I fell.
Time seemed to slow as I plummeted toward the goblin horde below. They looked up, yellow eyes gleaming, weapons raised.
This is either going to be really cool or I'm going to die.
I pulled my fist back, feeling Concussive Strike activate one final time. Every last drop of my stamina condensed into a single point.
I hit the ground.
BOOM.
The impact wasn't just sound—it was force. A shockwave exploded outward from where my fist struck the earth, radiating through the dirt like a physical wave. Goblins were launched backward in all directions, tumbling through the air, slamming into trees and rocks.
The ground cracked. A small crater formed beneath me.
And right in front of me, a perfect path opened up—a clear route through the scattered goblins, leading straight back toward the city.
[System: Concussive Strike successful!]
[System: Stamina: 0/100]
[System: You are now operating on pure spite and adrenaline!]
My legs felt like water. My vision swam. But the opening was there.
"NOW!" I shouted up at Amelia.
She jumped.
And landed directly in the middle of a group of goblins that were already recovering on the left side of the clearing.
Ten feet away from the opening I'd created.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I screamed.
"I WAS AIMING FOR THE GAP!" she yelled back, immediately drawing her sword to fend off three goblins at once.
"YOU MISSED BY TEN FEET!"
"IT LOOKED CLOSER FROM UP THERE!"
The goblins were recovering fast. Too fast. The ones I'd scattered were getting back up, shaking off the impact, and they looked angry.
Oh no.
Oh no no no.
Amelia cut down one goblin, kicked another, but more were closing in. She was good—really good—but there were too many.
And I could barely stand.
"HITOMI!" She slashed at a goblin that got too close. "CAN YOU MOVE?!"
"BARELY!"
"THAT'LL HAVE TO DO!" She fought her way toward me, movements precise despite being surrounded. "NEW PLAN!"
"WHAT PLAN?!"
"RUN! BACK TO THE CITY! THE GUARDS CAN HANDLE THIS!"
"THAT'S YOUR PLAN?! BRING THE GOBLINS TO THE CITY?!"
"IT'S TACTICALLY SOUND!" She reached me and grabbed my arm, half-dragging me toward the path. "THE GUARDS ARE TRAINED FOR THIS! WE'RE NOT!"
She had a point.
A terrible, cowardly, absolutely logical point.
We ran.
Well, Amelia ran. I stumbled along beside her, my legs moving more from momentum than actual strength. She was practically carrying me, one arm around my waist, the other holding her sword to fend off any goblins that got too close.
Behind us, the entire goblin horde gave chase.
"How—gasp—far to the city?!" I wheezed.
"Twenty minutes at normal pace!"
"I DON'T HAVE TWENTY MINUTES!"
"Then we'll make it in ten!" She adjusted her grip on me. "Stay with me! Don't pass out!"
[System: Stamina: -5/100]
[System: You are now operating on fumes and poor life choices!]
NEGATIVE stamina?! That's not even possible!
[System: Neither is punching the ground hard enough to create a crater, yet here we are! ♪]
A goblin spear sailed past my head.
"THEY'RE GAINING!" I shouted.
"I KNOW!" Amelia cut down a goblin that got too close. "Just—keep—moving!"
We crashed through the forest, branches whipping at our faces, roots trying to trip us. The goblin screeches were getting louder, closer.
Then, through the trees ahead, I saw it—the city walls.
"THERE!" Amelia gasped. "Almost—there—"
We burst out of the tree line and onto the road leading to the main gate.
The guards stationed there were sitting in a small booth, playing cards. One of them had just laid down what looked like a winning hand.
"Ha! Three queens! Pay up, Marcus—"
Amelia and I sprinted past them, screaming.
"GOBLINS!" I shouted.
"LOTS OF GOBLINS!" Amelia added.
"REALLY ANGRY GOBLINS!" I continued.
We didn't stop. Didn't slow down. Just kept running straight into the city.
Behind us, I heard:
"What did they—"
"Oh gods."
"THAT'S A LOT OF GOBLINS!"
"WHY ARE THERE SO MANY?!"
"SOUND THE ALARM!"
"WHERE'S MY SPEAR?!"
"YOU'RE SITTING ON IT!"
The sound of cards scattering, chairs falling, and panicked shouting filled the air as the goblin horde reached the gate.
We kept running.
Past the gate. Through the market square. People diving out of our way as two screaming, blood-covered girls sprinted past.
"IS THAT THE WAITRESS FROM THE TAVERN?!" someone shouted.
"WHY IS SHE COVERED IN BLOOD?!"
"ARE THOSE GOBLINS AT THE GATE?!"
We finally stopped in front of the Adventurer's Guild, both of us collapsing against the wall, gasping for air.
Behind us, in the distance, we could hear the sounds of battle—guards shouting orders, goblins screeching, the clash of steel.
[System: Quest Update - Goblin Subjugation: FAILED]
[System: You did not eliminate the nest. You just... relocated the problem.]
I don't care. I'm alive.
