Chapter 232: 232 Fight broke out

The mercenaries gathered at the guild were hurried along and stepped out through the city gates together.

The new mercenaries, not knowing what was happening, followed the lead mercenary with anxious expressions, scanning their surroundings.

Rin, likewise flustered by the sudden conscription, stayed close to Ian’s side.

“I didn’t expect to go out on a mission starting from the very first day…”

Rin tightly gripped the hilt of the sword at her waist and scanned the area with a tense face.

Not just Rin, but the other mercenaries who had been dragged along were also on high alert, watching for any potential monster approach.

Perhaps because of the meager equipment of the rookies, the guild had handed out several dusty shields from the warehouse, which clearly meant that fighting would be required.

Since they weren’t giving them away but only lending them for the mission, Ian had preemptively shifted his position to avoid receiving a heavy shield he didn’t want.

“Rin. You don’t need to be so nervous already. There’s nothing around.”

“B-but… what if something attacks from underground or the sky? Like a Sandworm, or a Wyvern…”

“Those monsters… do exist, but.”

While both were actual monsters in the game, they were high-level creatures that could only be seen by going on long expeditions far from the city.

They were hard to find and more difficult to catch than average monsters while offering mediocre rewards, so they weren’t particularly popular targets.

“How did you know about those monsters?”

“I read about them in a book! The village chief had a Monster Encyclopedia, so I studied it beforehand.”

…She must have skipped the ordinary monsters in the early Chapters because they were boring and only read about the interesting, grand ones at the back.

Rin leaned in close and whispered to Ian, keeping her voice low so the others wouldn’t hear.

“Captain… do you think the part about it being because of goblins is a lie?”

“We signed the contract before leaving, didn’t we? It said our opponents are goblins.”

“It’s just strange for this many people to swarm out just for some goblins.”

Even Rin, a complete novice in terms of mercenary experience, had seen goblins before.

Occasionally, a lone goblin would wander out of the forest near the village, and those were easy enough for Rin to chase away with a wooden stick by herself.

“If it were a dangerous monster, the city guard would have come out. There’s probably just a lot of goblins.”

Ian, who already knew which monsters appeared in the tutorial, gave Rin a hint of the right answer.

Rin didn’t let her guard down completely, but thinking Ian’s explanation sounded plausible, she breathed a sigh of relief with a more relaxed expression than before.

“Well, that’s a relief then. I thought I was being dragged into some dangerous mission from day one… To think it’s just goblins.”

“I don’t know how it was in your village, but they’ll probably be a bit different…”

Since she would experience it for herself shortly, Ian didn’t bother correcting Rin’s misconception.

* * *

As they drew closer to the forest near the city, several huts that appeared to be their destination came into view.

They were temporary shelters used by herbalists, woodcutters, and hunters who entered the forest.

Since it was a waste of time to return to the distant city every sunset, they would spend their nights in places like this built close to the woods during their work periods.

A red flag requesting help was fluttering on the roof of one of the huts.

As they approached the huts, the mercenaries could spot dozens of goblins surrounding the area.

Rin stared at the goblin horde with a look of horror.

“Gasp… Th-there are… so many goblins!”

“Goblins originally move in packs like this.”

“But only one ever showed up in the village!”

“That was likely a stray that got separated from its pack. They don’t normally go near human villages.”

As the mercenaries slowly closed the distance, the goblins also spotted them.

The gathered goblins made threatening noises toward the suddenly appearing mercenaries.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Hiee…!”

Surprised by the goblins’ display of savage aggression, Rin flinched.

Taking a step back, Rin cautiously pointed at a goblin with a bewildered face.

“They look a bit different from the goblins I’ve seen… Could they be different monsters?”

“…They’re goblins.”

It was true that goblins were cowardly, but such monsters that lived in groups tended to lose their fear as their numbers increased.

The goblin Rin had met was alone, so it was simply afraid of humans; however, if enough gathered in a pack, goblins were monsters that wouldn’t hesitate to attack people.

Since they were the complete opposite of the goblins in Rin’s memory, who would run away just from seeing a human face, her confidence—which had been high because she thought they would be easy—vanished in an instant.

While all the rookie mercenaries were flustered by the unprecedented number of goblins, the mercenary who had gathered the crowd at the guild drew his sword and shouted.

