《Gambler's Fallacy》 Prologue It was 3 AM. Koji had been playing poker in this pisshole pub called The Smoke Lounge. Quite aptly named by the way, as most clients seemed to be smoking something. He was playing in the backroom, a private space that hosted a high-stakes poker ring game. Minimum Buy-in: US$ 100.000,00. Not a lot of money for most of the people that played here, most of them big shot crime lords, shady CEO''s, high profile politicians and the like. But for this particular 25-year-old asian man, that was a lot of money. In fact, that was all the money he had in this world, after selling his inheritance house, his car and everything else he owned. After playing all night, he had managed to increase that money to US$ 120.000,00. It was going pretty well. The dealer shuffled the deck and dealt the cards. Koji covertly flipped his 2 cards, careful not to reveal them by accident to anyone. Ace and King suited. A damn good hand. And the rest of the cards that flopped all turned out well for him as he held what he thought was the strongest hand. An Ace-King Full House. He went All-In. The guy playing against him, a scary Italian mobster, took off the sunglasses he was wearing and gave him a malicious smile. ¡°Koji, my boy. Overconfidence is an insidious killer. Remember that.¡± The mobster then took a few moments to size up Koji''s bet. ¡°I pay his All-In.¡± Koji''s Full House was a nice, strong hand, but the Mobster had lucked out and gotten a Four-of-a-kind out of his pocket pair. Koji was officially broke. He drank what was left of his whiskey, got up from his seat and started to walk out of the room. He wanted to scream and cry but the thought of showing the people in the room this disgusting sight made him swallow it up. As he was about to open the door, the mobster gave him a quick whistle. Koji turned around and the man threw a coin at him with a big smile on his face. ¡°You better get used to getting change boy. After tonight, you are likely to become a beggar. Hehehehe.¡± All the sorrow Koji was holding in turned into uncontrollable rage, as he took a pocket knife out of his jacket. He then pounced on the mobster and attempted to stab him in the throat. The mobster managed to hold his wrist just in the nick of time, and then one of the bodyguard that were guarding the room shot him in the knee, making him drop the knife and fall on the ground, screaming. ¡°Are you fucking stupid Koji? You just threw your life away.¡± Said the security guard, an old acquaintance of Koji¡¯s. ¡°That fucking asshole had it coming¡­¡± Koji mumbled. ¡°WOW now boy. You know, I never thought you¡¯d be the sore loser type. But then, I guess losing all your money does that to a person. We have a problem now, though. You just tried to kill me, and I can¡¯t have that happening to me, so I have to make an example out of you.¡± The mobster extended his hand to the security guard. The guard understood the gesture and gave him the gun he was holding. ¡°See you on the other side, piece of shit!¡± As the sound of gunshot started to echo on the room, Koji¡¯s eyes rolled up like he was convulsing. A very loud bell ring blasted everyone¡¯s ears and Koji passed out.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation. He woke up in a completely white room. A weird duck-like creature was standing on two feet and staring at him. As he focused his attention on the strange thing, he realized it wasn¡¯t a duck, but a platypus and that he was wearing a very neat black suit on top and had a black dress hat tilted to the left of his head. ¡°Welcome to Floor Zero, Koji! You have been selected to participate in the galaxy¡¯s most watched reality show. I¡¯m gonna explain everything to you later, please stand still while we run some tests on you.¡± Koji did stood still. But not because of the creature¡¯s request and more because he was completely shocked by this talking platypus. He tried gathering his thoughts and remembered that he was about to get shot in the head. ¡°I am dead right? Are you perhaps¡­ the devil¡­?¡± Saying that to a creature like that felt strange. The platypus wasn¡¯t intimidating at all. In fact, it had a sort of calm demeanor that made Koji feel at ease. ¡°Oh right¡­ where are my manners? My name is Bill. I¡¯ll be your Guide to the game. We will begin the tutorial as soon as this machine finishes calibrating the system to your mind. And to answer your first question. No, you are not dead. We¡­ ¡°relocated¡± your existence to this room.¡± ¡°Well good then¡­ So¡­ Bill. I¡¯m not sure I wanna play this. What if I refuse to participate?¡± ¡°That is your right. Then we will relocate you where you were before¡­ you know¡­ about to get a bullet facial.¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ yeah. I guess I¡¯m playing after all.¡± ¡°Okey dokey! The system is calibrated now. Try opening up the Status board. Just think ¡°Open Status¡± As the words crossed Koji¡¯s mind. A translucent but clearly visible board popped up in his vision field.
Status Window
Name:Koji KawamuraRace:Human
Attributes
Strength:0.3Dexterity:0.4
Vitality:0.2Endurance:0.2
Perception:0.5Willpower:0.6
Mental Power:0.6
Skill List
Inventory
Empty
TP:0
¡°Wow¡­ I gotta say¡­ Those are some terrible numbers there. Even for a human. Did you even exercise? At least your mental attributes are average and you do have above average Willpower. I''ll explain the meaning of each attribute on Level Zero." ¡°Anyway¡­ as I explained before, you have been selected to be a part of Level X, a reality show that is broadcast all across the galaxies for ascended beings to enjoy. We select candidates from a race and make them compete against each other. On this season of the show, we decided to use humans. 300.000 humans have been relocated to this dimension and are currently being briefed themselves. The prize for the winners of the show is immortal life and immense riches. Now, let¡¯s move on to Level 0 where I¡¯ll be explaining exactly how you play this game. Now please, step into the portal.¡± A square door-like object appeared in front of Koji. It was completely black, darker than anything Koji had ever seen before. Koji felt a bit mesmerized by that square gooey object. Staring into it one would feel a deep void, like gazing at the universe. As he stepped closer, he felt an intense force pulling him in. He tried to resist it but it was too strong and he was sucked into the portal. Level Zero - Pt. 1 Koji opened his eyes and noticed he was standing in the middle of a perfectly square room. It was an ancient room with wall made of stone brick and there was some vegetation growing in the cracks and corners. It was completely empty, except for the known Platypus standing in front of him again. A message suddenly popped up.
You have entered Level 0 ¨C Boss Hunt Level
Level Boss: Kobold Thug
Time Limit: 6 hours
¡°Got the notification right?¡± Koji nodded in response. ¡°This game is composed of several Levels. Every one of them has an objective, which determines its category. When you clear the objective, one of those portals will appear and you can enter them to move on to the next Level. Please take a look at the notification to look at the most common Level categories.¡±
Boss Hunt: The goal is to kill a specific monster in the Level. It will usually be the most dangerous enemy on the Level.
Item Retrieval: The goal is to acquire a specific object. The object then has to be delivered at the Altar for the Level to be cleared.
Extermination: The goal is to kill every monster on the Level.
Battle: There will be some form of competition with other players. The rules of said competition will be explained at the beginning of the Level and are variable.
