It was a bug report, and no actual damage was done, so the studio staff had just hidden the entrance again, rerouting the portal’s coordinates to an out-of-the-way location. Players who used the glitched sword stayed off ranked queues to avoid bans and kept to story mode.

  The dungeon was likely still where his friend had told him. The devs wouldn’t have reopened old issues just to take on extra work.

  Shane snapped back to the present.

  The guide, whose name Shane had already forgotten, was still talking.

  “...so, yeah, this first part of the trail is a total cakewalk. I could do the path with my eyes closed. Which I don’t recommend, by the way. Tried it on a bet once. Oh, that reminds me of this one time I found a—”

  They arrived at the trailhead.

  From this point on, it was monster territory—well, if you could call F-rank monsters, monsters. A little grinding before getting to the portal wouldn’t hurt.

  He pulled out a fresh cigarette from his inventory and stuck it between his lips.

  The chilly mountain air carried a warning with it; he could hear the monsters’ grunts in the distance.

  With the cigarette at the corner of his mouth, Shane summoned a baseball-sized [Fireball] in his palm and lifted it to light the tip.

  The guide’s mouth fell open.

  “Man, that’s awesome, I’ve never seen a skill up close! Okay, so our main problem’s gonna be goblins. They’re nasty little bastards. I ain’t kiddin’, saw one rip a deer to shreds. We gotta be smart about this.”

  We?

  The kid sounded as if they were going to fight monsters together.

  Taking a long drag from his cigarette, Shane ignored the guide and started up the trail. He walked in silence, and after a while, the kid’s nervous chatter died. Finally. The kid kept sniffling, as if he had a cold, but he was probably just trying to keep his nerves in order.

  The sun was at its highest point, but the clouds kept pelting them with shadows. Up ahead, Shane could see the winding trail disappear behind the trees and bushes.

  All he could hear was the crunch of their shoes on the gravel path, and the mountain wind as it whisked the cigarette smoke away.

  The forest was still. A little too still.

  There wasn’t even a single bird, as if the wildlife that lived here were scared off from their habitat.

  Something was watching them.

  Suddenly, a branch swayed and a clump of shadow dropped to the ground to their right. The guide immediately yelped, doing a weird karate motion... until he realized it was just snow.

  “Oh. Phew.” The guide let out a nervous laugh. “For a second, I thought it was—”

  Then, the faintest rustling to their left.

  Though the kid failed to notice, Shane’s head immediately snapped to the source of the sound.

  Four figures resembling short apes—if it weren’t for their turquoise skin and huge teeth crowding half their faces—burst from the treeline. Each clutched a jagged stone in their four-fingered hands, smiling ear-to-ear as if they were eager to sink it deep into some fresh meat.

  [Brook Goblins]

  Rank: F

  A subspecies of goblin uniquely adapted to life near running water. They are more agile than common goblins, adapted for leaping between slick river stones. Fast in short bursts, but they lack the stamina of their cousins.

  Warning: Escaped targets will trigger [Vengeance] status, immediately alerting their nest to hunt down the attacker.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Shane stepped forward—

  “Get ready!”

  The guide burst in front of him, fumbling for a hunting knife strapped to his thigh. Shane stared down at the guy blocking his path.

  The first goblin shrieked and charged.

  It was fast, leaping into the air and raising its stone dagger for a downward stab at the guide. He tripped on his own feet trying to backpedal.

  “Ah, ah, help!”

  Shane sighed, dropping his cigarette into a patch of old snow and stepping over it. He had to act before the goblin turned his only guide into sashimi.

  He grabbed the guide by the collar and tossed him back. His eyes met the goblin in mid-air. The goblin flinched, but it was trapped by its own jump.

  His palm strike connected with the goblin’s chin.

  The crack of bone rang in the forest. Its head snapped back at an impossible angle as the momentum carried the limp body several feet, before crashing into a tree trunk and slumping on the ground.

  The other three goblins skidded to a halt. Their tiny brains were trying to process the instant death of their packmate. For a moment, they looked like they were about to run.

  But they hissed, fanning out to attack from three sides.

  Shane didn’t even glance at the ones flanking him. He stared down the one in front of him as a [Fireball] bloomed over his palm.

  Immediately shooting forward, the ball resembled a spear in its fast trajectory, and caught the goblin mid-stride. The body turned to ash and scattered before it even hit the ground.

