Chapter 10.
Iun glanced down from the rooftop.
Roughly fifty or so Goblins.
*If I go down and start killing them, the General will immediately notice and join in, right?*
But conversely, the soldiers wouldn’t interfere in a fight with the Goblin General.
Because they would take the Goblin General’s victory for granted.
*I have to finish it here.*
Then how would he deal with it?
The method was definitely vital points.
Aim for the anus that had enraged the Goblin Shaman.
*He definitely covered his face when the soldiers showered him with bullets.*
Go for the eyes.
The problem was that he might die before even getting close enough to target a vital point.
*If someone could just draw its attention…*
Iun stared intently at Kim Chihun.
“Why are you staring like that? It’s unsettling.”
He had no idea, but the guy had good instincts.
“What’s your HP?”
“My HP? It’s 10.”
“Think you could hold out for maybe one hit?”
“Hold out once? Don’t tell me you mean taking a hit from that monster?”
“Yeah.”
“You want to use me as bait?”
“Yep.”
“Are you even human?!”
“I’m not a Goblin, at least.”
“Crazy… You’re joking, right? You think it’ll hit me with its fist? It swings a sword! How am I supposed to block that?”
“You’re weak enough that it could kill you without a sword, so maybe it’ll just punch you?”
*Is this bastard serious?*
Kim Chihun felt unease looking into Iun’s needlessly firm eyes.
Then Cha Suyeon spoke.
“Iun oppa. Then can’t I draw its attention with my barrier?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I have to save you for when I’m in danger.”
Iun was devising a perfectly self-centered battle plan for survival.
Because that was the best choice for survival.
“It is a bit like that, but this is the best method. If Iun oppa dies, we’re as good as dead anyway.”
As expected, Cha Suyeon was calmly grasping the situation.
“You crazy bastards. You’re serious?”
Seeing both treating him as bait as a matter of course, Kim Chihun realized they were serious.
“You just need to draw its attention. I asked if you could hold out just in case. I’ll definitely finish it before that.”
Though Iun spoke confidently, Kim Chihun’s anxiety was unavoidable.
“There’s no other way?”
“There is one, but it’s impossible anyway.”
“What is it?”
“Using your ‘Call’ skill to summon not Goblins, but Blood Wolves.”
“Blood Wolves? What are those?”
“Think of them as Goblin enemies. If they come, a fight will break out and we might get a chance.”
“But I didn’t see a single one?”
When Kim Chihun first used ‘Call,’ not even a shadow of a Blood Wolf had appeared.
“That’s why it’s impossible. It seems the surroundings are Goblin territory.”
Kim Chihun frowned, letting out a deep sigh after Iun finished speaking.
“Sigh… So in the end, bait is the only way to survive?”
“Yeah. That’s our highest chance of survival.”
He fell silent for a moment as if in thought.
“Got it. What do I need to do.”
He opened his mouth as if having made up his mind.
It was certainly frightening, but he decided to trust the skill he had seen from Iun.
“It’s simple. You stand here, and Suyeon will be behind that door up there.”
His plan was simple.
When the Goblin General sees Kim Chihun and rushes at him in excitement, attack from behind.
Aim for the anus, or hang onto its neck to accurately stab its eye—
“Then can I run the moment I see it?”
“Yeah.”
“You really can’t fail. I’m an only son.”
“Don’t worry. If I fail, I die too.”
Hearing Iun’s words, it wasn’t like only Kim Chihun was in danger.
Iun was in the most dangerous position, having to attack within reach of the Goblin General.
“Then let’s take our positions. It’ll be here soon.”
Whether it smashes through the door or comes another way, it’ll come.
They hurried to their positions as Iun instructed.
The moment it came up to the rooftop door, Kim Chihun would be right in front.
Iun would be behind the door, holding his breath.
Finally, Cha Suyeon climbed the ladder beside the rooftop door and took a position above.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“How old are you?”
“Thirty-three.”
