“Gobo?”
“Gobo! Gobo-bo!”Gathered around a fire in the middle of the goblin’s main camp under the stars, the hobgoblin and his shaman advisers listened to the new scout leader report his information. Whoever this halfling was, he was rather capable. Unfortunately, the hobgoblin hated tainted blood. There was no way they would accept a half-bred loser into their camp of elites.“Gobobo gork!”Raising their weapons, the goblins who heard their leader’s decision cheered. After the frustrating appearance of an elusive hero who always fought in circles, they were finally one step ahead of him!Thrilled that Zen’s plan worked in their favour, the scout leader couldn’t stop grinning. That halfling worked hard to find critical information for them after receiving meagre hunts from the forest. While that starving child was eating scraps, he would be promoted to lead the way for the future.With the newFlabbergasted, the Shady Merchant could not believe the story Zen told him. It was the first time in his career that he met an adventurer who refused to engage in battles if there was another route. The system administrators made exceptions for this lad, and he could finally understand why. Zen was an utter nutcase but a brilliant one!“I guess this completes Baron Leron’s museum collection.”Apart from the [Pound] Skill from the quest completion reward, Zen finally learned the name of the goblin-obsessed noble. It was weird for the game to keep such an important lore NPC’s name hidden until now. Even the guards on duty had their names on display! He almost thought the Baron’s last name was Stoneberry or something.“Glad to be of assistance,” Zen laughed falsely.Now that the main war was over, he no longer had to pretend to be a filthy half-goblin. Dumping the spare goblin chain armour with the Shady Merchant as a
The sentry guard on duty eyed Zen doubtfully. The letter was indeed written by Commander Gunter with the official stamp from their Baron. However, believing this was the backup the main camp sent was still difficult. Venedict was the only reason the sentry guard gave this kid the benefit of the doubt.“Please wait here. I’ll bring your letter of recommendation to Sir Rowan.”Sir Rowan? Zen looked at Venedict for an explanation. There was nothing mentioned in his special quest notes.Answering the questioning looks, the mercenary bodyguard explained that Sir Rowan was an old retired knight who served three generations of the Baron’s family.“He taught our current Baron swordsmanship during childhood, but it didn’t work out. Ever since the war against the goblins, he volunteered to return to arms and guard our flank with minimal manpower. He might be retired and frail now with slight difficulty seeing and hearing, but Sir Rowan i
After two draws and one loss, Zen wanted to dig a hole in the soil and bury himself. Despite his best efforts, Sir Rowan casually defeated him with minimal movement. It was difficult to launch an attack against an excellent defence. Sir Rowan’s King piece never moved a single step from the baseline, and Zen had to exhaust every piece he had to clear an open path. Yet, with mere pawns, the experienced knight managed to push him back to base.“I’m sorry that I’m lacking,” Zen bowed meekly in his chair.Instead of laughing at the young, foolish thing, Sir Rowan hummed thoughtfully. He had played many strategy games with all kinds of people. Usually, it was easy to understand a person’s character from their actions. There were ambitious people, cautious people, timid people, uncertain people, brainless people, rash people and even murderers. The old knight was usually able to identify those traits straight off the bat. However, the child Gun
Thanks to the fast-forward option in the virtual dungeon, Zen watched the war between Stoneberry Keep and the hobgoblins in the first wave of the goblin invasion within two minutes. Who knew his side quest would turn into a simple game of simulated chess, reflecting an actual battle?Ping![You are victorious and have successfully defended against the Goblin Invasion Wave 1. You have been awarded 20 leadership Points.]Now, that was fast! Compared to the main quest, Zen might be able to complete the side quest quicker. The cut scene showed Sir Rowan using Zen’s tactic to bait ten hobgoblins from their spot to the boundaries of the Keep, where they were ambushed and killed. It was a battle without mercy, as all ten hobgoblin warriors were eliminated. Yet, Zen couldn’t help but wonder how these warriors could take down ten hobgoblins. Venedict fought with one, and they seemed rather tough. It was the reason why Gunter was unable to win the war head-on.
