The group hiked the mountain until nightfall. After the first battle, the kobolds didn’t attack again.
The knights Weaver and Rhodi stopped when they discovered a large clearing.
“We will set up camp here for tonight!”
“We will be taking watch in rotations, so finish your supper quickly and get some sleep.”
They had been moving nonstop since they left the city when the sun rose until sunset. Not only that but they had battled against hundreds of kobolds halfway through. Even though all the partic.i.p.ants were veterans, they couldn’t help but feel a little tired.
“Phew, I’m starting to wonder if it was worth coming here. It’s so tiring…”
“I know, right? I thought I’d be able to gain a lot of levels and EXP.”
“All we did was walk all day! I should’ve just done a Quest or something.”
Complaints started to spill out everywhere.
Tsk, tsk.
The Frost Queen clicked her tongue.
“Those weaklings. They have so many complaints,” she said.
“They probably didn’t have this in mind when they signed up for the compet.i.tion.”
Frankly, this wasn’t what Seo Jun-Ho had in mind either. But that didn’t mean he was disappointed like the others. The encounter with the blood kobolds had put him on edge.
“Contractor, look over there.” The Frost Queen tugged on Jun-Ho’s hair and pointed. There, Baek Geon-Woo was sitting at the foot of a large tree, eating riceb.a.l.l.s by himself.
“The best time to start a conversation is when someone is eating alone,” she commented.
“You know your stuff...”
As Seo Jun-Ho strode over, the other Players started to look at him.
“Is this seat taken?” he asked.
As Baek Geon-Woo looked up at him, he started to stand up.
Embarra.s.sed, Seo Jun-Ho quickly shook his hands. “Oh, no. I’m not asking you to move.”
“...”
Baek Geon-Woo stared at him. His eyes were as clear as a creek on a summer’s day. A moment later, he spoke. “No.” His voice was plain. Baek Geon-Woo turned back to his riceb.a.l.l.s and resumed his meal. Seo Jun-Ho immediately sat down beside him.
“My name is Seo Jun-Ho,” he said, taking out his meal.
“...”
Baek Geon-Woo focused on his meal as if he didn’t hear Seo Jun-Ho speak. He had no desire to get close to other Players.
‘They only ever come approach me for one of two reasons.’
They either wanted to feel a sense of superiority, or they pitied him.
It had always been one of those two…
‘Seo Jun-Ho… The articles and rumors about him didn’t leave a bad impression.’
He was famous for his heroic deeds. He had saved dozens of Players in the Burning Dunes and then pulled Players from a crisis into victory in the Wild Forest. In other words, he would be too self-secure to approach Baek Geon-Woo for his own ego.
‘Then… Is it pity?’
Baek Geon-Woo didn’t feel any particular emotion about it. If he got mad, he would be the weird one. Even though the sympathy was unsolicited, the people who pitied him never really had bad intentions.
But sometimes, that sincere kindness hurt even more.
Baek Geon-Woo knew this all too well from his past experiences. That was why he didn’t bother trying to create relationships with people.
However, his impression of Seo Jun-Ho changed when the latter spoke.
“Why don’t you use any weapons?”
“...?” Baek Geon-Woo’s hand paused, riceball in hand. He slowly turned to Seo Jun-Ho and stared into the latter’s eyes, trying to understand what was his intention behind the question.
“I’m not trying to mock you. I am asking because I’m genuinely curious.” Seo Jun-Ho explained.
Humans were stronger when they fought with tools instead of their bare hands. This had always been true since ancient times. Rocks were stronger than fists, and swords were stronger than rocks.
Spears were a good option too. The spear was known as the king of primitive weapons, easy to master yet still mighty.
“...”
Baek Geon-Woo lowered his riceball. He got the feeling that Seo Jun-Ho wouldn’t leave him alone until he answered.
“It’s related to my skill, so I cannot tell you.”
“Oh… I see. I’m sorry for asking.” Seo Jun-Ho apologized. He started to eat with an embarra.s.sed expression. They ate in silence.
“Ugh, I can’t breathe! This is suffocating!” Trapped between the two, the Frost Queen, clutched her throat, trying to breathe. At that moment, Baek Geon-Woo finished his riceb.a.l.l.s and stood up before he disappeared.
“Phew…” She let out a deep breath. “That man is quite hard to approach. Unlike you, he is not a pushover.”
“It’s not good. I want to get closer to him,” Seo Jun-Ho muttered.
“May I ask why? I do not quite see the benefit of that.”
“Just… Instinct? I get the feeling that he’ll get stronger at some point. It would be like an investment.” He explained.
Of course, he didn’t know when or how much stronger Baek Geon-Woo would get in the future. There had been many times his instincts were wrong, so this could just be a dud.
‘But…’
The most important detail was that they shared the same pain. For that simple reason, Seo Jun-Ho wanted to watch over him.
“...Anyway, those fiend b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. They really don’t know when to stop,” Seo Jun-Ho whispered, looking up at the hazy crescent moon.
***
Luckily, Seo Jun-Ho got the first watch. He had a suspicion that Weaver had placed him there with his skills in consideration as if telling him to rest up before the big fight tomorrow. Thanks to that, Seo Jun-Ho felt nice and refreshed the next morning.
‘There was no ambush during the night.’
He had actually been preparing for one. If he were the ruler of the kobolds, he would have seized the chance to attack when most of the group were asleep.
‘But why didn’t they attack? Did they think the terrain was disadvantageous for them?’
The large clearing was more advantageous for the group. Even if they managed to successfully snuck in, the Players could easily launch a counterattack.
“Wake up, everyone! We’ll have a brief breakfast before we start moving again.”
