Chapter 5 …
“…! Damn it, these mercenaries never listen!”
Charlie’s face turned pale.
They were supposed to coordinate their attacks, yet he was acting alone! If he died first, it would be a disaster.
He wasn’t even drawing his sword. It looked like he was walking straight to his death.
Hehe? Kik!
Even the monsters seemed amused by Dohyun’s reckless behavior, snickering as they swung their clubs.
The creature’s club had already closed the distance.
In just a moment, that heavy weapon would crush Dohyun’s head and splatter blood everywhere.
“Damn it…!”
Just as Charlie hurried to chase after him—
“…?”
He saw it.
Swoosh—whoong!
Kirik?
Dohyun’s running movement stopped for a brief instant.
As if by magic, the club swept past right in front of his head. It was a razor-thin margin—off by just 1 cm and his skull would have been shattered.
Whenever something is swung, the stance inevitably collapses.
And that creates an opening.
Crunch! Stab!
With a kick, the creature lost its balance and staggered. Dohyun grabbed its neck and snapped it, then immediately thrust into the neck of the gnoll beside it. Two of them fell in an instant.
[Critical Hit!]
[Critical Hit!]
It was thanks to striking vital points and triggering critical damage for double damage.
Their pitiful tutorial-level health helped too.
Kirik? Kiririk!!
The situation flipped in an instant.
The archers, who had been predators enjoying the hunt, suddenly panicked as they became prey and hurriedly took their stances.
But the shield protecting them was only one creature.
Whoong—
The club swung from the side in what was meant to be a surprise attack. Dohyun simply stepped back and avoided it, then drove his knee upward.
Crack—clatter.
A technique that strikes the hand at the exact timing to make the opponent drop their weapon.
The so-called Weapon Drop.
Back in Demrock, it was one of the moves that made those who dueled Kaiser tremble in fear.
Since the systems were similar, he had tried it on a whim—fortunately, it worked.
[You use the skill ‘Heavy Strike’.]
He kicked the body and finished it with the skill.
‘Heavy Strike is a one-shot.’
A skill was indeed a skill—even without a critical, a clean hit killed in one blow.
Kigigi…
Kirik…
Only two archers remained.
With no guards left to protect them, the pair of archers were nothing to fear. Before they could even fully draw their bows, they were cut in half by Dohyun’s sword.
Having finished the battle in an instant, Dohyun lightly flicked the blood off his blade.
He had wondered if his body might feel stiff after playing a game again for the first time in a while, but thankfully it moved just as he intended.
‘…If anything, I feel lighter.’
Maybe because, unlike VR where he couldn’t feel anything, all five senses were vivid here.
It felt smoother than before.
Just as Dohyun was feeling satisfied at this discovery—
“My goodness…”
Charlie, who had been staring blankly, slowly approached.
Looking back and forth between the fallen gnolls and Dohyun in disbelief, Charlie let out a breath of admiration.
“I can’t believe it… You took down five monsters by yourself.”
At the same time, a message appeared.
[Knight Commander Charlie is impressed by your outstanding skills that defy appearances.]
[Knight Commander Charlie’s affinity toward you has increased.]
‘Affinity?’
It was a system that existed in Demrock as well.
It differed by NPC, but raising affinity sometimes granted rewards, so quite a few players used to grind it.
Though most gave up after learning even the rewards were gacha-based.
In any case, it was familiar, so nothing surprising.
However—
‘Is the threshold easier here?’
It was odd that the affinity increased after just one hunt.
In Demrock, affinity was notoriously hard to raise.
Still, nothing too strange.
‘It varies by NPC anyway.’
In that sense, Charlie—who prioritized combat—was actually convenient for Dohyun.
He wasn’t good with words, but he was confident in his fighting.
Maybe because the affinity had risen—
“I’ve never seen swordsmanship or combat like that before. Which mercenary company are you from? Are they all like that?”
“……”
“No… that can’t be. You must simply be exceptional. Impressive for someone so young.”
Unlike before, when he only spoke what the story required, Charlie had become noticeably more talkative.
Even though Dohyun didn’t respond, Charlie kept muttering to himself until the distant sound of monsters snapped him back to his senses.
“Let’s move for now.”
“Yes.”
Slash—! Stab!
After that, Dohyun continued through several more battles.
Each fight was decided quickly.
Whenever monsters appeared, Dohyun rushed ahead and dealt with them, while Charlie belatedly tried to join and ended up marveling again.
“Amazing! Such skill! Aren’t you even faster than before?!”
And every time, Charlie added a comment.
[Knight Commander Charlie’s affinity has increased.]
Like a matched set, the affinity kept rising.
Stab! Crack!
“That handwork when you snap their necks is astonishing every time! How can it be so fluid like flowing water?!”
[Knight Commander Charlie’s affinity has increased.]
Slash—
“This… it’s like you were born to wield the sword.”
[Knight Commander Charlie’s affinity has increased.]
At first it was simple admiration, but now Charlie seemed to have no intention of fighting at all and was busy praising him instead.
The lines were so polished it almost felt like he was carefully composing them while watching the fight.
‘…Is his role a reaction bot?’
He was supposed to be taciturn and strict…
And that wasn’t even the end of it.
Charlie’s full reaction-bot mode truly kicked in when the number of monsters nearly doubled.
Kirik, kik!
Kiririk—!
Nearly ten of them.
Perhaps because of their numbers, their weapons were more varied too.
Unlike before—when they mostly had clubs and bows—this time there were spears, clubs, bows, daggers, and more.
“This…! I’ll join this time! Even for you, this many will be difficult!”
