Inside An Ad*lt Game As A Former Hero - Chapter 33

“Hey, is the monster’s nest still far away?”

It was about an hour after I started climbing the mountain. The little boy named Chris began to whimper as he shrugged his shoulders.

Xenia read through him.

“Chris, haven’t we just left? Be patient with this.”

“Atleast, we have to know where we are going. Mister, you didn’t even tell us where that monster’s nest is.”

“I will tell you that later. That’s why you got that big sum as payment. Isn’t it so?”

“It is, but…”

Chris’ momentum waned a bit. Taking advantage of that timing, that uncle guy… Kurba interjected.

“No, Xenia. As your son said, this is important. We don’t even know where the monster’s nest is, moreover, we don’t know the identity of the monsters too. If left unchecked, this can be life-threatening.”

“Ah… is that so…?”

Kurba talked with his arms crossed, pretending to be cool.

Seeing this, Xenia’s reaction was not very good.

No matter how young she may look, she is the mother of a son in his mid-teens.

The clerk said that she had been an adventurer even before she had children, so her career as an adventurer must be more than Kurba, not less.

Naturally, she won’t look good when someone with lesser experience than her, tries to undermines her authority in front of her son.

Of course, Kurba had no intention of offending her.

He must have been planning to take it step by step while gaining the favor of those around her.

“Right? Am I right? Look mama, I’m right!”

He even won the favor of her child as he thought.

“…I see. Mom was wrong.”

However, unknown to him, it lowered the affection of Xenia, who was more important.

‘But, well, it’s time to start talking slowly.’

When I gathered the adventurers, I did not give out the cause—dungeon exploration.

If I said it out directly, it’s definitely going to attract a lot of attention.

They can sell the location of the dungeon or even be threatened by others to know the dungeon’s location, after which, someone will come out to steal it.

I will be bothered no matter what.

So, I took out the cause of subjugating a monster nest instead.

And now that we have climbed the mountain for quite some time, and are still far away from the city, now was the time to bring out the true purpose.

I told the real purpose of bringing them.

“What?! Dungeon?!”

“Wow, great. A dungeon?”

“…Really?”

The reactions were different, but they had the same thing in common.

“So that’s why… that’s why the down payment is so huge…”

In Xenia’s case, she was even readily convinced. She also had doubts like Kurba, there was no way she wouldn’t have such doubts. Because it was a slightly suspicious quest if anyone looked over it carefully.

The big down payment was the only thing that made her shut up.

Anyway, the three of them followed me above the mountain with a brighter expression than before.

So we climbed for a few more hours and arrived at a pond surrounded by peach trees.

“Eh? Where is the dungeon here?”

“Wait, mister.”

I took off my clothes along with my armor.

“H, Huh?! W-What happened, why are you taking off your clothes?”

Xenia covered her eyes and turned her head away.

“There is a mechanism that opens the dungeon under this pond.”

“Ah, that’s good.”

“…why is mommy’s face red?”

“Hey, boy! When did mommy had any red on her face?!”

Xenia and Chris quarreled just because of that.

“…”

Kurba was looking at me with hostility present in his eyes.

Hehe, I see why. No matter what others say, some people are born handsome.

Even if I just sleep, charm will radiate on its own, just because of that simple action, what to do?

After some light stretches, I threw myself into the pond. It was a clear pond, so I could see the fishes swimming around me.

Among the fishes, there was also this guy, the size of my forearm, he seemed to recognize me as a big prey and opened his mouth to stick out his sharp teeths.

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‘What’s with this bastard?’

I grabbed the head and tail of the fish that dared to teeth on me and bit on its fleshy nape.

It was tougher than I thought, so my jaw ached, but I couldn’t just leave the guy who dared to go backwards in the food chain.

After that, I scoured the bottom of the lake, swinging the naughty fish who tried to go backwards in the food chain, to and fro.

‘Found it.’

I found a chain attached to a round ring hidden between the rocks.

I grabbed the ring and pulled it up with force.

Kugugung-

With a loud sound, the structure of the pond began to change.

The miracle of Moses unfolded in the middle of the pond.

The water was divided into two halves, creating a staircase from above to the bottom of the pond.

I swam up to the middle of the lake and came out of the water. As I went up the stairs, I could see the three people looking at the pond with their mouths wide open.

After putting on my clothes and gear, I gestured to them.

“Are you guys going to remain surprised? We still have a dungeon to clear.”

Only then the three of them came back to their senses and followed me.

