The Boss Is Too Weak (4)
The Boss Is Too Weak (4)
"Right, Goblin Shaman. You said you need help?"
"...Keruk. Keruk."
"...Why did you stop talking halfway?"
Where'd you pick up that rotten habit of starting a conversation and then ghosting the other person?
It feels exactly like getting a first text from a girl, replying with half-excitement and half-hope, and then getting no response.
If you're not gonna say anything, then don't text in the first place... stop sticking your fingers into my heart...!
"Keruk..."
"..."
"Keruruk... I know you're listening, human...! I need help!"
The Goblin Shaman repeated the same words as if they had gone senile.
I took a slow, careful look at the creature's face. It was covered in deep wrinkles, and its eyes had gone white and blind.
If there were an 'Oldest Goblin Contest,' this Goblin Shaman's visuals alone would make it a strong contender for the championship.
"Human...! Keruk..."
"..."
At first I thought it was just senile and babbling nonsense...
Hey, is this thing just incredibly hard of hearing?
As if approaching an elder, I carefully moved next to it and spoke into its ear.
"...Can you hear me? Keruk?"
"Keruk...! Human! So you were there! Kolluk, kolluk... kuhhek..."
"..."
...So it really was hard of hearing.
"Keruk... human..."
"Why do you keep calling me 'human'?"
"Keruk... don't you bastards call me 'Goblin Shaman' instead of using my name? Keruk."
"..."
It was so dead-on that I couldn't find a single point to argue. Is this the wisdom that comes with age?
"Keruk... help... I need help..."
The Goblin Shaman kept muttering that they needed help.
"That monster... the intruder must be killed... keruk..."
With the hand not holding their staff, the Goblin Shaman pointed weakly toward the Minotaur.
Now that I thought about it, something had been odd.
This island? Forest? Anyway, in this space, aside from goblins, there were no other monsters to speak of.
Of course, with no water and no animals, the environment couldn't be called a normal ecosystem...
But whatever the case, every enemy that jumped out at us had been a goblin.
And then suddenly, out of nowhere, a Minotaur appears as a Hidden Boss? It's the kind of situation that would spark anyone's curiosity.
"Keruk... beneath this island... there was originally an ancient labyrinth... keruk..."
The Goblin Shaman began to explain slowly.
"Because the labyrinth had long been sealed off... no one thought much of it... keruk..."
"..."
"Keruk... but then a young goblin playing hide-and-seek in the labyrinth broke the seal on an ancient demon... keruk..."
The Labyrinth Demon had been unleashed. Goblins were massacred.
The Goblin Shaman, the leader of this goblin island, had been forced to make a decision.
"Killing it was impossible... keruk. Sealing it was the best we could do. And then... keruruk."
The Goblin Shaman, once strong enough to seal the Minotaur, was now on the verge of death.
It had probably gone without proper sleep, sealing the thing for an unbelievably long time.
"That monster must be killed... keruk. My lifespan is nearly spent. Kellok, kellok!"
Green blood trickled freely from the Goblin Shaman's mouth.
"I'd like to help, but... we can't kill that thing."
I can't fight it in the first place.
"Keruk... stupid human. I have a method. First, as much as possible..."
"Kim Jun-ho."
A cold voice cut off the Goblin Shaman mid-rant.
"Let's talk."
It was Choi Ji-won.
The place Choi Ji-won led me to wasn't far.
"...What's this about? Why the serious mood?"
"...Kim Jun-ho."
"What."
Choi Ji-won.
The feelings I have toward her... are extremely complicated.
Choi Ji-won is the direct cause of dozens of my regressions.
She's the crazy bitch who sliced the bridge of my nose with a sword simply because I asked which college she went to, and who knocked me unconscious by striking the back of my head because I was acting suspiciously.
But she's also the master who taught me swordsmanship, and she's the guardian who protects the weak in the clearing.
And above all... Choi Ji-won is the goal I set for myself, my milestone.
To obtain a trait from her, and to surpass her.
That has been my driving force for regressing.
"If you have something to say, say it."
"...Kim Jun-ho."
Choi Ji-won kept calling only my name.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Choi Ji-won had been tapping the hilt of her sword with the tip of her finger. Now she looked me straight in the eye, as if she'd made up her mind.
"Kim Jun-ho."
"What, seriously."
"You talked earlier about the destruction that killing the boss would bring."
"...What about it?"
"You're deliberately leaving out one possibility."
"..."
She was right.
I had intentionally hidden one possible scenario.
Choi Ji-won let out a soft smirk.
"In a normal case, killing the boss means ruin. But our situation is different, isn't it? Because I'm here."
"..."
It's true.
In most cases, killing the boss has no destination but ruin. But we're a special case.
