The Hobgoblin stared at Soumya, its brutish mind slowly processing the situation. It recognized her as the source of its frustration. With an enraged roar, it began to lumber towards her, ignoring the other three Hunters completely.
"It's coming for you!" Anil shouted, forcing himself to his feet.
"We can't hurt it," Rohan said, his voice laced with despair as he finally retrieved his sword. "Its hide is too thick. Priya's bolts just annoy it, and it can parry my attacks all day."
They were right. Their combined firepower was insufficient. They could dodge, with Soumya's guidance, but they couldn't win. A war of attrition was a guaranteed loss. They would run out of stamina long before the monster did.
Survival wasn't enough. They had to clear the objective.
As the Hobgoblin advanced, its heavy footfalls shaking the cavern floor, Soumya's mind raced. Brute force was useless. Evasion was a temporary solution. They needed a new approach. They needed to create an opening.
And in the vast, perfect library of her memory, a file opened. The B-Rank Striker. Graves.
She replayed the recording from the training center, not the powerful slashes, but the footwork. There was a specific sequence she had watched him practice over and over—a short, rapid series of steps designed not for attack, but for destabilization. A way to unbalance a larger, stronger foe. The name of the technique flashed in her mind. Phantom Step.
[Recall: 'Phantom Step' movement sequence.]
[Cross-referencing with user's current skill: 'Dagger Arts (F)'.]
[Replication possible. Estimated efficiency: 15%.]
Fifteen percent. It was a laughably small number. A pale, pathetic imitation of the real thing. But it might be enough.
"I have a plan," Soumya said, her voice cutting through the tension. Her eyes were locked on the advancing monster. "It will only work once. You all have to be ready."
"A plan?" Rohan scoffed, though his voice lacked its earlier arrogance. "What are you going to do, bore it to death with trivia?"
"Anil," Soumya ignored him, her focus absolute. "I need you to bait its vertical smash. The growl. Get its attention. Make it commit to the attack, but you have to dodge at the last second. Can you do that?"
The big Warden looked from Soumya's determined face to the approaching behemoth. He gave a single, firm nod. "I can."
"Priya, the moment it stumbles—if it stumbles—I need your strongest [Mana Bolt] aimed at its head. Don't hesitate. Rohan, you're on cleanup. As soon as that bolt hits, you attack. Whatever you can, as hard as you can."
The plan was insane. It hinged entirely on her, the weakest member of the team, doing… something. But the memory of her perfectly timed commands was still fresh. They had no other options.
"Alright, fine," Rohan gritted out. "Let's try the nerd's plan."
"Do it!" Soumya ordered.
Anil took a deep breath, banged his fist on his shield to draw the Hobgoblin's attention, and charged. The monster, enraged, met his charge. It raised its club high, the tell-tale growl rumbling in its chest.
[Vertical smash initiated.] the System whispered in Soumya's mind.
"Now, Anil!"
Anil dove to the side, a clumsy but effective roll. The Hobgoblin's club came crashing down, its full force committed to the attack. For one critical second, its entire body was locked in the downward motion, its feet planted. Its attention was on Anil.
It was the only chance she would get.
Soumya moved.
She pushed her weak body to its absolute limit, her mind screaming the instructions from the [Eidetic Recall].
[Executing 'Phantom Step'. Efficiency at 15%.]
It wasn't a heroic charge. It was a short, sharp burst of movement. A quick shuffle-step to the side, a rapid pivot. For a single, fleeting instant, her movement was a ghostly echo of the B-Rank Striker's. She slipped past the monster's peripheral vision, her cheap knife held in a reverse grip.
She wasn't aiming for its back, or its neck, or any other vital point. She was aiming lower.
The Hobgoblin's massive, hairy ankle.
As the beast was recovering from its missed swing, her blade sliced across its thick Achilles tendon.
It was a shallow cut. The F-Grade knife barely broke the skin. Against the creature's immense bulk, the attack was less than a papercut. But the technique wasn't about damage. It was about balance. The perfectly placed strike, combined with the ghost of a B-Rank's footwork, was just enough to disrupt its posture at the most critical moment.
The Hobgoblin's ankle buckled.
Its immense body swayed, its attack going wide as it fought to keep its balance. It let out a roar of surprised fury.
That single moment was all they needed.
"Priya, now!" Soumya screamed, scrambling back.
Priya, her face set with determination, unleashed the [Mana Bolt] she had been charging. It flew true, striking the stumbling Hobgoblin square in the face. The impact wasn't strong enough to kill it, but it made the beast roar in pain, its head snapping back.
Before the roar had even faded, Rohan was there. His sword, glowing with a brilliant blue light, plunged deep into the Hobgoblin's exposed chest, a perfect, desperate thrust.
The monster froze. Its yellow eyes widened in shock. It looked down at the blade buried in its torso, then at Rohan's face. It let out a final, wet gurgle, and then its massive body crashed to the floor with a ground-shaking thud.
Silence.
Then, a sterile, female voice echoed through the cavern.
[Objective cleared. Boss eliminated. Ending simulation.]
The world dissolved into a blur of white light.