Online Game: I Started with Max Charisma and Caught the Goddess's Eye

The city sat on the vast plain, looking like a massive beast lying on the ground, asleep. At both sides of this beast, there were countless black monsters, swarming like a tide, clinging to its body and desperately tearing at its flesh. The sight alone made one's scalp tingle.

"This... are there really this many monsters?" Quagmire asked, his back drenched in cold sweat. He had originally thought that even if Leaf City had a lot of monsters, it wouldn't be anything to this extent. But he hadn't expected it to be this terrifying.

Not only would they not be able to charge in and rescue anyone, but it seemed like they'd be torn to pieces by these monsters before they even reached the city—leaving not even a trace behind.

The others wore similarly worried expressions, with Fuzzsir complaining, "I knew it! Drumph probably didn't want to send us our pensions, so he's planning to get us all killed here."

Luca, not even bothering to respond to his bizarre thoughts, spoke in a low voice, "We can't go in from the front. We'll need to think of another way. If worse comes to worst, we can try another direction and see if there's a place we can slip through."

This seemed like the only solution. After all, they couldn't just fight their way through the monster horde into Leaf City. Luca started the jeep and began driving along the road, circling the city.

They drove for a while, but couldn't find any place that would allow easy entry into the city. At this point, the city had been completely surrounded by monsters, and from every angle, all they could see were endless swarms of black creatures.

It was then that they finally understood why Drumph had been so despondent. In this situation, even if they sent in another army, it would be useless. Drumph probably sent their small squad in just to assess the situation.

"What now? Are we really expected to charge through?" Quagmire's face showed clear frustration. He cursed Drumph under his breath, upset that he'd been given such a difficult task. Once they got back, he would definitely ask for more payment to make up for this headache.

Luca thought for a moment before replying, "I have an idea, but someone might have to make a sacrifice."

At those words, everyone turned toward Tuwnken, confusion and uncertainty on their faces. Tuwnken, under their gaze, began to feel a chill run down his spine.

He trembled and stammered, "W-what do you want to do? I-I'm a believer in God! If you... ah!!"

Before he could finish, Quagmire swung the car door open and yanked him out.

"Sorry, little brother, but we have to do this. You don't want your sister to be eaten by monsters, do you?" Quagmire said, grinning, as he pulled him outside by his collar.

In that moment, Tuwnken felt like everything was going wrong. Panicked, he shouted, "You can't do this! You're from Morning Star! You're official! Ahhh!!"

As he was speaking, a dark shadow suddenly lunged toward him. A pitch-black magical tiger, its body agile and its sharp claws extended, aimed directly at his abdomen, eyes wild with rage. Luckily, Quagmire was quick enough to react, or else that strike would have gutted him.

"Let me down! Let me down! I'm not playing anymore!!" Tuwnken nearly passed out from fear, pleading desperately.

However, the demons in the car seemed to ignore his pleas. Quagmire even teasingly said, "You've got no guts, kid. You won't survive the apocalypse like this. You should take the chance to toughen up."

Tuwnken felt like crying, but the problem was, he didn't want to "toughen up."

The noise soon attracted the surrounding monsters. Tuwnken could feel the weight of a hundred blood-red eyes fixed on them. The savagery and bloodlust in those eyes almost made him wet himself on the spot.

"Please! Let me down! We're going to die! We're going to die!!" he wailed, tears streaming down his face in regret.

If he had known, he would never have gotten on this "pirate ship." How had a decent, friendly socialist youth like him ended up in such a mess?

"Are you sure you want me to let you down now?" Quagmire asked with a smirk, rendering Tuwnken speechless. Going down now would be like walking into the lion's den.

"Don't worry, I've got this," Luca said cheerfully from the front, making Tuwnken's tears flow even harder. The problem was, he was the one hanging off the car. How could he feel reassured?

No matter how much he begged and cried, the jeep continued speeding down the road, with Tuwnken dangling outside. The monsters behind them began to converge like sharks smelling blood.

Before long, the jeep was trailed by a dense, almost endless swarm of monsters.

Tuwnken's cries had stopped. He tightly shut his eyes, his arms and legs clinging to Quagmire's thick arm, terrified that one wrong move might send him flying off the car.

Seeing the situation behind them, Luca decided to drive closer to where the monsters were concentrated, trying to attract more of them. To maximize the effect, Quagmire even kindly opened one of Tuwnken's eyes.

