A horde of goblins stare out at me. For a moment, we’re just frozen, both goblins and human, neither entirely sure what to do.

No time. Absolutely no time whatsoever.

“Goblins!” I choose the single best word I can think of in this situation. My vocal cords strain and feel like they’re going to rip from the force of shouting so loud. But the others look.

“N-No way!”

“What do we do?”

“Bust through we need to bust through!” Thankfully, Tepis as a solo Hunter has the experience to come to the same conclusion I have. “We can’t stay here!”

Behind us is only a dead end and the fallen rocks blocking the exit to the 1st Floor. If we can get deep enough into the dungeon, we might be able to find one of the goblin’s escape tunnels. It’s our only chance. However, there’s only one problem.

That…is a lot of freaking goblins.

Mutants left and right. There are so many Feral Goblins that they seem to blend together into a sea of green skin and yellow teeth. Their rusty weapons add little spots of color within the seething mass. But that’s not the problem. The issue is all the mutants mixed into them.

Lvl. ?? Goblin Swordsman

Lvl. ?? Goblin Desperado

Lvl. ?? Goblin Shieldmaiden

“What the hell is in the water here!” Tepis groans as he holds up a Solar Gem and sees the horde of mutant variations. The entire dungeon is teeming with them. “Which way do we go?!”

Snapping my eyes around the main tunnel, I try to find a way out of this.

There!

Less mutants on that side!

“G-Go!” I manage to eke out while pointing towards the right. One of the side tunnels is thick enough that it might not lead to a dead end, but there are only Feral Goblins nearby.

“Hei’s right! It’s our only shot!” Tepis blurs into action instantly, his scimitar carving crescents as he bowls into the short Feral Goblins. However, the goblin’s natural cowardice is nowhere to be seen today. Instead of giving way to his charge, they stand their ground, waving rusty daggers to create a thicket of knives to block his way.

“Help Tepis!” Sierra dives in as well, the blinding light of the Solar Gem swinging wildly in her hand as she drives her shield into a group of Feral Goblins. Rita gives me a backwards glance, the short girl is only a little bit taller than some of the taller goblins, but she doesn’t hesitate when I nod. Go…it’s now or never!

“HAHHHHH!”

Despite telling the others I wouldn’t be fighting; this is life or death.

I won’t go back to that place!

We won’t!

Hidden bloodlust rises up inside me. I charge a smaller Feral Goblin with my cleaver, intending to murder it for levels, when one of the mutant variations dashes over and plucks its smaller brethren off the ground. Flinging it out of the way, my new enemy bares its teeth in a ferocious, demented, grin.

Lvl. ?? Goblin Shieldmaiden

It carries a huge shield and the tattered dress it sports is covered in grease and unrecognizable juices. If it wasn’t for the System’s description, I wouldn’t even be able to tell that it’s a female member of their race.

You are one ugly creature…

Ducking around it’s shield, I try to slip my way past its guard and strike at its neck, but it follows me with unnatural speed. Even with Basic Combat’s System assist, I’m simply outmatched in levels. This thing is in the 20’s and I’m Lvl. 11. Additionally, it’s an evolved mutant variant, so it’s even faster. All around more goblins begin to surge in from every direction. Soon we’ll be drowned.

Can’t fight it. Bad matchup!

Without thinking much more, I leap forwards and kick out. Both my feet land onto the rusty iron shield with a reverberating boom. Instinctively, the Goblin Shieldmaiden does the most natural thing and shoves back.

*Dong*

Using the force of its push, I jump off and vault sideways to rejoin the rest of the party while the Goblin Shieldmaiden is still waving its dagger angrily at me from behind its shield.

“Cha Cha Cha!” It shrieks but I’m already gone. Cutting into Rita’s fight, I take advantage of her opponent’s blade being locked on her shield to smash my cleaver into the back of its skull.

Congratulations, you are now Lvl. 12.

The short girl wobbles unsteadily as the weight on her shield suddenly disappears.

“Hei! Thanks!” She doesn’t have time to say more as another little green man comes to take its place.

