As the goblin general

  was about to raise his sword to end me, the bladeless sword hilt I was

  holding began to glow. An auric shimmer of red and silver surged

  throughout my body. All those happened for a split second—long enough

  for Baekhel to notice, but not enough for him to react.

  A blade had now formed from my broken weapon, momentarily enveloped

  in a white light as traces of the item I used was still present. I

  quickly slashed my sword upwards at his dominant hand, aiming not at his

  sword but at his wrist. Before Baekhel could even process what had

  happened, my blade was already buried deep in his thick forearm. I

  leaned into it, gripping the hilt with everything I had. The edge of my

  sword dug deeper and deeper until eventually—

  I cut his hand, literally disarming him with the longsword that was making him so much of a threat.

  Baekhel’s pained roar echoed down the block, drawing goblins out of

  the alleyways and buildings. They cried out in unison. Several armored

  pack leaders stepped outside with their weapons raised, but they

  hesitated. Their general hadn’t ordered them to interfere yet.

  The multi-shifting blade had now fixed and stabilized itself thanks

  to the Scroll of Crude Weapon Restoration, but I already knew restoring

  it to its original state wouldn’t be enough. So to supplement my

  strength, I played the ace up my sleeve.

  [(V-Tier Skill) Forced Casting]

  Cooldown: Passive

  Obtaining this skill allows you to use skills with a cooldown… for a price! This cost

  increases for every rarity up the alphabet. As for what these costs are, you just have to find out. I’m a helpful System, right?

  I had read the description for [Forced Casting] when I received it

  alongside my artifact, but I brushed it off as extremely risky. It

  allowed me cast skills in cooldown for a cost, which was unknown and

  could mean just about anything.

  A couple of System panels also appeared. Achievements, confirmation

  panels of me having used [Overpower], [Goblin Mania], and the [Scroll of

  Crude Weapon Restoration] at the same time before I attacked, as well

  as a debuff.

  That debuff was the price inflicted by my V-Tier Skill.

  [The combined cost of a Forced Cast of B-Tier and C-Tier Skills is thirty seconds of Agony.]

  [(Debuff) Agony]

  This is excruciating pain AND

  rapid physical deterioration in one package! This is supposed to be a

  mechanic for torture, not for some fucked-up activities. You get me?

  Good. A minute of Agony will result to your joints and tendons being

  torn. Two minutes will result to internal bleeding on the most

  vulnerable parts of your body. Three minutes, organ failure. Anything

  above that is certain death.

  Unable to contain the pain, I screamed, “AAAGGGHHH!”

  Every nerve in my body screamed as if I was bathed in a hot magma and

  glacial ice at the same time. My muscles seized violently, locking and

  tearing against themselves. My vision blurred—not from tears, but from

  the sheer overload as my brain struggled to stay conscious.

  The [Agony] debuff made it feel like my organs were being crushed and

  stretched at the same time. The adrenaline didn’t dull it, so I felt

  every second in full, merciless clarity.

  And alongside this debuff, I also had thirty seconds on my Goblin

  [Mania] skill. That was all I had. Every second spent cursing myself was

  one less second I could act. I won’t get a second chance.

  And so, with my empowered sword further amplified by [Overpower], I

  stood from my knees and dashed in. Baekhel’s body glowed a deep red as I

  began attacking him. With Overpower active, I was faster and stronger

  than before, wasting no time to assert my dominance over him.

  However, the goblin general’s body was much tougher, too. He must’ve

  activated [Goblin Mania] as well because his body felt much like a kind

  of soft steel now, and by effect, his power had increased as well. It

  would be dangerous to give him a chance to recuperate and attack. My

  sword didn’t tear through his flesh like I was easily able to earlier,

  but he wasn’t impenetrable.

  He was clearly ignoring the pool of blood soaking from his gaping

  forearm because eventually, I was able to see an unblocked opening

  through his neck, I decisively reached for the kill…

  Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

  Then Baekhel stomped the pavement with everything he had, putting me

  off-balance and sending me a few meters away from him. I couldn’t

  recognize if that was a different skill or just his brute strength, but

  it didn’t matter now. He shouted, “EVERYONE! KILL HIM!”

  Hordes of goblins have started charging from all directions. There

  were some of who jumped from the buildings and into me, attacking with

  their axes and bats and knives. I couldn’t just ignore them, so I had to

  turn my attention and quickly deal with them before they hit me. I cut

  them down.

  [9/25 Monsters Killed]

  [10/25 Monsters Killed]

  [11/25 Monsters Killed]

  No, I don’t have time for this! I

  looked back to see Baekhel reaching for his sword. I wasn’t fast enough

  to close the distance between us nor was I close enough to kill him. I

  knew that if he ever reaches for that sword, it would be over for me.

