I Woke Up In The Morning And Became A Seeker, So I Dived Into A Dungeon ~Steadily Leveling Up Starting at the First Level~

Chapter 98

Chapter 98. Revenge Of The Village Girl

──Side: Chelsea──

Some time ago.

Chelsea, the daughter of a hunter, sneaked out of the village without the villagers noticing.

The 14 years old girl advanced through the dense forest alone.

In her hand, she held a bow for hunting.

She carried a bag filled with miscellaneous tools, and a quiver containing a dozen arrows on her back.

A large knife, used for skinning animals, was strapped to her waist.

.

“I will kill those goblins with my own hands…! I will exterminate every last one of them!”

Hatred and anger burned in Chelsea’s eyes.

She had sworn revenge against Goblins that had killed her father.

She continued through the forest for about an hour without extinguishing the flame of hatred.

Eventually, she arrived at the cave she sought.

Chelsea’s mouth twisted into a grin after peering at the cave entrance from behind a tree.

“Gotcha. There’s only one goblin.”

In front of the cave’s entrance, Chelsea saw a single goblin wandering around.

It seemed unaware of Chelsea’s presence.

There were no other goblins in sight within her visible range.

Blinded by anger, Chelsea didn’t consider the possibility of what lay beyond.

Quietly, Chelsea placed her bag on the ground, being careful not to make any noise.

She then took an arrow from the quiver and nocked it on her bow.

Leaning cautiously from behind the tree, she aimed the arrow and released it.

──Twang!

The arrow shot by Chelsea appeared to have hit Goblin perfectly.

However, the arrow doesn’t pierce Goblin’s body and gets deflected by an invisible barrier that covered the small monster.

“Tch…! It doesn’t work!”

Chelsea discarded her bow and rushed from behind the tree, running towards Goblin without hesitation.

Goblin was now aware of Chelsea’s presence.

It raised its shabby small sword and let out a threatening shout.

Though she discarded her bow, Chelsea did not draw the knife from her waist. She confronted Goblin with her bare hands.

She had heard that regular weapons were ineffective against monsters, unlike wild beasts.

It seemed that people could only deal effective damage against monsters with specialized weapons made from magic stones, attacks utilizing awakened beings’ bodies, or magic itself. This was not a mere rumor but the truth.

However, Chelsea did not possess weapons made from magic stones, nor could she use magic.

In that case, her only option was to beat them down with her physical strength.

“──Haaaaaaah!”

She aimed for Goblin’s head and unleashed a spinning kick.

The sharpness of her kick was far beyond what one would expect from a young village girl.

Chelsea became an [Awakened One] about a week ago.

Until then, she was just an ordinary hunter’s daughter and couldn’t move as swiftly as she does now.

After becoming an [Awakened Being], Chelsea realized she was a [Chosen One] who had been granted tremendous power.

This realization also filled the girl with arrogance.

It’s making her believe she could single-handedly defeat a group of goblins.

“What…!?”

Chelsea’s spinning kick aimed at Goblin’s head missed with a loud swoosh.

Goblin unexpectedly moved quickly, bending down to evade the attack.

Its agility was almost on par with Chelsea’s own.

Then, Goblin thrust its small blade into Chelsea’s abdomen, causing her to gasp in pain.

“Ugh…!”

As Goblin pulled its blade, goblin’s hand gets stained with crimson blood.

Raising the blade again, it attempted to strike Chelsea more, but she quickly retreated, creating distance between them.

“Kuh…! Haa, haa, haa…!”

Placing a hand on her abdomen, Chelsea found her hand covered in sticky, bright red blood.

Beads of sweat formed on her forehead.

Goblin, still clutching the blood-soaked blade, approached Chelsea with a sinister grin.

Step by step, she retreated.

She’s intimidated by the creature, which is smaller than her by at least a head.

“This… This can’t be… It shouldn’t be like this…”

She had become an [Awakened One].

She should have surpassed goblins—there was no way she would be inferior.

Yet, her confidence was already on the verge of being shattered into pieces.

Moreover, another event occurred that was enough to crush Chelsea’s morale.

“Kishar!”

“Kihhhhhh!”

“Kihhhhhh!”

From the darkness of the cave, one after another, numerous goblins revealed themselves.

Some held bows, some were larger, and others had a mystical appearance.

“Ahh… Ahhh…! No, nooo…!”

Turning her back to Goblins, the girl began to run desperately.

Her anger and hatred get overshadowed by fear.

She knew she stood no chance.

She couldn’t defeat all of them alone.

Goblins chased after the fleeing Chelsea.

Chelsea, while being tripped by the tree roots, desperately ran, almost falling.

Eventually, a swooshing sound filled the air.

“Ugh…!”

Something pierced Chelsea’s thigh, causing her to cry out.

It was an arrow that had flown from Goblins’ direction.

Unable to withstand the pain, Chelsea tumbled and rolled on the ground.

The arrow immediately turned into a black mist and disappeared, but it didn’t heal the injury she had sustained.

“Help… someone, please…”

Enduring the pain, Chelsea desperately tried to stand up.

However, Goblins pursuing her were now closing in, getting dangerously close.

There was no escape.

She was going to die here.

Just like her father…

Soon, one of Goblins approached right in front of Chelsea.

The small creature’s dagger was stained with fresh red blood.

It was raised, ready to tear Chelsea apart…

“Not so fast… [Rock Bullet]!”

A voice was unfamiliar to Chelsea.

Almost simultaneously, a projectile made of rock flew from behind and struck Goblin in front of her.