Vacation: No goal. You and your clan get some rest time.
¡°There might be some unique rooms that don¡¯t fit these descriptions. When that happens I¡¯ll be there to explain things to you, so don¡¯t worry. Beginning at Level 1, you will be assigned to groups called Clans. These will be generated by our system and you get no say in the process. Every Clan fights through an instance of the same Level and the Time it takes to clear the Level is registered in a Leaderboard. In other words, with the exception of Battle Levels, every Level is a Time Attack competition, where the Clans with the best clear time are rewarded with items, skills and our currency called TP.¡± ¡°Additionally, after a Clan finishes a Level, they are transported to the Hub, a place where they can rest, trade and craft. The amount of time a Clan gets to stay in the Hub is directly proportional to the difference between their time in the previous Level and the Time of the last team to finish it. For example, if you Clan finishes a Level in 2 hours, and the last Clan finishes it in 10. Your Clan will get 8 hours in the Hub to do whatever you want. The Clan who finishes last, and all others with the same time, do not get any time in the Hub. You probably also noticed there is a Time Limit. If your Clan fails to complete the Level in the given Time Limit, you¡¯ll all be disintegrated.¡± ¡°That¡¯s very complicated¡­ and interesting.¡± A barely noticeable smile formed in Koji¡¯s face. Being transported to a unknown place and forced to play a death game. Most people would go crazy at this situation. They would try to flee, they would try to pretend it was just a dream or flat out go in denial mode. But Koji had the exact opposite reaction. He was ecstatic. So what if this is a death game? He already had given up on his life anyway. He was being given an opportunity to do one last interesting thing in his life. And he decided he would enjoy every last bit of it. ¡°Ok partner! Now, I¡¯ll begin explaining your Status Screen. Please open it again.¡±
Status Window
Name:Koji KawamuraRace:Human
TP:0
Attributes
Strength:0.2Dexterity:0.3
Vitality:0.2Endurance:0.2
Perception:0.5Willpower:0.6
Mental Power:0.5
Skill List
Inventory
Empty
¡°Ok. First, we have your name. I hope I don¡¯t have to explain that. Next, race. Right now, all competitors are Human, since this a Human special Season of the show. That might change in the future, who knows?¡±Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more. ¡°Then, attributes. Each of those numbers represents a generic capability of yours. They will change as those capabilities increase. For instance, Strength represents your physical might, your ability to lift and carry weight as well as anything else that requires muscular power, like jumping power and the explosiveness when dashing. As you progress in the game, you will probably have to use your muscles a lot and will get gradually stronger. These increments will be reflected on the attribute value. There are also cases where you get an ¡°artificial¡± stat boost.¡± ¡°Now for the rest of the attributes: Dexterity is the the speed and control with which you move your body. Vitality is the amount of damage your body is able to sustain, including poison and resistance. It also determines your regeneration speed. Endurance is your ability to sustain constant exertion of physical effort, for example, how long you can run, swing a weapon etc. Perception is the capability of your senses. It determines awareness, visual accuracy, ability to smell etc. Mental Power is the capability of your mind to handle information quickly. The higher it is, the faster you can make sound decisions and understand things clearly. Willpower can be explained as a form of mental endurance. It affects how long you can stay at a focused state, your resistance to pain and emotional pressure, as well as the general resistance to mental effects. That being said, most actions performed are a combination of attributes. Shooting an arrow for example. The act of drawing the arrow requires some Strength. The act of finding the target and the right spot to shoot requires Perception. The act of actually pointing the bow to the right place requires Dexterity. The act of tracking multiple opponents, Mental Power. Doing all of that constantly for a prolonged period, requires Endurance and Willpower. You see, everything is one.¡± ¡°These are the basic human attributes. There are several more attributes but, for humans, their starting value is 0, so they will only show up if it goes above the minimum value of 0.1. By the way, a value of 1 represents the biological limit of the human race, while 0.5 is the average of the human population on Earth. Note that there are no character levels in this game. The common way to increase attributes is to train. There are other methods, but those you will have to discover by yourself.¡± Koji raised his hand, like a student watching a lecture. ¡°Can I ask something, Bill?¡± ¡°No, you can¡¯t. If I don¡¯t say something, it means you have to discover by yourself. So please just listen and follow my instructions.¡± ¡°Geez, that¡¯s just rude. And here I was thinking you were a nice polite platypus¡­¡± ¡°I just follow the rules, Koji. Now, moving on. Skills are your special abilities. They are acquired by finding a Skill Shard and activating it. That will imprint a Skill Sigil on your being which will allow you to use said ability. There are Active skills, which are used by visualizing the Skill Sigil on your mind. These abilities usually have Cooldown Times after used. Don¡¯t worry too much though, if you pick up an Active skill, the knowledge of how to use it will be automatically imprinted on your brain. You will also feel whenever the skill is on/off Cooldown. There are also Passive skills. They are picked up the same way, but they don¡¯t need activation. They will either be On all the time, or whenever a specific situation occurs.¡± ¡°Skills have 5 categories: Offensive, which are used to inflict some form of damage. Defensive, used to prevent damage. Support, used to buff, debuff or heal. Craft, which are used to create equipment and Utility, which are comprised of skills that don¡¯t fit the other categories.¡± ¡°Now about your Inventory. As you find Equipment in the game, you will eventually find things that you don¡¯t want to use immediately. You can store those in a dimensional pocket called Inventory. Just pick up the item and think about the Inventory and it will be relocated there. Then to retrieve it, think about the item in your hand or somewhere else inside you immediate range and it will appear.¡± As he finished the explanation on inventories, he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, a wooden chest appeared out of thin air, right in front of Koji. The chest looked new and clean and it had a palm imprint instead of a lock. ¡°This is a Prize Chest. Every enemy you defeat has a small chance of dropping one of these. They contain items, skills and other valuable things. This is a Common chest. There are also Rare, Epic, Legendary and Divine chests, which contain more and better things. This here is your starting Chest, it was generated based on your life on Earth. Please open it up and we will begin. Just put your hand on the palm imprint.¡± Koji did as instructed and the chest top opened up, and surprisingly, the bottom elevated, displaying the items inside like a shelf. There were 3 items. A crystal thing, a pocket knife and a necklace with a rabbit foot in it, that looked exactly like the one Koji carried around as a good luck charm when he was a kid. Koji picked up the pocket knife.
Pocket Knife
A small knife that can be carried around inconspicuously.Weapon (Knife)
1-Hand SlotNo Options
¡°This knife saved me a few times before. It¡¯s a good knife.¡± ¡°That may be¡­ but it¡¯s quite a bad weapon for this place. You¡¯ll soon realize why.¡± Koji shuddered at that last remark. The way Bill said it made it seem like a curse. He proceeded to pick up the necklace.