  But that wasn’t my main problem for now.

  [EVENT: Wave Tutorial (1/5)]

  00:00:15 Remaining

  8/25 Monsters Killed

  This wave will end in fifteen seconds.

  And, as if the timing couldn’t get any worse, my body exploded into

  an abrupt pain. The wounds I retained from my earlier fight with the

  pack leader had suddenly opened. It’s like the effects of the healing

  potion were forcibly reversed.

  I bit my tongue through the raging agony. In one desperate motion, I

  raised my sword overhead with both hands gripping the hilt, and I threw

  it at him. The blade spun end over end, tearing through air as the heavy

  blade carried the momentum forward. It struck Baekhel’s head directly,

  the steel blade sinking deep into his skull. Without as much of a noise,

  he instantly collapsed forward.

  The pain from the Agony debuff also subsided, enabling me to breath much easier.

  The panel anchored atop my vision, showing the timer of the EVENT, had suddenly pinged.

  [EVENT: Wave Tutorial (1/5)]

  [00:00:00 Remaining]

  With multiple System confirmations, as well as a few achievements that followed…

  The goblin general, Baekhel, was now dead.

  I finally killed him.

  …

  But the cries of goblins never ceased.

  [12/25 Monsters Killed]

  “I guess this is the end for me, again…” I dropped on the cracked

  pavement, looking at the purple sky covered by the still active dome.

  Killing the boss didn’t end the wave after all, which meant that I was

  already dead the moment I tried fighting him. I don’t have my sword

  anymore. My skills are in cooldown and if I try to force cast again,

  there’s no wondering what will happen to my body if I get that Agony

  debuff again for the second time.

  I was done. What awaited for me was either the touch of a torturous

  or instant death, or the goblins gnawing at my carcass like a dead

  animal.

  It turned out to be neither, because not only was I alive, the cries of the goblins turned silent.

  I knew it wasn’t my hearing that went wrong, because the gust from

  the portal was rushing through my ears louder than before. Goblins

  around me froze mid-swing and mid-leap. They were now being dragged

  backwards, bodies stretching unnaturally as they were pulled into the

  vortex.

  As the first goblin was sucked through the portal, my kill counter increased.

  [13/25 Monsters Killed]

  Then the second.

  [14/25 Monsters Killed]

  The counter kept rising the more goblins were sucked into the portal.

  I sat up, witnessing the peculiar thing happening before me. When the

  last goblin disappeared, the portal collapsed in on itself. Gone, as if

  it had never existed. With that, my total kill count jumped to—

  [75/25 Monsters Killed]

  There was also a blue System panel with a golden outline tucked just

  outside of my view. I brought it up with three simultaneous windows

  following suit, telling me that I had jumped from Level 2 to Level 5 in a

  single instant. I still had to manually confirm if I wanted to level up

  for each level, but I put them aside for now.

  Two panels slammed into view simultaneously.

  [Congratulations on completing the

  first wave! As the lone survivor of this dome and the sole killer of

  the Wave Boss, you have been selectively awarded for your monumental

  achievement.]

  [To all surviving participants, please take note! The second wave will begin in five minutes.]

  [Intermission: 00:05:00]

  I couldn’t believe it. I killed the wave boss and lived.

  The purple dome dissolved moments later, replaced by a much larger

  orange dome that stretched far beyond my original position. Judging by

  its size, it likely encompassed the nearby purple domes I had spotted

  earlier while scouting during the first wave.

  I sat up, then, “Agh—damn it…” I groaned, clutching the deep wound in

  my left shoulder. That wound originated from the Pack Leader’s stab

  earlier. I took the only potion out of my inventory and downed my

  remaining Potion of Lesser Healing. Just like before, I watched my wound

  knit itself, stopping the bleeding by itself, leaving only a thin,

  blood-soaked hole in my hoodie.

  Both my Achievements and Inbox icons pulsed with the red notification

  dots calling for me to open it, which I had to if I didn’t want to

  enter the next wave unprepared. I had to go to a safe place first

  though. I didn’t want to get mauled by whatever wave creature will spawn

  if I spend too much time in the middle of the road.

  I tried to stand back up again, and I nearly stumbled into the ground.

  Pain roared through my entire body with every movement. It felt as

  though every muscle cramped at once, likely sourced from the lingering

  backlash from the Agony debuff.

  But before I started moving, I saw a glint of steel reflect in my periphery.

  All of the goblins and their remnants had disappeared from this area

  the moment the portal disappeared, but not the multi-shifting blade I

  used to kill Baekhel, as well as the longsword the used to nearly murder

  me. I stored both weapons in my inventory for the meantime.

  Without more healing potions, I doubted I’d even make it through the next wave with this painful feeling.

  But doubt didn’t matter. Despite the pain, I forced myself forward.