Boom!
Though the sky was clear, the air rang with something like the sound of thunder as heaps of dirt and boulders the size of houses rolled down. In the face of the mountain’s flood of fury, Seo Jun-Ho seemed as small as a speck of dust.
“Phew.” He let out a short breath, Cruel Executioner in hand. “Frost, take your time in catching up.”
He would go ahead…
Seo Jun-Ho’s voice faded instantly as he disappeared into the distance. The landslide started to come down two, or maybe even three times faster as he activated Booster and began scaling the mountain.
Crack!
The point of his halberd stabbed into a thick boulder. Seo Jun-Ho dug his weight into rocks to launch himself forward to ascend the mountain as if he were pole vaulting.
The sky came closer, and the ground disappeared below him.
Rrrrr!
Below his feet, he saw dirt, rocks, and trees spilling downward like a river. What goes up, must come down, so as he flew through the air, he started to fall toward the ground.
“Contractor!”
The Frost Queen’s worried voice didn’t reach his ears. His attention was on something else.
“Focus, Seo Jun-Ho. Focus,” he whispered to himself as if in a trance. He sharpened his cognition, perception, judgment, and instincts to their limits, and landed in the flood of earth.
Bam!
He landed on a large rock. As soon as he stepped on it, he leaped toward a tree that was coming down in front of him.
‘Where do I go next?’
It was as if he were rock climbing. To be sure, it was a very dangerous kind of rock-climbing where his life was in danger every time he took a new foothold.
His eyes were sharp. Both his mental capacity and his vision had expanded, and he could see the entire landslide with one look. He made his decisions in an instant, and he moved just as fast.
Woosh! Woosh!
He was careful but not slow, bold but not reckless.
His feet landed on foothold after foothold. Sometimes it would be a boulder, sometimes a tree, and sometimes, it would be a rock just the size of his palm.
“Krrrr…”
A kobold watched Seo Jun-Ho carefully from the summit of the Hainal Mountains. Just like the human nobles, the kobold was adorned with sparkling gems and was at least twice as big as the Blood Kobold Champion that Seo Jun-Ho had defeated before.
“Ka! Hu!” It pointed at Seo Jun-Ho with its right hand, which was covered with dozens of rings. As it gave an order, the kobold mages nodded and activated their magic.
Wooshhhh!
Four fireballs flew toward Seo Jun-Ho, one after another.
‘Magic?’
He quickly twisted his body in mid-air. Hot flames brushed his back as it flew by.
‘I would’ve been burned without Black Armor.’
He landed safely on a boulder and continued to move, without a moment to think.
Boom!
A fireball struck the place he had just been standing at.
Woosh! Woosh!
Seo Jun-Ho managed to dodge all four fireballs, moving elegantly. However, the kobold mages didn’t stop their assault.
Swoosh!
He dodged when he could, and boldly cut through the fireballs when he couldn’t.
‘There’s no end to it.’
His climb was slowed by the kobold mages. Seo Jun-Ho furrowed his eyebrows and let out a spirited cry.
“Hup!”
He started to move faster. As he picked up the speed, he pulled the halberd back.
“Kung?”
“Krrr?”
“Kukuku.”
The kobold mages laughed as they watched. How could a mere human throw a halberd from over 150 meters away? Their yellow eyes curved into crescents, and they sneered.
“Is this funny?” Seo Jun-Ho cackled like a demon when he saw.
‘You won’t be laughing soon!’
His biceps swelled as he tightened his grip around the halberd. Seo Jun-Ho placed all his weight into his right arm and ‘shot’ the weapon.
Wooshhhh!
The halberd flew forward with a fierce sound, like an unchained beast. The point buried itself into one of the kobold mage’s stomach, killing it instantly. The halberd didn’t lose its momentum as it continued to fly, straight to the kobolds’ leader.
“Kah!”
It slapped away the halberd with its ringed hand, and the halberd buried itself into a large tree. The body of the dead kobold mage was still swaying.
“Kyaak!”
“Kraaa!”
The kobolds screamed far too late. They didn’t imagine that a mere human could kill them from so far away.
‘They’ve started to panic!’
Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes sparkled as he hurried up the remaining distance.
‘I’m almost there…’
He could see that the blood kobolds were armed and ready for battle.
“Hup.”
Tap.
It was finally over. Seo Jun-Ho landed on solid ground and glanced behind him. The mountain that was once full of trees had become barren. He could scarcely believe that he managed to scale the landslide far behind him.
“Phew…” He quickly caught his breath and prepared himself for battle. Scaling a natural disaster was no easy feat, but the battle wasn’t over yet.
Things didn’t look too good for him. His opponents would take advantage of his fatigue.
“Kyaaaak!”
“Krrrrr!”
“Kung! Kaaaah!”
He had expected it. The blood kobolds started to descend the summit, saliva dripping from their lips. Some were so excited that they even tripped over their own feet.
“…”
Seo Jun-Ho silently took out a normal bow and quiver of arrows from his inventory. He wanted to use Tempest or Final Horizon, but he couldn’t because he was recording. Of course, if he felt like his life was in danger, he would stop recording and use those instead.