Rabbit Foot Necklace
A rabbit foot brings good luck to those who wear it.Accessory (Necklace)
Neck SlotImproves Chest drop chance(+5%) after defeating enemies
¡°Well, that is actually quite a good item right Bill?¡± ¡°I guess. If you manage to kill a monster at all that is¡­¡± He said rolling his eyes up. Bill clearly had little faith that the human in front of him had much going on for him. The last was the shard. Koji had already guessed it was probably one of those Skill Shards Bill had mentioned before. He picked it up and a message popped.
Gambler¡¯s Pride
Active Skill (Utility) CD: 1 hour
Bet any equipment to activate the Equipment Lottery. The equipment sacrificed is destroyed. Chance Table improves with level.
Would you like to learn this skill?
YesNo
Koji visualized himself pressing Yes, and he suddenly gained the intuition on how to use his new Skill. Meanwhile, Bill had an astonished look on his face, at least what seemed like astonishment, considering he looks like a platypus. Koji wasn¡¯t even paying attention to the Guide. That was because he had gotten the most perfect skill possible for him. He was now a walking slot machine. According to the intuition he had, the skill worked like this. It targeted an equipment in possession of the user. This equipment as destroyed and a metaphorical dice would be rolled. The user then either got nothing or an equipment of lesser, equal or superior value to the one he had sacrificed. Koji wanted to check the odds. He focused on the word Chance Table.
Chance Table
Nothing:50%Japtem15%
Lesser Equip:15%Equal Equip:10%
Better Equip:9%JACKPOT:1%
Clearly, on this human slot machine, the house had a very large edge. But still, Koji was thrilled. If he could just pick up a bunch of low value items and keep using it, he had a chance to get some high value equipment. ¡°I just have to be careful not to use the essential things as bet.¡± Though for a Gambler like Koji, that was easier said than done. Level Zero - Pt. 2 A small creature had appeared in front of Koji. It stood about 1,2m tall and had a humanoid appearance, although its face had canines protruding out of the mouth. The skin had a dark green tone and it was wearing a caveman-like outfit. With a loincloth covering the waist and a leather strap going from the left shoulder around the torso. It was holding a wooden club and attempting to look menacing. To Koji, it felt like being threatened by a child. ¡°Ok now partner! This goblin minion here is your first encounter. It¡¯s really simple. Kill it or get killed.¡± As Bill said that, he walked to a corner of the square room and snapped his fingers. At that gesture, the goblin started walking towards Koji, sizing him up and looking ready to fight. Koji was no stranger to fighting. Throughout his whole life he had to fight. He recalled the first time he punched one of his many bullies in the face in high school. Then the first time he stabbed someone, a collector from a loan shark that tried to kidnap Thug, a Schnauzer dog that he took care of for a while. Apparently, the dog was worth a fortune. He looked the small creature in the eyes and tried to channel the rage he felt back then, in an attempt to steel himself for the violence about to come. He popped the blade of his knife and got in a fighting stance, pointing it forward and holding his left hand to his face. He was actually just copying a stance he saw in an old martial arts movie once. They got within strike range as Koji started circling around the goblin, looking for an opportunity. Eyes locked on his enemy¡¯s movement. The goblin played this game for a while, but got fed up and decided to take the initiative by throwing an overhead downward strike with his club. The movement was not particularly fast or sharp, which enabled Koji to barely sidestep it to the left and follow it up with a quick thrust to the goblin¡¯s abdominal region. *Argh* The goblin stepped back. Sensing that his attack had been effective, Koji didn¡¯t leave him a chance to recover and quickly follow up with a wide slashing movement aimed at the goblin¡¯s neck. The creature raised its free arm and managed to defend the attack as the knife cut its forearm. It shouted something and lunged forward, this time with a sideways attack to Koji¡¯s head. He swayed to the right but the club partially connected to his left temple. The goblin truly had the strength of a child, seeing that the damage done was very small. Koji felt a bit dizzy, but shrugged it off. He tackled the goblin, dropping its club in the process, and managed to mount him. He stabbed the creature a few times in the gut and neck and sensing that it wasn¡¯t moving anymore, got up grasping for air. He truly had utter shit cardio. But then, what would you expect from a sedentary half-smoker half-alcoholic gambling addict? ¡°AAHHH, fuck I¡¯m exhausted. And my head hurts a little. I did good tho, right Bill?¡± The platypus shook his head a few times, looking frustrated. ¡°Koji¡­ that was the weakest creature in the game. The fact that you somehow got hit by it is¡­ staggering¡­¡± ¡°Well, it just got lucky ok? Besides, I didn¡¯t even get a skill that¡¯s useable in combat and I had to use this crappy knife¡­ so gimme a break will ya?¡± ¡°I¡¯m just telling you what I think. That¡¯s why I hate guiding humans¡­ Anyway. Now you killed your first monster. Please follow me in the next roo¡­¡± As Bill was speaking, a white light briefly flashed and a metallic, iron chest appeared. ¡°Talk about lucky¡­ I guess that rabbit foot is already showing its worth. Congratulations Koji. You just got a Rare Chest.¡± Koji quickly stopped massaging his head and stood in front of the chest for a few seconds. ¡°What exactly are the drop rates for this chests, Bill?¡± ¡°I cannot tell you that. What I CAN tell you, is that your necklace is extremely valuable, so take good care of it. I¡¯ll give you just a small hint so you can figure out the rest later. Carefully read the special option and think about what just happened. Hopefully, you have half a brain and can figure it out. Now open this up and get the stuff so we can keep moving!¡± Koji put his hand on the imprint. And the chest opened, displaying its contents. There were 4 objects: a small crossbow-like device, a bunch of small darts bundled together, a red iron dagger and a Skill Shard. Koji picked up the crossbow first.
Light Arm Crossbow
A small crossbow that is attached to the forearm. Triggered by pulling lever. Uses Small Darts as ammo. Weapon(Crossbow)
1-Hand Slot|1-Arm SlotNo Options
¡°So it uses an arm slot for the crossbow itself, but the lever has to be pulled manually, so it also uses a Hand slot.¡± Koji decided it was a good time to try the Inventory function, because the crossbow was a bit tricky to attach to the arm. So if he could use the inventory function to instantly equip it, he wouldn¡¯t had to deal with this hassle. He followed Bill¡¯s instruction and visualized his inventory. The crossbow disappeared, but somehow, Koji could feel it, like it was just there and he could reach out and grab it. He instinctually did that and the crossbow reappeared perfectly attached to his left arm. It had a lever that worked like a boat engine starter. A handle had to be held with the hand slightly open. As the user closes his hand, the handle pulls on the trigger and the crossbow shoots the dart cocked in. The crossbow attached itself to the arm by a sort of metal gauntlet that covered most of the forearm. It gave the crossbow a steady base and made it simple to aim and shoot. Feeling satisfied he retrieved it to his inventory and picked up the bundled darts.