As I went down the stairs and continued walking, the stony floor splited on both sides.

A large stone gate appeared.

-Prove your qualifications.

The three adventurers panicked at the sudden sound. I gashed my palm with a dagger, soaked it in enough blood, and brought it to the stone gate.

– Qualified. Entry allowed.

The stone door opened with a rattling sound. As the four of us entered, the stone gate closed immediately. The sound of water pouring over the stone gate was heard.

“…how will we get out of here later?’

Xenia asked in a worried tone, to which I chuckled.

“You haven’t found the treasure yet, are you already worried about going out?”

“Ah… that’s right, but…”

“I know how to get out, so don’t worry and just focus on the dungeon for now. And as I’ve said before, I’m going to make it clear once again. Treasures from the dungeon will be distributed evenly. However, the treasure from the 30th floor is mine. Do you all agree?”

“…Isn’t the lowest level floor’s treasure the best?”

“…”

“Ah, all right! I just asked, come on. Don’t look at me like that!”

I blankly stared at him, and this Chris guy’s dissatisfaction was corrected.

It seems like this guy’s gonna be later catched up by Xenia and educated strictly again. His actions are no different from middle school students who fight at simple eye contact.

‘Is that how he increased his adventurer grade…?’

I used to do that when I worked with tough mercenaries back in those days.

I glanced at the party members.

A young-looking mother who cares about her son’s bangs and a son who hates such an action.

The man who spies at the young-looking mother with wretched looks.

Well. I don’t really need to.

“…let’s go.”

Pulling out my torch, I stepped into the dark cave.

* * *

The 1st to 5th floors of the dungeon are made up of caves. Goblins live here, and these goblins are not ordinary goblins.

Hobgoblins, goblin shamans, goblin knights, etc.

All kinds of mutant goblins roam around on these floors.

Among them, the goblin knights seem to be a bit inconsistent, but…

“Damn! Why is a goblin, a green a**ed goblin better armed than me?!”

These guys wore full plate armor like real knights.

Thanks to which, Chris had to go through the infamous experience of getting a soul match with a goblin.

When I saw it, a lot of things naturally came to my mind.

‘The goblin knights I saw in the game were of level 15. Chris’ level is 16.’

Goblin knights or any other goblins, they are just mobs in the game.

A miscellaneous mob that dies facing 3 to 5 attacks in case of player’s or allies’ normal attacks and in 1 to 2 attacks in case of a skill.

However, Chris was fighting such a mob in equal measure. Even though he’s one level ahead.

‘An unimportant npc is an unimportant npc…’

Growth potential is limited.

‘An unimportant npc is an unimportant npc…’

Growth potential is limited.

You might think that Chris is simply weak now because of his low level, but that’s being too optimistic about the situation.

One has to rather look at it objectively.

Now that it’s the top floor of the dungeon, only weak monsters like goblins will appear for a while, but the quality changes as one goes downwards.

Levels 15-20 monsters will appear on floors 5-10.

Level 20-25 monsters will appear on floors 10-15.

Levels 25-30 monsters will appear on floors 15-20.

In that structure, the level of monsters gradually rises, and when one reaches the bottom most floors, the monsters in their 40s will appear to ‘greet’ you.

On the other hand, the level of adventurers on my side is 23, 16, and 21.

In order to reach the 30th floor, I have to make them grow eventually.

Of course, I have no intention of putting them in any danger.

Because I plan to finish dangerous monsters and bosses alone.

They only need to grow to the extent that they do not just burp down easily on the lower floors.

‘…Is it possible?’

I honestly don’t know. Whatever, just gonna try. Even if it fails, I will still have two more chances.

Besides, even if it really fails this time, there are many ways to keep these three’s mouths shut until I clear the dungeon.

“Hh? There, that place. Isn’t that the place Mr. Cloud talked about?”

Xenia pointed towards a goblin camp with a large totem and surrounded by leather fence on all sides.

This is the boss zone of the 5th floor.

“It seems right. Miss Xenia has sharp eyes.”

“I have always had confidence in my eyesight. According to Mr. Cloud, the strongest goblin will come out of that place… What should we do? Are we going to go straight for an ambush, or opt for reconnaissance prior to that?”

“No. We don’t have to. You guys will wait here.”

Leaving the wide-eyed Xenia behind, I sprinted towards the goblin camp.

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Shush.

Arrows shot by goblin archers came tearing the wind. The visual acuity of the body follows the agility ability. And my agility wasn’t so low that I couldn’t dodge some goblin arrows.

