Tutorial

In Dungeon Overseer, goblins were nothing more than fodder. Most roguelike games are easy at the very beginning but grow brutally difficult in the early-to-mid game. If a monster appears that can't be killed with raw character stats in those first few moments—when you have no skills or gear—the entire run becomes impossible. That was exactly the role goblins played in Dungeon Overseer. They existed to die for the player.

You killed goblins to gain combat experience, raise skill levels, and earn money. To become an excellent Overseer, you had to use the funds and leveled-up characters earned from slaughtering early goblins to efficiently build exploration parties. The very first quest I sought after falling into this world was, naturally, goblin extermination. Something told me that if I didn't start by killing goblins, I wouldn't be able to move on to the next stage.

But goblin extermination jobs were surprisingly scarce. The absolute greenest rookies were only given menial tasks like gathering herbs or making deliveries. As a result, I'd only fought goblins a handful of times.

I wasn't particularly worried. The goblins I'd actually fought were far weaker than I'd imagined. There were exactly two reasons goblins were so weak: equipment and morale.

In Dungeon Overseer combat, the most important factors weren't levels or skills, but equipment and morale. Equipment was one of the few elements that directly affected a character's specs. In other words, gear carried the day. Gear was king.

Goblins had terrible gear. Their armaments were, at best, Neolithic. No exaggeration—they charged at you with literally primitive-level weapons. Their only real threat came from sheer numbers. For civilians, a goblin raid would be dangerous. But I was an explorer. And I wasn't alone.

Just look at our party leader's gear specs.

Not even poor equipment—normal equipment. It really drove home just how high the bar for "normal" was in this world. If someone wrapped their body in that much iron armor, even an entire truckload of goblins armed with clubs and sharpened sticks couldn't leave a scratch. No wonder they were considered fodder.

Of course, goblins came in large numbers, so there was always the chance of a lucky hit landing. Getting surrounded and beaten could be dangerous. But that was exactly why we were here. As long as Jian and I provided support, there wouldn't be any problems.

And then there was the goblins' second weakness: their mental state was abysmal. If even a few of them died, their morale would plummet and they'd flee. It was what people called a "moral collapse." Once morale broke, the fight was over. Even if you encountered thirty or forty goblins in battle, you'd only actually have to fight about ten of them. After those ten were dead, the rest would break and run.

Barring truly terrible luck, this quest was as good as completed. The only thing that could go wrong was a goblin shaman pulling some nonsense and wiping the party... but the Dungeon Seeker would handle that.

Somi muttered as she took the lead, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a gloomy expression. Did she really not want to walk that badly?

Somi and Daro walked side by side at the front, while Jian and I followed behind.

"Don't worry too much."

While I was spacing out, a gentle voice brushed against my ear. It was Jian.

"I'm not worried, though."

With her platinum blonde hair and simple, clean robes like a monk's, the Mystic wearing white gloves gave me an encouraging smile so warm and kind that even I felt refreshed just looking at her. Her brightly smiling face really was beautiful.

"It's written all over your face, you know? That you're worried."

"I didn't write anything like that."

"Hahaha, then I must have seen it wrong."

Her laughter was as refreshing as a clear spring. Her voice was pleasant too.

"If a fight breaks out, please stay behind me."

The Mystic's suggestion stung my pride a little. I knew how to fight, after all.

"Hiding in the back is a bit..."

I answered in a slightly sulky voice without thinking. Jian responded calmly.

"You'll have to protect me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean fight from behind me. I'll trust you to handle it."

I didn't know what the leader had told her after the strategy meeting, but Jian already seemed to be treating me as a potential trap. While we traveled to the mission area, she explained to me what I should and shouldn't do in combat. Don't show your back to the enemy. Don't get scared. Even if you want to run, endure it for your comrades. Formation is the most important thing. And so on...

No matter how much of an idiot a Necromancer might be, did she really think I wouldn't know even that much? Still, I listened to Jian's nagging without complaint. It was better than walking in silence, and her voice was nice. I walked while listening to her like I was listening to the radio. It was far better for my mental health than listening to the Dungeon Seeker grumbling and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠complaining up ahead.

"Daro, if we keep walking like this we might get wiped out by an ambush."

"What kind of ambush would happen in an open field?"

"No, I'm sure someone who's earned the Overseer's hatred refused to lend us a carriage."

"So we're supposed to die while walking?"

"That's right."

"..."

God damn it.

A Dungeon Seeker's Seer Lantern didn't emit light and was monochrome. It was a lantern that automatically glowed blue when enemies approached. Had I ever seen a party with a Dungeon Seeker get ambushed? In a thousand hours of playing Dungeon Overseer, I'd never seen it once.

