ACS 05

Episode 5

The Goblin Chieftain I’d only heard about. Even though I’m a field combatant, there haven’t been any powerful monsters appearing recently.
“And powerful monsters are mostly handled by the three major guilds anyway.”
‘But… a ritual to become an Overlord?’
The Goblin Overlord, which appeared on the Day of the Great Upheaval when the gates first opened and hasn’t shown itself since. If I mess up, it could emerge right here.
“Damn it.”

Click—.

After switching to burst fire, I quickly shot down the ones rushing closest to me.

Rat-a-tat-tat—!!!

In an instant, the two charging at me died.
‘Huh?’
But can I aim this accurately and swiftly even on burst fire? Overcoming the recoil too?
And [Novice Firearms Proficiency] is still so low…?

“Bring it on!”

Rat-a-tat-tat—!!!

The K2 rifle spewed fire, and the recklessly charging creatures lost their lives to lethal bullets.
“Good. Keep coming!”
At that moment, the goblin pack’s movements halted.
“…?”
“Kerurur…”

In the center, a goblin much larger than the others, about the size of an adult human, let out a low growl.
“Goblin Chieftain…”
An entity that uses magic. Extremely dangerous.
‘It has a shield, so attacking won’t be easy.’
Then when should I strike?
Right when it’s casting another spell.

Basically, ‘Double Casting’ is only possible for very, very powerful beings. Even among Awakened, few can double cast. In our country, only Baek Hyeon-soo, the guild master of the ‘Blue Bear Guild’, one of the three major guilds, can do it.
‘It’s not an Overlord yet, so it can’t double cast.’
It’s an entity that hasn’t become an Overlord. If the ritual completes, it will become an Overlord and gain immense power…
“But I’ll kill it before that.”
“Kerurur!!!”
As the Goblin Chieftain shrieked, the halted goblins charged at me again.
And this time, they weren’t approaching simply.

“Tch, trying to surround me?”
A tactical movement different from before. Five died instantly, so they must have been panicked too.

[Novice Firearms Proficiency Lv.1 → Lv.2]

‘This is good.’

What I have now are a K2 rifle and a K5 pistol.
And quite a bit of ammo.
The position favors me. They are below me. But they’ve started moving to surround me.
‘If need be, I’ll flee over that ridge.’
There’s something important in combat.
Always secure a higher position than your opponent.
‘Let’s keep moving and shooting.’
I just need to keep moving and shooting on this floor level, where I am.

This resort is being built on a mountainside. My side has an entrance connected to the road, and the goblin side has a separate entrance. The goblins are by the beach; I’m on the mountainside.
“I’ll keep moving on this floor, and if things go south, escape over the ridge.”
Better than being trapped and surrounded inside a building. And for some reason, they said these things don’t leave the building…
‘They might not chase me outside either.’

Rat-a-tat-tat-tat—!!!

Fire spat from the muzzle in an instant, and three goblins fell.
‘I want to conserve ammo, but the numbers are too many! No time to calmly pick them off one by one with single shots!’

Rat-a-tat—.

I swiftly changed position and kept firing.

Rat-a-tat-tat—!!!
“Keruruk—!!!”

‘Even firing on the move, the accuracy is this good.’
Accuracy is lower than aiming while stationary, but nothing missed. Every bullet went towards a goblin.
‘Even if I can’t get instant kills, disabling them is enough!’
Shooting just their arms or legs puts me at an even greater advantage. So I don’t necessarily aim for kills. For emergencies, I have one of the goblin poison daggers I got from the last hunt hanging from my waist.

“Too many of them.”
Looks like at least seventy. Those construction company bastards who lied about fifty… I won’t let this slide. And they didn’t mention a chieftain either.

“Hryaap!”
There was a collapsed section of floor, so I took a running start and jumped across.

[You have acquired the skill ‘Running’!]
[Running Lv.1: Your running posture is corrected, and your speed increases.]

[You have acquired the skill ‘Jump’!]
[Jump Lv.1: Jump height and distance slightly increase.]

[The skills ‘Walking’, ‘Running’, and ‘Jump’ merge and evolve into a Higher Skill!]
[You have acquired the Higher Skill ‘Lower Body Strength’!]
[Lower Body Strength Lv.1: Your legs grow stronger. Power is added to actions performed with your lower body.]

[Due to the influence of the skill ‘Lower Body Strength’, your ‘Agility’ stat has increased.]
[Agility: 3 → 4]

“!!!”
The moment I acquired the Higher Skill [Lower Body Strength], I felt incredible power surging from my legs.
“Whoa—!!!”

‘My, my running is this much faster now?’
“Great! Let’s do this!”
I was given one more skill that could be a weapon for me. Let’s try a battle of speed.

KWA-BOOM—!!!

At that moment, a massive fireball flew and exploded right where I had been standing.
“Eeek!”
This is insane, that level of destructive power?
‘If a Chieftain is this strong… what about an Overlord…?’

The firepower of the fireball launched by the Goblin Chieftain was immense. It shattered reinforced concrete and melted steel rebars, bending them like taffy.
“Now!”
Rat-a-tat-tat—!!!
I fired at the chieftain, seizing the moment, but it had already finished casting the fireball and swiftly raised its mana shield again.
“Tch—.”
Its reaction speed is fast too. Just how strong is its physical combat ability? Its magic seems incredible.

Rat-a-tat-tat—!!!
I swiftly moved, mowing down the goblin pack trying to close in on me while conserving ammo as much as possible.
‘Need to reload.’
One magazine was already empty. I pulled out one of the magazines I had pre-loaded into my tactical vest and swapped it.

Chk-chk—.

