Without delay, Ram and Miyabi rushed to hide behind me.
The Goblin King had reached its third stage. Because of this, another AOE attack was coming without doubt. I gripped the flag in my right hand and the dagger in my left tight.
'The attacks launched at 25% are an aura wave and a ground attack—cascading rocks.'
I chanted in my mind, recalling the information I got from Kiki in the previous timeline. Of course, I didn't hear exact details about the attacks, or what they looked like. It was just a passing conversation, so honestly, I had no idea what was coming other than the type of attacks.
"GRAAAH!"
The Goblin King roared, its full body now blood red, radiating a powerful aura like raging fire. The aura ballooned outward before exploding like a powerful shockwave.
"It's coming!" I shouted.
This shockwave was powerful enough to one-hit any non-vanguard build player under level 20. In short, it should be more than enough to wipe all of us out instantly.
But as it was a boss's attack, it definitely wasn't a sure-hit.
The method to protect everyone was simple.
I quickly swapped my dagger for a tower shield—another drop item from the goblins. Then I stepped two paces forward, still holding the flag, and planted the shield into the ground.
CRACK!
The shockwave hit the shield, cracking it immediately.
I was worried it wouldn't last, but the shockwave was a one-off thing. The wave broke against the shield, keeping me safe behind it—and Miyabi and Ram further behind me—completely unharmed.
"GROOOOWL!"
BAM!
Of course, that wasn't the end of it.
The cave's ground suddenly rippled, almost as if it were made of liquid. This was, without a doubt, the ground attack Kiki mentioned!
"We need to jump!" I warned the two. "Time it perfectly when the wave is 1-2 meters away from you!"
The ripple stood about half a meter tall and one meter wide, traveling at the speed of a fast sprinter. Picking the right moment to jump wasn't hard. And even if either of them failed to dodge it, this attack only forcefully staggered the target for five seconds.
Though normally, five seconds under the assault of a berserk boss would be fatal.
'Now!'
Of course, I wasn't one to make such a basic mistake.
I jumped with perfect timing, letting the earth wave pass right underneath me. Before landing, I glanced back—both Miyabi and Ram had cleared it too.
But... that wasn't the only one.
'Damn it, Kiki! You should've told me there were more coming...!'
It wasn't just one ripple, but several of them rushing forward at even intervals. I wasn't really a fan of rhythm games, but with my level of control, I didn't miss the timing for even one beat. I dodged five waves cleanly, but...
"Ah!"
Miyabi let out a short yelp as she jumped over the last wave way too early.
By the time she landed, the earth bump was still passing right below her feet. She was hit, triggering a "Staggered" status, sending her face-first into the ground. She wouldn't be able to stand for five full seconds.
"Grrr...!"
Almost as if drawn by the staggered Miyabi, the Goblin King rushed forward, sword in hand—grip creaking under the sheer force of the boss monster's fist.
"Ram!"
"Yes, Master."
Of course, we wouldn't just let it do as it pleased.
Ram rushed forward, meeting the approaching boss with nothing but a single blade. If only she hadn't lost her left hand, I might've equipped her with a new shield too.
CLANG!
"Ack!"
But as expected, even Ram couldn't act as a speedbump for the berserk boss. She flew away after a single casual swing, crashing into the far cave wall.
I let out an awkward sigh.
"No choice...!"
I swapped the tower shield out and re-equipped the dagger from before.
The moment I did, though, I realized it might've been the wrong call. Looking closer, the dagger was riddled with cracks. After the intense exchange of parries earlier, its durability was nearly bottomed out.
Not that I had time to switch weapons again at this point.
The Goblin King was already right in front of me, swinging its giant sword straight down.
Without missing a beat, I calculated the trajectory and swung the dagger for a Perfect Parry—aiming for the sword's edge, the center of mass, where the momentum was focused. The moment my dagger met the giant sword—
PERFECT PARRY!
CRACK!
The green window appeared—but at the same time, the dagger breathed its last.
Thankfully, the Perfect Parry staggered the boss. The few seconds that bought were enough to equip a fresh dagger—and enough for Miyabi's stagger to run out.
"Ugh... Sorry about that!" She apologized quickly, already readying her sword. "What should I do next, WhiteGod?!"
