Gamers of the Underworld

A Skeleton walked with “Ka-cha, ka-cha” sounds in the dimly lit Labyrinth. Not far in front of him was a group of Goblins carrying primitive backpacks on their fronts and backs. They were chatting noisily and had no sense of urgency.

They were different from normal Goblins. They had green words above their heads.

The Goblins were aware of the Skeleton following behind.

“Why is the Skeleton still following us?”

“Is it a BUG?”

“We can’t attack him. What if we give chase and he triggers a trap? It’ll be disastrous.”

“Take care, there’s a trap in front. Walk in the middle, don’t go too near the sides!”

The Goblins advanced forward while the Skeleton Soldier followed behind.

The Skeleton Soldier was controlled by Brainiac. He made the Skeleton Soldier follow the Goblins for a reason.

He wanted to know how they made use of suicide to map out the Labyrinth.

Brainiac was surprised to see the fearless Goblins strip naked to venture into the Labyrinth. If the Goblins were unable to revive their corpses, did they really die? Or even worse, maybe their souls couldn’t return to the Spirit World.

This behavior was rationalized as the Goblins’ loyalty to Eternal Kingdom and Lord Sherlock. Brainiac was moved by their loyalty.

Brainiac was able to make use of the Skeleton Soldiers to map out the Labyrinth. Those Goblins who perished in the Labyrinth and their corpses, however, were unable to be brought back for revival, so how did they convey the information of the Labyrinth back to their comrades?

And they found the actual exit pretty fast. Even Brainiac was doubtful of himself.

Am I really such a novice?

Though it was unbelievable, Brainiac had two explanations.

Number One: These Goblins were all insane, and they had group delusional disorder with intracranial clearance.

Brainiac thought that it had a high possibility, but after following the Goblins using the controlled Skeleton Soldiers, he discovered a terrible truth—the Goblins avoided all traps.

Then there was the second possibility.

Number Two: The forum that they had mentioned might not be a common gathering place. Instead, it might be a gathering place for their awareness, which was like the awareness of bees.

Though it was incredible, this was the only logical reason.

If the Goblins were able to have independent thoughts and awareness and could focus their awareness at the forum location, then even if the Goblins perished, they would be able to convey information to the forum.

But… was that possible? What kind of place was the forum? Was it Lord Sherlock?

Brainiac was troubled by the questions that he couldn’t answer.

As he was pondering those questions, the Goblins exited the Labyrinth and entered a new area.

A squarish Main Hall.

“Let’s create our base camp! Don’t be in a hurry to explore. We have discussed in Wechat that we are not in a hurry to obtain the loot. We don’t have many people, and we can’t allow internal strife. This game is tough, and we are in a new area. It won’t be easy! Let’s survey the environment! If we perish, we’ll lose our equipment!” NotWearingPants, who was the most enthusiastic about dismantling the wall lamps, stood out with his arms akimbo and shouted out loud.

The Goblins dispersed and used the rocks and other items that they had brought with them to build defenses—a circular wall that was created using a myriad of items.

Though the circular wall had no real defensive value, it gave the Goblins a sense of security.

A few Goblins were carrying rocks and the dismantled floor slabs. Then, they stacked them up to strengthen the circular wall.

When they noticed a Skeleton Soldier in the distance, a few Goblins discussed their plan. Then, they took their swords and walked towards the emotionless Skeleton Soldier.

…

With the flashing of the Mana formation, a dark clothed Sherlock returned to Eternal Kingdom.

He had just ended his Archaeology work at Ancient Ruins No. 85. His work was simple, it was to prevent the workers from opening the Rune Door.

When Sherlock was about to leave the Teleport Portal Main Hall, a bare-bodied gamer was pushing a Bone Cart into the Rune Mana Formation. He almost knocked into Sherlock, who had just returned.

“Are the game NPCs that reckless in their movements?” the gamer said without turning his head as he ran past Sherlock and vanished into the Rune Mana Formation.

Sherlock lifted his head and surveyed his Dungeon… Garbage dump?

Candlesticks, stone bricks, unknown metal scraps, rusty weapons, armor, various strange Skeleton frames, and even a Giant Skeleton frame were dumped about.

Sherlock lowered his head and said gravely, “Bru, didn’t you relay treasure hunting missions? Did you remind the gamers that trash can’t be exchanged for coins?”

“Lord Sherlock, I already stated clearly in the missions. During the appraisal of the items, I labeled them as ‘Gray Equipment’ and ‘Trash that even NPCs don’t want and that Lord Sherlock dislikes.’ It was futile,” Bru said helplessly.

“The Goblins were able to dismantle and transport these items to Eternal Kingdom via the Rune Mana Formation. Old technology can be troublesome at times. There is no way to deactivate its function. Anything that gets thrown in will be sent over here. Lord Sherlock, I have tried my best.”

“Forget it, we’ll deal with the trash later. Did they discover any treasure?” Sherlock asked as he walked towards the Dungeon Core Main Hall.

“The Magical Items were unable to be transported via the Rune Mana Formation. They have stored the Magical Items at the Ancient Ruins Main Hall. Lord Sherlock, there are more important issues that I have to report to you.”

Bru hesitated for a while and said, “None of the gamers exchanged the Magical Items for Reputation and coins.”

Sherlock opened the door of Dungeon Core Main Hall. He frowned and said, “Tell me more.”

“I labeled those Magical Items as ‘Can be exchanged for Reputation Points and coins, Lord Sherlock will be very interested.’ I didn’t give any description of the item, but they don’t have the intention to exchange the items.”

Bru said, “This is not hard to deal with. We only have to wait a few days. When the Goblins discover they can’t use the Magical Items, they will exchange them. There is another important issue—they discovered a sleeping Dungeon Core which can be swallowed for a level upgrade.”

“You are saying…” Sherlock sat down and placed his black windbreaker on the box. He covered his face with both his hands and wiped his face slowly. Then, he placed them criss-crossed on the table. He couldn’t control his smile as he said, “My cute little Goblins helped me find a treasure worth 20,000,000 Magic Stones?”

“Strictly speaking, they found 20,000,000 Magic Stones, and they have no intention of giving up the Dungeon Core in the near future,” Bru said.

“For details on the situation, I suggest you take a look at the forum.”

The official discussion forum was busy with activity after the opening of the new area.

There was only one popular gamer who was discussing Strategy Guides on the forum.

Sherlock located his post quickly.

[Live Recording—Ancestral Ruins (The treasure-laden Instance Dungeon before the Second Beta)]