Chapter 24: The Boss is Too Weak (4)

“Yes, Goblin Shaman, you need help?”

“...Huff. Huff.”

“...Why did you stop mid-sentence?”

Who taught you to initiate a conversation and then suddenly go silent?

It felt just like when a girl initiates a text, and you excitedly reply, only to be left without a response.

If you’re going to do that, don’t text me in the first place... don’t toy with my emotions!

“Huff...”

“...”

“Huff... I know you’re listening, human...! I need help!”

The Goblin Shaman repeated its previous statement, seemingly desperate.

Upon closer inspection of its face, it was full of deep wrinkles, and its eyes were clouded and distant.

If there were an ‘Elder Goblin Contest’, the Goblin Shaman would surely be a strong contender with its current appearance.

“Human...! Huff...”

“...”

At first, I thought it was delirious from despair...

Wait, is its ears just really bad?

Approaching it carefully as one might with an elderly person, I spoke into its ear.

“...Can you hear me?”

“Huff...! Human! I knew you were there! Cough, cough... Heh...”

“...”

...It really had difficulty hearing.

“Huff... Human...”

“Why do you keep calling me ‘human’?”

“Heh... Don’t you also call me ‘Goblin Shaman’ instead of my name? Huff.”

“...”

Its point was too valid to refute. Is this the wisdom that comes with age?

“Heh... help... I need help...”

The Goblin Shaman repeated its need for help over and over again.

“We... must kill the intruder... the monster... Heh...”

With its free hand, the Goblin Shaman weakly pointed towards the Minotaur.

And that was indeed strange.

This island? Forest? Whatever this space was, it was devoid of any other monsters except Goblins.

Of course, there were some animals or water… But from the start, all the enemies that appeared were Goblins.

However, suddenly, a Minotaur as the hidden boss? Anyone would be curious in this situation.

“Huff... beneath this island... There used to be an ancient labyrinth... Heh...”

The Goblin Shaman began to explain slowly.

“It was closed long ago... no one paid it any mind... Heh...”

“...”

“Heh... but one young Goblin was playing tag in the labyrinth and accidentally broke the seal of the ancient monster... Huff...”

The monster from the labyrinth escaped. The Goblins were being slaughtered.

As the leader of the Goblin Island, the Goblin Shaman had to make a decision.

“Killing it was impossible... Huff. I could only seal it. And now... Huff.”

The Goblin Shaman, who was powerful enough to seal the Minotaur, was now on the brink of death.

It must have hardly gotten any sleep, having spent an incredible amount of time sealing that creature.

“We must kill that monster... My life is not much longer. Cough, cough!”

The goblin shaman spoke, coughing up green blood.

“I’d like to help, but... I can’t kill that thing.”

From the beginning, I told it I can’t fight.

“Cough... Stupid human. I have a way. First of all...”

“Kim Junho.”

A cold voice interrupted the ranting goblin shaman.

“Let’s talk.”

It was Choi Ji-won.

The place Choi Ji-won brought me to wasn’t far away.

“...What’s up? Why are you so serious?”

“...Kim Junho.”

“What.”

Choi Ji-won.

The feelings I have for her are... quite complex.

Choi Ji-won is the person who triggered my regressions dozens of times.

She’s a crazy woman who would slit your nose with a sword just for asking about college and knock you unconscious for acting suspicious, but...

She’s also my teacher who taught me swordsmanship, a guardian who protects the weak in the vacant lot.

And above all... Choi Ji-won is my goal and my milestone.

To get a special ability from her and surpass her.

That’s been my driving force for regression.

“Say what you want to say.”

“...Kim Junho.”

Choi Ji-won Kept calling my name.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Choi Ji-won, who kept tapping the hilt of the sword with her finger, stared directly into my eyes as if she’d made up her mind.

“Kim Junho.”

“What? Speak already.”

“We talked about the destruction that killing the boss could bring earlier.”

“...So what?”

“You are deliberately not mentioning one possibility.”

“...”

Right.

I deliberately concealed one possible outcome.

Choi Ji-won smiled wryly.

“In most cases, killing the boss would lead to destruction for those who remained behind. But our situation is different, isn’t it? Because I’m here.”

“...”

It’s true.

In most cases, killing the boss would lead to destruction, but we are a special case.

Choi Ji-won is... a formidable fighter who could rival the Minotaur.

