『Special』

"..."

[There you have it, King Fran]

Fran was disappointed, not because of the fact that he can't personally use the [Smithy], which is where he can upgrade and craft new weapons, since he is already assigned as a King. No, it was more of the fact of the current message that was on his screen.

[Sponsor: Evo]

[Heya! While I believe the idea of you as a King capturing fragments is quite novel. Awarding yourself is a no! ( ,,⩌'︿'⩌,,)]

"Stingy."

Knock Knock

"Albert! Come in."

Fran's eyes lit up as he welcomed the calm and gentle old man., who was as tall as Fran himself. His build was quite bulky, as expected of a warrior from his previous world.

"Oh... this is a fine place. Right, Little Helper?"

Albert entered, as he looked to the side, asking for confirmation from his assistant, whom he named Little Helper. It seems Fran had instructed him through the King's order to go to the Smithy.

"It seems that you and V have been assigned their roles on the facilities."

"HAHA! This place is just right up my alley. After I retired from being a soldier, I made my own Smithy just like this one before." Albert let out a hearty laugh.

Of course, as King, Fran had already known their backgrounds.

"Great, we'll leave our weapon maintenance and upgrades to you."

"No problem, Little Fran. Me and my Little Helper and I will have this place as our base."

Fran couldn't help but sigh; he still couldn't upgrade his weapon, as they might ask and suspect why or where he had obtained the weapon enhancement stone, or so he thought.

<<----------->>

"Is everyone ready?"

After exploring the various facilities as was tasked by Fran himself to all the residents. They all gathered just outside the Rift, equipped with their weapon. They were preparing to clear the first stage.

"I severely underestimated how hard it is to draw this bow... I'll make do with this dagger." Aria sighed.

"Tsk, I have no choice."

"Mhm. My Little Helper has already briefed me on the possible dangers."

Vaclova brandished her long spear, trying to get used to the weapon. Albert, conversed with his assistant, talking about the specifications of his newly acquired axe.

"We're like an adventuring party." Fran thought to himself.

"Let's head out, everyone."

After Fran declared that, the team went inside. Before he knew or noticed it, they had started following him as a leader—putting up only but little resistance. Was this his [King's Authority] at work? Fran could only wonder.

<<----------->>

[Fragment KLO-47, Seed: 24218571249]

[Stage 1 - Barrett Village Outskirts]

[Kill Goblins 0/20]

"..."

"It's an open plain... huh." Aria scanned her surroundings.

"No...!"

"...?"

Fran looked around, panicked. This wasn't supposed to be an open plain. While stages never repeated map paths or enemy positioning, one thing remained constant: the biome.

[Fragment Energy Fluctuation Detected!]

[Danger!]

[Exit Portal has been Sealed!]

[New Objective:]

[Survive until the portal is fixed]

"A Special Stage!" Fran cried out.

"Wait—how is that possible—!?"

Without giving them a chance to react, the ground shook. It wasn't an earthquake, it was—

"A Goblin Army!"

"Hey! Hey! I thought this would be a breeze, Fran boy!" Vaclova said in annoyance.

"My Little Helper is estimating... Hundreds!"

Special Stage

Sometimes considered the "death stage". It is when special events occur that spike the difficulty of a given stage, potentially changing the mission objective or biome. It also seals off the Exit Portal, which is the portal through which you can retreat to if the stage becomes too much to handle, which is somewhere around the map.

It is very rare, with less than a 1% chance of activating. However, surviving one will usually grant big rewards, and some would even consider it an EXP farm. If they survived, of course.

"Grr...! Everyone, let's go this way! You can see the remnants of the Exit Portal from afar!"

"...! Yes!"

Snapping out of terror, everyone said in unison. The group followed their leader and ran in the opposite direction of the approaching army. Fran made sure to match his pace with the others while assessing the distance between them and the enemy.

"To think this had to happen now—!"

The goblins were fast, as if desperate to catch them. There was no formation, just goblins running in their direction holding nothing but makeshift weapons.

[Exit Portal Repair Time: 3 Minutes, 59 Seconds]

"Hah... Hah.... Let's hold the line!" Fran stopped, panting.

"Fine! I'll go in the front!"

Not accepting any objections, Vaclova stepped forward, protecting the self-repairing portal that was behind them. 

Rumble. Rumble.

Har! Har!

The little green creatures yelled, some hurling sticks surprisingly larger than themselves.

"Come here!"

Stab.

The first blood.

"Little helper, please guide me!"

Albert cried out, his eyes filled with rage uncanny of his normal demeanor. He rushed towards the herd of goblins and flung his axe.

Swing. Splat.

Blood blurted out, and spread towards the surrounding grass. The battlefield was stained with red. Behind them, hesitation could be found. Moo Hee-Young, or Aria, who has never fought her entire life, has to face off against an army of goblins that was easily a hundred.

Fran stood there, still shocked. For once, he wasn't confident he could win. Gritting his teeth, he stepped forward.

"No choice, I'll join th—"

"Hey."

As if stopping in his tracks, Aria called out to him.

"Why did you lie to us?"

"...!"

"Special Stages... don't occur unless you've cleared the stage. I couldn't think of any other reason than you clearing it yourself."

That's right, special stages never appear unless the stage has been cleared beforehand. Fran knew this, however, he did not expect he was this unlucky.

"Well, that's rich coming from me. I'm sorry, I'm not really 'Aria'. I'm half Korean, you know. I just look like a foreigner."

Shaking her head, laughing, Moo Hee-Young rushed with the little dagger in her hand.

"Hey! Help us here, Fran boy! We can't hold out!"

"Kuh...! Vulnerable Strike!"

His eyes widened, and just as he announced that, streaks of yellow light emanated from the green creatures that were approaching him—this was their weak point.

Fran's blade reached the first goblin that was nearest to him, aiming for the streaks of yellow light.

Whoosh. Thud.

As the blade knocked the head off the angry goblin, a shockwave followed, staggering the creatures behind it. Fran saw this as an opportunity, and followed through—shockwave after shockwave.

"I won't let it end like this...!"