Dian entered the world of Savatia once again.
Now that he knew he could earn money using the Conversion feature, and recognizing he needed funds for rent, food, and study, he resolutely decided to log back in and start slaying more monsters.
He reappeared at the same spot in the forest where he had logged off previously.
Looking up, he saw that the sun was still high in the sky, illuminating the world. However, it wouldn't be long before it dipped below the horizon. The current time in this world is approximately 3:24 PM.
This meant he had about two hours left before he needed to log off to go to campus. Since he had resolved not to end his life, studying was a must. He still had to fulfill his promise to his grandmother, after all.
With that in mind, Dian strolled further into the Midnight Forest.
He took cautious steps, paying close attention to his surroundings. He didn't want to miss any goblins or similar monsters due to carelessness.
After about 20 minutes of walking, just as he approached the clearing where he had first entered this world, he finally spotted his target. Unfortunately, this time it was just a single goblin without its companions.
[Monster: Goblin—Level: 3.]
This goblin seemed to be a level higher than the previous group Dian had defeated, but its stats were not significantly different from those of its dead kin. In other words, Dian could kill it.
With a single strike of the Dark Javelin, the goblin easily lost its life, granting Dian 2 EXP and 3 copper coins as a reward. Perhaps because it was a higher level, the reward was also more generous. This meant that the stronger opponents he defeated, the more he could earn!
But then something unexpected happened.
[Your killed opponent has dropped an item! You get Item: Wood Club.]
This notification piqued his interest.
"There's an item drop too? This world is so mysterious, yet so similar to a game..." he chuckled.
When he took the club out of his storage to examine it, a transparent panel immediately appeared before him. His Legacy skill was at work once again.
[Item: Wood Club.]
[Tier: Common.]
[Type: Weapon.]
[Description: An ordinary piece of wood that had been used as a weapon by a goblin, becoming the goblin's best friend through many difficult times. +1 Constitution.]
"What a dramatic description..." commented Dian after reading it. He suddenly felt guilty toward the Wood Club and the goblin.
But what's done is done, so he quickly moved on. Now that he had a weapon, he began considering training his close-combat ability. While his skills and magic were strong, their cooldowns were also quite long. If he found himself surrounded by enemies while all his skills is still on cooldown, he would be in trouble. In such situations, physical attacks would be effective. The faster he learned to use a weapon, the better.
Dian took the Wood Club with him and set out to find new targets to test its effectiveness.
At that moment, he suddenly felt a mysterious attraction pulling him from behind. More precisely, the source of this attraction seemed to come from the direction of Grebir Village.
It was as if something was calling to him—not in a literal sense, but instinctively. It felt like his entire being was being drawn toward something there.
This intrigued Dian slightly, but since he had work to do—slaying more monsters and gathering money—he immediately brushed off the strange pull and continued to search for more monsters.
He soon reached the plain, which was the center of the forest. According to Maria, this plain was called The Plain of Graves.
Dian didn't find any monsters, nor even any animals or insects in the plain. The only sounds of living beings came from outside the plain, which was clearly odd.
He identified the cause of this strange phenomenon when he focused his attention solely on the plain itself.
[Area: The Plain of Graves.]
[Type: Dungeon.]
[Rank: E.]
[Description: Over 200 years ago, a great battle took place in this plain between the soldiers of the Salad Kingdom and a Goblin King with its army, turning the ground from green to red overnight. The sheer amount of hatred and malice from that day had accumulated and transformed into a Dungeon filled with the dead. The Dungeon would become active every midnight and disappear after 3 hours.]
This discovery surprised Dian.
"This plain looks so beautiful, yet it hides a Dungeon beneath it? I didn't expect that..."
As a fan of RPG games, he was intrigued. However, since the Dungeon was only active during midnight, it was currently inaccessible to him. After taking several minutes to read the description, Dian made a mental note to explore the Dungeon later when he had time, before moving on to look for more monsters.
