Fifth Wave
Thunk-!
"That's the last one!"
Sung-jin said as he reached down to the dead goblin on the ground to pull out a knife that was stuck in its throat.
-Equipment
Goblin's Knife:
The knife is made of stainless steel from a master blacksmith in the Dwarven Kingdom. After a goblin killed the owner, the knife has been misused and is now in poor condition.
-No effects
-Can't be enchanted
Rusty Starter Sword:
Very rusty.
-No effects
-Can't be enchanted
'It's not the best quality weapon I got, but the goblins don't really drop anything better.'
He looked dejectedly at the crap weapons he had.
Ding-!
-System: Monster wave 1:5 cleared.
'Nice! Only four waves to go! At least the tutorial is over soon! And who would have thought after just the first wave of monsters that I would be level five?'
He skimmed his status window with a gleeful smile, forgetting that he was depressed just a few seconds ago.
-Status Window
Name: Sung-jin | Level: 5 | Age: 20 | Title: Dark Apostle | First Generation
Strength: 10
Vitality: 10
Agility: 30
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 10
Stat Points: 0
Skills: None
Titles:
Dark Apostle: Lvl 1 [Exp: 0%]
[Effect: 5% exp gain]
[Effect: 10% damage gain. Dark Type skills only]
'And of course, all the stat points went to Agility!'
He joyfully sang, going back to where the next wave would come. But even though it went well for Sung-jin now, something had bothered him for a while.
'The Dark Apostle title experience hasn't gone up at all. Even though it's supposed to when you use the effects of the title?'
Sung-jin tried to wrap his brain around this. He had to figure out the reason.
'The only reason I can find is if the experience only goes up when using the second effect. Which in my case is something very horrible…'
His glee was all gone, and it was replaced by the depressed Sung-jin again. The fact that the title's experience only went up by using the second effect bummed him out.
"Anyway… Let's just clear the rest of the waves…"
He sadly sighed.
…
Ding-!
-System: Monster wave 4:5 cleared.
"Huh… Only one monster wave left!"
Sung-jin panted while bent over his knees, trying to get some air.
"My physique isn't as it's always been… I'm too weak right now!"
He discouraged himself. But if the other players knew how much Sung-jin had run around the tutorial area and fought the goblins, no one would think he was weak.
"Status Window!"
Sung-jin said out loud, opening his status. He didn't want to think about his declining self-worth and instead concentrated on beating the last wave.
-Status Window
Name: Sung-jin | Level: 9 | Age: 20 | Title: Dark Apostle | First Generation
Strength: 10
Vitality: 10
Agility: 30
Dexterity: 10
Intelligence: 10
Stat Points: 20
Skills: None
Titles:
Dark Apostle: Lvl 1 [Exp: 0%]
[Effect: 5% exp gain]
[Effect: 10% damage gain. Dark Type skills only]
'I managed to level up four times since wave one! Not bad at all. Since level four, I have not touched my stat points since I still don't know what to do with them. But even without spending all my points, I'm still quite over-leveled.'
He proudly patted himself on the back.
'And the reason I have such a high level is because I have killed hundreds of goblins compared to others who might only have killed a dozen or two. And of course, Dark Apostle helps a bit too.'
With a certain superiority, Sung-jin looked down on how many goblins he had slain. Because in this world, he had done something no one had ever done before. He'd been able to keep over 60 percent of all the players who were summoned alive. But Sung-jin didn't see it like that.
'Instead of dying in the tutorial, they will just die when they get to do the real hunts… So, I have saved no one. I have just postponed their deaths,'
Sung-jin thought as he went through a sizeable crowd of players.
'The last wave will come soon, and it might even be the fastest wave to clear today.'
He cockily reminded himself of his achievements in the tutorial. Since the start, only four hours had gone by, and it seemed the last wave would be a fast one.
'The last wave comprises a dozen goblins and the only real threat, the Goblin General.'
Sung-jin remembered back to his first time doing the tutorial. His usual calm expression went sour at the thought of the Goblin General.
'Many people have died fighting the Goblin General boss. However, none of that will happen this time.'
Sung-jin resolved himself, standing right at the spot where the Goblin General would spawn.
Ding-!
-System: The last wave will now commence.
The system notified everyone at the scene where the boss would spawn—people panicked and hurried to find their weapons.
'It seems like these players here want to finish the last wave. But I have to disappoint you all; this boss is all mine!'
Sung-jin thought, looking around at the eager players, who just wanted to finish this hell they got kidnapped to. Sung-jin smiled ominously like the goblins did when they feasted on the players. But this time around, only Sung-jin would smile like this.
Ding-!
-System: 30:30 Goblins and the Goblin General remain.
