Only I’m the solo player

Chapter 14 – The Hour Between Dog and Wolf

—–CROW—– 

[Shepherd Girl’s Request – Wolf Pack]

Description: Shepherds leading animals in the middle of the meadow have long been the subject of various superstitions.

This is because the sight of them holding a staff in one hand, blowing a horn, and freely controlling many sheep sometimes seemed like that of a sorcerer.

There were rumors that if you encountered a shepherd while traveling, you would receive the protection of the earth spirits and avoid accidents.

There were also rumors that the shepherd was actually a demon in disguise, sealing the traveler’s soul in a sheep.

But this shepherd girl is just a frail child. She simply has a small knack for chasing away wolves.

And that knack is useless against the newly appeared king of the wolves. The girl will no longer be able to protect the sheep alone.

Of course, protecting herself will also be impossible. That’s why the girl has asked for your help.

**[Quest Objectives]**

Protect the girl.
Protect the girl’s dog (Optional).
Protect the flock of sheep (Optional).
Defeat the king of the wolf pack (Optional).

The contents of the quest were similar to what was known in the open community, but there were also many differences.

Originally, the quest given by the shepherd girl NPC was called [Wolf Extermination], a hunting quest with a total of five stages.

But the one given to me was some kind of escort quest. Moreover, the format of the quest description was also different from the usual.

I thought only large-scale campaign quests had such long descriptions, but was that not the case?

There were also one or two things that bothered me about the quest objectives.

There were three optional objectives, and in quests like this, the more optional objectives you completed, the greater the reward.

The original [Wolf Extermination] quest that could be received from the shepherd also had quite good rewards, so how much better would this one be?

And the last optional objective, defeating the king of the wolf pack, was this referring to the field boss [Wolf King Lobo]?

I had heard that it was the strongest single monster, excluding the boss of the 2nd floor labyrinth area, but to be told to catch it right away…

For a quest that could be received at the entrance of the 2nd floor, the estimated difficulty was too high.

Everything indicated that this quest would give a huge reward. There was no reason to refuse.

“I accept.”

Even if the difficulty was high, considering my level and specs, it wouldn’t be that hard.

If push came to shove, I could give up on the optional objectives and just take the basic reward, and it wouldn’t be a loss.

When I accepted the quest, the quest window that had appeared in front of me disappeared, and a new notification window appeared.

[All the wolves in the field are now watching you.]

The interface was red instead of the usual blue.

[All wolf-type monsters enter a ‘Frenzied’ state. Attack and defense are increased.]

[All wolf-type monsters will track you. They have a preemptive attack status.]

[The Wolf King is tracking you. The field boss can now move outside of its designated field.]

This, it seemed, was a bigger quest than I had thought.

****

From now until we reached the village, the field boss would personally chase us.

I understood why the quest had so many optional objectives. It would be extremely difficult to achieve them all in this situation.

Maybe with a large party, but could I protect the shepherd NPC, the dog, and the sheep all by myself?

“I’m relieved that the adventurer is helping… When we return to the village, I’ll be sure to repay you for this.”

“Don’t be relieved, let’s hurry.”

“Ah, yes, of course… I’ll call the sheep. Come, Flanders, let’s go.”

The shepherd girl, leading the black dog and holding her staff, trotted out and returned with the sheep.

There were a total of fourteen sheep. It was fewer than I had expected, but considering I had to protect them alone, it wasn’t a small number.

The distance to the village was also quite far. If I ran with all my might, it would be quick, but having to move with the flock of sheep, the perceived distance increased significantly.

Now that I was actually carrying out the quest, there were one or two things that bothered me. But I had no intention of giving up.

“The village is that way.”

For now, I silently followed the shepherd girl’s guidance and set off in the direction of the village.

How long had we walked? After just a few minutes, a pack of wolves rushed towards us.

I told the shepherd girl to stop the sheep that were following her, drew my weapon, and ran to meet them.

-Grrr!

This time, two types of field wolves appeared. The only difference from before was the number.

From afar, it looked like there were about five or six, but at a slight distance, two or three more packs of similar numbers were together.

In total, there were about twenty. No matter how many there were, mobs weren’t a big threat, but the problem was that I wasn’t alone.

