Entering the Lower Floors
A pack of hobgoblins—roughly twenty of them. If my memory served, they were about 20th-floor level, so they wouldn't give the two of them the same jarring sense of disconnect the gnolls had. Hobgoblins had always tended to move as a group under orders even inside dungeons, though they weren't as perfectly coordinated as the gnolls we'd been seeing lately.
This wasn't the same as the 20th floor, though. For one, Nam Eun-ju's Strength had dropped, and without a back line, simply holding out wouldn't be enough. And the terrain was a forest. That mattered a great deal.
Kireek!
Some of the goblins ducked behind trees or scrambled up into the branches. Not particularly high, but still out of reach of a direct attack. The archers started drawing their bowstrings.
"You two fight them. They're about 20th-floor level, so you shouldn't lose easily."
"Yes, hyung!"
"Understood, Party Leader."
Their expressions changed in an instant. Nam Eun-ju switched her form of address and drew her equipment. They probably wondered why I wasn't fighting. But neither of them questioned me or showed any confusion. They could likely guess the reason—and more than that, my authority within the party, especially in combat, was considerable enough that they would have obeyed even if they hadn't understood. Both of them simply followed my word.
"Noona, I'll take out the archers first. Hold them off for me."
"Got it."
Shhk—
Having declared he'd hit the back line first, Ha Yoo-jin seemed to duck behind Nam Eun-ju for a moment, then immediately used Stealth and vanished. His form blurred. That was the power of a Stealth skill.
A Normal-rank skill merely blended you into the surroundings. At Rare rank, your form actually grew hazy. Around Legendary rank, there were stealth techniques that rivaled magic itself—hiding in shadows, slipping into spatial rifts, and the like.
Kireek?
The goblins made puzzled sounds at Ha Yoo-jin's sudden disappearance, but the moment I stepped back slightly, they charged toward Nam Eun-ju.
It started with the archers' arrows.
Giiing— ping! Whoosh! Ting! Ting!
Several arrows flew toward Nam Eun-ju. She blocked them with her shield or sidestepped to evade. And in the gaps while she was blocking and dodging, the warriors closed in and swung their weapons at her.
"Ugh!"
Clang!
Nam Eun-ju raised her shield as usual, but the goblin's attack was heavier than expected—she was pushed back a little.
"Hah!"
Only for a moment, though. She must have converted all her mana into Strength, because she immediately started shoving them back.
Kireek?
More Strength than they'd expected. Still less than before—previously, if she'd used mana, she would have shaken off goblins of this caliber with ease. Even so, the goblins reacted with confusion at how someone they'd just pushed back was suddenly holding her ground.
Even as the goblins' attacks pressed her, Nam Eun-ju blocked methodically, defended, and kept moving to avoid being surrounded. At the same time, she used threatening feints in the gaps between attacks to force them back.
Whoosh! Ting!
But there wasn't much room to rest. The goblin archers kept targeting her steadily. Even so, both the archers and the warriors showed signs of wariness toward the vanished Ha Yoo-jin and me watching from behind.
That was when it happened.
Kieeek!
Hoh.
Still stealthed, Ha Yoo-jin had climbed a tree unnoticed. He stabbed one of the goblin archers scanning the area through the neck and shoved the body down. His stealth broke for a moment. He immediately ducked behind a tree, recast Stealth, and moved quickly toward his next target.
Kieee! Kieeeee!
The back line had been breached. Realizing this, some of the goblin warriors fell back. The archers stopped attacking Nam Eun-ju and rapidly scanned their surroundings.
Not that Ha Yoo-jin was going to get spotted. Even Nam Eun-ju couldn't find him right now. Of course, I could see him perfectly clearly.
The second one. The archer scanning around with a tense expression was so busy looking everywhere with his bow half-drawn that he didn't notice Ha Yoo-jin approaching from behind. Same as before. A blade through the neck, then an immediate retreat. Just as he was about to recast Stealth—
"Hup!"
Spotting an arrow flying toward him, Ha Yoo-jin rolled across the ground. Without getting up after dodging it, he kept tumbling until he was behind a tree.
Thwack! Thwack!