Small Darts
Used as ammo for ranged weapons. Ammo
Count: 100No Options
Now Koji had a decent amount of ammo to use. It was not infinite though, so he had to keep that in mind. He stored in the inventory and realized he could easily retrieve the ammo as needed, therefore eliminating the need of a quiver of some sort. It did not cocked itself in the crossbow automatically though, so the reload time was considerable. ¡°I¡¯m gonna have to learn how to reload while running.¡± Next he took a look at the iron dagger. It¡¯s blade was a dark red and the grip had carvings that Koji couldn¡¯t understand. As he picked it up he felt a sting in the corner of his mind. As he observed the knife he could feel his mind getting clouded and a animalistic violence starting to take over. He quickly retrieved the knife to his inventory and looked at its Inspection Screen.
Korlag¡¯s Vessel of Rage
A dagger forged in the blood of a powerful Troll. It contains the essence of his primal rage.Weapon(Dagger)
1-Hand SlotHolding the dagger puts the user in a Frenzied state, granting temporary Strength, Dexterity and Endurance but reducing Mental Power and Willpower. User becomes unable to think clearly and will attack anyone in sight with maximum power. Once activated, Frenzy lasts for 30 minutes or until every nearby enemy is killed. This effect has a 2 hour Cooldown.
¡°Holy crap¡­ this is incredibly dangerous. I should only use it when there is an emergency.¡± Finally, he picked up the Skill Shard.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Chaotic Barrier
Active Skill (Defense) CD: 15 minutes
Creates an unstable defensive barrier around the user by condensing the vital energy, Qi. The barrier durability increases with Skill Level and Vitality. Will shoot out Energy Bolts randomly towards hostile targets. Offensive power of Energy Bolts increases with Skill Level and Vitality. Lasts for 5 minutes. Duration increases with Endurance.
Would you like to learn this skill?
YesNo
¡°So it makes me beefier but gives me a bit of offensive power at random. I should probably try to learn how to train Vitality, though I doubt this duck-wannabe will tell me anything¡­¡± ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll learn it¡± The knowledge on how to use the skill was imprinted on his mind. The knowledge on how to operate the barrier was very straightforward. Exactly like the skill described, Koji had no control over the bolts it shot. Surprisingly, it seems like they are homing bolts. They lock onto any hostile living being by targeting their own Qi. ¡°Does that mean it won¡¯t work against things that are not alive? What if there are only allies around before the skill duration ends?¡± Despite obtaining intuitive knowledge about the skill from the Sigil Imprint, it was not a perfect knowledge. He would have to figure some things out by experience. Koji was deep in thought, when Bill gave him a whistle. ¡°Let¡¯s move, slowpoke. I want to finish this quickly.¡± They left through a straight corridor that lead to an identical room from before. Except in the middle of this one, stood a marble pillar. At the opposite side of where they came in from, there was another passage. ¡°That is the altar. In Item Retrieval Rooms, that¡¯s where you put the objective in to clear the Level. Lastly, whenever you want to know how much time is left to clear the object, you just have to try and think about it. It will come to you instantly. ¡± ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Koji confirmed the information. As he thought about the time remaining, he realized there were 5 hours and 30 minutes left. Most of the time consumed by Bill¡¯s explanations, since the fight with the goblin only really lasted a couple of minutes. ¡°Pretty much, now all you gotta do is go to next room, kill the boss and move on to the next Level, where you will meet your Clan and we will officially get you started on the competition. Whenever you come in contact with a new game system and it is determined that you are in need of an official explanation, I¡¯ll appear and Guide you through it. Otherwise, you have to discover it on your own. I¡¯m out¡­ and try not to die in the Tutorial. That would be too embarrassing.¡± The talking platypus disappeared, leaving Koji alone in the room. ¡°Well, I wanted more info, but I¡¯m kinda glad I don¡¯t have to pay attention to him anymore. Now, I get some real playtime.¡± Koji walked through the corridor but stopped at the entrance of the room the Boss was in. This one was much more spacious than the others, there were obstacles like big rocks and a few tress spread around. It looked artificial, like someone had purposely placed those things there to make the field more interesting. As he scanned the room, he identified his target. A 2m tall bipedal lizard. Its skin had a grey tone and his body was mildly muscular. A long tail moved around the back and it was carrying a short crude spear made of stone and wearing a crude leather vest that left the abdomen exposed as well as some weird baggy brown pants. Koji observed its movements for a while, before returning to the previous room. He then retrieved the pocket knife out of his inventory. Since he planned on using the crossbow to fight and considering he now had a dagger, albeit a very dangerous one, Koji decided to use the pocket knife to test his skill. He could get a great equipment to help him fight the kobold at a relatively low cost. The great feeling of playing Loot Slots also greatly affected this decision. ¡°Old pal, you have served me well in these last years, please bless me in the gambling I¡¯m about to do.¡± As he thought that, he chuckled, happy about the prospect of finally using a Skill. He held the pocket knife firmly in his hand and recalled the Sigil of the Gambler¡¯s Pride Skill. Using a skill felt like contracting a muscle. Koji could be the sigil deep somewhere inside him. As he activated it, he felt a numbness in his spine and a little lightheadedness and then the knife in his hand turned to dust. He could feel the Sigil turning off, as the Skill went on Cooldown.
Equipment Lottery Activated. Determining results....
Congratulations! You Got... Japtem!
10 TP has been added to your inventory.
¡°¡­¡­. Shit. I thought this was my lucky day. Better than nothing I guess.¡± He then used on of the darts to mark a spot in one of the plants that had overgrown the walls, equipped the crossbow on his left arm and walked back about 5m. He didn¡¯t want to risk going into battle never having fired the crossbow before, so it was time for some target practice. The ammo was limited, so he decided to take 2 shots as practice. Even though it was his first time using such a weapon, it wasn¡¯t difficult at all to operate it. The problem was aiming it, of course. The first shot he missed the target by 0.5m, not too bad considering the amount of previous practice he had. He adjusted his aiming, closed his right eye, held his breath in and shot. The dart hit the side of the target, missing by about 10cm. Not quite sniper precision, but decent enough. Then he decided to give a look over his Status once more before going into battle.
