I Became the Childhood Friend of the Middle Boss

“I became a childhood friend of the middle boss”

Chapter 8

In the game, there were certain restrictions placed on Do Gyeon Woo when he joined the main character Strong Star’s party.

As a result, players rarely included him in their party, unless they were forced to do so.

The restrictions greatly hindered his performance.

‘Gifts were both an advantage and a disadvantage.

Doggy’s Gift, the Evasion Instinct.

When a dog feels his life is in danger, he instinctively moves his body to avoid the danger.

As an agile swordsman, it was a very useful gift.

On the other hand, it was also a very good reflection of his characterization as a timid and fragile dog.

The limitations were.

[The dog refuses a command].

[The dog dodges attacks].

Instincts are not easy to control.

The same was true for the avoidance instinct.

The evasive instinct, which wants to survive, sometimes leads the dog to move against the player’s orders.

In other words, he would take evasive action instead of following the attack command.

From the player’s point of view, it was hard not to get frustrated with the dog.

“Dog

-I’m sorry, I’ve been causing you all so much trouble….

If you know that, you can fix it.

However, after Do Yeon-woo undergoes an awakening event later in the story, his opinion of him completely changes.

“Doggy.

-I don’t want to die like this. I don’t want to be protected by the kids anymore. I… I’m going to fight.

From then on.

Does Yeon-woo gain control of the Gift and is no longer afraid?

The player will also be able to utilize his powers properly.

The awakened dog can be found at…

“The later a character awakens, the stronger they are morally.

That’s all I can say.

While players have varied their performance over the years, the basic idea is that he can dodge most attacks and take down enemies.

It’s almost too good to be true.

If you get one good dog, you’ll have an easy second half.

It sounds like a bit of an exaggeration, but it’s true to a certain extent.

So….

‘It’s too late to wait until the second half of the story. How can I wait for that?’

I was thinking of bringing the awakening, which is usually late in the story, to the present.

I know that’s impossible in a game, but in a non-game world, it would be possible.

It doesn’t have to be a late-story condition where I can control my avoidance instinct.

It’s not difficult if you know how to awaken.

Lion Iron

Pushing me to the limit.

I swung my sword at the two goblins that charged at me.

* * *

The first time I faced a goblin, I thought to myself, ‘This is good enough.

I could see his every move, and I didn’t feel like I was in any danger because he was shorter than me.

I was able to kill him without difficulty.

‘Two is manageable.’

Dealing with two goblins was no different than before.

You just need to keep an eye on them.

It’s a bit of a distraction, but in the end, it’s just two eyes chasing two eyes.

One eye for each goblin.

With the goblins in my sights, I measured the distance and swung my sword.

With one swipe, I was able to separate them from top to bottom.

Their corpses fell to the ground in a spray of blue blood.

“Whoa….”

I turned my head away from the sight and said to my father.

“Next, a favor.”

“Get some rest.”

“I’m still fine.”

“Insistence is I’ll take three.”

I sighed as if I had no choice.

My father freed three of the tied goblins.

Kicking them in the ass without showing any sympathy, he forced them to walk over to me.

Ugh!

Having already been through two battles, they quickly figured out the situation.

They exchanged glances, picked up their weapons from the ground, and lunged at me.

“A diversionary tactic.”

A repeat of our two battles.

They scattered, widening the distance so they were out of my line of sight.

Then they surrounded me.

“I can’t see the other two.

As I focused on the one in front of me, I couldn’t move quickly enough to avoid the others.

That’s when it happened.

“…!”

An electric current ran down the nape of my neck.

At the same time, my body tried to move without my will.

“The Gift has been activated!”

My avoidance instinct had sensed the danger and immediately kicked in.

Surprised by the indescribable sensation, I surrendered myself to it.

Boom!

A blade slashed at my back.

While I focused on the one in front of me, one sneaked up behind me and swung its weapon.

I yeon woo the blade and caught sight of the one in the distance, a look of despair on his face.

“I’ll kill you first.”

I spun around.

I didn’t hesitate to run at the weaponless, flailing creature.

Chhhhh!

Just then, I heard a sound from behind me.

Two goblins were chasing me with their backs to me.

“It’s okay, now.

One hit, not two.

I spread my mana around with my next step.

A sensing net.

The ripples of mana detected any sign of mana within a certain radius.

I was able to pinpoint the location of the two dogs chasing me from behind.

They were some distance away, so I didn’t have to worry about being caught.

Of course, it was enough distance for them to throw their weapons.

Whistle!

Still, I needn’t have worried.

My evasion instinct kicked in.

The current that started at the nape of my neck quickly traveled through the nerves of my entire body.

I corrected my course in the direction of my instincts.

Their attack was in vain.

And so…

Attack Stance

I killed the one I was aiming for.

Thinking that it was a tie, I slashed horizontally at the throat of the one who jumped up.

