"I have arrived! Kill them all!"
Han-wool's shout pierced through the crackling of the burning village, acting as the starting gun for the slaughter.
He threw himself to the ground, sliding under the cover of a massive tree root just as the wave of green skin crashed into the clearing. The goblins, blinded by rage and the smoke of their burning homes, didn't notice the shadows above them shifting unnaturally.
"Now."
From the canopy, Sin Je-won dropped like a phantom. His leather armor made no sound as he landed in the center of the chaotic horde. He didn't draw a weapon immediately; instead, he slammed his palm onto the forest floor.
"Class Skill: «Curtain of Darkness»!"
Vwoom.
In an instant, the natural shadows of the forest expanded, turning into a pitch-black dome with a radius of fifteen meters. It wasn't just an absence of light; it was a sensory deprivation field.
Inside the dome, the shrieks of the goblins turned from rage to confusion. They swung their rusty scimitars wildly, hitting nothing but air—or worse, their own kin.
[Debuff Applied: Confusion]
[Enemy accuracy reduced by 40%.]
Han-wool watched from his hiding spot, analyzing the skill with his veteran eyes. 'Not bad. His radius is decent for an F-Rank, but the casting time is too slow. If those were Orcs, he would have been beheaded before the darkness settled. Still, against Goblins, it's a death sentence.'
Just as a straggler goblin stumbled out of the darkness, spotting Han-wool with its bloodshot eyes, a cold voice cut through the air.
"Stay down, Porter."
Jung Ma-ri stepped forward, her staff glowing with a pale blue light. She slammed the butt of her staff onto the ground.
"Class Skill: «Ice Wall»!"
The moisture in the air instantly crystallized. A thick, jagged barrier of ice erupted from the earth, separating Han-wool from the rushing monsters. The goblin that had lunged at him smashed its face against the translucent wall, sliding down with a dazed groan.
Ma-ri didn't stop there. Her eyes glowed with mana as she looked at the goblins trying to flee Je-won's darkness.
"You're not going anywhere. «Frost»!"
A wave of absolute zero cold washed over the clearing. The ground turned white with hoarfrost. The goblins, already disoriented, found their movements slowing to a crawl.
Ice began to creep up their legs, freezing their muscles and locking their joints.
"K-Kiek?"
The goblins looked down in horror as their feet became fused to the forest floor. They tried to hack at the ice with their short swords, but the frost was relentless, climbing higher up their waists.
Ma-ri exhaled a cloud of white breath, her face pale from mana exhaustion. "I will leave the remaining ones to you two."
"Good work, Ma-ri!"
Seonwoon, the team leader, charged forward. His spear, a sturdy steel weapon, began to hum with a dangerous frequency. Mana spiraled around the shaft, condensing rapidly at the very tip until it shone like a star.
"Class Skill: «One Point»!"
It was a simple, brutal skill. By focusing all his attack power into a single pixel of space, Seonwoon ignored the concept of durability.
He moved like a blur.
Thwack! Thwack! Crunch!
He darted between the frozen statues. The Warrior Goblins, who prided themselves on their crude iron chest plates and leather hides, didn't stand a chance.
Seonwoon thrust his spear. It didn't just push through; it obliterated the contact point. The tip passed through armor, flesh, and bone as if they were made of wet paper.
He moved in a straight line, piercing the hearts of three immobilized warriors in a single breath.
"Finish them, Seol-a!" Seonwoon shouted, leaping back to avoid the backlash.
"Leave it to me, Leader!"
Bae Seol-a, the youngest of the combat team, stepped up. Her face was flushed with excitement. She raised her red-jeweled staff high, the air around her warping from the heat.
"Burn them to ash! Class Skill: «Blaze»!"
She swung her staff downward. A torrent of flames erupted from the tip, taking the shape of a roaring dragon's breath.
The fire collided with Ma-ri's ice.
HISSSSSSS!
The sound of thermal shock was deafening. The frozen goblins didn't just burn; the sudden shift from extreme cold to extreme heat caused their armor and skin to crack and shatter before being consumed by the inferno.
The remaining Warrior Goblins screamed as the flames engulfed them, turning the clearing into a temporary hellscape.
Within seconds, silence returned to the forest, save for the crackling of dying embers.
Han-wool stood up, dusting off his knees. 'Effective combo. Darkness to group them, Ice to hold them, Spear to break defenses, and Fire to wipe the board. Standard, but effective.'
"Phew..." Seonwoon wiped sweat from his forehead, leaning on his spear. "That went better than expected. But that took a lot of mana."
He looked around at his panting teammates. Ma-ri was leaning against a tree, and Seol-a was fanning herself.
"Let's take a break," Seonwoon ordered.
"We need to recover before we head inside the Goblin Village. The only thing left is the boss."
"Understood," Je-won grunted, stepping out of the shadows.
Han-wool immediately switched back to his persona. "Good work, everyone! That was amazing! I've never seen such coordination!"
He signaled to Baek Woojin, who was staring wide-eyed at the charred remains of the goblins. "Woojin, the potions. Hurry."
"Ah! Y-Yes, brother!"
The two porters moved quickly, pulling vials of blue and red liquid from their bags.
