Free Web NovelChapter 58: Joining the Counteroffensive
A bustling city that was so bright even in the depths of night. frёeωebɳovel.com
This place—the City of Blacksmiths, Evergloria—was probably the best city to land on for the middle stages of the game. The reason, of course, was obvious.
Compared to all the other cities, this one boasted the best lineup for equipment. The craftsmanship here was in a different league entirely, and the selection reflected it. If you wanted gear that would actually carry you through the harder content ahead, Evergloria was where you came.
However, it wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine either.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"So soon?"
Hearing the loud ringing of the bells near the gate, I couldn’t help but raise a brow. We had only been in the city for a few minutes, and something’s already happening.
"What’s that?" Miyabi asked, her brows furrowing. freewebnøvel.coɱ
"This feels like a flag! I bet an event is along the way!" Kiki commented, already perking up with excitement. "Must be a welcome event for us! Let’s go check!"
Eri looked conflicted, but she agreed with Kiki’s words all the same. "We really should check it out."
Seeing that the girls were proactive about it, I couldn’t help but smile.
"It’s fine, it’s fine... There’s no way we can ignore this event." I clarified. "This is a forced draft event. We can’t refuse it either way."
Just as I finished my words, a sole figure rushed from the middle of the city. From the way he ran, spreading the snow away like a plow cutting fresh ground, it was hard to even capture his face, much less his expression. However, there was no mistaking who that one was.
Within a few seconds, the said person arrived right before us, skidding to a stop with enough force to send a fresh spray of white powder across our boots.
"Huh? You skinny brats, are you adventurers?!" His voice echoed from behind the powdered snow he himself had shredded. "If yes, then come with me! The fucking monsters dare to siege the city’s walls this late at night. Come and help us teach them a lesson!"
As the snow completely settled, his figure finally became clear.
A stout figure appeared—head sporting thick brown hair with a bushy beard that looked like it had been growing since before any of us were born. A belly that looked like a barrel, and a large weapon more than five times his own height slung diagonally across his back. From a glance, he looked like a lost giant piece of roasted meat stuck on a long stick.
A common fantasy race said to love blacksmithing and wine. Dwarves.
This one, specifically, looked exactly as Kiki had described him to me in the past—back when she was recounting her own run through this city with the particular mix of nostalgia and regret she always got when talking about missed opportunities.
I took a step forward, gave a standard salute, and responded. "I am WhiteGod! Don’t worry, comrade—we’re all ready to help!"
"Good! Then follow me!"
Without even asking for our names, he just continued running past us, heading roughly north. Toward the northern gate.
Of course, with his speed, there was no way we could match him stride for stride. However, thanks to him acting like a living icebreaker, the path ahead was cleanly delineated through the snow. We didn’t need to navigate at all—we just followed the tracks he made.
Roughly five minutes later, we approached the wall surrounding the city.
It was tall. At least 30 meters, probably more.
On top, I could see flashes and hear loud explosions from the weapons mounted along the battlements—cannons, firing at intervals, their blasts lighting up the dark sky in brief orange bursts. The sound hit a few seconds after each flash, rolling through the cold air like distant thunder.
Not only that, but above and below the walls, hundreds of similarly built figures could be seen busily running about—manning stations, hauling ammunition, shouting orders back and forth with the efficient chaos of people who had drilled for exactly this.
[FantasyManiac: Oh shit! It really is dwarves!]
[MoeLover: Please be loli beauties! Please be loli beauties! 🙏]
[Water: It’s really a late-night siege... Awesome!]
Of course, along the way, Miyabi hadn’t forgotten to start the stream. We were already done with our class advancement, after all. There was nothing we needed to hide from here on out.
The appearance of a different race had the viewers buzzing with excitement—and understandably so. It opened the door to the interpretation that other races could also exist somewhere in the game.
And given that the system allowed players to actually court NPCs through certain mechanics... it wasn’t hard to guess where some of their minds were going.
Though the one chanting "loli loli" repeatedly smelled like a specific kind of dangerous. Should I preemptively flag that account to the authorities...?
