Chapter 39: Brotherly Taunt, Deadly Fight

“What the… is that…?”

“What am I looking at?”

“Big… and beautiful!!”

“The God of Streaming really exists!!!”

[Ding~]

[Let me check from where I am to see if the God of Streaming actually exists. I mean… did a new god get born without me knowing??]

“Haa…”

A small sigh escaped.

But no matter what was said, the situation had already unfolded.

To protect the territory, the creature had to be dealt with first.

“Alright… since I have to kill it anyway, might as well. The mission is over now, right?”

The mission had only required killing the Goblin Shaman.

Now that the Goblin Shaman was dead, there was no longer any need to be tied to it.

But who were the viewers?

They were loyal minions who would never allow a streamer to do something the easy way.

[MissionMania has donated 10,000 won.]

“Huh?”

“Ohhh!”

“MissionMania! I knew we could count on you!”

[Chairman has donated 10,000 won.]

A double opportunity had arrived.

Double meant it was no small amount.

When MissionMania donated, it was worth 200,000 won, but when the Chairman donated, it was a whopping 1,000,000 won.

It was an irresistible offer.

Exitra nodded.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

They were enemies that needed to be killed anyway.

If killing them could also make him money, then it was killing two birds with one stone.

‘Now then…’

Exitra used the Weakness Detection skill to check the goblin’s vulnerabilities.

[Name: Letri Torol Aobok Ttookas]

[Weaknesses: Holy Power, Fire, Lifespan, Demonic Races, Necromancers]

It had quite a lot of weaknesses.

The one that stood out was its lifespan.

Since it had been hastily resurrected, its life expectancy was apparently short.

‘Holy Power and Fire… but right now, my spirit power…’

His spirit power was nearly depleted.

Most of it had been spent taking down the Goblin Shaman.

Exitra opened his status window.

[Spirit Power: Empty.]

First, he used the 10 points he had earned from completing the Heavy Rain Quest to increase his spirit power, securing at least a little.

‘Still not enough…’

Exitra began to think.

He needed to achieve the best results with the least amount of power.

To do that, there was something he had to do.

“You’ll allow me to change spirits, right?”

[MissionMania has donated 10,000 won.]

“Alright then, I’ll do it.”

Exitra stepped forward.

He inserted Blood and paused for a moment to think.

‘How could he kill the creature with his remaining spirit power?’

‘Undead… weaknesses are fire and holy power… in that case…’

A good idea came to mind.

It was something a streamer had done before his regression.

In the later stages, it wasn’t so great, but in the early game, it was extremely effective.

‘I’ll just do that.’

While he was organizing his thoughts, Alfredo spoke nervously from the side.

***

“Brother… what on earth is going on?”

Alfredo was staring at the goblin warrior in shock.

He had thought, ‘Finally, it’s over!’—but now, the dead had risen again.

He seemed to feel a mix of disappointment, revulsion, and fear toward the goblin warrior.

‘Since they died and came back, they’re undead now, right?’

In Molgahub, undead had a unique passive skill.

It was called “Fear,” and because of it, people instinctively felt terror toward undead.

Right now, Alfredo was under that skill’s effect.

“Who knows? I guess the Goblin Shaman did something as he died…”

“That… after all the trouble we went through to kill him…”

Exitra glanced at the uneasy Alfredo.

He could see fear clouding Alfredo’s eyes under the effect of the Fear skill.

A person with a strong and disciplined mind could resist it somewhat, but Alfredo’s mental fortitude was still immature.

That was why the Fear skill was hitting him hard.

If they fought like this, Alfredo wouldn’t be able to move properly.

‘No choice, then. Guess it’s time for me, as his big brother, to give him some encouragement.’

Exitra turned his head toward Alfredo.

He was going to encourage him—as a brother should.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

“What?”

“You’re scared, aren’t you?”

“M-Me? You think I’m scared?!”

“Looks to me like you’re terrified. Isn’t that why?”

“Ha… unbelievable! Me? Scared?”

Alfredo’s face turned red and pale in turns.

To be honest, he had been a little scared.

He had just witnessed something die and then come back to life.

Who wouldn’t be scared after seeing that with their own eyes?

Probably no one.

But Alfredo absolutely did not want to show fear in front of Exitra.

“Those bastards! Even if they come back to life—they’re just goblins! No way I’m scared of them!”

“Right?”

“Of course!”

— [Ohhh…]

— [The tough-guy act is real, lol]

— [This guy can’t open his mouth without taunting someone!]

— [Taunt Master!]

— [Man, this place is gold!]

“I’m not scared!”

“Well, good. I thought you were scared for a second.”

Exitra gave a sly smile.

That smile made Alfredo grit his teeth.

Any fear or anxiety had long since vanished.

Now, all he felt was an unexplainable irritation and anger toward that smiling face.

“Then watch me! I’ll show you those things are no match for me!”

Alfredo drew his twin daggers and charged toward the goblin warrior.

“Kieeeeek!!”

“You bastard! I’m not scared at all! I’m telling you, I’m not scared!!”

Before anyone could process what was happening, a fight broke out between the Goblin Warrior and Alfredo.

Exitra tilted his head as he watched Alfredo.