"Here, Miss Ma-ri," Han-wool said, handing a Mana Potion to the Ice Mage. "Drink this slowly. Using two skills back-to-back must have been draining."
Ma-ri took the bottle, her cold demeanor softening slightly. "Thanks. You... you did okay with the luring. I suppose."
"I just ran for my life," Han-wool laughed nervously. "You guys did the real work."
He moved to Seonwoon and Je-won, handing them stamina and health potions. As he did, he made a mental note of their condition.
Seonwoon has good physical discipline, his breathing is already steady. Je-won is hiding a limp in his left leg; he probably twisted it landing from the tree. Ma-ri is running on fumes; her mana pool is small.
After twenty minutes of rest, the team stood up. The mood was heavier now. The grunt work was done; now came the payday.
"The target is the Hobgoblin," Seonwoon announced, his voice serious. "Also known as the Goblin Chief. It's an E-Rank boss, meaning it's stronger, smarter, and nastier than anything we've fought so far."
"Is it alone?" Seol-a asked.
"It should be," Han-wool interjected softly.
"The warriors we just killed were likely his personal guard. The Chief usually stays in the largest hut at the back of the village."
Seonwoon nodded. "Right. Formation! Tanker in front. Mage and Assassin on the flanks. Porters, stay way back. If things go wrong, run."
"Yes, sir!" Woojin squeaked.
They marched out of the forest and back toward the burning village. The fire Han-wool had started had mostly died down, leaving smoldering ruins and the stench of ozone.
At the far end of the village stood a hut made not of wood, but of bone and tanned leather. It was twice the size of the others.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Heavy footsteps vibrated through the ground.
From the dark entrance of the bone hut, a massive figure emerged.
It stood nearly two meters tall, towering over the humans. Its skin was a dark, bruised purple rather than the common green.
Muscles bulged like twisted roots under its skin, and in its hand, it dragged a massive club studded with jagged obsidian shards.
[Boss Monster: Red-Eye Hobgoblin]
[Rank: E]
The creature sniffed the air, smelling the blood of its tribe. It looked at the charred corpses near the gate, then turned its glowing red eyes toward the party.
"GWOOOOOOOOORH!"
The roar was primal, shaking the leaves off the nearby trees.
"It's huge..." Woojin whispered, trembling.
"Hold the line!" Seonwoon shouted, leveling his spear. "Hyun-bina! Draw its attention!"
"On it!"
Park Hyun-bina, the Tanker who had been relatively quiet during the ambush, slammed her shield with her mace. CLANG! CLANG!
"Hey! Over here, you ugly brute!" she shouted, activating her skill «Taunt».
The Hobgoblin's eyes narrowed. It ignored the others and locked onto the shield-bearer. With a burst of speed that defied its size, it charged.
Han-wool watched from the back, his eyes narrowing.
That club... it's not just a weapon. It has a wind enchantment.
The Hobgoblin reached Hyun-bina in a second. It raised the massive club.
"Block it!" Seonwoon screamed.
BAM!
The impact was like a cannon shot. Hyun-bina was skidded backward three meters, her boots digging trenches in the dirt. She groaned, her arms shaking under the shield.
"It's heavy!" she yelled through gritted teeth.
"I can't hold it for long!"
"Je-won! Now!"
The assassin flickered into existence behind the boss, his dagger aiming for the hamstring.
Slash.
The dagger cut the skin, but it didn't go deep. The Hobgoblin's muscles were too dense.
"Tch, its skin is like iron!" Je-won cursed, retreating before the monster could backhand him.
Han-wool's hand drifted toward his pocket, fingering a small stone he had picked up earlier.
They are struggling because they lack damage output, he analyzed. Seonwoon needs a clear shot for 'One Point,' but the boss is moving too much. They need an opening.
He looked at Ma-ri. She was charging a spell, but her hands were shaking.
If this drags on, the Tanker will collapse first.
Han-wool looked at the shadow beneath the Hobgoblin. He quietly activated the skill he had just stolen from the Mage Goblin.
«Darkness» (Lv. 1)
It wasn't powerful enough to blind the boss like Je-won's curtain, but it was enough for a trick.
Just as the Hobgoblin prepared a second, crushing overhead swing that would likely break Hyun-bina's shield, Han-wool flicked his finger.
The shadow beneath the Hobgoblin's left foot suddenly spiked upward, snagging its heel.
It was a tiny disruption. Invisible to everyone else.
But for a creature relying on brute momentum, it was fatal.
The Hobgoblin stumbled. Its swing went wide, smashing into the ground instead of the shield.
"An opening!" Seonwoon roared. He didn't know how it happened, but he didn't waste the miracle.
He lunged forward, his spear glowing brighter than ever.
"«One Point»!"
SQUELCH.
The spear drove deep into the Hobgoblin's exposed armpit, piercing straight toward the heart.
The boss froze. Its red eyes widened in shock.
"Die!" Seol-a screamed, unleashing her skill «fireball» that exploded against the monster's face.
The giant body swayed, then crashed to the ground with an earth-shaking thud.
Silence returned to the clearing.
"We... we did it?" Woojin asked, breathless.
"We did it," Han-wool replied, a small, secretive smile playing on his lips as the system notification rang in his head.
One step closer.