Immediately, I slowed down my running speed and shifted my direction with one foot.

Kiek!

I came face-to-face with the guys running after me.

I pointed my sword at them as they tried to slow down.

──!

I compressed the mana in my body and rotated it.

The mana that escaped from my heart was funneled into the joints necessary to wield the sword, and into the mana circuits that belonged to those joints.

Furthermore, it energizes the hilt of the sword.

Lion’s Tear.

A tearing slash.

I shoot out the energy from my sword.

Shi Yun!

The shape of the strike is not smooth.

It’s jagged and awl-like, leaving an uneven wound on the target it strikes.

A blow that slows recovery.

…Kiaaah!

The blow swooped down on the goblins, tearing them apart as if they had been bitten.

“Next, I’ll go for four.”

“…Got it.”

* * *

Going from three to four didn’t make much difference.

As long as I stayed tense and fought, I could deal with them.

“It’s annoying when there are more of them.”

Of course, it did take some effort.

I had to be vigilant to make sure that while I was targeting one, the others wouldn’t attack me.

In a way, I felt like I was using up a lot more mental energy than physical energy.

‘I can’t do this.’

Finally, after the fourth battle.

I wiped the sweat from my brow and thought to myself.

The awakening of the game’s dog was triggered when he concluded that he and his companions would never survive unless they fought to the death.

That means he was pushed to his physical and mental limits.

So I needed to push myself even harder than I already was.

“This is the last one, right? I’ll be right there.”

“You don’t have to rush it.”

“I think I can do it.”

“You’ll get hurt if you let your guard down like that. It’s the last time, so be more careful.”

“Yes, I will.”

My father offered advice.

I nodded to my father, keeping my eyes on the remaining goblins.

Five of them.

They were a head taller than the ones we’d faced so far.

“Maybe these are a little different. They’re the ones who watched you fight and rolled their eyes.”

Even if he didn’t say it, I could feel it.

They were different from the look in their eyes.

When the ropes were untied, they stood up as if they had been waiting, picked up their weapons, and turned toward me.

A battle ensued, and…

KEK…

It was a long battle, as I had to fight five of them, but I was able to calmly reduce their numbers and gain the upper hand.

Then the last goblin was stabbed to death…

[We attacked the gate].

The moment.

With that message in my mind…

Hwaah!

Particles of light gathered in front of my eyes and transformed into a key-like shape.

It was the gate key my father had inserted into the artificial gate.

“….”

The key fell into my hand.

The gate had determined that I had made the most significant contribution to the capture.

Unlike in the game, where the gate key was automatically assigned to the main character, in this world, it was assigned to the person who contributed the most to the capture.

Meanwhile, the gate key in my palm was transparent, unlike when my father first took it out.

“…I won’t be able to use it again until the cooldown.

Once the gate was fired up, the power it contained was exhausted.

Of course, it wasn’t a permanent drain.

The time varied for each gate key, but if left alone, it would absorb the mana dissolved in the atmosphere and restore its power on its own.

‘What can I do….’

So my thoughts were elsewhere than on the drained key.

‘I shouldn’t do this….’

I’m not awake yet.

I couldn’t get my mind off of it.

I wondered if there were more goblins.

I looked around, even though I knew it was unlikely.

But sure enough, there were.

There were no goblins left at the compromised gate.

I had to accept reality.

“….”

I didn’t think my plan would work.

I had planned to create an awakening event by putting me in a desperate situation, but I hadn’t expected it to be over before I even entered it.

I was stronger than he expected.

Just then, my father approached me.

“What’s with the dumbfounded look on your face? Is it because you can’t believe you managed to break through the gate?”

He said in a tone of pride.

“To be honest, I’m pretty surprised.”

“….”

“I thought you might be able to take on four of them somehow. But I never thought you could take on five, let alone four.”

“Haha….”

My dad shook my shoulder.

I swayed in his grip and laughed awkwardly.

I couldn’t help but feel like I had completed the exercise, but I hadn’t accomplished my most important goal.

My father pointed behind me.

“We still have some time to use the artificial gate, but there’s nothing more to do here, so let’s clean up and head back.”

“….”

“Give me that key.”

As I attacked the gate, the direction my father pointed with his thumb revealed an extra-dimensional door that hadn’t been there before.

If we go through that door, we’ll be back in the world we came from.

“Dad.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

This means that my awakening will be pushed into the distant future.

I don’t know when that will be.

It could be shortly, or it could be later in the story.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I had to do it now, right now, while my threshold was low.

So I opened my mouth, hiding the gate key.

“Isn’t there another gate?”

“What?”

“I feel like I’m about to realize something, but I don’t want to go home like this.”

“….”

“You say we still have time, so can we try the other gates in the meantime?”

Something a little harder than this.

At my words, my father blinked.