“I’m thirty-five.”
“So?”
“I’m not asking for much. If we survive, call me hyung.”
“And I thought you’d say something else.”
As they exchanged idle banter.
“Kiiiiiek!”
The Goblin General’s cry began to be heard.
“It’s coming. Trust me. Chihun hyung. We’ll survive.”
As Iun spoke to Kim Chihun in a calm tone, he tilted his head.
“What is this?”
“What?”
“Why does it feel good when you call me hyung?”
“Because I’m more like an older brother.”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah. That’s it.”
And then.
“Shit. Chihun hyung! Run toward the door!”
The Goblin General appeared from an unexpected place.
Not the stairs, but the rooftop railing.
It had climbed up the wall.
“Damn it!”
Kim Chihun spotted the Goblin General at Iun’s shout and ran like crazy toward the entrance.
“Get down on the floor!”
At Iun’s shout as he ran sideways, Kim Chihun threw himself to the ground without hesitation.
Slam!
A massive noise.
The Goblin General’s shield, flying spinning over Kim Chihun’s head, slammed into the entrance and completely destroyed it.
Now there was nowhere to run.
Only two paths: die or kill.
The one fortunate thing was that it didn’t have its shield.
*It probably thinks it can beat us even without a shield.*
Iun rushed toward the Goblin General without hesitation.
*It’s definitely tired too.*
Seeing its heaving shoulders, it seemed to have spent quite a bit of stamina.
And its strength was tremendous, but.
*Now I’m faster.*
He thought he could dodge well enough.
“Kik?”
Meanwhile, the Goblin General looked at Iun running toward it with doubt.
Prey running at it with a dagger?
Did it have something to rely on?
Or had it laid a trap?
Various worries and tired stamina slowed the Goblin General’s reaction.
Stab!
“Huh?”
Iun’s bolder and faster-than-expected attack succeeded.
The dagger lodged precisely in its eye.
“Kiiiiiek!”
“What? It’s nothing special?”
The General screamed in pain and swung its sword at Iun.
Whoosh!
Dodging in an instant, Iun stepped back to create distance.
*It’s doable.*
He began watching carefully for an opportunity.
But the pain in its eye and wounded pride.
“Kiiiiiek!”
Made the Goblin General go wild.
It charged at Iun like a mad bull.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Goblin General’s sword swung without rest.
Iun kept dodging by a hair’s breadth, but.
*There’s no opening to attack.*
The situation was bad.
At this rate, even a graze might kill him.
Then.
Tok!
Something hit the Goblin General’s head.
*A smartphone?*
“Hey! You Goblin bastard! Come at me!”
It was the smartphone Kim Chihun had thrown.
As promised, he was volunteering as bait again.
He seemed to understand well that if Iun died, they died too, but it was a brave act.
“Kiiiiiek!”
The Goblin General’s rage soared to the top of its head.
How dare such insignificant morsels provoke it.
It seemed it had to show them what kind of being it was.
“Kirrrrrr.”
The General suddenly stopped all attacks.
“What? Did my phone hit your head and break your brain?”
Ignoring Kim Chihun’s nonsense, its green skin began to change.
Its skin darkened and an unknown black haze began rising from its entire body.
*This seems dangerous.*
Iun wanted to attack immediately, but he couldn’t.
Because the Goblin General was glaring at him with its one eye.
And at some point.
“Human. I shall kill you.”
Human language flowed from its mouth, and the eye stabbed by the dagger healed as if by a lie.
At that sight, Iun hurriedly checked its information.
*Info!*
[Lv. 35 Goblin General]
Ridiculous. A strength that jumped a full 15 levels.
At the same time, a quest appeared before Iun’s eyes.
[Extermination Quest!]
[Iun! That ominous black energy is a trace of the ‘Fragment of Calamity’! You must kill the Goblin General and recover the fragment!]
