007. Camela Forest (3)
007. Camela Forest (3)
How should I describe this?
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Against the rhythmic sound of metal striking metal, a green wave surged.
The whole dungeon, Camela Forest, seemed to stir to life.
It was like the Pied Piper leading the dwarves of the forest, vanishing into the distance.
But this was a far cry from some fantastical, fairy-tale scene.
In truth, it was closer to something utterly cruel and horrific.
"K-rrk!?"
"K-rrrk!"
"K-rrrrrrrrk—"
Because it was a horde of green-skinned goblins, drawn by the sound of Lee Yu-ri's shield, trudging endlessly onward.
BANG!!! BANG!! BANG! BANG... BANG......
The sound of the dagger striking the shield grew more and more distant.
At the overwhelming sight of the goblins moving in a massive throng, all we could do was stare blankly, speechless.
The whole thing had happened that suddenly.
Lee Yu-ri, shouting retreat, had charged forward.
The contradiction between the "order" to retreat and the "action" of dashing ahead tangled in my head,
and for a moment my mind went completely blank, like a sheet of white paper.
The first to break the silence was Lee Yu-na.
"......S-sis?"
Lee Yu-na's eyes flew wide open, and her jaw dropped.
"Gukbap......?"
"......Team Leader!"
Soon, Go Yoon-seo's face contorted fiercely, and she spat out a curse.
"You fucking bitch! Who the hell told you to—!"
Only then, belatedly, was I able to grasp Lee Yu-ri's intent.
'You idiot......!'
She'd rushed off alone to save the rest of us.
She'd draw the monsters' attention, so we could run and survive.
That's what it was: retreat, charge, and taunt.
Of course, Lee Yu-ri must've made that move only after weighing every factor.
Our party's capabilities, the current state of the party members, the number of goblins, even the boss monster's presence.
She'd run through it all and reached the conclusion in an instant that we had no chance of winning.
'She must've thought it was better to bear it alone than to die with her party.'
At that idiotic decision, my fists clenched tight.
But
there was something that idiot didn't know.
And that was,
the fact that I possess Specialization S in Swordsmanship.
S-Rank Swordsmanship was more than enough to dominate an E-Rank Gate.
Enough to cook a single boss monster with ease, all on my own.
So, I have to step up here.
No one else can do it.
Thump
Thump
My heart pounded nonstop with my first real battle just ahead.
Fuuu—
I let out a long breath, steadying myself.
I repeatedly gripped and released the sword hilt, sharpening my senses to a fine edge.
'......I didn't plan on making my combat debut this flashy.'
My plan to take it slow—picking off goblins one by one and getting a feel for things—had already gone out the window.
From this moment on, it was live combat.
I had to get used to it fast, no matter what.
That was the only way I could save Lee Yu-ri.
Shiiing—
I drew Moonlight from my waist.
Sunlight scattered into fine shards at the tip of the blue-tinged blade.
That was when it happened.
"Jin Yu-ha?"
"Yeah?"
While I was steeling my resolve,
I turned around at the sound of my name.
There stood Go Yoon-seo, inspecting her weapon from top to bottom.
"Thank you. Sincerely, for today. For following our schedule without a single complaint. And your Detection gave us a ton of help too. I'll make sure you're properly compensated for everything later."
She spoke without even looking at me.
Her words voiced gratitude,
but her voice was colder than I'd ever heard it.
"But this is our problem. Sorry, but step aside."
And when I glanced behind her,
Lee Yu-na and Choi So-yeon must've felt the same way, because they didn't react to Go Yoon-seo's words at all.
"That's a little hurtful."
Since she'd dropped the formal speech, there was no need for me to stand on ceremony either, so I spoke comfortably.
At that, she scratched her head irritably and glared at me.
"No, why are you so bent on jumping into danger? You've got no reason to help us, no loyalty to us. Just get out of here and report the situation. That's the best thing you can do for us."
"If you guys step up, can you even save her?"
"Look, Jin Yu-ha. We met today for the first time. To us, our idiot team leader is Gukbap, but to you, she isn't. She's just a total stranger."
Go Yoon-seo fired back as if she couldn't fathom my reasoning.
Her words, drawing such a clear line, rubbed me the wrong way.
'......Lee Yu-ri is Gukbap only to you guys?'
"Ha, sorry, but Lee Yu-ri—"
In that instant.
"K-rrk—"
A goblin revealed itself from behind a tree.
The moment I spotted it,
I drew up my Mana and gripped the hilt.
