Chapter 8

"Come on, let's go quickly."

Junsung continued walking, looking at the glowing footprints on the ground.

A moment later, another goblin ambush began from the bushes.

Junsung immediately drew his sword to block the incoming arrows and started running in the direction they came from.

"Go, go?"

'They seemed to be saying, "It was definitely a perfect ambush, so why...?" Their faces looked like that. Still, even though this isn't reality, the emotions are so intricate that I can feel them. The more I see, the more amazing it is...'

"Go, go!"

While Junsung was momentarily distracted, the goblin archers continued to shoot arrows at him, but it wasn't a problem for Junsung, who skillfully deflected them even during the ambush.

Clang!

However, despite deflecting the arrows, some damage was still accumulating, so he couldn't afford to be complacent.

'The damage is stacking. I want to avoid it, but my body is too slow to do so...'

He didn't want to use his stamina for a sprint, so Junsung quickly took out a potion and drank it to recover his health.

He used trees as cover to avoid being hit as much as possible.

'If I approach them...'

"Go, go!"

At that moment!

Suddenly, goblin raiders appeared from the trees, aiming their daggers and leaping at Junsung.

Junsung was momentarily taken aback.

Usually, if a creature is hiding, there should be some sign of movement, but they appeared out of nowhere without any such indication.

'What the...?'

Anyone who has played online games would have recognized this as a respawn system, where monsters appear out of nowhere.

Of course, it's absurd to include such a system in a quest for new players.

'Damn!'

For a moment, Junsung was surprised, but he quickly dodged the attacks of the two goblin raiders falling towards him and swung his sword at their necks.

To finish them off in one go, he used a double slash, accepting the stamina cost.

"Ugh! Double Slash!"

"Go, go!"

'Phew... I was scared. What are these goblins? How did they hide their presence? It's incredible. Has my skill really declined this much? Well, they say it takes ten days to recover from a day off!'

Because he didn't understand the game system, Junsung thought his skills had declined and gritted his teeth. The goblin archers had already moved far away.

Perhaps because the goblin raiders from the trees had bought them time, they were ready to shoot with their bows.

The AI was incredibly cunning.

'Yeah, it has to be this challenging to be fun!'

Usually, when a game gets this difficult, people curse the game company, but Junsung was instead filled with determination.

He exuded a terrifying spirit, like a fierce beast.

Then, Junsung heightened all his senses and approached the goblin archer.

'Even if I block the arrows, I still take damage. So, I need to avoid them...'

Swish... swish...

The bushes brushed against Junsung's body, which was on high alert.

The green leaves of the bushes. Although they can be felt when touched, they are technically fake and just objects.

When his hand brushed against a branch, he suddenly had an idea and started to take off his clothes behind the tree.

'Right! If I get hit, the damage stacks. So...'

To reduce his weight, he took off all his clothes, even trying to take off his underwear, but a system window appeared, stopping him.

"Tch! I can't take off my underwear!"

He realized that being naked except for his underwear was the limit, so he put on a leather belt with a scabbard and started running towards the goblin archer.

As expected, without any clothes, he moved much more freely.

Now he could narrowly avoid the visible arrows.

Feeling the wind from the arrows brushing past his ears, Junsung was elated that his plan had worked.

'Good!'

"Go, go?"

The goblin archer panicked when he saw Junsung, who was naked except for his underwear, dodging his arrows and approaching.

To anyone watching, it looked like a pervert chasing a goblin.

If there were other players, he might have been reported for inappropriate behavior, but fortunately, this route was notorious as a "newbie slicer," so Junsung was alone.

"Finally got you."

"Go, go!"

Junsung, who had dodged all the arrows, finally reached the goblin archer.

He avoided the counterattack and performed a clean combo, stabbing the goblin in the neck and then the chest, knocking him down.

Shaking with the joy of success, Junsung realized the battle wasn't over and looked for other goblins.

He saw rustling bushes in his field of vision.

"There you are."

"Go, go?"

"Go, go!"

The goblins, now recognized by Junsung, burst out of the bushes.

For some reason, they seemed to be afraid of Junsung, who was only wearing his underwear, but the developers at 'D.E' wouldn't have programmed such an algorithm, so it was probably just his imagination.

Perhaps...

"Go, go..."

"Is this the end?"

Soon, all the goblins fell to the naked Junsung, and a new system window appeared before him.

Another goblin ambush came, but he successfully repelled it. The number of goblins had increased, indicating they were getting closer to their base.

Condition: Continue tracking.

"Continue tracking? Hmm... The numbers... Ah! They have increased."

After confirming the quest message, Junsung continued tracking.

'By the way, it's so dark. I don't mind, though...'

Usually, in such darkness, a beginner would use a torch from their starter kit, but Junsung just followed the footprints.

With his heightened senses and over ten years of experience moving in the dark forest, he moved without hesitation.

"Ouch, ouch! Another trap. Really, can't they just stop?"

He encountered traps like pits or falling rocks but used his unique senses to nimbly avoid them.

Of course, the traps were crude because they were made by goblins, which helped.

After walking for a few minutes, he saw the end of the forest.

"Oh? What's that?"

Following the footprints through the forest, he finally reached the goblins' habitat. He was shocked. Goblins usually live in villages or caves, but this habitat was different.

"A tower? Oh..."

A tall, cylindrical brick building, about 12 to 15 meters high, stood out in the moonlight. It was clearly a tower.

This was a completely different form from a typical goblin habitat, which surprised most players, but as a game newbie, Junsung was simply admiring the scenery when the quest was updated.

Goblins living in a tower? It's absurd. If left alone, they will become a major force, so they need to be dealt with as soon as possible. First, reduce their numbers. If it's too difficult, bringing in allies or mercenaries is a good idea.

Condition: Kill 30 Goblin Raiders / 0

Kill 10 Goblin Archers / 0

Kill 5 Goblin Warriors / 0

Kill 5 Goblin Scout Riders / 0

*This quest is very dangerous. It is recommended to form a party or level up by completing other sub-quests before proceeding.

"Oh... The target suddenly increased?"

The hunting quest's target increased, and two new types of monsters were added.

This was the first quest line after the tutorial, designed to be simple, with a straightforward structure of hunt-search-hunt.

It was clear that killing the monsters in front of him and then completing the quest to enter the 'tower' would end this quest line.

*This quest is very dangerous. It is recommended to form a party or level up by completing other sub-quests before proceeding.

"Hmm... Dangerous. Is this quest message... testing the courage of those who challenge it?"

Junsung's comment would make the quest designer faint.

This wasn't a problem specific to him.

Some players, when they see such a warning message, are driven by competitiveness and the desire to challenge.

'This quest is very dangerous.'

This message, which is clearly written, is interpreted by some players as:

'Chicken! Can you challenge this? You weakling, coward, just do the sub-quests and come back later. Haha! Angry? Frustrated? What can you do? Smartphones~! Can't admit you're weak, can you? Shaking now, aren't you? Loser~ Weakling~'

Some players, like Junsung, interpret it this way.

"Something like this... I can't back down."

Junsung, as a 'swordsman,' had always pushed his martial skills to the limit. His spirit of challenge and determination to overcome it were unmatched.

His resolve, honed through endless sword practice in the real world despite physical pain and exhaustion, was etched into his soul, preventing him from backing down from such challenges.