‘But for now, this is fine.’
It would be enough. He settled for just one bow.
Seo Jun-Ho nocked three arrows and drew back the bowstring. He let go.
Woosh!
An arrow pierced through a blood kobold’s eye and came out the back of its head. The other two struck the heart and forehead of two others.
“Kieeek!”
“Kaaahh!”
“Kung!”
As they shrieked and collapsed, the ones behind them fell over. Seo Jun-Ho quickly and calmly fired more arrows.
Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!
Every time he let go of the bowstring, three blood kobolds would die as if his arrows were cursed to be a hundred percent accurate.
“…”
Rrrrr.
When the blood kobolds were 30 meters away, he tossed aside the bow and quiver. Instead, he took up a large shield in his left hand and a thick, long spear in his right. He got into position and launched forward.
“Kuuuu!”
“Kaaaaah!”
There were over seven hundred blood kobolds, covering the Hainal Mountains like ants.
A single Player ran toward them, shield and lance in hand.
The thick spear easily pierced through the stomachs of seven blood kobolds. When he could fit no more onto the shaft, Seo Jun-Ho threw it away and swung his shield to bash in the heads of the incoming blood kobolds.
“Kyak! Kyaaa!”
“Ku! Kung!” At this close of a distance, the stench of their saliva seeped through his helmet and prickled his nose.
“Hup!” Seo Jun-Ho pulled out Black Dragon Fang from his inventory and swung it like a club. As it made contact, the kobolds’ heads exploded like balloons.
‘Dammit, there’s too many of them.’
Even for Seo Jun-Ho, it would be impossible to kill them all while hiding his abilities.
‘If only I had Cruel Executioner right now…’
He felt a prickle of regret. Blood Pact would have made it much easier to supplement his stamina. As he was locked in thought, a kobold unhinged its jaw, aiming for his head.
“Shut your mouth and fuck off!” He slammed his elbow into its chin. He covered the shield with an aura and positioned it flat before he threw it at the kobolds like a dagger.
Woosh!
The shield cut through everything it made contact with, including the blood kobolds’ necks, arms, legs, and backs.
“Haa, haa…” His breath became more hot and shallow as sweat poured all over his body.
There were so many kobolds—too many of them. No matter where he looked, all he could see was the blood-red hue of their skins.
Clang!
Several blood kobolds stabbed his neck. Black Armor had saved him once again.
“…” Seo Jun-Ho turned toward them and seized the spears by the handles, breaking them in half. He stabbed the blunt end into their faces. 𝒷𝒹𝓸𝓿𝓁.𝒸ℴ𝓶
He had no time to rest.
No matter how many he killed, the kobolds just kept coming, wave after wave. To add insult to injury, Booster was also reaching its limit.
“Contractor!” The Frost Queen called, flying over. Seo Jun-Ho didn’t say anything and simply pointed to the ground.
“…I-I understand!” She nodded quickly and flew away.
***
“Cough, cough!”
Baek Geon-Woo regained consciousness. He didn’t know what was pressing all over his body, nor did he understand why it was so cold.
‘Right, the landslide!’
His eyes snapped open as he remembered what happened before he passed out. Right as they were about to approach the peak of the Hainal Mountains, a landslide had struck the battalion. He had quickly dug a hole for himself and barely managed to survive.
‘I have to get out!’
There was so much dirt on top of him that his body could barely move. But as he thrashed, he started to create more space. His teeth chattered. Even though he was underground, he didn’t know why it was so cold. He started to dig furiously at the fear of freezing to death.
“Ha!” After about five minutes, he could finally see sunlight. BaekGeon-Woo quickly crawled out of the ground, seeing other Players start to emerge.
Clang! Clang!
Just then, the clanging of weapons echoed from the top of the hills.
“There’s a battle? Didn’t everyone get wiped out?”
Baek Geon-Woo didn’t look away as he quickly started to climb. If there really was a battle happening, he had to get there and meet with the others as fast as possible.
“…?”
But when he arrived, he wasn’t greeted by the battalion. It was a single Player, fighting a solitary battle.
“Player… Seo Jun-Ho?”
He looked a mess. The sides of his armor were tattered, and his helmet was ripped in half. His left arm also appeared to be injured.
“Have you been fighting alone this whole time?”
The summit was covered with 150 corpses of blood kobolds. Baek Geon-Woo trembled as he watched the glorious battle.
“Player…”
That was all he was—a Player. A person who hunted monsters and protected the world.
“Player Seo Jun-Ho!”
A blood kobold swung its spear at Seo Jun-Ho’s open side.
Slam!
Baek Geon-Woo landed a powerful punch into its chin.
“Huff, huff…”
He could see the fatigue in the bare half of Seo Jun-Ho’s face. Baek Geon-Woo looked him straight in the eye. “Thank you for holding out. For fighting.”
“Huff, huff… The others…The other Players and Adventurers…How are they?” Seo Jun-Ho asked, breathing heavily.
“They…” Baek Geon-Woo cut himself off, closing his mouth. Instead of speaking, he looked back.
The people that survived had started to climb up the summit, weapons in hand.