After exiting the other side of the forest, Dian quickly found his next target. Once again, it was a goblin, and it was alone.
Taking a deep breath, Dian prepared himself behind a tree, waiting for the goblin to come closer.
Moments later, the goblin walked by the tree where Dian was hiding, completely unaware of its impending doom. As soon as the goblin entered his range of attack, Dian swung his club with all his strength.
To his surprise, he discovered he had more power than he initially thought. The club made a piercing sound as it cut through the air and crashed into the goblin's face. The impact, delivering over 300 points of physical damage, instantly depleted the goblin's HP and caused its head to explode. This was his second kill.
[You have successfully killed Goblin Level 3. Gaining +2 EXP and +3 Copper coins as a reward.]
Dian almost lost his balance from the force of his swing.
"Eww…"
His face twisted in disgust as he looked at the remains of the goblin, but he steeled himself, forcing back the urge to vomit his lunch right then and there. This would be his daily routine from now on, so he knew he needed to adapt.
Unfortunately, the goblin did not drop any items.
After swinging his club to clean off the remnants of the goblin from it, he continued his hunt, determined to use less force next time. He wondered how much strength he should apply to kill a goblin without causing its head to explode, swinging his club testingly as he walked in search of more goblins.
One minute later, he found his next targets: a group of three goblins—one level 4 goblin and two level 2 goblins.
"This one looks stronger than the others…" Dian muttered as he checked its status.
[Goblin. Level 4.]
[Health Points: 550/550]
[Mana Points: 0/0]
[Stamina Points: 600/600]
[Physical Damage: 50]
[Magical Damage: 0]
[Physical Defense: 30]
[Magical Defense: 10]
[Speed: 40]
[Crafting Capability: 10]
[Luck (fixed): 11]
[Skills:]
- Blow (F)
- Gather (F)
- Breed Urge (C)
- Rush (E)
This goblin had one additional skill compared to its companions.
[Skill: Rush.]
[Rank: E.]
[Type: Active.]
[Description: Increases the user's speed by 50% for the next 30 seconds upon use. Cost: 10 Stamina Points. Cooldown: 30 minutes.]
"It's still weaker than me, but I need to be careful when it uses Rush."
Dian gripped his club tightly and began to strategize how to deal with the goblins.
"The distance between us is about 20 meters, and they're currently moving to my left. There are bushes about 30 meters ahead that I could use for an ambush. Should I set up an ambush?"
While muttering to himself, Dian opened his status and pondered which skill he should use. When his eyes landed on Shadow Whisper, he realized he had found the ideal way to handle those goblins.
...
Cold wind, the sign of the incoming night, blew through the trees in the goblins' way.
Leaves were falling.
The sun was being swallowed by the mountains in the west, causing the sky to grow darker and redder.
At this time, the shadows of everything were at their most visible moment. There was light, but it was weak, allowing the shadows to dominate the world.
Ghostly, hollow voices reached the ears of the goblins, halting their steps.
They looked around but couldn't see any visible source of the voices.
Echoing along the wind, the ghostly voices flowed over the goblins.
One of them heard the calling of their long-lost kin.
Others heard the harsh bark of their old shaman back in the cave.
But how could this be possible? That foolish goblin had died after trying to eat a poisonous fruit, and that old shaman was currently lost in his thoughts deep within the cave, so it should have been impossible for their voices to reach them.
They turned their heads to the right and then to the left, but found nothing.
Yet the voices continued to reach their ears.
Confusion set in, and fear grew.
At that very moment, a blunt, muffled shout came from their back.
One of them lost its life, collapsing to the ground with its head caved in.
But the two remaining goblins didn't pay any attention to it.
They couldn't.
Not now.
Their minds were already filled with the voices that shouldn't be there at that moment.
And then—
With one swing, plus three more with a wooden club—
They too lost their lives.
[You have successfully killed Goblin Level 4. Gaining +4 EXP and +5 copper coins as a reward.]