Chapter 11
TL: Uncle Choi
Editor: Bait
The most important preparation when clearing a dungeon was deciding the amount of food rations to bring.
Really good players can plan precisely how much food they will consume even before entering the dungeon.
Of course, players with mediocre talent can be good planners as well.
That’s just a fact of life.
Making a plan was something even an elementary school student could do.
For instance, making a schedule for their summer assignments.
The hard part was following through on the plan.
In this sense, it was not easy to follow the plan inside a dungeon.
First of all, there were too many variables to consider in a dungeon.
The biggest variables were the players.
There is no way to predict what each human would do.
For example, starting a competition for killing the boss monster.
Of course, it is impossible to just attack it right from the beginning.
In the case of goblins, there are always over fifty goblins following around their leader. Most of the day, they spend their time in their den, where hundreds of goblins reside.
Then what should you do?
You can wait.
Wait for the boss monster to leave their den with its minions, which usually happen to lie in the middle of a forest.
Of course, waiting was not all you had to do.
It may work out if you could visually distinguish which one is the boss; otherwise, targeting the boss can be tricky.
You have to be certain which one is the boss. If you are mistaken, that is, if you attack the wrong monster… it can put your whole party in a very dire situation.
Actually, targeting the boss was not a bad idea.
After all, wasn’t the most difficult part over if you dispose of the boss?
As I mentioned before, the problem was that wasting time like this when you have a limited amount of food was no better than throwing your food in a dumpster.
It is natural to be worried about these problems; even though that anxiety might turn into recklessness later on.
‘They should be moving soon.’
Kim Woo-jin. He moved the moment when other people’s anxiety turned into recklessness.
On the fourth day inside the dungeon, a five-man party led by Kim Sun-jong jumped at a group of goblins. “That’s him! That guy over there with a scar on his head!”
Their goal was obvious.
“Let’s finish this quickly.”
Blitzkrieg!
Their aim was to kill the slime disguised as a goblin in an instant!
Of course, they were confident.
First of all, they figured out that a slime attacked Yang Se-kyung’s party, and they identified the slime that was disguised as a goblin.
Their confidence in defeating the boss was also at its peak.
‘It’s just a slime, it’s going to be so easy.’
“Slime!”
‘What a laughable name.’
On the other hand, Kim Sun-jong and his group were promising players recognized by the one and only Phoenix Guild.
Furthermore, Kim Sun-jong had the experience of clearing an E-rank goblin dungeon by himself, rightfully receiving his nickname, ‘Goblin Slayer!’
Although only about ten people in the world knew about his nickname, he was extremely confident in fighting against goblins regardless of the situation.
His weapons were also rare items, each of them were worth as much as 800 million won.
‘That Lamborghini is mine.’
‘I always wanted a Bentley, this is great.’
Kim Sun-jong and his party also had a strong motivation to empower them toward their goal. They had enough determination to last for a few days even after the boss was slain!
On the other hand, that was it.
They only had confidence and determination, no solid plan for actually realizing their goal.
Kim Sun-jong, the leader of the party, realized that when he slashed the goblin with a scar on his head with a 800 million won sword.
Puk!
His sword cleanly slashed through the body of the goblin.
‘Huh?’
At that moment, Kim Sun-jong’s goblin slayer instincts told him.
‘It’s not this guy…’
It told him that this one was just a real goblin.
It’s not the boss slime monster.
The real slime was behind Kim Sun-jong.
Keuaaaa!
When Kim Sun-jong turned his head after realizing the situation, a punch came from a slime that transformed into an ugly orc, not a goblin. The punch headed toward his face.
Kim Sun-jong tightly closed his eyes.
Kaang!
At that moment, the orc’s fist rushed towards Kim Sun-jong’s head, who was wearing a helmet.
Ppudeug!
The sounds of broken bones crackled from Kim Sun-jong’s neck.
“Hey Sun-jong!”
“Mr. Sun-jong!”