Status Window
Name:Koji KawamuraRace:Human
TP:10
Attributes
Strength:0.2Dexterity:0.3
Vitality:0.2Endurance:0.2
Perception:0.5Willpower:0.6
Mental Power:0.5
Skill List
Gambler''s Pride(A)LVL 1/10Chaotic Barrier(A)LVL 1/20
Inventory
Light Arm Crossbow[L-Hand|L-Arm]Rabit Foot Necklace[Neck]
Korlag''s Vessel of Rage98x Small Darts[Ammo]
Having done all he could to prepare, Koji decided it was time to tackle the Boss. Metaphorically and quite possibly literally, considering his last encounter. He positioned himself by the entrance of the boss rooms and slowly crouched behind a big rock. The kobold had not noticed him, but Koji, on the other hand, had a clear line of sight to shoot. He was positioned about 12m to the front-left side of the kobold. He decided he would try a hit-and-run strategy using the crossbow to poke at his enemy and when the Kobold got close, he would activate the Chaotic Barrier and pull out his Crazy Dagger, the nickname he came up with for Korlag¡¯s Vessel of Rage. There wasn¡¯t that much problem with going berserk here, since there was really one enemy. But losing control of his mind was not very appealing to Koji, so he would try and avoid it if possible. He raised his already equipped crossbow and started concentrating for his first shot. * SWOOSH* The dart crossed the distance between them and hit the Kobold in the genital area. Not quite the head Koji was aiming for, but that was sure to do some serious damage, if that creature had anything down there, of course. The creature screamed and pulled the dart out, throwing it aside and staring viciously to the man who shot it. It grasped its lance tightly and started dashing towards the direction the dart came from, preparing to skewer Koji. Koji started moving away from the Kobold as he clumsily prepared another dart. Doing that while moving was a lot harder than standing. By the time the dart was ready to fire, the Kobold had already closed in to a distance of about 5m. Koji glanced over his shoulder extended his left arm towards the Kobold and shot again, this time hitting him in the abdomen. Koji gave himself a mental thumbs up for hitting his target for the first time. But as Koji retrieved another dart to load, the creature suddenly sped up, quickly covering the ground between them. Caught off guard, Koji only had time to activate the Chaotic Barrier skill before his enemy¡¯s spear pierced in his direction and a translucent glow permeated the outside of his body, like he had been perfectly encircled by a bubble. When it was about to hit Koji¡¯s chest, It got deflected to the side, like it had hit armor. The kobold lost his balance for a moment, which Koji used to equip the Crazy Dagger on his right hand. He started to feel the anger building up the moment his hands gripped the dagger. As the kobold reestablished its stance, Koji shot forward with his most familiar strike, a stabbing attack aiming for the throat. The kobold used the spear¡¯s shaft to deflect, his hands perfectly positioning for a counter-attack. But as he was about to pierce Koji, the ethereal barrier that surrounded him got distorted for a moment and a small light-blue bolt the size of 2 finger shot towards the room boss, hitting him square in the face. It barely left a small cut, but bought a moment of distraction that Koji used to land a clean stab on the same spot the dart had hit before. The unusual precision in his strike an effect of the rage consuming him. At this point he entered the Frenzied state. His eyes were bloodshot and veins were visible on his unimpressive muscles. Inside Koji¡¯s mind, only one word echoed: ¡°KILL! KILL!¡± He pulled out the dagger from the kobold¡¯s belly and tumbled backwards, as the creature attempted to stab him. He got up quickly and advanced towards the kobold, who returned with another quick thrust. Koji spun to his left, dodging the blow and quickly taking his opponent¡¯s back by holding the neck with his free arm. He lifted the creature¡¯s head a little, exposing the neck and proceeded to slit it open with the dagger, killing it instantly.
Congratulations! You have killed the Boss. Level Cleared. Please step into the portal to proceed to the next Level.
As the notification faded away. A light flashed and a familiar wooden container appeared. Level Zero - Final As the Kobold was killed, the unending rage flowing through Koji¡¯s mind started to diminish and he felt back in control. There was also a change in the color of the blade. It had changed from red to the color of regular iron. It probably meant that the Dagger¡¯s Frenzy option was on Cooldown. After retrieving the weapon, Koji opened up his brand new gift box AKA Wooden Chest. To his disappointment, this time there were only 2 things inside: a coin with 50 written on it and a pair of leather gloves.
Leather Gloves
Simple leather gloves for extra protection. Armor(Gloves)
Gloves SlotNo Options
¡°I suppose my earlier drops were a fluke... And my second chest was a rare one. Well, thanks to my gambler skill I can find use for these kind of trash drops.¡± Koji decided to use the gloves later as Betting material. The little bit of extra protection could turn out to be important but he doubted it would be much use against strong opponents anyway. As for the coin, when he picked it up he simply got a notification.
50 TP has been added to your inventory.
¡°I¡¯m not sure of the value of this currency yet... Considering I got 10 as japtem, 50 is probably not much either¡±The familiar portal appeared in the end of the room. Koji took a bit of time to rest and recover his energies. He checked the time and still had 5 hours left in the clock. ¡°Hmm¡­ Bill said that after every Level we get Hub time. But this is Level 0. People are supposed to go straight into the next one right after defeating the easy first boss. But that is not really the best option, is it?¡±Staying for the entire duration of the Time Limit. The more he thought about it, the more he felt confident in this gamble. If he was right, he could gain a headstart on his competitors, or at the very least make it up a bit for his physical ineptitude. He felt his Gambler¡¯s Pride Cooldown and realized it was only 15 minutes away from coming back up, while Chaotic Barrier had 10 minutes left. ¡°I wonder if I just activate the skill outside of combat, can I increase my levels in it like that? I don¡¯t think they would make it easy like that¡­ but it shouldn¡¯t hurt to try, right?¡±He took that time to rest and right as Chaotic Barrier CD was up he activated it. The translucent armor covered him but nothing else happened. No bolts were shot either. The duration ended just as his other skill came back. He opened his Status but nothing had changed. He tried focusing on the individual skill. An individual screen popped up.
Chaotic Barrier
Active Skill (Defense) CD: 15 minutes
Creates an unstable defensive barrier around the user by condensing the vital energy, Qi. The barrier durability increases with Skill Level and Vitality. Will shoot out Energy Bolts randomly towards hostile targets. Offensive power of Energy Bolts increases with Skill Level and Vitality. Lasts for 5 minutes. Duration increases with Endurance.
¡°It¡¯s the same. There is no way to track the progress to the next Level, so I can¡¯t tell if I¡¯m getting anything out of this.¡±Not wanting to waste any more time with this, he activated Gambler¡¯s Pride, betting the gloves he had gotten previously.
Equipment Lottery Activated. Determining results....
Congratulations! You Got... Equal Equip!
Crude Sledgehammer has been added to your inventory.
