*Schiiick—* Kiiiyeeeek!!!

An eerie shriek rang out into the blue sky.

In the forest thick with green trees,

“Aaaagh!!!”

A Player with his shoulder nearly severed screamed in pain.

*Huum—*

[You have used the Sacred Light of Healing.]

A soft light shimmered from a woman’s hand.

“Bring the wounded this way!”

About a dozen Players moved busily through the forest.

All of them were members of the Blue Team. The ones handling the support role.

They’d held the Sharp Goblins’ aggro the whole way. A dozen of them looked wrecked.

“Ughhh…”

Blood streaming, bodies writhing in pain—Players who couldn’t even stand straight.

“Hang in there just a little longer!!!”

A Healer poured out cure-magic with desperate focus.

The situation looked grim.

“We’re almost there!”

“Bear with it—it’s almost over!”

But every face in the party was bright.

The clearing of the adult was in its final stretch. Wounded, yes. Dead? None.

And aside from the L-Grade Player, every party member was elite.

Just twenty Players had butchered over three hundred Goblins.

Thump—thump—

A support-role Player waited for the battle to end, heart racing with excitement.

Elsewhere—

Shlick—Kiyeeeek!!!

“Team 3 here! We need backup!”

“On our way to Team 3 right now!!!”

Deep in the woods, a fair distance from the battlefield.

The shouts of party members barely reached them.

This was their supply cache—where they’d stockpiled all the items and gear gathered so far.

About a dozen Players stood guard over the luggage.

“I want to fight too!”

Among them, Mimic held a small dagger, her eyes glittering.

“No! If you wait, Unni will get you something tasty. Just hold on a little longer.”

Kim Jisoo struggled to soothe Mimic, whose eyes were glittering.

‘How can I send a kid into that.’

Kim Jisoo knew.

Mimic wasn’t an ordinary child. Her Strength stat was so high that she could easily shove Jisoo away with her tiny hands.

And there was the way she’d fought against that monster, Hua Yian.

Mimic was at least on par with a Level 50 Player.

But Jisoo couldn’t send her.

How could she send a little girl who didn’t even look eight into a battlefield soaked in blood and screams?

So Kim Jisoo desperately tried to hold Mimic back.

“Little one, aren’t you scared? There are tons of scary monsters over there! If you’re not careful, you’ll get hurt.”

Just as Jisoo’s efforts were starting to calm Mimic down—

The woman who’d been guarding the luggage with him asked Mimic.

“Not one bit! Master said that if you kill monsters, you get good stuff!”

“Master?”

“Yeah! Master!”

As Mimic answered boldly, the man guarding the luggage turned to look at her with a smile.

“Quite the bold little one, aren’t you? How old are you?”

“Huh? How old?”

And so the chatter went on, light and meaningless — until, right then—

*Rustle.*

A sinister sound came from beyond the bushes.

“Wha—what was that!”

“Everyone grab your weapons!”

The Players guarding the luggage snatched up their arms.

*Thump—thump—*

“It—it can’t be a monster, right?”

“It’s just one at most. Keep your heads straight!”

The Players left here were support types — as far from combat as it got.

They dreaded a fight with a monster.

The Tutorial had plenty of easy ways through; Scenario 1, too — just pay up and a carry driver clears it for you.

So the Players standing guard were caught completely off guard by the sudden turn.

*Gulp.*

The tense moments passed.

“Guess it was nothing?”

One man was just starting to relax — when—

*KEEEEEEK!!!*

A Sharp Goblin burst out, shrieking.

“WHOA!!”

“FUCK!!!”

The sudden appearance sent one man stumbling backward; another woman’s legs gave out and she slumped to the ground.

“God fucking—!”

Among them, the man who dreamed of becoming a Blacksmith mustered his courage, gripped his hammer tight, and set his stance.

‘I can do this! I can! I cleared the Tutorial, didn’t I?!’

He tried to steady himself. In the Tutorial, there was the courage that came from knowing you couldn’t die, and from Scenario 1 onward, he’d just bought a carry with the deposit money.

But facing this monster now — he understood.

‘It’s a monster…’

The creature before him was on an entirely different level.

Forcing down his instinct, he locked eyes on the Goblin charging at him.

*KIIIIIEEK!!!!*

The Goblin closed in—

“RAAAAAA!!!!”

The man gripped his hammer with clumsy, desperate movements.

Goblin and man — almost upon each other — when—

“It’s a monster!!!”

*Shink—*

—accompanied by a child’s cheerful laugh.

*Thud.*

The Sharp Goblin’s head hit the ground.

*Shoooooo—*

Blood sprayed like a fountain from the severed neck.