“Our goal today is to reach the kobolds’ cave at the peak of the Hainal Mountains!”
The two knights woke the group, loudly banging on their breastplates.
“Ow… My muscles ache.”
“Dammit, my calves hurt. It has been a while since I’ve walked for so long.”
“Ugh. I was too laid back about this.”
Everyone was grumbling, but being veterans, they still started preparing to leave without much protest.
“Wake up,” Seo Jun-Ho said to the Frost Queen. She couldn’t use the fancy dollhouse in the woods, so she had gone back to using tissues as her bedding.
“Mhmm… Contractor…” She thumped her chest as she whined. “I hate being away from home… Hurry up and defeat the kobolds so we can go back…”
“It’s just one more day. Based on what they said, I think we’ll get to their cave later.”
“Ah, well…Even if there are blood kobolds there, I suppose it won’t be too dangerous,” she muttered.
“Yup.”
671 veteran Players and Adventurers made for a formidable force. As long as they didn’t let their guards down, they wouldn’t be bested in battle.
‘As long as we don’t let our guards down…’
The march began again. As they got closer and closer to the summit, the Players started to become warier and on edge. Befitting as veterans, they were preparing for a battle.
“We were worried for nothing. Seems like everyone’s got it together now. I can feel the pressure in the air,” the Frost Queen observed.
“You’re right. I underestimated them. But I wonder where the kobolds went?” Seo Jun-Ho asked.
They hadn’t seen a single kobold from morning to noon. This was his second day of filming, but he hadn’t been able to get anything good. The battle from the day before had been too one-sided.
“If we can’t get anything, my PP…Huh?”
Seo Jun-Ho saw something glint from the top of the mountain. There was a sharp flash, like sunlight bouncing off a mirror.
‘What is that?’
The moment he stopped and the question popped into his head, confused screams started to erupt around him.
“W-Woah!”
“W-what is that?”
He felt something explode under his feet.
Rrrrrrrr!
The mountain started to shake violently as if it would collapse at any second.
“It’s an earthquake!”
“Dammit, what s.h.i.tty luck…!”
“Didn’t you feel something explode underground just now? Is this… a trap?!”
An earthquake in the mountain was scary enough, but some people quickly realized what would happen next and their faces started to turn pale.
“W-we have to get down…” an Adventurer whispered.
From the front lines, Weaver’s face fell and he shouted, “All forces! Descend the mountain! Immediately!”
Boom!
His voice was lost under a loud explosion. The Players’ eyes filled with fear.
Rrrrrrrrr!
“A-A landslide…It’s a landslide!”
“Dammit! How the h.e.l.l are we supposed to go down after coming all the way here!”
“We can’t! We have to hold out!”
“Dig into the ground for cover! That’s the only way!”
It was like a tsunami on land. A wave of earth started to flood down toward them at alarming speeds.
Their forces numbered 671, but that only made it worse. Their screams echoed as they started to trip over themselves and b.u.mp shoulders.
“Contractor!”
“...s.h.i.t.”
Seo Jun-Ho bit his bottom lip, hard. He had never even imagined this kind of situation.
‘You’re telling me that the kobolds have someone capable of organizing this kind of trap?’
No one could have predicted this. Even a Player of Seo Jun-Ho’s level needed time to prepare an artificial landslide.
‘Wait, time to prepare…’
He realized that they had been bamboozled.
The kobolds in the Hainal Mountains had been quiet for the past few months, but it wasn’t because they were scared. They had been waiting for a moment like this. They had been fully prepared for their campaign.
‘It’s the same reason why they didn’t ambush us at night.’
There was no need to risk it when they had a more surefire way to win.
“Barrier.”
Woosh!
The mages started to activate barriers in preparation for the incoming impact.
But it made no difference…
Crack!
From above, the kobold mages had started to cast spells. Four kobold mages could be seen through the continuous rush of dirt, trees, and rocks.
Craaaack!
Their fireb.a.l.l.s exploded on the mages’ barriers, causing them to shatter.
“G.o.ddammit! They’re really making me curse!”
“How did those inferior kobolds manage to outsmart us?”
“This makes no sense. They play dirty, but they shouldn’t be able to use tactics of this level!”
“That’s not what you should be worried about right now! Everyone gather here!”
“How the h.e.l.l is the barrier supposed to block the landslide?! Dig! We have to dig!”
The Players and Adventurers quickly started to gather into small groups. They started to dig together and crawled inside the holes they made.
“I-It’s coming!” someone shouted. The landslide swept the frontlines of the group, but most of them had managed to dig into the ground, so only a few of them were swept away.
“Contractor! You can’t hide underground!”
“...I know. That’ll only delay the inevitable.”
It would take a considerable amount of strength and energy to dig out of the hole even once the landslide pa.s.sed. In fact, he could even die if he ran out of oxygen.
‘And most importantly, those guys won’t just stay still…’
On the summit, hundreds of blood kobolds were already holding their weapons, ready for battle. Once the landslide pa.s.sed, they would start to kill those crawling out of the ground.
“Contractor!” the Frost Queen yelled.
Now was the time to make his choice…
‘There are three options.’
First, he could use Watchguard of Darkness and Shadow Step to avoid the impact. Or, he could use Frost to shield himself from the landslide. However, either option would require him to reveal one of his skills.
‘But…’
Seo Jun-Ho bit down on his lip and decided to go with the final option. Even as he made up his mind, he still wasn’t sure if it was the right choice.
“Someone has to remain and stop the blood kobolds…”
Otherwise, their group would be ma.s.sacred.
But no matter how he thought about it, there was only one person who could do that.
“...Booster.”
It was Seo Jun-Ho himself.