Chapter 21: Humans (3)
Humans (3)
The young girl was handling it better than I expected.
When she found out that her older brother died, I thought she would pee in place, fall into panic, or collapse on the spot crying, but she left the dungeon without crying out loud as if she was afraid that another monster would come if she cried.
Most of all, she took care of his brother’s body.
She placed it in her inventory.
I almost screamed in surprise when I saw her doing it, but it was not really that surprising. Who said it was only me who had an inventory?
‘She’s gone.’
I used my senses to detect that the young girl has safely exited the dungeon without encountering another goblin. Then, I sat down and predated on the remaining Goblin Fighters.
[Goblin Fighter Predation After Hunting 1,000/1,000]
“Nothing?”
Predating all the goblin fighters on the spot did not increase my stats at all…
Then what should I do now?
[Goblin Knight Predation After Hunting 1/5]
[Goblin King Predation After Hunting 0/1]
If I achieve these last two items, the quest ends.
And maybe, it will increase my level enough to go through the third evolution.
The Goblin King’s combat power is unknown at this point. More so, it was impossible to figure out whether there would only be four Goblin Knights and one Goblin King in the space called Boss Room.
But that doesn’t mean I’m going to run now.
It’s just not like hunting a Goblin Fighter or a Goblin Warrior.
I can’t go in with a light mind.
I have to prepare thoroughly on what to do.
First, Predation. I’ll have to face and predate on more Goblin Warriors to raise my stats, and possibly my level.
Second, I need a helmet. My face and head are exposed. Even when I was at the Goblin Warrior mass appearance, the absence of helmet put me in danger again and again.
Ideally, I needed a helmet to fight against the boss. A dedicated store will probably sell helmets.
Third, Today’s Luck. In all the games I played when I was a human, the boss gave an experience that was incomparable to other mobs. Obviously, it would not be much different for a Goblin King.
If I drink Today’s Luck at a dedicated store and win another 1.5 times experience, I’ll get much more experience in defeating the boss.
Hunt Goblin Warrior’s until I reach the limit, buy Today’s Luck at the store, along with a helmet. That was what I had to do to fight the boss.
Good.
I slowly walked back to the territory of the Goblin Warriors.
However, they have not respawned yet, and the territory of the Warriors is filled with silence.
Goblin Fighter’s realm was also empty, so if anyone comes in now, he will mistake this place for a dungeon that has nothing inside.
It didn’t take long for that to happen.
“I’ve heard about this dungeon.”
I heard a voice. I extended my Lower level Detection – it looks like the man was still a little too far. I could not recognize the presence yet.
He seemed careless like a fool.
“It’s real that there are only goblins here. So there is no guard, no an admission fee… This place may not be enough. I also need to go to the Oak Dungeon to win a hidden collection at the auction house…”
The man’s words brought me a lot of information.
Did humans charge admission fees to dungeons that spontaneously emerged? Did they arrange people coming in, as if they were ticket offices?
In other words, humans have reasons to enter dungeons.
Goblin Fighters and Warriors are in this place.
If you go deeper, there may be more than that. Considering the key to the boss room I got is 1F, there must be 2F and 3F. There must be monsters other than goblins.
Are other dungeons not as deep as the Black Palace?
When people saw a goblin at the entrance, did they make a hasty conclusion that this dungeon is full of goblins?
Is the difficulty of the monster at the starting point enough to deduce the difficulty of the dungeon, regardless of its depth?
No, not really.
I don’t know how much time I’ve been born as a goblin, but I’m sure it hasn’t been that long.
The Black Palace is not unique. Among other dungeons, there would be deep dungeons like this.
What’s more, it hasn’t been long since the synchronization was over, and humans haven’t been able to penetrate dungeons in detail. There can be no such guidelines.
So, at this point in time, humans measure the level of the monsters appearing at the entrance, rather than examining the dungeons in depth.
People are going to flock to this dungeon soon. What did the man say? ‘Auction House’, ‘Hidden Collection’?
I’m not sure what those meant, but it was clear that those with power would deliberately come here.
So, before that happens, I must be strong enough to be invisible to anyone. Moreover, I must have a human-like appearance that can blend in with society.
I firmly established my resolve.
“Damn, I don’t see goblins anymore. I have to go deeper than this.”
But now I have to get away from that man first. I’m not sure I won’t win, but the man will attack me as a monster he sees me, and then I would have to kill him.
It’s hard to be attacked by humans just because I’m a monster. I also want to avoid killing humans with my hands.
If they don’t see me, nothing will happen.
But if they come into contact, I need to kill them.
Fortunately, the structure of the aisle is much better for me than for men.
When I moved in the passage to get away from the man, the man didn’t even notice me, and he went to another passage.
He felt good, and he was heading straight to the heart of the dungeon.
I hesitated for a moment, but when I was convinced that I wasn’t caught by the man, I started to step on the man’s back at a sufficient distance.
Yes, I was also curious.
Is the boss room impossible to enter without a key? If you can enter, what does the key mean? What can a man do to get the key if he can’t get in? Does the man know about the key too?
After walking another hour or so, the man finally found the door. It was the first time I actually saw it, too.
As if to say that you can’t go beyond this, there is a huge wall of caves without a single passage.
Likewise, a massive iron gate occupying more than half of the cave wall.
And I also saw a keyhole where I could put in the key.
There was an unprecedented presence on the other side of the gate. I can’t figure out the exact number, but I felt the momentum I felt from the Goblin Knight, and even more.
Okay. After all, it would be better to get stronger before trying it. I was a little uneasy in my current state.
“Well, is this a dungeon room?” the man looked at the gate.
“I got it! I never thought there would be a room in this weakened dungeon… … Is it a named goblin? No, it’s hard to expect compensation even for Naimdra as a goblin… … treasure box! Come out of the treasure chest!”
The man was so excited as he turned the doorknob.
The door opened a little.
‘What?!’ I screamed in my head. Despite not having a key, he was able to open the door.
You can enter the boss room without a key!
The man stepped into the room.
Only
The chills ran on my back.
I’m scared.
My Ebon Heart beat hard enough to burst as if telling me never to enter that place.
The moment the man stepped inside, the iron door closed.
Soon after, a terrible scream rang.
I stood there for a few more minutes, but the man never came back.
Forever, you will never come back.