[0/1]
[Time Limit: 30 minutes]
[Reward: Fragment of Calamity]
[Failure: Death]
[Difficulty: A]
He didn’t know what the Fragment of Calamity was, but the difficulty was A.
*Now I can’t even run. Shit.*
And of course, failure meant death.
Even if an opening appeared, escaping was difficult.
In the end, it meant he absolutely had to kill the Goblin General before him.
“Wait. What is the Fragment of Calamity?”
Since it seemed capable of conversation, he was thinking of buying time to come up with a plan.
Because he could feel normal attacks wouldn’t work on the obviously strengthened creature now.
“I don’t know how you know that name, but it doesn’t matter.”
But as if conversation were unnecessary, it charged at Iun.
*Crazy.*
A completely different speed from before.
Slam!
He barely rolled across the floor to avoid the descending sword, but.
“Damn it.”
Crack!
The following horizontal slash caught Iun squarely.
Thud!
Iun was sent flying, his back hitting the destroyed rooftop entrance as he collapsed.
He was lucky it hit with the flat of the blade; if it had been the edge, his body would have been split in half.
“Oppa!”
“Boss!”
The two gathered around Iun at the sudden turn of events.
But there was nothing they could do.
“Insignificant things daring to anger me, a chosen being.”
They could only watch the approaching Goblin General.
“Oppa, there’s no choice. I’ll use it now.”
As Cha Suyeon tried to spread her barrier, Iun urgently stopped her.
“Not yet.”
“Why!”
“In ten minutes, I might not be able to move.”
“From that attack just now?”
“Yeah. I think something’s broken.”
Though he was enduring through ‘Pain Immunity,’ it would only worsen as time passed.
He had to settle this while he could still move.
“What are you going to do?”
“There’s no way. Just fight.”
Now there was no plan.
Only struggling not to die.
Iun staggered to his feet.
He opened his mouth as quietly as possible.
“When I start fighting, both of you run. You can probably get out through the gap in the shield.”
He had realized he couldn’t win with his previous methods now that it had transformed, so he tried to get at least the two of them to escape.
But unexpectedly.
“Didn’t I say I’m not an unloyal bitch?”
Cha Suyeon was one thing, but.
“I’m not going either.”
Kim Chihun also chose not to run.
“Why, hyung?”
“Huh? Why ask me for a reason and not Suyeon? That hurts my feelings.”
“You asked because you don’t know?”
“Oh please. No special reason. Even if I survive here, what then? Who would acknowledge my trait? I’d just breathe until one day a Goblin kills me.”
“So you’re staying? When it’s pretty much certain death?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m staying! If by chance we survive, it’s safest next to you, and I’m not the kind of hyung who abandons his little brother. Hehehe.”
It was a realistic choice, yet.
*Needlessly cool.*
It had its own romance.
*By the way, I guess I have to give him a trust score of 100.*
Human nature that inevitably reveals itself before death.
Through this decision, Iun came to know the human named Kim Chihun.
“Then I can’t slack off. No matter what happens, I’ll save you both.”
He accepted him as his second companion.
This is what trust is.
While there are humans you can’t trust even after decades together, there are moments when you can trust someone after just a few minutes.
Such an unpredictable emotion.
“You still don’t look at me in this situation? Truly impudent. Die!”
Anyway, now was the time to fight.
The Goblin General had already approached within reach.
The moment Iun tried to dash forward.
-Run far to the right. With all your might.
*Huh?*
It was clear.
This voice ringing in his head.
It was the Wolf King.
*It’s not a hallucination, right?*
It was do or die anyway.
Iun ran to the right instead of swinging his dagger as the creature said.
“Running away all of a sudden. How pathetic, human.”
Then the Goblin General chased Iun.
Its eyes didn’t register Cha Suyeon or Kim Chihun.
It only wanted to kill Iun.
As the two moved away from the rooftop entrance.
Boom!
The Wolf King revealed itself, smashing the shield blocking the entrance with its body.
And then it ran at full speed toward where Iun was.
