9 Chapter 8: Trial. (2)

(Flashback)

"Rigel what the fuck are you doing! Get a hold of yourself or we will abandon you!" A man with his left arm covered in green blood shouted at Rigel who was petrified and didn't even hold his sword properly. "If you don't want to live, then leave the group!" He glared at Rigel furiously while everyone was being surrounded by goblins.

Rigel looked at the goblins in front of him, but then he heard screams behind him. When he turned around he saw the backline had been broken and the goblins had stabbed their daggers at the players. Everyone was dying left and right, and he knew that the situation was dire and there was no way they could leave that situation.

The man who shouted at Rigel suddenly grabbed Rigel's shirt from behind and then pushed him toward the goblins. Rigel was shocked and since he was still petrified, he couldn't stand up where the goblins were right in front of him.

"Everyone leave! I use that useless bastard as bait! This is our chance!" The man shouted to his remaining members.

Everyone left Rigel behind just like that and didn't even look back at him. They only cared about themselves and they were glad that it wasn't them who got abandoned.

(End of flashback)

"Rigel? Are you alright?" A man looked at Rigel beside him and saw Rigel's empty eyes.

"I'm fine. I'm just deep in thought," Rigel answered as he looked at his surroundings.

Rigel remembered his pathetic past life when he was on trial and how it was total chaos because back then nobody knew what they were doing. He looked at Joan and remembered in his past life that Joan's group was the last group that survived the trial.

Joan suddenly raised his left hand and clenched it to signal everyone to stop moving. He squinted his eyes and tried to see and hear better because he believed he heard something up ahead. He then looked at Rigel and nodded to tell Rigel to scout it out for them.

Rigel went ahead on his own without any sign of fear even though everyone knew that something was ahead of them. He stealthily moved from tree to tree, hiding his presence as he tried to remember his escape route if things went south. When he was close enough to the noises, he saw a group of goblins, 14 goblins in total, resting in a big space where no trees were around.

14 goblins weren't that many, but knowing nobody had any experience in killing or dealing with those monsters before, it meant nothing. He thought it would be best to avoid them for now and find the safest route to find the other groups.

Rigel tried to find a safe route for the group to avoid the goblins, and then he encountered another group. That was when he realized the group that he saw was the same group he was in in his past life. He remembered their faces and the leader who used him as bait.

Rigel didn't hesitate to grab his bow and then walked away from the group he found. He went back to where the group of goblins were and then he shot an arrow right in the foot of one of the goblins. It was enough to attract the goblins while Rigel purposely showed himself to the goblins.

He ran as fast as he could toward the group that he found and then hid his presence by climbing the tree. He saw the goblins running past him and found the group that was unaware of the situation they were in. When the goblins showed themselves to the group, a woman screamed her lungs out in panic.

Joan and the others heard the scream, and they didn't hesitate to go and check it out. They knew it was from another group and it would be best to gather up because quantity sometimes was better than quality.

Rigel watched from the distance as Joan and his group found the other group and immediately came to help them. He never planned to help them in the first place because he was planning to sabotage the trial. His purpose in getting his player status revoked depended on how he took action in the trial. The more he contributed to the trial, the less chance he got his status revoked.

"Sorry, Joan. You're reaching your hand and trusting the wrong person," Rigel muttered to himself and then moved to find another group of goblins.

(Flashback)

Rigel was running away from the goblins that were chasing him after he got abandoned by the group. He was out of breath, but he didn't stop running until he found another group who were cautious with the noises. He brought all the goblins to them, and of course, their first action was to eliminate the threat.

The group handled the situation badly, but they still survived and killed all the goblins. The group leader was the tall man, and he looked at Rigel furiously and didn't hesitate to punch Rigel in the face.

"What the fuck were you thinking by bringing those fuckers to us!" Aaron shouted as he tried to strangle Rigel to death. "Look at what you've done! My group got massacred because of you! You fucking piece of shit!" He tightened his grip on Rigel's neck.

Rigel had no more strength in his body after he used everything to survive the goblins. He didn't care what the man would do to him as long as he was safe, but suddenly Aaron punched him in the nose and knocked him out.

"Weakling with no weapon. I hope you die," Aaron said as he stood up and then left after he ordered his members to leave Rigel behind.

(Back to present)

Rigel sighed as he leaned on the tree because the bad memories started to come back. He never thought that doing the trial again would bring them all back even though he had forgotten about it. Suddenly he heard laughter that didn't belong to humans, and when he investigated where it came from, it was 4 hobgoblins patrolling the area.

Rigel grabbed a rock from the ground as he stealthily moved to behind a tree near the hobgoblins. He had found the route back to Joan's group, and then he threw the rock right on one of the hobgoblins. He lured the hobgoblins back to the group and then disappeared.

"I knew you could handle the goblins, Joan, and I hope you survive until the end just like last time," Rigel said as he hid behind the tree as the hobgoblins noticed the group of players.

Joan and the other players experienced firsthand the difference between goblins and hobgoblins. They never thought the difference would be that big, and how hobgoblins were a lot stronger, more fierce, and fearless. They couldn't handle 4 hobgoblins even though there were 39 players because a single mistake could kill them immediately.

In the end, Joan and the others managed to kill the hobgoblins, but they lost 12 players because of it. They only had 27 players left including Joan, and the trial had just started which also meant there were still a lot of goblins and hobgoblins.

"Anyone seen Rigel?" Joan looked around and asked everyone.

Everyone shook their heads and they had no idea where Rigel went or what had happened to him. Nobody suspected that he was the one who brought the goblins and hobgoblins because they knew he wouldn't do something like that. Sometimes, they dismissed something that could be the answer, and that was what made them humans.

"From now on, let's stick together," Joan looked at the other group's leader. "Your name is Chris, right?" He asked.

"Yeah. Thank you for helping us. We wouldn't be able to survive if it wasn't because of you guys," Chris nodded.

Joan became the leader of both groups since he was more dependable and reliable because of his background. Chris's group was the weakest group since they were the leftover players, the group that Rigel was in in his past life.

When they explored the forest, Joan noticed the footprints of goblins and hobgoblins in front of him. He could tell the monsters went in the same direction as him, and it was a good thing because he could go in a different direction from the monsters.

"Joan, you need to see this..." Marcel was staring at something on the ground.

Joan approached Marcel and saw a human blood trail and a piece of cloth on the ground. A black piece of cloth that was the same cloth that Rigel wore, and then he saw a broken bow and an empty quiver not far from the scene.

"Do you think he lured the monsters away from us and he's injured because of it?" Marcel looked at Joan.

"Looks like it," Joan nodded in agreement. "So he lured the monsters away from us..." He looked worried and grateful at the same time. "I hope he's alright," he added.