Chapter 243 – Goblin Lord (2)
Translator: Seven
Editor: Ana_Banana
[Hunt 550,000 Goblins to advance to the next floor.]
When they entered the fifth floor of the dungeon, the first thing the players paid attention to wasn’t the notification informing them of the attack conditions.
This wasn’t because they had already guessed what the condition would be.
[It is raining red.]
Sha sha sha!
Instead, it was the red rain that took all of the players’ attention.
Furthermore, the players were certain.
‘This…’
These red raindrops would not stop wetting their bodies or blocking their sights.
[All stats have been reduced by 11%.]
[Injury recovery rate has been slowed down.]
[Injuries worsen at a faster rate.]
‘I knew it.’
‘Dammit.’
As they expected, the red rain would hold them back.
‘Our injuries will get worse.’
It was impossible to not get injured while in battle, but not only would their recovery speeds be slower, their wounds would get worse faster?
This meant that even a small wound could potentially become fatal.
Furthermore, it wasn’t easy to treat small wounds in real time during combat.
That wasn’t the only problem.
Park Yong-wan was the only one who was looking around at the surroundings instead of at the red rain.
Then, Park Yong-wan gestured with his chin to one of his subordinates, who then headed to the place that Park Yong-wan pointed out.
“It’s a cave! It looks like a Goblin cave!”
A cave!
After hearing that, Park Yong-wan spoke in a loud voice for everyone to hear.
“I think we’ll have to consider the possibility of guerilla warfare.”
Did they have to deal with Goblins hidden in caves while in rain that reduced their stats and caused their injuries to not recover easily?
This was bound to be on a completely different level than simply hunting Goblins.
“To hunt 550,000 like that… I’d rather fight 100,000 at once.”
And under such circumstances, they had to hunt 550,000 Goblins.
When they realised this, the players stood in silence for a while, and the only sound that could be heard was the pattering of the raindrops.
“It took us three days to clear the fourth floor, so now we have 27 days left.”
Then they heard Isaac Ivanov’s calm voice in their ears.
“We will clear the fifth floor of the dungeon in seven days.”
Everyone’s expressions stiffened when they heard this incredibly ridiculous command.
But Isaac Ivanov continued without pausing.
“So everyone needs to follow my orders.”
These words caused the players’ expressions to change.
Then Isaac Ivanov said.
“Since it’s 550,000 to 400, it’s disadvantageous to go into battle. Also, the battle situation would be very different from the previous battles. If we kept fighting in the simple ways that we have been before, we wouldn’t even be able to clear the fifth in a month. So it’s time to change tactics.”
His next words were said in a firm tone.
“Catch a hundred Goblins alive, cut off their limbs, and hang them on wooden poles. Fill this place with the Goblins’ screams.”
It was the moment when the strongest hunting dog the Messiah Guild had ever created revealed its fangs.
…
After clearing a dungeon, players would usually write a dungeon attack report.
Most of the reports from low level players who targeted dungeons with fewer floors, which weren’t that big of a deal, were often quite annoying.
They didn’t put in a lot of effort, and many of them could be said to have written novels instead of reports, since they left out many details.
However, the higher the level of the player and the higher the number of floors in the dungeon, the greater the value of the dungeon report.
For example, the value of a 7 Floor dungeon report easily surpassed that of average unique grade items.
Naturally, the players who wrote these dungeon reports used every means and method to include as much accurate information as possible.
And, unsurprisingly, if such a valuable report came into your hands, you would naturally have a look at it.
It had been the same at that time.
“I got the attack report for the C+ rank 7 Floor dungeon, Goblin Lord’s Kingdom, that was jointly cleared by the Frontier Guild and Great One Guild.”
Before Kim Woo-jin returned to the past, the Messiah Guild, who got their hands on the 7 Floor dungeon’s attack report, gathered their players to analyze it.
“The clear requirement for the first floor of the dungeon was to hunt 110,000 monsters.”
“To clear the second floor they had to hunt 220,000.”
“Naturally, the condition for the third floor was 330,000.”
Most of the players gathered were either those who were preparing to attack 7 Floor dungeons, or who had already cleared a 7 Floor dungeon.
“When they got used to it on the fourth floor… they experienced hell on the fifth floor.”
“It took them 30 days and 11 hours to clear the fifth floor of the dungeon, and in the end, 29 people died. They barely made it.”
“I think the stage we will discuss the most today is the fifth floor of the dungeon.”
They were the best players in the Messiah Guild, the best players in the world, and the best most experienced when it came to hunting monsters and clearing dungeons.
Just the thought of them putting their heads together to analyze something was amazing.
What was even more surprising was that Kim Woo-jin actually bothered to attend this event.
“I’m curious about Kim Woo-jin’s thoughts.”
At that time, Kim Woo-jin was a player who was mostly active in 5 and 6 Floor dungeons, and in truth, he lacked the qualifications to attend a meeting that was related to a 7 Floor dungeon.
Nevertheless, Kim Woo-jin was able to attend such a meeting because his standing in the Messiah Guild was rather high.
And Kim Woo-jin wasn’t just attending to watch.
“Kim Woo-jin, how would you clear the fifth floor if you were the commander?”
They continuously asked Kim Woo-jin questions about important issues.
