A loud girl's scream echoed throughout the entire hallway. Lucien and Mai flinched in fear before they could even understand what was happening. Lucien grabbed Mai's hand and hid behind the nearby lockers.
The sounds were coming from the direction Rei had fled earlier. Faintly, other people's voices and the sounds of things breaking could also be heard. It sounded as if someone—or several people—were hitting things, running, or fighting.
"Rei… could it be her?" Mai couldn't finish her sentence. She was both worried about her friend and angry at her for leaving her behind. She had abandoned her there to die.
"Do you think we should go and see what's going on?" Lucien didn't know what to do. His mind was still on the newly received quest.
'The servants are about to break the seal of the Great Goblin. Stop them.QUEST: Kill 300 GoblinsTIME: 12 hours'
This was a task that could easily become very troublesome.
"I'm not sure what we should do. I'm not obligated to save anyone, and are you really sure you want to risk your life to save someone who abandoned you halfway? She didn't do the same for you."
Hearing the harsh truth hit Mai like a slap. She was sad because Lucien was right.
"I know, but I still can't leave her. She's my closest friend."
Mai looked at Lucien. "I don't want to drag you into this either. You already saved me, and I'm truly grateful. I'll have to handle the rest on my own."
Mai turned her back and started walking toward the hallway where the sounds were coming from. She was trembling with every step, looking around in fear.
"Thank you for everything, Lucien."
She moved forward and entered the hallway.
Lucien watched her go, feeling conflicted inside, but he knew what the right choice was.
'I said I would change, and now I'm just watching her leave like a coward. I really want to change—I can't be the same as before.'
"Wait."
Lucien caught up to Mai.
"Let's go together. There might be more goblins. I'll protect you from them, but I can't promise anything about your friend. I have no intention of helping traitors."
He handed her the umbrella.
"Take this. It's not much, but it might help a little."
Mai took the umbrella and gripped it tightly.
Lucien clenched his fists as well.
They moved quickly through the hallway, and before long, they noticed a crowd at the far end. At the end of the long corridor was the cafeteria, and directly across from it was the school café.
The doors and windows had been poorly barricaded from the inside using metal tables and stools, but it seemed impossible to block all those windows. Most of them were already broken.
Inside, several students were trying to stop about ten goblins from entering, using metal trays, brooms, and even large frying pans. The goblins, wielding crude handmade weapons, were trying to force their way in, injuring the students who resisted.
Two goblins had knocked Rei to the ground and were approaching her to finish her off. Another student tried to jump over the barricade to save her, but the crowd of goblins killed him within seconds.
"Rei, no!"
Mai's scream drew the attention of some of the goblins.
Lucien suddenly started running.
"PUSH (R): Fighting without using weapons knocks the enemy back. Increased strike damage +10%, increased impact damage +10%."
'This has to work. Please, let this work.'
With all his strength, he punched one of the goblins approaching Rei in the head. The goblin slammed its head violently into the ground from the impact and began to break apart.
'GENRE MASTER Extreme Mode Player (F): You are a player who takes pleasure in facing and overcoming the hardest challenges in all games that exist in the world, and takes pride in it. If there is sufficient difficulty and enough things to do, you can play any type of game regardless of genre.EFFECT: While fighting an enemy stronger than yourself, all stats +15%.'
Lucien couldn't make sense of the active Genre Master effect.
"So that goblin was stronger than me?"
A second later, something unexpected happened. As if the system wanted to answer Lucien, another system window opened.
'Goblin Horde: Goblins are creatures that can live in groups. When 10–99 goblins gather together, they gain the Goblin Horde effect.'
"Great. I really want to see how strong I am now. Time to farm."
Lucien was moving faster now. When he took a step, it felt like he was leaping forward. His speed had increased, and a single accurate attack was enough to finish off a goblin.
In just a few steps, he reached Rei and kicked the second goblin in the face. The goblin slammed into the wall and began to disappear.
The other students knocked down a few confused goblins and reinforced the barricade. Lucien charged forward and began finishing off the fallen goblins with kicks.
'This is great. I'm earning GOG so easily. Maybe I can get another skill or item.'
One goblin… two… three… they were defeated one by one. Only two goblins remained.
One of them was holding a stone and a large club. The other stood farther back, holding a knife that looked like a kitchen knife. It was quite large, but appeared worn and chipped, as if the goblin had used it many times.
Lucien began breathing heavily, clearly reaching his limit. Only two goblins were left, but he was exhausted.
The front goblin noticed this and threw the stone at Lucien's leg. The stone struck his knee, forcing him to drop to one knee.
Lucien was about to pay for a moment of carelessness. The goblin jumped, gripping its club with both hands, ready to strike.
Lucien raised his arms to defend himself and pulled his head back.
At that moment, something unexpected happened.
While Lucien was bracing for the blow, he only heard the sound of wind, as if something had passed by his head at incredible speed.
When he turned to look, the goblin was lying on the ground with a hole in its head.
Before Lucien could even understand what had happened, the goblin began to disappear.
When he turned around, he saw his closest friend, Nicky.
Nicky was tall and thin, with long blond hair and a very handsome face. He was the captain of the school basketball team, and the red bandana he always wore during matches was tied around his arm as usual. He was wearing the school's orange uniform.
Truthfully, Nicky and Lucien were complete opposites in every way—except for one thing: playing games.
Nicky ran over to Lucien, holding a slingshot. Lucien couldn't make sense of it. Nicky was athletic, but he'd never had a hobby like using a slingshot.
"Are you okay, Lucien? Can you stand up?"
Lucien snapped back to reality. Everything wasn't over yet—there was still one goblin left.
The last goblin, holding a huge knife, started running away. Mai was standing directly in its path.
Lucien tried to get up to save her, but the spot where the stone had hit wouldn't respond. Trying to stand only caused him to fall again.
"Save her, Nicky! Shoot that goblin!"
Lucien looked at Nicky, but Nicky looked hopeless.
"I can't. I used my last stone just now."
The goblin was getting closer and closer to Mai.
With trembling hands, Mai gripped the umbrella and prepared herself to face the knife-wielding goblin charging straight toward her.