🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 14
Advice? (6)
When Instructor Shin Ji-yeon’s voice rang out urgently, saying it was an emergency, the members of Squad 2 were collectively stunned, slipping into panic.
Compared to Squad 1, which had a stable leader, their reaction was clearly different.
“What… what is this!?”
“W-what? All of a sudden?”
“A mutiny?”
“W-what should we do?”
Meanwhile, Ji-yoo Chan tried to respond calmly to the announcement, but even he couldn’t completely hide his tension.
If he thought a little more rationally, he might have noticed how strange it was, but since the instructor was someone they had to trust and follow, even Ji-yoo Chan couldn’t help but be momentarily deceived.
What should they do in a situation like this?
After thinking for a while, Ji-yoo Chan decided to take the lead.
“I think it’s best if I go first.”
Hearing this, the other Squad 2 members quietly agreed, relieved that someone was taking charge, but their eyes eventually fell on Park Dong-wook.
Truthfully, Ji-yoo Chan had a calm and polite manner, whereas Park Dong-wook was forceful and slightly aggressive, so it was natural for the squad members to be wary of him.
Seeing everyone hesitate, Park Dong-wook stepped forward.
“Okay… Ji-yoo Chan can lead, and I’ll provide support from behind.”
“Agreed.”
With Dong-wook’s reluctant approval, the other members, including Ji-yoo Chan, inwardly cheered. Finally, they could think about safety. Dong-wook had finally yielded.
Yet despite agreeing, Park Dong-wook’s expression darkened.
He had thought he was the leader, but now it was taken away again. It wasn’t even a short-lived glory—he was seething inside.
“…I can’t go up front.”
The thought of the two goblins plunging into the squad and stabbing with daggers still haunted him, so he reluctantly stepped back.
With Ji-yoo Chan taking the lead, things went relatively smoothly. They spotted traps in time, and with Kim Yoon-jung, who had paid close attention during the trap briefing, helping to dismantle them, the obstacles were quickly handled.
Working together made disarming the traps even faster. By the time they neared the exit mentioned in the briefing, Ji-yoo Chan suddenly sensed something and stopped the squad.
“Keruk… Keruk.”
“Kekek!”
“Keruk…”
Hearing the distant sounds of goblins, Ji-yoo Chan quietly turned and whispered the strategy.
“I don’t know how many there are, but I’ll take the lead and take out one. Dong-wook hyung, you take one, and the remaining three of you handle the others. If I join immediately after, it shouldn’t matter how many there are.”
“Understood.”
“Good.”
“That should be manageable.”
While the squad quietly nodded, Park Dong-wook flinched at the mention of goblins but reluctantly nodded to Ji-yoo Chan’s instructions.
Ji-yoo Chan looked at him curiously.
“Dong-wook hyung?”
“…Got it.”
Park Dong-wook skipped the usual polite phrasing, which seemed odd, but Ji-yoo Chan dismissed it as nervousness.
Once everyone was in position, Ji-yoo Chan checked the team and gave the signal, dashing forward.
Tatadada.
Compared to Do-hyun, his speed was slower, but it was still faster than anyone else in Squad 2. The sudden appearance of their leader startled the goblins.
There were five goblins. Spread apart, Ji-yoo Chan could only target one at a time. With a swift swing of his sword, he decapitated one goblin in a single strike.
Thuk.
Pishuuu.
Blood sprayed like a mist, painting the surroundings red. Ji-yoo Chan focused on the remaining goblins.
‘Three left.’
So far, his strategy was working. If Park Dong-wook took one goblin and the other three handled the remaining two, Ji-yoo Chan could quickly finish his target and rejoin them.
He called to Dong-wook.
“Dong-wook hyung!”
It was crucial that Dong-wook took one goblin to maintain the plan. But he reacted late, letting out a loud scream.
“Ugh… Aaaah!”
Shaking and screaming, he charged blindly, eyes shut, unable to face the goblin directly. He swung his iron mace recklessly.
“D-Dong-wook hyung?!”
“What… what are you doing?!”
“Kyaaaah!”
In the narrow corridor, the weapon swung directly toward Ji-yoo Chan, who was dealing with another goblin.
Kaaang!
The iron weapon struck Ji-yoo Chan squarely on the back, sending him flying—right into the middle of the goblins.
“Ugh!”
Although his armor absorbed some of the impact, the sudden blow made his breathing falter. Being pushed into the center of the goblins, he struggled to maintain his stance and defend himself.
The goblins seized the opportunity. Even the one originally targeting Dong-wook lunged at Ji-yoo Chan with a dagger.
The other squad members, already panicked by the instructor’s emergency broadcast, froze entirely.
“Kyaaaah!”
“Do something!”
“W-what should we do?!”
Even if Dong-wook had snapped out of it, it might have been okay, but he was sitting on the floor, flustered, recalling the goblins that had attacked him earlier.
“Ugh… ughhh.”
Despite the chaos, Ji-yoo Chan refused to lose hope. He gripped his sword and let his instincts guide him.
With precise swordsmanship, he decapitated one goblin and blocked the next attack. Spinning around, he even fended off a third goblin.
However, his instincts weren’t fully developed like Do-hyun’s, so he could only partially utilize them. As a result…
Pfoooosh!
“Kekekek!”
The last goblin managed to stab through a gap in his armor. Blood began to seep, and Ji-yoo Chan couldn’t even scream.
Moving made the wound burn like fire, but standing still meant death. He swung at the goblin, but his attack lacked the speed and force it usually had.
Huuuuwng!
The goblin quickly retreated, and his sword missed.
“Kekekek!”
“Kekekek!”
“Kekhehek!”
Three goblins remained. Ji-yoo Chan felt his limits. With a wound on his side, he couldn’t swing properly.
The squad should have helped, but he looked at the flustered Dong-wook and the other immobilized members and let out a dry laugh.
“Ha.”
Wishing they were Squad 1, he wondered if he would have to endure this.
Then, from the end of the corridor, something flew quickly and struck the back of a goblin.
Pfoooosh—
A dagger hit swiftly and precisely. Ji-yoo Chan looked up to see Do-hyun running like a shadow. Before the goblin could even fall, Do-hyun pulled out the dagger and struck at the remaining two goblins.
A crescent of blue light sliced through the air, and the two goblins fell to the ground.
Overwhelmed, Ji-yoo Chan momentarily forgot about his side wound and stared in astonishment.
“How…?”
Do-hyun calmly answered, as if nothing extraordinary had happened.
“I heard someone scream, so I came.”
Ji-yoo Chan shook his head, amazed by Do-hyun’s composed movements and voice, having just killed three goblins in an instant. Truly an incredible person.
Do-hyun helped Ji-yoo Chan, injured and sitting, to his feet, and Ji-yoo Chan accepted the help.
But Ji-yoo Chan was puzzled. Why, in the middle of a test, would he save another squad first? He couldn’t understand. Did he come just to help in the emergency? He hadn’t been particularly friendly, so Ji-yoo Chan found it hard to believe.
He asked Do-hyun:
“What about the test? Did you come to help us first?”
Could he have skipped the test just in case? Ji-yoo Chan admired him silently, thinking he must be a noble person.
Do-hyun, however, replied as if the question were ridiculous.
“Huh? I passed the test and then came to save you.”
“……?”
Ji-yoo Chan stared in disbelief, unable to imagine such an answer.
Meanwhile, Do-hyun was thinking:
‘Why is he like this?’
He was puzzled by Ji-yoo Chan’s sudden change in expression.
