The goblins seized the initiative.
They were about a meter tall, small and nimble, darting around with quick movements.
I calmly tracked their motions.
Whoosh!
The lead goblin—the one I'd punched square in the face—swung its knife at me. I spotted it coming and dodged.
At the same time, I tightened my grip on the axe.
Crack!
"Kerururuk!!!"
I brought it down hard. Red blood fountained from the green monster's carotid artery.
Even as it thrashed in agony, it swept the knife sideways at me again.
I backed away to evade it, then cleaved its neck once more.
Crunch!
Its skull bid farewell to its torso.
Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded. My breaths came ragged.
I'd never killed so much as an ant in my life, yet here I was, having slain a meter-tall, vaguely humanoid monster.
The lingering tremor in my fingertips from the axe felt like it was screaming that I had ended this life.
A strange sensation washed over me, but I had no time to savor it.
"Goddamn, there are so many of these fuckers."
Human vision and focus are limited. Lock onto one goblin, and the others slip through the cracks.
And there were dozens of the bastards.
One down now, so precisely twenty-three. Twenty-three against one.
Dodge a single attack, and twenty-two more fly in right after.
Clang!
In the split second I'd taken to think, my head started ringing like a bell.
Was this what it felt like in a polygraph room? My skull felt like it was in an earthquake. A sword had glanced off my helmet, sending vibrations through it.
Without the helmet, I'd be dead. The realization sent a spike of fear through me.
"Keruk!"
I didn't hesitate.
I grabbed the goblin lunging for my nape by the scruff, flung it aside, and smashed it with the axe.
Crunch!
Two down.
The instant my back was turned, three more barreled in. They were unarmed.
Two wrapped around my legs with their feet while the third clung to my upper body.
It felt like hoisting three rice sacks at once.
But get this.
"Uwaaaaaah!"
I'm a guy who can tote six cement bags in one go.
I kicked off the ground like a squat jump and launched into the air.
Then I shifted my center of gravity sideways and slammed down onto the floor.
"Guhk! Ruk!"
The goblin stuck to my side ate the full weight of me plus two more goblins crashing onto its back.
I distinctly felt its ribs shatter.
To the remaining two still clinging in panic, I gifted one an axe blow and the other a fist.
Five down.
At that point, a wave of confusion rippled through the goblin pack.
"Keruk, keruk."
"Kekekerk, keruk..."
I still had no clue what they were saying, but they seemed hesitant to fight after watching five of their own drop in seconds.
"Yeah! Stay back! Fuck! This is exhausting!"
Come at me, all of you! You fucking shits!
Damn. Words weren't coming out right. But since they couldn't understand anyway, it was fine.
Maybe because I'd been going all-out with no pacing, my stamina was draining fast.
"Keruk! Kererek!"
One goblin suddenly bellowed, and the mood flipped.
"Kerek! Kerek!"
"Kekerekrek!"
Like ancient humans gripping stone spears and hyping themselves up to hunt mammoths, they roared to rally their spirits.
Shit, what the hell? Did they actually get what I said?
Who was playing mammoth here? Surely not m—
No time for that. Over a dozen goblins charged all at once.
"Fine. Come on, all of you. Fuck it. Let's see you try to kill me!"
I bellowed back and plunged right into the horde.
I wasn't in my right mind either. I should have been hightailing it the other way, but here I was, charging straight at them of my own accord.
My breaths were ragged, my body screaming in pain everywhere.
Yet my head stayed cool, and my heart hammered harder than it ever had in my life.
The thrill of my first real fight had my brain pumping adrenaline like mad, while my racing heart flooded my veins with blood, granting me stronger, swifter movements.
Crunch!
The axe whistled through the air at brutal speed, bisecting one goblin before seeking the next target.
Swoosh!
There were so many, every wild swing clipped at least one.
Splat!
It was the same from their side. With numbers like that, every goblin charging with knife in hand was bound to land a hit.
"Guh...!"
"Keruk, keruk."
The goblin that had stabbed my thigh flashed a smug grin.
I could feel the foreign object ripping through flesh and muscle. It hurt. Hurt like hell.
A thousand times worse than stubbing my pinky toe on the doorframe!
"Hup. Kuh..."
I clenched my teeth and swallowed the groan trying to escape. Call it animal instinct—I just knew.
Act calm here. Don't show the pain. Never give them an opening. Hold in the groans.
Keep moving like nothing happened.
Like a measly knife wound was no big deal!
"What're you grinning at, you fuck?"
The goblin's smug look froze solid.
Crack!
I stepped forward on the stabbed leg. One step.
Crack!
Advanced another step. Another blow.
Crack!
Keep butchering livestock long enough, and even they start thrashing.
"Kerururuk!"
With over a dozen piling on, the hits I took ramped up.
This time, my left shoulder. A different sensation from the thigh stab.
It hurt like a bitch, but in a vague, nagging way. My left arm was starting to go numb.
...Poison?
Nothing I could do about it right now. Back to work.
Craaack!