Then, turning my back on it, lightly,
—I swung my sword once.
The blade cut horizontally through the air.
SWISH—
The sound of wind splitting the air came a beat late.
The goblin was clearly outside the sword's reach.
Seeing me slash the empty air from a distance, it cackled, mocking me.
But, frozen in that mocking pose,
slice—
"Kek!!?"
Puhwak—!
The creature's body gushed bright-red blood as it split in two—upper half and lower half.
CRASH!
And even the thick old tree it had been hiding behind.
« One Slash, Two Halves »
This was the manifestation of a swordsmanship skill.
I turned back around again.
Go Yoon-seo and Choi So-yeon stared wide-eyed,
and Lee Yu-na stood there with her mouth hanging open.
Looking at them, I finished my sentence.
"Sorry, but Lee Yu-ri has been Gukbap to me too—for a lot longer."
* * *
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang...! Clang......!
Lee Yu-ri stopped striking the shield with her hand.
And her running feet stopped as well.
"......Well, I'd say I've drawn in plenty, don't you think?"
Honestly, the real reason she'd stopped was that she no longer had the Mana to sustain the Shield's Echo.
Lee Yu-ri took a long look at the goblins surrounding her, their weapons aimed.
"So every goblin in Camela Forest has gathered right here......."
Everywhere she looked, it was a sea of goblins.
Before her eyes, an endless expanse of green heads filled her vision.
The numbers were so great that it almost felt like there had to be some kind of factory nearby churning out goblins.
Most likely, monsters in a forgotten corner of the dungeon had gone uncleared,
pooling together over and over until it came to this.
Having this many of the ugly bastards swarming around made her stomach churn.
"......Well, they're still just goblins, I guess."
Truth be told, if goblins were all that was here, Lee Yu-ri might've suggested fighting them alongside her party members.
Three days and four nights, or even a full week—
if they stayed up all night, fleeing and fighting near to death, over and over, they might've survived somehow, or at least held out until the Dungeon Management Bureau dispatched a Hunter Rescue Squad.
But among these greenish bastards, there was one dusky-red one mixed in.
It had its arms crossed, sneering nastily as if it found her utterly laughable.
That thing was, without a doubt, a C-Rank Monster.
It had to be a Blood Goblin.
A special entity known to command ordinary goblins and possess strength and speed on a completely different plane.
Because that thing was here, Lee Yu-ri had no choice but to leave her party and remain here alone.
Lee Yu-ri scowled and grumbled.
"......Seriously, who the hell could've guessed an E-Rank Gate would be hiding something like this?"
At that moment,
"K-rrk."
The Blood Goblin let out a short cry.
And then
s-s-shk—
goblin hordes closed in from all sides.
"Hm—. The longer I hold out here, the better the chance my party members escape danger, right?"
Lee Yu-ri tightened her grip on her shield and spoke.
"Well, then. Guess I'll keep at it all day if I have to."
Clubs and shabby, rusted swords began flying at her from every direction.
WHUMM— SWISH—!
In a situation like this, there was only one tactic she could take.
The strategy that had always worked with a 100% win rate against goblins!
And that was: advance.
Dive into the enemies' formation and scatter their focus. Then let the stupid monsters' attacks tangle into each other.
Hah—!
As she rushed in and slammed them with her shield, the goblins' attacks lost all force, just as she'd expected.
Lee Yu-ri tilted her head slightly, dodging a club that came flying from the side.
"No matter how many of you there are, in the end, only six of you can attack me at once."
She spoke as if for their benefit.
Since she'd be fighting for a long time to come, she figured she might as well mutter to herself to pass the time.
Anyway, even if she rambled here, the only ones listening were goblins who couldn't understand a word she said.
"Sure, the rest of you can just suck your thumbs and watch from the back, or shoot arrows and poison darts...... but I'm not so sure—."
SWISH—!
Thunk!
"SKREEE!"
Right on cue, she heard an arrow slicing through the air, so she shoved the goblin next to her, planting the arrow in its shoulder.
"Heh. Yeah, there we go. You think having more numbers means you'll automatically have the advantage?"
Lee Yu-ri's lips curled upward as she looked toward the red goblin up ahead.
Seeing its mouth turn down in displeasure lifted her mood a bit.
"Haah, but seriously, I feel damn awful......."
Ting—!
T-ting—!
Lee Yu-ri deflected the renewed onslaught of swords with her shield as she spoke.
"That guy just came along to help us out today, and now he's caught up in this disaster......."
Jin Yu-ha.
