Insomniac Player

The battlefield had become impossible; there was no other word for it.

Goblin corpses littered the forest floor, yet for every one that fell, two more emerged from between the trees.

Their shrill cries echoed through the forest like rusty knives scraping against metal.

Further back, wolves prowled between the undergrowth, their glowing amber eyes patiently watching for exhausted prey.

The Players, meanwhile, were falling apart.

A girl swung her sword wildly, screaming as she charged. Nearby, another player tripped and barely rolled out of a goblin’s reach. Across the clearing, someone tried to rally a stranger, only to break off and sprint as another wave surged forward. Chaos blurred bravery and panic together.

Damien ducked beneath a crude stone axe, the weapon missing his head by an inch before burying itself into the trunk behind him.

His heart nearly stopped. "Too close..."

He stumbled backwards, nearly tripping over a root.

The goblin screeched triumphantly and charged again.

BOOM!

Its war cry ended beneath John’s mace.

The goblin flattened against the ground with a wet crunch.

John planted the massive weapon over his shoulder and grinned beneath his thick ginger moustache. "You alright, Damien?"

Damien took several deep breaths. "I almost became shorter."

John blinked. "...Shorter?"

"The goblin was aiming for my neck." He described.

"... Ah." John nodded solemnly. "That would indeed make you shorter."

Damien stared at him. "You know... I can never tell whether you’re wiser than you look or exactly as wise as you look."

"I ask myself that every morning."

Despite everything happening around them, Damien couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.

Only John could turn near decapitation into casual conversation.

Another scream rang through the forest.

A young woman sprinted between the trees with four goblins chasing close behind.

She didn’t last long; one caught her ankle. She disappeared beneath a pile of green bodies.

The woman vanished in a burst of blue light, respawning somewhere unseen.

Damien looked away. Even knowing she would revive somewhere else didn’t make watching someone get torn apart any easier. "...We can’t keep doing this."

John followed his gaze. "What do you mean?"

"This madness..." Damien pointed toward the battlefield.

Everywhere he looked, players fought as though the objective were to exterminate every monster in existence.

Some shouted battle cries; others desperately tried to protect strangers.

A few had completely lost their minds, charging screaming into groups of goblins before immediately discovering why mathematics existed.

Numbers hurt.

"...Idiots." Damien spat in disgust.

John looked offended. "I’ll have you know I only became an idiot after leaving school."

"I wasn’t talking about you."

John smiled proudly. "Oh."

After a pause, Damien muttered, "...Mostly."

"I heard that."

Damien ignored him. Instead, he looked toward the endless forest.

Goblins and goblins. Behind them, even more goblins.

There wasn’t an end that bothered him.

Everything had patterns, even chaos... especially chaos.

He watched another patrol emerge from almost the same location as the previous one.

"...Wait." His eyes narrowed. "No..."

He whispered. "It can’t be..."

"What now?" John asked.

Damien wasn’t listening anymore.

Instead, he opened the translucent blue window floating before him.

---

[Tutorial Objective]

[Survive for 64:12:39]

---

Nothing else, no kill requirement, no wave clear, no boss objective. Just... survive.

He blinked, then blinked again.

"...We’re idiots."

John looked deeply offended this time. "You’ve already said that."

"No." Damien pointed toward the objective. "I mean all of us."

John scratched his bald spot. "I still don’t get it."

Damien sighed. "Mr John. Can you kill every goblin here?"

John looked around; there had to be hundreds... or perhaps thousands.

Another patrol emerged from the forest before the previous one had even reached the fighting.

"...No," John answered.

"What about half?"

"...Still no."

"A quarter?"

John thought longer than Damien expected. "...Maybe?"

"Wrong answer." Damien corrected.

John frowned. "What was the right one?"

Damien looked John in the eyes and uttered. "You won’t be able kill a quarter of them."

John stared back in puzzlement. "Stop beating around the bush, Damien."

"We don’t need to kill them," Damien yelled in frustration.

John was silenced.

Another goblin sprinted toward them.

Without looking, John casually swung his mace sideways.

