"VERY HARD! VERY VERY HARD!!!"
I crashed through the underbrush, lungs burning, legs screaming, with what sounded like an entire army of screeching goblins behind me.
How did this happen?! HOW DID THIS HAPPEN?!
[System: Well, let's review—]
NOT NOW!
Ten Minutes Earlier
Whispering Woods was actually quite pleasant.
Dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves. Birds chirped. A gentle breeze rustled the branches. Very peaceful. Very scenic.
This won't be bad at all, I thought, following the crude map the guild had provided. Find nest, eliminate goblins, collect ears, get paid. Simple.
[System: Famous last words.]
Optimism is healthy.
[System: Optimism is how people die.]
I ignored the System and pressed deeper into the woods. After about twenty minutes of walking, I started noticing signs—scratches on trees, bones scattered on the ground, the smell of something foul.
Getting close.
The map indicated the nest should be in a small cave system near a rocky outcropping. I found it easily enough—a dark opening in the hillside, surrounded by crude totems made of sticks and skulls.
Charming.
I approached carefully, trying to peer inside. It was dark. Very dark. I couldn't see how deep it went.
The quest said 10-15 goblins. If I'm smart about this, I can take them one at a time. Maybe lure them out—
A goblin emerged from the cave.
It was short—maybe four feet tall—with gray-green skin, pointed ears, and yellow eyes. It wore scraps of leather armor and carried a rusty dagger.
It saw me.
I saw it.
We stared at each other for a moment.
Then it opened its mouth and screamed.
Oh no.
More goblins poured out of the cave. Not ten. Not fifteen.
Dozens.
"That's not—the quest said—WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!"
[System: Goblin nests grow exponentially if left unchecked! This one is clearly older than the guild estimated!]
"YOU COULDN'T MENTION THAT EARLIER?!"
The nearest goblin charged at me, dagger raised.
Instinct kicked in. I punched it.
Or tried to.
The moment my fist connected, I felt something activate. A surge of power that felt like all my old yokai strength condensed into a single point of impact.
Concussive Strike.
The goblin didn't just fall.
It launched.
My fist hit its face, and there was a sound like thunder. The goblin's head snapped back at an unnatural angle, and its entire body flew backward like it had been hit by—well, by a truck.
It crashed into a tree twenty feet away with a crunch that made me wince.
It didn't get up.
[System: First kill! Concussive Strike activated successfully!]
[System: Stamina: 45/100]
I stared at my fist, then at the very dead goblin.
I didn't mean to kill it. I just wanted to—
Another goblin shrieked and lunged at me.
I reacted on instinct again, driving my palm into its chest.
Concussive Strike.
CRACK.
This one flew even farther, tumbling through the air before slamming into a boulder. Its body crumpled like paper.
[System: Second kill! You're getting the hang of this!]
[System: Stamina: 20/100]
Wait, twenty?! I only have—
The world swayed. My legs felt like jelly. Breathing was suddenly very difficult.
And there were still at least thirty goblins between me and freedom.
They were all staring at me now. At their two dead companions. At me.
Oh.
Oh no.
They screamed. All of them. At once.
And charged.
"NOPE!" I turned and ran. "NOPE NOPE NOPE!"
[System: Tactical retreat! A wise choice!]
IT'S NOT TACTICAL, I'M JUST RUNNING AWAY!
Present
My lungs were on fire. My legs were cramping. The goblins were gaining.
I'm going to die. I'm going to die in a forest being chased by goblins. This is the stupidest death possible.
[System: At least you'll respawn?]
Respawn?! Is that a thing in this world???
Wait a sec If I could respawn the guild wouldn't have made me sign that...
[System: Oh. Right. Well... run faster?]
I crashed through a particularly thick patch of bushes and stumbled into a small clearing—
—where a girl with vibrant red hair was fighting three goblins.