Immediately, cries for his name poured out as well.
Kuung!
Finally, Kim Sun-jong’s body hit the ground.
“Ugh!”
A gasp came out of Kim Sun-jong’s mouth.
In other words, Kim Sun-jong was still alive.
Of course, he was only alive.
It was impossible for him to fight with a broken neck.
He was lucky to survive. However, his fellow companions weren’t lucky at all.
Kieeehh!
Keuaaaa!
While a group of goblins and the slime with the form of an orc still remaining, Kim Sun-jong’s party now had to fight with a burden known as Kim Sun-jong.
At this moment, an alarm flashed through everyone’s head.
‘Shouldn’t we abandon him?’
‘According to the instruction manuals, we should abandon him.’
They had to struggle with the fact that everyone might die if they continue to try to save Kim Sun-jong.
However, no one could out-right say that they should abandon Kim Sun-jong.
‘The rescue signal…’
The best option they had was to ask for help.
Unfortunately, even that did not happen.
In their heads, they remembered how they ridiculed and laughed at the members of Yang Se-kyung’s party.
Pride. A human defect that always led people to make terrible choices, held them back.
“Gather around Kim Sun-jong!”
“Heal him while we stop the monster!”
“Yes!”
Finally, Kim Sun-jong’s party decided to protect Kim Sun-jong.
Three people surrounded Kim Sun-jong as if they were guarding him, and one healer started treating him.
Meanwhile, the goblins and a slime in orc form attacked the party.
Kieeehh!
The goblins in the distance threw stones.
Kaya!
The goblins nearby charged toward the party.
Kaang!
The slime in orc form struck a shield that was stopping its path with hammer-like fists.
“Fucking goblin bastards!”
“Hang in there! Hold out till the end!”
Just the fact that they were not screaming or getting overwhelmed with fear was proof that Kim Sun-jong’s group was more competent than most parties.
By all means, they had no intention of prolonging this battle. They would flee as soon as Kim Sun-jong received the minimal treatment to allow him to escape.
“It’s finished!”
Finally, it was time.
“We are gonna fire one!”
The magician in the rear finished preparing his spell and fired a gigantic fireball toward the horde of goblins.
Kkwaleung!
On impact, the huge ball of fire exploded like a grenade.
Kieeehh!
As the goblins screamed and died, Kim Sun-jong’s companions fled with Kim Sun-jong.
Keuaaaa!
The slime in orc form let out a horrifying shriek toward Kim Sun-jong’s party.
“Chase after them!”
It commanded the goblins.
Kieeee….
Inadvertently, after hearing the command of their leader, the goblins stepped back in horror.
It was a goblin’s instinct to be terrified by the voice of their natural predator, an orc.
Facing such a dilemma, the slime immediately reverted back to the form of a goblin.
The orc’s body melted like a candle, and in an instant it solidified into a goblin.
Kieeehh!
The slime gave out the order to pursue Kim Sun-jong’s party once again.
Then the goblins began to chase the party, one by one.
However, many of the goblins were still hesitant.
Kieeehh!
The slime screamed at the goblins once more, and the hesitant goblins finally moved their ass.
Kieeee!
The slime’s face was wrinkled by the sight of the pathetic goblins. He wore a look of rage.
It was at that moment.
Something emerged from behind the slime.
Kieeehh?
The moment the frustrated slime turned its head, translucent wires was already wrapped around his neck.
Paang!
The wire was pulled tightly as the slime turned its head and looked into the eyes of the person behind him.
The slime’s eyes enlarged to the point that it looked like it was about to pop out.
Kii, kek…
Sounds of choking and desperate gasps for air came out from the slime.
Tteolgeureok!Tteolgeureok!
Rustling from Kim Woo-jin’s skeleton soldiers as they rushed toward the slime with knives was also heard.
In a moment, the slime changed its form to that of an orc.
He wanted to increase the thickness of his neck to that of an orc, and not something as flimsy and weak like a goblin.
