At the same time, I felt a sense of floating in my body and the sudden drop.
Thus, after passing through the darkness and preparing for the fall, I landed on the ground by applying moderate force to both legs and placing one hand on the ground to disperse the impact.
Thud─!
After completing the perfect landing, I looked around.
"Hmm, just like in the game."
A crowd of goblins surrounded me, each holding vicious weapons.
Clubs, rusty daggers, large animal bones, bone needles, stone maces, and more.
Even if they were crude weapons, they were still sufficiently threatening to ordinary people.
Well.
"Do you know this?"
Not only that.
I immediately took out [Al Capone's Tommy] from the cube and aimed it at the goblins surrounding me.
In an instant, blood, bone fragments, flesh, and screams echoed through the dark cavern.
The goblins, bewildered by the overwhelming violence and firepower, immediately turned to flee into the cavern, but no matter how much they struggled, they couldn't be faster than bullets.
Thus, while advancing as if sweeping with a broom, I noticed a goblin that stood out ahead.
"…I found it."
Unlike the withered green goblins, this strange goblin had a brilliant golden body.
Realizing that this was the 'Golden Goblin' I had been looking for, I quickly rushed towards it and grabbed its head with my left hand, which wasn't holding the Tommy.
"Kyeek──!!"
"One down."
I snapped its neck to prevent it from making any more noise.
The Golden Goblin is a mutant goblin that hides in various parts of the dungeon, a kind of bonus mob.
Unlike other goblins, it has a faint golden glow on its magic stone, and in the game, submitting this to the academy could earn you extra points in the 'Semi-Finals of Class Rankings.'
"…They should know how much I'm suffering down here."
The reason I'm doing this much for such insignificant monsters is just one.
The Semi-Finals of Class Rankings is that important an event.
The higher the class ranking, the more support and better facilities the academy provides, and the curriculum itself is completely different.
In the game, how you handle this event can even determine which routes you can't take.
That's why the term 'Rank Reset' was coined, where you keep repeating the class ranking event while taking the academy route.
Even if all other conditions are met, not being able to do this first step is a form of discrimination, but… this is also allowed because the academy is an institution for training heroes.
Training heroes means nurturing talents for humanity, not ordinary students.
"Surely, I only needed to take the magic stone."
I reached into the chest of the Golden Goblin and extracted the magic stone.
Unlike other magic stones, this one gleamed with a brilliant golden light. After putting it into the cube, I recalled that Golden Goblins collect various treasures and looked in the direction the goblin was heading.
"The nest is over there."
One of the characteristics of Golden Goblins is their instinctive love for treasures, which they collect in their nests.
In other words, this dungeon's hidden rewards are in the nest.
Although the items available in the early stages are limited… considering the events to come, it wouldn't be bad to collect them.
Closing my eyes and focusing, I sensed the living beings around me who were filled with fear.
Perhaps because this was their nest, they were hiding here and there, planning to ambush me.
Of course.
"Even if you're just goblins."
I fired bullets at the spots where I suspected goblins were hiding and continued to advance.
I felt a magical presence as if someone was detecting me, but it felt familiar, so it seemed the students above had noticed my disappearance and were searching.
"That side, the kids will handle it."
This is the goblin dungeon.
Jisu Hyun had flown us to an uninhabited island with a goblin dungeon specifically for this day. How could they not clear it?
Even if they did something strange, with the 'Familia' kids around, they could still clear the goblin dungeon with overwhelming results compared to other classes.
Walking silently, I occasionally broke the necks of visible goblins, extracted their magic stones, and threw rocks, advancing steadily.
"Good, just as I remember."
Finally, I saw the entrance to what I assumed was the nest of the Golden Goblins.
There were three golden magic stones in the cube.
There are usually about ten Golden Goblins per dungeon, and they usually hide in the nest when an intruder appears, so the probability of the remaining Golden Goblins hiding in the nest was high.
In other words, it was a treasure trove.
And more importantly.
"FBI OPEN UP!!!"
Kicking open the crudely made bone door, I entered to see a peculiar goblin among the startled Golden Goblins.
"I found it."
The real treasure.
The Golden Hobgoblin.
That guy was the hidden boss of this dungeon.
"Kyeek! Kyeek! Human! Human! Human!"
The Golden Hobgoblin, upon seeing me, started making loud noises and jumping around in one spot.
"Human, huh? Did you collect all my treasures?"
"Human! Intruder! Kill! Kill!"
The guy was already excited and shouting loudly the moment he saw me.
Since conversation wouldn't work, I took out the Tommy and aimed it at him.