Ping![You are victorious and have successfully defended against the Goblin Invasion Wave 2. You have been awarded 20 leadership Points.]Claiming his reward, Zen wondered how he would survive the third wave. Even Venedict looked grim when the scout reported the latest findings. It didn’t matter if they had the information ahead of time. The enemy’s firepower was nothing to sneeze at. Apart from the brutes who wounded many fine swordsmen, the goblins introduced catapults. It was a horrifying prospect with so many wounded while those monstrous machines lurked in the distance.There were simply too many chess pieces on the enemy’s side that it seemed ridiculous to continue the war game. Zen stared at the ten pawns, five bishops and three castles on the enemy’s side of the board. Compared to his measly pawn, horse and rook, anyone could tell at first glance that this was an impossible game. Yet, the game developers created this side quest for a re
For five virtual days, Zen toiled like no tomorrow. There were simply too many things to do, even with his squad of assistants. Thankfully, if there was one thing the gamer was proficient at, it was exploiting in-game ‘features’. Thanks to that, he managed to get everything done ‘on time’ for the third wave.Game developers should know better than to provide free labourers for Zen. Due to his special chain quest, the non-combatant could somehow take Venedict and the soldiers down to the first floor, where he made them hunt countless slimes for the quest and his personal benefit. He loved how inventory limit wasn’t a thing and spent most of his time making salves, crafting monocular goggles, and creating pepper bombs.The monocular goggles were tricky to create, so Zen had Ben’s help to smelt some glass from sunglasses wearing mushroom variants that he coated with green slime goo to prevent fogging. Then, he borrowed Paul’s wo
Despite listening to the scout’s intel, nobody knew what to prepare. The previous strategy worked very well against the catapults and brutes. Even if they tripled the number from the previous wave, Stoneberry Keep would not fall. Yet, one undetermined factor threw a wrench in their works.What was a goblin mage? How was it different from a goblin shaman?“I bet it’s just an upgrade,” Venedict scoffed. “A more powerful shaman.”Unimpressed, Sir Rowan gave the mercenary the stink eye for stating the obvious. Zen simply ignored him. They couldn’t test the mage’s ability to know what it could do. The paranoid strategist wondered if Baron Leron knew anything about a goblin mage and sent a letter to the goblin-obsessed scholar. Yet, nobody knew anything useful about the potential threat. The only hint Zen received about magicians was from the drunken priest Lorren.“According to him, magicians specialise in one of t
As the cut scene started, Zen could no longer give out commands. He relayed the plan once to Sir Rowan and his subordinates. However, the gamer had no idea if they would be able to pull off such a complicated plan. There was no direct fighting involved in this battle. Instead, he would manipulate the terrain to their advantage, assuming he could lock the magician in place.The first stage included a little theatrics to set the atmosphere. As war drums and horns sounded from both armies, the sharpshooters and soldiers started travelling to their assigned spots. Nobody moved from their spot as catapults launched false attacks.The goblin army laughed at the human army’s failure to understand the range limits of their catapults when the rock-covered snowballs crashed in front of them, creating a large cloud of snow. They laughed for a long time until they realised how the cloud of snow wasn’t clearing up.From afar, Zen could not tell what the goblins were do
From floor five to floor nine, Zen discovered many changing elements in the virtual world. The dungeon mechanics became more complex as they climbed the floors. It was difficult to believe that until floor ten, they were still in the tutorial stages.Damian’s game guide from floor five was very different from Zen’s version. The cyborg logged every single type of equipment and monster as an encyclopaedia page, including replicated screenshot images. He rated them according to their value, usage, frequency of occurrence, something Zen had not considered, and prices. The floor map was also marked to indicate where they could commonly be located, along with an estimated loot drop guide. Compared to Zen’s walkthrough guide, Damian created a very different and detailed directory.Although their styles were very different, Zen teared up with gratefulness for the guide Damian put together. If Zen excelled at game progression strategy, Damian’s information w
Liu Feng was not pleased to learn that Zen was already considering inviting another troublesome person into his circle after sparring with Akiko. Yet, he could not say he was surprised. In the brief weeks of meeting Zen, he had seen enough to know it would not be the last time either. From the get-go, even Liu Feng had been drawn to the young cook because of this attitude. It was both the young man’s charm and weakness.While the blind teen had enough respect for Chatura, a famous strategist, he hated dealing with snake-like personalities. They already had several ticking time bombs in the Godly Food Party, and the Lau Triad’s influence could only shield Zen from so much harm. Damian Gorski had provoked half the Round Table, and Zen had rejected everyone there. An omerta might be sacred, but it was not always upheld by both parties. There were many ways to cancel an omerta, usually involving the death of one party, and Liu Feng did not wish to crush his younger swor
