Chapter 2
2. Tutorial (2)
The mercenaries gathered at the guild were hurried along as they all headed out of the city gates together.
The rookie mercenaries, not knowing what was going on, looked around anxiously as they followed the lead mercenary. Rin, similarly flustered by the sudden conscription, stuck closely to Ian's side.
"I didn't expect us to go on a mission starting today..."
Rin tightly gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist and looked around with a nervous face. Not just Rin, but the other mercenaries who had been dragged along were also looking around, wary of any potential monster approaching.
Perhaps due to the rookie mercenaries' poor armament, the guild had handed out a few dusty shields from the warehouse, which meant this was a job that required fighting.
Since they weren't giving them away but just loaning them out for the duration of the mission, Ian had subtly shifted his position earlier to avoid taking a heavy shield.
"Rin. You don't need to be so nervous already. There's nothing around here." "B-But... What if they attack from underground or from the sky? Like a Sandworm or a Wyvern..." "Those kinds of monsters... do exist, but."
Both were monsters that actually existed in this game, but since they were naturally high-level monsters, you had to go on an expedition far from the city to see them. They were hard to even go see, and trickier to hunt than normal monsters, yet the rewards were average, making them not particularly popular monsters.
"How do you know about monsters like that?" "I read about them in a book! The village chief had a monster encyclopedia at his house, so I studied up on them beforehand."
...She must have definitely skipped the normal monsters in the early chapters because they were boring, and only read about the interesting and incredible monsters towards the back.
Rin leaned in close, lowering her voice so the people around wouldn't hear, and whispered to Ian.
"Leader... Do you think it might be a lie that this is because of Goblins?" "We signed a contract before we left, didn't we? Saying our targets are Goblins." "It's strange that we're flocking out like this just for Goblins."
Rin, who was a complete novice in terms of mercenary experience, had at least seen a Goblin before.
Occasionally, a single Goblin would come out of the forest and prowl around the village, and such Goblins were easy enough targets that even Rin could chase them away alone with a wooden stick.
"If it were a dangerous monster, the city guards would have come out. It's probably just a lot of Goblins."
Ian, who already knew what monsters appeared in the tutorial, subtly gave Rin the right answer.
Rin didn't let her guard down entirely, but perhaps thinking Ian's explanation made sense, she sighed with a more relieved expression than before.
"That's a relief, then. I thought we were being dragged into some dangerous mission on the very first day... To think it's just Goblins." "I don't know what they were like in your village, but they'll probably be a bit different..."
She would experience it herself in just a bit, so Ian didn't bother correcting Rin's misconception.
As they neared the forest outside the city, a few cabins that appeared to be their destination came into view.
They were temporary dwellings used by people who entered the forest, like herbalists, woodcutters, and hunters. Since returning to the distant city every time the sun set was a waste of time, they would spend the night in places like this built close to the forest during their working periods.
A red flag requesting help was fluttering on the roof of one of the cabins.
As they got closer to the cabin, the mercenaries spotted dozens of Goblins surrounding the area.
Rin stared at the group of Goblins with an astonished expression.
"Gasp... Th-There are... so many Goblins!" "Goblins naturally travel in packs like this." "But only one showed up at the village!" "That was probably a Goblin that strayed from its pack. They don't usually come near human villages."
As the mercenaries slowly closed the distance, the Goblins also spotted them. The gathered Goblins let out threatening screeches toward the mercenaries who had suddenly appeared.
"Kieeeek!" "Hic...!"
Rin flinched in surprise at the sight of the Goblins displaying ferocious aggression. Taking a step back, Rin pointed carefully at the Goblins with a strange look on her face.
"They look a little different from the Goblins I've seen... Could they be a different monster?" "...They're Goblins alright."
It was true that Goblins were cowardly, but pack monsters like these naturally lost their fear as their numbers grew.
The Goblin Rin had encountered was alone, so it had been frightened by humans. But if a sufficient pack gathered, Goblins were monsters that wouldn't hesitate to attack people.
Because they looked like the complete opposite of the Goblin in her memories—which would run away just from seeing a human face—Rin's confidence, having thought them easy targets upon hearing the name "Goblin," was instantly shattered.
While all the rookie mercenaries were panicking at the unprecedented number of Goblins before them, the mercenary who had gathered the people from the guild drew his sword and shouted.
