Rescue Operation (2)

The moment we reached the third floor, a message appeared.

Nearby, it said — but I couldn't see the thing anywhere in front of me.

"That way, right?"

The students had been in Class 3. There was a fair stretch of hallway between here and there, so I adjusted my grip on the knife and readied myself to advance.

Guttural snarls erupted from every direction. The Goblins that had been idling around the floor all snapped their heads toward us the instant we arrived, dropping into stances as if they were about to charge at any second.

Whether it was the Boss Goblin's doing or not, the Goblins' bodies began to swell. Compared to when we'd first encountered them, they were at least twice as large now — a completely different breed from the ones we'd been fighting until this point.

"Alright. Here we go! Everyone, steel yourselves."

Looking at the suddenly empowered creatures, a flicker of regret crept in. Could we even take things that had more than doubled in strength? I wasn't sure anymore. But turning back now was meaningless. Goblins already packed the space around us on all sides.

We had to fight.

"Hyung! I need you."

"Okay."

At my word, Kang Hyuk flicked a card toward me. It flared crimson for an instant, then affixed itself to my body.

This was Hyung's power as a Magician. The buff surged through me, raw strength flooding every muscle — a boost far higher than what anyone else could receive. I strode toward the Goblins without hesitation, and they all came charging at me at once.

"Come on, then!"

Their movements were unmistakably different from every Goblin we'd faced before. Faster. Stronger. More precise. More savage. But not beyond what I could handle.

I dropped into a stance and drove the knife into the skull of the nearest Goblin. The newly acquired blade was in a completely different league from the sword I'd gotten after killing the King Rat. Was this what they meant by being carried by your gear? It punched through the Goblin's head as effortlessly as a fork through pudding, meeting no resistance at all. I ripped the knife free and brought it down across another Goblin's neck as it lunged, splitting the creature in two.

Gunfire cracked from behind me. Min-cheol's rifle was putting rounds dead-center into Goblin skulls.

He's gotten good.

His marksmanship was nothing like before. He'd killed plenty of Goblins in this building, sure, but that alone couldn't explain a leap this dramatic. Hitting erratically moving targets with that kind of precision was hard even for people who'd handled guns for years. It had to be his class. Min-cheol had said his proficiency went up every time he fired — that was why his shooting was improving so fast.

Another pack of Goblins came at me. In a blink, three of them had ringed me in, tightening the noose. I almost laughed. I had this knife. I had the Predator's traits. The Goblins had gotten stronger, sure — but hadn't they just seen what happened? They weren't even close to my match.

If anything, this worked in my favor. I used the opening to cut their numbers down fast. One strike. One kill. Goblin after Goblin dropped under a continuous flurry of knife-work.

Five left. I was about to finish the rest when a scream cut through the air from somewhere down the hall.

"Kyaaaaah! Help us!"

"Please, somebody save us!"

The screams were coming from Class 3. There were definitely students in there.

"I'm heading straight to Class 3."

"Yes. We'll finish off the rest of the monsters and catch up right away."

"Go. Hurry."

I left the remaining Goblins to Kang Hyuk and the students and sprinted toward Class 3. The moment I reached the classroom door, I saw it — a monster of enormous bulk.

Four or five times the size of a regular Goblin. And right in front of it, two girls stood trembling, staring at me.

"Hey! P-please, save us!"

"Please save us!"

They'd spotted me coming in, and they were screaming for help. A low, rumbling growl rolled through the classroom. The Boss Goblin had noticed me too — it turned around.

In its hand was the corpse of a student.

Why is it holding a body...?

The thought had barely formed when the creature opened that massive maw and tore the corpse's head clean off. Blood sprayed in every direction as the head came free. Then it started chewing, grinding the student's skull between its teeth without mercy. The head came apart like it was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠being pulverized. The two girls saw it ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and fainted on the spot.

I wasn't far behind them. Right in front of me, the Boss Goblin stuffed what remained of the student into its mouth and started chewing with obvious relish.

Ugh—

I was scared. I was terrified. I'd killed plenty of Goblins by now, but this atrocity made me shrink back in spite of myself. If I ran, though, those two girls behind it would end up exactly like the corpse I'd just watched it eat. That much was obvious.

So I had to move. I could not stand here and let students get eaten by that monster right in front of my eyes.

Whether the taunt ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠landed or not, the Boss Goblin flung aside the corpse — nothing left of it but legs — and started coming for me. It came on in long, heavy strides, a massive sword in one hand and something like a string of prayer beads around its neck. It closed the distance and brought the blade down.

I threw myself out of Class 3, rolling clear of the strike.

"Teach! What's going on?!"

I'd come tumbling out of the classroom so suddenly that the others — who'd just finished the remaining Goblins — came rushing toward me, Kang Hyuk among them. Then the Boss Goblin stepped into view, and every one of them went rigid.

