Gamers of the Underworld

Fear was a normal emotion, especially when encountering Underground Spiders that were twice their size. The gamers had been blinded by their anticipation of adventure and had totally forgotten about the game’s realism. If a Spider twice the size of a Goblin appeared, the Goblins could feel the fear just from the mere thought…

“I just realized that this could be a horror game genre…”

“If we have more numbers, we would not be that fearful. Let’s carry more bricks! Then we’ll form a larger expedition group of about forty to fifty gamers! And, we’ll adjust the pain setting to zero. What’s there to be afraid of?”

“Yes, courage with more numbers. Let’s carry bricks, let’s carry bricks!”

The gamers started to chat again. Though they were chatting, they continued to work diligently. They really loved to chat!

Within this period of time, the gamers had no intention to explore the Spiders’ Lair as the first expedition group had been annihilated and had lost all their equipment. The Underground Spiders were visually fearful creatures to them.

Sherlock was pleased to see that the gamers were still having fun and that his prepared entertainment outlet was having its desired effect. Sherlock would allow the gamers to decide how they were going to play the game. He did not need to worry that the gamers would not mine and expand the Dungeon as they had to buy equipment before setting out on exploration. They had to carry bricks to earn bronze coins. Sherlock guessed that the gamers would die a few times to the Spiders. After losing their equipment, wouldn’t they not have to carry bricks again? It was a perfect cycle.

The other Dungeons were not able to operate in this way because their dead Goblins could not be easily revived. Once the normal Goblins perished, their souls would be trapped in the Spirit World and had to be redeemed before revival. The process was extremely tedious. With Bru’s method, the souls of otherworld’s Goblins were trapped in the Dungeon Core after their death, so their revivals were very convenient.

Sherlock always doubted that his Dungeon Core was abandoned and useless. It seemed that he had obtained an invaluable treasure.

To build the great Dungeon, Sherlock had to make sure that the gamers continued working diligently. He decided to retrieve the lost equipment belonging to the five adventurers. After all, he was a thrifty Dungeon Lord. It was wasteful to leave the equipment in the Lair. He could retrieve them and outfit another five Goblins.

Sherlock arrived at the Spiders’ Lair and found the lost equipment quickly. The Spiders did not feed on metal, so they had thrown the equipment at the Lair’s tunnel.

Besides the lost equipment, Sherlock also found the Spider whose head had been impaled by Arthur’s Short Sword. The Spider was dead, and faint green blood had been spilled all over the place.

Sherlock was surprised that the Spider carcass would be abandoned by the other Spiders. He felt a faint Mana ripple in the Spider’s body. Could this Spider have swallowed a Magical Item?

Sherlock decided to bring this Spider back to the Dungeon and let Simba dissect it. What if there was a valuable Magical Item? Sherlock was in need of Magic Stones. If he could obtain a valuable Magical Item, he could sell it for Simba’s salary.

When Sherlock brought back the equipment and carcass, it created a disturbance among the Goblins. Besides the five adventurers, the other gamers had not witnessed an Underground Spider before. They surrounded Sherlock.

“Is that an Underground Spider?”

“It looks terrifying. My knees are getting weak even though it’s a dead Spider.”

“Though it’s a game, it’s too terrifying. How did the game pass the official checks?”

“It’s arcane technology and you’re asking about checks?”

NotWearingPants pointed at the Spider and shouted, “Arthur, this is the Spider that you stabbed. Look, the wound is at the same location on the head!”

Arthur also found out about the head wound on the Spider. The surrounding gamers looked at Arthur as though he was a hero, and the Dungeon became a massive chatting hall again.

Sherlock did not stop the gamers from looking at the Underground Spider. He ordered NotWearingPants and Arthur to carry the carcass to the Blacksmith Shop and help Simba dissect the Spider so that Simba could take out the object from its stomach. Sherlock would not do the dirty work himself.

Sherlock thought for a while and threw two Short Swords to NotWearingPants and Arthur. He did not expect them to dissect it with their bare hands.

“Did this trigger off a hidden mission?”

“I knew it. Killing the first monster has its special reward!”

“I’m green with jealousy! I should have spent money to accumulate the bronze coins!”

The Dungeon rang with the boisterous chatting of the gamers.

NotWearingPants and Arthur were taken aback. Under the envious gaze of the gamers, they retrieved the Short Swords and grabbed a furry Spider Leg each as they dragged the carcass towards the Blacksmith Shop. Some bold gamers also helped to push the giant carcass, though they did not receive any reward from Sherlock.

Simba was forging weapons, and there was a pile of equipment at his side. Few gamers could afford to buy the equipment. Seeing Sherlock lead the gamers and a dead Spider into his shop, Simba put aside his work and asked Sherlock respectfully, “Lord Sherlock, what can I do for you?”

“There’s something in the Spider’s stomach. Help me retrieve it. Be careful not to damage it. These two Goblins are your assistants.”

Sherlock said as he pointed at NotWearingPants and Arthur.

Simba acknowledged him and took up a Short Sword. He gave some instructions to NotWearingPants and Arthur as they started the dissection. The gamers exclaimed in shock as they followed the dissection. Most of them were terrified and disgusted by the dissection which was rated R18.

Sherlock stood back to avoid being stained by the Spider’s green blood. Before long, the Spider was almost dissected, and both of Simba’s assistants were stained with green and smelly blood. Many surrounding gamers felt sick, and a few gamers started vomiting out their meals.

NotWearingPants was feeling sick, while Arthur’s face was ghastly white.

The blood-stained Simba told Arthur to search the carcass carefully for objects. Without hesitation, Arthur squirmed into the carcass and carried out a dimly radiant metal ball.

Sherlock waved at Arthur to let Arthur pass the metal ball to him. Arthur ran to Sherlock’s side and raised the metal ball above his head. Sherlock took out a handkerchief from his pocket and covered the metal ball with the handkerchief in disgust. He put the wrapped metal ball in front of his eyes and smelled a horrible stench coming from it.

He confirmed that the Mana ripple came from the small metal ball. What was that ball? Sherlock found it familiar, but he could not recall from where. Since it had a Mana ripple, it was definitely a Magical Item. He wanted the ball to be appraised and sold for Magic Stones!

To appraise this Magical Item, he had to make a trip to Winterfell.