RTGR 35

Chapter 35 ….

Kaiser was nowhere to be seen, no matter how frantically they looked around.

Maybe he had gone in first—so they pushed deeper inside.

Same result.

“Wait, what the hell… what is this?!”

He had definitely been there right up until they entered the boss room. How could he suddenly vanish? It was downright uncanny.

Forget appearances—this was a situation that made swearing inevitable.

Clank—thud.

Creeeak—.

To make matters worse, elite soldiers were approaching with the screech of metal.

At this rate, their aggro would inevitably lock onto them.

“Where the hell did that bastard go?! Did he disconnect or what?!”

“No—he still shows as online.”

“Then what? Don’t tell me he used Emergency Escape?”

Emergency Escape.

A convenience feature that forcibly pulled you out of a dungeon—but only before entering the boss room.

There was a penalty that reduced your HP by 30% for two hours, but it wasn’t too harsh, so plenty of players used it. You could even remove the penalty by visiting an NPC and drinking a special potion.

However, the function couldn’t be used once a boss raid had begun.

If someone vanished mid-try, most parties would face a wipe, so it existed to prevent trolling.

Which meant…

“…That bastard knew.”

“Ugh, no wonder he dodged everything.”

“Maybe because you made it too obvious when you shot! Damn it…”

“What are you talking about?! You told me to fire!”

“Is now the time to argue? Get it together, idiots.”

It meant he had seen through their plan.

At this point, they had no choice.

If they didn’t want the death penalty, they had to grit their teeth and clear the dungeon.

“Let’s handle the elite soldiers first. I’ll mark the boss—handle the rest yourselves.”

“…Damn it. Got it.”

At least one thing was fortunate: all of them were experts who had reached endgame level.

With even a mage in the party, they could clear it—as long as they didn’t mess up.

Tak!

The first to step forward was Bastard Sword.

To draw the elite soldiers’ aggro.

[Unique Ability ‘Showdown’ activates.]
[Until the designated target is settled, Defense and HP increase by 50%.]

Tch. This got annoying.

Showdown.

A unique ability from a Heroic God—extremely powerful for endurance play.

Because of this, Bastard Sword, despite being a swordsman, could confidently serve as a sub-tank.

Kirik…

The goblin elite soldier hesitated at the sudden appearance of Bastard Sword.

That moment was enough.

[Bastard Sword has used ‘Triple Slash’.]

A basic skill that sliced high, mid, and low in rapid succession.

Ordinary skill—but Bastard Sword’s version was different.

[Trait ‘One More Hit’ activates.]
[Attack count increases, delivering an additional strike.]

A trait that added one extra hit to any skill.

Thus it became not Triple Slash—

—but Quadruple Slash.

Caught off guard by the unexpected extra strike to a vital point, the elite soldier’s eyes turned bloodshot.

Kirik! Kiek!!

[Red Goblin Elite Soldier recognizes ‘Bastard Sword’ as enemy.]
[Trait: Obsession activates.]
[Aggro will not drop.]

Not to be outdone, Bastard Sword struck the nearby elite soldier as well.

It, too, locked aggro onto him.

Like a bull seeing red, both monsters fixated solely on Bastard Sword.

“Aggro’s handled here!”

“Okay. I’m marking now.”

Only then did the Paladin move.

Passing Bastard Sword and the mage, he pushed deeper—

—and a goblin large enough to make the elites look cute appeared.

Kiii…

Similar height and build to the 180-cm-plus Paladin.

But instead of muscle, its body was bloated with fat, and its typically sneering goblin face made one instinctively frown.

Even so—

its sharply gleaming eyes were chilling.

[Goblin Chieftain]

Title: Rare-grade Dungeon Boss
Type: Goblin
Traits: Coward, Selfish Defense, Revenge

Description:
The chieftain of the great goblin tribe.

Only goblins who inherit the bloodline of the greatest ancient goblin warrior can become chieftain.

However, the current chieftain’s blood has thinned greatly, and he cannot hide his innate cowardice. Avoiding the front lines, he even failed to manage his weight.

Even so, he remains the tribe’s leader—one capable of raging for his comrades.

It was the Goblin Chieftain.

KIIIIII!

Just as the description said—

he was enraged.

[All Goblin Scouts have died.]
[All Goblin Soldiers have died.]

At the deaths of his comrades.

At his own weakness that drove them to death.

[Trait ‘Revenge’ activates.]
[Until all ‘Human’ races in the dungeon are annihilated, the Goblin Chieftain’s stats increase and battle instincts surge.]

And at the humans who caused it all.

“Look at its eyes.”

Normally, the Coward trait was practically a penalty.

It meant the weak-willed owner became too frightened to fight properly.

A trash trait unworthy of a rare boss.

But when combined with Revenge—

the synergy was enormous.