Arrows concentrated on that spot after one goblin archer's attack, but because he'd stayed down and quickly taken cover behind nearby trees, he evaded them more easily. Then he recast Stealth, climbed a tree, and leaped toward another one.
Fortunately there was a tree close enough to jump to, but he couldn't stop it from shaking. His stealth didn't break, but the goblin archers concentrated their fire on the swaying branches. Ha Yoo-jin seemed to have anticipated this. The instant the tree shook, he moved forward again, slid down the trunk, and went after the next goblin.
With Ha Yoo-jin's performance cutting off the archers' fire and reducing the number of warriors targeting her, Nam Eun-ju started attacking more aggressively.
Nam Eun-ju lacked physical talent, and her talent for swordsmanship wasn't particularly good either. But shield techniques suited her reasonably well, and she'd taken to them readily. That was why I'd had her learn a shield skill. Protecting herself seemed to be where her aptitude lay.
So while Nam Eun-ju lacked offensive power, that didn't mean she couldn't attack. Until now, the back line had handled the killing, so she'd only needed to block and rarely attacked at all. But there was no back line now. Effectively it was just me—and I had no intention of helping.
"Hrah!"
Nam Eun-ju used her shield to shove the goblin in front of her, then slashed at the fallen one's leg with her sword. She'd probably wanted to go for a vital point, but another one was already charging, so she abandoned greed, cut only the leg she could reach immediately, and blocked the next attacker.
Clang!
She blocked the attack and simultaneously rotated her shield to shove her opponent, then—as if she'd anticipated it—swung the shield backward with all her strength at another goblin charging the moment her back was exposed.
Crunch!
It was precise. Even with reduced Strength, the shield—reinforced by mana and swung with centrifugal force—crushed the goblin's head outright. With a sickening sound, the first goblin died. She then charged the one with the injured leg, dodged its attack, and smashed its head with a shield charge as it was trying to get up.
Crrk!
Its neck snapped cleanly. Broken, by the look of it. With two dead in an instant, the momentum naturally shifted to Nam Eun-ju.
There were still nearly ten warrior goblins left. But even then, screams from the rear-line archers and the warriors who'd gone to support them kept ringing out. The goblin warriors, growing desperate, rushed Nam Eun-ju all at once, but she refused to go down easily through steady defense and pressure.
By the time Nam Eun-ju had taken down three more, Ha Yoo-jin's slaughter was finished. Total wipe of the archers and supporting warriors. Fast enough—but a little too late for the current situation.
Nam Eun-ju's mana had already bottomed out, and she was in a tight spot.
Thud!
"Ghk!"
As her mana drained, Nam Eun-ju grew weaker—her balance faltered every time she blocked. The goblins, reading the situation, let out gleeful shrieks and piled onto her.
Kieeeeee!
"H-haaah!"
Nam Eun-ju held on with everything she had, but her limit was approaching. If her Strength hadn't dropped by 20, she probably could have killed them all while Ha Yoo-jin wiped out the archers. But with Strength down by 20, it was impossible. Eventually, Nam Eun-ju staggered under the next attack, lost her balance, and dropped to the ground.
Kieeeek!
A goblin raised its weapon over the fallen Nam Eun-ju and brought it down.
"Hup!"
Nam Eun-ju raised her shield and blocked the goblin's attack, but that was apparently her limit—her guard dropped. Completely defenseless. She tried to raise her shield again somehow, but it was too late. The next goblin's attack was already falling toward her head. In that moment, her Survival Instinct skill seemed to trigger—I saw her twist her body.
Slash!
That was as far as I watched. I severed the neck of the goblin targeting Nam Eun-ju in a single stroke and pulled her out.
Ha Yoo-jin arrived moments later, stabbed a warrior from behind through the neck, recast Stealth before the other goblins could turn, killed the next one, and shouted.
"Over here!"
The goblins' attention snapped toward him, and he immediately fell back, drawing several of them with him. Sure enough, some of the goblins chased Ha Yoo-jin, and I cut down the rest in an instant.
Ha Yoo-jin handled the three goblins that had followed him without much difficulty. Unlike Nam Eun-ju, he didn't lack physical ability. Each individual goblin's stats were lower than Ha Yoo-jin's average to begin with. Even without Stealth, he could pick them off one by one, exploiting the openings in every attack.