"Oh, you’re finally here! Perfect!" A voice quickly dragged me out of my internal monologue.
Looking over, I found the same meat-skewer dwarf standing near the gate, arms crossed, looking like he had been waiting for exactly three seconds too long.
He, along with a few dozen more of the same build, stood in a formation—the one we recognized out front, acting every bit the captain of the squad.
"Line up and follow us! We’ll show those bastards what us dwarves of Evergloria are made of...!"
[Scenario Quest: Wintry Night Siege Defense (Evergloria) (Normal)
Requirements: None
Description:
The monsters have orchestrated a siege against Evergloria’s tough walls. Although it should hold well enough on its own, Tuntec is asking for adventurers like you to join in and launch a counteroffensive.
Quest Target:
- Kill 0/500 monsters (any)
- Survive Until the End
Quest Rewards:
- Evergloria City Visa (10 days)
- Gain the militia’s "Recruit" status
]
As soon as he finished speaking, a quest window appeared before our eyes. Of course, it came with no option to refuse—scenario quests never did. The game had already decided we were participating.
And even if it had given us the choice, we wouldn’t have refused anyway.
Following the command, we lined up at the rear of the group of men roughly half my height. Though the weapons slung across their backs were way taller than I was, which created a specific visual that was equal parts impressive and absurd.
I could see Kiki’s excitement practically vibrating out of her.
Miyabi had the look of someone trying very hard not to reach out and grab one of the dwarves to hug like a large, grumpy teddy bear. Does she find them cute...? I didn’t know her tastes were like that.
Only Eri looked remotely normal—a little wary and nervous, but composed enough to pass.
"OPEN THE GATES!"
After we fell in line, the lead dwarf, Tuntec, raised his voice and commanded.
"OPEN THE GATES!"
Someone echoed—then another, then another, the order cascading down the wall until slowly, the portcullis began rising with a deep mechanical groan of iron and chain.
Cold air poured through the widening gap, carrying with it the distant sounds of whatever was waiting outside.
At that moment, all the dwarves pulled the weapons from their backs and angled them diagonally upward in unison. Not spears—halberds. Massive ones, with giant axe blades at the ends that were each completely bigger than the dwarves wielding them.
The sight of it was genuinely impressive, in the specific way that made you glad they were on your side.
"Dwarves of Evergloria...! CHAAAARGE!"
With a hearty command, Tuntec rushed through the gates and toward the monsters up ahead. The other dwarves erupted into battle cries and followed, pouring through the opening in a dense, noisy wave.
Their speed was completely unbelievable for legs that short—they moved like they had something to prove, which, based on everything about them, they probably did.
"Alright, let’s clarify something first."
Before chasing after them, I turned to the girls, who already looked ready to charge in after them.
"We don’t need to fight those monsters directly. Just look for dwarves in danger and save them—kill monsters only that way."
"H-Huh? Wouldn’t it be hard to complete the quest like that...?" Miyabi asked, genuinely confused.
A fair concern. If we could only kill monsters that were actively threatening a dwarf, then we’d always be reacting, never hunting. The efficiency looked terrible on the surface.
However, I could only smile and shake my head.
"This quest requires 500 kills, but as a party, each of our kills counts toward the shared target. That alone makes it easy." I clarified. "More than that—we should use this chance to raise our favorability with the dwarves. Nothing raises favorability faster than saving someone in genuine danger, after all."
This was the "hack" I had learned from Kiki’s regret-filled recounts of her own run through this city.
It had been discovered only after her party had already finished the quest, so they couldn’t go back and use it to farm favorability. They ended up stuck grinding minor errands for a while just to unlock access to the weapons and armor they actually wanted.
Although it might seem like an underhanded method, it would dramatically shorten the time we needed to build standing with the key characters throughout the city.
And for me, with a very specific timeline I was trying to race against, every shortcut that didn’t cost us anything was worth taking.
"Is everything clear? Then let’s go!"
With the girls understanding our approach, we quickly chased after the dwarves ahead—their battle cries already fading slightly into the dark and snow beyond the gate.
