The Wait
The thing that stepped out of the gate flared its nostrils, as if it meant to read the battlefield by scent alone. An elongated snout. Ears pricked upright. It called a dog to mind — except it stood on two feet, not four.
"A k-kobold?"
Someone shouted it again.
Unlike goblins, the monsters called kobolds did not immediately hurl themselves at people. Together with the ones filing out behind it, they watched the humans with open wariness.
"They're carrying weapons..."
Unlike goblins, the kobolds held stone axes. On top of that, they had a cooperative instinct no goblin possessed. It was painfully obvious they were going to be more of a headache.
...Should I step in?
I hadn't wanted to show myself, so I had only been supporting from a distance. But a good number of the skills I had were built for support. If I moved, I would actually help — more than I was helping now, loosing arrows from far away.
"...Hah."
I'm realizing it all over again. I really am a coward. I chose a bow because I was afraid of getting hurt. I keep shooting from a distance because I'm afraid of dying.
I still didn't know which way this would break. The kobolds were far fewer than the goblins had been, and as they appeared, the goblins spilling from the gate thinned out to a trickle — as if this time the kobolds were the main event.
"Everyone! Tighten the formation!"
The field was already moving under Daehoon's command. No one had appointed him. He was simply the one fighting the fiercest battle out in front of them, and so people followed his orders.
With the goblin numbers visibly falling off, a rare chance to catch their breath had arrived. Those who had been fighting began to fall back, and those who had been resting until now stepped in to fill the gaps.
Daehoon thought, It's going smoothly.
With every passing moment they were growing more accustomed to the fight. The goblins, for all their numbers, could be brought down well enough.
But the kobolds that had come out of the gate and then done nothing at all — those unsettled him.
They're different from goblins.
The kobolds had intelligence. They knew how to be wary. They knew how to work together. That alone made them a threat. The best move would be to strike first and seize the initiative... but doing so risked a counterattack.
He was stuck, unable to commit either way, when—
Thuk—!
An arrow from somewhere punched through a kobold's brow. No presence. No sound. A quietly loosed shaft, and one kobold died without even a scream.
"A-awoo??"
The kobolds reeled at their comrade's sudden death. And Daehoon did not miss that fleeting opening.
The kobolds did not rashly commit to an attack. They waited for enough of their own to gather, and at the same time they kept the humans in their sights.
They're dangerous, all right.
If the kobolds bunched up and started coordinating, it would be a headache. But the people couldn't rashly attack either. Whoever struck first could seize the initiative — and the side that struck first would also take guaranteed losses. A razor-thin balance held taut. If this went on, the humans would be the ones at a disadvantage.
I have to break the balance.
The kobolds were too busy watching the humans in front of them. Because of that, I — relatively far away — still hadn't been noticed. In the end, I had no choice but to step in.
"Hoo..."
I nocked an arrow to the string. The bow drew taut.
Concentration
My pupils narrowed. The target locked into my vision. I could hear my own heartbeat with startling clarity.
Stealth
The heartbeat that had been so clear gradually faded. Even the smallest movement was forbidden.
Archery Lv. 5
Pinpoint Shot
Weapon skills gained an attack technique every five levels. I let go. The arrow flew without even a whisper of sound — and punched clean through the kobold's brow.
After that, with the man holding the greatsword at the lead, the people launched their attack. The startled kobolds couldn't respond properly. The humans drove into that opening all at once, and the initiative of the fight passed into human hands.
Kobolds were stronger than goblins. But once their cooperation collapsed, the situation changed. Scattered, they began to be picked off one by one. A kobold that couldn't coordinate was reduced to a monster only a little stronger than a goblin.
As time passed, the numbers of goblins and kobolds dwindled visibly. The stream of monsters coming from the gate grew sparser. And then—
00:05:29
About five minutes remained when the endless flow of kobolds and goblins cut off all at once. Even in that sudden silence, the people did not let their guard down.
Intuition
One of the skills Daehoon possessed flared hard. Goosebumps ran down his spine. His heart hammered wildly. Intuition sounded the alarm: what was coming now was something that couldn't even be compared to a kobold.
Thud.... Thud....
The ground shook with every step it took. A monster whose frame reached three meters walked out of the gate.
