After advancing three hundred feet, my final destination appeared on the map. The den’s path widened significantly, forming a dead-end that opened into a small room. From there, I heard the echoes of multiple goblins shrieking while something hard repeatedly slammed against the ground.
The small room was conveniently located just beyond a gentle curve. While there was still some distance, getting any closer could get me spotted by the goblins inside. I hid behind the curve, holstered my M1911A1, and switched to my MP5A4.
I knelt down, set the safety to three-round burst, and aligned the iron sights with the goggles’ crosshair. Once they matched, my goggles zoomed in and around the crosshair, targeting the goblins.
In VMB, headgear with UI display functions like my goggles were basic equipment. This sometimes caused overlap with various firearm sights and functions. The goggles themselves were equipped with a telescopic function as a supplementary feature for players that preferred to not use sights, known as the “iron faction.” However, to prevent that from being too versatile, the telescopic function was designed to require a slight delay for automatic activation.
Was that goblin deliberately striking the ground next to the woman’s head?! How vile. I saw thirteen goblins in total. Three of them were standing near the woman.
That was a lot. First, I’d need to eliminate the three around the woman, then draw attention and take the rest out quickly.
I engaged the safety on my MP5A4 and switched back to the M1911A1. The silencer was still attached, and five rounds were left in the magazine. I carefully aligned the sights to avoid any accidental discharge toward the woman. The zoom slightly increased as my aim settled on the goblin’s head. The zoom magnification was only 1.1 times for handguns.
I held the M1911A1 steady in both hands and targeted at the goblin’s head. I felt nothing about the life I was about to take. I needed to be cold-hearted to pull the trigger.
The bullets hissed through the air and struck the club-wielding goblin straddling the woman. He collapsed. The crosshair slid to the two goblins beside her. I fired two shots each. Since their angle posed a low risk of accidental discharge, I prioritized dealing with them first.
The goblins further away were stunned by their comrades’ sudden deaths. Taking advantage of this, I switched to my MP5A4, set the safety to three-round burst, and aimed at the head closest to me.
“Gyagyaaaaa!” it shrieked.
This made the twelve remaining goblins turn towards me. Unphased, I kept pulling the trigger. The muzzle flickered in the dim light as it flashed red with the three consecutive shots. Despite the powered suit’s assistance, recoil was inevitable—firing-induced barrel sway and aim deviation occurred even when minimized. After all, VMB was a game.
Indeed, this gun was the game’s gun, not a real MP5A4. So, I controlled the recoil that matched the in-game recoil, minimizing it while sliding the crosshair to the next target’s head.
I observed the spread of the crosshair during shooting and recognized that even the game’s system was replicated in this world. As the spread settled, I pulled the trigger again. Spread affected the accuracy of the bullet’s trajectory, and firing when the crosshair was fully spread wouldn’t hit the target as intended.
The three-round bursts helped with this and allowed for rapid contraction. This made it more effective than full-auto, especially when precision was required at a distance. The staccato of three-round burst firing created a rhythm for the burning propellant that flashed within the muzzle like a dance in the darkness.
I quickly dropped six goblins, and the upper body of the next target exploded. As it blew away, I felt a mass of air fly over me, spraying blood everywhere.
What?! What was that? A projectile?! Wait, that’s magic!
I jumped back away just in time. The mass blasted the wall, gouging it out.
What could such power be compared to? A frag grenade?
This mysterious flying object had to be some sort of magical attack. I had wondered whether magic existed in this world, but I hadn’t expected goblins could use it. If they were capable of such powerful attacks, I’d have to fight smarter.
I wanted to counterattack immediately, but I remained calm and changed my magazine. The coast seemed clear of further projectiles, so I aimed the MP5A4 and searched for the magic-casting goblin.
Is it the one waving the staff? It commanded the other goblins, and its clothes seemed to fit the part. I pulled the trigger, judging the recoil control and spread contraction. I shot it in the head, then dispatched the remaining goblins.
They were all down, and there were no new dots on the map. I had smoked them all. I slowly advanced into the small room. I saw the woman and worried she might be dead. She still displayed as a dot on the map, so she wasn’t a corpse. I saw her moving slightly, but she hadn’t noticed me yet. She was looking at the magic-casting goblin’s dead body.
When she looked at me, I saw she was definitely human. I switched my goggles from NV to normal mode and spoke to her as I slowly approached.
“Hey, are you okay?”
The woman looked at me suspiciously before responding.
“————? ———-!”
I didn’t understand a word she said. I didn’t understand her language, and it was clear that she didn’t understand mine. Frustrated, we fell into silence and just looked at each other.
What was going on? Transitioning into this other world was becoming challenging. With no way to replenish Crystal Points, and unable to communicate, the reality presented to me wasn’t as sweet as the novels presented it. In isekai, language and writing always worked for the characters, somehow.
We couldn’t continue like this. I could barely make out her face. The small room was too dark, even with the faint glow of the white flowers.
What should I do?
Language barriers weren’t something foreign to me.
Wait—foreign? That’s it!
I had an idea. Turning my back to avoid her gaze, I activated the TSS and turned its automatic translation on in the communication settings. This feature was essential in VMB, which had over five million players connected worldwide at any given time. It automatically assisted voice communication for cooperation and competition with foreign players. So when I didn’t understand another player’s language, they were automatically translated and spoken to me in my ear.
Maybe this would work.
My sudden turn away from the woman made her uneasy, and she spoke to me again.
“—, ——, ————————-?” “Um, is something wrong?” I heard her say.
It was a miracle! I didn’t actually expect the automatic translation to work here. Now I could understand her, even though she still couldn’t understand me. I assumed she didn’t have an automatic translation feature.
“N-no, it’s nothing,” I said, giving her a thumbs up. “Are you okay?”
“C-can’t you speak Orland Common Language?” she asked. “Are you an adventurer from a foreign land? Do you understand what I’m saying?”
Adventurer? I guess that’s a thing here. And what was Orland Common Language? Did this mean there were multiple languages? If so, not speaking might’ve been a better way to maintain my disguise.
I nodded to show I understood what she was saying and gestured that speaking was difficult.
“You understand what I’m saying? Thank goodness,” she said. “Th-thank you. I thought I was doomed.”
Nodding in response to her words, I cut the vine-like ropes binding her hands and feet and helped her sit up.
Her face came closer to mine, and I saw that she was gorgeous. She had fair skin, likely Caucasian, blue-green eyes, and copper, bobbed hair that shone brightly in the dark. Was everyone in this world so beautiful?
At first glance, she looked like a female warrior. She wore a female-type leather armor with small round shoulder pads and no sleeves. She wore pants underneath a skirt that hung around her waist.
She still trembled with fear. That was understandable. She’d been captured by a group of goblins, with one swinging a club right next to her head.
I didn’t know how much goblins in this world differed from the fantasy goblins I knew from games, but there was only one thing they planned to do to an abducted woman. She had escaped that.
“It’s okay now,” I told her. “It’s okay. You’re safe.”
I knew she didn’t understand me, but I wanted to say them anyway. I gently patted her shoulder and rubbed her back, trying not to make it too intimate.
She seemed to understand my reassurances, and she clung to my arm and steadied her breathing and nerves. I don’t know how long we sat there in that dimly lit room. Maybe it was ten, twenty, or just a few minutes. Her trembling finally stopped, and she raised her face to meet my gaze directly.
“I’m guild investigator Ashley Zeparnel. Or rather, I am an apprentice from the Comprehensive Guild of the Kingdom of Kurtmelga. Who are you?”
I hesitated. She asked for my name, but which one should I give her?