NOVEL NEXT Chapter 4 - The Goblins Hide Their Intelligence!
The Goblins Hide Their Intelligence!
Skills granted by constellations have specific grades: Common, Rare, Super Rare, Heroic, Legendary, and Mythical. Except for the Mythical grade, which is only obtainable through exclusive quests, the highest practical grade is Legendary.
“Legendary…”
Kim Iseo had received a Legendary-grade skill. Normally, one would only have one or two Legendary skills by reaching level 10 stars. But Kim Iseo was a one-star player and was still at the prologue stage of the game.
“This is ridiculous.”
The Legendary-grade skill Kim Iseo received, “Thunderstorm Sword,” could certainly be called an overpowered skill.
“Is this the result of a perfect mechanism breakthrough?”
Constellations provide players with the skills most suitable for their situations. Kim Iseo had put himself into dangerous situations at the one-star level and continued to deal damage without giving up.
This was an extraordinary achievement.
[Thunderstorm Sword: Active. Drops blue lightning that deals 250% of attack power damage around you. The range is approximately 5.4 meters around the sword.]
Kim Iseo was satisfied with his new skill.
– Kieeeek!
– Kieek!!
Thunderstorm Sword was an incredibly effective skill when goblins were charging from all sides. But he did not know how to use it.
“An image forms in my mind.”
Following the image in his head, he adjusted his grip on the sword and thrust it downward.
– Thud.
A red crack began to form on the ground, creating a blazing red magic circle.
[Skill: Thunderstorm Sword Activated!]
[Red Mana -2]
[Remaining Red Mana: 8]
The magic circle emitted a blinding red light, covering his entire field of vision.
Boom!
With a thunderous explosion, blue lightning surged out, engulfing everything around him. All goblins within a 5-meter radius were killed.
▻ Current kills: 221
The kill count decreases in an instant. Even though it was still a one-star skill, Thunderstorm Sword was a great skill. Thanks to this, there was now a space for the team to jump down.
“Hey! Everyone jump down! No falling damage!”
* * *
All members of the WePlug team began jumping down as instructed by Kim Iseo.
“They’re following well.”
Ji Ho-tae, though noticeably scared, managed to keep up reasonably well.
“Listen carefully. We’ll jump down, use Thunderstorm Sword, and then the rest will cover for 30 seconds. Repeat the process.”
Kim Iseo began explaining the strategy to his team, while carefully calculating the logistics in his head.
“Cooldown is 30 seconds… Mana consumption is 2. We can use it five times in total.”
He calculated the time to clear the floors, factoring in cooldowns and mana consumption.
“At least in 10 minutes. We should reach the 2nd floor within that time.”
With a generous estimate of 10 minutes, and potentially faster within 5 minutes. This was Kim Iseo’s estimated time to reach the 2nd floor. Beyond that, mana would become a problem.
“Keep up.”
He said, gripping his sword.
“Got it!”
The team responded solemnly. Their lives were on the line.
* * *
The plan was to jump down, use Thunderstorm Sword, and then have the rest of the team back us up for 30 seconds. Just keep doing that.
“Ugh… Ugh… Something feels off…”
Repeating this process, they reached to the 6th floor. The first floor was almost in sight,
That brought them hope, but the anxiety was at its peak.
“The goblins are getting quicker in their responses.”
Initially, the goblins were panicked when Kim Iseo jumped down, but now they weren’t.
“It was dangerous earlier…”
The goblins were adapting, anticipating Kim Iseo’s jumps.
“Are they learning?”
The goblins seemed to have some level of learning ability, which was an unexpected feature. Implementing AI for goblins to increase difficulty was a ridiculous idea.
“Could it be a story element?”
However, there was a narrative aspect to this in the game.
“The small green demons are cunning and intelligent.”
Kim Iseo grated his teeth.
“Why did they have to implement such unnecessary things? Did the ghost possess them or something?”
“What? What are you saying?”
Heo won-moo, back to back with Kim Iseo, asked.
“The goblins have learning abilities. It seems like a story element has been implemented.”
Heo won-moo looked at Kim Iseo blankly, not understanding at first.
After a moment, he dropped his cigarette and cursed.
“Damn it…”
He quickly picked up the cigarette, even through goblins were trying to kill him.
“I told them to make more creative monsters, not just goblins.”
“Is money were piling up? We barely had enough budget just to use pre-designed ones.”
There was no choice. It had been too expensive to import AI for the constellations from China. Kim Iseo’s budget increase was the only reason it was possible.
**Cooldown’s Up.**
The cooldown for Thunderstorm Sword had finished.
“Let’s go!”
Regardless of whether the goblins had learning abilities or not, there was only one method now.
“Even if an Alpha Goblin showed up, I’d still have to jump.”
Kim Iseo made a firm resolve and jumped down again. No one else could handle the situation.
Clang.
He leaped gracefully over the railing in one breath.
– Kieeeek!
– Kieek!!
This time, the goblins quickly set up a formation, as if they had been waiting for him. Their spears shot up towards the sky without any gaps. It was a completely different situation from before.
“Damn it. It’s like jumping into a spear field!”
He hadn’t expected them to figure it out this quickly.
“Shit, it’s too late anyway!”
Kim Iseo had no choice but to grit his teeth and activate his skill.
[Skill: Thunderstorm Sword Activated!]
Crackle…
Blue lightning crackled around his sword. As he neared the ground, red mana began to envelop from his body.
Thud! Thud!
“Aagh…!”
One spear pierced his left lower abdomen, and another struck in his shoulder. He hadn’t even reached the ground yet.
“What, what is this madness!”
Kim Iseo couldn’t understand what was happening. Meanwhile, his body crashed to the ground.
Boom!