Feeling the blood spatter across his face, the man stared straight ahead.

“Whoa, no fucking way…”

Tiny hands held up the Sharp Goblin’s severed head.

“Hey—what the hell is that kid?”

“Fucking fast…”

The nine Players guarding the luggage couldn’t help but gape in awe at Mimic’s display.

***

“I’ll take the last one!”

*Whoosh—*

Jo Seunghyun kicked off the ground and surged forward.

Whether it was because the equipment was good or not, with each step he took, a vicious *hwoosh* brushed past his ears,

*Swick-*

a clean sword stroke sent the last Sharp Goblin’s head tumbling from its shoulders.

“We won!!!!”

Jo Seunghyun was the first to shout.

“Whoaaa!!!!”

More than twenty Players erupted in cheers.

A clearing that had lasted an hour. They’d killed over five hundred Goblins.

Before the fortress reeking of blood from hundreds of corpses.

Everyone looked exhausted, but their faces overflowed with joy.

“Isn’t cleaning up all these corpses going to be a pain?”

“We’ll be done fast once we burn them.”

“Ah! Right. Hey, where did the captain go?”

Come to think of it—was he just too focused on the hunt?

Jo Seunghyun only now realized Ha Gangwoo wasn’t there.

‘Is he off doing something else?’

But it wasn’t an important detail. They’d perfectly cleared the fortress, and there was no big problem.

“Let’s just pick up the drops first!”

He thought the clearing was over. But that was when it happened.

*Hwoong-* Something massive dropped from the top of the fortress.

*CRASH!!!!*

A dizzying tremor rippled through the ground.

“Woah!! What the hell!”

“It’s a Monster!!!!”

As the thick dust settled, a gigantic monster revealed itself.

*Krrrrr-*

“That thing is fucking huge.”

“Are you kidding, is it even the same species?”

It was four times the size of a normal Sharp Goblin.

If the regular Sharp Goblins wore scraps of cloth, this monster’s outfit was worlds apart.

Thick metal armor, a giant greatsword. It looked clearly high-grade and powerful.

“It’s the Boss!!!!”

Han Seongdae shouted at the top of his lungs, and,

“Keeeeeeeeek!!!!”

the Battle Captain Sharp Goblin let out a scream full of despair.

*Ding-*

[You are afflicted with Paralysis by Shout of Wrath.]

Suddenly, a thunderous noise pounded at their heads, and twenty-four Players froze in place.

“Huh?!”

“A group… crowd-control skill.”

Everyone rolled their eyes, struggling to resist the Paralysis, but they couldn’t move.

At that very moment. *Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!*

The Sharp Goblin raised its massive greatsword and charged toward Bae Heena, who was closest.

“No!”

Bae Heena gritted her teeth, twisting every muscle in her body, pouring in her strength. But her body didn’t budge.

*Thud! Thud! Thud!*

It felt like a huge subway train was hurtling straight at her, the Boss Monster closing in with a sinister grin.

*Ding-*

[You have escaped the Paralysis state.]

“I’m free!”

Maybe because it was a group skill, the Paralysis’s duration hadn’t been very long.

But,

“Huh?!”

Bae Heena saw the arc of the incoming sword and knew it for certain.

‘Too late…’

It was already too late to dodge.

A greatsword twice the size of her own body was hurtling toward her, about to tear her apart.

“Please… please save me…”

Bae Heena had stopped even trying to dodge. She just gave in to despair.

But then—

CHWAAAAANG!!!!

A massive thunderclap of sound, and a familiar back came into view.

“Captain!!!”

It was Han Seongdae—her original party leader, the head of Team 1.

“Ugh!!!”

Seongdae winced, his face screwed up in strain as he gripped his shield tight.

The sheer force of the impact buckled his knees—they folded beneath him.

Grrrind—

The boss monster’s greatsword and Seongdae’s shield ground together in a vicious screech of metal.

‘Strong!’

That single blow told him everything.

Strength high enough that solo tanking was barely possible. The speed he’d shown when he attacked Heena. An AoE crowd-control skill.

‘At least B-Rank!’

This boss was minimum B-Rank.

“What are you waiting for?! Attack, now!!!!”

Seongdae bellowed at his teammates, who were just shaking off the paralysis.

“On it!!!”

Starting with Jo Seunghyun,

*Sreung— Uuuung—*

Over twenty Players unleashed their strongest attack skills.

*Swish— CRACK— BOOM!!!*

In an instant, the combined skills of more than twenty Players slammed into the boss monster’s body.

The moment all those masses of Mana converged—

*KHWANG!!!!*

A violent explosion erupted.

“We got it!!!!”