The more dead allies and the greater the target’s rage, the stronger he became while enacting revenge.

His self-loathing for being a coward who let his comrades die turned into fury—

—and returned as overwhelming power.

BOOM! BAM!

“Ghk…!”

The force pounding against the shield was no joke.

There was no technique—just wild punches—

—but even that was hard to block.

Still, holding out was his specialty.

Compared to Arde’s Goblin Warrior, the pattern was simple.

No need to interrupt mechanics—just endure.

Tough, but not difficult.

[Unique Ability ‘Hold Out’ activates.]
[Damage taken decreases while maintaining the same stance.]
[Trait ‘Unyielding Body’ activates.]
[Body becomes heavier; knockback chance greatly reduced.]

And that was his field of expertise.

Though only a Fable-tier god, he had drawn the Immovable God of the Old Village—a highly regarded tank deity.

His traits were specialized for endurance.

“I’m holding—kill it fast!”

“Got i—!?”

Just as the mage was about to begin casting—

he froze, staring blankly into the air, and shouted in disbelief.

“Y-you—why the hell are you here?!”

The shout was loud enough to draw the attention of the two focused on tanking.

“What is it— huh?”

“What the—why is he…?”

The moment they turned—

they froze.

It made no sense.

Step. Step.

Footsteps from beyond the boss room door.

The one strolling in leisurely—

as if out for a walk—

was the very Kaiser they had been desperately searching for.

Dohyun.

“Dodged all the attacks, my ass… you couldn’t hit me even when I let you.”

His grumbling snapped them back to their senses.

“You—how?!”

“You weren’t there—how did you come from that side?!”

“This bastard seriously using hacks?!”

At their shouts, Dohyun smirked.

He had already confirmed their true colors—but perhaps because of the situation, they weren’t even bothering with masks anymore.

It was almost funny.

As expected.

His instincts about hostility had never been wrong.

Accuracy rate over 90%.

Good thing I hid with Backstab first.

Backstab was a skill that moved you behind a target.

Objects weren’t included.

So what about corpses?

Not living—but not exactly objects either.

With that thought, just before entering the boss room, Dohyun used Backstab on a goblin soldier’s corpse.

Didn’t think it would actually work.

It did.

He vanished from their sight, hid around the corridor corner—

—and returned when the timing felt right.

Watching from behind had been quite the spectacle.

The moment he disappeared, they had started cursing and spilling their entire plan.

“‘Hacks,’ huh… sounds like something I’ve heard before.”

“Ah, no…”

And that reaction—

Confirmed.

They were connected to someone who held hostility toward him.

And there was only one obvious candidate.

“…Assassin Boy, was it? His friends?”

“….”

Their silence was answer enough.

He’d heard the guy was being hunted down, yet he still commissioned revenge.

Definitely not normal.

Well, explains that forum post.

Stupid—or just insanely stubborn?

Still, these guys weren’t complete idiots.

“W-wait. We won’t deny we’re your enemies. But you need to help us clear the dungeon first.”

“….”

Bastard Sword was tied up by the elites.

The Paladin was locked with the Goblin Chieftain.

Only the mage remained—and mages were weak in 1v1.

Meanwhile, Dohyun was a swordsman with monstrous DPS.

They immediately moved to negotiation.

Unexpected.

Maybe they mistook his look for interest.

CLANG!
KIIEE!

“Urgh…”

The Paladin straining behind his shield.

Bastard Sword desperately holding off two elites.

Swallowing nervously, the mage spoke calmly.

“You know this—this place requires a mage. And a tank to hold aggro.”

“Hmm.”

“So let’s team up for now. Aggro’s fully on us anyway—you can’t sabotage us mid-raid even if you wanted to. And there’s no reason to.”

It was logical.

There was no way they’d attack him while drowning in aggro.

And the Selfish Defense trait did require a mage to clear.

Normally—

joining hands would be the smart move.

“I don’t want to.”

…Normally.

“Wha— Gahk!?”

Thud—!

Feeling the warm sensation spreading through his chest, the mage’s hands trembled.

A massive greatsword was embedded there.

He lifted his head.

Dohyun stood right in front of him, gripping the blade.

Crunch—!

[Player ‘Strongest10ClassArchmageWhatever’ has been killed.]
[Player confirmed as ‘Evil’. Recognized as self-defense. Karma does not increase.]

As expected—an Evil player.

His sensitivity to the death penalty had been a clue.

Dohyun had been prepared to take a small karma hit if necessary—

but there was no need.

Dohyun remained calm.

The other two did not.

“Jagchae!? You crazy bastard—you killed the mage?!”

“You insane idiot! You trying to wipe us all?!”

The Paladin and Bastard Sword shouted in shock and fury.

Even while desperately tanking, their rage was obvious.

Dohyun smiled faintly.

“Know what my creed is?”