Goblin, Orc, Ogre. The monsters known as the “Three Masters of Human-Type” are extremely aggressive and never shy away from battle.
Seeing those guys with their eyes wide open and flaring up like they’ve come from who knows where, searching for an archer, I can feel the air getting pretty tense.
I cautiously approached the nearest guy and activated my attack skill for the first time in my life.
[SLAM Lv.1]
– Strikes with 250% attack power.
Magic Power: 3/6(-1)
Infusing my club with the skill “Slam,” which is somewhat usable among regular skills, a soft blue magic power envelops its surface. Then, I immediately slammed down on the goblin’s exposed neck.
BAM-!
“Keheh-!”
Even with weak stats, a low-grade weapon, and the most basic attack skill, it seemed there was no problem knocking down a single goblin.
Could it be that the sudden blow from behind triggered a critical hit?
I bashed the fallen goblin, who was now like a kite with its string cut, with my club and the defeat message popped up.
But as I shook my head and dismissed the text, I blocked the escape route of the remaining goblin.
When the two companions I came with fell so quickly, the guy who was panicking bent down to change his direction to escape, but I interrupted his chance by blocking his way.
WHOOSH—!
THUD-!
“KYAAH!”
This time, an arrow pierced through the goblin’s kneecap, embedding itself deep enough that I could see the tip. It’s definitely a skill with penetration bonuses.
Struggling, the goblin revealed its dirty teeth as it swung its club at me, but such a pathetic attack made me chuckle.
However, contrary to that thought, my body didn’t follow my intentions at all.
CLANG-!
‘This clumsy club…!’
I hurriedly defended with my club against the quickly incoming attack, but it seemed like the durability of my club was already shot.
‘Can’t even dodge a fallen goblin’s swing while sitting down? Good grief…’
This was, in itself, a fresh shock.
The goblin smirked at my pained expression.
‘This isn’t exactly a laughing matter, is it? Intelligence level sure…’
WHOOSH—!
“Kkek…!”
The goblin screamed as it failed to notice the arrow flying in from the side, distracted by me.
Was my presence enough to make it forget the archer? Probably not. Could it be that it was its first battle as well?
Rustle—
Even after the not-so-difficult battle was over, Yeon-hee cautiously moved through the bushes with her bow drawn, keeping an eye out.
‘She’s definitely sticking to the basics from now on…’
Seeing her side that had a reputation for being a walking manual, a young know-it-all with zero flexibility, I felt somewhat relieved. But I started to wonder.
‘Did she get hurt in this dungeon? She doesn’t look overly careless.’
I was already on high alert, expanding my sense stat as much as possible, so I wasn’t too worried, but I decided to keep watching.
“Clap…”
And with a pounding heart, I checked my messages.
‘What’s making me so anxious over this…’
I was curious about what she might have stolen with her trait [Thievery]. Surely, it couldn’t be that she got nothing, right?
– You have defeated a goblin!
– You have gained a small amount of experience points.
– You have obtained a Low-Rank Mana Stone. It will be transferred to the Summoner’s inventory.
‘Hmm, so the mana stones go to Yeon-hee. That’s only natural, I guess.’
– Trait [Thievery] activates.
– Randomly steals a goblin skill.
– You have acquired the skill [Dagger Throw]!
‘Wait… Dagger Throw? Do goblins use daggers?’
Even if I traced back my memories to the higher-tier goblins like Hobgoblins or Goblin Champions, I had never seen them use daggers…
– You helped defeat the goblin.
– You gained a small amount of experience points.
It seemed my contribution was recognized, as the last goblin I didn’t even directly strike held the line.
“Nice and easy! Hehe.”
Yeon-hee started deftly checking goblin pockets while tossing three mana stones with her small hands.
“Il-wol, you should also pick up a weapon. Yours broke.”
I nodded and put three clubs that the goblins were using into my inventory.
=====
Roughly Refined Wooden Club
– Attack Power +2
– Durability 15/20
=====
‘Oooh! Better than that old piece of junk!’
Getting gear with double the attack power (?) than my existing equipment made me feel a bit pumped.
