Willem's hope had vanished in a blink of an eye. The goblins had the number advantage, sure, but they were all level 1. Willem could find a way to deal with them eventually. But that Chieftain? Impossible.
After what seemed like an eternity, the first wave of goblins arrived. That giant goblin Chieftain just stood at the back, carefully watching the battlefield.
"He knows we are doomed the moment he decides to join the battle. He's toying with us. What a loser," thought Willem as he watched that goblin who looked like it had a mocking face.
Willem stood at the back of the battle formation, so he got a few moments of peace. But it didn't take long for a goblin to get to him, and, for the first time, Willem had to fight.
"Alright, let's do this," Willem adjusted his body into a fighting stance; he knew how to fight after playing the game for so long.
The goblin rushed, wielding a shortsword shorter than Willem's shortsword, slashing at Willem's legs— the goblin didn't have the necessary height to reach his throat.
That movement was easy to predict, so all Willem needed was a quick sidestep, avoiding the danger and throwing a slash of its own.
-2
Willem's damage was pitful; he didn't get surprised by it— his rusty sword could only go that far, but it was more than enough for a level 1 goblin. Green blood dripped from the wound, which made the goblin slash more eagerly, with rage. The battle got more intense as both of them exchanged blows— Willem dodged all of them.
"Arrrr!" but the numbers advantage quickly came to show. Willem got so focused on his one-a-one battle that he didn't pay attention to his surroundings, resulting in a sneaky attack performed by another goblin.
-1
The damage he received was low, but Willem came to know that he only had 12 health points remaining, and something that caused him fear.
"Somehow, I ended up inside Quest Online, but I'm not a player here. I'm an NPC. Doesn't that mean I can die for good?" Tons of questions flowed inside Willem's mind, and he didn't want to figure it out by trying. NPCs don't respawn, and he was sure he was one.
**
The battle continued for a long time, and slowly Willem was getting near the 0 health points threshold. That goblin Chieftain didn't even enter the battlefield.
"Am I going to die on my first day here? Fuck," he thought. Willem was somehow begging for someone to arrive out of nowhere and save his ass, like all the novels he read back on Earth.
"No way!" and that did happen. When everything seemed lost, and Willem was starting to accept his fate, someone arrived— and it was someone badass, I should say.
A mighty dragon. The most surprising thing was that someone was riding the dragon.
"Huh? Why are there so many weak goblins here?" the lady riding the dragon thought as she watched them from the skies.
"Do they need my help? The goblins are all level one. I think they can handle them. Oh, wait, there's a Chieftain among them, never mind," the lady simply jumped from the dragon's back. That was the perk of having a high level inside a game. You could do things you thought were impossible. She crashed into the ground, and she looked unharmed. In fact, it was the ground that suffered in the end, cracking.
The woman looked astonishing, beautiful. She wore plate armor and wielded a long silver spear. Willem tried to analyze her level or name, and it only showed ??? due to the enormous level gap.
Tons of silver trusts appeared as the woman attack with her spear. The level 1 goblins didn't stand a chance, exploding from within, guts and all that shit flying everywhere, gross.
Ding Goblin Invasion completed
Ding + 1 level
Ding You leveled up, check your character screen for more information
"Everyone's alright?" the lady asked graciously after clapping all the goblins. That proud Chieftain was nowhere near that battlefield. It fled without too much thinking after a dragon showed up. Who wouldn't?
"Yes, my lady, thank you," that same middle-aged man spoke, "We should all be thanking you for this kind gesture. Everyone here would be dead if you didn't show up."
"You don't need to thank me. I just did what a hero must," she said that clenching her fist, proud.
"Such humbleness," the man said, laughing, "you can stay the night here if you want. I know the houses are simple, but we will treat you with our best."
"Noo, you don't need to shelter me," she replied, blushing.
"You can't just wander around in the dark miss, it's dangerous," the man tried hard to make her stay.
"Did you forget who just saved you?" she said, covering a giggle with her hand, and then continued, " okay, okay, you win. I'll stay here for the night. I'm Eissa, by the way."
Willem watched everything from afar, a little amazed by her beauty and strength.
"What am I thinking. No way she will even look at a guy like me."
"So, who are you? You look way younger than everyone here," Eissa asked that teenage boy who stood away from everyone, lying in a corner, alone.
"I'm Wi-, Wi-, Willem," Willem looked like he was choking while talking to her. What a disaster.
"Don't be nervous. I promise I won't bite," Eissa giggled at Willem's reaction. He was a teenager, after all.
Their conversation flowed smoothly, and Willem got to know a few things. They were in the year 1247, the same year when the game launched. Willem did some calculations, and his best guess was that the players would start coming within a 2-month range. Time was running low, and Willem had to do some preparations, or else he would perish when millions of players arrive.
"So you're heading to Dralens? I know it's too much to ask but, can you give me a ride?" Willem asked Eissa. Luckily enough, she was heading to Dralens, the first big city the players would discover. Willem had to go there first and create some roots, get some contacts and get all the good items first.
"No problem, Willy.
"Willy...? She's already giving me embarrassing nicknames, fuck."
Willem somehow managed to survive his first day and level up. Everything went better than he expected, and he wished everything went this smoothly at Dralens.
Tiredness consumed Willem's body, and he fell asleep after talking with Eissa for almost two hours. The day was over, and Willem promised himself that he would become stronger so that no one needs to come to his aid.
"Good morning Willy Willy. Are you ready to ride a dragon?"
"What?"