CRACK!

The goblin flew into a tree hard enough to shake the firm tree.

"...Continue." said John in a casual manner as if he didn’t send goblin fly.

Damien folded his arms. "The objective isn’t to kill monsters, it’s to survive."

John blinked. "Oh."

Another blink. "...OH."

His eyes widened. "So... we’ve been fighting because... everyone assumed that’s what we’re supposed to do."

John slowly looked back toward the battlefield.

People risking their lives, burning through stamina, fighting endless enemies.

He stuttered, "...That’s... actually... really stupid."

Damien nodded. "It is."

"So what do we do?"

Damien smiled for the first time since entering the Tutorial. "We leave."

John looked genuinely confused. "...Just leave?"

"Professionally."

"...Professionally?"

Damien raised his index finger. "We’re not running away; we’re conducting a tactical relocation."

John burst into laughter. "That’s just running with extra words."

Damien puckered his lips. "It sounds smarter."

"...Fair." John nodded.

The giant rested his mace on one shoulder. "I like this plan."

"You don’t even know the plan."

"I know it doesn’t involve dying."

"That’s the whole plan."

"...Brilliant."

The two quietly slipped away from the battlefield.

Not sprinting, sprinting attracted wolves.

Instead, Damien walked calmly through the trees, occasionally crouching behind bushes whenever goblin patrols passed nearby.

John whispered, "So... where exactly are we going?"

Damien looked at him, then at the surroundings, and carefully answered. "I don’t know."

"You’ve got no destination?"

"I have criteria."

"...Which are?"

"A place that’s difficult to attack."

John furrowed his brows. "You use too many intelligent words."

"I use normal words."

"They’re intelligent to me."

Damien sighed; this was going to be a long three days.

As they continued walking, another scream echoed somewhere to their right.

A teenage boy burst through the bushes. Two goblins chased after him.

The boy’s face was pale with terror. "Help!"

He didn’t even notice Damien; he kept running.

John instinctively tightened his grip on the mace.

Damien immediately raised a hand. "Wait."

John froze. "We’re not helping?"

"Yes, we are."

"We’re fighting?"

"No."

"...I’m confused."

"We will attack by surprise. For now, we hide."

The giant looked around. "...Where?"

Damien pointed toward an enormous tree, twice thicker than John’s body. John hastily hid behind the tree.

The terrified youngster rushed past the tree, and the murderous goblins followed seconds later.

"Now." Damien cried.

John stepped out, and the first goblin never saw him.

BOOM!

It disappeared beneath the mace; the second turned toward the sound.

Damien lunged from the bushes; his first blood dagger flashed.

The blade struck the goblin’s neck, and warm blood splashed across his hands.

The goblin collapsed, it looked at adamien in agony, bloodied bubbles formed on its green lips. Its body jerked in pain, gasping for air until it stopped, its ruddy dead eyes were locked at Damien.

Previous kills didn’t flinched Damien much, but this one felt different. The goblin gave humane expression, it was fighting for life, final death throes.

Damien froze; his breathing stopped. He stared silently at the body.

"I..." His stomach twisted.

This wasn’t a game; it wasn’t pixels. He had just killed something, intentionally this time.

Even if it was a monster, even if it wanted him dead.

His hands trembled, and the rescued boy ran over. "Thank you!"

Damien slowly looked up.

John quietly placed one large hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

Damien shuddered. "...No. I still can’t... get used to it."

John didn’t laugh, didn’t make a joke.

"Good."

Damien looked confused. "What’s good in it?"

"If you ever stop feeling sick after taking a life... I’ll start worrying."

For a moment... neither of them spoke.

Then Damien took a deep breath. "Let’s loot it."

John blinked. "That was quick."

"My morals are struggling, my survival instincts aren’t."

John grinned. "Now that’s the lad I know."

As Damien crouched to search the goblin’s belongings, he failed to notice three frightened Players watching from behind the bushes.

They had seen everything. Not the fight but the plan.

And for the first time since entering the Tutorial, someone began wondering whether surviving had less to do with strength.

And more to do with thinking.