Chapter 14

Chapter 14

“Why do you always fight in such reckless situations? Are you a fighting rooster? One is enough with Kkukkudakkkukku.”

It was something Purple said one day after clearing a dungeon.

He asked why Do-hyeon kept taking on challenges with unnecessary risks when he could just leave the dungeon and be done with it.

Why take on the burden of danger and risk losing items if you die, leading to a loss?

Purple was curious about why the unluckiest person he knew had such guts, and he asked.

“Am I reckless? In what way?”

“...? You call jumping straight into a mid-boss that looks like a raid boss, with barely any health left, not reckless?”

“Hmm. But I defeated it, didn’t I?”

“...Well, you did, but it was still dangerous.”

At that moment, Do-hyeon couldn’t understand what Purple was saying.

No need to take on unnecessary risks?

Of course, he knew that.

However...

‘What’s so reckless about it?’

The issue was that Do-hyeon had never fought recklessly.

Unless there was a huge reward awaiting him or a hidden piece to be discovered.

Considering that Do-hyeon was the unluckiest of them all, he never had any intention of shouldering risks that weren’t worth it.

He simply took on fights that he thought he could win.

“Pffft! Right, you fight because you can win. You’re absolutely right.”

“...Actually, when Kaiser said to fight, you always won, didn’t you?”

“And... to be honest, this time I think Kaiser is right. Why can’t we win that fight?”

“I agree.”

Hearing Kkukkudakkkukku and Sword Emperor agree, Purple had shaken his head with a sigh, saying, “Ah, this is why these gifted ones...”

Of course, after seeing Do-hyeon succeed repeatedly, Purple no longer questioned it.

“Sigh, well, if you think it’s doable, I guess it’s doable,” he’d grumble while following along.

And Do-hyeon always lived up to that trust.

Smack!

This time was no different.

“What the...!?”

“This is dangerous! We need to escape, now!”

As the party was about to run away, they shouted frantically at Do-hyeon, who charged forward, but he didn’t feel any sense of threat.

‘Thirteen goblins. Seven with daggers, four with clubs, two with poison darts...’

He simply coolly assessed the enemy and quickly ran simulations in his mind.

Once his judgment was made, Do-hyeon first targeted the goblins wielding poison darts.

‘This makes things easier.’

When facing a group, the first basic strategy is to neutralize long-range attackers.

If he were alone, he could have let the other goblins take the hits, but with his party there, he didn’t want to create unnecessary risks.

Crunch!

After swiftly knocking away the goblin’s hand aiming a poison dart at his face, he broke its neck.

The goblin next to it charged at him, but it tripped over the falling goblin’s body.

Slash!

In the meantime, Do-hyeon cut down the other goblin, who was staring blankly.

[You have used the skill ‘Heavy Strike’.]

[Critical hit!]

[You have defeated a Green Goblin.]

[Contribution rewards: ‘Kaiser’ has obtained the Green Goblin’s hide.]

With a slice to the neck and a stab to the heart, the goblin collapsed.

Without hesitation, Do-hyeon immediately stabbed the goblin who had tripped and fallen.

Stab! Stab!

Kieeek! Keck!

Although the other goblins surrounded him, stabbing at him with their daggers to stop him, Do-hyeon didn’t stop stabbing.

Getting slashed a few times was something he could handle.

Faced with his relentless, dogged determination, the poison dart thrower let out a death cry.

[Critical hit!]

[You have defeated a Green Goblin.]

In an instant, the long-range attackers were wiped out.

“Ah, ah, y-yeah, let’s do that.”

“Yeah! That’s what I was going to do!”

BestShield lifted his shield again, while the two others, who had been ready to flee, began to support with ranged attacks.

A fight that had once seemed hopeless now looked winnable.

Thwip! Thwip!

Boom!

Kieeek! Keck!

No, they were now in a more favorable position.

The goblins, who were already disoriented by Do-hyeon’s chaos, couldn’t handle it when BestShield joined in, and AimForTheForehead and YubinKkyung hammered them like they were nothing more than sandbags.

This was all because of one person.

‘...Is this even possible?’

BestShield couldn’t understand the situation.

How could a level 1 player solo thirteen goblins?

Even top-ranking veteran players couldn’t pull that off.

Normally, a level 1 party of four would face a goblin group of five.

A skilled party could handle a bit more, and a well-seasoned party might stretch to ten goblins with some

effort.

‘But to face thirteen goblins solo?’

Sure, the man had only defeated five by himself, but... somehow, it felt like he would have taken down all thirteen if left alone.

After all, it had all happened in the blink of an eye.

In that instant, BestShield noticed the man’s username.

‘Kaiser.’

At first, he thought it was just a fan and didn’t give it much thought...

But now he was starting to wonder if that might not be the case.

If this was the same Kaiser who once ranked higher than Myeolsal back in the DemRock days, then this absurd situation would start to make sense.

The godlike combat movements also matched...

‘No way.’

However, BestShield soon shook his head.

Would the real Kaiser, who had been out of the spotlight for over a year and a half, suddenly start playing again?

And on top of that, would he happen to be in his party on the very first day?

‘That’s too unrealistic.’

Humans have a tendency to dismiss uncomfortable truths as mere illusions.

That’s what was happening with BestShield right now.

It was easier to think that he was overthinking things than to believe he had the chance to be part of Kaiser’s first foray back into the game.

After all, it wasn’t as if Kaiser had actually taken down all thirteen goblins. He had just looked cool enough to seem like he could.

‘I heard Kaiser’s die-hard fans are all skilled... maybe he’s one of them.’

Thus, BestShield was content with his awe and continued hunting, thinking he had gotten lucky with a good party right from the start.

Little did he know that the man was indeed Kaiser.

999

[You have defeated a Green Goblin.]

[Contribution rewards: ‘Kaiser’ has obtained the Green Goblin’s hide.]

[You have leveled up.]

As Do-hyeon finished off the last goblin, the message popped up, and he lowered his sword.

As soon as he did, the others couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Wow... you really took them all down.”

“This is my first time seeing something like this.”

“That was insane. It was so much fun.”

“To be honest, I was a bit worried since they said the combat was so realistic, but it was way too fun. I can’t wait to see what the boss fight will be like.”

Still filled with the excitement of battle, their voices were trembling with excitement as they spoke.

Like fans excitedly discussing a great movie they had just seen, they were all talking about the battle they had just witnessed.

And naturally, the conversation turned to Do-hyeon.

“Seriously... wow, Kaiser, you’re amazing. How does anyone move like that?”

“You’re not some veteran player, are you? I’ve never seen anything like it. Have you trained in martial arts or something?”

“What kind of martial arts would even do that? Are you some kind of special forces or something? Honestly, as a guy, I was about to fall for you, bro.”

Hearing AimForTheForehead and YubinKkyung’s flustered admiration reminded Do-hyeon of Charlie.

Especially since AimForTheForehead’s form of address had shifted to calling him ‘bro’.

He was half-listening to the compliments, but the next thing they said made him freeze.

“You really live up to your name. At this rate, could you actually be the Kaiser?”