Without hesitating for even a second, Raymond rushed to help. He lunged forward with all his strength, gripping the polished dagger in his right hand tightly as he charged ahead. Within moments, he reached the girl and struck the nearest goblin pursuing her.
Because the creature had been running at full speed, it had no chance to stop. Raymond's sharp dagger pierced straight into its stomach, leaving no opportunity to evade. Dark purple, foul-smelling blood burst from the deep wound, and the goblin let out a choking gasp before dying on the spot.
With a swift motion, Raymond pulled the dagger from the creature's corpse.
However, it was far too early to celebrate.
The remaining goblins immediately took advantage of their prey stopping and quickly formed a tight circle around Raymond and the wounded girl.
"If they get close and attack, don't be afraid—strike back with everything you've got!" Raymond ordered without taking his eyes off the enemies.
The girl was still terrified by everything she had experienced.
"O-Okay..." she replied, her entire body trembling as she barely managed to raise her sword.
In truth, this girl was a completely new player who had only recently entered this cruel game.
It had not even been a few minutes since the System had thrown her into this world before she was suddenly attacked by this goblin pack. After receiving a severe wound to her abdomen, she had not even had enough time to learn how to use the sword and shield that came with her class. She had simply been running through the forest with all her strength, desperately trying to survive.
Now they were completely surrounded.
The goblins' savage instincts did not keep them waiting for long.
One of them suddenly snarled and lunged at Raymond.
Raymond swiftly dodged the strike from the sharpened bone dagger in the goblin's hand by leaping aside.
But another enemy that had been watching his movements immediately attacked both him and the injured girl.
Raymond raised his own dagger horizontally like a shield and barely managed to block the blow.
The goblins attacked relentlessly one after another. Though their assaults were disorganized, they were constant. Trapped within the tight circle, Raymond and the girl could barely avoid their cunning attacks.
As the battle intensified, one sneaky knife strike slipped past Raymond's defense and cut his arm.
However, the pain could not stop him.
After his first death, Raymond's senses had become much sharper. Enduring the pain, he launched fierce counterattacks and managed to deliver fatal strikes to three more goblins.
This clearly showed how much his combat experience had improved compared to before and how much better he was beginning to understand the System's rules.
These creatures were naturally quite small, barely reaching Raymond's knees in height.
Yet despite their short stature and seemingly weak physiques, they were incredibly fast, fought in a relentless manner, and worst of all—they vastly outnumbered him.
The girl beside Raymond also screamed desperately and defended herself with her shield.
By sheer force of survival instinct, she managed to stab one goblin through the chest and kill it.
That left only five bloodthirsty goblins growling around them.
The balance of power on the battlefield was gradually evening out.
While Raymond focused on keeping track of the remaining monsters, one of the goblins cunningly moved around to the side and launched a sudden attack at the completely exposed back of the girl.
"Watch out!!!" Raymond shouted at the top of his lungs.
Throwing himself in front of her like a shield, he raised his dagger to intercept the deadly strike.
He succeeded in blocking it, but the force behind the goblin's attack was tremendous.
The sharp knife sliced deeply across his right arm.
"Agh!"
The agonizing pain made Raymond's vision blur.
Blood flowed down his black sleeve.
He immediately realized that the situation was rapidly deteriorating. His injured right arm meant he would not be able to continue fighting much longer, and these crafty creatures, who held the advantage in numbers, would eventually exhaust and kill them.
At that moment, a single clear solution entered his mind.
Remaining here and continuing the fight was equivalent to death.
The only option was to smash through the weakest point in the encirclement and escape.
"Hey, listen! We're going to charge forward together, break through their formation, and run toward the edge of the forest with everything we've got!" Raymond said through gritted teeth.
The girl understood that this was a life-or-death moment.
With tears in her eyes, she nodded firmly.
Both of them gathered every ounce of strength into their legs and prepared for one final push.
"Now!" Raymond shouted.
He sprinted toward the weakest-looking goblin standing in front of him.
The girl, placing all her hope in Raymond, followed close behind despite the pain.
Closing the distance, Raymond thrust his dagger at the goblin with all his strength.
But the creature was surprisingly sharp.
It raised its bone dagger horizontally and blocked the attack.
Sparks flew as metal collided with bone.
Seeing his strike stopped, Raymond wasted not even a second.
Instead of retreating, he threw his entire body weight forward and slammed into the goblin.
The unexpectedly powerful impact knocked the short creature completely off balance.
Like a ball, it was sent flying several steps away before crashing onto the ground.
A small opening had appeared in the encirclement.
Raymond and the girl immediately seized this golden opportunity.
Without wasting even a moment looking back at the remaining monsters, they sprinted through the gap and ran toward the village through the dense forest.
They ran with all their strength between the trees while the bloodthirsty goblins continued screaming and chasing them relentlessly.
However, the girl was gradually slowing down.
The severe wound in her abdomen was taking its toll.
She kept pressing her bleeding injury with her left hand while enduring the unbearable pain.
Watching her, Raymond noticed something remarkable.
Despite being a young girl, her willpower was far stronger than that of an ordinary person.
Had it been another player, they likely would have collapsed from shock long ago and become monster food.
Raymond found himself slightly impressed that she still refused to give up despite such a serious injury.
Assessing the situation, he reduced his speed slightly and matched her pace.
When he looked behind them, he saw that the goblins had already begun closing the distance.
"Miss, please hand me your sword! It's much better for attacking at range than this short dagger!" Raymond said urgently.
The girl did not waste time asking questions.
She simply handed him the long iron sword.
The moment Raymond grasped the weapon, he acted immediately.
Holding the sword tightly, he suddenly slowed down and turned toward the goblins charging behind them.
Then he pointed the gleaming blade toward the pursuing enemies and unexpectedly swung backward with tremendous force.
The goblins, running in a straight line at full speed, never anticipated such a sudden reversal.
The first two creatures crashed directly into the blade.
The chest of the first goblin was deeply slashed, causing it to collapse instantly.
The second collided with its severely wounded companion, lost its balance, and tumbled onto the ground as well.
At that critical moment between life and death, a translucent blue System window suddenly appeared before Raymond's eyes.
[Level Up!]
[Level 2 → Level 3]
[Reward: +5 Coins and Shield]
Raymond did not spare even a fraction of a second to read the notification or inspect the rewards.
He mentally dismissed the flashing window and focused all of his attention and remaining strength on the last three goblins that were still alive and charging toward him in fury.