"Hmm... Have they appeared?" Natsuki Subaru warily stopped his steps, squinting his eyes towards the source of the sound. Then.
Five green-skinned goblins darted out from behind a stone pillar. They had pointed ears and sharp fangs, their faces twisted, their short bodies hunched over, and they carried rust-stained daggers and crude wooden clubs.
Furthermore, above each green goblin's head floated the white characters [Goblin], which were exceptionally conspicuous in the dim environment.
"Goblins, huh... They really are like in the games."
Natsuki Subaru made a grasping motion with his right hand, and a pitch-black dagger appeared out of thin air.
"Gurgle-gurgle!"
The leading goblin let out a piercing shriek and charged forward, brandishing its dagger.
Swish!
A cold light cut through the darkness.
As Natsuki Subaru dodged the attack, his dagger precisely sliced into the goblin's throat.
The goblin's eyes widened, and before it could even let out a cry, its body fell to the ground. [Notification: Experience +167]
The remaining four goblins, far from retreating, were enraged by their companion's death. They let out battle cries simultaneously and surrounded him from four directions.
"Good timing..." Natsuki Subaru's lips curved slightly. He took half a step back with his left foot, his right dagger parrying the blade slashing towards his front, while his left hand grabbed another goblin's wrist and twisted sharply—
Crack!
With the crisp sound of breaking bone, the weapon in that green goblin's hand had changed owners. Natsuki Subaru then threw the snatched dagger, accurately hitting the third goblin between the eyes. [Notification: Experience +144] [Notification: Experience +138] [Notification: Acquired Throwing Dagger skill]
The last two green goblins charged forward with ferocious glares. One raised its wooden club to smash Natsuki Subaru's head, while the other cunningly used its dagger to stab at Natsuki Subaru's lower back.
"How naive." Natsuki Subaru ducked low, and in the instant the wooden club missed, he lunged forward, his dagger piercing the throat of the club-wielding goblin. At the same time, his right leg swept backward like a whip!
Thump— The other goblin, which had tried a dishonorable sneak attack, was kicked into the air, followed by a clean and decisive slash. [Notification: Experience +155] [Notification: Experience +149]
Natsuki Subaru slowly sheathed his dagger. The five goblin corpses lay scattered on the stone path, dark green blood slowly seeping out. From the first goblin's attack to the end of the battle, the entire process took no more than five seconds.
"Throwing Dagger skill?"
Only then did Natsuki Subaru take the time to check the system's notification. [Throwing Dagger: Throw a dagger to inflict damage. As the level increases, additional damage and hit rate will also increase (Dagger specific)]
"An unexpected gain..." Natsuki Subaru rubbed his chin, muttering, "It seems that throw just now triggered the skill unlock."
"However, speaking of which, is it because they are all low-level mobs? They are much weaker than I imagined... No, it should be that I've become stronger." Thinking this, Natsuki Subaru clenched his fist.
You know, the emergency quest he completed before had given him 10 attribute points and the Blessing of the Great Witch God Kandiaru, and his level had also risen to 8. If he had faced these goblins when he first obtained the dungeon key, it would definitely not have been this easy. But now—
"It seems the effect of leveling up is even better than expected." Natsuki Subaru muttered to himself. After all, with Advanced Dagger Arts combined with physical fitness several times that of an ordinary person, dealing with these low-level monsters was simply a piece of cake.
"Let's see what loot there is." Natsuki Subaru flicked the green blood off his dagger and squatted down to examine the goblin corpses. When Natsuki Subaru's fingertips touched a goblin corpse, a system prompt immediately popped up: [Notification: Obtained Rusted Dagger (Sellable)]
"It really is like the game settings, I can loot items..." Natsuki Subaru muttered to himself, his fingers skillfully rummaging through the goblin corpses. "Speaking of which, the shop was clearly grayed out and locked before, how come it can be opened now?" His fingertip swiped across the semi-transparent system interface; the originally grayed-out shop icon was now glowing faintly. He tentatively clicked it, and the familiar shop interface immediately opened. "It seems it was unlocked after defeating this batch of goblins..."
Natsuki Subaru nodded thoughtfully and placed the collected loot into the sell column one by one: [Rusted Dagger ×3 Price: 5 gold coins/each] [Goblin Fang ×8 Price: 2 gold coins/each] [Inferior Leather Armor ×2 Price: 15 gold coins/each]
"Sell."
As the items in his hand turned into points of light and dissipated, Natsuki Subaru's system gold coin balance increased by 61 gold coins.
"Finally got some money!"