Koji immediately equipped the item from his inventory. When it was materialized in his hands, he discovered that it was too heavy for him to use. He could barely lift the thing, using it combat would be next to impossible. Well he could just use it to gamble again after the skill came back. After thinking this, he realized a hidden strength of his skill. As long as he got any Equip, even if it was useless to him, he could use it to Gamble again. Since using the skills didn¡¯t give him any sign if they were improving or not, he decided it would best to use the time left to train his weak body. After all, Bill had made it very clear that training was the main method of raising attributes. Out of those, Strength and Endurance seemed to be the most straightforward to train. For Strength, he could just keep practicing with the Sledgehammer. He could also do some bodyweight exercises like pushups and squats. For Endurance, all he had to do was run some laps around the Level. After pondering a bit, Koji thought it was best to train his endurance. Right now, other than relying on Crazy Dagger, his main method of Fighting was a hit-and-run strategy, using his crossbow to poke and his Barrier for protection whenever the enemy got close enough. To keep that up against stronger enemies he had to be able to keep running for extended periods of time. It also had the added benefit of increasing the duration of the Barrier. Although how much it would increase was still a Mystery. He wanted to train Vitality, but had no idea how to do that right now. Having made up his mind, he retrieved the sledgehammer and started to jog around the room. After doing a few laps, he was feeling bored and decided to go back to the previous rooms just to add some variety to the runs. Once he got back to the first room, he saw something that surprised him. There was a small goblin there, identical to the one he had killed before. ¡°Oh... so they come back after a while... then if I keep killing them...¡± He discovered something RPG players were very familiar with. The joy of farming a Spawn Point.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.
On another corner of this galaxy, a hooded figure was busy working on a dozen screens, keyboards and joysticks. It was frenetically typing, controlling something, running calculations, monitoring the screens and doing God¡¯s know what else, when a tall, red-skinned, humanoid entered the dark room. He was wearing a grey dress hat that had holes for his 2 long horns. His face had a permanent sarcastic feature. On his body, he was wearing a stylish grey vest over a purple shirt with a silver bowtie in the middle. Grey pants and purple dress shoes made up the lower part of his attire. On his hand, a beautifully carved cane with an exact golden replica of his head on top. ¡°Boss, how can I help?¡± The figure pulled its hood back, revealing head with almost a hundred eyes that circled around his pearl-shaped head, spreading around 360¡ã. Even as he spoke in a robotic manner, he never stopped working. He was a Monitor, a creature responsible for tracking, monitoring and reporting on hundreds of Level X competitors. ¡°How are the new contestants doing? Any interesting prospects we should keep your eyes on?¡± The devil-like humanoid had a smooth, deep voice that would make one feel like hearing Jazz music as he spoke. ¡°11% of the participants have grasped the secret of Level 0. We have a few prospects that secured a significant advantage.¡± ¡°11% huh? That¡¯s significantly higher than when we last ran a Human Season.¡± ¡°Yes, apparently, humans have taken a keener interest on games in the last few decades. Their experience with them makes identifying these sorts of opportunities more easily.¡± ¡°I see. Any interesting Skills dropped?¡± ¡°Let¡¯s see. We have a few strong Skills already, like the Golden Hammer and Despair Zone. There is also a Gambler skill. I remember you are fond of those.¡± ¡°Oh really?¡± The boss laughed in a manly way as he started exiting the room. ¡°Mark the stronger prospects. I¡¯ll take a look at their footage later. Also, let me know if this Gambler makes past Level 2. If he survives until then, he will become an interesting candidate for the spotlight.¡± ¡°Of course, boss¡±
He was finally done. Koji had farmed the goblins for the last 4 hours and 30 minutes. He killed the first goblin by shooting with the crossbow a few times as he ran around it, then moving in to finish the job with the dagger. He activated the barrier right as he closed the distance, eliminating the possibility of the goblin counter-attacking, repeating the same method. The respawn time was 30 minutes, he discovered. It took about 5 minutes to kill a goblin so he had 25 minutes in between. That time was used to do some Endurance training by running around the room. He also sometimes did pushups and tried to swing the sledgehammer to break the monotony and rested a bit before the next fight. In total, he had done that 10 times, leaving 35 minutes on the clock. The results were: +0.2 Endurance, +0.1 Strength, +0.1 Willpower, 0.1 Dexterity. Every time he reached a 0.1 increase, he got a notification. The increases to Endurance and Strength were expected, since he was training for it. But the last 2 increased as he fought the creature. Dexterity, he got while running around and shooting the 6th goblin. Willpower he got when the Dagger went off Cooldown. It eventually dominated him, but he tried hard to resist, and got an increase for it. He also found out he could now resist the effect of the Frenzy for almost 2 minutes before going berserk. Additionally, he had gotten much better aiming the crossbow while running. As for his skills, he was using Barrier in every fight and it was always off cooldown for the next one. After he activated it on the 2nd goblin, the level increased. The bolt that occasionally shot out of it was now the size of a fist and was significantly more powerful, managing to momentarily stun the goblin whenever it hit. He also used the gambler skill whenever it was off Cooldown. He had gotten a Wooden Chest out of the 2nd goblin killed and it yielded him 30 more TP and an iron ring with no special options. He used the iron ring to Bet and got nothing out of it. But the skill Leveled up. But as he killed the goblins he didn¡¯t get any more drops until the 9th one. He decided not to use the Sledgehammer to bet because it was useful as training tool for Strength. He also tried using Darts to bet but it didn¡¯t work. Therefore, he had to wait until another wooden chest to use Gambler¡¯s Pride again. This time he had gotten 2 items: simple leather boots and a Short Spear. The boots had no Options and so he decided weren¡¯t worth keeping and used it to Gamble. Again, he got Nothing.
Short Spear
A common short spear. Mostly used for thrusting attacksWeapon(Spear)
1-Hand SlotNo options
He tried the new weapon out on the last enemy. It was a light spear that could be handled well with just one hand. But using both to wield it gave a significant boost to its piercing power. After killing the 10th goblin with a spear thrust to the gut. He stored the weapon and walked in front of the portal. He decided it would be best to wait for 30 minutes, since he was completely sore all over his body. For some reason, the recovery speed in this place was significantly higher than usual, seeing that he would never be able to do that sort of strenuous activity for almost 5 hours. He would rest for 30 minutes and leave with 10 minutes left on the clock for safety. He checked his Status, feeling proud of his progress.
