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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: The Angel's Interest
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"Whoa, that's insane..."
"Who is that guy? He's an incredible fighter."
"Black Scythe? Even his nickname is cool."
The people who had been gawking at Ryu Min soon turned away, their eyes tense.
There was no time to stand around in awe.
Goblins were already closing in on them.
'I-I can do this. Goblins are pushovers in games, right?'
'This isn't real anyway. It's just a well-made virtual reality game.'
'That guy is killing dozens of them by himself. They can't be that tough up close.'
Perhaps seeing Ryu Min's slaughter gave them confidence.
The fear in their eyes had vanished.
But that was only for a moment.
*Stab- stab- stab-!*
"Aaargh!"
"Ow, it hurts!"
As the swarming goblins stabbed them with daggers, shrill screams erupted from the crowd.
"S-stop it! It really hurts!"
"You damn monsters!"
"Agh! My arm! My arm!"
The people who had underestimated the goblins, thinking they were no different from children, were now wailing like them.
"H-help me!"
"Somebody help! Somebody help!"
"Th-this isn't real. It's not... Gack!"
Some were knocked unconscious by clubs.
Some collapsed after being stabbed by daggers.
Some were pushed over while trying to flee.
Some curled up on the ground, getting trampled.
And the goblins singled out those very people, stabbing them repeatedly.
In this scene of utter pandemonium, no one was delusional enough to think it was a game anymore.
Frankly, they didn't have the mental capacity for it.
Only one thought occupied their minds.
Survival.
The primal instinct to survive at all costs had taken over.
Was that why?
"Die! Die, you monster bastards!"
While many ran, some could be seen fighting back.
They were the ones who had no choice but to fight when the goblins got too close.
*Thwack- thwack!*
"Kieek!"
By swinging their fists for dear life, they managed to stun the goblins.
But that was all.
Killing them was another matter entirely.
Modern people who had never even killed a small animal couldn't possibly bring themselves to snap a goblin's neck.
*Stab-!*
"Guh!"
Instead, they were stabbed and collapsed weakly to the ground.
And after that?
*Stab- stab- stab- stab-*
They were surrounded by goblins that pounced like hyenas, helpless to resist.
[Kyohohoho, how amusing. This battle between humans and goblins.]
The angel watching from above laughed gleefully.
To the angel, this fight was no different from watching cats and dogs tear each other apart.
It was nothing more than simple entertainment.
[Even against childlike opponents, there's no way to withstand dozens of them rushing at you. Especially not when they're armed with daggers.]
But then, why was it?
There was one person who held his ground, even when dozens swarmed him.
It was the human who had been slaughtering goblins from the very beginning.
'What is that human? Black Scythe?'
The angel, Briel, looked down at the human with intrigued eyes.
She didn't know his name.
Even as an angel, she couldn't see the players' status windows.
The system rules forbade it.
Naturally, she also had no idea what kind of rune he had engraved.
'What a damn stupid system. It lets me see quest progress but blocks me from viewing player information.'
Briel's brow furrowed once more.
She was only doing this because she was ordered to, but being a guide was truly a wretched job.
It didn't suit her disposition, either.
But that feeling was fleeting.
The corners of her mouth crept up as she watched the pandemonium unfold.
'It's humiliating that a noble being such as myself has to act as a guide for these lowly humans, but...'
The fierce and brutal scene was perfectly to Briel's taste.
To be honest, she hadn't expected much.
Just a moment ago, she had been complaining about how boring a fight between humans and goblins would be.
'Kyohohoho. But this is more entertaining to watch than I thought, isn't it?'
The humans, struggling with faces full of despair.
The agonizing screams and the bloody battles.
Even after quite some time, the smile never left Briel's lips as she watched.
'Yes, kill them, kill them! Let's see you lowly insects fight it out! Kehehehe.'
Briel, who had been leisurely observing the chaos as if watching a house fire, shifted her gaze to one spot.
Unlike the rest of the field, which was stained with red blood, the area she was looking at was drenched in green.
And in the center of it all was the player with the nickname Black Scythe.
'Just who is that human? He's still alive?'
When he first stepped forward to kill the goblins, she had thought he was quite skilled.
She'd assumed he must have gotten a good rune that helped in combat.
But that was it.
She had looked away, uninterested.
He would run out of stamina eventually and die just like the other humans.
But as if mocking her prediction, the human was still alive.
And not just alive.
He was rampaging like a mad dog, slaughtering the goblins.
'That's 70 already. The other humans haven't even managed to pass 20.'
Briel clicked her tongue in amazement as she checked the quest status.
To have killed that many on his own was truly an impressive feat.
Especially considering it was his first time.
'This should be his first time in a situation like this, so how is he not panicking? It's as if he's experienced this many times before.'
His movements, devoid of any hesitation, and his cold, precise bladework made even the goblins flinch.
'Was he a killer back on Earth or something?'
She didn't know for sure, but the situation was turning out to be more interesting than she'd thought.
The corners of Briel's mouth curled up pleasantly.
* * *
*Slice-!*
"Kieeeek!"
The goblin, its eyes gouged out, shrieked and collapsed.
Without hesitation, Ryu Min lunged forward and plunged his dagger into the fallen goblin's neck.
*Thrust-!*
[You have defeated a goblin!]
[EXP +4%]
[Gold +10]
[You have leveled up!]
[Quest Progress: Goblins 75/100]
[25 goblins remaining to complete the quest.]
He ignored the level-up message and immediately rolled away.