Blood erupted in a geyser.
Deep in the dark cave, a pale-skinned human and green monstrosities danced amid sprays of crimson.
A crude, graceless dance. The kind a savage tribe might perform in ritual.
For every axe that sank in, four or five knives found me.
Blood flew with every swing of my arms, bits of flesh with every step of my legs.
How long had this frenzy lasted?
When I snapped out of it, I was the only one left standing.
My body riddled with over a dozen stab wounds.
"Keruk, ruk..."
I approached my last dance partner, crawling and shivering on the ground.
This was the final one.
Crack!
The axe came down and snuffed out its life.
"I win, you fucking bitches."
All dead. Not a single one left.
...Dizzy.
With the immediate danger gone, my strength drained away.
I flung off my helmet to catch my breath and slicked back my sweat-and-blood-matted bangs.
But my breathing wouldn't settle.
Was zero gravity like this? My body felt like it was floating aimlessly. I couldn't make it obey.
Poison! It's the goddamn poison.
Goblins dipping blades in poison was common knowledge even in games. Shit.
Glancing down, my body was a roadmap of cuts and stabs.
A few knives were still lodged deep. No way I could pull them out.
Thud.
I staggered in place for a moment before collapsing to my knees.
Damn it, after winning like that? I couldn't just flop over now.
Using my one mostly intact right arm, I crawled army-style toward the guys who'd gotten gang-raped by the goblins.
No doubt they'd come equipped. Fantasy adventurer types, right?
By fantasy tropes, their packs had to have potions or antidotes at least.
"Mommy."
But that hope went down the drain.
I dragged myself over, rummaged through their bags, and all I found was the dudes' underwear. Just soured my mood.
Consciousness fading. Vision blurring like it was soaked in water.
Instinct told me: I was teetering on death's doorstep.
One more step forward, and I'd be gone for good.
Was this how I went out? Was this the end of my life?
Like this. Pointlessly...
"Soeun..."
As death closed in, thoughts of my little sister surfaced.
But death was as cold as capitalism.
It didn't even grant me time for a life-flashing montage before the spark of life began to gutter out.
Vision dimming. Eyes drifting shut.
So I didn't see it clearly.
"Is this your handiwork?"
A clear, pure voice. An alluring timbre I'd never heard before made my ears prick up.
"Uh, ugh..."
"Hm. Still alive, I see."
I tried to respond, but no words came. The poison had spread to my mouth.
I forced my drooping eyes open to find the voice's owner, but darkness swallowed my sight.
From the final glimpse and sensation, someone in a gauntlet had clapped a hand over my eyes.
"You did well. Rest now."
Those words unraveled my tension, and I blacked out in an instant.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
Consciousness flickered in and out repeatedly.
"Kyaaaaak! Uhuk!"
"Ah! You're awake? Sorry. I was trying to treat you and yanked the knife wrong... First time doing field surgery like this. Here, potion time. Decent mid-grade stuff."
The knife ripped free, tearing flesh. Healing poured in like a miracle, only for the fresh new skin to get clumsily sliced off.
Horrific agony alternated with sweet relief.
"Kuhuhu, huaaa!"
"Ah! Another slip... I'm really sorry! Wasn't on purpose. Let's try that again. Potion."
"Aaaaak!"
"Good sign that new flesh is growing back. Poison's mostly cleared too. You pulled through. Oh, wait—there's another knife still in here?"
It was give pain, take relief. Over and over, dozens of times.
"Kruk, kuh..."
"Oh dear, passed out again... Hope you go somewhere nice... Man, this is riskier than I thought. Starting to develop weird tastes..."
Nam Sujin lost and regained consciousness dozens of times.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Feeling better?"
A clear, bright voice. My whole body throbbed with pain.
I'd never felt muscle soreness this bad, even after grueling manual labor.
Cracking my eyes open revealed a massive figure clad in pristine white armor.
Leaning against the cave wall—at that height and build, they had to be over two meters tall.
The bulging chest plate and its odd central emblem stood out especially.
All at once, fragmented memories from while I'd been out cold flooded back: everything this armored knight had done to me.
Ugh...
Just recalling it made my teeth chatter and the knife-slashed bones ache.
A clear, alluring voice? What bullshit.
Now it sounded like the voice of a lunatic surgeon performing surgery without anesthesia.
Every instinct screamed to flee this armored knight, but...
"Thank you for saving my life. I'm grateful."
Me, Nam Sujin. I might blank on goblins, but with decent folk, I was politeness personified.
Without their help, I'd have croaked from poison amid the decapitated goblins.
They'd butchered my body to pry out the knives and even neutralized the goblin venom.
I shot to my feet and bowed deeply in thanks to the armored knight.
"No need to go that far. I hear explorers look out for each other. Uh, more importantly..."
Ahem. Ahem.
The knight cleared their throat awkwardly, voice trailing off.
"...Could you... put on... some clothes... please?"
"...Pardon?"
I glanced down at myself.
"Ah."
No wonder everything felt so drafty.