“What’s this now?”
Rough frowned as he read the quest window’s description.
One part of the reward simply said that he would obtain “???,” which was rather vague.
‘Did they hide it behind question marks because it’s an incredibly good reward? Or does the reward change depending on my performance?’
Rough believed the latter was more likely.
Hadn’t there been a comment about this on the community site?
That the second boss’s difficulty was absolutely ridiculous.
The difficulty was that high, so there would naturally be an appropriate reward.
If that was the case, keeping it hidden like this was reasonable enough.
‘It being question marks is driving me crazy with curiosity. This game really knows what it’s doing. I’m definitely clearing this!’
Fueled by determination, Rough hurried after Renof.
Clang! Crack!
“Do not let them break through under any circumstances!”
“Hold your positions no matter what!”
A fierce battle was raging on the northern side of the forward base between the soldiers and the kobolds Renof had mentioned.
The kobolds looked almost exactly as Rough had imagined.
They walked on two legs, with three fingers on each hand and four toes on each foot.
Their hunched backs and overall dark reddish skin made them resemble Gollum from a certain movie.
They had long red noses, and solid muscles covered their entire bodies.
“Kieeek!”
“Kieh? Krrk!”
Judging by the fact that they could not speak a proper language, they did not seem to possess highly developed intelligence.
Still, seeing each of them wielding a weapon, they did not seem completely stupid either.
Perhaps they were on the level of apes.
Individually, their small builds made them far from threatening.
The problem was their numbers.
And there were overwhelmingly many of them.
“Tch.”
Clicking his tongue, Rough moved in to help.
Slaaash!
Rough’s weapon, a rusty iron sword, cut through a kobold.
The kobold disintegrated before it could even scream.
When their companion fell, the kobolds nearby let out savage roars.
“Kieek!”
After growling once, they charged Rough.
Whoosh!
The leading kobold swung its club.
Its stats had already been lowered to 1 across the board, making it slow enough to put him to sleep.
The kobold that had swung its blunt weapon met the same fate as the one before it in the very next moment.
Rough threw himself toward the kobolds without pause.
“Mgek!”
“Uphing!”
The gap between them was so overwhelming that he did not even need to use a weapon.
Still, Rough insisted on using one to fulfill the hidden option’s unlock conditions.
[Progress: 5/200]
[Progress: 12/200]
[Progress: 23/200]
Just as Rough watched the steadily increasing progress with satisfaction—
“S-Someone save me!”
A cry for help came from not far away.
“Where?”
Rough turned his head, searching for the owner of the voice.
Before long, he found him.
A soldier surrounded by a group of kobolds.
Just as Rough was about to rush in to save him—
A man moved before he could.
“Spinning Slash.”
The man swung the longsword in his right hand.
Swoooosh!
Along with the sharp sound of slicing wind—
Three or four kobolds blocking one side of the soldier were cut in half at once.
“What? Why is he so strong?”
Rough was momentarily taken aback by the man’s overwhelming performance.
“Don’t tell me there was another user here besides me?”
Tilting his head, Rough checked the unfamiliar man’s information.
[Jaar]
[Lv. 8]
[Title: Battle-Hardened]
[Classification: NPC]
[Affiliation: Wandering Mercenary]
[Disposition: Good]
[HP: 650/670 MP: 185/200]
[Strength: 38 △▽ Agility: 22 △▽]
[Intelligence: 16 △▽ Luck: 25 △▽]
[Total Combat Power: 1,650]
The Status Window showed that he was an NPC, not a user.
“Holy shit. What is that?”
Rough could not help but voice his amazement.
Jaar possessed higher stats than anyone Rough had seen so far.
“His Combat Power has four digits? He’s not even comparable to the boss monster from the last quest. And why are his stats so high for his level?”
The boss monster Rough had encountered during the first tutorial quest had been Level 6.
As Rough remembered it, even its highest stat, Strength, had not exceeded 30, while its Intelligence and Luck had been single digits.
But every one of Jaar’s stats was in the double digits.
His Strength was even nearing 40.
His stats were abnormally high.
That was not the only surprising thing.
‘His name color is unusual, too.’
Other than the previous boss monster, every NPC Rough had seen had a dull gray name.
But Jaar’s name glowed blue.
In other words, he was a Named NPC.
The reason his stats were exceptionally high was because of stat modifiers, one of the defining features of Named NPCs.
And, as befitted a Named NPC, he possessed an impressive-looking title as well.
Rough formed a hypothesis.
“A Named NPC suddenly appears during the tutorial? Does that mean this quest is just that absurdly difficult? Difficult enough that clearing it is impossible without a Named NPC’s help?”
Meanwhile—
“Kieee...”
“Grrr...”
Intimidated by Jaar’s display, the kobold group retreated.
“Are you all right?”
Jaar offered his hand to the soldier slumped on the ground.
“Ah! Thank you! Thank you so much!”
With a face covered in tears and snot, the soldier repeatedly thanked Jaar.
“Haa! I’m alive!”