“Huh? That was nothing.”

The Blue Team erupted in cheers.

***

“We got it!!!!”

Before the gate, filled with victory cries.

Ha Gangwoo watched them from the tallest tree.

‘Not bad.’

A party where half the members were support-type Players. He’d thought their level was low.

But each individual’s skill was better than expected.

‘Is it because Seongdae’s that good?’

Seongdae’s leadership, in particular, was top-notch.

His qualities as a Tank were beyond question.

Always at the fore, that technique of locking down the monster’s advance.

“—Target the Goblin archer in the back!!!”

Even while tanking, Seongdae read the battlefield and barked orders.

Of all the Players he’d seen, Seongdae was top-tier for party play.

Not a single casualty—that was all thanks to his snap judgment.

And on top of that, he’d taken the boss’s full blow alone.

‘What’s his Trait?’

Gangwoo knew because of his Sense stat.

Battle Captain Sharp Goblin.

Stronger than Jutrek, and in pure Strength, it had the edge over Asrul.

Defense that could solo-tank a blow from a boss like that.

If he made good use of Seongdae, winning wouldn’t be hard.

‘Not sure, though.’

But there was a problem.

Gangwoo had watched the Blue Team’s Players from beginning to end.

[Find the Spies!][Sub]

Description: There are Black infiltrators in the Blue Team. Uncover them and pray for the Blue Team’s prosperity!

Reward: Bonus points.

He was looking for the Black mixed in with the Blue Team now. He was sure they were there to harm the team.

He’d expected them to do something noticeable in a group operation. But so far—nothing. No movement at all.

The stash point from early in the clear: food, items, stowed in what was basically an empty house. Untouched. No damage.

Over an hour of nonstop clearing. Everyone fought like hell—not a single player slacking off.

‘What the hell are you playing at?’

That was how Ha Gangwoo came to his conclusion.

The Black-aligned player was either a coward or an insidious bastard. One or the other.

‘Gives me a headache.’

Ha Gangwoo furrowed his brow from his perch in the tree, staring out at the battlefield.

‘So this is where it starts.’

At the explosion’s center, he narrowed his eyes at the thick cloud of dust.

And sure enough—

“We’re not done yet!!!!”

Bae Heena’s shout was the signal.

“KEEEAAAHHH!!!!”

The Battle Chief Goblin let out a roar.

It was so piercing that even Gangwoo, watching from afar, winced.

‘What’s he gonna do?’

Gangwoo had known from the start. The Boss monster at the fortress—

they couldn’t handle it with their strength alone. That’s why he’d pulled out of the fight and was just watching.

‘Gotta set the tension from the start.’

An easy beginning plus the L-Grade leader—the Blue Team players had been getting complacent.

*-Just ride the carry.*

*-He’s killing everything for us. Free ride!*

That carefree attitude was bleeding their team’s combat power dry.

So they needed a lesson. A reminder of what happens when you don’t earn your keep.

Ha Gangwoo leaned back against the tree trunk, cold-faced, watching them.

Meanwhile—

“Get into position!!!”

Han Seongdae shouted, gripping his shield tight.

“Yes, sir!!!”

Over twenty players formed up in four-man squads, surrounding the Boss monster.

‘We can do this.’

Han Seongdae looked at the twenty-three players and felt certain.

The Boss in front of him—it was strong.

Stronger than any monster he’d ever fought.

But that was only relevant for a four-man party.

Right now, they had twenty-four players committed to the fight.

Head-on? That monster didn’t stand a chance.

That’s what Han Seongdae thought.

But as if to mock that assumption—

Crunch-crunch—

A gruesome sound, followed by—

Ding-

[Battle Chief Sharp Goblin has used Wailing Cry.]

[Effect of Wailing Cry: the Battle Chief Sharp Goblin’s fallen minions rise again for 10 minutes.]

“No… no way!”

Crackle-grrrr—

“You crazy bastards!”

Around the twenty-four players, nearly five hundred Goblins were pulling themselves upright.

The Goblins they’d slaughtered for an hour.

All coming back to life at once.

Thump-thump—

Adrenaline surged through Han Seongdae as the sudden turn hit him.

‘This is bad.’

The death-sense he’d felt just before dying in the Tutorial—it was back.

Five hundred monsters surrounding them.

Grrrr—they bared their teeth, radiating hostility.

A single Sharp Goblin is weak, but five hundred of them changes everything.

And now, with a freakishly strong Boss Monster added to the mix, survival odds in a fight were near zero percent.

‘Where the hell did he go?’

For a moment, Han Seongdae’s brow furrowed as he recalled the early stages of the clearing plan.