  The final two goblins exchanged glances before baring their fangs, and he was almost impressed by their guts—until they spun around and scrambled back into the woods.

  Shit.

  Their blotted skin camouflaged themselves behind the bushes.

  Shane snapped his fingers twice. Two smaller, faster [Fireballs] shot out, aimed at each fleeing goblin’s back. The [Fireballs] hit the bushes they ran into, burning them to ashes before sizzling out.

  He ran through the smoke to check for the bodies. He’d dialed back the heat of his skill so it’d leave something behind—a leg, or even a finger. He scanned the ground quickly.

  Nothing. Those little runts had escaped.

  Having to deal with an entire nest’s ambush would be annoying, so he ran after them.

  “W-wait for me!” The guide shouted from behind.

  Shane ignored him, running in silence as his eyes scoured the ground. His sharp senses picked up the goblins’ footprints on the leftover snow.

  Jumping over a fallen log, he thought he heard the sound of running water. And that’s when he stumbled through the bushes and into a clearing.

  A narrow, but long stream splashed down the mountain’s spine.

  Breakneck Brook.

  Shane’s face lit up. He’d never imagined hunting the goblins would lead him straight to his destination.

  But he’d expected it to be bigger. And deeper.

  Since he had been looking forward to pushing his guide into the river, he was a little disappointed, but decided that it’d make looking for the portal easier. All he needed to do was threaten his guide to walk through the water.

  Even at its deepest, it looked like it’d only go up to his knees.

  If Shane could find the portal fast enough, he wouldn’t have to bother with the goblin horde. But something strange was moving underneath the water.

  A fish? No.

  A human hand was flailing underneath the shallow surface.

  No body was attached to the hand. Even if there was, it couldn’t have stayed hidden in such shallow water, anyway.

  Shit.

  This was the portal. With an NPC already stuck in it.

  Shane glanced one last time at the bushes where the goblins had vanished, then pivoted toward the brook.

  “Tch.”

  He took off his coat and put it in his inventory before striding near the cold water. At least the portal was easy to reach. He plunged his arm into the stream, and grabbed the flailing hand.

  Grunting, Shane pulled.

  It felt like pulling a boot out of thick mud. As the upper body of a man came out of the blue portal, Shane grabbed his collar, and hauled him unceremoniously from the brook, dropping him onto the rocks and pebbles.

  The guy lay there coughing up water.

  It seemed the shallow stream had continued to fill up whatever dimensional seam he’d been stuck in. Shane let the NPC be, and re-summoned his coat. His tattered shirt was not helping with the chill.

  “W-wait for me! I... who’s that?” The guide finally caught up, stumbling out of the trees.

  His eyes widened as he pointed a shaking finger at Shane.

  “Oh... oh gods.”

  Shane looked behind him. The sound began as a ruslte, then grew into a hissing wave.

  The goblin pack was here.

  Pouring from the forest, the chittering horde of yellow eyes were fixed on Shane. The guide, paralyzed with terror, squeaked.

  Shane stood between the goblins and... the two liabilities he’d somehow acquired.

  He really didn’t want to waste mana on things like this.

  Well, if push comes to shove, I’ll just escape into the portal using the two as bait, he thought.

  The new man, busy coughing up water, seemed to have missed the guide’s voice and the goblins’ initial hisses.

  After finally coughing up all the water in his lungs, he was wiping his wet glasses on the hem of his soaked suit-jacket, which didn’t seem to help much.

  He looked like he belonged behind a polished desk rather than dripping water onto the forest floor. Brown hair, probably once combed neatly back, now clung in damp strands to his forehead.

  He stretched out his hand as if asking for help to get up while he put his wet glasses back on.

  Shane sighed before taking the hand. The man only noticed the horde after Shane started helping him up to his feet.

  “Wh-what the... b-behind you!” the man yelled.

  The goblin pack leader, which was noticeably larger than the others, shrieked its war cry.

  The goblin horde charged. The front line bounded over boulders while the ones behind dropped from branches.

  Shane waited. Just a few more feet.

  When they closed the distance, Shane’s other hand, palm open, shot out toward the horde.

  “[Fireball],” he muttered.

  Dozens of [Fireballs] blazed into existence, converging into a giant wall of flame that erupted between Shane and the enemy line.