And Kim Woo-jin answered them.
“If it were me…”
…
‘Someone’s coming.’
Kim Woo-jin came out of his reverie while he sat in a tent that was constantly being bombarded by the rain.
‘Park Yong-wan.’
Then, as soon as he thought the name Park Yong-wan, a man walked into the tent.
“Dammit.”
Just as Kim Woo-jin expected, the man turned out to be Park Yong-wan, drenched in red rainwater.
Kim Woo-jin then spoke to him.
“Did you complete your mission?”
At the question, Park Yong-wan looked at Kim Woo-jin’s face for a moment before groaning and saying.
“You’re really like my boss now.”
“It wasn’t my order.”
“That’s why I completed it perfectly. After all, it was an order from none other than Isaac Ivanov. A hundred Goblins have been captured alive and hung from wooden poles.”
Kiii…
As soon as Park Yong-wan’s words ended, they heard the cries of Goblins through the rain.
It was a very eerie sound.
“How much longer do we have to do something so crazy…”
Like Park Yong-wan complained, the sound was so terrifying, that even ghosts would be scared if they were to hear it.
Moreover, the vicious red rain that fell from the sky made the Goblin’s suffer even more before their deaths.
“Is this even going to do anything? The Goblins definitely won’t come out of their holes after something like this.”
Naturally, as Park Yong-wan said, these cries would have an even stronger effect on the Goblins.
As he said, the Goblins wouldn’t come out of their caves because of this, instead, they would go even deeper into their depths.
“That’s exactly what Isaac Ivanov wants.”
And that was exactly what Kim Woo-jin was aiming for.
“What?”
“There are two things we have to remember about the Goblins. One, there are 550,000 of them, the other is that there are many different types of them, and they would certainly have a hierarchy between them.”
“So?”
“If Mr. Park Yong-wan was the leader of the Goblins in the cave, what would you do if your men were frightened by the cries of those Goblins outside and chose to hide deeper in the caves?”
Park Yong-wan answered Kim Woo-jin’s sudden question without hesitation.
“With benevolent leadership, like a mother, I would embrace them, and pacify them.”
When Kim Woo-jin gave him a blank look, Park Yong-wan, who expected such a reaction gave a dirty smile.
“It was a joke, a joke.”
Following that, the sneer on Park Yong-wan’s lips reduced a little.
“Goblins can’t give speeches, so I’d force them to leave, and kill those who don’t listen.”
“But you can’t kill everyone. Like I said, they have a hierarchy.”
“Do you think there would be a mutiny?”
“Anything could happen.”
Park Yong-wan nodded at that.
Then Kim Woo-jin continued to explain.
“In that way, the order and cooperative system would begin to collapse. And their morale will hit the floor.”
Then Park Yong-wan asked a surprising question.
“But wouldn’t it be for nothing when guys like the Goblin Shamans use their spells?”
Goblins were a naturally cowardly race.
But Goblin Shamans had spells that could replace their fear with madness.
That was why Goblin Shamans were so troublesome.
“That’s why we’re not fighting.”
That’s why Kim Woo-jin didn’t have a proper battle with the Goblins.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Goblin Shamans only use such spells in combat. In a situation where there is no battle, if they change the fear of normal Goblins into madness… in a cave.”
The spells of the Goblin Shaman were only applicable in battle, they were incredibly dangerous outside of battle.
“In this way, time is not on the Goblins’ side.”
In any case, the Goblins’ situation would only get worse as more time passed.
“As time goes by, they will fall apart. Like a wall of dominoes.”
One would collapse, then two, then at some point, uncontrollable panic would set into the Goblin horde.
‘It was calculated that this method would allow the dungeon to be cleared within fifteen days.’
This was Kim Woo-jin’s suggestion before returning to the past.
Moreover, the moment he suggested this method, there was no longer any discussion about the fifth floor of the dungeon.
Everyone admitted that Kim Woo-jin’s method was the most suitable.
At the same time, they admitted that Kim Woo-jin was really a terrifying hunting dog.
Of course, the situation now was a bit different.
“And in such a situation, if the Corpse Poison created from the decomposing Goblin bodies mixes with the rainwater before seeping into the caves…”
At that time, a player had proposed a situation where the King of Poison used his terrifying abilities, and in fact, quite a few methods were created with that as their basis.
“Their rate of collapse would be even faster.”
‘With the poison that I have now, I can reduce the attack time to a week.’
It was then.
[There are 540,000 Goblins remaining.]
“It’s starting.”
For the first time since they’d entered the fifth floor of the dungeon, they received a notification telling them that the number of Goblins had decreased.
[Your level has increased.]
[The Emissary of the Underworld admires your growth.]
[The Emissary of the Underworld bestows great power to you.]
‘How lucky.’
Kim Woo-jin received even more notifications.
[The rank of the Vampire skill has increased by one.]
[The rank of the Corpse Poison skill has increased by one.]
[The rank of the Bloodsucking skill has increased by one.]
[Due to the effect of the Plus Ring, the rank of the Bloodsucking skill has reached transcendent rank.]
[You can now absorb magic power through Bloodsucking.]
‘Absorb magic power?’
It was a reminder that the dominoes had begun falling.
(TL: Sugar daddy halo strikes again.)