Khan.
He was the deputy leader of the Gale Squad.
In the realm of Arham, he was a soldier with the highest level of 230.
He had the skills to win even against a knight in combat.
He deliberately stood next to Hyun-soo, offering to guide him.
It was to prepare for any situation.
‘If you lack significant power aside from that special ability, I must protect the soldiers.’
The soldiers are afraid now.
It is the knight’s duty to rescue the soldiers when they are in danger.
But if such a knight cannot even take care of himself, the soldiers will die.
It was then, as they walked side by side.
Ssssssh-
Khan wore a puzzled expression.
‘What’s this? The atmosphere feels unusually ominous.’
Khan had stayed in the realm of Arham for nearly ten years.
The realm of Arham continuously summons giants, centered around the sleeping Giant King in a place with green leaves.
In other words, they respawn.
Khan felt an unknown energy pervading this forest he had wandered through countless times.
The first reason is the vibration of the earth.
“Sir Knight, could you please wait a moment?”
Khan put his ear to the ground.
‘What on earth is it…?’
Coming to the realm of Arham and receiving the title of Viscount is a kind of nobility tutorial for users.
They always hunt a fixed number of monsters within a designated area, along with soldiers.
‘What’s with this number of footsteps?’
He looked terrified. Something was off.
Moreover, the expedition had already reached the midway point without encountering any giants.
‘Why aren’t any giants appearing?’
This was strange.
The expedition’s task was to hunt a few ogres as they moved forward and ultimately kill the ogre chieftain.
But not a single ogre, which should have been encountered in groups by now, was in sight.
‘Could it be…!’
Khan felt the large vibrations coming from afar.
Those vibrations were the sound of dozens of heavy beings pushing their way through all at once.
The ones not hunted earlier were now swarming in all together.
“Sir Knight…”
Khan looked up at Hyun-soo next to him with trembling eyes, and Hyun-soo asked,
“Do you know that strangers hear the mystical message, Khan?”
He was talking about notifications.
Khan knew as well.
They too occasionally hear the mystical message or notification, living in this land.
“Just now, this message came to my mind.”
“What is it?”
“The Giant King has awakened.”
Khan’s face twisted horribly.
***
Special User Management Team.
Team Leader Kim Tae-seok once said to Employee Lee Ji-hee,
“Even if Hyun-soo user raises the conquest rate with excellent results, it will ultimately stop at 35%.”
It was inevitable.
The knight tutorial had its limits.
However, a particular event made it impossible for Team Leader Kim’s thoughts not to change.
The start of this event came from an arrogant knight.
Kim Tae-seok and Lee Ji-hee kept observing this NPC knight.
His name was Luke, the only son of Duke Luckburg.
Luke, the sole child of Duke Luckburg, was one of the kingdom’s top five talents.
These top five talents were known as those who had shown promise from their childhood.
Luke recently joined the kingdom’s order of knights, having steadily honed his swordsmanship.
Despite being a noble, the reason he chose this path was to become a talent worthy of the sword’s nation.
It’s true that Knight Luke, superior to those who had just received their titles, was somewhat arrogant.
And then, his father, Duke Luckburg, was demoted.
Feeling a crisis as a knight and the son of his father, he thought he must not tarnish his father’s reputation.
“Let’s show the power of our family here.”
The Arham realm is a place one must come to unconditionally if one becomes a knight.
Indeed, with outstanding leadership and skills, he quickly proceeded with the assigned conquest.
The problem starts here.
He must achieve greater feats.
He must make his name known even more.
Thinking it would be easy, he stepped into the place with the blue leaves with his soldiers.
The soldiers could not stop him.
Who would dare to defy the words of the son of the new lord of the Arham realm, Duke Luckburg’s son?
Only skilled individuals can enter the place with the blue leaves, and there is a manual for it.
However, Luke entered without even knowing that.
His complacency led to the slowly awakening Giant King, a
boss monster that had been sleeping for a long time.
“Forget what I said earlier. It’s now possible to raise it above 40%.”
Kim Tae-seok had a reason to say this.
“The regeneration rate of giant-type monsters has doubled, and in such a situation, hunting more monsters will inevitably increase the conquest rate.”
Lee Ji-hee made a bitter expression.
“But it’s also possible that it won’t increase. It all starts with the premise that they can be hunted.”
Tae-seok responded with a bitter smile.
“Right, it’s a story for when they’ve survived.”
***
[The long-slumbering Giant King awakens.]
[The monster regeneration rate doubles.]
[Giant-type monsters gather at the king’s arrival.]
[The gathered giant-type monsters become ferocious.]
[The commanded giant-type monsters start charging.]
Hyun-soo was bound to be flustered.
As the leader of the expedition, riding and thinking it was strange,
‘Why aren’t there any monsters?’
The reason there were no monsters became clear through the recent notification, which was blinking red.
[Warning.]
[Warning.]
[It is recommended to evacuate quickly.]
This notification sounds when users face unforeseen situations.
Typically, such notifications occur when the level of the quest received far exceeds.
[Kingdom Quest: The penalty for failing to hunt the Ogre Chieftain is revocation of title.]
However, there’s a catch in this notification system.
‘Even if something unbearable happens suddenly, the penalty doesn’t change.’
Failing to hunt the Ogre Chieftain might just be considered as such.
‘Total annihilation.’
For Hyun-soo, who wanted to prove his worth to those who looked down on him and smoothly raise the conquest rate, it was a distressing situation.
And the soldiers also spotted the approaching horde of giants from afar.
“Eeek…”
“What, what’s that!”