“Come on, all of you!”

Hoping for a taunt effect, I shouted loudly and jumped towards the wolves first.

I had to go as deep into the pack as possible. So that the wolves couldn’t bypass me and target the shepherd.

-Crash!

I slammed the shield into the wolf at the front of the pack, sending it flying, and dove like a rocker diving into the audience.

I landed on the back of a large wolf and, just like I did with the Goblin Lord, stabbed it in the back with my dagger.

The dagger’s damage was weak, but the wolves’ stamina wasn’t very high, so I was able to kill one quickly.

-Arrooo!

Did they react to the blood of their kin? Or was it the frenzy effect I mentioned earlier?

Fortunately, the wolves didn’t get distracted and properly rushed towards me. After that, it was smooth sailing.

Swinging my sword and shield wildly like in a dogfight, I killed all twenty or so wolves.

“Aaaah! Adventurer!”

Just then, the shepherd girl screamed from behind. Stepping on the corpses of the wolves, I turned back.

A gray-furred wolf, different from the wolves I had just defeated, was facing off against the shepherd dog.

“Hup!”

I roughly estimated the distance to the wolf, then threw the shield on my left arm like a frisbee.

-Thud!

The wolf hit by the shield collapsed, but other wolves appeared and rushed in.

Retrieving the shield I had thrown, I once again charged towards the wolf pack.

****

Damn it, this quest is impossible.

“Haa, haa… damn it, you bastards.”

I couldn’t help but curse. The quest design was just telling me not to do it alone.

After chasing away one pack of wolves, another pack would appear from the opposite side as if they had been waiting.

After running like crazy to defeat them, another pack would appear from the opposite side and target the sheep.

I didn’t know how many times I had repeated this already. It was the worst kind of wild goose chase.

If my agility stat had been just a few levels lower, I would have already lost all the sheep.

The most infuriating thing was that, after repeating this over and over, I couldn’t get any closer to the village.

“A-Adventurer… Shall we rest for a bit?”

“Haa, no, let’s go, keep going.”

The shepherd girl nervously suggested a break, but I refused and urged her to keep moving.

If I sat down and rested now, I might just give up on the quest altogether. I’m not the type of person who can afford to rest.

I don’t trust myself. There’s no way the laziness I once shed has gone anywhere. Once I lose momentum, that’s it.

And besides, we couldn’t rest for long. If I rested now, who would protect the sheep? That black dog?

“P-Please, just a little more, there’s a good place to hide the sheep over there.”

I remembered it too. There was a safe zone in the 2nd floor field area a little further ahead. If we were going to rest, we should rest there.

As I continued to push my exhausted body forward, a blue notification window suddenly appeared in front of me.

[You have acquired Passive Skill: Battle Endurance Level 1.]

“Huh?”

What was this now?

****

After a long forced march, we finally arrived at the safe zone in the field area.

“If we put the sheep between these rocks, the wolves won’t be able to do anything.”

The shepherd girl, along with her dog, herded the sheep into the crevice between the rocks and said. Well, she was probably right.

I sat down on a nearby rock, opened the status window, and checked the passive skill I had just acquired in the skill section.

[Battle Awakening LV.1]

[Battle Endurance LV.1]

The [Battle Endurance] skill was placed alongside the [Battle Awakening] skill I had acquired in the fight against the Goblin Lord.

Even when I manipulated the interface, I couldn’t find any explanation of its effect.

I opened the open community and searched for the skill name. Unexpectedly, several informational posts came up.

“Improved concentration… and increased stamina?”

The same skill held by other challengers had proper explanations attached to them, unlike mine.

Moreover, the source of the skill was clear. It seemed that no one had acquired it suddenly out of nowhere like me.

Although it wasn’t shown as a numerical value in the status window, they said it was definitely a skill with an effect.

“What the hell is this?”

There was still too little information to find out through searching. In times like this, it was better to ask directly.

The rankers who lived and breathed in the Tower of Trials would probably know something.

I opened the open community and, for the first time in a long time, started writing a question post. Just then…

[The Hour of the Wolf has come.]

A brightly shining red notification window appeared before my eyes once again.

—–CROW—–