As I kept running, the number of undead goblins continued to increase. I considered stopping to fight, sick of running. But I kept reminding myself that fighting would only make things worse.
I’d just be surrounded, caught, and killed.
If I died here, unlike the undead goblins, I would remain dead.
The best option was to keep running...
And that’s exactly what I did.
Until the very last second.
[00:00:15]
Fifteen seconds left.
I was running purely on willpower at this point. My limbs ached with every step, and my breathing was unsteady. Sweat clung to my skin, mixing with the sand that stuck to from falling nurous tis.
[Penalty Quest will end in]
10...
9...
8...
7...
6...
5...
4...
3...
I stumbled and fell to the ground, exhausted. I couldn’t take it anymore. My body refused to move, my limbs failing .
The undead goblins, noticing my fall, stopped in their tracks. Their eyes glowed with an intensity I hadn’t seen before. It was as if they had gained new ferocity the mont they saw vulnerable.
They lunged, and for a split second, I thought I was going to be caught before the tir ran out.
But then...
2...
1...
One of the undead swung its blade toward , its edge nearing my face. But just as the blade was about to strike, the tir hit zero, and the undead goblins burst into ashes, along with all the others behind them.
Ding!
[Penalty Quest: Survive the horde of goblins has been completed]
In the next second, I fell flat onto the ground again, my body giving out completely.
I was back in the cave. My eyes fluttered weakly, fighting to stay open.
Ding!
[Penalty Quest Completed]
Reward:
[You have received a healing potion.]
[You have received three free stat points.]
[You have received one item]
I exhaled in relief.
Never again. I’m never missing a daily quest again.
Ahh... so tired. I thought to myself, my eyelids growing heavier. I was too tired to think clearly, and I just wanted to rest. But then, I heard footsteps approaching.
"Chief is back..."
It sounded like Thok.
"Chief, Chief..."
He rushed toward .
"Wake up. Danger!"
I was too tired to process what he was saying. "Chief..." He began to shake , trying to wake up, but I muttered weakly, "Five more minutes... just... five minutes..."
But then, I felt a sharp slap across my face. The shock of it forced awake, more than the pain itself.
I turned sharply toward Thok. He imdiately jumped back, his face a mask of fear, and he dropped to his knees.
"Sorry for hitting you, Chief. The situation is urgent."
He apologized, his voice shaking.
I held my cheek, slowly forcing myself to sit up. What could be so urgent that Thok would slap ?
It wasn’t until I looked around that I noticed soone else was with him—the young troll. To my surprise, it had a worried expression on its face.
"What happened?" I asked, still groggy but trying to focus.
"Zarah and Zzok went to face the enemy," Thok explained. "There are plenty of them, and there’s a Shaman. It’s dangerous. We need Chief’s help."
The ntion of Zarah snapped out of my daze. Suddenly, all my exhaustion vanished. I rembered the last monts before I’d been thrown into the penalty zone.
Zarah had co into the room with a look of urgency.
"Did you see... the enemy?"
"Yes, enemies are coming. Zarah and Zzok went to lead them away."
I imdiately tried to rise to my feet, but my limbs betrayed . They were still numb from all the running, and I hadn’t fully recovered.
I grabbed the healing potion I’d received as a reward and downed it in one go. Imdiately, the pain in my body faded, and I felt awake and refreshed.
I stood, more steady now, and rushed toward the gathering.
I couldn’t believe this was happening, especially now. Why had this happened while I was gone? What kind of bad luck was this?
I entered the chamber, and the mont the goblins saw , they shouted in relief, "Chief! Chief!"
Flogga walked toward , a look of relief washing over her face. "Thank Drugar you’re back..."
I turned toward her, still trying to process. "What’s going on?"
She quickly explained, "Goblins from other tribes are heading this way. Zarah and Zzok went to lead them off, but they could be in danger. Please save them, Chief."
I balled my fists. My timing couldn’t have been worse. Why did it have to happen just when I was gone? It was almost as if the attackers knew exactly when I would be out of the picture.
But there was no ti to dwell on it. I was here now, and I needed to act fast.
If anything happened to Zarah or Zzok, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself.
I wanted to teleport directly to them, but then I rembered—I hadn’t put a seal on them yet.
I grit my teeth.
Dammit.
I’d been distracted by so many things and completely forgotten to do it. Why was I so forgetful?
I sighed.
I only had a seal on Narg. But where was Narg? I looked around.
"Looking for sothing, Chief?" Thok asked.
"Where is Narg? Did he go with them?"
"No... he went behind them to keep track of things. He said if Chief ca back, I should find him."
Oh.
Narg may not have realized I’d put a seal on him, but he probably noticed the reason I always appeared near him—and he had used that to his advantage. Smart thinking, Narg.
I placed my palm on the ground, imprinting a seal to allow to blink directly to him whenever I needed. I also put a seal on Thok and the troll, just in case. There wasn’t enough ti to put a seal on everyone.
I was about to blink away when Flogga gripped my hand. She looked at , her voice firm but pleading, her eyes full of concern.
"Bring her back... Zarah. Don’t let ’em take her."
"I promise I will," I said, putting a seal on her too before blinking away.
It didn’t matter what the situation was. It didn’t matter who I had to kill.
I was going to do anything to protect my people.
But in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but reason that there was a chance I could be a little too late.
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