The Hero gently extended her foot, her thick waterproof boots striking the body of a Goblin, surprisingly emitting a dull thud akin to the collision of solid objects.
Despite having struggled vigorously just moments ago, the now deceased Goblins had turned as dark as char, their bodies no longer resembling flesh and blood, but rather as hard as dried and withered wood that has dehydrated.
With a little more force in her kick, the Goblin's body cracked open, yet no blood flowed out.
Between those crevices lay an abyss-like depth and darkness, no inner details visible, and they exuded an odor that made one want to vomit.
The Hero was no stranger to killing Goblins, but this stench was distinctly different than any she had encountered before.
It wasn't just the smell of a dead body, but something that could stimulate the instinct of life itself, issuing a sharp warning.
As if not quickly distancing oneself from here would result in falling into a hell from which there is no return.
The Hero retreated two steps and held her breath.
"Dark Poison... So this is the pollution that even the Water Mirror Crane King fears."
When the Water Mirror Crane King mentioned the pollution, the trepidation in his voice still echoed in her ears.
The young girl clenched her fists, feeling her palms moisten.
No matter how much she loathed Goblins, the Hero couldn't deny their tenacity for life.
Goblins living in the wild eat almost anything; they are not picky, nor do they suffer from the inability to adapt to different environments like humans do. Wherever they go, anything edible is consumed, even if it's rotting waste.
This does not mean their stomachs are tougher than humans'; it's just like how flies are not scared of filth,
For a creature of flesh and blood to reach the level of Goblins, there is no further room for degradation.
Goblins do not get stomach aches, only those who eat Goblins get diarrhea, which is one of the reasons why they could proliferate in the wild.
But when the Hero poured the polluted river water onto them all at once, these Goblins, like chickens whose necks were wrung, only managed a brief cry of distress before their lives were completely snuffed out.
Their vile-smelling green skins darkened and stiffened, resembling tastelessly morbid works of art, scattered haphazardly on the riverbank.
Their flesh was completely corroded by the alien Magic Power, transforming them into something close to inorganic matter, a process which was completed in mere seconds.
The Hero of course understood what this implied.
The vitality of these Goblins wasn't inferior to that of ordinary humans, yet they turned into this state simply by being drenched in the river water,
If even they ended up , ordinary people drinking or coming into contact with this water would face no different fate.
Even if this was the upstream of a highland, 3000 meters up, by the time the river water flowed into the cities below, the pollution would have been further diluted, but if people were to drink this water untreated, they too would presumably experience nothing pleasant.
No wonder the authorities issued a commission for investigation.
The pollution in this river was far more severe than she had imagined!
The Hero looked up towards the upstream of the river.
It seemed that now, there was only one choice—
1. Continue forward ♛
2. Return to the relay station for military assistance
Sensing the urgency of this commission, the Hero didn't linger any longer and continued to trek upstream.
Generally speaking, Secret Exploration Level commissions are not exclusive: they are not limited to a number of participants nor have a deadline for completion.
Instead, they come with a protection period, the length of which is determined by the client and the Adventurer Guild's evaluation.
If adventurers who undertook the mission fail to obtain progress-related information within the protection period and report back to the Adventurer Guild, the commission will be reposted for someone else to claim.
If it's a particularly urgent task, several copies might be posted simultaneously, employing multiple Adventurers to proceed concurrently.
And over a longer period, failure to make any progress would be deemed mission failure.
Just like the water source investigation task the Hero took on, it came with a [] day protection period.
Although the Border City had recognized the water source's pollution, it's evident that the city had not yet seen any large-scale adverse events caused by pollution, hence the generous deadline.
Perhaps it was because the wells and drinking spots at the border had purification Magic Arrays inscribed, and the kind-hearted Female Adventurer had mentioned that this was the first she'd heard of water pollution.
But the place where the Hero currently stood was already at the edge of the highland.
Clearly, the pollution had gradually spread from the Central Volcano in the middle of the highland.
The reason the Hero accepted this task was because she saw that it appeared to be related to the volcano's unusual activity.
Now seeing that things had gone beyond expectations, the Hero didn't hesitate and quickly proceeded along the river.
Now was not the time to leisurely enjoy nature!
[Hero's Luck does not meet the criteria—]
1-3. There are no struggling Goblins
4-5. The Dark Element has disappeared
6-8. Other highland Magic Creatures ♛
9. The Dark Element suddenly intensified
10. Critical Success/Extreme Failure
[Highland Magic Creatures' Friendliness (below 30 triggers an encounter)]
Note: The total map level of the highland is 67. As one ventures deeper, the level bonus increases progressively, reaching d30+35 by the Central Volcano, and d30+40 by the end stretch of the world's end.