The bait Iun had assigned to Kim Chihun.
Now Iun was the bait.
Crunch!
The Wolf King’s sharp fangs instantly bit into the back of the Goblin General’s neck.
“Krrrrgh! What! Wolf King! Why you!”
-I came to repay a debt.
“Insolent thing. You think you can face me who has obtained the power of the fragment!”
The Goblin General turned its head and grabbed the Wolf King’s neck with its left hand.
The General’s grip quickly tightened on the Wolf King’s neck.
-You are indeed strong. That’s right. As you say, I alone would struggle. But that human is quite reliable.
“What?”
At the Wolf King’s words, Iun, forgotten for a moment, came to mind.
The Goblin General turned its gaze to find him.
“Too late. Bastard.”
Iun’s dagger, having approached right before its eyes, stabbed the General’s eye that had healed by the fragment’s power.
Stab!
“Kraaaack!”
The fragment’s power didn’t seem to block pain, and it shrieked.
“It’s not over yet?”
Iun didn’t stop.
Stab!
He stabbed the remaining eye as well, inflicting a wound.
Thud!
The Goblin General’s hastily extended foot sent Iun flying far away.
It was fatal.
Losing both eyes.
“Krrgh! To think I would suffer such humiliation!”
In this absurd situation, the Goblin General roared, its left hand pressing the Wolf King’s nape while its right hand wildly swung its sword toward where Iun might be.
That’s when Cha Suyeon and Kim Chihun moved.
She hurriedly blocked Iun’s front and created a barrier.
“Hey! Stupid Goblin! Over here! Come to me!”
Kim Chihun shouted as the blinded Goblin General spun around in confusion.
If the Goblin General had calmed its excitement and focused on the Wolf King hanging from its neck, the result might have been different, but.
-It is over now. Goblin General.
The Wolf King never loosened its bite despite the pain of its neck being crushed, and eventually the General slowly collapsed, exhausted.
“T-to think that I, who obtained the fragment… must die so futilely…”
At the same time, Iun’s wounds healed as his level rose.
“Suyeon, drop the barrier.”
“Yes.”
He hurriedly ran to the Wolf King, collapsed on the ground panting, exhausted.
“Wolf King, thank you.”
Without this guy, it was obvious that not only he but Cha Suyeon and Kim Chihun would have died.
-I merely repaid a debt. Will you kill me now too?
It seemed to be asking, probably remembering his words about killing it if they met again after parting.
Honestly, as the creature said, he could kill it just like this.
The 2 levels gained from killing the Goblin General just now.
Because the level difference was large, it had given tremendous EXP, so it was true he was tempted.
But he didn’t want to become a human worse than a beast.
And it would be nice to complete the quest while he was at it.
“Honestly, you helped me to repay a debt, but in the end, I survived thanks to you. I can’t kill you.”
-Interesting. Then you are saving me once again?
“In a way, yes. Then will you come to repay the debt to me again?”
-That’s right. Repaying debts is the creed of we Wolf Kings. If possible, I will find you again.
Iun saw an opportunity in the Wolf King’s words and threw out a casual suggestion.
With a take-it-or-leave-it attitude.
“Then why don’t you just stick with me?”
-With you?
“Yeah. If we’re going to keep repaying debts back and forth, isn’t it better to do it from nearby? You were following me while hiding, weren’t you.”
-Honestly, it’s not a bad idea. I don’t dislike humans like you, and watching from afar was boring.
Fortunately, the Wolf King’s reaction was positive.
-But it is impossible.
“Huh? Why?”
He thought he had convinced it, so what could suddenly be the problem?
-My neck bone is broken, so I will die soon.
It was an entirely unexpected answer.
To think it had held on until it reached that state.
A hardcore bastard, trying to keep its creed even at the cost of its life.
*This is a guy I’d want even without a quest.*
He purely wanted to have it.
And.
“Don’t worry. I’ll save you.”
Iun had a way to save this guy.