Natsuki Subaru eagerly browsed the system shop. The display interface was filled with a dazzling array of various equipment: sharp weapons, sturdy armor, faintly glowing accessories, and colorful recovery potions and attribute-enhancing potions.
"The variety is quite complete... Let's see what I can buy first." His finger lightly tapped the weapon category, and a deep blue dagger immediately caught Natsuki Subaru's attention. The magical patterns on the dagger were faintly visible, and the price tag of 50 gold coins flickered in the item slot. "This is it!"
With a thought, Natsuki Subaru tried to purchase it but received a system prompt: [Notification: Your level is insufficient, you cannot purchase this item]
"Tsk, it's really not that simple. The system shop actually has level restrictions..." Natsuki Subaru clicked his tongue in frustration, his finger lightly touching the still-grayed-out shop icon. Chain-like runes were wrapped around the icon, and below it was clearly marked [Shop function unlocks at Lv.20].
"So I still need 12 more levels to unlock the shop..." Natsuki Subaru muttered to himself, "Once it's unlocked, I can buy equipment and potions. My strength should improve considerably by then." "Forget it, no use thinking about these things now." Pushing these distracting thoughts to the back of his mind, Natsuki Subaru gripped the dagger in his hand again and continued deeper into the dungeon.
As he ventured further, the monsters he encountered also changed. At first, it was just scattered goblins, but soon, well-coordinated goblin archer squads began to appear, and later he even encountered large goblins twice the size of ordinary ones. The number and strength of the monsters steadily increased, but Natsuki Subaru dealt with them one by one. [Notification: Experience +245] [Notification: Experience +318] [Notification: Experience +411] [Notification: Experience +486] [Notification: Obtained Goblin Bracers] [Notification: Obtained Refined Steel Dagger]
System prompts flashed continuously before his eyes. Experience points grew rapidly, and he was just one step away from leveling up. The recovered loot increased Natsuki Subaru's gold coin reserves past the 1000 mark. But after continuously eliminating dozens of goblins, Natsuki Subaru began to feel that something was wrong.
"Is this dungeon only filled with goblins?" Natsuki Subaru frowned in thought, the green blood on his dagger still wet.
Just then, the scene before him suddenly changed. The originally narrow stone corridor suddenly opened up, replaced by a strange, dim forest. Twisted tree trunks were covered in glowing moss, providing a faint light source for this underground forest.
"I didn't expect there to be a forest inside a dungeon..." Before he could finish his sentence, a red figure suddenly pounced from the bushes! Thump! Natsuki Subaru instinctively dodged to the side, simultaneously kicking the attacker away with a whip-like leg.
The creature that was kicked rolled a few times on the ground before quickly scrambling up. Only then did he clearly see its true appearance— It was a giant wolf nearly three meters tall, its entire body crimson red like blood, its sharp fangs glinting coldly in the faint light. Most eye-catching was the orange text floating above its head: [Steel Fang Wolf]! This formed a stark contrast to the white [Goblin] text he had encountered earlier.
"Finally, something different." A grin of excitement spread across Natsuki Subaru's lips as he tightened his grip on his dagger. "Let me see what you've got."
"Roar—" The Steel Fang Wolf let out a low growl, its scarlet eyes fixed deadly on Natsuki Subaru. Its three-meter-tall body crouched slightly, muscles tensed.
Suddenly, the Steel Fang Wolf pounced like an arrow released from its bow! Natsuki Subaru's pupils contracted slightly, and he sharply dodged to the right. The Steel Fang Wolf's sharp claws grazed his clothes, leaving three deep gashes on the stone wall. Before he could steady himself, the wolf's tail swept towards him like a steel whip.
"Tsk!" Natsuki Subaru quickly ducked, and the wolf's tail whistled past his head. Seizing this opening, the dagger flashed with cold light, leaving a bloody gash on the Steel Fang Wolf's hind leg.
"Roar—" The injured Steel Fang Wolf angrily turned, its bloody maw lunging straight for Natsuki Subaru's head. Natsuki Subaru leaned back, simultaneously thrusting his dagger upwards.
With a crisp "clang," the Steel Fang Wolf's sharp teeth actually bit the blade in half!
"Damn it!" Natsuki Subaru looked at the remaining hilt in his hand, his eyes glinting. He hadn't expected the Steel Fang Wolf's teeth to be so sharp that they could even break his weapon.
The Steel Fang Wolf seized the opportunity and pounced again, its three-meter-tall crimson body pressing down like a mountain.
"Get lost!" Natsuki Subaru's eyes flashed with determination. He didn't dodge, but instead, threw a powerful punch with his right fist, which had 60 points of strength!
