How Did It Come to This?
Raiders pressed on with their thorough recon based on solid experience.
The goblin nest was inside a building north of the coffeehouse.
Truth be told, goblins were no longer a match for Raiders anymore.
As Instructor Eaton Charleston had said, goblins topped the list of causes of death for newbie adventurers—but that was only for newbies.
The weapons they used were at best rusty arrows or swords, or farm tools stolen from nearby villages.
Even silver-plate adventurers wore gear with basic physical resistance or blessings.
Unless they got unlucky and hit a joint in the armor or the face, goblin attacks were useless.
They could've just charged in and massacred them.
Plus, if humans were taken hostage or women kidnapped, the guild would storm in and raze the nest.
So.
They underestimated the goblins.
This world had no freak variants like goblin champions or lords.
"Miya, Ramon Teo—circle around and hit 'em from the rear. Ramon Teo, can you smash the wall?"
"Yeah, easily."
Baroque quickly devised a strategy.
Simple.
Goblins had the intelligence of children.
They were extremely vulnerable to diversion tactics.
Make a noise once, and the whole nest rushed over.
They never considered other possibilities, thinking they'd cornered their prey—that was their stupidity.
That's when Ramon Teo and Miya would burst in, disrupting their formation, leaving the goblins in chaos and ripe for slaughter.
Same strategy this time.
Boom!!
Confirming Miya and Ramon Teo circling around, Baroque and Bilrm advanced with shields up.
The rotten wooden door shattered into pieces.
『Ob—ppitzki!!』
The goblin inside startled and fell backward.
Baroque leaped forward, cleaving its head clean off.
It dropped a small gun without even screaming.
"Isn't that the mana rifle we saw earlier?"
"Goblins know how to use these?"
"They pick up weapons and carry them around. Probably grabbed some from that carriage like before."
But Melkia felt an odd unease.
It seemed too deliberate for just picking it up—the goblin had aimed the barrel right before tripping.
It definitely looked like it knew how to use it...
But with Bilrm and Baroque acting nonchalant, she had no choice but to follow.
『Bladdy! Choojoy, sookka!』
Goblins were swarming from the noise everywhere.
『Worren worren, worren, nafui sookka blut!』
"They're coming! Get ready!"
Bilrm raised his shield and sword—
"Wait, hold on...!!"
Baroque sensed danger instinctively, yanking Bilrm's collar and forcing him down.
Bang! Bang!!
Screeech!!
Bullets whistled past Bilrm's skull.
"...!?"
In that instant, he felt death's grip.
Then the bullet rain poured down.
Party members scattered in panic, taking cover behind debris.
"W-what the hell!?"
"Guns!! Those bastards are firing the same weapons!"
"What!? How can goblins use guns?!"
"How should I know?"
If the building interior hadn't been cluttered with cover, it might've been game over right then.
Melkia managed some counterfire with her acquired SG-133 mana shotgun, dropping a few goblins.
But reinforcements poured in relentlessly.
Bang!! Bang! Whizz—!
"Ngh!?"
Priest Edgar, stepping out to cast Protection Blessing, took a gut shot.
Bang!!
"Aaaagh—!! I'm hit! I got shot!!"
"Edgar!!!"
Blood poured from the through-and-through wound.
Melkia desperately grabbed the staggering Edgar and pulled him back.
"W-what the hell!! Blood's coming out!!! How is this a game!?"
Confirming the wound, Melkia screamed. Edgar grimaced in pain but said, awestruck,
"B-but it doesn't hurt as much as I thought? It stings and burns, feels kinda nauseous weirdly, but way less than that arrow in my back last time...!"
"You're joking right now?!"
"We can just heal it. Like this... Huh?"
Under Melkia's scolding, Edgar forced a smile and tried healing.
"W-what?"
No holy power came, whether crossing himself or chanting.
"No way... A dimension beyond the gods' grace?"
Despair washed over Edgar and Melkia's faces.
Actually, Eugene hadn't implemented holy magic yet—a minor dev oversight the Raiders couldn't know.
All they saw was their comrade bleeding realistically.
"Baroque!! No holy power! Blood keeps flowing...!!"
"Get outta here first and think! Aldo, blast 'em with magic!"
"Lightning Arrow!"
Aldo began casting with mana at the leader's order.
Thankfully, this worked.
A gleaming golden lightning arrow streaked down the dim hallway, striking two advancing goblins.
Crackle!!
『Kreeaak, aaaagh, kriaaa~aah~~!』
As the shocked goblins writhed on the floor—
Boom!!
The opposite wall exploded, revealing burly barbarian Ramon Teo and Miya.
"I'm here!!"
"N-now's our chance!! Raiders, counterattack!!"
They barely cleared the first-floor goblins.