“Could it be that the Giant King has awakened? According to legend, strange things happen when the Giant King awakens.”
The soldiers’ faces turned even paler.
“We’re going to die.”
[The morale of the soldiers decreases by 10%.]
[Their attack and defense power decrease by 7% each.]
Hyun-soo’s face twisted. The soldiers were panicking.
Then Khan, who was standing next to Hyun-soo, spoke,
“We must retreat. If we do not retreat now, we will all die. Normally, we hunt 2-3 of them at a time.”
Khan groaned, looking at the ones appearing in the distance.
“There are about twenty of them in sight right now. Please issue a retreat order immediately!”
Hyun-soo said in a firm voice,
“No.”
“…Now is not the time to worry about your pride as a noble.”
Khan swallowed his anger. Was he worried about losing his title?
Did he think that the death of thirty soldiers was justified over such a concern?
“Even if we retreat, we die.”
But Khan realized something.
‘What is this…? This person…?’
He was coldly assessing the current situation.
Only then did Khan calculate in his head the speed of the giants running and the speed of the soldiers.
‘If we show our backs, we’ll soon be caught and killed.’
The likelihood of dying helplessly was higher.
There’s a big difference between being caught and killed while fleeing and dying while fighting in defense.
The odds are currently higher for those who fight in defense.
Even so, that seemed very slim.
In other words, a dilemma.
At this moment, Khan showed his spirit of sacrifice.
“…Lead the soldiers and run.”
Khan had the strength comparable to that of a decent knight.
Knights can handle up to three ogres on their own.
Of course, fighting twenty by himself might buy a few minutes of possibility.
Still, it could increase the chances of survival for both the soldiers and Hyun-soo.
And Hyun-soo’s mind was already spinning fast.
The distance between the giant horde and themselves: 400m.
350m.
300m…
“Give the order…!”
The soldiers, panicked, and Khan, urging them on.
And between the approaching horde of giants, everything around Hyun-soo became quiet.
‘Fight as a knight, and also as a blacksmith.’
The way to fight as a blacksmith.
Hyun-soo, who has never led anyone before, had an exceptional understanding of weapons.
“Knights with spears, stand in the positions I designate.”
Khan was surprised by the sudden change in his charisma.
“Those with bows, adopt a kneeling position to improve accuracy.”
And he pointed to dozens of trees.
“Those with swords, climb the trees and wait.”
There was no time.
That’s why he decided to be more forceful, giving them no chance to resist.
“It’s an order.”
Hyun-soo didn’t know much about leading.
But he knew what had to be done in such a situation.
“I led you here, and I won’t let you die in vain. I can’t promise that no one will die.”
Hyun-soo gave a bitter smile as he looked at the soldiers frozen in fear.
“Still, it’s a challenge far more worthy than dying while fleeing.”
Khan felt an inexplicable pride in those words and thought it was time to move the soldiers.
Therefore, he took the lead and said,
“I’ll follow your command!”
Following him, the terrified soldiers also began preparations to survive.
Khan stood right next to Hyun-soo.
Suddenly, 150m.
Khan asked,
“What will you do?”
130m.
“Khoaaaah!”
“Khaaaaah!”
“Krueeeeh!”
[Ogre Lv.275]
110m.
“I’m going to wipe out those coming at us now.”
Saying so, Hyun-soo pulled out a heavy bow.
Seeing this, Khan’s face twisted.
“But at best, you can only shoot twice.”
Considering the speed of the approaching giant horde and the speed of drawing the bowstring, at best, two shots.
Could he create a chance with just one or two shots?
Khan doubted it.
In that moment, he saw the aspect of a strong commander in Hyun-soo.
But he came to realize.
It was arrogance and a misplaced expectation.
With just two arrows, those creatures could not be dealt with.
Then, above Hyun-soo’s head, tiny minerals and something like the stems of trees appeared.
The stem quickly trimmed down, forming a long, sturdy arrow shaft.
And a sharp arrowhead combined with the shaft.
Click-
Hyun-soo knew too.
Just one arrow couldn’t stop them.
[The Weight of a Thousand jun.]
[The weight of a thousand jun is applied.]
40m.
“Eek… Eeeek!”
“Crazy!”
“Commander, how do you plan to stop the ogres with just one arrow!”
Suddenly, the ogres were upon them.
One ogre, four meters tall, charging at Hyun-soo with a giant ax drawn back.
30m.
Strength poured into Hyun-soo’s arm as he drew the bowstring.
“Ah, ahhh!”
“Save me!”
“We’re going to die!”
Swoosh-
“Hold!”
Despite the soldiers’ screams, Hyun-soo said,
“Wait… just a bit more. Just a bit more…”
20m.
Sweat formed on Hyun-soo’s face.
Soldiers screamed or called out their families’ names.
A curse, ‘Damn it…,’ escaped from Khan’s lips.
15m.
Whizz-
Finally, a single arrow was launched.
The arrow, hastily crafted, flew towards the foremost ogre.
The soldiers, who had been skeptical, suddenly widened their eyes at the sight.
The power Hyun-soo hastily infused into the arrow.
It was inspired by a bow from Vietnamese legends.
The Golden Ghost Spirit Bow.
A bow that hits a thousand enemies with a single arrow.
One arrow replicates into twenty arrows.
As soon as those arrows touched the ogres.
Ting- Ting-
Not one penetrated; they were all repelled.
Just as the soldiers sighed at the twenty futile arrows.
Boom-!
All twenty ogres were simultaneously slammed to the
ground.
At that moment, Hyun-soo raised his arm and commanded,
“Begin the extermination.”
Cliche Novel 
ggs
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