"THUMP—!!!" A deafening muffled sound echoed through the underground forest. The Steel Fang Wolf's entire body suddenly stiffened, then flew backward like a rag doll. A thick tree trunk was snapped in half, and the Steel Fang Wolf flew a dozen meters, plowing a deep furrow in the mud.
"Not over yet!" Natsuki Subaru's leg muscles bulged, and the ground beneath him exploded into a shallow crater. His figure instantly appeared above the Steel Fang Wolf. He pinned the wolf's head with his left hand, while his right hand, gripping the broken hilt, aimed the cold, broken blade at its throat.
"Awooo—" The Steel Fang Wolf struggled frantically, its sharp claws digging deep gouges in the ground. But Natsuki Subaru's strength was as unshakeable as a mountain. The broken blade sank inch by inch into the Steel Fang Wolf's fur.
"Die!" With Natsuki Subaru's furious roar, the broken blade completely pierced the Steel Fang Wolf's throat.
Scalding wolf blood gushed out like a fountain, dyeing the surrounding moss dark red. The Steel Fang Wolf's pupils gradually dilated, and its massive body finally stopped struggling. [Notification: Experience +1200] [Notification: Level Up...] Warm energy flowed throughout his body, and all fatigue was swept away. Natsuki Subaru flicked the blood from his hand, looking with satisfaction at the Lv.9 flickering on his status bar.
"Finally leveled up again."
"Let's see what loot there is." Natsuki Subaru squatted down, his finger lightly touching the still-warm corpse of the Steel Fang Wolf. A system prompt immediately unfolded before his eyes: [Obtained: Steel Fang Wolf's Fang ×2] [Quality: Excellent] [Description: A precious material imbued with the Mabeast's ferocious magical power, the surface of the fang is covered in blood-red patterns] [Use: Sellable/Forging Material]
"Sell."
Natsuki Subaru made his choice without hesitation. As the fangs turned into points of light and disappeared, his gold coin balance jumped from 1000 to 1050.
"A pity, that black blade that accompanied me for so long..." Looking at his empty hands, Natsuki Subaru couldn't help but sigh softly. The Black Blade dagger was the first weapon he had obtained from a random box when he first completed the daily quest; it held many memories.
"But, no need to dwell on it... As they say, out with the old, in with the new." As he said this, two flashes of light appeared in his hands, and two brand new daggers materialized. These were the [Refined Steel Daggers] he had looted from killing goblins earlier. In the dim light, the blades glinted with a cold, sharp light. Although the two daggers were only of ordinary quality, their sharp edges and well-balanced weight satisfied Natsuki Subaru greatly.
"The attributes are indeed not as good as the Black Blade..." Natsuki Subaru skillfully twirled the daggers in his hands, carefully feeling their balance. "But they are sharp enough. If I switch to dual-wielding, I should be able to make up for some of the attack power difference." Thanks to the passive skill Advanced Dagger Arts, whether it was single or dual-wielding, he could grasp the essentials in an instant.
Just then.
"Awooo—" Wolf howls rose and fell in the distance, and the ground began to tremble slightly. In the blink of an eye, densely packed Steel Fang Wolves surged from all directions, their scarlet eyes forming a sea of blood in the darkness.
"Hehehe..." Natsuki Subaru, far from being alarmed, actually laughed. He crossed his dual daggers in front of his chest, assuming a perfect starting stance. "Perfect timing! You beasts, all of you become my experience points, let me level up alone!"
The ensuing battle was nothing short of brutal. The wolf pack employed a wheel tactic, attacking Natsuki Subaru in waves. And Natsuki Subaru, relying on his powerful strength and agility, weaved and dodged among the wolf pack. The dual daggers in his hands transformed into the Grim Reaper's scythes, every slash bringing a spray of blood. The battle lasted for a full half hour.
When the last Steel Fang Wolf crashed to the ground, Natsuki Subaru leaned against an ancient tree, panting slightly. The surrounding forest floor looked like a bloody battlefield! Hundreds of Steel Fang Wolf corpses lay scattered about, dark red blood soaking the soil, the thick scent of iron permeating the air. Broken branches and claw marks were everywhere, testament to the fierce battle that had just taken place.
"Phew... Finally dealt with them all." Natsuki Subaru wiped the sweat from his forehead, a smile of post-exhaustion playing on his lips. "A bit easier than dealing with a hundred Mabeasts in that emergency quest."
___
Greetings! ✨ Walnut here with another translation! Saint Seiya united by their strength!
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