Pick Me Up!

A few days had passed.

[Assembling a Party.]

[Drag and drop your heroes!]

“‘Dica (★)’ has joined ‘Party 1’!”

Dica had become a member of our main party.

“Please take care of me!”

Dica nodded to me with a determined expression on her face.

After the tragic deaths of Zeeth and Hanson, he displayed a somber demeanor for a while. However, it seemed he had managed to recover in some way. Recently, he had been joining me and Aaron in our training sessions.

The sky shimmered brightly.

It meant that the master had logged in.

“It seems that it won’t be just a Weekly Dungeon today, huh?”

Aaron adjusted his spear nervously.

The members Iselle called upon were me, Jenna, Aaron, and Dica. We were the core fighting party in the current waiting room.

Compared to me, Dica was significantly weaker, but he outperformed the other members. Most of them were still on the 1st floor.

When venturing into the Weekly Dungeon, we were dispatched with the sub-members, so these folks could understand the master’s intentions.

[Open, Rift of time and space!]

The central door of the plaza swung open.

Our party’s faces tensed up. Even Jenna, who usually maintained composure, had a rigid expression.

“Why are you so nervous?”

“The 5th floor was incredibly challenging. I thought I was going to die.”

Aaron let out a sigh.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be as tough this time.”

“Really?”

“…Yes, absolutely.”

“There seems to be some room for doubt in your answer!”

While there is always a slim chance of encountering a high-difficulty mission in the sub-stage, I couldn’t be completely sure. That was the rule of Pick Me Up.

I took a step forward.

Before long, three others followed suit.

We couldn’t fill the required party slots, but it didn’t matter.

I took a light deep breath.

[Climb the Tower, Save the World!][Main Dungeon: Current Floor – 5]

The left mirror in the Rift of the Dimension began to radiate light.

It signaled our entry into the main dungeon. The tension returned to my party members’ faces, particularly Dica, who trembled while tightly gripping his sword and shield.

We didn’t tell him how Zeeth and Hanson had met their end.

Soon, the light vanished, and we found ourselves in an unfamiliar location.

[Floor 6.][Mission Type – Exploration][Objective – Explore the Unknown Location!]

“The field is a forest.”

Exploration, huh.

Another rare mission had appeared.

I took a moment to assess the surroundings.

No enemies were in sight. Only a vast field of swaying grass stretched out before us.

“Um, hyung. I don’t see any enemies. Could this be another situation like the 5th floor…?”

“Shh.”

Aaron became as silent as a statue and nodded in agreement.

“Don’t raise your voices. Everyone, lower your heads and bow down.”

They immediately lie down flat on the ground like soldiers.

“….”

“I said lower your heads, not lie down on the ground.”

The party members stood up, slightly bewildered.

“There’s nothing major here, so relax. As long as we fulfill the conditions, we can make it through safely.”

“Yes.”

“Wait a moment. I’ll be back soon.”

After concealing the three of them amidst the field, I quietly slipped away to the side of the road.

As I advanced, I sensed an obstacle ahead. It seemed impassable.

“It’s a linear-shaped map.”

If we followed the path that cut through the center of the field, we might reach an event point. When I returned, I directed the party to venture in the opposite direction.

“Are we sneaking somewhere?”

Jenna asked, plucking a stray leaf from her head.

We proceeded, carefully hiding our bodies within the dense foliage of the grassy forest.

With her keen eyesight, Jenna took the lead, and I followed closely behind.

“It feels familiar.”

“I’m not usually fond of these kinds of situations.”

Muttering to herself, Jenna skillfully navigated through the verdant undergrowth.

Before long, our attention was captured by the appearance of enemies.

Three goblins stood nonchalantly on the path, forming a loose formation.

“Ker, Kyarak!”

“Kira, Kiraroro!”

The goblins engaged in animated chatter among themselves.

“What are they saying?”

These goblins were unlike any we had encountered before.

Their scrawny arms now boasted sinewy muscles and their physique had grown more formidable. Their shoddy attire, once barely covering them, had undergone a transformation. They sported crude leather armor and wielded swords and shields.

[Goblin Lv.8 X 3]

“Do we take them down, hyung?”

Aaron tightened his grip on his spear.

“Wait.”

I examined the goblins’ appearance once again.

A small horn whistle dangled from the leather belt around their waists.

Pointing towards a tree beside the dense grass, I instructed:

“Jenna, do you see that tree?”

“Yes, I do.”

“Climb to the top and see what’s up there.”

Jenna swiftly ascended the tree.

After a brief moment, Jenna returned with valuable information.

“I think there’s a goblin lair. There’s a structure within the barrier, and it seems to be teeming with them.”

“How many are there?”

“It’s hard to say. Maybe around a hundred?”

I grasped the situation.

It seemed to be a trap-like pattern.

Inexperienced heroes would encounter the goblins while following the path and immediately engage in combat. That had been the recurring theme in the previous stages.

“Jenna, target the goblin on the far right when I give the signal.”

“Got it.”

“Aaron, when I lure them, thrust your spear into the head of that one.”

“Understood.”

“As for you…”

Dica gazed at me with hopeful eyes.

“If anything unexpected happens, lend us your assistance.”

“Yes…”

There was nothing else to assign.

Besides, exploration hardly yielded any significant experience points.

I lay flat on the ground, plucking a small pebble rolling amidst the tall grass.

Thunk.

The pebble hit the back of a motionless goblin.

“Huh?”

The struck goblin turned towards the direction of the grass, wearing a perplexed expression.

Tap, tap.

I lightly tapped the ground with the hilt of my sword.

The goblin, detecting the sound, ventured closer. As the familiar odor of the goblin wafted towards my nose.

“Now!”

Jenna’s arrow pierced through the forehead of the rightmost goblin.

Aaron’s spear impaled the face of the goblin protruding from the foliage.

The remaining goblin let out a terrified shriek and pulled out a horn whistle.

Emerging from the tall grass, I sprinted forward and delivered a forceful blow to the goblin’s face with my shield. Despite losing a broken tooth, the goblin desperately clung to the horn whistle, attempting to blow it.

“Pff…!”

I swiftly kicked the horn whistle aside and thrust my sword into the left side of its chest. The goblin crumpled without even having the chance to scream.

As I withdrew the sword, sticky blood clung to its blade.

“I-Is it over?”

Dica emerged from the grass.

His face displayed a mixture of surprise and relief.

“For now.”

I replied and wiped the blood off the blade.

All three goblins had transformed into lifeless bodies. None of them had succeeded in blowing the horn whistle. I nudged the shattered horn whistle on the ground with my foot and spoke.

“If we let that whistle sound, reinforcements will come pouring out of the stronghold, making things quite troublesome.”

Rushing in without knowing it’s an extermination mission would trigger the trap.

A message appeared, indicating the completion of the mission.

[Stage Clear!][Reward – 5,000G][MVP – ‘Han(★)’]

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