The [Goblin Archer] stared past the shrub Noah was hiding behind and into the distance, intently gazing at the tree it believed the human challenger to be hiding behind. Even though over fifteen meters separated it from its target in this pitch-black environment, to the nocturnal goblins it hardly provided an impediment- in fact, they thrived in the darkness.

A glint of silver flashed past the top corner of its vision for an instant, followed by the muffled sound of an object landing towards its right that caused the shrubbery to violently rustle for a second - forcing it to immediately point the bow in that direction, arrow pulled back.

To its surprise, only a solitary sword that was half obscured by branches and leaves was visible and as for the owner.... they were nowhere to be seen.

Noah charged towards the [Goblin Archer's] location with a sense of exhilaration and fear at the same time, his dagger clutched tightly with his right hand ready to explode with all the momentum he could muster once in range.

Noah covered three meters before the [Goblin Archer] finally reacted, with an expression of shock and stupefaction plastered over its face - for it recognized the human.

Hurriedly adjusting its aim, it decided to take a potshot at Noah's silhouette even though it knew the force it managed to generate in this less time would be far from lethal... only a meter separated them at this point and it had no choice but to shoot.

Noah's eyes widened in fear, feeling betrayed by his own confidence... despite his laborious efforts to craft the perfect ambush, the little cretin still managed to launch a shot at him. He veered to the right, pushing the limits of what 6 dexterity allowed him to do, but the arrow still found purchase at his lower abdomen region.

The pain Noah was bracing for never came, as the arrow bounced off the protection his hauberk offered without any inconvenience to him. Redirecting his fury at the [Goblin Archer], he recentered himself and covered the remaining distance with even greater speed.

Noah was puzzled as to why it had dropped his bow after firing the shot, but in his frenzied charge, he had no time to think about it. Moments later, he arrived within striking range and fully extended his right hand, letting his wickedly sharp dagger pierce through the middle of the Goblin's chest.

Just when Noah thought it was over, a searing pain, unlike anything he ever felt before tore through his arm, causing him to involuntarily scream in agony.

Tears flowing out of both his eyes, Noah refocused his gaze to see a sharp knife embedded in his right arm- perhaps the only body part the goblin archer could target with its limited reach- as a last 'fuck you' before it met its end.

"Vicious bastard" Noah muttered out loud, still unable to stop the tears from flowing out of his eyes like a broken faucet. Taking a few moments to stabilize himself, followed by a few deep breaths, he yanked the knife out of his arm and threw it to the side, feeling queasy at the burst of red blood that came gushing out.

Taking the [Health Potion] out of his pockets, he removed the stopper and chugged it down. A thick, extremely sweet liquid flowed down his throat, and the burning sensation in his arm started to lessen. A minute passed, and blood pouring out of his arm slowed down to a trickle.

Noah felt odd as he stared at the wound on his arm, it had only been a matter of minutes yet the scab formation process had already begun. Before contemplating anything else though, he quickly went to the essence shop and purchased another health potion. This damn archer had ended up costing him 50 EP to kill, but it just might have been worth it.

He pressed the Loot button and grinned like a child who'd just gotten his Christmas presents.

Killed Goblin Archer (Level 2) - 200 XP, 100 EP awarded.

Looted- Goblin longbow, Inferior

Generic Quiver, Inferior

Iron Arrow x 34

Hunter's knife, Inferior

Well, Liam was the one that told him to try out all different types of weapons- he wouldn't mind too much if he switched to the bow in the daytime, now would he? A ranged weapon was simply too good of acquisition to pass up like that, even if it may be only of the inferior variety.

A thing that stood out to him was that the Goblin Archer was level 2, and Noah couldn't help but wonder if the enemies he had fought before were the same.

Killed Goblin Skirmisher (Level 2) x 2 - 100 XP, 40 EP awarded.

They really didn't seem all that different from before, but to be fair he was level 3 and he didn't feel like an invincible God of War either. Before going back to the tree for his spear, there was one last thing he had to check- and he had been dreading doing exactly that.

"Number of survivors" he willed in his mind, and the Tower responded.

Gridlocked Status

Time Elapsed- 13h 23m 48s

Number of Survivors- 932

"68 people dead already..." thought Noah with a grim expression. The night shift had only just begun, and yet over fifty people had died just like that. Was it the initial phase of being submerged into the darkness, or infighting during the day that resulted in these casualties- he had no way of knowing now.

But he had to remind himself that people had chosen this option willingly, so the likelihood of them knowing how to defend themselves was pretty high. At least more than he did, never even having gotten into a fistfight before this entire ordeal. And nothing stopped people from grouping up together and overwhelming the goblins with numbers, provided they could bring themselves to trust each other.

Speculation was useless though.... all he could be sure of was that the night shift would make the previous 12 hours like a bad fucking joke in comparison.