Time Limit

The sound of a ringing bell echoes loudly.

I recognize this sound.

—Stampede.

An event where a horde of monsters attacks a town, and players defend against them.

It’s an alarm to signal the onset of a Stampede.

But there is a lingering question.

The town of Loine, being the starting town, is not supposed to be affected by the Stampede.

Since there is no prior notice for a 【Stampede】 event, if it occurs in a town with many beginner players, any defense would almost certainly crumble.

In addition, towns like Loine and others have fewer monsters by design.

In the past, there were commonalities among the towns where the game administrators initiated 【Stampedes】.

For example, these were towns with landscapes conducive to attracting monsters, or towns with NPCs that provided foretelling information.

Still, this doesn’t match the characteristics of Loine.

Could this be another change from the game?

“Excuse me, Arata-san. It seems that’s the end of the town’s announcement.”

“Which way will you go, Aya-san?”

“I’m a guild staff, so I’m heading to the Adventurer’s Guild. You should evacuate immediately, Arata-san!”

Aya-san starts running towards the Adventurer’s Guild.

I watch her back as she leaves and start running too.

If a Stampede has started, various preparations are needed.

I need to rush to the weapons shop before it closes.

If I’m going to fight a large number of monsters, my weapons will wear out quickly.

Without magic skills or weapon maintenance skills, if I lose my weapon, my combat options become limited.

Fortunately, I have plenty of money.

I buy six 【Iron Daggers】, two 【Iron Spears】, and one 【Iron Sword】 as a backup.

There are two victory conditions for the Stampede.

Either by defeating a certain number of monsters for 【defense】.

Or by defeating the boss monster for 【repulsion】.

However, the chances of 【defense】 in the town of Loine are extremely low.

The town can only buy weapons of the lowest rank, 《Bronze》, and one rank above that, 《Iron》.

Naturally, the quality of adventurers is also not high.

The town’s defensive facilities are also not sufficient.

By coincidence, Theo-san, hailed as the strongest in the kingdom, is currently in Loine.

However, he is an NPC who excels in PvP, rather than monster combat.

With his status, he could easily cut down any monster around this town, but no matter how strong he is, he’s outnumbered.

While Theo-san is fighting, the town’s gate would be breached, and the inhabitants would be trampled by monsters.

Most likely, the boss monster of this Stampede is the 【Goblin King】.

The monster at the top of the demi-human monsters.

Its level averages around 100.

In the deepest parts of the Wartz Great Forest, it spawns as a common mob, but from the perspective of a beginner human, it has monstrous stats.

Ah, I see.

I was mistaken.

The unusual encounter rate with monsters when I entered the forest in recent days.

Even if it’s normal in the game, in reality, if that many goblins were appearing, I should have suspected an ecological problem.

But it’s too late to regret it now.

I’ll just have to accept that the Stampede was destined to happen.

As I run towards the west gate where the bell started ringing, I update my status.

【Swordsmanship】level 5

【Dagger Technique】 level 3

【Body Enhancement】 level 3

【Assassination Technique】 level 2

With this, I can compensate for lack of firepower and stamina.

With my current stats, I can kill goblin and other common mobs in one hit.

Even against tougher goblins and monsters like orcs, I shouldn’t struggle too much with my 【Assassination Technique】’s 《Critical Determination Enhancement》 and 《Critical Damage Enhancement》.

However, my current status is not sufficient to fight the Goblin King.

To ensure safe win, I would ideally want an ability value equivalent to level 100.

But there’s not enough time to level up to 100 now.

So, I’m aiming for awards.[1]

I will enhance my status with the SP bonus from getting awards.

Fortunately, we are in the middle of a Stampede.

There are countless awards that can be obtained.

By the time I finish updating my stats, I finally arrive at the west gate.

The gate seems to have been destroyed once, and a makeshift barricade has been erected.

And next to the barricade, there are piles of dead monsters and ogres, presumably the ones that had invaded.

I don’t have time to go to the other gates.

Using the 【Body Enhancement skill】’s ability 『Wall Run』, I scale up the wall.

Since the skill level is low, it consumes a lot of stamina.

But it’s no problem climbing a few meters of wall.

Looking out from the top of the wall, I see a horde of monsters coming like a fog.

The number of monsters is at least a thousand, just from a rough estimate.

After all, the Stampede is an event where many players participate.

Including the monsters that will spawn from now, tens of thousands of monsters will appear.

There are three waves leading up to the 【defense】victory, and right now we are probably in the 【first wave】.

The number of spawning monsters will increase with each wave.

As if confirming that thought, monsters kept pouring out from the Wartz Great Forest.

Obtain the minimum necessary SP from awards as quickly as possible, and defeat the boss monster before the 【third wave】, when the number of monsters explosively increases.

From here on, it’s a race against time.

With two daggers in hand, I jump from the wall—