Clink—
“Only 2 silver, huh… Disappointing, goblin friends.”
‘Where did you learn such uncle-like remarks…?’
Standing beside Yeon-hee as she frowned and clicked her tongue, she reached out a hand toward me.
“Shall we check what skill Il-wol gained? Here we go—”
As she held onto my wrist and nodded, she cocked her head.
“Dagger Throw? They had that skill? But why don’t they use it?”
It was probably a common reaction among hunters.
“True, with their low intelligence, they might not even realize what they have. By the way, you really can steal skills! Impressive!”
After a while of getting all hyped up, she began to cut off goblin ears with a knife.
Scrape—
“Okay, Il-wol, watch closely. If you cut the ends of goblin ears and take them, you get money as a bounty reward!”
She skillfully put the goblin ears into a brown leather pouch and tied it up to put into her inventory.
“Can you do it?”
“Clap, Clap, Clap—!”
What did I do the most when I was a guide in my previous life? Collecting these bounty tokens and dismantling byproducts.
If monsters pile up in the dungeon over a certain limit, the gate bursts open, and monsters spill out, so it’s a system to motivate hunters for monster hunting.
If you bring these tokens back, you can get them confirmed at the office at the dungeon entrance and receive payment a few days later.
‘If I remember correctly, it was 3,000 won per goblin…’
It’s not much, but little by little, it becomes a mountain.
“Il-wol, let’s go.”
We moved again, searching for a lake. There are lots of monsters near the lake. She was holding back her words more than when she was in the room.
While it’s to guard against monsters hearing and swarming, the scariest thing in the dungeon is definitely people.
Goblin dungeons are low-level dungeons where entering hunters aren’t remarkable, but that’s precisely why odd incidents happen.
Like the six men fighting like crazy right in front of us.
While moving, we heard an intense verbal spat that shouldn’t be happening in a dungeon, and it turned out six men were stabbing each other with knives.
One of the biggest reasons for fighting in dungeons is for [Runes] that drop at an extremely low probability.
They all seemed to have similar levels, covered in scars and bleeding, yet no one appeared to have life-threatening injuries.
In the midst of those men, a leather bag and a stone the size of a baby’s fist lay on the ground, a dark red color.
‘Rune of Vitality…’
A familiar engraving of three overlapping circles. Just having it in the inventory increases vitality by a certain amount.
The six men kept glancing at that stone, keeping a watchful eye on the opposite side.
‘So, did they get tangled while trying to kill the person with the rune to drop it?’
The loot given in a dungeon is always allocated based on combat contribution, so it can’t be picked up until it’s assigned to someone.
But if it’s dropped after being assigned to someone, there’s a high probability for the rune to drop, unlike equipment which tends to vanish when its owner dies, that’s why odd scenarios like this happen frequently.
The stone on the ground could have been dropped after someone was ambushed while admiring the rune.
‘Still, to be risking lives over a low-tier rune from a goblin dungeon, they must be pretty messed up in the head.’
But just like those messed-up guys, I was also feeling greedy. Considering I already had a crack in my skull, this should be okay, right?
I naturally made eye contact with Yeon-hee.
(Il-wol… Can you do it?)
The whispering tone of her words, filled with unspoken meanings, was clear to me.
Nod—
Magic Power: 1/6(-2)
Spending 2 magic power to activate stealth, I dashed forward without hesitation.
Stealth consumes an additional 1 magic power every 30 seconds, so speed is of the essence.
Yeon-hee had already secured an escape route and was slowly moving back.
– What ridiculous bastards would be fighting over a regular rune?
– Hehe, if you just let it go, none of this would have happened! It’s best to give it up before you seriously mess up.
– You’re being a pain in the ass!! You need to die to drop the rune, do you think we’d just let you go easily? Do you think we’re fools?
BAM-!
– Keheh!
– Cough, cough— Damn it!
One of the team members who seemed to be the owner of the rune threw a small bottle at his foes, and pale green smoke billowed out as it hit the ground.
‘Poison? What a perfect timing.’
Having reached near the bag, I quickly grabbed the rune from the ground and bolted back toward Yeon-hee.
– Huh? Where did my rune go?!
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