Reckless Charge

With one final, powerful swing—boom!crunch!—I brought my club crashing down on the Big Bore’s head, crushing it completely. The kill notification immediately floated into view.

Whoa! Reckless Charge… For such a lame name, the skill itself is pretty solid. The only real issue was whether my body could survive the impact after slamming into something. The Big Bore had an incredibly tough frame, so it didn’t matter for it, but for me…

It could only be used when a target was designated and couldn’t be canceled mid-charge, but depending on how I played it, the skill could be incredibly useful.

“Phew—this is on a completely different level from when I just read about it on the community boards. When that thing charged me, I actually felt the fear of death for a second. So scary.”

The fight had been harder on her than she’d expected. The bead of sweat clinging to the tip of her chin, trembling as it hung there, made that obvious.

Let’s start with the butchering. Finally, materials for my armor… Wait. You are going to make armor for me with this, right, Yeonhee?

When I gazed at her with pleading eyes and pulled out the butchering knife, Yeonhee immediately began scanning our surroundings.

Hmm—this is going to take a while.

I drove the blade deep into the hide with all my strength and sliced downward again and again. Finally the leather split open. I peeled away the tough outer skin following its natural grain, then quickly removed the internal organs and stashed them in my inventory. I had no use for the organs, but there were monsters that would come running at the scent, so they had to be cleared away first.

Slice— Slice—

My strength was still lacking, so removing the byproducts took longer than I’d calculated. After twenty full minutes I finally stripped the hide completely, then carefully packed the most nutritious cuts—the hind legs and sirloin—into my inventory.

“Wow… You’re really good at that. How can you do it so cleanly on your first try?”

“Clack…”

I couldn’t exactly tell her it wasn’t my first time, so I simply focused on finishing the job quickly.

Pluck! I pulled a single thick, dark mane hair from the Big Bore’s neck and slipped it into my pocket. The proof of kill was usually settled with one of these.

After cleaning up, we set off again. One proof mane hair was worth four thousand won, and a low-grade magic stone went for seven thousand. Since this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠monster wasn’t humanoid, it didn’t carry silver. The profit was better than goblins, but considering the effort involved, it was hard to feel satisfied.

Big Bore meat was famous for being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠nutritious and delicious. Unfortunately, the ones in this dungeon carried toxins, so only a few parts were edible. Still, the hind leg meat was safe, so it could be sold for a decent price.

The Big Bores from higher-grade dungeons lost their toxicity and supposedly offered heavenly flavor. Even though I could never taste it myself, the thought still made my mouth water.

“The leather can be used for Ilwol’s armor, right? Hehe.”

“Clack clack clack!!”

Heh—as expected, Yeonhee understands exactly what I want.

I nodded in satisfaction and checked the scale of the enemies caught in my sensory net. The moment I stopped and clenched my fist, Yeonhee halted beside me and crouched low.

Using the hand signals we had practiced back in the one-room apartment, I relayed the information. Two Big Bores and roughly twenty goblins. It was the largest group we had encountered so far.

Gulp. Yeonhee seemed nervous too; she swallowed hard and pricked her ears toward the direction of the monsters.

Step by careful step, we crept closer. There, with their backs against a thick tree trunk, stood two Big Bores surrounded by goblins. Several goblins lay impaled on the creatures’ horns, writhing in the distance.

Big Bores normally preferred to roam alone. But after mating, they stayed together as a pair until their offspring grew strong enough. These two were clearly in that stage.

Given their size and stats, a few goblins would never be a threat. But once twenty of them gathered, the story changed. In a two-versus-twenty fight, the goblins’ racial trait of growing stronger in groups made it a real contest.

I still couldn’t steal their “stronger when gathered” trait. Maybe because it’s a racial characteristic?

Or maybe I had simply been ridiculously unlucky. Still, considering how many I had killed, the odds of that were low.

Squeeeal!!

Kya kya kya—!!

The Big Bores and goblins were locked in a brief standoff. Yeonhee nocked an arrow, drawing her bowstring tight with a low creak as she aimed at the exposed weakness of one Big Bore.

Perhaps sensing that tiny vibration, the creature whipped its head toward us and roared. The goblins followed its gaze, locked eyes with Yeonhee, and began swiveling their heads back and forth, unsure who to attack first.

But the moment Yeonhee had begun nocking her arrow, I had already closed in and sprayed acidic liquid across a wide area.

Thud—!Swish—!

The spray, the arrow leaving the bowstring, everything happened almost simultaneously. In an instant, every creature on the battlefield fell into chaos.

Kyiiiiik—!!

Thump thump thump thump thump!!

As expected, the Big Bores reacted first. The one with an arrow buried in its flank charged straight at Yeonhee. The other rushed the goblins still reeling from the acid spray.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Yeonhee instantly used her slime like a shield, deflecting the charge. Meanwhile I was cheerfully smashing the small green monsters that had collided with the second Big Bore, swinging my club with glee.

Psssh! Hiss—

The Big Bore’s snorting was so violent I could tell its rage had reached its peak. The goblins, who had been hesitating between me and the boar, finally charged the still-threatening Big Bore and began a group beating.

But the acid had weakened them; their attacks lacked power. Even while being hit, the Big Bore steadily skewered them one by one with its horns.

I moved between the two groups, striking and retreating in short bursts to keep the fight from tipping too far in either direction.

Kyeeeeeeeek!!

“Kyaaaaaaa!! Run, Ilwol!!”

While I was happily racking up experience from the goblins, Yeonhee’s piercing scream tore through the air. I whipped my head around and saw the slime that had been coiled around her arm sliding to the ground like cold, lifeless sludge.

Did it die?

I had no time to mourn Lime’s first death in battle. I scooped up the fleeing Yeonhee and raced up the nearest tree.

Damn it—hold on!!

Even with strength that had reached the middle of F-grade, climbing a tree while carrying a person was no easy task.

Crack— Crack!

Aish, damn it!

My slow climb gave the goblins time to hurl clubs and stones at me.

Worry about your own bodies first!

Bam bam bam!!

The Big Bore that had scattered the goblins like bowling pins now snorted furiously at me as I clung to the tree.

Hmph! You can’t even climb up here.

I had taken some damage while climbing and my health had dropped noticeably, but the situation was still stable. Every monster except one Big Bore had taken heavy hits.

Watching the enraged Big Bore ram its horns into the fallen goblins again, Yeonhee quickly readjusted her grip on her bow.

“It’s my first time shooting from a tree, but…”

Swish— Thud!

Squeeeal!!

Thud— Thud—

Kyik! Kya!!

The arrows I fired from above turned the Big Bore into a living pincushion, but it refused to flee. Its mate—whether husband or wife, I couldn’t tell—still lay on the ground.

Once I judged we had drained enough of its stamina, I leaped down from the tree and charged straight at it.

The instant I activated the skill, everything except the designated Big Bore vanished from ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my vision. True to its name, the attack was utterly mindless—I simply barreled forward.

Kwaaaang—!!

Squeeeal—!!

The two-hundred-kilogram giant boar rolled several times from the force of my headbutt before flying into the distance. Even I could only stare with my mouth wide open.

Of course my own skeleton wasn’t normal either. Even with the defense boost from Reckless Charge, my health had plummeted.

I’ll have to save this for only the most critical moments…

The creature I had struck trembled violently, then slumped and stopped moving.

Confirming that my health was rapidly recovering, Yeonhee and I finished off the remaining monsters.

Stab—!!

Squeal—

We hadn’t personally killed that many monsters, so most of the notifications said we had assisted in the kills. Even so, the experience and loot we gained were quite satisfying.

“Think we can butcher both of them?”

“……”