*Smash*

*Clank*

This isn’t working. We’re getting bogged down!

Our killing power is too low. The girls are capable of tanking multiple Feral Goblins but they don’t have the skill to actually finish them off. Only Tepis, up ahead, is dispatching his opponents. But with every second we waste breaking through, the mutant variants behind get closer.

“D-Damn it!” The solo Hunter growls, “Okay! You guys want to play rough? Take this!”

His scimitar begins to glow with a silvery light.

*Humm*

The four Feral Goblins blocking his way finally begin to grow afraid, but their raucous warning cries come too late.

*Shing*

A perfect crescent moon appears in the midst of the chaos and scythes into their green bodies-

“Eeeeeee!” Four heads fly into the air and plop down with a thud. A second later, the goblin’s bodies drop as well. My eyes narrow, but I don’t have time to do much more than kick a goblin off of Rita’s shield.

That’s…a System Weapon?

“Come on, guys! The way is clear!” Tepis urges us onwards, and I nod to Rita.

“Go.” I shout and she shoves away the goblins clinging to her shield and runs down the side tunnel. Sierra tosses her own opponents off and follows us, keeping her shield turned around, to guard our backs.

*Clang*

Something skitters by my head, nicking my ear. I barely flinch, the pain is nothing. However, out of the corner of my eye, I see a glint of metal. Arrows? They have an archer?!

Then we’re inside running for our lives. The tunnel winds left, right, up, down, goblins are not known for having very good design sense in their nests. Behind us, the sound of many pursuing little pursuers give chase, and everyone is breathing heavily. Tepis up ahead, holds out his Solar Gem while Sierra covers the one in her hand, so that we’re less visible. I don’t know how long we run, or how deep we go. The System Map is memorizing our path, but I’m not stopping to check.

“Eeee!” A Feral Goblin up ahead is startled when we run right smack dab into it. Tepis swings his scimitar and instantly cuts out its throat before it can sound the alarm. The population density of this dungeon makes absolutely not sense. There were mutants back there should be in the entire dungeon. And now we’re barely running into anything. What the hell happened in this place?

“Hah…ha…” Sierra holds out a hand, leaning heavily against the wall. “I think we lost them. For a while at least. Everyone okay?” We all glance around, checking that no one got lost in the chaos. The older sister cries out as she spots the wound on my right ear, “Hei, you’re bleeding!”

“…” I’m breathing the heaviest out of anyone here. My fighter’s body atrophied so much inside the Void Prism that even the System is having trouble repairing it. Keeping up with these higher-level Hunters has worn me out. Touching the tip of my ear with a finger, it comes away wet. I hold up my notepad,

“It’s nothing. Flesh wound.”

“Well, let me put something on it at least.” Sierra paces over and fiddles in her parka jacket, before pulling out a regular bandage. She takes out a bottle of water to wash my ear with, but I shake my head vigorously.

“Can’t waste water!”

“But it might get infected!” She says angrily, but eventually resents. Off to the side, I see Tepis watching her treat my ear with a hint of jealousy. Pulling the paper off the sides of the bandage, Sierra sticks it onto my ear and smooths the sides. “Well, at least we can keep anything else from getting in there.”

Ehh, I guess she doesn’t know that Hunters aren’t likely to get ordinary infections. Short of certain diseases from System Monsters, our immune systems are pretty strong.

“What do we do now?” Rita whispers, while staring back into the darkness. Though we’ve lost our pursuers, it’s still all too easy to imagine their footsteps scampering around in the tunnels and their inhuman calls echoing through the walls. “We can’t go back. Do you think Nigel will know where to find us?”

“Umm…” Sierra awkwardly exchanges a look with Tepis. After a moment, he just shrugs.

“You might as well tell them.” He replies, his face turning dark. Sierra hesitates and he sighs, “Alright, I’ll do it. Rita, Hei, Nigel is only Lvl. 25. He’s not a high enough level to take on this many mutants alone. If I’m not mistaken…no one in Snowfall is.”