“Ugh, I’m exhausted.”
The soldiers lowered their weapons, each letting out a sigh of relief.
Unfortunately, there was no time to rest.
“Move the wounded at once! Hurry and repair the damaged palisades as well!”
“Ugh...!”
At the commander’s shout, the soldiers groaned and continued moving without pause.
Once the battle had ended—
“Mr. Rough, are you injured anywhere?”
Renof approached Rough.
“No. As you can see, I’m perfectly fine. I’m glad you made it through safely too, Mr. Renof.”
“I apologize for getting you caught up in danger.”
Renof bowed deeply in apology.
“As I told you yesterday, now that day has broken, you are free to leave the forward base.”
Though he said that, Renof’s troubled expression was plain to see.
Noticing it, Rough quietly extended a helping hand.
“The situation doesn’t look very good. Are you sure you don’t need any help?”
“Ah...”
Renof flinched.
After blinking with his mouth hanging open, he made his request with a firm expression.
“I’m sorry. I know this is shameless of me, but could you help us?”
“I can’t simply turn a blind eye to someone in danger. I may not be much help, but I’ll lend you my strength.”
Rough had to remain here whether he liked it or not.
The tutorial quest’s success condition was to lead the war against the kobolds to victory.
By accepting Renof’s offer, Rough gained a legitimate reason to stay here.
It benefited him as well.
“Thank you! Thank you so much!”
Color returned to Renof’s face.
“Supply Officer, Captain Clayp has called for an emergency strategy meeting.”
A knight leaned in and whispered into Renof’s ear.
“Understood. I’ll be there shortly. Ah, Mr. Rough, you should come with us as well.”
“Me? Is that all right?”
Rough pointed at himself with a surprised expression.
“You cut down quite a number of kobolds, did you not? You are more than qualified.”
Thanks to Renof’s strong recommendation, Rough was allowed to attend the emergency strategy meeting.
His seat was at the very bottom, of course.
Even so, the fact that his participation was permitted was proof of just how dire the forward base’s circumstances had become.
“Whew. We somehow managed to repel this raid as well.”
The emergency strategy meeting began amid a heavy atmosphere.
“As the commander responsible for every life in this unit, it pains me to say this, but the damage is far from insignificant.”
“...”
The meeting room, already quiet, turned ice-cold.
“Because of their relentless attacks, all we can do now is defend. Reinforcements are nowhere in sight either. What must we do to overcome this crisis?”
At Captain Clayp’s question, Jaar, seated near the head of the table, spoke.
“As time passes, the situation will only worsen. We must settle this while we still have some strength left.”
“How?”
“What if we strike first?”
“The soldiers’ fatigue has reached its limit. If things continue like this, we will soon be worn down and die. Your words certainly make sense. But how would we do it? Do you have a good plan?”
“During their next attack, Captain, you should remain here and face them. In the meantime, I will lead a small elite force and launch a surprise attack on the Kobold Lord.”
“Oh? You mean we should strike at their home while it is relatively undefended?”
“That is correct.”
‘Kobold Lord?’
Rough, who had been silently listening, perked up his ears.
‘Is that the boss monster? It must be the second boss the community said was insanely difficult.’
Every piece of the puzzle fell into place.
Based on what he had seen in the battle just now, kobolds were not particularly threatening monsters.
One could say that even if it was called a Lord, it was still just a kobold.
But considering the caution of the command staff, including Clayp and Jaar, along with the community’s reactions—
There was no doubt that the Kobold Lord was the final boss of this tutorial quest, with its brutal difficulty.
Having grasped the general situation, Rough once again focused on their conversation.
“I will definitely defeat the Kobold Lord. Trust me and leave it to me.”
It was an operation that could easily have seemed reckless.
Yet no one raised an objection.
That was how much everyone here trusted Jaar.
He truly was worthy of being a Named NPC.
“It is certainly worth attempting. Whether we die after failing or are slowly worn down to death like this, death is death either way.”
Clayp viewed Jaar’s proposal favorably.
“If they lose their leader, the remaining forces will collapse on their own. Then we can eliminate them one by one without difficulty. Does anyone have a better idea?”
Clayp looked around the room.
Only a quiet silence followed.
No one objected.
“Apparently not. Do as you wish. If you succeed, you will receive a reward befitting your achievement.”
Clayp gave his approval.
“I will do my utmost. However, there is one favor I would like to ask.”
“Speak.”
“I would like to choose the members of the special detachment myself.”
“Yourself? Is there someone you have in mind?”
Swish.
Instead of answering, Jaar slowly turned his head toward the far end of the table.
The others in the meeting naturally turned to follow his gaze.
Jaar’s eyes landed on Rough.
Rough was wearing a sullen expression.
“I do not know about the others, but I would very much like that person to join the special detachment. From what I have seen, his skills are considerable.”
Everyone’s attention unexpectedly focused on him.
Rough swept his gaze around the tent once, then swallowed his confusion.
‘What the hell is this all of a sudden?’