Amelia slid down the wall to sit on the ground, her sword clattering beside her. She was breathing hard, sweat dripping down her face, her red hair plastered to her forehead.
"That was..." she gasped. "...the most illogical thing... I've ever done."
"You said it was tactically sound!"
"I lied! That was pure panic!" She laughed breathlessly. "We just... we just brought a goblin horde to the city gates!"
"The guards will handle it. Right?"
"Probably? Maybe? I don't know!" She was still laughing, the kind of manic laughter that came from surviving something incredibly stupid. "We're terrible people!"
"Speak for yourself. I'm just trying not to die."
"You jumped into a goblin nest with Power Level 2.8!"
"THE QUEST SAID FIFTEEN!"
"It was CLEARLY more than fifteen!"
"I KNOW THAT NOW!"
We sat there for a moment, both of us covered in dirt and goblin blood, completely exhausted, while the sounds of combat echoed from the gate.
"Your jump was terrible, by the way," I said finally.
"Excuse me?"
"I made a perfect opening. You were supposed to land in the opening. You landed ten feet to the left."
"The tree was tall! Spatial judgment from that height is difficult!"
"You couldn't even see where you were landing, could you?"
She went very quiet.
"Amelia."
"...I might have misjudged the distance slightly."
"You can't see, can you?"
"I can see fine!"
"You're squinting right now."
"That's because the sun is bright!"
"It's evening. There is no sun."
She looked away. "I can see well enough for combat."
"You literally jumped into a group of goblins instead of the safe zone!"
"That was a tactical miscalculation, not a vision problem!"
I stared at her. "Do you need glasses?"
"No!"
"Amelia."
"Glasses are impractical for combat! They'd just get broken!"
"So you DO need them!"
"I didn't say that!" Her face was turning red. "I said they're impractical! Which is a completely logical reason not to wear them! It has nothing to do with—with—"
"With them being uncool?"
"They're NOT UNCOOL!" She stood up abruptly. "They're just... they don't suit my image as an adventurer! It's a professional consideration!"
[System: Oh, she's definitely lying.]
"You almost got us killed because you won't wear glasses."
"That's—that's a gross oversimplification of—" She stopped. Took a breath. "Look. I can manage. I've been managing. Today was just... a lot of variables."
"A lot of variables you couldn't see clearly."
"I—" She deflated slightly. "...Maybe I should consider vision correction. Logically speaking. For efficiency."
"You think?"
"But not glasses! Maybe a spell? Or an enchanted item? Something practical that doesn't—"
"—look like glasses?"
"...Yes."
I shook my head, too tired to argue further. "Whatever. As long as you don't land on me next time."
"There's going to be a next time?"
"With my luck? Probably."
She sat back down next to me with a sigh. "You're a disaster, you know that?"
"Says the girl who can't see past fifteen feet."
"I can see past fifteen feet! Things just get... slightly blurry."
"Uh-huh."
We sat in silence for a moment, watching people run past us toward the gate, presumably to help with the goblin situation we'd created.
"We should probably report to the guild," Amelia said eventually. "Explain what happened."
"And tell them we brought the goblins to the city?"
"We'll... frame it as a tactical decision. Strategic relocation of the threat to a more defensible position."
"That's just fancy words for 'we ran away screaming.'"
"Exactly. But it sounds better." She stood up and offered me a hand. "Come on. Let's face the consequences of our poor decision-making."
I let her pull me to my feet, my legs protesting every movement.
[System: Stamina restored to 5/100!]
[System: You can technically walk now! Slowly! Very slowly!]
We limped into the guild together.
The interior was chaotic. Adventurers were grabbing weapons, organizing into groups, clearly preparing to go help the guards. The receptionist was shouting orders, trying to coordinate the response.
When she saw us walk in, she froze.
"You," she said, pointing at me. "You're the F-rank who took the goblin subjugation quest."
"...Yes?"
"The goblin nest in Whispering Woods?"
"...Yes."
"Did you, by any chance, lead an entire goblin horde to the city gates?"
"...Define 'lead.'"
"DID YOU OR DID YOU NOT BRING THE GOBLINS HERE?!"
"Technically," Amelia interjected, stepping forward, "we executed a strategic withdrawal that resulted in the threat being relocated to a more secure defensive position with proper military support."
The receptionist stared at her. "You're D-rank. You know better than this."
"In my defense, I was originally fighting a small group when she—" Amelia gestured at me. "—arrived with significantly more than the quest indicated."
"The quest said fifteen!" I protested. "There were at least forty!"
"FORTY?!" The receptionist grabbed a paper from her desk. "The report said ten to fifteen! Low threat! How did you find forty?!"
"They were just there! In the cave! All of them!"
She rubbed her temples. "So the nest was much larger than estimated, you both engaged it despite being clearly outnumbered, and your solution was to bring them to the city?"
"When you say it like that, it sounds bad," I said.
"BECAUSE IT IS BAD!"
"But we're alive!" Amelia offered. "And the city guards are well-equipped to handle the situation! Our survival rate would have been approximately 12% in the forest versus 94% with guard support! It was the logical choice!"