This thing was on a completely different level from the Goblins we'd been fighting. The will to fight drained out of them at a glance. The same thought took over every mind in the hallway: Can we even fight that?

"Everyone, snap out of it! Min-cheol! Shoot that thing in the head!"

"Huh?! Y-yes! Got it!"

At my shout, Min-cheol snapped into a firing stance. The round flew true, straight at the Boss Goblin's skull.

What happened next was impossible to believe. The bullet hit dead-on — and failed to pierce that hide. It left nothing but a scratch.

"No way! The bullets aren't working?!"

"What do we do now?!"

Panic rippled through them. I felt it too. If a clean headshot did nothing, there was only one option left: the knife in my hand. This, I thought, might actually hurt it.

"I'll take that one. Cover me from behind."

"Wouldn't it be better to run?"

"No. There are students in there."

If we fled now, the two girls in Class 3 would be butchered and eaten just like the student I'd watched die. I had the power to save them. I couldn't just leave them behind.

I tightened my grip on the knife and sprinted at the Boss Goblin as it came for me. It swung that massive sword as I closed in. Its movements weren't particularly fast — I twisted aside, slipped the blow, and slashed for its leg.

Against a normal Goblin, that would have taken the leg clean off. The Boss Goblin's hide split, but the wound wasn't fatal.

How is it this tough?

The same hide that had stopped a bullet. Hitting it felt like striking a wall. But I could still take it.

A bellow of pain tore out of the Boss Goblin as the wound opened on its leg.

At the same instant, a thread of dread began to unspool in my head. Could I even win this? Was I going to die here? Wouldn't it be easier to just give up? Thoughts like that came crawling up from somewhere I couldn't name.

I punched myself in the head to snap out of it. My mind cleared, at least a little. But the others weren't so lucky. They'd gone into a full panic — trembling, staring blankly, frozen in place.

"Everyone, snap out of it!"

I shouted it as urgently as I could, but it was already too late. If more Goblins showed up while they were like this, they could die on the spot. I tried to run to them, to shake them out of it — but the Boss Goblin stepped into my path, as if to make it clear that I was its opponent and no one else's. The massive sword came crashing down. I rolled, and the shoe lockers where I'd been standing a heartbeat before were smashed to splinters.

A direct hit from that would have killed me outright.

Damn it!

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

I was worried about the others. But I couldn't just throw myself at this thing. It was a boss monster, in name and in fact. A reckless attack could get me killed. The standoff stretched on for a few tense seconds.

"Argh!"

A scream. I snapped my head toward the sound and saw Kang Hyuk — he'd been shielding the students when a newly appeared Goblin drove a dagger into his shoulder.

And in that instant—

The ability I'd gained from killing the King Rat ignited. My vision flushed red, and a dull crimson aura coiled around my entire body.

With this...?

Power was overflowing. I felt the change in my body and confidence came flooding back with it. The fear was gone — I couldn't even feel it anymore. The others were in danger. There was no more time to hesitate.

I clenched the knife and the shield and surged at the Boss Goblin. It saw me coming and swung hard, but I slipped the blow like it was nothing and drove in against its flank. Scarlet blood fountained from the gash across its waist. The boosted attack power had made all the difference — this was nothing like a moment ago. The massive body couldn't hold. The Boss Goblin dropped to its knees, the damage clearly severe.

The fight looked decided, but this was no time to get careless.

I activated the technique bound to the knife. The instant it took hold, the blade began to move as if it were dancing. That hide was tough, but with the extra damage behind every cut, I severed both of the Boss Goblin's arms in a single stroke. From the arms, the rest of its body began to come apart, piece by piece — like watching a master butcher break down a whole tuna. The creature thrashed, howling in agony. That was all it could do. The knife never stopped, and the carving went on.

A few moments later, the Boss Goblin that had been dismantled alive no longer so much as twitched.

Messages bloomed in front of my eyes.

A lot of something had just appeared. It really was different when you killed a boss. The others seemed to have shed the fear as the debuff lifted. They pulled themselves together and turned on the remaining Goblins, and I didn't even need to go help. Stripped of their buffs, the Goblins were nothing but slaughter waiting to happen. Between Min-cheol's rifle and Kang Hyuk's sword, they were cleaned up in moments.

I went into Class 3 and made sure the two students were safe.

Come to think of it, the quest...

With the area settled, my eyes fell on the Boss Goblin's corpse, carved apart so cleanly thanks to the knife's technique. To anyone else, it would have been a nauseating sight. Looking at it, I felt hungry. The Predator's trait, no doubt.

I swallowed, a little saliva gathering, and reached into my inventory for a fork as naturally as breathing. The motion was second nature now. Not a trace of revulsion left in it.

It said to cook this before eating, didn't it?

I checked the quest window. There was still time. I wasn't sure how I was supposed to cook the thing, but if that's what it wanted, I might as well do as I was told. There was a reward for it, after all.

I wonder if anyone has a lighter.