"For now... wait for the perfect timing."
I held the new dagger in hand, eyes fixed on the recovering Goblin King.
And then... our intense exchange began. Attacks flew and parries rained. Green notification bubbles popped without pause. With the boss berserk, its stagger duration was about 50% shorter—meaning the number of exchanges was even greater than before.
[FriedLiver: Damn, that WhiteGod guy... He's inhuman!]
[DSLover: It's him...! The one who clears ToHard games without taking a single point of damage...!]
[Bell: M-Master...! Please teach me your ways...!]
Since Miyabi was standing to the right rear of the boss, I could see the chat bubbles popping up. With my eyesight, reading them wasn't hard—and they were mostly all praising me.
Damn, I feel embarrassed...
[Anon00010101: Focus, Whitey~! Fight, fight, oooh~!💕]
"..."
But this useless goddess still finds a way to irritate me in a single message, as usual.
Anyway, with me holding the boss down through parries, both Miyabi and Ram attacked whenever it staggered, then backed off behind it. With how much aggro I had locked down, the boss didn't even glance at them. It was solely focused on wanting to crush me—just as planned.
With me anchoring the front and the two focusing on dealing damage, the last 25% of the boss's HP disappeared fast.
Not even a minute later, just before the new dagger completely ran out of durability...
[Congratulations to WhiteGod and FleetingCloud! You have defeated the Goblin King!]
[You gained experience points. You have leveled up.]
[Achievement title received: Pioneer]
[Server Announcement: Congratulations to players WhiteGod and FleetingCloud for being the first to clear the Prologue.]
[Clear rating: 100%]
[Unlocking the Beginner's Village Map (Normal)]
[All players can now move to the Beginner's Village Map.]
A flood of windows and announcements appeared before our eyes. Among them, one specifically asked if we wanted to move to the Beginner Village, with a Yes/No prompt.
"Mi—FleetingCloud." I quickly corrected myself. "Let's move to the Beginner Village now. There's nothing left for us here anyway."
"Yep!"
To my surprise, Miyabi's attire had already changed.
Earlier she was still in her starter equipment, but now she wore some eye-catching armor—a mix of leather plating that straddled the line between sexy and wild, radiating the purple glow of an SR piece.
At a glance, she looked like a wandering swordsman, or maybe a well-off mercenary. More than erotic or beautiful, it looked cool on her, honestly.
"Boss drops?"
"Yes!"
Well, nothing else could've been the source of it anyway.
Although I was curious about what items I'd gotten myself, I didn't bother checking right now. Instead, I just tapped Yes on the confirmation screen. The next moment, a white flash filled my vision.
When the light faded and I opened my eyes, the view before me had completely changed.
I was no longer in the cave, but in the middle of a village plaza. Behind me stood the central fountain. Ahead, players were appearing one after another in bright flashes. Some had even arrived before me, clearly excited about the new map.
Though, of course, all of them were still at single-digit levels.
'They've rushed too much...' I thought, shaking my head.
They should've hunted until reaching at least level 15 before moving to the Beginner Village. Monsters out here were stronger than in the tutorial—they'd surely have a hard time now.
"Master..."
"Hm?"
Only then did I notice.
Ram was standing beside me, still without her left hand, still wearing the same goblin-skin outfit from before. She stood out like a sore thumb, drawing more than a few curious glances our way.
"Ohh! So this is the Beginner's Village...!"
A moment later, Miyabi's voice rang out. She'd just arrived in a bright pillar of light and was already looking around with a wide, curious smile.
Now that we were here, I noticed one more thing.
"As expected, none of the others here have as many viewers as you..."
"E-Ehehe..."
Of course, I wasn't praising her—I was criticizing her viewers, most likely all men.
"Anyway," I shrugged. "First things first. Change your settings and hide your name. You're attracting too much attention."
I'd already hidden my own name and level display. But since Miyabi's was still visible, she was already drawing stares and whispers from the people around us.
"Ah..."
Realizing her mistake, she quickly did as told, hiding her name and level from view.
Then—
"Alright," I said. "Let's split up and handle our own things for now. I'll be buying supplies and selling my loot. You do you. Meet back here in 30 minutes."
Efficiency first!