“Those of you who received shields, come forward and stand in the front!”

The lead mercenary who had escorted them.

In this game, it was a one-eyed mercenary named ’Chris’ who was in charge of teaching combat controls during the tutorial, and he hurried the mercenaries along with a shout.

“You! I said come forward!”

Chris formed a formation by grabbing the collars of the frustrating rookies and pushing them forward.

When Ian took a spot roughly in the second row, Rin followed his lead and stuck to his side.

While the other new mercenaries were all getting scolded and pushed into place by Chris, Ian and Rin, who had already moved near the front, only received a brief glance.

“If they get too close, swing your weapons and push them back! Don’t step out in front of the shields!”

Fitting for an NPC in charge of the combat tutorial, Chris shouted incessantly, giving instructions and teaching the mercenaries how to fight.

Seeing the character who, in the game, taught things like ’which button is for attacking’ now seriously explaining how to deal with monsters, Ian truly felt the reality of having entered the game world.

“Whew… Haa…”

“…Rin. Calm down.”

Since it was his first time seeing monsters in person, Ian also felt a bit of tension.

However, seeing Rin right next to him so much more nervous and unable to stay still, Ian felt his own tension gradually subsiding.

“Are you okay, Captain? There are so many of them…”

“We have a lot of people too. Just think of it as one person taking on one monster. Then it’s just one goblin.”

“Oh… I guess so?”

Rin, who had been intimidated by the unprecedented number of goblins, regained her confidence.

“Al-alright. Leave it to me! I’ll deal with your share too, Captain, so just stay behind me!”

“Now you’re too confident. Calm down.”

Not just Rin, but most of the people gathered at the guild were mercenaries who had just submitted their applications today.

The mercenaries, who like Rin had at most seen one or two goblins, were all intimidated by the massive pack.

The goblins were also wary of the sudden group of humans, keeping their distance and watching without attacking first.

At that moment, a goblin much larger than the others walked out from the back of the pack.

“Hiee… A huge one just came out!”

The goblin who appeared to be the leader that brought this pack down let out a threatening roar toward the mercenaries.

“Could it be a Goblin King…”

“…I’ll buy you a proper book later, so forget the one you saw in the village.”

In Rin’s behavior—having extensive knowledge of high-level dangerous monsters instead of the low-level monster info needed right now—Ian saw the image of beginners who looked up guides and tips for high-level dungeons they couldn’t even enter yet.

“That guy must be the boss.”

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Name: Goblin Fighter

Level: 13

Traits: [Strength Increase D] [Blunt Weapon Proficiency E] [Bash E]

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

In the context of the whole game, it wasn’t even a boss-tier but a normal monster; however, in a level 1 tutorial, it was a monster that could finish off mercenaries in just two normal attacks.

“What if that guy attacks…?”

“Don’t worry. Our numbers are similar, so they’ll run away after a bit of fighting.”

As an opponent with a level difference of over 10, the Goblin Fighter was a monster you wouldn’t even fight in a normal playthrough.

In the tutorial, you learn the combat controls by fighting a few goblins that charge first, and once those goblins die, the rest—including the Fighter—simply withdraw.

“Goblins won’t fight if they think they’re even slightly at a disadvantage.”

There was a way to intentionally draw the Goblin Fighter’s aggro during the fight to steal some experience points, but that was only a method allowed because it was a game; he couldn’t actually commit such a crazy act.

While Ian was thinking that and watching to see what other instructions Chris would give, Rin’s panicked voice called out to him.

“Huh? But I think it’s coming this way.”

“What?”

When Ian turned his head, just as Rin said, the Goblin Fighter was gradually drawing closer.

The rest of the goblins followed the Fighter, narrowing the distance to the mercenaries.

“Dammit, you idiots!”

Soon after, Chris’s angry voice was heard.

As Ian followed Chris’s gaze toward the back, he saw the retreating figures of several mercenaries who had abandoned their equipment and were running toward the city.

Seeing monsters for the first time, several mercenaries had fled upon seeing the Goblin Fighter.

Seeing that their more numerous opponents were actually the ones running away, the goblins decided the mercenaries were easy targets paralyzed by fear and were preparing to attack.

“Everyone, weapons up!”

Chris shouted as he stepped to the very front.

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