Only Liars Here (2)

The combination of goblin, gnoll, kobold, and human was about as bad as it could get in this testing ground. I couldn't wrap my head around how anyone had managed to clump us together like this. Someone's malice had clearly messed with the team matching. There was no hard evidence, but the blatant suspicion was staring us right in the face.

"Fuck."

Parties were already disappearing into the passages. Yoo Dahui's group was moving off to take their test as well. In the novel, this test wasn't what mattered. What mattered was Park Cheol-eon's attempted rape tonight, so the story had skipped ahead quickly. The thing carrying Yoo Dahui wasn't a bus or a taxi. It was an airplane.

"Kerek! Let's get moving too, human!"

"...Yeah. Fuck it. Better to get hit first than last."

There was no avoiding this anyway. How do you dodge when nuclear missiles are raining down on the entire planet? Instead of trying to run, you should be building a bunker deep underground.

"Kung! Not a bad idea, coming from that stinking goblin head of yours!"

"Kerek!"

Everyone except the truly outstanding parties was hesitating. Since the boss monster was an unknown golem, it was hard to rush in blindly.

"Let's go, you fucking idiots."

We approached the assistant in charge of Passage 8. No one had entered yet, so we still had a chance.

"We'd like to take the test."

"...Go in."

The Passage 8 assistant looked at our party like we were insects. His gaze was full of contempt for humans, the kind that made your skin crawl. A lizardman. The nerve of a damn lizard.

"Sssst, what the hell is this membrane...?"

"Just walk through it."

We entered Passage 8. A translucent membrane was stretched across the entrance. The moment we pushed through the quivering barrier, the atmosphere changed completely. A damp, oppressive energy. An uneasy vibe. My hands and feet were shaking like crazy.

My inventory held eleven recovery potions and two each of strength and agility enhancement potions. I pulled out an enhancement potion and chugged it. The damn stuff raised my strength and agility by two levels each for thirty minutes.

I need to clear this as fast as possible.

Whether that took thirty minutes, an hour, or even longer, I didn't know yet. But the sooner the better. Actually, since I was going to regress tonight anyway, who cared what the other players thought?

"Kerek! Human! Are you not afraid at all!"

"Sssst, we don't know when or where monsters might appear. This ominous energy... it feels like we're about to get ambushed."

"Kung! I can't see the kobold anywhere!"

The gnoll was frantically searching for the kobold, who had blended into the surroundings with his camouflage. Having our group of four reduced to three felt incredibly unsettling.

"Sssst, he's right beside you, so don't worry. He's only hiding his body in case an ambush comes flying in."

"Kung! That kobold bastard is using us as bait!"

"Sssst, not bad for a dog-headed idiot. If you know that much, then shut your trap."

The damn dog was barking into thin air. It was giving me a headache.

"Human! Kerek! Slow down!"

"Ah. Just hurry up already."

We kept moving forward. The goblin and gnoll were walking so damn slowly it was infuriating. No wonder they were the weakest; they were scared out of their minds. Or maybe that fear was exactly how they'd survived long enough to climb this far. Still, frustrating was frustrating. We could still see the passage entrance, yet at this pace we'd be walking all day. I'd wasted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that potion for nothing.

"If you're too slow, I'm going on ahead."

Before we could reach the boss monster golem, there was a mid-boss. They couldn't just leave a single golem there; it would've looked too half-assed, so they'd made one. The good news was that the mid-boss was generated based on the average level of the party taking the test.

Goblin, gnoll, kobold, and human. Our average was straight-up trash, which meant we didn't need to be scared of the mid-boss. These guys didn't know that, of course.

I left the three of them crawling along at their ridiculously slow pace and pushed ahead. Before long, clay soldiers about the size of adult women began rising from the dirt floor. Countless clay soldiers. Beyond them, the artifact creating them glowed with light. It was just a mid-boss meant to drain our stamina.

"Kerek! Human!"

"Kung! Kung kung! Kobold! Get out here right now!"

"Sssst, I'm right next to you, idiot."

"Keurong!"

The three weakest members scrambled on their short legs to hide behind me. A goblin shaman clutching a single staff. A kobold warrior armed with a club and shield. A gnoll relying only on his claws and teeth. And a human.

Fuck. What a ridiculous combination.

A massive holographic screen had been set up in the clearing where newbies and countless players were waiting. The screen, divided into ten sections, showed the parties currently taking the test in each of the ten passages.

"Kup, what the hell are those guys doing?"

"Goblin, gnoll, kobold, human. How does a team even end up like that?"

"Don't underestimate goblins, kerek."

The group receiving the most attention wasn't the most outstanding party. It was the most incompetent one. Since this test was meant to filter out the bottom five percent, attention naturally gravitated toward the lowest floor.

"Bottom five percent? Those guys look more like bottom one percent, don't they?"

The scouts dispatched from various guilds were chuckling as they watched Kim Jinwu's party. From the perspective of players living in the Tower of Struggle, Kim Jinwu's party was so worthless it couldn't even be used as fertilizer.

"I'm bored. Want to make a bet?"

"Sure."

"Twenty thousand coins that they die."

"Kerek! Twenty thousand coins that they don't die."

The goblin, a near-rare species in the Tower of Struggle, didn't want to see a fellow tribesman die after finally running into one. It was a bet with terrible odds, but he couldn't stand the casual assumption that his kin would obviously die. The player who'd suggested the bet scratched his head awkwardly, looking at his friend like an oblivious idiot who'd butted in.