"Goblin General?!"
A uniform confusion spread amongst the remaining players. All the waves up till now had just been the same regular goblins. The only thing that changed was the number of goblins per wave. So, no one expected or prepared to fight anything other than goblins.
'They have lost all their courage after just reading the notification. Maybe I had my hopes for these people way too high?'
Sung-jin sighed.
'But I can't really blame them for fearing death. They didn't even come here of their own will; they just got shoved into a new world with dangers everywhere. It's a miracle that they haven't given up on life yet and continued to clear all the waves.'
Sung-jin admired the people who fought. When Sung-jin cleared the tutorial, around half of the people survived, moving on to the fifth wave. But out of that 50 percent, half of them chose not to fight and decided to run away when they saw what the Goblin General was.
Sung-jin could still remember the day of his first tutorial clearly. But Sung-jin shook his head. He didn't want to revisit his past too much other than for helpful information. Let's just say that Sung-jin's first tutorial wasn't as fast nor as fun as this one—
Skreee-!
A blood-curdling scream pierced the players ears; it was the Goblin General that made the uncomfortable sound, calling forth his goblin underlings. But the Goblin General scream did not faze Sung-jin at all, and he just stood in the middle between the players and the goblins.
"Where did that guy come from?"
One player questioned and pointed at the man who just seemingly appeared in front of them. Sung-jin had the attention of everyone there. Some thought he had a death wish, and others thought he was just stupid.
"…"
'This is awkward…'
He didn't know how to respond to all the attention since he had always been a solo player. But an inner potential had been unlocked in Sung-jin's body when he stood face to face with a goblin army and its king while hundreds of people watched—
"Hahaha! This army is nothing for me!"
Sung-jin yelled, surprising everyone with his sudden outburst.
"Don't worry, little ones; I will save you! This is my divine duty!"
He continued his speech.
"Oh no…"
A familiar face at the frontline, had his head buried deep in his hands with embarrassment.
"Daeshim, I think he has hit his head on something…"
A blonde girl tried to comfort Daeshim.
"Your probably right, Aera."
He looked up at the man he found embarrassing; though still with great admiration. Only Daeshim and his team knew one thing for sure; Sung-jin was the strongest player.
"Ahhhaah…"
Sung-jin's laugh toned down after his speech, and his serious expression was once again shown. The inner talent that he unlocked wasn't being a hero or being cringey, but he switched between his emotions like they were buttons. That was truly a scary talent.
Sung-jin readied his rusty sword and looked straight in the eyes of the soon-to-be-dead goblins—but he didn't get far.
"We will help this time,"
Someone interrupted as Sung-jin was about to dash forward towards the goblins. It got his attention, and Sung-jin turned around to see who dared to interfere right after his marvelous speech.
"We still owe you big time, so why don't you fight with us?"
He saw the familiar faces of the ten-player group he helped a few hours ago. And the big guy Daeshim still seemed to have his head held high despite this situation.
'He is a great leader, and I'm sure he can lead everyone here to victory. But I don't really need anyone's help…'
Sung-jin looked annoyed at Daeshim, and his expression clearly told them that they wouldn't be needed in this fight.
"Don't be like that."
He quickly picked up on Sung-jin's attention, and he tried to talk him into a collaborative battle. But it didn't matter how much he tried to convince Sung-jin, since he was already determined to fight alone, no one could change that—
"Yes, together we are stronger!"
Aera yelled, breaking her timid character. She approached Sung-jin until she was in his face. Daeshim looked surprised at this scene, happy that Aera intervened.
'Can you withstand the power of a woman?'
Daeshim looked excitedly at the two, just hoping that Aera could talk him over.
"Please."
Aera spoke softly and looked at Sung-jin with puppy-dog eyes. Their faces were only a few inches away from each other, and it looked like a kiss scene was about to unfold. It made Sung-jin a little uncomfortable, and he didn't know how to respond to this situation.
'This is too much!'
Sung-jin pled for help. No matter how long Sung-jin tried to remember back, no girl had ever been this close to him. And since he's been playing solo his whole time in this world, human contact has been close to non-existent for him.
"Sure…"
Sung-jin couldn't help but comply with the girl in front of him.
'I need to avoid her…'
"Thanks."
Aera went back to her usual self, and it didn't take long before she realized how many boundaries she had crossed.
Sung-jin stepped back as he saw the face of Aera turning bright red.
'This is…'
Sung-jin didn't know how to respond to this situation; he could clearly see that Aera overstepped some huge boundaries, and she was very embarrassed by this situation.
"Ehm. If you want to fight, then let's fight!"
Sung-jin exclaimed, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.
…