Choi Ji-won... is a powerhouse who can go toe-to-toe with the Minotaur.
I can't be certain she'd win, but it's also not a sure loss.
"I'll buy time. While I do, everyone else just has to go through the portal, right?"
The words I didn't want to hear slipped out of Choi Ji-won's mouth.
Honestly, it was the most rational approach.
Even if the Minotaur broke free of the seal, if Choi Ji-won could lure it far away, the majority of people could use the portal to advance to the next stage.
"I'll just buy a reasonable amount of time, then come back and take the portal myself, right?"
Choi Ji-won shrugged her shoulders as if to persuade me.
She might say that, but she probably knows better than anyone.
That she wouldn't be coming back in one piece.
The strongest one sacrifices herself. Everyone else is saved.
"...No."
I know it's the most rational choice, but I absolutely cannot agree to it.
Because both reason and emotion are against it.
First, reason.
I'm going to regress this cycle anyway as soon as I've gotten everything I can get.
Which means I have zero intention of taking the portal right now.
So the plan where Choi Ji-won buys time while everyone else goes through the portal yields practically no reward for me.
It'd be better if everyone combined their strength to take down the Minotaur; the reward would be better. Therefore, opposed.
And as for emotion...
I just don't like the idea itself of having to sacrifice Choi Ji-won.
A punk dying while trying to harm others, and Choi Ji-won dying while trying to protect everyone — those two things carry totally different weight for me.
That woman might have zero manners and a cold personality... but she is undeniably a good person.
I don't like the scenario where Choi Ji-won sacrifices herself. Therefore, opposed.
I wanted to say that through this logical decision algorithm, the final conclusion I reached was "opposed"...
But I'm an introvert, so instead I just screamed, "Damn it, I said no!"
"Hah... did you just swear at me?"
A hollow laugh burst from Choi Ji-won.
Ah... did I just lose it out of nowhere? Is this the part where she goes 'shhk' on me?
I instinctively squeezed my eyes shut, but.
Pat.
What came wasn't a cold blade, but a gentle hand placed on my shoulder.
"Thanks for worrying about me."
Choi Ji-won smiled brightly.
"But I'm doing this because I want to. Firefighter Park Cheol-jin has already agreed."
"...What?"
"I've always been curious."
Curious? About what?
After saying something cryptic, Choi Ji-won began walking somewhere.
"...Where are you going?"
"To bring the people from the clearing. If they're going to take the portal while I buy time, they at least need to be nearby, right?"
She seemed to have finished her mental preparation.
Preparation for a noble sacrifice.
Seeing that, my chest started to boil for no reason.
Was it an inferiority complex? A sense of powerlessness? Or a mix of both?
What mattered was, my mood had turned completely shitty.
So before I knew it, I shouted.
"Give me time."
"What?"
Choi Ji-won's steps halted.
"Until tomorrow morning. I'll think of a way. Wait until then."
"..."
Choi Ji-won turned her head and looked me straight in the eye.
"You really are... a strange bastard."
With those words, Choi Ji-won started walking toward the clearing again.
But I clearly saw her give a small nod as she went.
The sun was rising.
Dawn.
I hadn't slept a wink, so I definitely had huge dark circles under my eyes.
"Kelluk... kelluk... human. With my help, the Minotaur can be..."
"Shut up."
I ignored the Goblin Shaman, who kept urging me to go one-on-one with the Minotaur.
I can't fight anyway. I'm trying to figure out if there's a way besides combat.
Maybe because my head was a mess, no good ideas were coming to me.
Probably from lack of sleep, my head was pounding and I kept dry-heaving for no reason.
To make things worse, this place was near the swamp on the outskirts, so the air smelled unbearably foul.
Yeah, I'll head into the forest and do some thinking where the air is fresh.
Sniffing this rotten stench was only filling my head with bad, negative thoughts.
"..."
...Swamp?
Minotaur.
Spherical protective barrier.
Can't hit it.
Swamp.
Minotaur.
Spherical.
"Hey. Shaman."
"Kelluk... kelluk... hm? Human? Did you call me?"
"The barrier around the Minotaur... does it move?"
"Keruk... it would move... but are you humans fools? That Minotaur is incredibly heavy. No ordinary strength will budge it."
The Goblin Shaman mocked me, adding, "Humans always think they're so clever, keruk."
"But what if... we gathered a whole bunch of people with tremendous strength?"
Choi Ji-won. Park Cheol-jin. And other people with high Strength stats that we could find by searching this forest.
People with superhuman strength, beyond the limits of normal humans.
If we gathered every one of them, and pushed that spherical barrier with all our might...
Couldn't we bury the Minotaur in the swamp?