Insomniac Player

The spear-wielding Elite Goblin roared behind them.

Damien turned as it wrapped torn cloth around its wounded wrist and retrieved another weapon.

The other two Elites were advancing beside it.

Level Ten. All three of them.

Even after reaching Level Six, Damien was still weaker, and the spear lodged in his side didn’t help.

Blood kept pouring from the wound, and every step made the world tilt. But one person remained: John.

The giant was still slumped against the wall, unconscious.

Damien staggered toward him.

Imran and Rahul moved to intercept the nearest goblins, buying him a few seconds.

"Damien!" Rahul shouted. "Hurry!"

Damien dropped to his knees beside John. Up close, the giant looked worse.

His chest was sunken where the chief had kicked him.

Blood stained his beard; his breathing came in broken, uneven gasps.

He wouldn’t wake naturally in time, so Damien raised the dagger.

His hand stopped; John had saved him during the first hours of the Tutorial.

He’d given him the dagger and protected him. Trusted every ridiculous plan he created.

Now Damien was about to repay him by driving that same weapon into his heart.

"It’s only the Tutorial," Damien whispered, though he wasn’t sure he believed it.

He wasn’t sure whether he was reassuring John or himself.

"You’ll revive." Damien’s voice wavered.

John didn’t answer, so Damien placed the dagger against his chest and pushed.

The blade sank deep, too deep; the dagger was one foot long.

John’s body jerked. Damien’s hand slipped on the blood covering the hilt.

Pain erupted through his side as the spear shifted in the wound.

His strength disappeared.

A notification appeared as John’s breathing stopped.

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➤[Player John Jones has died.]

➤[Tutorial Resurrection Activated.]

---

Damien tried to pull the dagger free, but his fingers refused to close. The cave twisted around him.

He heard Rahul shouting and Imran calling his name, with goblins roaring and the elite goblin’s footsteps approaching.

Damien finally tore the dagger from John’s chest.

But the movement pulled against the spear buried in his body.

Fresh blood spilled down his side; his vision went black for a second.

When it returned, the stone floor was rushing toward him.

Damien collapsed beside John; the dagger slipped from his hand and clattered across the ground.

Behind him, the Level Ten Elite raised its weapon.

John’s body began dissolving into light as Damien watched.

Damien watched the particles gather through half-closed eyes.

A weak smile touched his lips. At least the others would be able to fight.

As for him... he had already died twice. One more death wouldn’t be the end, probably.

The elite goblin stepped over him; its spear rose.

Then a massive hand burst from the fading blue light and caught the weapon.

The spear stopped inches from Damien’s throat.

John stood where his corpse had been. Alive, healthy, and furious.

He looked down at Damien, then at the dagger lying nearby.

Then he looked at the small hole in the center of his shirt.

His imperial mustache twitched. "Lad..."

John’s voice was dangerously calm. "Did you just stab me?"

Damien managed a weak grin. "Technically..."

His eyes closed. "I saved your life."

John tightened his grip on the Elite Goblin’s spear.

The wooden shaft cracked beneath his fingers. "We are discussing this later."

Then he turned toward the goblin. His grin returned. "But first..."

John ripped the spear from the Elite’s hands. "I need to thank someone for the wake-up call."

◇◇◇

Death was unpleasant; revival was worse.

Damien returned to consciousness with a violent gasp, jerking as though someone had thrown him into freezing water.

He rolled onto his side just as an axe slammed into the stone where his head had been.

Fragments of rock struck his face.

He scrambled backward, grabbed the First Blood Dagger from the inventory, and forced himself upright.

His wounds were gone, and his stamina had returned, though not completely. Revival restored the body, not the mind, and Damien’s thoughts still felt battered from sleepless days of survival.

Across the cave, the fight had already divided into three brutal duels.

Rahul faced the spear-wielding Elite Goblin.

John fought the one carrying twin curved blades.

The axe-wielder had forced Imran against the cave wall. Imran was forced against the cave wall by the axe-wielder.

Damien blinked. For one confused moment, he wondered why John wasn’t fighting the spearman until he saw Rahul narrowly bend backward as the spearhead passed over his throat.

"Stop staring!" Rahul shouted. "Suggestions would be appreciated!"

Damien tightened his grip around the dagger. "Don’t get stabbed!"

Rahul’s expression twisted. "That is not a suggestion!"

The spear came again.

Rahul knocked it aside with the shaft of his weapon, but the difference in strength forced him back several steps, his boots sliding through blood across the stone floor.

The Elite Goblin advanced without hesitation. It was faster, stronger, and more skilled.

Rahul had revived healthily, but health alone didn’t make him equal to a Level Ten monster.

He thrust toward its face. The goblin twisted aside and struck him across the ribs with the spear rod.

Rahul crashed into a pile of broken weapons.

From the pile, Rahul raised his hand. "Still alive," he wheezed.

"Good," Damien said. "Keep doing that."

◇◇◇

John was the only one holding his ground. The twin-bladed Elite moved like a storm.

Its curved weapons flashed from every direction, striking high, low, then high again before an ordinary fighter could even react.

John reacted by refusing to move. One blade cut across his shoulder, and the other struck his stomach, but neither wound went deep enough to stop him.

John grinned through his blood-soaked mustache and swung his recovered mace.

The Elite crossed both blades to block; the impact sent it skidding backward.

"That all?" John roared. The goblin snarled back.

John’s grin widened. "Good. I was worried death made me delicate."

He charged, and the Elite darted around the first swing before slashing across John’s back.

John spun with surprising speed, forcing it away with another wide arc.

Unlike Rahul and Imran, he wasn’t merely surviving.

He was fighting; every strike from his mace threatened to end the battle.

The problem was landing one.

◇◇◇

Imran’s situation was the worst.

The axe-wielding Elite Goblin had backed him into a narrow section of the cave where broken stones limited his movement.

The monster raised its axe overhead. Imran stepped aside, and the weapon smashed into the ground, splitting the stone.

Imran buried his axe in the goblin’s side; the blade struck armor and stopped.

The Elite turned its head slowly.

Imran stared at the useless weapon. "...That could have gone better."

A green fist struck his face; he crashed against the wall. The Elite ripped its axe free and advanced.

Imran tried to stand, but his legs trembled.

Damien moved before thinking. He sprinted across the cave, jumped over the corpse of an ordinary goblin, and hurled his dagger.

The First Blood Dagger spun through the air; the Elite heard it coming.

The Elite turned and raised its axe, but the dagger struck the broad metal head.

A clean line appeared through the weapon; half of the axe fell to the ground.

The Elite Goblin froze; Imran did not.

He drove his axe into the goblin’s knee; the blade found the unprotected joint.

The Elite Goblin howled and dropped onto one leg. Damien reached them and pulled his dagger from the broken weapon.

"Neck," he said, and Imran understood.

He wrapped both hands around the haft of his axe and swung.

The blade struck the Elite’s throat; it didn’t cut through completely, but it cut deep enough.

Purple blood poured across its armor; the goblin grabbed at the wound.

Imran raised his axe and swung it one more time; he grunted and exerted every bit of his power.

The Elite’s head dropped; its body followed.

Bing!

---

➤[Elite Goblin Lv.10 Eliminated.]

➤[Experience +100]

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