"You endangered civilians!"
"Which is why we led them to the gate, not through the market! Controlled risk management!"
The receptionist looked like she wanted to throttle both of us. "Get out. Both of you. Go to the medical tent, get checked for injuries, and do NOT take any quests until I say you can."
"But my payment—" I started.
"YOU DIDN'T COMPLETE THE QUEST!"
"I killed two goblins!"
"THE QUEST WAS FOR SUBJUGATION OF THE ENTIRE NEST!"
"I tried! There were too many!"
"Which is why F-ranks don't take subjugation quests SOLO!" She pointed at the door. "Out. Before I have you both banned."
Amelia grabbed my arm and dragged me toward the exit. "We should go before she makes good on that threat."
"But I need money—"
"And you need to be alive to spend it! Come on!"
We stumbled out of the guild just as a group of high-rank adventurers rushed past us toward the gate, weapons drawn.
I sat down on the steps, completely defeated.
[System: Quest Failed!]
[System: Payment: 0 silver]
[System: Injuries sustained: Multiple bruises, exhaustion]
[System: Friendships made: 1 (probably)]
[System: Guard relations: Severely damaged]
[System: Overall assessment: Could have gone worse! ♪]
"Could have gone worse?" I muttered. "How?"
"We could be dead," Amelia said, sitting next to me. "So... relatively speaking, this is a win."
"I failed the quest. I have no money. I'm banned from taking more quests. And I started my morning with ten copper."
"Well..." She pulled out a small pouch. "I got enough goblin ears to complete my original quest before you showed up. Got paid five silver. Since you technically helped me survive—even if you also caused the problem—I should logically split the reward with you."
She held out two silver coins and fifty copper.
I stared at the money.
"You're giving me half?"
"It's only fair. Resource distribution based on contribution. Logical." She pressed the coins into my hand. "Besides, you used your skill to create the opening that let us escape. That has value."
[System: Payment received: 2 silver, 50 copper!]
[System: Auto-charity activating...]
The silver coins in my hand shimmered and vanished like they'd never existed. The copper coins clinked as they shifted, most of them disappearing as well, leaving only a handful behind.
"No—wait—" I tried to hold onto them, but it was like trying to grab smoke.
[System: 2 silver, 37 copper distributed to charity!]
[System: Remaining balance: 13 copper]
[System: +12,350 Karma!]
[System: Current Karma: -9,999,999,999,999,999,978,163]
Amelia stared at my hand, watching the coins literally vanish. "Did your money just... disappear?"
I looked at the thirteen copper coins left in my palm. All that remained of two and a half silver.
"It's a curse," I said flatly.
"A curse that makes money disappear?"
"A curse that takes most of what I earn. I only keep about 5%." I pocketed the remaining copper. "The rest just... goes away."
"That's terrible!" She looked genuinely sympathetic. "Can it be broken?"
"Eventually. Maybe. If I can ever—" I stopped myself. Too much explanation. "It's complicated."
"Curses usually are." She frowned. "But logically speaking, if you're only keeping 5% of your earnings, you'd need to make twenty times more money just to break even on basic living expenses. That's... incredibly inefficient."
"Tell me about it."
"No wonder you're so desperate for high-paying quests." She shook her head. "That's genuinely unfortunate. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault."
"Still. Having your earnings stolen by magic is objectively terrible." She stood up and stretched. "Well, hopefully that curse breaks soon. In the meantime, I suppose you'll just have to take more quests. Preferably ones that don't involve leading monsters to cities." She stood up and stretched. "Anyway. I should go report my quest completion officially and check on the gate situation. Will you be okay?"
"I'll survive. Probably."
"Good. Because from a logical standpoint, adventuring with you is incredibly dangerous but also surprisingly effective." She smiled slightly. "If you need a partner for future quests—ones that don't involve leading monsters to cities—let me know. Safety in numbers and all that."
"You want to party with me? After today?"
"Well, it would be illogical to hold a grudge over an honest mistake. And you did create an excellent tactical opening with that ground strike." She adjusted her sword belt. "Plus, someone needs to make sure you don't get yourself killed. Consider it... ongoing risk management."
[System: Friendship level increased!]
[System: Amelia - Ally Status: Established!]
"Thanks," I said. "I think?"
"You're welcome. Now go get checked by a healer. You look terrible." She waved and headed off toward the medical tent.
I sat there on the steps, exhausted, broke, and covered in goblin blood.
But somehow... not completely miserable.
I had thirteen copper. I'd gained over twelve thousand karma. I'd survived a goblin horde. And I'd made a friend.
A friend who couldn't see past fifteen feet and refused to wear glasses, but still.
[System: Overall daily assessment: Chaotic, but productive!]
[System: You didn't die! That's progress!]
I laughed weakly. "Setting the bar real high there, System."
[System: Baby steps! ♪]
I pulled myself to my feet and started limping toward the medical tent.
Tomorrow, I'd figure out how to earn more money without dying.
Tonight, I just needed to not pass out.
Baby steps.