All eyes were fixed on Passage 8. While other passages were clearing smoothly and rotating out, Passage 8 was taking what looked like all day just to deal with the clay soldiers.

Kim Jinwu...

Yoo Dahui's party, which had gone in first, had already defeated the golem and come out. Their party members were ridiculously strong, so the golem had been blown apart in one hit.

He can't die...

Yoo Dahui stared at the screen for Passage 8, praying that Kim Jinwu would come out alive. If he died, it would mean losing the Kim Jinwu she'd shared emotions with until now. Even if she regressed and met him again, it would leave a bitter ache in her heart.

Kim Jinwu swung his sword at the clay soldiers. His strength was at level 6. He smashed through the clay soldiers, which had been created at the party's average level, as if they were toys, advancing steadily.

Kim Jinwu charged like a berserker, and the clay soldiers swarmed around him as he drew their aggro in a wide area. The goblin shaman's spell didn't actually have any stat-increasing effects. It only amplified emotions that would help in battle, creating the illusion of increased power.

— Kung kung! Kung kung! Kung kung! Kung kung! Keek!

"Whoa, shit. What the hell are they doing? It's spitting out dirt?"

The crazy dog bastard was biting into the clay soldiers. But since the soldiers were made of dirt, soil poured out of the gnoll's dog-headed snout.

Kim Jinwu, turned into a berserker by the goblin shaman's spell. The dog-headed idiot who wasn't much different. The goblin shaman waving his staff and spreading the Warrior's Fog. The kobold shook his head as he watched the pathetic party.

Crack—!

The moment the kobold smashed the artifact, the countless clay soldiers crumbled back into dirt.

Light burst from the goblin shaman's staff. As the Warrior's Fog dissipated, Kim Jinwu's mind returned to normal.

"They're something else."

Elena muttered with a look of utter disdain. She had taught countless knight apprentices and seen countless players. But she had never seen anyone as pathetically disorganized as these fools.

Kim Jinwu ignored the goblin and walked ahead. Because he'd fought without thinking, his entire body was covered in wounds. Gulp. Gulp. He drank one recovery potion. The wounds healed quickly. Unfortunately, his spent stamina didn't return.

How long had they been walking? The golem finally appeared on the Passage 8 screen.

Kim Jinwu smacked the goblin with his shield. The goblin shaman tumbled to the dirt floor.

The gnoll laughed and mocked the goblin shaman as he stood up, brushing off dirt. Even with the golem right in front of them, they showed no fear at all.

— Kung. I never thought today would be my last day.

It wasn't that they weren't afraid. Their mouths had simply gone stiff from sheer terror. The five meters Kim Jinwu perceived and the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠five meters the goblin, gnoll, and kobold perceived were completely different. To them, five meters was a wall far more massive than what a human would feel.

The kobold vanished once again. The golem began to move.

Kim Jinwu charged forward with sword and shield in hand. The gnoll followed him, rushing toward the golem as well.

Slash—! Slash—!

Since the surrounding material was only dirt, the golem was composed entirely of soil. No matter how much they cut it, there was no end. Even if they sliced off a section of the golem with a blade, it recovered almost instantly. It was like pouring water into a bottomless bucket. Forget the core; even overcoming its recovery ability seemed impossible.

"Kkuk kuk, those guys are gonna die, huh?"

"They'll probably exhaust themselves and collapse. Against a mere golem..."

"That's just how humans are. Oh, and goblins too."

"Kerek! You wanna fight or what!"

The mocking players and the furious goblin. Even the newbies preparing for their tests couldn't tear their eyes away from the Passage 8 screen. The strong parties that cleared it instantly weren't much help, but the muddy struggle on the Passage 8 screen was genuinely useful for weaker players.

Ah...

Yoo Dahui couldn't hide the pity in her eyes as she watched Kim Jinwu get knocked flying by the golem. If only she'd been on the same team, she could've helped him.

The kobold took Kim Jinwu's place, swinging his club at the golem. A futile exchange continued. At this rate, Party 142 would be completely wiped out.

Kim Jinwu staggered to his feet. He stood there blankly for a moment as if thinking about something, then shouted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠loudly at the three hopeless idiots.

The goblin shaman began waving his staff. Fog started gathering thickly from somewhere. It was much denser than before.

"What the? I can't see anything?"

"Hey! Make the Passage 8 screen visible again!"

Elena frowned and waved her hand at one of the assistants. She'd built an automated system to avoid intervening as much as possible. But occasionally there were guys like this who forced her to get involved.

The screen showing Party 142 began to move artificially. At Elena's command, one assistant was manually controlling a drone-like familiar.

Kim Jinwu didn't move an inch from his spot.

What is Kim Jinwu doing? Move...

Yoo Dahui shouted internally as she watched him stand still. Neither ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠she nor the other newbies had any idea what Kim Jinwu was doing.

"That bastard!"

Only the existing players here noticed that something was gathering around Kim Jinwu. Elena in particular was trembling almost convulsively as she pointed at the Passage 8 screen. The harsh words spilling from Elena's mouth drew everyone's attention.

"Pluto! He's Pluto's disciple! You fucking bastard!"

The moment all eyes turned to Elena, whose face had turned bright red as she hissed furiously, Kim Jinwu leaped.

Slash—!

Crack—. Craaaack—!

Kim Jinwu's iron sword pierced straight through the golem and sliced its core in a single strike.

"Bring that bastard to me right now!"