The pouring arrows couldn’t even touch my skin, not for a single instance.

I ignored the bewildered goblin archers and passed by. There, seven goblins stood in my way. Hobgoblins, knights, shamans, etc, it was all mixed.

There was no problem.

I used the skills I had learned in cities I had visited before.

[Strike]-!

It is a skill that strikes out five attacks at random enemies.

As the sword drew a silver trajectory, the heads of five goblins fell. The two goblins were startled and tried to pull themselves away, but to no avail.

Because they had no option to go for that. Run away? No way!

This is not a turn-based battle.

[Strike]-!

The heads of two remaining goblins drifted in the air.

Everything that stood in the way was cut down. Stepping on the blood-stained floor, I entered the tent situated in the center of the camp.

There, a goblin of a different size from the rest I had seen until now was sitting on a chair that looked like a throne.

With the size of an orc and with muscles no less exaggerated than an ogre’s.

This monster-like creature that could no longer be counted in goblin species was the king of goblins—

—a Royal Goblin.

“Are you finally here?”

The bastard was still not ready to fight even though I had entered the tent, standing right in front of him. He just leaned back on his throne and looked down at me.

“Late. It’s too late.”

The goblin king murmured.

It sounded obscure.

“What do you mean by that, too late?”

“I’m talking about the time it took you to get here. It took too long.”

“It took a long time, really? We have arrived here for less than a day.”

“500 years.”

From Royal Goblin’s mouth, heavy years that couldn’t be rubbed in one day came out.

“I waited, for 500 years. That, may someone like you will arrive here.”

“…that’s indeed a long time.”

The goblin king nodded his head.

“It was too long. Enough for the mighty warrior to weaken. His steel-like body to become soft, and the spirit that contained his fervent passion to weaken.”

Weakened…

That’s right.

Royal Goblins are boss mobs that appear in the early or middle-part of ‘The Hero’s Party’.

That means it will be usually around level 30.

There is no way such a monster can emerge as the first boss of the dungeon.

In order to achieve balance, of course, there’s no choice but to add a weakened setting.

“So, after waiting for these long years, isn’t it time to enjoy the fight that you been waiting for?”

The goblin king shook his head this time.

“It’s not that, little human. I’m tired, so I’m asking you to end it here.”

“…how come I hear you asking me to kill you directly?”

“That’s right. Come on, kill me.”

“I don’t understand. I know you want to die. But looking at you like this makes my mind wander. But, you won’t even resist? Usually at times like this, don’t you guys fight with all your might because it’s, um, the last fight of your life?”

“What is the meaning of fighting with a weakened body as it weakens more?”

The Royal Goblin said with a grin.

“In the past, I was strong. I won a duel against an orc warchief, not a tribe leader, but a warchief, and used his neck as a totem. I led my clan to war, and even the proud elves fell to their knees. Even now, when I close my eyes, those memories come back vividly.”

With his eyes closed, the goblin king made an pleasant expression as if tracing back those old memories. As soon as he opened his eyes again, he realized the reality and smiled bitterly.

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“If I fight with a body like this, those memories will only be tainted. So please don’t be merciful, little human. Kill me. Free me from this cursed place.”

I brought the silver sword to the goblin king’s heart.

“You don’t talk or think like a goblin.”

“Because I’m above my clan and have transcend my clan.”

“Name?”

“Name? What will you do with a goblin’s name that’s gonna die soon? Are you going to remember me?”

“Maybe? For a while?”

“Thank you so much for that. My name is Goobriel. Little human, what is your name?”

“Cloud.”

“That’s a cool name. Warrior, Cloud, I hope that my name will be remembered. And, I, the Goblin King, Goobriel, blesses you on your journey to become stronger.”

“Yes, many thanks, Goblin King, Goobriel. You’ve worked hard all this time, now have your deserved rest.”

The silver sword pierced through Goobriel’s heart. Although the pain must have been considerable, Goobriel didn’t let out a single groan.

He left with a relaxed smile.

“…there is a real sense of disparity.”

In the game, when he saw that pink woman, Isabelle, he got hearts in his eyes and hollered, ‘Pretty female! Mating!’ Yeah, it was this guy who shouted all that.

“Is it because there’s no women?”

Would the reaction have been different if Xenia had been brought in?

With such doubts, I turned my back on Goobriel’s body.

I did not absorb his soul into the glyph.

He said he spent 500 years in this place.

Let him rest.

* * *

[Goblin King Goobriel’s Blessing]

-All growth stats +1