always crushed his opponents with force, the current situation was quite unfamiliar.
"Still no. Going to rescue Akan-hyeongnim means risking danger..."
He repeated the same words.
Having no confidence in logic, he resorted to stubborn insistence.
But then.
Ding!
[You have cleared the Goblin Extermination Mission. As a reward, all survivors are granted 10 Fragments of Agility and 1 Low-grade Item Random Box.]
"Huh?"
"What?"
It was a completely unexpected situation.
People couldn't hide their bewilderment at the sudden development.
But there was even more shocking news remaining that made this level of surprise trivial.
[A special reward will be granted to Akan, who has achieved the greatest merit.]
Pure shock!
Everyone's mouths dropped open.
It was utterly unbelievable.
Didn't this mean Akan had dealt with all the remaining goblins alone!
At such shocking news, everyone present fell into panic.
- To be continued in Episode 16 -