After finishing his dinner, Zen sipped on the weird concoction called tea from a heavy stainless steel tool holder sterilised in isopropyl alcohol. The cyborg offered to distil and mix some of his alcohol supply into the tea for a ‘better flavour,’ and Zen smartly declined. He did not have a mechanical gut that could be replaced easily. It was best to stick to conventional instant tea in unconventional cups, even if Damian stuck two very different flavours of instant tea in one cup.Although Damian had overheard the conversation in the kitchen, Zen still told him what he knew from Bolt and asked if Damian had a way to verify the information. Due to the many rumours floating around Chatura, it was difficult to know the kind of person she was. It was obvious who spread those rumours.Within thirty minutes, Damian uncovered a lot more than Zen thought was possible. Then again, he should probably not be surprised that the Gorski had such an extensive information ne
Sneaking dinner back to the room, Zen thanked Bolt and Yelena for updating him about the new faction. Although neither invigilator liked the strategist, Chatura was a very powerful person whom Zen found intriguing.Unfortunately, Liu Feng and Akiko were out. They said they would be sparring in the training ground and were not back yet. Sasha and Oritha were still in the gym, making Damian Zen’s only option to discuss this new situation with them.Deciding to take a quick shower, Zen sent Damian a text and asked if he could come over to discuss something confidential in thirty minutes with his dinner. The cyborg took a while to reply, but Zen smiled when he received an affirmation in the middle of his shower.Thirty minutes later, Zen knocked on Damian’s door, freshly showered and with a packed dinner in his other hand. There was nobody in the corridor, so Zen relaxed.Damian opened the door within seconds and welcomed Zen in.“Pardon the me
When Bolt returned with the first aid kit, he was largely relieved to see how Yelena was taking care of Zen. Taking over, he checked on the burn injury that had greatly reduced thanks to the ice cream tub, although the same could not be said of the melting liquid inside.“That might have to go back into the freezer for now,” he gently told Yelena, who agreed.Now that the actual adult was back, Yelena threw the explanation to Bolt. She hated the woman Chatura. There was no way she wanted to explain all the complicated history to Zen when she could barely speak English. Besides, between the two of them, Bolt was supposed to be the smarter one.“Oh, Chatura. Yes… it’s a complicated story,” Bolt frowned. “There are so many rumours and versions about what happened to her before she had been turned into an invigilator here. I’ve never personally met her or talked to her in my time here. However, I don’t think we have a
After spending most of the day in the virtual world, the rest of Party Godly Food excused themselves to hit the gym and stretch their muscles. Damian returned to finish compiling the game guide while Zen worked on preparing dinner. Yelena and Bolt were present, so there was no need for anyone else to keep him company. Not to mention, the kitchen hands were very helpful. Most of the ingredients Zen needed were already prepared. The dirty dishes from the last meal were washed meticulously and left to dry on the counter.“Did you find anything new in the dive this time?” Bolt asked while Zen mixed his seasoning.Zen wanted to make something simple for dinner as they had a heavy tea. Fried rice and some soup will do. There was more than enough for everyone later.“There were new things,” Zen admitted, reluctant to reveal too much information about the new features and unique split-path quests he and Damian had discovered. “However
Collecting the rewards for successfully defeating John’s cousin, the party members of Godly Food jumped into the portal leading to the next floor. Zen knew that the dungeon had different themes on every ten floors. The tenth floor of each themed stage would be different from the other stages in difficulty. It was why the vanguard team struggled with the twentieth floor’s boss. In addition to the stage mechanic’s difference, the final boss was also tougher to deal with. If not for the monstrous capabilities of the combatants, Zen doubted they could breeze through the first ten floors as quickly as they did.Anticipating a village or town vibe similar to the other floors from before, Zen was stunned to find himself in a rocky cave full of darkness. It had ominous vibes, and only Liu Feng moved confidently in the darkness. Everyone else minimised exploring further without a light source.“We’ll log out here,” Akiko informed Damian. “Y
After entering the boss dungeon den, Zen shivered. It wasn’t similar to a wolf’s den. If anything, it appeared closer to an actual dungeon, as if someone had deliberately attempted to imprison the boss here. The stale smell of dogs and many broken chains of different sizes on the ground spoke volumes about John’s cousin.Unlike the short werewolf, who remained in his werewolf form constantly, the boss was a monster who could transform. Depending on the moon cycle, it could be a violent and bloodthirsty monster or a broken man who lived in constant fear and misery of his curse.“He changes according to the moon cycle once the rampage begins,” Akiko explained. “I took a while to figure out how to kill him, even on the first run. He’s immune to damage on a blood moon. We need to finish it as soon as possible.”With a full party participating in a boss battle, Zen had faith they could conclude it before even the blood moon p
Finally approaching the final boss’s cave, Zen wondered if the storyline would change because they had let Han murder John brutally. His body had been hacked into pieces and scattered around the rotting forest. The maggots would get to it soon and reduce it to bones. Yet, the cruel butchering session remained fresh in Zen’s mind.Everyone in the party knew that feeling all too well. Having lived in the underworld, they sympathised with Zen, who had lived like a civilian his whole life. Although not everyone participated directly in the act of murder, they knew what it meant to take a life. Even Damian had seen it happen. He knew how to interrogate for information and was quite adept at the craft when required.“Don’t think too much about it,” Liu Feng was the first to break the silence. “He wasn’t even real. This is a game designed by the Godfather to find the next successor. It’s just another test.”Even if it wer