Misfortune in the forest

POV Ethan:

After killing the giant wolf, we decided to venture deeper into the snowy forest to find an ideal spot for setting up a temporary base, but...

*Trip

"That's six now. Is your leg hurt or something?" I asked Thomas as I helped him up after his sixth consecutive fall.

"No, no, I just... I don't know what's happening. I just keep falling," he replied.

*Trip

But he wasn't the only one...

"Wow, you've broken the old record! That's eight falls!" Luke exclaimed, seeing Frederick on the ground.

(What the hell is going on?), I thought with total confusion and concern.

Right after we killed the wolf and moved forward, we encountered a strangely abnormal epidemic of tripping.

It started when Frederick fell five minutes after we resumed our exploration. So far, only Yuki and I haven't fallen.

(But I'm about to...)

The only reason I haven't hit the ground is because of my incredible balance, as my feet constantly meet obstacles that seem to appear out of nowhere.

*Pa!

I jerked my body as I stumbled over something, trying to stay upright.

"Almost your first time, huh?" Luke joked.

*Trip

""Ha, ha, ha,"" we all laughed at him when he fell.

"That's your fourth, right? Ha, ha," even Frederick teased him.

If that was the only thing happening, I wouldn't be so worried, but...

*Crunch, crunch

Quick steps interrupted our laughter.

We turned our heads, looking for the source of the sound.

"Another one?" an explorer exclaimed, seeing the owner of those steps.

*Bang! *Bang!

I didn't waste time and fired my rifle.

[You have killed a Snow Wolf!

Rating: (E-)

Skills: Strong Legs (F), Agility (E-), Reinforced Teeth (E-), Monstrous Vitality (E-), Wild Senses (E+), Camouflage (E), Reinforced Skin (E-)

Muta-gen material found! Collect enough biological material from this type of individual to synthesize muta-genes in the lab!]

"How many does that make?" a curious explorer asked.

"Fourteen," I replied briefly as I stored the wolf's body in the inventory.

Yes, we're not only experiencing strange falls, but we're also frequently encountering monsters.

One might think it's because we have the scent of the giant wolf or something, but that's not the case.

*Flap

"Screech!" a sharp sound came from the sky, rushing towards us.

"It's mine! It's mine!" Thomas shouted as he aimed.

*Ratatatata!

*Plop!

A snow bat fell from the air, a rank F- creature, not very powerful.

That made seven of that type, in addition to the giant rats we've also encountered.

(It feels like they're strangely attracted to us...)

We continued our way through the snowy forest before the mountain, marking a safe route, although we increasingly doubted it was safe.

*Trip

*Trip

"Groooaarr!!"

"Screech!"

It got to the point where we couldn't advance focused on our surroundings because every time we looked away from our feet, we fell.

*Trip

"Oh!" I exclaimed as I fell.

(That makes two...)

Yes, even I was starting to fall.

"Now the only undefeated one is Yuki," joked an explorer standing next to Yuki.

"Dude, this isn't working. Maybe we should come back later," I said to Frederick, a bit tired of the situation.

It's not just the falling; it's the combination of things currently happening to us:

The mysterious tripping.

The creatures attacking us every minute.

And have I mentioned the tremendous cold?

A cold that is starting to affect me, and I have a talent for enduring it.

"You're right. We're almost out of ammunition, and I don't trust the pistols to defend us," Luke agreed with me.

"Sigh, alright, we'll head back," Frederick said, a bit resigned.

So, we retraced our steps along the path we had already mapped out. Curiously, I noticed a strange smile from Yuki...

(I guess it's funny to her, isn't it? After all, she seems to hate men.)

Just in case, I kept my distance from her.

--

We followed the path we had marked, and suspiciously, we didn't fall again nor encountered any other monsters.

"Maybe the mountain is cursed?" Thomas suggested, hinting at a curse.

"Did your team also fall like this when you went to the mountain?" Luke asked Frederick.

This guy had been to the mountain before, as that's where he found the mine. So why didn't he tell us this would happen?

"This didn't happen when we went there, and we took a narrower, secret path," he replied, visibly confused.

*Crunch, crunch

We continued walking towards the improvised camp when...

"Grooo?"

"Huh?" we all exclaimed, seeing the creature in front of us, a creature we didn't expect to see on our way back.