Even Charlie, who had only been watching, finally declared he would participate.
‘No, shouldn’t you have been helping from the start?’
Dohyun had never told him not to fight, yet somehow Dohyun had ended up leading everything.
It was strange—but it changed nothing.
Tap!
“…Wait, you—?!”
They were just tutorial mobs that died in one or two critical hits.
Five or ten—it was all the same.
As Dohyun plunged in without hesitation, even Charlie—who had been full of admiration—panicked and hurriedly drew his weapon to follow.
But rescuing Dohyun, who had already dived into the monster pack, looked impossible.
Kirik! Kiririk!
Pew! Thwip!
“Damn it…!”
While Charlie deflected the archers’ arrows, the monsters quickly surrounded Dohyun.
The first to charge was a dagger-wielding monster. Packed closely together, it was hard to use spears or arrows.
A short-range dagger was ideal.
And that was exactly why Dohyun had deliberately closed the distance.
Grab— Kirik?
The moment the dagger swung, Dohyun’s arm blocked the wrist.
Like a snake, it coiled inward.
Crack! Gah!
Clatter.
With a twist of the elbow, the dagger dropped uselessly.
Dohyun snatched it midair and immediately stabbed the creature’s neck.
[Critical Hit!]
Kiruk!! Keeegh!
Seeing their ally die instantly, another monster beside it swung a club in rage.
In Dohyun’s lowered view, the creature’s jaw came into sight.
He drove his palm upward.
With a sickening sound, the monster’s head snapped back.
Dohyun pulled the dagger from its neck and stabbed again—another instant kill.
Kyek! Keh!
Two dead in moments.
The remaining monsters, startled, stopped closing in and widened their distance.
Instinctively, they realized one-on-one was dangerous.
But Dohyun showed no hesitation.
Whoosh— stab! Crack!
[Critical Hit!]
He threw the dagger into the eye of a retreating enemy, then picked up a club and smashed it down.
Just like that, they lost another comrade.
The archers desperately pulled their bowstrings, but Dohyun’s movements were ghostlike.
Ki… kirik…?
Every time they tried to aim, he slipped perfectly behind one of their own allies.
They fired anyway out of stubbornness—
—but the arrows only struck their teammates’ backs.
“My goodness…”
Charlie watched in something close to shock.
Weapon drops performed effortlessly…
Using each captured weapon as if it were originally his…
Even training with a single weapon for life wasn’t enough—how could someone handle so many this well?
Even Charlie, who had stood on many battlefields, had never seen such combat.
Not only that—
There wasn’t the slightest hesitation in how Dohyun created advantageous positions.
Like flowing water, smooth and natural, he seized the high ground and led the battle to an easy victory.
No famed mercenary—nor even a knight—had shown such artistic movement.
Yet this unknown mercenary displayed such valor and power?
It felt as though he alone had stepped outside the bounds of common sense and was walking his own path.
People would later call such individuals—
‘Hero…’
Could it be that he was witnessing the beginning of a heroic legend found only in history?
The kind he had admired since childhood…
Ki— Kyaaaak!
A monster’s tearing scream rang out.
One creature, staring at Dohyun like he was a demon, suddenly fled in panic.
Charlie snapped to attention and drew his sword.
‘I’ll handle that one.’
Though stunned by the overwhelming battle, Charlie was still a commander.
One monster would be easy.
Unfortunately, he never got the chance.
Swoosh—thud!
Gah!
Dohyun calmly drew a bow and fired.
The arrow pierced straight through the creature’s head.
He fired one more shot at the fallen body.
Only after confirming the kill did Dohyun lower his weapon.
‘Always finish cleanly.’
Demrock had countless bosses.
Despite being a terrible RNG-heavy game, the difficulty was brutally high, and many bosses had nasty mechanics.
Some were especially troublesome even after death—
Parasites that jumped to other hosts…
Final attacks triggered upon death…
Or outright resurrection.
Maybe because his first game had been like that.
After experiencing that hell enough times, confirming kills had become a habit.
These small monsters probably didn’t have such abilities…
‘Still, better safe than sorry.’
It was simply a matter of peace of mind.
Just as he was about to check for nearby enemies—
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
‘Hm?’
Dohyun turned toward the sudden applause.
There stood Charlie—who had now even tossed aside his sword—clapping enthusiastically.
“…?”
Even under Dohyun’s questioning stare, Charlie didn’t stop.
In fact, he doubled down.
“I owe you an apology.”
“?”
Charlie suddenly spoke with a deeply sincere expression.
As Dohyun tilted his head in confusion, Charlie’s eyes hardened with conviction, his voice thick with emotion.
“Saying you were born to wield the sword was an insult. You are the incarnation of battle! A hero born for war!”
“……”
“It is my honor to fight alongside a hero like you!”
Charlie placed a hand on Dohyun’s shoulder, speaking with complete sincerity.
Dohyun’s lips parted slightly—then closed again.
He had many things to say.
But nothing came out.
‘An NPC who claps instead of doing his job…’
So this was the supposedly hyper-real NPC of GodOS?
In Demrock, this would have been unimaginable.
Still… good was good.
[Knight Commander Charlie is deeply moved by your overwhelming combat.]
[Knight Commander Charlie’s affinity has greatly increased.]
[Knight Commander Charlie’s affinity has reached maximum.]
[He now fully trusts you. Even if you commit evil, he will believe you if you claim innocence.]
[You have obtained the title ‘Max Affinity From the Start?’]
Thanks to that, his affinity shot to the maximum and he even gained a reward.
Dohyun checked the title.
