Unlikely Heroism

As I contemplated my next move, the Goblin uttered ominous words, "Terminate... All humans... Terminate," while stretching out its hand.

Suddenly, a swarm of goblins emerged from the dust, not just ordinary ones, but a variety of goblins, launching attacks on all the players.

Damn! I couldn't think of anything else except saving myself first and, of course, racking up as many kills as I could. After all, this was a field ripe with killing points.

I aimed my revolver and started shooting at the oncoming goblins. My mana was getting sucked dry with each shot. I had to find a safe spot to recharge it.

But then those darn goblin riders charged toward me. My goodness, I despise those creatures. The trauma they've inflicted on me was painful.

The goblin riders closed in on me from all sides, making me feel trapped within the spears they brandished.

But just before those spears could pierce me, I moved swiftly and used "Triple Bullet" on the three of them. That left my back exposed.

Yup, I was pushing the limits of the skills I had. Fortunately, the spear didn't strike me. I felt someone behind me, guarding my back. It was Matthias.

"You really shouldn't have chosen that weapon. It's useless and lacks area-of-effect damage," Matthias said as he eliminated all the goblins in front of him.

I rolled my eyes and continued firing, especially at the goblin riders in front of me, particularly their dire wolf mounts, causing them to fall and meet their doom due to the impact.

After all the goblins near me met their end, I felt like I needed to rest for a while and replenish my mana.

"I need to rest for a while," I said to Matthias.

"Yeah, do what you want. I will show my greatness to the world while you sitting down being pathetic," he answered as he ran toward another goblin.

I swear, someday I'll kill that guy accidentally and I will not regret it at all.

When I turned around searching for an area to lie down a bit, the Goblin Lord stood before me. It moved so fast, that I didn't even realize it.

It wasn't looking at me but at the boy nearby. He appeared to be around 10 years old with brown hair and blue eyes.

His body trembled continuously as he took a step back from the Goblin Lord. I couldn't comprehend why the boy had become a target, but the corpses of many goblins lay close to him, their remains so mangled they were barely recognizable.

What had this boy done?

The Goblin Lord roared once more, and all the goblins followed its orders to attack the boy. Now, amidst this chaos, I faced a crucial decision.

Should I help the boy or run away?

The old Seth would have bolted as far as possible, but for some reason, I couldn't. My body moved of its own accord, lunging to save the boy.

As the Goblin Lord's hit closed in on the boy, I pushed him out of harm's way. Pain surged through my body as it fist-struck me.

"Shit!" I cursed because of the pain.

Fucking Hell, that punch was excruciating. I was sent flying into a ruined building, leaving its wall cracked and my ribs crushed.

What the heck was I doing? Why did I save that boy? A barrage of questions raced through my mind as I lost consciousness.

For heaven's sake! How many times had I teetered on the brink of death in these past few hours? I could hardly move my body now; everything hurt, yet at the same time, felt numb.

If this were a novel, shouldn't this be the perfect moment for me to gain a power-up or acquire some super overpowered skill and artifact?

Where the hell was my newfound superpower!?

As I was on the verge of closing my eyes, my ears caught something—the soothing song of a whale, filling me with a sense of tranquility as a majestic creature swam gracefully in front of me.

Ah, the ocean. It brought me back to the past. I had been so lonely back then, not in a depressed way, but something was missing in my heart, an unfillable void. It left a gaping hole, and it ached.

For some inexplicable reason, I'd always been drawn to the ocean. Something within me seemed to beckon me to jump into the ocean.

People called it the "call of the void," but for me, it felt all too real. So real that one fateful day, I decided to heed that call and jump into the ocean.

When I was in the water, I could hear the gentle sounds of the whales, and it comforted me in the face of death and its looming shadow. I was certain that if heaven existed, I wanted it to lead me to that serene place.

Just as I closed my eyes and surrendered to that strange yet comforting sensation, my body seemed to be pulled down to the ground.

When I opened my eyes once more, it was Randy that I saw, the Randy from that day.

Every time I heard the song of the whales or sensed their presence, it brought back memories of him.

Had Randy come to pick me up?

Was this some kind of flashback before my impending death?

However, I was snapped back to reality, feeling the throbbing pain in my cheek.

Why the hell did my cheek hurt so bad?

"Wake up Seth! Stop sleeping like that! Hei, open your eyes!" I could hear someone calling for me. It was Matthias who yelled while mercilessly slapping my face.

What happened? Did they save me? Damn, just when I thought I could catch a break.

"I'm sorry, mister, it's all my fault," the boy from before said, tears streaming down his face.

"It's not your fault, Jayden. This dumbass is the one at fault. He's so weak he couldn't even dodge the goblin punch," Matthias retorted. He seemed very annoyed for some reason.

"Don't worry, Jayden. He's awake now," Gideon reassured.

Matthias released his grip on me and let me drop to the ground. I let out a sigh and shifted my position to sit. I couldn't believe the guy had slapped me so hard.

"Is the fight over?" I asked, getting straight to the point.

"Of course not! Just look at the view in front of you!" Matthias said, pointing at the chaos in front of us.

Man, that was something else. The Goblin Lord was still standing, though it was badly injured. Its fast recovery wasn't so fast anymore, it seemed.

But now, it was wielding an axe, slashing players in front of it as if they were nothing. And I could even see the goblin shaman and goblin rider taking down the players who couldn't go head-to-head with the Goblin Lord.

There were no high buildings anymore. All of that was destroyed either because of the attack from the Goblin Lord or the players' skill.

It was as if hell itself had opened up beneath the earth.

Now, what the hell was I supposed to do? The remaining time was just 15 minutes before the mini-game ended.

While I was thinking hard, I spotted that whale again, right in front of me. It was as if I was the only one who could see it.

The whale swam distance itself from the battleground as if urging me to follow.

"I have to go. I'll be back later," I said, struggling to stand.

Darn it, every inch of my body still hurt like hell, but I needed to move fast, so I forced myself.

"What are you planning to do?" Matthias asked, following me.

"Not your business. Why don't you show your greatness to the whole world?" I replied sarcastically, continuing to move away from the battleground.

"Whatever, don't die on me, alright?" said Matthias, he was ready for the battle again.

I sighed as I bid farewell to the three of them. As the whale led me away from the battlefield, curiosity got the better of me, and I muttered, "Enhanced Perception." Suddenly, I could see everything within a 50-meter radius.

That's when I spotted something enormous on top of a skyscraper, something I never expected to see in my life. A red dragon.

Now, I understood why the whale had wanted me to follow it.