"Go ahead, dance."
I pulled the trigger, spraying bullets at him and the surrounding Golden Goblins.
The Golden Goblins fell to the ground one by one. Six of them in total.
"…Of course, it won't be that easy."
I noticed the guy hanging from the ceiling, staring at me.
'Golden Hobgoblin.' Another nickname in the game is 'Golden Flash,' named for his ability to disappear in a flash.
A skill perfectly optimized for running away with treasures.
To be the king of Golden Goblins, you need that kind of ability, right?
There's no need to waste time here.
Quick and decisive.
I decided to finish it quickly.
Putting the gun back into the cube and rolling up my sleeves, I looked at him.
He was staring at me, ready to pounce at any moment.
"Going to kill me? Come on in."
After putting the gun away and wiggling my fingers, he appeared in front of me in a flash of light.
"Come on, try it."
"Kyeek!"
I provoked him by wiggling my fingers.
As expected, he was furious and appeared in front of me in a flash of light.
"Die, human!"
The dagger in his hand stabbed towards my chest.
Force is proportional to speed and mass, right?
I'm a liberal arts student, so I don't know the details, but I was sure that if that dagger hit my chest at that speed, it would be an instant kill.
Of course, if I let it hit me.
"That's why I suffered a lot in the game."
But after getting hit a few times by him, everyone knew one thing.
His first attack always aimed for the heart.
And there's nothing easier to block than a teleport punch with a predetermined destination.
I caught his dagger with my hand, which was already near my heart.
He must have been very surprised, thinking he would pierce my heart along with my hand, but my hand, only wearing a leather glove, didn't get pierced.
"Good, you came well."
Of course, his dagger did cause damage.
It didn't pierce the glove, but the impact of his stab was transmitted to my hand inside the glove, making me worry about whether it would leave a hole.
So, I decided to give him a counter with all the pain I felt.
"Kyeek!"
My fist fell like a hammer on his head.
But since he was one of the few who could run away, I couldn't land a direct hit.
Just before the impact, he quickly dropped his dagger and rolled away.
After retreating, he picked up the dagger from the ground and aimed it at me again.
"The instructors outside will be a bit worried."
This guy is far beyond what freshmen can handle.
If I hadn't told Instructor Jisu Hyun beforehand, it wouldn't have been strange to immediately reverse-summon him for safety.
"Then, let's really play."
I smashed the wall next to me, breaking the door.
The best way to deal with him is to leave no escape route.
Since I have to search his treasure trove to go back up, there's no reason for me to retreat.
──Flash.
As a flash of light burst in front of me, I swung my fist.
"Kyeek──!!"
My fist hit his face simultaneously.
"You, you only come straight, right?"
The moment he showed his speed in front of me, the game was already decided.
0.5 seconds after the flash. That was his pattern.
As I reached out to grab his collar, another flash of light hit. He had run away.
"Where to?"
And as I rushed towards him, another flash of light burst.
His figure disappeared, but I wasn't surprised. Instead, I simultaneously ducked and swung my foot towards the back.
"Kyeek?!"
"Yeah, I know you can also go backwards."
How many times have I taken your head? Do you think I wouldn't know your pattern?
His body wobbled and fell, back first. I immediately climbed on top of him and took the mount position.
"Ta-da. Now you can't run anymore, right?"
"H-Human! Don't kill me! The treasure is──"
"Everyone knows what's in your dimensional storage. Stop messing around."
I hammered his face with my fist to prevent him from making any more nonsense.
"Kwek──!!"
His teeth flew into the air.
Well, not everyone, but most users who played CS knew where his treasure trove was.
I completely mashed his face to stop him from making any more noise.
"You little brat. You remind me of the old days."
I once fell for his words and tried to negotiate.
I was on the non-lethal route, thinking that after beating him up a bit, he would hand over the reward if I negotiated, but he opened a dimensional door and fled into his storage.
How futile it was at that time.
When I finally raised a non-lethal character again, I remember breaking him halfway and taking the key.
"Key. I'm taking it."
Saying that, I grabbed his trembling right arm and twisted his thumb to pull it out.
"Kyeek… Kyeek…!"
"Shut up, will you?"
I hammered him again to seal his mouth and examined his thumb.
A small inscription on his thumb.
[You have discovered a new item!]
[Name: Dimensional Storage]
[Grade: Unique]
[Type: Engraving]
[Description: A key to open a 13m² dimensional storage. Raise your thumb and draw a circle to reveal the door of the storage. Can be engraved on the body or an item.]