‘The barrel isn’t as hot as I expected?’
Curious, I brought my hand close to the barrel, and it wasn’t that hot.
‘Is this also the effect of [Novice Firearms Proficiency]?’
It directly affects the firearm’s durability… I’ve never even heard of a skill like this.
“Works to my advantage, so it’s fine!”

Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat—!!!
Honestly, if I don’t get buffed this much… how am I supposed to stop the world’s destruction? Even with this buff, it seems impossible. I need at least this much to feel motivated to try.

“Inhale—!”
As the goblins gradually reached my floor level, I instantly leaped out through an open window.

Thud—.

“Die—!”
As soon as I was outside, I immediately turned around, quickly aimed, and unleashed a barrage.

Rat-a-tat-a-tat-tat—!!!
“Kerururuk!!!”
“Gwegh—!!!”

In an instant, I emptied about two-thirds of a magazine, sending eight goblins to their maker.
‘Hmm, at this rate…’
I came with 4 full 30-round magazines in my vest, 6 in my bag, and one already in the gun—a total of 11. And I’m already about to pull out my third magazine, having nearly emptied the second.
“I brought eleven, and it’s already time for the third?”
Money, my money is scattering into the void…
‘I’m definitely getting a lot more money out of this.’
I’ll get triple the request fee from these construction company bastards.
If I make it back alive.

“Inhale—!”
I took out the vanguard, then instantly went back into the building to check the situation.
‘It was just the vanguard that reached my floor.’
I cautiously peeked my head out towards the central lobby again to check.
“Kerururur!”
‘Definitely, the goblins don’t try to leave that area.’
Only some goblins were following the chieftain’s orders to come up.

Since it was just an unfinished concrete shell with gaps everywhere, I could see the goblin pack clearly, and they could see me too.
“That means I can shoot to my heart’s content.”

Rat-a-tat-a-tat—!!!
I shot another goblin trying to come up, disabling it.
‘I need more firepower…’
Should’ve bought grenades. Damn it.

Still, [Novice Firearms Proficiency]’s experience was rapidly increasing. It had already reached level 3.
[Breathing] had also reached level 4.

“Hoo…”
The Goblin Chieftain kept launching threatening spells, but thanks to the [Lower Body Strength] skill boosting my speed, I could dodge them.
Conversely, I also seized opportunities to shoot at the chieftain, but it quickly deployed its mana shield, making attacks impossible.

We were in a stalemate where neither could land a decisive blow on the other. Of course, I was slaughtering the other goblins left and right. But ultimately, if I don’t defeat the chieftain, the request fails.
“I need to get close.”
I need to get inside that mana barrier surrounding it. That’s the only way for me.
‘Its mana barrier casting speed is insanely fast, so ranged gunfire is impossible.’

“Kerurururur…”
“Damn it. Going in.”
Then, I must go down.
*’I need to create a 1-on-1 situation as much as possible.’*
I need to kill all the other goblins, leaving only the chieftain and me. That’s the only chance. And I have [Lower Body Strength].
‘I can see and dodge the fireballs.’
Here goes.

Rat-a-tat—.

I was doing run-and-gun, something I only did in FPS games, in real combat.

Rat-a-tat-a-tat—!!!
“Keruk!!!”
“Gwegh—!!!”
“Kek!”

Each bullet flew with menacing force, piercing the goblins’ bodies.
‘The bullet damage has increased quite a bit.’
Plenty of them keeled over from a single shot and didn’t get up. Unless it was a vital spot, they sometimes got up like zombies before.
‘By the way, why can’t I see the Goblin Chieftain’s weakness?’
My [Analysis] skill should show it, but it’s not visible. Is it because it’s a strong entity?

Chk-chk—.

Demonstrating god-like marksmanship, I descended floor by floor, and now only three magazines remained.
“Huff… huff…”
“Kerurur…”
“Kee…”

Ten goblins remained. Those ten were tightly encircling the chieftain, eyeing me warily.
I had descended to the bottom of the stairs.
“Keeegh!!!”
“Kerururur!!!”
‘Now we’re really close.’

[Analyzing…]
[Goblin Chieftain]
[Strengths: Fast spell casting, Strong magic power, Fire attribute]
[Weaknesses: Weak physical body, Cannot leave its spot due to the Overlord Summoning Ritual]

“So… now [Analysis] finally works.”

[You have analyzed a powerful opponent. The skill ‘Analysis’ levels up.]
[Analysis Lv.1 → Lv.2]

“Don’t hide behind your magic, come out and face me!”

[Under the influence of ‘Breathing’ and ‘Enunciation’, you can shout loudly.]
[You have acquired the skill ‘Roar’!]
[Roar Lv.1: You let out a loud roar, causing panic in your opponent.]

“…?”
“Kerur…?”
“Ke, keruk—”
I could see the ten goblins panicking, unsure what to do.
‘The chieftain isn’t panicked…’
Perhaps the [Roar] skill doesn’t work on beings of a certain strength.

“Die!”
Rat-a-tat-a-tat—!!!
I instantly used up the freshly loaded magazine, killing the ten goblins.
“Not even blinking while your subordinates die…”

All that remained was me and the Goblin Chieftain.
And from behind the mana barrier, the Goblin Chieftain looked at me and smiled.
At that moment, pale forms emerged from the surrounding goblin corpses and were absorbed into it.
“…Huh?”

[Many goblins have died, fulfilling the conditions for the Summoning Ritual.]
[Warning! The summoning of the Goblin Overlord has begun!]

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”
The final step of the ritual was…
The death of the goblins.
‘I just helped complete the summoning ritual!’

“Damn it! Die!”