His face suddenly came to mind, and Lee Yu-ri let out a sigh.
"......For some reason, we felt strangely close from the moment we met."
— Ah, I was worried your phone might be broken too. Sorry. I guess I got a little close.
Her first meeting with Jin Yu-ha.
The memory of that moment when their lips had nearly touched flashed through Lee Yu-ri's mind, and her face flushed as red as the Blood Goblin.
"......Weird man."
Despite definitely having met him for the first time today, he'd been someone who oddly closed the distance between them.
Of course, because the other party members had distrusted him so deeply, she'd stepped up to defend him—but in truth, no one had been more wary of him than Lee Yu-ri herself.
That was why she'd been so brusque with him, so strictly business.
From their very first meeting right up to now, Lee Yu-ri had kept a wall up.
"And yet, he still pulled weird pranks......."
—If it's you, Team Leader, I'd be willing to share my Status Window anytime?
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack—!
Lee Yu-ri took it out on a goblin, smashing it with her shield.
"Crazy. I honestly showed him every goddamn mess. Kept getting hiccups. Choked on my food so he had to pat my back."
—Hic—. Cup!
—Ack!
Overcome with embarrassment, her hand clenched the shield involuntarily.
"Still, I guess...... he wasn't a bad person."
Frankly, today's dungeon march had been a forced one.
The pace had been that blistering.
Normally, even Yu-na or Yoon-seo followed along without a single complaint—but hadn't even they struggled today?
Of course, he had said he'd only used his trait and barely exerted himself physically, but there was no way that march itself was easy in a man's body.
Even so, he'd said he felt like he wasn't doing enough and volunteered to handle the goblins.
—I've been watching you from behind, Team Leader. The whole time.
—So please, just give me one chance.
"You keep, with that face! Huh!? Just like that! Is that okay!? It's not okay!"
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!
Lee Yu-ri swung her fist, pounding a goblin's face.
"And what's with feeding me on your own instead of making sure you eat properly!"
—I'm a man. Gotta watch my figure.
THWACK!
"What the hell do you need to lose!"
THWACK!
Somehow, in the middle of all this, she found herself thinking only of Jin Yu-ha, someone she'd met just today.
Truthfully, she'd just been hunting for a lighter topic because she didn't want to dwell on the heavy stuff right now, and it had ended up here.
What faces would Yu-na, So-yeon unni, or Yoon-seo make if she died?
Who would pay the Gate penalty fee?
What about the debts back home?
What would happen with the Academy?
And how would her family take the news of her death?
And on and on.......
Once she started down that heavy path, there'd be no end to it, and she wouldn't be able to fight with peace of mind.
Of course, that didn't mean Jin Yu-ha was her only lighter topic.......
"Well, I guess it just means he left that much of an impression......."
Then Lee Yu-ri tilted her head.
"Or maybe, it's just that he's good-looking......?"
Seeing as when it came time to die, her brain was stuck cycling through nothing but thoughts of a man,
she supposed she really was a woman, after all.
People always said women's brains were filled with nothing but that.
Fuuu—
She let out a heavy breath.
She could feel the fatigue slowly building in her body.
'It hasn't even been that long...... Taking on hundreds of goblins at once is definitely no small feat.'
Come to think of it, she wasn't at full capacity right now.
Over five hours of the subjugation march had already drained a huge amount of her stamina.
On top of that, she was a Tank—
meaning her lethality was lacking.
Sure, she always carried a dagger, but it was a very short blade without even a sharp edge, carried solely for activating skills.
It was only good enough to leave a light scratch on a goblin's hide.
She'd left all attack power to the Damage Dealers, so she couldn't directly kill the goblins.
At best, she could shove with her shield or punch with her fist.
Beat one goblin down and drive it out, and another goblin took its place.
In the meantime, the exhausted ones recovered.
That way, the goblins could continually maintain their stamina while hers only ever dropped.
A vicious cycle.
"Dirty play. Wonder how long I can hold out like this......."
For the first time, a weak sound escaped Lee Yu-ri's lips.
And the Blood Goblin, having watched long enough, also started showing signs it was about to step in.
"Tch...... Honestly, if I'd gone to the Academy with Jin Yu-ha, I think we could've gotten pretty close."
"Then let's go to the Academy together. Gukbap."
In an instant, a voice that shouldn't have been possible sounded right beside her.
"......Huh?"
"Why, do you still doubt that I'm an Academy cadet?"
When she turned her head,
there stood a man
with a mischievous smile on his lips.