"An o-ogre..."
Someone muttered it in a trembling voice.
The ogre looked around for a moment. And then—
"GRAAAAAAH——!"
The ogre's roar slammed across the battlefield.
The body locks. Movement is impossible.
Daehoon kept repeating it to himself. Move! Move!
His body wouldn't move. The ogre's roar had locked human bodies solid. At this rate they would be helpless. He had to move his feet. He had to swing the greatsword. But his body wouldn't listen.
Is this how it ends?
No. He couldn't give up like this. Everyone had given their all. Everyone had done their best. It couldn't end like this. So please...!
In that moment, a calm voice came from behind him.
"Mister."
Kang Daehoon slowly turned his head. Where his gaze landed, a girl stood with a black hood pulled down deep over her face.
"How long do you think it'll take you to recover?"
Daehoon's eyes went to the weapon in her hand. Ah......
How could he not know? How could he fail to recognize the owner of the arrows that had kept flying in at every critical moment?
"Five minutes... no. I'll recover somehow within one minute..."
"Is that a promise?"
The girl smiled brightly. And then, without a shred of fear, she started walking toward the ogre.
The ogre looked at her.
"What are you staring at? Aren't you going to fight?"
The girl provoked it. But the ogre merely reached a hand toward her, as if she were laughable — a speed that belied that massive frame. The girl was never caught in its grip.
"GWUUUAAARGH—!"
It was the ogre that screamed. At some point, an arrow had been driven into its eye.
"Think you can catch me at that speed?"
The girl said it calmly, her bow still drawn.
I got lucky. I had been outside the range of the roar, and because of that I was spared the fate of my body locking up.
I could see the situation from a distance. The people weren't moving. No — they couldn't move. At this rate they would die to the ogre. The only one who could move right now was me.
"Hah..."
In the end, I had to move again. If I didn't, those people would die.
I pulled my hood down deep, then dropped from the building and headed for the ogre at speed.
"Mister."
The man who had fought at the very front with a greatsword.
"How long do you think it'll take you to recover?"
The man answered. Five minutes — no, one minute.
I looked at his condition. Maybe because I had the First Aid skill, I could tell he wouldn't be better in one minute. But I didn't say so. Instead I spoke as if it were nothing.
"Keep that promise."
Unlike me, these were the ones who had fought the monsters at closest range. I didn't want to put any extra burden on them.
I'll hold out for five minutes somehow.
With that resolve, I headed for the ogre.
"What are you staring at? Aren't you going to fight?"
I threw a taunt at it. It wasn't really to provoke it, or to make it drop its guard. My legs were shaking. My teeth were chattering so badly I had to be careful my pronunciation didn't go strange. That was it — the taunt was to hide how scared I was.
The ogre's gaze turned on me. It wasn't looking at an enemy. It was looking at prey it could devour whenever it pleased. Its hand shot toward me at a speed that didn't match its bulk. But I dodged it. While the ogre was careless, I put an arrow in its eye.
"GWUUUAAARGH—!"
The ogre screamed. I drew the bowstring, ready to attack at any moment.
"Think you can catch me at that speed?"
I said it on purpose, as if it were nothing. Only then could I calm my heart, which was hammering like mad.
Fortunately, I had the edge in speed. And right now the ogre had lost vision in one eye — a blind spot had opened. I used that blind spot as much as I could to draw it away, so that its gaze wouldn't turn toward the people who had been fighting. I pulled its attention with everything I had.
But that didn't last long either. Once the ogre realized my purpose was to hold its attention, it started walking toward the people whose bodies were still locked.
I stepped in front of it. The ogre's fist slammed straight into my body.
"Kh, khuhk...!"
Hit dead-on, I was sent flying a long way. It was so strong that a single allowed hit had blood running from the corner of my mouth.
The ogre slowly came toward me, as if the ones whose bodies were locked could be killed whenever it wanted.
And that was the ogre's mistake.
A massive greatsword planted itself in front of the ogre as it approached me.
"You're late..."
"I'm sorry. And..."
Daehoon, who had regained freedom of his body, apologized as if he felt guilty. Drawing the greatsword, he continued.
"Thank you for holding out."
Three minutes. That was the time I had bought, alone, against the ogre.