When Vince and the others arrived at the northern entrance, they met the other players and village guards that were already there.
"Vince! We already placed two X-Bow Turrets in position!" One of the players reported. "We also finished preparing the makeshift barricade as you instructed," he added.
Like the player said, there were two X-Bow Turrets positioned at both sides of the entrance. And there were barricades in front of the entrance to block the monsters. The barricades were just piles of sacks of soil that were arranged in a half-circle shape.
"That's good. Now everyone! Listen to me! Follow my command! All range-type units please come forward…!"
Vince then started instructing them what to do.
…
Around the time when the bell had just rung, in the southern part of the village, Ranz and the vendor looked above, both surprised.
"Oh lord, it seems a disaster is about to happen," the vendor said anxiously.
Ranz frowned. "The monsters are attacking… it seems," he muttered.
"Monsters are attacking?!" The vendor asked in shock.
That was what he heard from the two players a while ago. Ranz nodded in response.
"….."
The vendor fell silent and looked at him. Then he opened his mouth unhurriedly.
"Uh, hey, sir Traveler. Let's make a deal." Ranz heard the vendor say in a serious tone. He looked at him, a bit curious.
"What deal?" He asked.
"If you help in defending this village, I will grant you a special offer for all the items I sell."
Ranz's eyes lit up. He thought, 'Could it be a side-quest?'
"That sounds interesting. What kind of special deal is it?" He said, asking him.
"A special privilege to purchase my stuff in half to its original price."
'Woah! I knew it! This is truly a side-quest! And the reward is so wholesome!' Ranz was excited deep inside.
According to what he learned in his research, side-quests were randomly generated. It could be triggered through special events.
Coming here is truly a blessing. Fortunately, he didn't go along with those two players earlier who were urging him to leave the village with them. His reasoning for not going along with them was that he already anticipated the danger outside.
However, that didn't mean there was no way to avoid this disaster. There was indeed another way to escape this dangerous situation. He could escape by logging off. But even so, that was still not a certain way to survive because he would still be in big trouble when he logged in again.
He only had one choice in this regard.
[Incoming Quest: Help defend the village from the monsters' attack.]
[Accept] or [Deny]?
"Accept!"
[Quest Accepted!]
"By the way, I'm not strong enough. I just reached level 10. I don't think my power is enough to fend off the monsters."
"Ah, I see. You're right. Then, use this, sir Traveler. It may help you a little," the vendor took out a box.
"What is that?" Ranz asked.
"A box, you see. Anyway, open it."
Ranz showed a wry smile before he followed him.
"Equipment?" He exclaimed upon seeing what was inside the box.
"Although they were only Epic-tier equipment, it was the best item I got in my adventuring days. It may give a considerable boost in your power."
'Only, huh.' He had no idea how hard to get an epic equipment, but they must have been not easy to get.
Regardless, Ranz was quite shocked with his revelation. "I see. So you use to be an—"
"An ex-adventurer. But that didn't last long. I retired because of this…" the vendor showed his leg. But half of it was gone.
Ranz noticed a looming sadness in his voice. He couldn't help but feel pity for him although he was just an NPC. He could not imagine how difficult his experience was for receiving such an injury. He even noticed some scars on him.
'The Devs of this game had surely given this NPC a very dark back story to his life.'
"In fact, I am already past my prime so I can't help in the fight."
Ranz wanted to say a word of encouragement, but he thought that it wasn't the best response. No matter how he pitied him, it wouldn't change anything.
Also, he was once a great warrior. It would be an insult to pity such a great character, especially if the one who would pity him was just a novice. It might cause a bad aftertaste if he annoyed him.
"Okay."
Ranz just said a short reply. He then checked each one of the equipment.
'It was a full set of Epic-tier equipment! There's even a black one-handed sword and a pair of black knives. Lucky!'
Ranz grinned inwardly.
However,
"Uh, sir Traveler… I'm just lending them to you. I'll be taking them back if we survive this predicament."
"….."
Ranz gawked.
"Uh… What if I ran away with it?" Ranz grinned teasingly.
"That's useless."
"And why?"
"Because they are at their limit, so they are good for one use only."
"….."
Ranz fell silent.
…
Back to the northern part of the village. The battle had already started. The monsters were already a hundred meters away from the village entrance.
But since the world below was too dark for them to see, the players could not figure out what kinds of monsters were heading their way. They could only see some shadows rumbling closer and closer towards them.
At that moment, lightning struck, sending a flash to the world below.
"WAH!!!" One of the players exclaimed nervously when the flash of lightning illuminated the grotesque faces of the charging monsters.
Then,
Boom!
The sky thundered!
The enemies consisted of one specific species only. The well-known green-skinned species with the stature of human children. The well-known plunderers and hideous entities.
"They are goblins!"
"Everyone! Don't be afraid! Although goblins are truly scary, they are not unbeatable. Let's wipe them all! They have a weak defense!" Vince shouted to boost everyone's morale.
"Right. We can do it!" A player responded.
When the goblins arrived 50 meters away from the entrance, Vince smiled.
"Now, FIRE!!!"
Twang! Twang!
The two X-bow turrets rapidly spat out arrows toward the incoming enemies.
One goblin in front was hit on the chest!
"Gyah!" It died and turned to bright pixels.
That was the start of the battle.
Seeing that one of them was killed instantly, the other goblins screamed angrily.
"Gobo!!!"
They increased their speed.
Looking at the monsters coming closer and closer, Vince shouted a command.
"Everyone prepare your attack!"