Chapter 4

 

“Status window.”

 

 

Suho checked his status window.

It had been a while since he entered the gate.

He was already at level 8.

‘I should be ready to face him soon.’

Suho knew everything about this gate.

But he had deliberately delayed meeting the boss monster, the master of the gate.

After all, absolute strength comes from leveling up, and opportunities to monopolize uncharted gates like this are rare, so it was best to level up as much as possible while he could.

However, hobgoblins were now almost nowhere to be seen.

It was because Suho had nearly exterminated them.

After further scouting the area, Suho found one last group of hobgoblins.

Alright.

I’ll finish with them and then call him out.

At this point, I’ve gathered all the experience I need from here.

Thinking that, Suho picked up a sword from the hobgoblins’ arsenal and aimed it at them.

Then he threw it.

 

 

He simultaneously acquired the Throwing skill.

By now, this wasn’t surprising.

Whack!

The flying sword struck one hobgoblin right between the eyes.

[ You have slain a hobgoblin. ]

The hobgoblin died instantly.

That marked the beginning of the fight.

Four hobgoblins remained.

They quickly pinpointed where the sword had come from and charged at Suho.

‘Come at me!’

Suho didn’t dodge.

He was level 8 now and had acquired most of the necessary movement skills.

As the hobgoblins closed the gap to just a few steps, Suho suddenly disappeared.

“Kirik?”

The hobgoblins were baffled by Suho’s sudden disappearance.

But it wasn’t due to an invisibility skill.

Slash!

The sharp sound of cutting.

The hobgoblins turned their heads in shock, but it was too late.

With superb footwork, Suho had gotten behind them and began slicing them down swiftly.

 

 

With precise strikes to their necks, three out of the four hobgoblins were dead.

The remaining hobgoblin, clutching its partly cut neck, trembled on the ground.

Suho kicked the hobgoblin’s dropped weapon far away and said, pointing with his chin,

“Go.”

It wasn’t a mistake.

Suho was genuinely letting it go.

For one reason.

To have it bring its leader to him.

This way, there was no need to go through the trouble of finding it. For gates with no special conditions like this one, this was an old trick.

The hobgoblin, confused by Suho’s gesture, slowly backed away before fleeing.

‘It’ll show up soon.’

After letting it go, Suho leisurely collected the magic stones. A little while later,

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

An earthquake.

No, it was the sound of countless goblins’ footsteps.

They were undoubtedly the ones Suho was waiting for.

‘How many will come?’

The ‘Hobgoblin Chief,’ the boss monster and master of this place, liked to travel in groups, true to its goblin nature.

In other words, it always had at least 20 minions with it.

After a while, the bushes parted, and they appeared.

One, two, three, four…

Counting them, there were about 30.

Among them, he saw the goblin he had sent on an errand earlier. Its wound had stopped bleeding, and it was hiding among its comrades, grinning slyly.

How cute.

He wasn’t angry.

A bug being sly is still just a bug.

Thus, Suho’s attention was elsewhere—on the Hobgoblin Chief standing with an arrogant expression at the back.

The Chief was about 1.5 times larger than the others.

Its level was also the highest among them.

Of course, it was the leader.

But there was no fear.

Even though it was a boss monster, it was just a big bug among bugs.

A big bug is still just a bug.

Instead, Suho was glad to meet it.

Suho had almost died because of this gate before.

‘I almost died because of the monsters that appeared around the gate.’

At that time, Suho was unawakened.

So he almost died to the goblins that came out of the gate.

In that sense, today was a chance for revenge.

Suho and the hobgoblins faced off for a while.

Then,

“Kirik!”

At the Chief’s cry, the hobgoblins rushed at Suho from all directions.

‘Good, that’s the way it should be.’

He hadn’t expected a one-on-one tournament.

Expecting such manners from monsters was laughable.

So Suho charged at them as well.

When facing many enemies in an open space, it was more important to close the distance and take the initiative than to run away.

As soon as he faced the closest hobgoblin, Suho used the momentum of his charge to drive his sword into its forehead.