A moment later, a more piercing, blood-curdling scream echoed across the sky. The countless monsters surrounding Leaf City all turned their gaze toward them, and then, like a tidal wave, they surged toward Luca and the others.

"You're too slow. At this rate, we'll be caught up. How about I take over?" Quagmire said, seeing the growing number of monsters behind them, with even high-level monsters charging forward.

Donlow and the others twitched at the corners of their mouths. Luca, speechless, replied, "I'm just worried that we might lead the monsters away and end up too exhausted to even get out of the car."

Quagmire's driving skills were undeniable, but they were only suited for him. Anyone who had ridden with him swore they'd never get in his car again.

"You guys are just prejudiced," Quagmire grumbled, quoting Fuzzsir's favorite line, clearly displeased.

The group didn't bother responding. Their captain was great at everything, except knowing his own limits, especially when it came to driving. His misplaced confidence behind the wheel was legendary.

"Alright, when the time comes, you guys jump out of the car. I'll find a chance to circle around them again," Luca said, glancing at the rearview mirror. The number of monsters was no longer clearly visible, but it was obvious that the monsters surrounding Leaf City had decreased significantly, and a clear gap had opened up.

"Got it, the rest is up to you," the others responded without saying much more. Even Tuwnken, who had been in a panic, was now pale, foam at his mouth, and passed out.

After driving for a short while, Luca suddenly swerved the steering wheel. The car slid into a sharp drift, kicking up a cloud of dust as it veered in another direction.

Meanwhile, Quagmire and the others, who had already prepared, quickly jumped out of the vehicle. Once they hit the ground, they sprinted toward Leaf City like swift rabbits.

Luca, however, didn't rush to leave. Only after confirming that most of the monsters' attention was drawn to them did he slam the gas pedal and speed off.

Vroom!! The roar of the engine echoed through the wilderness. Just as the monsters, who had been played with all this time, were about to catch up to the back of the jeep, Luca slammed the accelerator to the floor. The jeep shot forward like a missile.

The monsters behind them, choking on the dust, howled in anger and charged after the jeep with reckless abandon.

Luca casually opened a vial of potion and hung it outside the window. The monsters that had been distracted by Drumph and the others immediately turned their attention back to the jeep, following it closely.

After looping around Celephais for a while, Luca glanced at the rearview mirror. Quagmire and the others were long gone from sight. Knowing the timing was right, he began to slow down the jeep.

The monsters, having been taunted all this time, saw the jeep slowing down and immediately swarmed toward it as if pumped full of adrenaline. However, this was exactly what Luca had hoped for.

Seizing the opportunity, he didn't hesitate. He flung open the car door and jumped out of the moving vehicle.

The jeep, now without its driver, careened out of control. In mid-air, Luca turned around, a blinding flame igniting in his hand. He hurled it straight into the jeep.

Boom!! The fireball exploded inside the jeep, and intense flames consumed the vehicle. The blast sent shockwaves, and the monsters that had just lunged toward the jeep were torn apart into chunks of flesh. Thick black smoke billowed toward the sky.

As Luca landed, he activated the magic rune "Air Step" that he had already prepared. A silver flash under his feet, and in an instant, his figure disappeared from the spot, reappearing a hundred meters away, putting some distance between him and the monster horde. Taking advantage of the time gap, he used "Air Step" several more times, rapidly closing the distance to Leaf City.
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"This kid!" Quagmire and the others, who had been waiting inside Leaf City, watched as Luca easily outpaced the millions-strong monster horde. They were genuinely impressed.

It wasn't just his bravery they admired, but his calmness in the face of such chaos. Luca had maintained his composure without a hint of panic, as though he'd rehearsed the entire scenario countless times. His coolness was so impressive that even a group of men couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up.

"Is this really something a human can do?" Tuwnken gawked, still struggling to wrap his mind around what he had just witnessed. He thought Luca could easily win a racing competition and bring home the championship.

"This guy seems so ordinary... Who knew he was this strong?" Fuzzsir spoke up in surprise.

He had either been sleeping or absent during their previous operations, so this was the first time he'd seen Luca in action. The scene was truly a huge shock to his small heart.

No one else paid him much attention.

"All done. Let's head into the city and assess the situation," Luca appeared in front of the group, frowning. "But stay alert. I felt a different kind of Demonic energy just now. It might be a Superclass monster. Be ready."

Superclass monster? The mention of this sent a chill down everyone's spine.