She moved with practiced efficiency, her sword flashing in the dappled sunlight. One goblin fell. Then another. She was clearly experienced, clearly capable, clearly about to finish her fight—
Until I burst into the clearing with thirty-plus screaming goblins behind me.
"LOOK OUT!" I screamed.
The girl spun, saw me, saw the horde, and her eyes went wide.
"What did you DO?!"
"I DON'T KNOW! THEY JUST KEPT COMING!"
The goblins I'd brought merged with the ones she'd been fighting. Now there were easily thirty-five to forty of the little monsters, all screaming and waving weapons.
The girl dispatched a few of her original three with a quick slash, then grabbed my arm.
"RUN!"
"I'M ALREADY RUNNING!"
"RUN FASTER!"
We bolted through the forest together, the goblin horde hot on our heels. The girl was faster than me—significantly faster—but she adjusted her pace, staying alongside me despite my pathetic stamina.
"Why—huff—are there—wheeze—so many?!" I gasped.
"That nest was marked as a minor infestation!" she shouted back. "That's not minor! That's a full colony!"
"The guild—huff—said fifteen!"
"The guild was WRONG!"
A goblin spear sailed past my head, missing by inches.
"They're getting closer!" the girl yelled.
[System: Stamina: 5/100]
[System: You're about to collapse!]
I KNOW!
"I can't—" I stumbled, legs giving out.
The girl caught me, half-dragging me forward. "Stay with me! We need to—there!"
She pointed ahead to a massive oak tree with low-hanging branches.
"Can you climb?!"
"I—maybe—"
"Good enough! Move!"
She practically threw me at the tree. I grabbed the lowest branch and pulled myself up with strength I didn't know I had left. The girl was right behind me, climbing with practiced ease.
Below us, the goblin horde arrived, screeching and jumping, trying to reach us. They clawed at the trunk, piled on top of each other, but couldn't climb high enough.
We kept climbing until we were about fifteen feet up, well out of reach.
I collapsed against the trunk, gasping for air, my entire body shaking.
The girl sat on a branch across from me, breathing hard but far less exhausted than I was.
Below, the goblins circled and shrieked, but didn't attempt to climb.
"Cave goblins," the girl said between breaths. "They can't climb trees. We're safe. For now."
"For now?" I wheezed.
"They'll wait us out. Could be hours." She looked at me properly for the first time. "What rank are you?"
"F."
"F-rank and you went after a goblin nest alone?"
"The quest said fifteen goblins!"
"Even fifteen is a lot for F-rank solo!" She ran a hand through her red hair, clearly frustrated. Then she took a breath, and her expression shifted to something more controlled. "Sorry. That was... I shouldn't have yelled. It's just—logically speaking, taking a subjugation quest at your rank without backup was—" She stopped herself. "What's your power level?"
"2.8."
She stared at me. "You have Power Level 2.8 and you took a SUBJUGATION quest?!"
"I needed the money!"
"You need to be ALIVE to spend money!" She rubbed her temples. "Okay. Okay. Getting angry isn't productive. We need to focus on surviving this situation."
[System: She seems nice!]
She seems like she wants to strangle me.
[System: Probably both!]
The girl took another calming breath. "I'm Amelia. D-rank adventurer. I was here on a small goblin clearing quest—five to eight goblins. Which I'd almost completed before you..." She gestured vaguely at the horde below.
"I'm Hitomi. And I'm sorry. I didn't know there would be that many."
"Clearly." She sighed. "But what's done is done. The logical thing now is to work together to get out of this alive."
"Can you fight them all?"
"No. I'm D-rank, not S-rank. I could handle maybe ten or twelve at once, with difficulty. But forty?" She shook her head. "We'd need backup. Or a better plan."
I looked down at the goblins. They showed no signs of leaving.
"How long can they wait?"
"Hours. Maybe longer. They're persistent." She studied me. "You said you needed money. That's why you took this quest?"
"I have... debt. A lot of debt."