Watching that, I felt a slight disappointment. I looked back. Nam Eun-ju, her face full of disappointment, was watching my reaction. She'd nearly died, and she was still reading my face.
I'd said they wouldn't lose easily—that they had a high chance of winning. Unfortunately, it had been a razor-thin loss. If Nam Eun-ju had held out just a little longer, they could have won with Ha Yoo-jin's support. Once he joined in, the pressure would drop, and if she just defended reasonably well, he would finish them off for certain. But the result was different.
Honestly, if it had been Na Seoyun under the same conditions, she would have won. Even with Strength at 9 and Mana at 18, if her Agility was 26, she'd have counterattacked every time the warriors came at her—inflicting at least serious wounds, if not instant death—stalling just long enough for their numbers to drop or for them to lose their nerve, then slaughtered every last warrior the moment the momentum shifted. She probably would have finished them even faster than Ha Yoo-jin wiping out the back line.
Of course, it wasn't that Nam Eun-ju had done poorly. She'd done well. It was just that the people she was being compared to weren't doing her any favors. And this was, if barely, meeting my expectations. Considering her potential, she'd done very well. Winning would have been best, but I could tell her that her defense, at least, had been excellent. The gaps could be filled by her comrades.
The issue was that Nam Eun-ju wasn't making good use of her physical abilities. As she was now, she would have a hard time fighting gnolls. She'd probably need full support from the back line to even try. I spoke while thinking through a training plan to develop her abilities.
"Good work."
"...I'm sorry."
"No. You held out well even with reduced physical ability. This was only to see how well you can fight as you are now. It was enough."
Meanwhile, Ha Yoo-jin, having finished off the remaining goblins, came over.
"Sorry, noona. I should've taken them out faster..."
If he'd had Dagger Mastery, he probably would have finished them faster. Once their numbers dropped below a certain point, he could have just charged them head-on. Even without Stealth, Ha Yoo-jin's attacks in combat had a subtle sneakiness to them. If your concentration slipped even a little, they were genuinely hard to block. If we went to District 25, I'd have him learn Dagger Mastery first.
"No, it's because my skills aren't good enough... If it had been Seoyun..."
She seemed to have had the same thought I did. While Nam Eun-ju was sinking into gloom, Ha Yoo-jin fidgeted, then spoke with difficulty.
"...Hyung, I, uh, I leveled up."
A level-up. At those words, I felt Nam Eun-ju shrink even further. They knew the contribution system had been in effect since we'd passed through the Labyrinth area. So seeing Ha Yoo-jin level up from this fight, she seemed to think her own contribution had been even lower than his.
I stopped Nam Eun-ju from spiraling into self-reproach, then immediately led the party out of the Goblin Forest. Then, with the remaining request being reconnaissance, I put Ha Yoo-jin in front so he could also get used to reading the map, completed it, and returned to the village.
Sirid greeted us warmly when we returned.
"You weren't late. So, how was it?"
"No gnolls or traces of them, specifically. Nothing particularly noteworthy besides yesterday's raid."
"I see. That's a relief. I was worried a single raid might lead to a large-scale attack, but fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case."
He handed over a pouch with thirty silver coins.
"Here's your pay. Reconnaissance is always important. I'd like to ask you again next time, if possible."
"Understood. We'll be heading in, then."
"Go on, then."
I didn't forget to remain polite to the end. Nobody dislikes a courteous person. I was aiming for reputation, of course. Differences start from the small things.
When we entered the village's only inn, where we were staying, Joo Ha-yeon happened to be on the first floor.
"Hm? You're back early."
"It wasn't a difficult request. We also looked around the area and found something unusual."
"Something unusual...? But why do those two look so down?"
"...The job's done, so you two take this and go upstairs to rest. Good work. Don't beat yourselves up over it. You didn't do badly."
"Yes, hyung."
"...Yes, Party Leader."
Nam Eun-ju still hadn't shaken off what had happened earlier. The fight had been over for a while, and we'd even finished the request, but she was still calling me Party Leader. I handed them a portion of the request payment and sent them upstairs.
"So, what on earth happened?"
I opened my mouth to answer Joo Ha-yeon's question.