Status Window
Name:Koji KawamuraRace:Human
TP:90
Attributes
Strength:0.3Dexterity:0.4
Vitality:0.2Endurance:0.4
Perception:0.5Willpower:0.7
Mental Power:0.5
Skill List
Gambler''s Pride(A)LVL 2/10Chaotic Barrier(A)LVL 2/20
Inventory
Rabbit Foot Necklace[Neck]Light Arm Crossbow
Korlag¡¯s Vessel of Rage60x Small Darts[Ammo]
Crude SledgehammerShort Spear
After the rest period. He stepped into the portal feeling more confident and anxious about the challenges that waited for him. Unlike in his previous life, he wasn¡¯t overwhelmed by it, but rather felt excited at this new opportunity. He would not waste this second chance like he wasted his previous life. Level One - Pt. 1
You have entered Level 1 ¨C Extermination Level
Enemy Count: 26
Time Limit: 2 hours
Koji stepped out of the portal and opened his eyes. He was in a cave-like environment with stone walls and stalactites all around. Only this time there were 2 more humans with him. One of them was a blonde 40-something man who was on the floor trying to lift his torso up, like he was trying to sit down. He was wearing a black shirt and a suit and on the bottom, he had sweat pants and slippers on. The mismatch was very strange. He had a full beard and was wearing glasses. The other person was a 1,80m tall woman that appeared to be latin and around her 30s. She had shoulder-length black hair tied back in ponytail and was wearing gym clothing, with a tight top that displayed her incredible abs and grey spandex. Her entire body was shredded. Her shoulders were larger than most men and her thighs and butt looked like those of a horse. But most of all, those abs were a realm above. They had even surpassed the 6-pack level and had rose to the 8-pack level. She had a serious expression that matched her imposing body. Perceiving Koji¡¯s gaze, who at this point was open-mouthedly staring at the woman, she glared angrily at him. ¡°What you looking at chicken limbs? Did you lose a Pokemon on my face or something?¡± ¡°Ehh¡­ Sorry, I thought you were a Machamp. But then I realized you only have two arms.¡± He replied with a devilish smile. ¡°I have no idea what that means, but I feel like you are mocking me.¡± ¡°How could I mock a lady such as yourself?¡± As the two were exchanging ¡°greetings¡±, the blonde man suddenly got lifted up and a wheelchair appeared beneath him. It was a sports wheelchair that looked like it was painted by an angry teenager with Skulls designed all-around it. The man adjusted himself a little on the chair. ¡°Ok, you two. Stop with the flirting. You forgot this is a time trial? Any second wasted decreases our chances of survival. Since it looks like we are a team, let¡¯s briefly introduce ourselves and give a short briefing about our Skills and Equipments. I¡¯ll start. My name is Dr. Ferdinand Chester. I¡¯m a professor and researcher in the field of Sports Science. I have a Monster Taming skill that allows me to form a pact with a monster and use it in combat. I made a pact with a Hellhound that came in a capsule with the starter kit. His name is Musky and he is a dog-like creature that can use a Fire Area Attack and has exceptional speed. For Equipments I have a common Iron Dagger and this special wheelchair that allows me to move rather well. Ah yes, I¡¯m paraplegic, so I can¡¯t move my lower limbs. Lady, you go next.¡± ¡°Ahh. Right. I¡¯m Lucia Herrera. I¡¯m a kickboxing instructor and professional bodybuilder. I have a Spartan Shield that has the special option of creating a projectile-deflecting barrier in a 180o degree in front of it. My skill is Dragon Kick. Basically, I can throw a high power, super fast flying kick every 10 minutes. It¡¯s very exhausting to use though. I also have an Iron Club and some Leather Boots.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Koji Kawamura. I¡¯m a¡­. professional¡­ poker¡­ player, I guess. Not that it matters now anyway. For skills, I have Gambler¡¯s Pride, which allows me to use items as gambling material to maybe get better stuff or jack shit. I also have Chaotic Barrier. It creates a barrier that defends from attacks and randomly shoots out bolts of energy. For equipment I have a Rabbit Foot Necklace that increases my drop rates, a Crazy Dagger, that makes me strong as fuck but also insane, a common Short Spear, a Sledgehammer and this cool Crossbow, along with Darts to use with.¡± ¡°Well, fuck me¡­ You are one luck SOB aren¡¯t you?¡± Lucia protested after hearing the amount of stuff Koji had gotten on Level 0. Dr. Ferdinand acted cool but internally was also surprised by it. ¡°We can talk about that later. So, Miss Herrera is a Close-Range Warrior-type. You are going to be our frontline. My Musky is good at flanking targets and dishing out Area damage with his Fire Spray. But you... Mister Kawamura¡­ what is your style of fighting? I can¡¯t deduce too much based on what you told me.¡± ¡°Call me Koji, it¡¯s weird to hear my last name like that. Anyways¡­ so¡­ style¡­ it¡¯s Hit-and-Run, probably? And then using Crazy Dagger when I can¡¯t.¡± ¡°I see, so you use the Crossbow and the Barrier to injure the opponents from a distance and then we that fails you use the so-called Crazy Dagger ability. What about the spear and sledgehammer?¡± ¡°I only used the spear once on Floor 0, most of the goblins I killed with the tactic you so eloquently described. The Sledgehammer is too heavy for me to use in combat.¡± ¡°Wait, what do you mean Goblin¡±S¡±. We only had one Goblin and one Kobold to fight on Level 0 right?¡± Lucia asked in surprise. ¡°That¡¯s the requirement to clear the Level. But you could have used the remaining time to practice and hunt more Goblins on the first room. We can discuss that later¡­ we are being timed, don¡¯t forget.¡± Dr. Ferdinand hurried the team. He was a very efficient person that hated wasting time on pointless banter even back on the previous world. On this one, where time was even more valuable, he hated it even more. ¡°So, our standard tactic is: Ms. Herrera will hold the frontline, I was thinking of having you use the Sledgehammer, but it would be inefficient, so just use your club. I¡¯ll be in the back controlling Musky, who will try and pick enemies from the sides and blast with his Fire. I can¡¯t do too much directly, but I have a few tricks with this wheelchair if they get past her. Koji, you flank from the sides too, using your Hit and Run tactic as much as possible. Please refrain from using your Dagger unless you are alone. I don¡¯t want to have to deal with a crazy teammate. You should probably use the spear whenever enemies get close to you. Are we all on the same page here?¡± ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do this.¡± Lucia said equipping her items. The shield had the color of bronze and an inverted V carved in the middle of it. Her iron club was very much like a Baseball Bat. She gripped them tightly and gave the club a few practice swings in the air. Koji equipped his Crossbow on the left arm and the Spear on the Right. He suddenly realized something. His Gambler¡¯s Pride was off Cooldown, so he should probably use it. Thinking about the items he had we didn¡¯t want to use It on the sledgehammer since it could be used to train Strength. He then remembered Lucia¡¯s items. If he could get her to trade her boots for the sledgehammer, it wouldn¡¯t be too much of a loss, since he could just borrow it to practice. Apart from defending against the stray arrow to the foot, those boots weren¡¯t much better than the running shoes she was wearing before anyway.Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. ¡°Hey Supergirl, trade items with me. Your boots for my Sledgehammer.¡± ¡°Are you sure? I don¡¯t mind, since they are pretty worthless but¡­¡± ¡°Yeah, I can¡¯t use them anyway right now. Deal?¡± ¡°Deal¡± Koji retrieved the Sledgehammer and struggling lifted the weapon to hand it to Lucia. A notification popped. Are you sure you wish to transfer [Crude Sledgehammer] to [Lucia]? He mentally said Yes. Lucia stored the item and pulled out the boots, handing them to Koji and doing the same thing with the notification. You received [Leather Boots] from [Lucia]. As soon as he mentally dismissed the notification, he activated Gambler¡¯s Pride. Upon reaching LVL 2 of the skill the Chance Table had changed, making the rates more favorable.