"Ah." She nodded like that explained everything. "Financial desperation leads to poor risk assessment. That's... unfortunate. But understandable."
Is she trying to comfort me or lecture me?
[System: Both, probably!]
"You're not from around here, are you?" Amelia continued. "The accent, the clothes—you're an otherworlder?"
I hesitated. "How did you—"
"The exotic appearance is a giveaway. Also, most locals know not to underestimate goblin nests." She said it matter-of-factly, without judgment. "Are you one of the summoned heroes?"
"Not... exactly."
"That's fine. Not my business." She pulled out a water skin and took a drink, then offered it to me. "Here. You need to rehydrate. Logically speaking, we both need to maintain our energy if we're going to survive this."
I took the water gratefully. "Thank you."
"It's practical, not charity," she said quickly. "A dehydrated companion is a liability."
[System: She's totally being nice and trying to hide it.]
I drank deeply, feeling some strength return. Not much, but enough that I wasn't actively dying anymore.
"So," Amelia said, studying the goblins below. "Do you have any combat skills? Special abilities? Anything that might help us get out of this?"
I thought about Concussive Strike. "I have one skill. But I can only use it three times before I collapse. I already used it twice."
"What does it do?"
"Devastating impact. Kills weaker enemies instantly. Stuns stronger ones for three seconds."
Her eyebrows rose. "That's... actually impressive. But only one use left?"
"Yeah."
"Then we need to be strategic about when to use it." She looked around, assessing the situation. "The goblins won't leave until dark, probably. And we can't stay in this tree all night—we'd freeze. So we need to create an opportunity to escape."
"How?"
"I'm working on that." She pulled out a small notebook and started writing . "Logical planning. Step one: assess resources. I have a sword, basic supplies, and enough stamina for maybe ten minutes of sustained combat. You have one use of a powerful skill and... what else?"
"Um. I can run? Slowly?"
"...Right." She made a note. "Step two: identify weaknesses. The goblins can't climb, but they're fast and numerous. They have poor organization—no clear leader that I can see. That's good. Means if we can break their formation, they might scatter."
"How do we break their formation from up here?"
"I'm thinking." She tapped her pencil against the notebook. "Your skill— umm what did you call it? How much area does it affect?"
"I... don't know? I just punched two goblins and they died."
"Hmm. If the impact is strong enough, it might create a shockwave. Could potentially scatter a group." She looked down at the goblins, then back at me. "Here's what I'm thinking. We wait for them to cluster together—which they'll do naturally since they're not very smart. Then you drop down and use your skill on the ground. The impact might scatter them, create an opening. I follow immediately, we fight through the gap, and run."
"That's... a lot of running."
"Can you manage it?"
I checked my stamina mentally. [System: Stamina: 25/100]
Twenty-five percent. Not great.
"Maybe?"
"That's not encouraging, but it's what we have to work with." She closed her notebook. "The alternative is waiting for nightfall and trying to sneak away. But night is when cave goblins are most active. We'd be at a disadvantage."
"So the plan is: I jump down, punch the ground, hope it scatters them, then we run for our lives?"
"In essence, yes."
"That's a terrible plan."
"Do you have a better one?"
"...No."
"Then it's a terrible plan we're going with." She smiled slightly. "Logically speaking, a bad plan executed well is better than no plan at all."
I looked down at the goblins. They were still circling, still screeching, showing no signs of boredom.
"Okay," I said. "Let's do it."
"Wait for my signal. I need to position myself on the other side of the tree so I can jump down after you create the opening." She started climbing around the trunk.
I took a deep breath and looked at my hands.
One use of Concussive Strike left.
This had to work.
Please let this work.
[System: Preparing for impact! Try not to die!]
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
Below, the goblins continued their vigil, completely unaware that the two humans in the tree were about to do something incredibly stupid.
Amelia got into position on the opposite side of the trunk and gave me a thumbs up.
I moved to the edge of my branch, gathering what little strength I had left.
Here goes nothing.
I jumped.