“Why is that guy suddenly charging in like that? I was just worried about him, but now he’s snapping at me…”

— [What? You didn’t know?]

— [His taunt skill has reached the realm of instinct, lol.]

— [Taunt is basically his passive now…]

— [I just feel bad for the younger brother…]

— [In other games, the younger brother’s the cruel one, but here he’s just so cute… awwww…]

Exitra had meant to encourage him, but somehow it had turned into a taunt.

He hadn’t meant to provoke Alfredo, but it seemed taunting had now become second nature to him.

Not that it was necessarily a bad thing.

Thanks to it, Alfredo had overcome the Fear Spread skill with anger instead, so it worked out in the end.

‘Well, I guess it’s fine.’

— [But Exitra, are you just going to watch?]

— [Don’t tell me you’re using your little brother as bait this time?!]

— [You’ve gone beyond the brother shield and now…!!]

— [Truly the King of Bad Personality~!!!]

— [Such pure evil!]

“Hahaha, of course not. I’ll join in too.”

Exitra summoned a spirit.

The viewers’ eyes widened in shock.

— [Wait! Why that spirit?]

— [You’re going to take down the Goblin Warrior with that?]

— [Is that even possible??]

***

[Ding~]

[Exitra-nim, even for you… isn’t it a bit much to take on a Goblin Warrior with that spirit…?]

Both the viewers and Chronos tilted their heads at the sight of the spirit Exitra had called forth.

Seeing their reactions, Exitra’s lips curled upward.

“I’ll show you. Just watch.”

He looked at the spirit he had summoned—a spirit wreathed in a soft blue glow.

It was the water spirit, Undine.

Undine wasn’t exactly the most useful spirit in combat.

It could fight, but compared to other spirits, its efficiency was lower.

Undine was better suited for “healing” and “support.”

— [How are you supposed to win with that…?]

— [Oh no, this is suicide!]

“Here we go.”

Exitra leapt into the battlefield.

Alfredo was fighting with everything he had.

“Chaaahp!!”

The fear was completely gone from his eyes now.

All that remained was his rage toward Exitra.

“You bastard! You think I can’t take you down?! I’m telling you, I’m not scared at all!!”

Alfredo’s attacks were frantic and fierce.

His skills as an assassin were focused on ambush and speed.

He used that speed to dodge the Goblin Warrior’s attacks while slashing away at its body.

“Chaaahp!”

Puuuk!

“Kieeeek!!”

Wounds began appearing all over the Goblin Warrior’s body.

What hadn’t worked against the Goblin Shaman was now working against the Goblin Warrior.

‘It’s working!’

Alfredo pushed his speed even further.

He was certain he could kill it.

‘If I kill this thing, my brother will have to take back what he said about me being scared!!’

Tatadat!

His feet blurred as he darted around, leaving afterimages in his wake.

“Kieeeek!!”

The Goblin Warrior seemed rattled by the sudden afterimages.

It swung wildly, but only managed to hit illusions.

“I’m right here!”

Alfredo appeared directly in front of the Goblin Warrior.

“Haaap!!”

He kicked off the ground with all his strength, driving his dagger toward the spot where its heart should be.

Puuuuk!!

The blade sank in deep, and he felt the satisfying feedback of the strike.

The feeling of piercing a heart.

‘I got it!’

He was certain he had killed it.

That certainty loosened the tension in his body, just a bit.

And with that slight relaxation came carelessness.

Carelessness that invited danger.

“Kieeek!”

“Urgh?!”

The Goblin Warrior, whom Alfredo had thought dead, was moving just fine.

Thud!

His gaze dropped.

The Goblin Warrior stared at him with wild eyes, clutching the dagger lodged in its chest, and then swung its free hand at Alfredo.

“Damn—!”

He reacted just a little too late.

That moment of relief had dulled his movements.

‘Defend… no, too slow…!’

Death.

The image of his head being crushed by that fist flashed in his mind.

‘Damn it!!’

He grit his teeth and prepared to at least raise his arms to block, dropping his dagger—

Splash.

“Huh?”

A shield of water appeared out of nowhere, blocking the Goblin Warrior’s strike.

Alfredo’s eyes went wide.

“This is…!”

A shield made of water.

And in this situation, there was only one person who could have created it.

“Brother…!”

“You need to be more careful.”

“Tch…”

Alfredo had been saved by Exitra.

But his expression was far from pleased.

He had survived, but being rescued by Exitra clearly didn’t sit well with him.

“That thing’s an undead. You think stabbing its heart will kill it?”

“Tsk…”

Clicking his tongue, Alfredo widened the distance between himself and the Goblin Warrior.

It was something he could have figured out with just a bit of thought.

The dead had risen again.

And only a god could restore life to what was already gone.

If he’d thought about it for even a second, he would have realized the monsters were undead.

But this was Exitra’s fault.

Pushing Alfredo past his fear had been fine—but the taunt had also clouded his reason, leading to this.

So really, it was all Exitra’s fault.

“Watch closely.”

Exitra stepped forward.

Undine followed right beside him.

— [How exactly are you planning to win with that?]

— [Can you even kill an undead with Undine?]

— [Have you lost your mind, human?]

— [Possible?]

“Of course.”

Exitra grinned.

These people really didn’t know enough about Spirit Mages.

“Watch carefully~”