Chapter 4 - I Cleared the Destruction Gate for the First Time.
I Cleared the Destruction Gate for the First Time.
Translator : Elizabeth
I cleared the Destruction Gate for the first time.
The location: Somewhere in a burning village.
The opponent: About 30 goblins.
Naturally, there is no one around to help, and I am surrounded and about to be pounced on.
The distance between the closest goblin and me is about 4m.
A distance that will be closed in 2 seconds at the latest.
My body, weakened by the curse, would struggle to shake off even a single goblin, while they, on the other hand, are excited and berserk.
What I must do here is.
“Inventory.”
First, secure distance.
The most important thing is safety.
Since it's over if I'm caught once, concepts like 'offense is the best defense' do not apply.
However, securing distance is realistically impossible.
Enemies are swarming from all directions.
Then, the alternative.
Chwaaaah!!!-
Radius 10m.
Soil and sand sprayed out in all directions.
I ejected the ordinary soil I had filled my inventory with from the neighborhood mountain last night.
“Kerk!!?”
In an instant, the surrounding vision was obscured by dust.
The goblins, with dirt in their eyes, stopped in their tracks, rubbing their eyes or toppling over.
If eyes are pricked, one is easily incapacitated.
Even at close range, they couldn't rush at me.
It was good that I checked last night.
I can eject objects as if throwing them in the direction I want. The power isn't that strong, but it was enough to blow the soil like dust.
Then, two choices remain.
Run away in this opening, or kill them.
Cough, cough.
Running is impossible.
I am also affected by the dust.
Even though I'm wearing a mask, I'm coughing, and I can't distinguish what's ahead very well. If I run the wrong way and bump into a goblin, it's a bigger problem.
Next time, I should wear goggles at least.
Then, the second option.
“Eject.”
Paat!
A boulder was summoned in mid-air.
The location was the sky above where the goblin closest to me was rushing in.
The boulder was already shot downwards. Gravitational acceleration was added to this.
Mass. Height. Gravitational acceleration.
It is a beautiful formula that can produce powerful force even without physical strength.
Therefore, the second thing I will do is kill.
Crunch!!
“Kiek!!….”
Instant death.
The goblin was crushed and burst by the falling boulder. Fortunately, it seems the location didn't miss.
But since I can't calculate one by one, I indiscriminately dropped additional boulders.
Thud!!
Crunch!!
Boom!! Crunch!!
“Kyaruk!!?”
The sound of goblins being slaughtered.
I'm glad I trained hard last night.
To be precise, I'm glad I stored a lot of soil and stones. I can fire them off with peace of mind.
That doesn't mean I fired them blindly.
All resources must be used efficiently.
Although invisible due to the dust, I know the approximate distance of the goblins well.
Between 2m~10m. The point where they are distributed most is the 4m mark.
Focusing on places where goblins would likely be, I bombarded them until the inventory was empty. Just in case, I dropped more on the closer areas.
Actually, there's nothing to save. Even if I use all the boulders, I can just retrieve them and fire them again.
Sssss-
Slowly, the dust clears.
Crushed goblins. And about 20 of them that were incapacitated due to severe injuries or fighting amongst themselves by mistake.
It's a better result than expected.
On the other hand, the remaining goblins are extremely angry.
“Keruk!!!”
“Kieee!!”
The 10 surviving ones shouted and rushed in.
Since the distance difference was only a few meters, it wouldn't take even 1 second for them to reach me.
But would I not have prepared for this too?
I didn't even think I would kill them all at once.
So, the third step.
“Kerk??…….”
The distance securing that I couldn't do earlier.
About 4m.
Before the goblins could even approach, I was standing on top of a high-soaring hill. While dealing with them, I had been continuously ejecting soil beneath my feet.
Since I dug up quite a lot of soil last night, this amount of waste is within the acceptable range.
“Kerk!!”
The goblins come to their senses and climb the hill.
Regrettably, even doing this, the time realistically bought is only a few seconds.
But prepared seconds make quite a big difference.
In fact, life is also determined by a few prepared seconds.
Like now.
Crunch!!
“Kieek!!?”
I immediately dropped a boulder and killed it. Now that I can see them clearly, hitting them isn't difficult.
Since there is a slope, the boulder rolled as is and swept away the goblins behind it too.
They were generally boulders about the size of a torso, but boulders falling from a 20m height were sufficient to kill them.
Crunch!!
Starting from the closest one, in order.
Because of the hill, they were more easily exposed to the boulder attacks, and I sniped them easily.
But their tenacity was also formidable.
Eventually, one crawled up and grabbed my ankle.
“Ugh.”
Flop!
To think I’d fall over from just this much.
Just how weak is this body?
Three goblins remaining. One is holding my ankle, and two have approached behind my back.
Shaking them off is obviously impossible.
It's over if I get caught.
Chwaraaak!!!-
I sprayed sand in all directions again.
Thanks to that, the two approaching from behind lost their footing and rolled down the hill, but the problem is the guy holding my ankle. While suffering from the dust hitting its eyes, it didn't let go of the ankle.
“Just… get off!!”
Thud, thud!!
I struck its face with my small fist, but useless.