 

 

Piercing its head meant instant death.

Suho quickly retrieved his sword and swung it around, using the force of the pull to cut the faces of three more hobgoblins that had rushed in.

“Kieeek!!”

“Kirurk!”

“Kaak!”

He didn’t kill them instantly, but he succeeded in rendering them combat ineffective.

However, there were still many goblins.

They swung their weapons at Suho like berserkers blinded by bloodlust.

But their weapons hit nothing but air.

“Kik?!”

He had been right in front of them.

But now he was gone.

At that moment.

“Here.”

A voice from behind.

Before they realized they were flanked, their bodies collapsed.

One goblin belatedly stabbed its spear, but it hit another comrade, whose movement had been thrown off.

The goblin unwittingly stabbed its own ally.

It panicked but quickly retrieved its weapon and tried to swing it again.

No, it would have if not for another ally’s blind attack from a different direction.

“Kyak!”

“Kik!”

“Kiaaak!!”

Chaos.

It was a complete melee.

Suho didn’t move widely.

He used the confined space to his advantage, finding gaps and moving skillfully, turning their attacks into mistakes, making them stab each other.

After a while, another notification appeared besides the ones announcing the hobgoblins’ deaths.

 

 

Side Step.

Finally, he had acquired the skill he wanted.

Then,

 

 

Following the system’s rules, Dodging and Side Step were combined into Basic Footwork.

‘With this, I’ve got all the basics.’

Swordsmanship skills, footwork, and even parrying.

The foundational elements for Suho’s original swordsmanship, ‘Suho Sword,’ were all gathered.

All that remained was to diligently strive for the system’s recognition.

After closing the notification window, Suho changed his stance and started moving aggressively.

The hobgoblins, who had been floundering just moments ago, began to fall like autumn leaves.

 

 

Since they were already stabbing each other, it was only a matter of finishing them off.

He quickly targeted vital points to kill them swiftly.

As a result, most of the hobgoblins were dealt with in no time, and only the Hobgoblin Chief, still observing the situation with a stern expression, remained in front of Suho.

Just as the last minion fell,

 

 

He leveled up again.

Now at level 9.

Suho allocated the bonus stat to magic power once more, then pointed his sword at the hobgoblin chief.

He then waggled the blade provocatively.

“Kerek!”

Did the provocation work?

Anger flared across the chief’s stern face.

Suho checked its level.

 

 

More than twice his own level.

But so what?

While level is a measure of strength, it depends on the opponent.

What difference does level make when facing bugs?

The chief lifted its massive battle axe, its prized weapon, and charged at Suho.

“Kroooargh!!”

 

 

The Hobgoblin Chief’s Fear.

Fear becomes a common skill for monsters as their levels increase, but at lower levels, it’s reserved for bosses or at least named monsters.

The effect of Fear is muscle paralysis, and since it’s a skill that presses down with level and stats, even Suho couldn’t avoid it.

However, Suho didn’t panic. He calmly raised his sword and stabbed his palm.

Thunk!

The blade pierced through his hand, and the searing pain spread throughout his body.

 

 

A surprising thing happened.

The debuff effect disappeared as soon as he inflicted pain on himself.

But Suho nonchalantly withdrew his sword.

Inflicting physical pain is the best way to break free from debuff skills that involve mental attacks.

‘This is basic knowledge.’

Of course, having mental protection skills or items with related effects would be better, but having just returned to the past, he had none.

Suho quickly overcame the state of terror and effortlessly dodged the hobgoblin’s axe swing.

Simultaneously, he used Light of Healing.

 

 

Since the wound was on his left hand, he used the skill with his left hand.

Magic power started to deplete as the wound began to heal.

Being a puncture wound, it would take a while to fully heal.

But that didn’t matter.

He had invested more in his magic stat for this very reason.

Holding the Light of Healing in his left hand, Suho gripped his sword with the other.

Then, using his footwork, he swiftly closed the distance to the hobgoblin.

Thunk!

He stabbed the hobgoblin’s thigh with his sword.

“Keaaargh!!”

The creature’s anguished scream echoed all around.