Chance Table
Nothing:50%Japtem15%
Lesser Equip:10%Equal Equip:13%
Better Equip:11%JACKPOT:1%
Equipment Lottery Activated. Determining results....
Congratulations! You Got... Japtem!
x10 Small Darts have been added to your inventory.
¡°So that¡¯s how it works huh? What was the result?¡± Asked Dr. Ferdinand. ¡°I got japtem¡­ a few darts. The chances to drop something good is actually only 12%.¡± ¡°I see. Enough of that, we have to move!¡± As he said that he made gesture. Suddenly, a black circle with red drawings of weird symbols appeared on the floor. After a few moments, a black vulture pounced forward and landed by Ferdinand¡¯s side. It¡¯s speed was indeed astonishing. The Hellhound looked like a Black German Shephard but with a slightly more feral look with fangs protruding out of his mouth. Another detail was that his tail had a purple flame burning along the top of it. Without uttering a single more word, the group began moving towards the corridor that likely led to their first battle. After walking a bit, they reached the entrance of another chamber of this cave complex they were in. It had no outstanding features other than a few stalactites hanging from the ceiling. In the middle of the room were 6 goblins similar to the ones present in Level 0, except they were a bit more muscular and were carrying swords instead of clubs. Two of them were also had small shields. ¡°They have no ranged weaponry, by the looks of it. Koji, begin the fight by shooting darts from maximum distance, we will stay close together to draw them in so that Musky can maximize his Fire Spray. After that we reset to basic formation, everybody clear?¡± Ferdinand said with a confident voice. The professor was also a coach for his university¡¯s Rugby team, so he had experience commanding squads like this. His clear thinking and eloquent speech also contributed to the point where Koji and Lucia had not even thought about doing anything differently. Of course, that was only because the plan made sense. If the professor proposed something absurd they wouldn¡¯t hesitate to question him. The two nodded silently and Koji began moving in position to shoot. He aimed at the Goblin without a shield closest to him, in order to increase his chances at hitting accurately. The creature was standing 10m away. He held his breath and aimed for the head. *SWOOSH* The arrow missed and hit the goblin on the left side of his chest. The group was alerted and as the goblin hit shouted in pain they began charging towards the players. Ferdinand¡¯s plan was spot on though. Due to their low intelligence, the goblins all charged close to each other, making themselves a perfect target for Musky¡¯s Fire Spray area attack. However, right as they had closed half the distance, Koji had readied another dart and shot at the same target as before, this time hitting him square in the middle of his head, the effort of his previous training paying off. The goblin fell on the floor and after squirming around a bit, stopped moving. Meanwhile, the rest of the goblins had closed in to a 1m distance to Lucia who was holding position another 2m in front of Ferdinand. Then, a black figure dashed to the right side of Lucia and drew his breath and sprayed a cone of flame towards the goblins, hitting 3 of the 5 left. The effects of the flame weren¡¯t completely devastating, but dealt enough damage to stop them for a moment. Lucia took the opportunity and jumped, throwing an incredible flying straight kick to one of the goblins who wasn¡¯t hit by the fire. ¡°DRAGON KICK!!!¡± Shouting the skill name wasn¡¯t really necessary, but she felt amazing doing it, so it didn¡¯t matter. The shout also somewhat served as a battlecry. Weakening the morale of the goblins a bit. The creature¡¯s head folded in a weird angle and fell to the floor. The only goblin left who wasn¡¯t burning charged forward and slashed at Lucia with a horizontal attack that Lucia managed to block with her shield. Just as she deflected the attack, a Dart came flying and hit the ground between her and the goblin, almost hitting her left foot. She looked at the source with anger. ¡°My bad!¡± Koji shouted a bit farther away. He decided it was best to stop using the darts and unequipped the crossbow, holding the short spear with both hands and advancing to attack the closest enemy. From the other side, Musky did not waste any time as Ferdinand coordinated with him to launch a devastating claw sweep at one of the burning enemies, who tired blocking with his shield. But the attack was too fast, opening a large gash at his neck, killing it instantly. The hellhound then jumped at another one and pounced him to the ground, completely ignoring the flames and taking another neck, this time using his bite. In a blink of an eye, 2 enemies were on the floor bleeding to death. The creature was indeed powerful. In the meantime, Koji had closed the distance and launched a thrusting attack at the goblin, who defected the blow to the side with the shield. But Lucia noticed the movement and used the opening to hit with her club at the goblin¡¯s exposed abdomen. The impact made it stagger and soon another swing came from Koji who had recuperated. The spearhead penetrated through the left eye of the goblin. As Koji pulled the spear out it fell dead on the floor. The remaining two were quickly disposed, with Musky claiming another victim and Lucia bashing the head of another. The fight was quick, taking them a little over 5 minutes. ¡°YEAHHHH!!! SUCK IT BITCHES!!¡± Lucia was shouting at the dead enemies while flexing her impressive muscles. ¡®Goddamn crazy musclehead¡¯ ¡°Well done. We should wait for our Cooldowns to restore before moving on. If I recall correctly, your skill is on a ten minute CD right Ms. Herrera?¡± ¡°Yep!¡± She sounded pretty energetic for someone who just went through a life-or-death battle. But then again, she was used to this. More than that, this was the kind of situation she thrived in. A few years back, she almost became a professional fighter. A knee injury, however, cut her dreams short. ¡°We move in 10. Rest up and stay sharp, we can¡¯t be sure that more monster won¡¯t appear. By the way, you didn¡¯t use your skill right Koji?¡± ¡°Didn¡¯t have to. I wasn¡¯t even targeted in this fight thanks to our effective meatshield.¡± He glanced sarcastically at Lucia. ¡°Oh yeah I almost forgot.¡± She came close to Koji, looked him in the eyes and slapped him mildly in the face with the back of her hand. ¡°DID YOU JUST PIMP SLAPPED ME? Why?¡± ¡°That¡¯s for almost hitting me in the foot with that crossbow. Aim better next time, dumbass!¡± ¡°I suppose I deserve that. But your feet are pretty BIG targets, if you know what I mean¡­¡± ¡°Motherfucker, don¡¯t make me choke you to death.¡± Although they were cursing and screaming at each other, both clearly had a slight grin on their faces. Koji liked to joke around like that and Lucia was a perfect partner in crime, coming back to him every time. It reminded him of when he used to joke around with his buddies back in college. Dr. Ferdinand just stayed silently petting Musky who was obediently sitting next to him. And just like that 10 minutes passed. ¡°Time is up. Let¡¯s go.¡± ¡°Yes General!¡± Koji shouted. Lucia smiled and nodded her head sideways. Even Ferdinand gave a slight smile. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t appreciate humor. He knew very well the benefits it had to morale and team synergy. He just wasn¡¯t very talented at it, so he preferred maintaining a serious demeanor. With that, they walked forward to the next challenge.