It was a goblin wearing fur coats, seemingly following our path.

The goblin saw us, and we saw it in silence until...

"Graaa!" the goblin reacted first and started running in a certain direction.

*Crunch, crunch

"Kill it!" Luke shouted as he drew his weapons.

Now that it had seen us, it was clear that goblin had to die. After all, it could alert its companions about our route and ruin everything.

With that in mind, I readied my rifle just in case.

*Ratatatata!

Luke moved ahead and fired a burst of bullets; some hit, some missed.

*Crunch, *crunch, *Crunch, crunch

However, even injured, the goblin didn't stop running.

*Aim

I aimed at it as it ran.

*Crunch, crunch

*BANG! *BANG!

Plop!

[You have killed an enemy of the enemy race (Gobrakian)!

You are a champion of the Earthling race!: +50% kill value

Reward: 150 credits, your bonus increases to +100% (Title)]

It took two shots to bring it down as I missed the first one.

(The title activated, but...)

What was a goblin doing behind us? It was a question that likely plagued our minds.

"Be careful, there might be more," I said as I approached the fallen goblin.

An improvised fur coat, some... shoes?

*Search

And a bone dagger, different from the ones jungle goblins use, as it looked like a fang from some dangerous animal.

"An explorer... I think we should head back quickly," Luke suggested with a serious face.

We're low on ammunition, not in optimal condition due to certain falls, and our numbers are few.

(If we encounter a medium-sized group, we're dead), I thought, recalling my experience in the jungle.

Everyone nodded, and we prepared to run back to the shelter for now.

*Crunch, crunch

But...

"Graaaa!"

"Graaaaoooor!"

We ran into a group as we descended a hill, the very hill where we killed the giant wolf.

"Damn..." I don't know who said that, but they were right.

Twenty? Maybe twenty-five or even thirty.

All of them were goblins in coats, all glaring at us with malice.

*BANG! *BANG!

Without hesitation, I started firing and shouted:

"Run!!!"

"Damn! Damn! Damn!" one of the explorers began cursing as we ran back along the previously mapped path.

"Graaaa!!!" some goblins shouted before charging at us.

*Crunch, *crunch

*BANG! *BANG!

[You have killed an enemy of the enemy race (Gobrakian)!

You are a champion of the Earthling race!: +100% kill value

Reward: 200 credits, your bonus increases to +150% (Title)]

I didn't even bother to aim while shooting. Fortunately, I wasn't the only one.

*Ratatatata!

*Ratatatata!

Frederick, Thomas, and Luke also fired as we ran back into the forest.

*BANG! *BANG!

*Ratatatata!

[You have killed an enemy of the enemy race (Gobrakian)!

You are a champion of the Earthling race!: +150% kill value

Reward: 250 credits, your bonus increases to +200% (Title)]

*Crunch, *crunch *Crunch, *crunch *Crunch, *crunch

"They're running so fast!" Luke exclaimed, watching with terror as the goblins closed in on us.

*BANG! *BANG!

*Ratatatata!

(We're screwed!), I had that pessimistic thought as I saw them gradually closing the distance.

I looked around for any terrain feature that could help distract them long enough, but found nothing.

The surrounding tree branches weren't very thick, and I didn't see any animals nearby.

While thinking, something happened...

*Trip

"Huh? No, no, no, I fell! Help!!! Help!!!" one of the explorers, more specifically the one right next to Yuki, fell.

We stopped for a moment.

*BANG! *BANG!

*Ratatatata!

"Grab my hand!!!" the other explorer offered to help him up.

But just as he was about to stand up...

*Trip

He fell again.

"Leave him, we've already lost too much time," Luke urgently shouted and prepared to run again, abandoning his companion.

*Crunch, *crunch

(That's cruel... but if we don't...), I thought for a moment, but followed Luke's example and started running with a heavy heart.

And so we all began to run, except Frederick and his fellow explorer.

*Crunch, *crunch

"Wait!! Wait!! Help!!!" the desperate explorer shouted at the top of his lungs.

"I'm sorry... do everything you can to distract them, I'll make it up to you," even his leader Frederick abandoned him.

*Crunch, *crunch

"Back!!! Back!!!"

*Ratatatata! *Ratatatata!

"GRAAAA"

"AAAAAA"

That was the last we heard of him as we ran.