Chapter 27
Chapter 27
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 26
Chapter Title: Goblin Extermination
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"Line up! Form parties as instructed beforehand!"
At that voice, the soldiers bustled into action.
"There's a 'Party' label on the left of your view! Tap that and..."
Two knights, who had acquired classes ahead of time and fully familiarized themselves with the system, paired up the soldiers.
"You'll see numbers from 2 to 5 marked. The senior soldier taps the '5' option, then adds the pre-assigned members as party members..."
Even in Revenge, the solo-player game, party systems existed as it was still an MMORPG.
The guild system unlocked at level 20 wasn't available yet, but parties could be formed from level 1.
'Well, it's possible, but low-level parties are rare anyway.'
Low-level players should be grinding quests, not messing with parties.
But for Ardenia's soldiers, with no quests or events, parties were essential for leveling.
"What's this 'distribution method'? Manual, random, sequential?"
"Don't worry about that now."
Revenge's [Binding] concept didn't apply in Ardenia, so no item ownership issues arose. Everything would be collected as supplies anyway—no ownership mattered.
Experience points were different, though.
Acquisition was based on [First Hit], [Damage Contribution], and [Last Hit].
Without parties, shieldbearers taking the brunt would get nothing while spearmen power-leveled.
Thus, parties were one shieldbearer, three melee fighters, one archer. Spread out, but as long as they shared the hunting ground, EXP distributed fine.
'Sheesh. Doesn't this enable power-leveling? High-levels carrying lowbies in high-level zones.'
A system loophole, but how did Revenge handle it?
Surprisingly, ingeniously! It didn't.
'Sheesh.'
Revenge ignored power-leveling.
Levels were just levels.
Character strength came from class, gear, collections.
Instead, to prevent rerollers hitting 40 for advanced class summons hoping for legendaries/mythics, high-levels farming specific spots got warned five times then banned.
It blocked rerollers but encouraged friend-carry.
"Put arrows in your inventory—load gear on the wagons only!"
"Parties formed? Move to positions!"
Preparations flew. They'd prepped days ago, so everything was swift.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Five hundred soldiers marched out. Boosted stats and 50kg inventories per soldier skyrocketed morale. Well-fed, rested, trained—they peaked.
"Humans! Humans coming!"
"Why so fine? Not hungry?"
"All meat! Meat! Ate tons?"
"They're escaping! Block 'em, block!"
"You go, you!"
As the army approached, distant encirclement goblins screeched and charged.
Ragtag, but no pushovers. Superhuman strength for size, suicidal tactics, deceptive cunning.
No wonder Red Axe Barony fell.
But.
"Entire force."
The foe they met was unlike any before.
"Advance."
Boom! Boom!
Shieldbearers stepped in unison, earth trembling. Massive shields covered the front and rose ten centimeters overhead—like a living wall shoving the ground.
"Wha? Wha-wha? Whaa?"
"Wait! Wait wait!"
"What is this? Iron hide?"
Charging goblins faltered before the heavy advance.
"Charge! Bite through! Bite!"
Some howled and clung, but.
Crack! Thud!
Bone swords from sword-and-shielders between shields swung like clubs, smashing skulls.
Positioned half-step back for support.
Not just that.
"Thrust!"
"Thrust!"
Stab! Stab! Stab!
Spears lanced through shield gaps, punching throats.
Thud! Thud! Crack!
"Push! Knock 'em down!"
"Thrust!"
"Crack their skulls!"
One-sided slaughter. Even without my chaos.
'Good. Goblin attacks barely scratch anyway.'
All wore Steel Breastplates, Steel Boots, thick leather coats hooding heads.
Stamina drained fast, sure.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Level-up effects bloomed across the field. Common goblins gave poor EXP, but level 1 soldiers? Parties split it plenty.
Levels restored some stamina/mana, permanently boosting regen.
More fights, more power—soldiers rampaged fiercer.
"Incredible..."
Smile beside me groaned low, scanning.
"Even with boosted physiques, this one-sided..."
"Armed for goblins. Raw combat favors physical stats."
Boosts weren't pure good. Mismatch between perceived and actual could disrupt.
Against skilled foes, it risked lives.
But battlefield brawls weren't duels.
Block with shield, thrust when gap opens. Bash heads, endure—that's it.
Here, stronger always wins.
They wouldn't max boosts immediately, but battle would adapt them.
"Keep advancing!"
"Don't run! Hold formation!"
Goblin clumps? Knights dove in, shredding.
Aura users originally, their realms advanced—from boosts or fights. Blades blazed blue aura.
"Humans strong! Too strong!"
"I'll report back! I'm messenger!"
"No, me messenger!"
"I'll tell 'em, me!"
Goblins broke, retreating. As before, pursuits killed most.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Level-ups everywhere.
"Decisive victory, my lord."
"Casualties?"
Smile chanted lines, eyes closed. Opened, reported.
"25 wounded. 4 dead."
"Elites?"
"Yes. Elites. Overexcited, broke ranks... or paralyzed faces fatal."
I sighed.
'Even prepped, some die.'
Expected, though.
"Anything notable?"
"Corpses intact. Inventory drops spilled around... no class cards, sadly."
"Not sad."
"Eh? Ah... right. Makes sense."
If dead soldiers dropped class cards?
Mine become prey.
Human prey.
'Greed blinds.'
Classed soldiers tough, not invincible.
Kill for cards? Every scum swarms. Even my folk might assassinate.
"Collect corpses separately, watch days, then burn. Always five-plus witnesses. Publicize all to domain."
"Yes, my lord."
I eyed the field, ignoring closed-eye Smile.
500 soldiers, 4 dead—crushed over 1,000 foes. Overkill for panicked civilians, not howling monsters.
But if normal humans?
This "win" is loss.
'Monsters respawn.'
Slower than Revenge, but daily guessed. Rares unknown, but orc warrior Hamrom? Week max.
Thus.
One human death to monsters = net loss.
'War supplies? Food? Youth off farms?'
Monsters dropped gold/items, but couldn't replace dead.
'Empires, federations crumble. Survivors? Border territories.'
North 100km: Windbreak Plateau domain might thrive.
Plateau Boars (common)—dangerous beasts, but drops: boar hindlegs (material), boar hide (material).
Clothing, food solved!
Plus weapons/shields—no better in Ardenia. Why grind Windbreak otherwise?
'Finish Red Axe [Dungeon Clear] and [Siege], then north to White Mountain.'
Can't solo-feed forever. Auto-hunts fail population boom.
White Mountain—boars/beasts galore—must-have.
"Post-battle done, my lord."
"Quick."
"Light losses."
I nodded.
"Rest hour, then east. Kill more goblins, lunch."
"Circling instead of north?"
"Yeah."
Humans lose even one to monsters—no profit.
'My army differs.'
Mine profits per fight.
EXP.
"All elites to 20—exterminate every goblin around. Relay."
"Yes, my lord."
Glanced past Smile, at soldiers.
Time to form a Guild.