I can’t guarantee that she’ll win, but it doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll lose either.

“I’ll buy time. Meanwhile, people can pass through the portal, right?”

Choi Ji-won said the words I didn’t want to hear.

Actually, this is the most rational way.

Even if the Minotaur breaks free from its seal, if Choi Ji-won lures it away, most people could use the portal to move on to the next stage.

“All I have to do is buy some time, then come back and use the portal, right?”

Choi Ji-won shrugged as if to persuade me.

Even though she said that, she probably knew better than anyone else: There’s no such thing as a complete return.

It was the sacrifice of the strongest. For the salvation of everyone else.

“...No.”

Even though I knew it was the most rational choice, I couldn’t agree to it.

Both reason and emotion were opposing it.

Firstly, the reason.

Once I’ve gained what I can from this round, I’ll regress.

This essentially means I have no intention of going through the portal right now.

Therefore, the plan for others to pass through the portal while Ji-won Choi buys time doesn’t seem to offer me any reward.

It’s rather better for all of us to join forces to bring down the Minotaur. Therefore, I objected.

And, emotions...

The fact itself, that we have to sacrifice Ji-won Choi, just doesn’t sit well with me.

It’s different for me when a thug who tries to harm others dies versus when Ji-won Choi, who is trying to protect everyone, dies.

The woman might be rude and cold... but she is definitely a good person.

I don’t like the development where Ji-won Choi has to sacrifice herself. Therefore, I objected.

I wanted to say that through this logical judgment algorithm, I finally concluded, but...

Since I’m introverted, I just ended up cursing, “Damn, it can’t be!”

“Ha... Did you just swear?”

Choi Ji-won burst into a wry laugh.

Ah… Did I lose my temper? Is this going to be ‘ruined’?

I involuntarily closed my eyes tightly.

Thump.

However, what returned was not a cold blade, but a gentle hand on my shoulder.

“Thank you for worrying.”

Choi Ji-won smiled sweetly.

“But it’s also what I want to do. Firefighter Park Cheol-jin has already agreed.”

“...What?”

“I… I was always curious.”

Curious about what?

Choi Ji-won walked away after her incomprehensible words.

“...Where are you going?”

“I’m going to bring the people from the vacant lot. If they want to cross the portal while I buy time, they have to be nearby, right?”

She seemed to have prepared herself mentally… To make a noble sacrifice.

Seeing her made me suffocate.

Whether it’s a feeling of inferiority. Powerlessness. Or a mix of the two.

What’s important is, my mood was shitty.

So, I blurted out without thinking.

“Give me time.”

“What?”

Choi Ji-won, who was walking away, stopped in her tracks.

“Until tomorrow morning. I’ll think of a way. Wait till then.”

“...”

She turned her head to look at me directly.

“You’re really... strange.”

With that, she began walking towards the vacant lot again.

But I clearly saw her nod her head slightly.

The sun rose.

It was dawn.

Having not slept a wink, dark circles under my eyes were a certainty.

“Huff... Huff... human. If you need my help to defeat the Minotaur...”

“Shut up.”

I ignored the Goblin Shaman’s nagging to take on the Minotaur together.

I can’t fight anyway. I’m considering if there’s a way other than fighting.

My mind is cluttered and no good ideas are coming up.

Maybe because I didn’t sleep, my head hurt and I felt like I might vomit.

As this place was near the outskirts of the swamp, the smell of the air was also disgusting.

Yes, let’s go into the forest and think with some fresh air.

If I kept smelling this stench, I’d start having negative thoughts.

“...”

...swamp?

Minotaur.

A spherical shield.

Can’t hit it.

Swamp.

Minotaur.

Spherical.

“Hey. Shaman.”

“Huff... Huff... Huh? Human? Did you call me?”

“Does the shield around the Minotaur... move?”

“Hehe… it can move... but are you stupid? That Minotaur is extremely heavy. It won’t budge with average strength.”

The Goblin Shaman laughed at me, saying ‘Humans think they’re smart, hehe.’

“But what if... we gather a bunch of people with immense strength?”

Choi Ji-won. Park Cheol-jin. And others with high strength attributes that we could find by searching the forest: Humans with superhuman strength, beyond human limitations.

If we gather them all and push the spherical shield as hard as we can...

Can’t we throw the Minotaur into the swamp?

--- END OF THE CHAPTER ---

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