Gamers of the Underworld

After Sherlock finished speaking, it became dead quiet.

Professor Bacon straightened his body. Then he folded his arms to support his chin and leaned on the sofa twice, making bone scraping sounds.

Sherlock was patient. He crossed his legs and sipped his thick, fragrant, and bloody chrysanthemum tea.

“You’re saying…”

Professor Bacon stood up and paced in the room.

“Your Goblin friends are taking part in the graduation research? Apologies Lord Sherlock, perhaps you’ve misunderstood my intention. I didn’t make it clear. The capability of the combatants cannot be too strong or too weak. I’m afraid the Goblins might not be up to the job. If the Goblins become the targets of the Liches, the college might prefer to set up more scarecrows instead.”

Professor Bacon had made his intentions clear, and he tried not to be offensive. If the creature sitting opposite wasn’t a superior Devil drinking tea, Professor Bacon would have pointed at his nose and asked, “Are you treating me like a fool?”

“Don’t be mistaken, Professor. My friends and I aren’t looking down on the college, and we don’t have the intention of fooling you. I know you’re prejudiced against Goblins, and I don’t like them either, but my Goblin friends are different.”

Sherlock put down the cup of tea and clasped his hands at his knees before saying, “To be exact, these Goblins are my Dungeon’s servants. Though they are servants, I treat them as friends. Their lifespans aren’t long, their status in society isn’t high, and they often die in accidents. However, they have ideals and goals, and their capabilities are strong. Though they can’t be compared to the Gnomes and Orcs, they are able to handle the Spirit Legion conjured by the novice Liches. They are also resilient. They enjoy challenging themselves and doing the impossible. One hundred Magic Stones is more than enough for a Goblin, as his compensation is only 50 Magic Stones. They won’t have any complaints, even if there’s a fatality. Also, nobody will complain and cause a negative public opinion since there is no Goblin Rights Protection Association.”

Professor Bacon thought for a while and said, “Lord Sherlock would like to send your Goblins to be cannon fodders. You plan to charge 50 Magic Stones as their compensation while you take 50 Magic Stones as commission?”

“How could I do that? I’m not that kind of person. How would I appropriate 50 Magic Stones from the Goblins?” Sherlock said with integrity.

Though Lord Sherlock said it with integrity, without a contract, the Devil’s words weren’t reliable.

Professor Bacon made a simple calculation. For a Dungeon Core to recruit a Goblin, only a signed contract was required. With the Dungeon Lord’s identity, he could deceive them into participating in the research without paying their salary. After they perished, 50 Magic Stones would be given as compensation. Meanwhile, Lord Sherlock could keep 50 Magic Stones. This would become an infinite money-making scheme!

The crux was whether the college was willing to accept the Goblins as the Liches’ opponents.

The college was obviously not willing.

“Lord Sherlock, as you know, I can’t make a decision. Please go back and wait a while. I’ll convey your proposal to the college. If they are agreeable, I’ll inform you straight away,” Professor Bacon stood up and said.

“Professor, I understand your predicament. If you don’t try and dismiss my Goblin friends straight away, aren’t you too dogmatic?”

Sherlock stood up and said, “Since you are here in Winterfell, it would be a pity if you leave. Why don’t you give my Goblin friends a chance?”

“Lord Sherlock, I would like to give your Goblin friends a chance, but the college has rules that I can’t break.” Professor Bacon shook his ribs and sighed.

“Professor Bacon, give my Goblin friends a chance, and you will have more time to stay in Winterfell for investigation. You’re also giving the poor Winterfell female students a chance. I know of a place with many poor and beautiful female students…”

Sherlock didn’t manage to finish his sentence before Professor Bacon’s eyes lit up.

“Where?”

Professor Bacon felt he was too rash and changed his tune.

“I mean, where is your Dungeon? I’m willing to spend more time to investigate and see if your Goblin friends are as good in combat as you claimed.”

“Of course, the Eternal Kingdom welcomes your arrival. I have a small request,” Sherlock said.

“My Goblin friends have a special trait. If you appear as a College Academic Deputy Director to investigate, it might not incite their fighting spirit. As you know, the minds of Goblins are hard to figure out. If I don’t create a sense of mission in them, they might not be willing to participate in the graduation research.”

Professor Bacon tilted his emotionless skull face as Sherlock edged close to him and said, “I’ll go back and think of a good solution while Professor Bacon focuses on helping the poor female students in Winterfell. Wait for my letter.”

…

The bright rays of the Teleport Portal illuminated the Dungeon Core Main Hall. The gamers, who were carrying bricks diligently, looked in the direction of the portal.

As Sherlock walked out, the gamers ran over to him. Some of them showed their coins excitedly while some injured gamers crawled or limped over.

“I’m buying land! I’m buying land! I want to buy land!”

“Bed! I want a bed!”

“My leg was crushed by the ore! Help me heal my leg please, Sherlie. I can’t mine for ore!”

“Sh*t! Can’t the system give a maintenance notice for the Revival System? When is our compensation given?”

The gamers shouted wildly. There were that many requests just from a hundred gamers. The group of Goblins looked like a hungry group of pets waiting for Sherlock to feed them.

Sherlock completed all their requests. He watched them leave before he went back to his work.

The gamers were no longer curious about Sherlock. Though a Devil Lord looked cool and awesome, after long periods of exposure, it was no longer exciting.

Who had the time to look at Sherlie? The time was better spent carrying bricks!

Is the equipment improved? Is the private land purchased? Is the bed purchased? All required money!

As for the compensation, it was Bru who managed it. To show that Eternal Kingdom was a professional game company, the compensation would be sent out the next day at six o’clock.

Sherlock browsed the forum with ease in the Dungeon Core Main Hall. He also had to think of the gamers’ Main Plot and background story.

The forum was filled with discussions about the background story of “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom”, the relationship between Sherlie and the octopus Devil, the relationship between the Succubus and Sherlie, Baron Lassie’s warm attitude towards Sherlie, and other trivial content.

All these attracted the insane curiosity of the gamers. Though only fragments of information were presented to the gamers, they speculated that the game producers were planning a game with a massive world background. The factions included the various independent Dungeons and the Winterfell Merchant Alliance. The gamers speculated on the roles of these factions. Would they be against the gamers or allies of the gamers?

The speed of posts refreshing was fast. Pressing F5 would reveal an entirely new page.

Only NotWearingPants’ detailed mission narration remained consistently on the first page, as the post was continuously being pushed to the top.

As Sherlock had already read the post, he wasn’t interested in it.

He browsed other posts in the forum and noticed a post which was constantly being pushed to the top. The topic was:

[Regarding “Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom”, Speculation and Analysis of the first Instance Dungeon. Spider Queen? Octopus Devil? Or Lassie?]

“Bru,” Sherlock shouted at Bru, who was busy coding, and asked, “What is an Instance Dungeon?”

“Instance Dungeon? You’re asking about the online game Instance Dungeons? From a professional viewpoint, an Instance Dungeon is a place that provides generous equipment, items, and resources to gamers. It’s different from normal game or scene areas. I’ll let you watch some videos. These are the videos on Instance Dungeons from “World of Warcraft”. You may use it as research for your understanding.”

The screen before Sherlock showed various videos on Instance Dungeons…