But if I drop a boulder, I could be in danger too. It's still hard to summon at an exact location without error.
This close contact distance is sufficiently dangerous.
Helplessly, I summoned a sharp stone in my hand and struck down on the guy.
Thud! Smash!!
Because of the hill, the guy is in a prone position holding my ankle. Thanks to that, I could strike down on the fully exposed face to my heart's content.
The weakest place is, as expected, the eyes.
“Kieeeeet!!….”
Indeed, perhaps this was painful, as the guy let go of my ankle and grabbed its own face.
In that opening, I retreated and summoned a boulder in the sky.
Crunch!!
I finished off the ones that had fallen away.
But relief is forbidden. I didn't forget to confirm the kill on the ones still breathing.
With this, all goblin disposal complete.
Haa, haa….
Lying down in the relief of survival, I gasped for breath.
If my response had been late, what was crushed underneath wouldn't have been the goblin, but me.
In a slightly different sense.
Just imagining it makes my body tremble.
If I were covered by guys looking this hideous, anyone would surely faint.
Ugh, how terrible.
[Risk factors have disappeared.]
[Floor 1 Clear.]
[Congratulations. You are the first to clear a Destruction Difficulty Gate.]
Soon, the clear message floats up.
I survived in this damned world.
I don't know what kind of place this is, but for now, that alone is enough.
But… what on earth is Destruction Difficulty? Is ??? perhaps Destruction Grade?
No, maybe it's just an unappraised grade.
[Measuring Ranking Score.]
[Difficulty Bonus + Kill Bonus + Discovery Bonus + Clear Time Bonus + Solo Bonus + Climber's Weakness Bonus + Curse Bonus + Forced Destruction Bonus + Destruction Survival Bonus summed.]
[102,910 Points.]
[Achieved Floor 1 Ranking 1st Place.]
[Achieved Overall Ranking 1st Place.]
[Overwhelming Gap with 2nd Place! - Achievement Unlocked.]
[Achievement Bonus is added to reward settlement.]
[Ranking Bonus is paid as interim settlement.]
[Your appearance is recorded in the curse.]
[Please decide a nickname to register in the rankings.]
Lying still, system messages float up.
This situation just feels unrealistic. This time, not a bug, but a real 1st place.
And with this body too.
Just how….
I'm surprised even though I did it.
But let's postpone the self-celebration for later.
[Nickname Burp- has been registered.]
[Will you escape the Gate?]
└ [Escape / Continue Climbing.]
I roughly set the nickname and cleared the message window.
I can see the messages again later anyway.
And rewards taste better when opened later. If you leave them unopened, it feels reassuring for some reason.
Though if you get trash, the disappointment is big too.
Right now, there is more important work.
Rise from the spot.
I examined the goblin corpses scattered around.
Usually, when you clear a floor, you can stay on the floor for a certain period. During that time, you can take loot or find hidden routes.
Obviously, my goal is loot.
Guys that will become my living expenses from now on.
Just in time, a small gem has dropped in front of the corpses.
It was a small, diamond-shaped purple crystal, a guy commonly called a Magic Stone.
Yoink.
I picked them up with my hands without missing a single one.
I could store them directly in the inventory, but then there's no tactile satisfaction.
Loot that I earned so hard.
I have to feel things like this directly.
Flash!~
Next, I swept up the goblins' weaponry.
Most were naked or wearing torn leather clothes, but occasionally I could salvage a few pieces of equipment presumed to be stolen human weaponry.
[Escaping the Gate.]
Paaaaat!~
After that, a quick escape.
If I stay here any longer, I'll get neurosis.
As soon as I returned home, I passed out.
Perhaps due to accumulated fatigue, it seems I slept for more than half a day.
Thus, waking up at dawn.
“Uweh…….”
A strange moan leaked out involuntarily from fatigue.
This was a part I couldn't help.
Whether it's because my vocal cords are thin, my voice leaks out easily even without putting much force into it.
Click.
Like a habit, I turned on the computer and accessed the gallery.
On rest days, I always started the day like this.
And the current me is on holiday every day. As long as I don't go to the Tower, everything is freedom. Since I grabbed some magic stones, if I sell them well somehow, food expenses won't be a problem for the time being.
Right now, relieving stress comes first.
I need to fill up on dopamine while checking the season situation.
Scroll~
I rolled the mouse wheel.
I quickly scanned the posts in the Hunter Gallery.
The first thing I saw was a praise post for the 1st Place of this season.
[What is up with the current Rank 1? Is that score crazy?]
People remember 1st place well.
Because being the best has that much value.
Strangely, just reading such posts fills me with pride and makes me satisfied. Especially when our country's climbing score is ahead of foreign countries, national pride would rise.
That's why there are many posts praising 1st place.
But.
[Is the score gap between Rank 1 and 2 real lol]
[Looks like this is bugged again?]
[Burp-zwa. Just what are you….]
[Who really is Rank 1??]
This time, it's something different.
It wasn't simply a post praising Rank 1, but seemed full of questions.
No, the most important fact is this.
“This… seems to be about me.”
I had forgotten because I just woke up.
That Rank 1 is me.
Possessed, I clicked on the posts.