The real problem came after.
Goblins weren't just in that one building.
They poured from nearly every structure in the alley.
They'd secured the first floor, but all exits were now blocked.
As Raiders and the goblin horde stared each other down uselessly—
"M-my stomach... I'm starving. Throat's parched too..."
Edgar, leaning against the wall, grew faint.
Even a child could see it.
He was dying.
"Edgar... stay with us...!!"
Melkia held her comrade, tears streaming. Miya bit her lip in frustration.
Finally, Baroque grabbed Aldo's collar.
"You said no one dies!!! Even if hurt, you'd recover quick!!"
"I-I don't know what's happening either... Edgar said it hurts but not bad...!"
"Damn it! That mage bastard pulled some trick!?"
"I don't know! I really don't! Whether this is real or still virtual!! I only heard stories, believe me!!"
Everything went wrong.
Did they really not die for real?
If they'd known death was possible, they wouldn't have rushed so recklessly...!!
The timer in Baroque's right vision showed only 40 minutes left, past the hour mark.
They couldn't hold out forever.
Hunger and thirst hit several times worse than normal.
Edgar's complaints weren't exaggeration.
"We gotta move."
Baroque decided to lure as many goblins into the building as possible, then escape through a window.
Full sprint to the marked extraction point might work.
And that led to this mess.
Edgar flatlined during escape. They fled without recovering the body.
Worse, Ramon Teo slipped on the third-floor drop, shattering his leg and losing mobility.
Finally, Baroque and Bilrm made the call.
Taking the job thoughtlessly, picking a risky route over safe ones—it was the leaders' fault.
They had to own it.
"Aldo, sorry for snapping. I was just frustrated..."
"It's fine! Don't sweat it! You're our teammate no matter what! So buy time—get the others out. Those mana rifles? Shields block 'em surprisingly well."
Minus the brutal firepower, these goblins matched any ruins or dungeon trash mobs.
Shield wall into the fray—they couldn't kill all, but could buy escape time.
But.
"What're you saying? I... I'm responsible for Edgar too. I got too excited—shouldn't have taken this job..."
"Hah! Annoying! Think I'd abandon you just 'cause my leg's busted!? What's plains honor worth! No legs? I'll fight with my hands!"
"Agreed. Knew it'd be like this. You think saving us makes anyone feel better? Raiders stick together—forgot?"
"...Yeah, die together then. Think I'd let you have all the glory!?"
Raiders' bonds didn't break over this.
Battle-hardened comrades who'd dodged death countless times.
To those who'd shared life and death, mortality was just part of it.
Ending the journey was their choice.
"Shoulda stayed with Edgar."
"He's not far—bet he gets it."
"Miya, there's something I never told you. I actually..."
"Stop! Just stop! Don't wanna hear confessions before dying—makes me miserable?! We live. Promise to say it then!"
"You idiots..."
"Let's go."
Raiders charged the pursuing goblin squad.
"Hahaha! Last stand with my brothers! Great Odin guides me!! Val—haaaalllaaa—!!!"
Ignoring his injury, Ramon Teo propelled off the ground with his arms, crushing whatever he grabbed.
Baroque stuck to vanguard Bilrm, swinging nonstop. Miya guarded his flank.
However.
Bilrm took a shotgun blast square in the exposed back. Instant death.
Ramon Teo soon sprawled face-down.
As Baroque snatched a fallen shield, Miya blocked him. Gunshots rang; her catfolk tail twitched.
Baroque followed her into the dark without pause.
Aldo emptied his mana, firing his revolver till ammo ran dry—then died.
Bang! Bang!
"Dieeee!!!"
Last one standing, Melkia wept as she hosed goblins with shotgun fire.
Click-click. The trigger spun empty.
The mana stone's blue glow turned red.
Function failed.
"Ah..."
Bang!
She crumpled to the gunshot echoing in her ears.
Vision faded to black...
"Gahk...!!"
Baroque groaned, ejecting from the cube.
He patted himself instinctively—no pain. Unharmed. Perfect.
Glancing over, Miya—who'd died shielding him—was coughing, fine as well.
No one was dead.
Unable to comprehend, they just stood dazed.
A mage appeared, looking genuinely disappointed.
"...Ahh, too bad. At least Melkia and Aldo seemed on track for a clean extract."
"What...?"
They'd just experienced real death.
His casual approach filled Baroque with pure terror—and realization.
"But Bilrm's riot shield choice was smart. Blocks nearly all frontal fire. And Melkia—you handled pumping and reloading great for a first-timer. Even reliable pump-actions jam if half-racked. Jam means the shell gets stuck halfway, preventing fire. Just calmly pump to eject... "
"Are you insane!?"
The mage before them was surely a madman.