*Thunk-!*
A dagger embedded itself in the spot where he had just been.
Without a moment to feel the close call, he sprang back to his feet.
*Stab-!*
"Kiaaak!"
He stabbed a goblin in the chest, then spun around to target another.
A continuous series of movements with no room to rest.
He couldn't let his guard down for a single moment.
Ryu Min's eyes quickly scanned the battlefield.
"Kiiiii..."
The goblins were backing away, their faces filled with fear.
Every goblin that had gotten close was now dead.
But he didn't let that make him careless.
'I can catch my breath for a moment.'
Having regained some composure, Ryu Min opened his status window.
He was already level 4.
Ryu Min's finger quickly tapped the stats.
'For now, I'm going all-in on Agility.'
Leveling up granted two stat points.
Ryu Min had invested all of them into Agility until he reached level 4.
As a result, his Agility, which had been 3, was now 9.
'Nothing's more important than Agility right now.'
Of Strength, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck, Agility was what he needed most.
Putting points into Agility increased not only evasion but also attack speed and movement speed.
Ryu Min turned his head toward his allies.
About 30 meters away, goblins and humans were tangled in a chaotic melee.
It was a true slaughterhouse.
"H-help me, aaargh!"
"Die! Just die, you monster bastards!"
Red blood and green blood mixed, creating a gruesome mess.
It was a stark contrast to Ryu Min, who was building a mountain of corpses all by himself.
'It can't be helped. This is their first time fighting goblins.'
No matter how much of an adult they were, killing a goblin wasn't easy.
They would be scared, terrified.
When they actually tried to fight, their bodies would freeze up.
He understood.
In his first run, he had been busy just running away.
'But running away won't solve anything.'
He had only realized that fact after dying twice.
Running might buy some time, but it wouldn't change the situation.
'The angel releases the goblins to force us to fight one way or another.'
Besides, this meadow...
It looked vast, but there were invisible barriers on all sides.
'Even if you somehow manage to avoid the angel's eyes, you're still a rat in a trap.'
The only way to escape this hellish situation was to complete the quest.
But even if they succeeded, only half of them would be able to return.
'The system only sends back those who finish first, so standing still is a disadvantage.'
It was better to kill even one more goblin quickly than to run.
Though killing 100 goblins alone wouldn't be easy.
'But it's not entirely impossible. More people means it's easier to divert their attention.'
To put it nicely, it was diverting their attention. To put it bluntly, it meant there were plenty of meat shields.
'People are probably starting to realize it by now. That if they cooperate, it's manageable.'
Of course, cooperating didn't mean their kill counts would rise together.
Only the person who contributed the most to killing a goblin would get the kill count.
'Still, many hands make light work.'
That wasn't the only advantage humans had.
A goblin's height was less than half that of an adult.
They were even smaller than the middle schoolers summoned here.
In terms of reach, humans had a clear advantage.
'Although unlike the goblins, who have clubs and daggers, humans weren't given any weapons...'
Ryu Min's gaze fell to the ground.
'But if you have a weapon, that's a different story.'
Right now, weapons were scattered all over the place, enough to trip over.
They were the ones the goblins had been holding before they died.
'Though fighting like me would be too much to ask.'
There was one thing Ryu Min had in common with the others.
Their base stats were all the same: 3.
It didn't matter if they were muscular or skinny.
Regardless of their physical bodies, all humans started with the same stats and under the same conditions.
In other words, it meant that others could move like Ryu Min...
'But it won't be easy. Not unless they've mastered it through dozens of experiences.'
Unless they were a killer straight out of a movie, slaughtering goblins like he did would be difficult.
Besides, he had put points into Agility, making him even nimbler than before.
'This should be enough to catch the angel's attention. Shall I start wrapping things up?'
As Ryu Min moved, the nearby goblins warily began to avoid him.
He immediately picked up a dagger from the ground.
He threw it without any particular aim, and the dagger struck a goblin squarely between the eyes.
"Kiek!"
The goblins flinched at the sight of their comrade collapsing and twitching.
"Not coming?"
As Ryu Min approached, the goblins hesitated and retreated.
He picked up another dagger and threw it, and another one fell.
"If you won't come to me, I'll come to you."
Instantly closing the distance, Ryu Min performed a dance of blades.
Green blood splattered in all directions.
[You have defeated a goblin!]
[EXP +4%]
[Gold +10]
[You have leveled up!]
[Quest Progress: Goblins 100/100]
[You have completed the Round 1 Quest!]
The moment he killed the 100th goblin and completed the quest.
A translucent pillar of light formed around Ryu Min.
It was a type of protective barrier that isolated him from monsters immediately upon quest completion.
'Round 1 cleared easily enough.'
The appearance of the barrier meant he was within the top half.
Those who failed to pass on a first-come, first-served basis would be instantly eliminated.
'I went on a goblin-killing spree partly to get the angel's attention, but...'
Ryu Min's gaze shifted to the message that appeared next.
[Congratulations! You are the first in this zone to complete the quest!]
[Congratulations! You are the first in all zones to complete the quest!]
[Your nickname will be registered in the rankings.]
'I also killed them quickly to get first place.'
In each round, the faster you complete the quest, the better.
Because rewards are distributed differently based on rank.
'Rewards are given to the top three in each zone, and for all zones combined.'
Among them, first place in all zones would undoubtedly receive a more advantageous reward than anyone else.
It meant he was the first among 1.8 billion players to complete the quest.
A moment later, a message appeared before Ryu Min's eyes.
It was a message about his reward.