Although it wasn't listed in the traits, Dungeon Seekers also turned exploration events in a positive direction. Setting-wise they were archaeologists exploring underground with lantern and whip, but the negative trait about historical objects rarely came up anyway. At most they'd pick up an old drinking cup or a stone fragment with writing on it. Taking those things didn't cause any loss; on the contrary, thanks to the Dungeon Seeker's mood bonus, the Seeker of Truth trait actually treated them as good events that triggered favorable outcomes.

In other words, an ambush event like the one Somi was babbling about would never happen even if she died and came back to life. Yet the Mystic, apparently unaware of this, looked at me with a worried face.

"What should we do? Should I tell Daro we should take a short break?"

I couldn't exactly recite the Dungeon Seeker traits to her.

"That won't be necessary."

"...Won't Somi get tired?"

"It's obviously just her being dramatic. Later she'll probably say something like 'I suffered more than anyone so I should take the items~' and try to hog all the loot. What are you worried about?"

To be completely honest, if a Dungeon Seeker threw a tantrum demanding items, there was no one ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who could stop them. Even the Overseer would get their stuff stolen. Who could possibly stop it? That was also proof of just how much influence Dungeon Seekers had.

But it had suddenly gone quiet. When I looked to the side, Jian had moved a noticeable distance away from me with a disappointed expression.

"...To think you'd be so cold when a comrade is struggling."

"No, I keep telling you she's not struggling."

"I suppose that's how it might look to a Necromancer."

This was one hundred percent because of my class traits. The Necromancer traits were tanking my reputation. No matter how many hints I dropped, Jian stubbornly asked Daro if we should take a break.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Shall we rest for a moment?"

The fact that Somi immediately agreed was comedy gold.

"Let's rest!"

But the party leader was clearly on another level.

"We can't. We haven't even fought yet. Resting now would be a waste."

"But Somi is our guide..."

"If she's going to get tired from just this much walking, then she's not fit to be a Dungeon Seeker."

I was inwardly impressed. Ooh. As expected, the leader's experience makes all the difference. Even though Somi was openly making a displeased face and Jian was looking at her with pity, Daro led the party with ice-cold efficiency, as if his bones were filled with mercury.

Well, that made sense. For explorers, time was money. Quests weren't strictly scheduled, and for people who ran one job then rested before taking another, speed was essential. Somi must have realized that whining to Daro was pointless, because she stopped complaining. Jian quietly grumbled that the leader should pay more attention to his comrades.

No, if you accommodate every little thing like that, it'll never end.

Thanks to Daro's skilled leadership, our party reached the vicinity of the goblin nest without any difficulties.

At the entrance to the goblin nest, Somi's Seer Lantern finally emitted a blue light for the first time.

"It's a scouting party. Get ready."

The goblins had taken a position higher than us, putting us at a slight geographical disadvantage, but thanks to the Dungeon Seeker we held the initiative. Following Daro's orders, we ambushed the goblin scouts.

I sometimes had that thought. What if this wasn't the roguelike world of Dungeon Overseer, but something like Dragon Quest or Final Fantasy—a JRPG-style world? Wouldn't the combat difficulty have been much easier? If there was at least a revival system, I could've gone crazy and just rushed dungeons recklessly. Or maybe a system that sent you back twenty-four hours upon death.

Anyone who's played a lot of roguelikes knows how brutal and merciless the combat is. It was fun when I was just playing the game. But having to fight myself... it was hell.

Daro, at the vanguard, drew his arming sword. Without any particular signal, he shot forward toward the goblins like an arrow.

Daro was the decisive reason I had insisted on joining this particular quest. Our party leader was a Raider. Close range, long range, tanking—he was a versatile jack-of-all-trades who could use swords, shields, and even bows. As you can see, he was loaded with mood-related traits. Even if he had to do everything himself, his equipment, skills, and level allowed him to force a carry. That was the Raider class.

Thinking about it now, he was basically a psychopath, but during my Overseer playthroughs he had been an S-tier class. He was the kind of character who could solo complete missions even if the entire party died, completely unaffected by morale debuffs. That was why I felt so lighthearted. I just had to ride the bus hard.

"Krrk!"

A remote mountain slope. The incline wasn't steep, but the trees were unexpectedly dense, giving it the atmosphere of a European forest. The goblin scouting party of about twenty seemed to be on snack time, sucking on dried strips of meat. They were sprawled out in comfortable positions, not even holding their weapons.

That was when Daro appeared. He swung his sword at a goblin sitting near the grass, eating meat.

Daro's blade struck the goblin's neck with perfect accuracy.