Right when the clearing began, while the support team drew the monsters’ aggro—

“Please take command for me.”

“What?”

Ha Gangwoo had vanished after dropping that line out of nowhere.

But Han Seongdae didn’t care.

‘Good riddance.’

He was actually pleased.

The only reason Han Seongdae had recommended Ha Gangwoo as leader was as a means to unite everyone.

Once the group bonded and lived together, he planned to pull them into his own circle.

Politics was one of his specialties, after all.

Yet the guy just handed off command on his own. Couldn’t be dumber.

‘Damn it.’

But that thought was pure arrogance.

‘Is there a way? Think, dammit!’

Han Seongdae gritted his teeth, thinking hard.

‘Seven viable players. Only three of them are proper Tanks. It’s absolutely impossible.’

Maybe if they had some formation, but in the heart of five hundred monsters, no strategy would work.

Just as Han Seongdae was racking his brain—

“Let’s kill the Boss!”

Jo Seunghyun, beside him, grinned as he spoke. Was this guy oblivious to danger? Smiling like that when they might all die.

“The Boss…”

But one part of the idea struck a chord.

‘Go for the Boss.’

The source of the Resurrection skill.

If the Boss died, the resurrected monsters would vanish too. It was the best call they could make right now.

“Alright. There’s only one way we survive!!!! I’ll clear the path—you take out the Boss!!!”

With a bellow of focus, *Hwoong*—Han Seongdae grabbed his shield and charged straight ahead.

*KUGUGUGUGUGU—* A thunder like hundreds of cannonballs pounding the shield,

*KIIEEEK!!!* A slash— *Thud!!!*

Grisly noise engulfed his entire body.

The body that had been untouched until now—*slice*—a blade bit in, and chunks of flesh tore away.

“Kugh.”

Even through the searing pain and blood climbing up his throat, Han Seongdae didn’t stop.

And then—*Phat!*—after carving through the monster horde, he reached the spot.

*GRRRRRRRR—*

The breath of the colossal Boss Monster rumbled out.

*Thud-d-d—*

Thick, viscous blood poured down over Han Seongdae’s entire body.

*Thud!* Han Seongdae barely propped himself up on his shield and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Now!!!”

And then, Han Seongdae’s eyes seared in a hollow sight.

“Huh?…”

The one charging the Boss was a single Player.

One meager figure leaped into the air with all their might. *Woong—* A small sword swung.

‘Jo Seunghyun…’

The most capable man among the current party members.

‘Where the hell is everyone else?!’

Han Seongdae quickly looked back over his shoulder—and then simply set his shield down.

“Fuck!!!”

“P-please… spare me!”

The remaining twenty-two were trapped in the goblin swarm, being torn apart in wretched brutality.

Shiiick—

A blade lodged in a man’s abdomen, his body writhing in agony.

“Aaaargh!!!”

A woman’s belly skin peeled back at a goblin’s gesture, her entrails spilling onto the ground.

In the midst of that hopeless scene.

*Vwoom—* THUD!!!!

Jo Seunghyun’s sword clashed against the Boss’s massive greatsword—then *vwoom*—the Boss’s greatsword *THUDDED* into Seunghyun’s abdomen.

*CRRRRRRRAAASSSH—*

Seunghyun’s body slammed into the wall like a lifeless marionette.

The final attack he’d staked his life to create—ended in nothing.

”It’s over…”

*THUMP—*

Han Seongdae sank to his knees before the Boss Monster.

*GRRRR—*

The Sharp Goblin Battle Chief stared down at him like a bug.

”Fucking pathetic.”

*Vwoom—*

Seongdae raised his head, etching the descending blade into his eyes.

He thought that was the end of everything.

But then—

*SNAP!!!!*

In an instant, a dark something appeared before Seongdae.

Crimson demonic energy coursing through every inch of its body.

*GRRRR—*

A breath like steel scraping steel. Two massive horns jutting from its brow.

”A d-demon?!”

A small frame, no larger than an ordinary human, halting the giant greatsword with one hand.

“Wha—what the hell?!”

Just as Han Seongdae’s confusion surged at the sudden demon’s appearance—

*Ski—THUD!*

The demon’s fist moved short and clean. Too fast—like the hand vanished into thin air.

*SKREEEE!!!!*

The goblin, which had been shrieking in triumph, froze in place.

About a second passed?

*BOOM!!!!!!*

The goblin’s upper body exploded away as if blasted.

*Ding-*

[You have defeated the Sharp Goblin Battle Chief.]

[Sharp Goblin Fortress Recapture! Cleared!!]

[Awarding rewards.]

It was the moment the Blue Team’s base recapture concluded successfully.