White Noise

"Ahhh!” screamed a woman, struggling helplessly as a group of goblins surrounded her.

“These vile creatures,” Hinan hissed. He and the party had just arrived at the edge of the goblin camp. It wasn’t a large settlement—about fifty goblins in total, according to Yumei’s Search magic. But they hadn’t charged in immediately. A group this size almost certainly had an alpha, and so far, the leader hadn't revealed itself.

“Ahhh!” the woman screamed again, her voice raw with fear.

“We’re moving in,” Hinan said coldly.

White and the rest of the party had no objections. It was getting painful to watch, and White was itching to test out his guns. *If this goes like VR,* he thought, *then I’ve got this.*

All at once, the party leapt out of the thicket, catching the goblins, and the woman, completely off guard.

Hinan dashed forward with his sword, slicing through the first goblin in one fluid motion and pivoting to parry another with practiced ease. His blade shimmered faintly with mana, each swing swift and efficient.

Yumei raised both hands and unleashed a barrage of fireballs that exploded into the goblin ranks, followed by a volley of sharp stone bullets that shredded through the front line. Her eyes were glowing with magic.

Hect let out a roar as he charged in, swinging his greatsword like a giant scythe, cleaving through goblins two or three at a time with every brutal arc. Blood sprayed, and limbs flew.

White lifted his SMG and opened fire.

Tak-tak-tak-tak!

The recoil kicked harder than he expected. He was aiming for the head, but his shots landed lower—chest, shoulder, arm. It took four bullets to drop a single goblin, and he was wasting ammo fast. Still, they were falling.

By the time he emptied the mag, five goblins were down at his feet.

Then—two more came charging straight at him, snarling.

“Shit,” he hissed, pulling out his pistol.

Bam.

Bam.

Both goblins dropped, clean headshots. His aim was already improving.

“Here!” Yumei shouted, tossing two glowing mana cores in his direction.

“Nice!” White caught them, holstered the pistol, and reloaded the cores into the SMG’s slot. Low-grade mana cores, good for about forty shots.

The killing spree resumed. Goblins screamed, fire lit up the battlefield, and steel rang out.

Several minutes later, the entire camp was silent.

“Fairly easy,” Hect said, casually resting his sword against his shoulder.

“Stay alert,” Hinan muttered, scanning the area. “The leader might still be nearby.”

Yumei knelt next to the rescued woman, casting a soft healing spell over her. She was shaken but alive.

“Let’s start extracting the mana cores. Here,” Hinan said, tossing a small dagger to White.

White caught it reflexively. In Guns and Magic Online, extracting mana cores was routine—harvesting magical energy from defeated monsters. But this time, it wasn’t just a mechanic. It was real.

They began cutting into the goblins’ chests, prying out glowing, orb-like cores. For goblins and many other creatures, the mana core acted as both a heart and a power source.

They had gathered about thirty cores when a deep, earth-shaking roar echoed through the forest.

A massive shape emerged from the trees, crashing through the underbrush.

“Shit,” Hinan muttered, stepping back. “To think the leader was a Grolgar. I was expecting an ogre or maybe an orc…”

The Grolgar stood easily four times taller than a grown man. Its body was thick, almost beast-like, with mottled gray skin that shimmered like metal. Thick muscles bulged beneath its armored hide, and every breath it took released a low, guttural growl.

Grolgars were tank-like monsters. Not the most dangerous offensively, but their defense and regeneration made them nightmares for low-level parties. Their skin could deflect blades. Their wounds healed fast. And their strength was nothing short of terrifying.

“Rrrrrrrrr!” it bellowed, lifting a massive boulder with ease.

It hurled the rock directly at Hinan and White.

“Move!” Hinan shouted.

They dove apart just in time, the boulder slammed into the ground with an earth-shaking crash, leaving a crater where they had stood. The shockwave sent dust and gravel flying. That impact would’ve killed an average person instantly.

White coughed, pushing himself back to his feet.