Although he hit the ground, the skill activated perfectly. Thunderstorm Sword swept through the area.
Despite still being a one-star, the Legendary-grade destruction was evident.
▻ Current kills: 364
All the goblins on the 4th floor disappeared. They had ended up gathering together, making it easy to kill them.
One more jump, and they would reach the 2nd floor. After that, they could push through to escape.
“Team leader!!”
Choi Seo-yeon screamed as she saw the spears sticking into Kim Iseo.
“Ah… I can’t hear…”
The sound felt muffled as if thick cotton was stuffed in his ears.
“…Ugh!”
Every breath brought excruciating pain. Only then did he look down.
Spears were embedded in his lower abdomen and shoulder. It felt like his insides were being torn apart.
[Warning! Health at 10%!]
“Damn it…”
Kim Iseo gritted his teeth and grabbed the spear lodged in his shoulder. The explosion had set the spear on fire, making it even harder to hold onto.
“Ughhh…”
Blood was pouring out of his hand as he pulled the spear out.
“Don’t pull it out!”
Heo won-moo, who had jumped down, shouted and helped him. The other developers blocked the remaining goblins.
“Pulling it out will make the bleeding worse!”
“…Damn it. I’ve seen this before.”
He knew the common sense that pulling it out would increase bleeding. It was always like that in movies.
Still, he had to fight. The spear in his right shoulder was deadly.
“Ughhh!!”
He pulled the spear out with a wet sound. His left hand was torn up, and covered in blood.
[Bleeding has started. Health will decrease continuously.]
‘Cooldown… 12 seconds…’
It had only been 18 seconds. It was hard to believe.
“This crazy bastard! Why’d you pull it out!!”
“You’ll understand when you see…”
Kim Iseo clutched his abdomen and walked. Every few steps felt like minutes. In reality, only about 10 seconds had passed.
‘Only 5 seconds left.’
His head was pounding.
Beep beep…
Tinnitus (the perception of sound that does not have an external source, so other people cannot hear it) filled in his ears.
“Gasp… Gasp…”
The only thing clearly audible was his own breathing.
“Why did I only think of this now?”
Kim Iseo looked down at the situation below the 2nd floor. The goblins were waiting. He recalled the earlier situation.
“They could throw spears.”
Some goblins had thrown spears when he jumped. That’s why he was hit before he could activate Thunderstorm Sword.
Kim Iseo hadn’t anticipated this.
“I’m no better than a goblin.”
With that thought, Kim Iseo took up his sword and precisely aimed at his landing point.
[Skill: Thunderstorm Sword Activated!]
Crackle…
Blue lightning began to swirl around his sword.
“The activation standard is based on the sword’s position.”
After using Thunderstorm Sword a few times, he understood the principle. It was adaptable.
He planned to use the same strategy as the goblins.
He slightly turned his shoulder. It moved well, despite the intense pain and massive bleeding.
“Hah.”
He took a deep breath and swung his arm with all his might. Screaming in agony, he clutched his shoulder.
“Arghhh!!”
Whoosh!
With a dull whoosh, the shortsword flew through the air, enveloped in red mana.
It landed at the point where the goblins were gathered.
The goblins, who had been targeting Kim Iseo, were confused. They had expected a person to fall, but only a sword flew and landed.
– Kieek?
As a goblin tilted its head in confusion.
Boom!
The explosion of blue lightning erupted. The area was cleared, making space for the next jump.
“Now… the final 2nd floor… Jump…!”
Kim Iseo, with his last bit of strength, jumped over the railing.
Thud!
He barely landed on the 2nd floor. The impact on his injuries was overwhelming. Intense pain surged through him.
“Hey, man!! What’s wrong with you? Are you trying to die!?”
Heo won-moo, following him, shouted angrily. He was genuinely furious.
“Someone else could have come down!!”
Kim Iseo’s blood-soaked hand covered Heo won-moo’s mouth.
“Don’t you know the characteristics of red mana?”
“…What?”
“Just so you know… You only made it to Ep. 7.”
Currently affected by the Red Constellation, Kim Iseo could utilize the unique properties of red mana, though he hadn’t identified them fully yet.
[Red Constellation. ‘Indomitable Warrior’ admires your determination!]
Moreover, when the constellation revealed its name and expressed admiration,.
[With the Constellation’s support, red mana is replenished.]
[Red Mana +10]
[Health below 5%, ‘Determination’ status activated.]
[1 Mana consumed every 5 seconds.]
[Increased resistance to pain.]
[Significant increase in attack power and agility.]
Flame!
Red mana surged and enveloped him. All the pain vanished.
Boom!
His body shot forward like a comet.
– Kieek!!
– …Kek!
The goblins blocking the entrance were sliced apart effortlessly.
Boom.
Some goblins even exploded.
▻ Current kills: 430
[Basic Slash Lv. 3 → Lv. 4 increased!]
[Basic Thrust Lv. 3 → Lv. 4 increased!]
The goblins could not resist and were swept away by the unknown red mana, losing their lives one by one.
▻ Current kills: 470
[Basic Slash Lv. 4 + Basic Thrust Lv. 4 → Intermediate Swordsmanship Lv. 1 synthesized!]
Finally, a message indicating the end of the event quest appeared.
Thud.
His blood-soaked hand grabbed the last door handle.
“Damn it… It’s done.”
Screech…
The door on the 1st floor opened, and Kim Iseo collapsed forward.
[Red Constellation. ‘Indomitable Warrior’ shows great interest in you!]
[A Blue Constellation is observing your strategy.]
* * *
[Beginner Tip: Players who have contracted with or are under the protection of the Red Constellation experience increased attack power and agility as their HP decreases. When HP drops below a certain percentage, the ‘Determination’ state is activated.]
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