He intended to cut the translucent wire around his neck in one brisk motion.
Keuheok!
However, the translucent wires did not break, it did not even stretch.
‘It is made from spider web from snake spiders that only appear in three floor dungeons. It isn’t something that you can break out of.’
The astonishing strength of the spider silk suddenly became apparent, which costs about 10 million won per meter.
Moreover, the advantage of the snake spider’s web wasn’t just the high tensile strength and low elasticity, it was an extremely strong adherent as well.
It was as if the slime’s neck was chained to an inseverable collar.
Puk!
Around that time, the skeleton soldiers began their onslaught.
The skeleton soldiers did not swing their knives around like clueless goblins.
They found out it was more effective to make small cuts and wounds rather than stabbing with all their strength.
Swiik! Swiik!
Like that, skeleton soldiers littered the orc shaped slime’s body with cuts and wounds.
Kie, Kiee!
At this moment, there was only one thing that the slime could do.
Smaller, it had to change its form into something that was smaller than an orc. The slime’s form began to change from an orc back into a goblin.
Naturally, the pressure around its neck lessened.
However, when it transformed back to a goblin once again, its face became extremely pale.
Puheup!
Blood spurted out from the slime’s mouth, which was currently in the form of a goblin.
[Blood Poisoning Has Poisoned the Transformed Slime.]
‘It was worth diligently drawing out its blood.’
When the slime became smaller, the concentration of Kim Woo-jin’s poisonous blood inside its body became more concentrated until it became lethal.
[You Have Leveled Up.] [You Have Reached Lv 10. Your Inventory is Increased By Two Slots] [The Achievement ‘Transformed Slime Hunter’ Has Been Obtained] [The Emissary of the Underworld Marvels At Your Growth. Your Inventory is Increased By Two Slots] [The Emissary of the Underworld Gifts a Catalogue Due to Your Outstanding Growth.]
The notification that signaled the end of the battle was heard.
But Kim did not stop at the announcement.
Instead, Kim dug through the melted body of the slime, which was now translucent.
Kim Woo-jin picked up a ring.
At that moment, a single holographic window appeared before him.
[Transformed Slime’s Ring]
- Item Rank: Unique
- Must be Lv10 or higher to use
- Item Explanation: It is the core of the transformed slime. It has a very special effect.
- When Equipped Constitution +10
- When Equipped Energy +10
- When Equipped Mana +10
Transformed Slime’s Ring.
It was a unique item.
It possessed options befitting a unique item.
It was hard to find an item that gave so much stats at level 10.
Moreover, it wasn’t even a weapon, it was an accessory.
If he were to sell it, he could get enough money to buy all the cars in the parking lot right now.
‘It’s as Jae-hoon said.’
Of course, Kim Woo-jin wasn’t planning on selling such a nice item.
That was the opposite of his intentions.
‘It was worth the effort.’
In order to raise money for nice items, Kim Woo-jin endured all the mockery and contempt.
Naturally, Kim Woo-jin wore the ring without any hesitation.
“Status window.”
The status page instantly appeared before him.
[Kim Woo-jin]
- Level: 10
- Halo: The Emissary of the Underworld
- Stats: Constitution (32+12)/ Energy (2+12)/ Mana (3+12)
- Achievements: 2 Titles
- Unallocated Point: 3
Kim Woo-jin allocated all the unallocated stat points that he received from the level ups to his constitution.
There’s only one thing left now.
‘Let’s end it after checking out the catalogue.’
He had to check out the catalogue given to players for their respectable halo once they reached Lv10.
Naturally, Kim Woo-jin did not expect much from it.
Kim Woo-jin knew that his luck wasn’t so great when it came to catalogues.
“Catalogue.”
Then there was no brilliance coming from the thin catalogue that appeared.
‘Like I thought, there is no light…’
There was no silver light, or gold light.
‘Huh?’
Instead, there was one page that appeared to be made of obsidian.