The Grolgar roared again, slamming its fists into the earth as it stomped forward.

The party regrouped.

They attacked.

Yumei launched a fireball straight at its face. Hinan’s blade flashed. Hect charged with a brutal overhead swing. White sprayed with his SMG, trying to aim for the eyes or joints.

But the attacks barely left a scratch. The fire fizzled on its skin. The bullets deflected or got lodged in its flesh only for the wounds to seal moments later.

The tide was turning and definitely not in their favor.

The Grolgar swung its arm like a wrecking ball, sending Hect flying into a tree. Yumei was nearly trampled before Hinan pulled her back. White rolled aside just in time to avoid another thrown boulder.

...

..

.

“Yumei! Can you send me flying to the Grolgar’s head?!” White shouted, grabbing two mana cores and slamming them into his SMG’s chamber with a sharp click.

Yumei turned toward him, panting from the retreat. “Yes! But what are you trying to do?!”

“Just do it. On the count of three!”

“What? Are you insane?! You’ll die!” Hinan barked, already sprinting toward them.

“If I don’t, we’ll all die,” White shot back, voice steady but eyes locked on the giant beast.He wasn’t bluffing. He had a plan—risky, but it might work. Something he remembered from his early days in GaMO.

*Grolgars. Tough as steel, immune to the average low level slash and blunt damage, fast regeneration. But… the ears.

The ears are the only soft spot. Hit the inner canal and the bullet goes straight to the brain. Instant kill.*

He took a breath.

“One!”

He continued spraying bullets, aiming low to keep the Grolgar distracted and off balance. It roared and slammed its fists into the ground, focusing on Hinan, who danced just out of reach.

“Two! Get ready!”

White picked up another core and inserted it into his coat’s pocket holder, just in case. Then he dashed back a few steps to brace himself for the incoming boost.

“Three!”

The force hit him like a wave of heat and weightlessness. Yumei’s propulsion, enhanced with air pressure, sent him rocketing through the air like a bullet.

The world blurred.

Then impact.

He landed hard on the Grolgar’s massive, bald head. The surface was smoother than expected, but slippery with heat and grime. The beast roared in fury, feeling the sudden presence.

Without hesitation, White thrust the Hexfire-Velox SMG into the creature’s massive ear canal.

It didn’t go in easily.

He had to jam it in, using his entire body weight to force it deeper. It sank halfway. He pushed harder.

The Grolgar howled in pain and fury. It shook its head violently, thrashing left and right, trying to dislodge the invader.

White screamed as he lost balance. His feet slipped. His body slid off the side of the beast’s head—

—but his hand caught on the gun.

Dangling now.

Just dangling, with the pistol still embedded in the ear, White gritted his teeth, fingers straining to hold on to the body of the gun.

*I can’t lose it now, just one shot… that’s all I need…*

The monster jerked again. His fingers slipped just barely hanging on with the last joint of his fingers. He tried to adjust his grip, but his palm was slick with sweat and blood. The world swayed beneath him.

He was slipping.

His legs kicked in open air. His body jerked violently every time the monster thrashed. He could hear Yumei scream his name from far below.

White growled, summoning every ounce of strength.

His finger dragged slowly across the trigger.

The Grolgar shook again. White nearly lost his grip.

*Almost…*

*Almost there…*

His whole body trembled from the strain. His vision blurred. His hand was cramping. His breath was shallow.

CLICK.

Bang!

The shot fired.

A sharp pop echoed from the creature’s skull.

The Grolgar froze.

White blinked, dazed and numb.

The monster wobbled—then its knees buckled. A massive tremor followed as its titanic body collapsed backward like a falling tree.

White let go at the last second.

He hit the ground hard. Rolling and bouncing off uneven earth, but alive.

The Grolgar’s body lay motionless. A thin stream of blood trickled from its ear.

White lay on his back, blinking up at the sky, chest heaving. His arms burned. His vision swam.

But he smiled.

“Headshot,” he muttered.