"Those of you who received shields earlier, step forward and stand in the very front!"
The mercenary at the very front who had been leading them. In this game, a one-eyed mercenary named "Chris," who played the role of teaching combat controls in the tutorial, was shouting and rushing the mercenaries.
"You! I said step forward!"
Chris formed the formation by grabbing the scruffs of the frustratingly slow rookies' necks and shoving them forward.
As Ian tactfully took a position around the second line, Rin perceptively stuck right next to him. The rookie mercenaries were all getting an earful from Chris and hesitantly finding their places after being shoved, but Ian and Rin, who had already moved up near the front, only received a brief glance from him.
"If they get too close, swing your weapons and push them back! Do not step in front of the shields!"
Befitting an NPC in charge of the combat tutorial, Chris tirelessly shouted, giving orders to the mercenaries and teaching them how to fight.
Seeing the character who used to teach things like which was the 'Attack button' in the game now seriously teaching them how to deal with monsters, Ian truly felt the reality that he had entered inside the game.
"Phew... Haa..." "...Rin. Calm down a bit."
Since it was his first time seeing monsters in person, Ian had also felt a bit nervous. However, with Rin right next to him squirming nervously, Ian surprisingly felt his own tension slowly subsiding.
"Are you not affected at all, Leader? There are so many of them..." "We have a lot of people too. Just think of it as each person taking on one. Then it's just one Goblin." "Oh... You're right?"
Rin, who had been intimidated by a number of Goblins she had never seen before, regained her confidence.
"A-Alright. Leave it to me! I'll take on enough for your share too, Leader, so stay behind me!" "You're overly confident now. Calm down."
Not only Rin, but most of the people gathered at the guild were mercenaries who had just submitted their applications today. The mercenaries, who at best had only seen one or two Goblins like Rin, were all intimidated at the sight of the massive Goblin pack.
The Goblins were also wary of the group of humans that had suddenly appeared, keeping their distance and watching without attacking first.
Just then, from behind the Goblin pack, a Goblin much larger in size than the rest stepped forward.
"Hic... A really huge one just came out!"
This Goblin, who appeared to be the boss that had led this pack down, roared threateningly at the mercenaries.
"Could it be a Goblin King..." "...I'll buy you a proper book later, so forget about the one you read in the village."
Seeing Rin, who lacked immediately necessary information on low-level monsters but was well-versed in knowledge of high-level dangerous ones, Ian was reminded of beginners who looked up guides and tips for high-level dungeons they couldn't even enter yet.
"That guy's probably the leader."
Name: Goblin Warrior Level: 13 Traits: [Strength Boost D] [Blunt Weapon Proficiency E] [Heavy Strike E]
Looking at the game as a whole, it was just a normal monster, not even boss-tier. But in the Level 1 tutorial, it was a monster that could finish off mercenaries in just 2 basic attacks.
"What do we do if that thing attacks...?" "Don't worry. Our numbers are similar, so it'll fight for a bit and then run away."
With a level difference of over 10, the Goblin Warrior was a monster they weren't supposed to fight at all during normal progression.
In the tutorial, you would fight a few Goblins that rushed in first to learn the combat controls, and once those vanguard Goblins died, the rest of them, including the Warrior, would simply retreat.
"Goblins won't fight if they think they're even slightly at a disadvantage."
There was a method to intentionally draw the Goblin Warrior's aggro during the fight to leech experience points, but that was only permitted because it was a game. He couldn't actually pull off such a crazy stunt in reality.
While Ian was having these thoughts and watching to see what orders Chris would give next, Rin's panicked voice called out to him.
"Huh? But it looks like it's coming this way." "What?"
When Ian turned his head, just as Rin said, the Goblin Warrior was steadily approaching. The rest of the Goblins followed the Warrior, gradually closing the distance on the mercenaries.
"Dammit, you idiots!"
Soon after, Chris's angry voice rang out.
As Ian followed Chris's gaze and looked backward, he saw the backs of a few mercenaries running toward the city, having abandoned their equipment.
A few of the mercenaries, seeing monsters for the first time, had bolted after laying eyes on the Goblin Warrior.
Seeing their more numerous opponents actually running away, the Goblins figured the mercenaries were terrified and easy targets, and were preparing to attack.
"Everyone, raise your weapons!"
Chris shouted as he stepped to the very front.