Transformed into Cosmic Horror in a Sci-Fi Universe
EP.86 Trial of the First Floor
As the trial began, the transparent wall disappeared.
Now, they could enter the forest.
And at the same time, the clear condition for the first floor appeared.
[ 1st Floor Clear Condition: Defeat the Goblin Shaman existing in the forest. ]
[ Note: It will only be recognized as a kill if you deliver the final blow. ]
The clear condition was to defeat the Goblin Shaman.
As the name suggests, it was clear that this was a goblin that used magic, or rather, sorcery.
Lee Hyunsoo didn’t move rashly at first, organizing his thoughts on the spot.
‘The fact that I waited for people to come means that there are other people in this forest.’
It’s only recognized as a kill if you deliver the final blow.
This part probably means that even if you hide and only aim for the last hit, it will be acknowledged.
He thought he should consider the possibility of aiming for this from the start, hiding after discovering the Goblin Shaman.
‘This is a competition. Who knows how many Goblin Shamans there are. If we can’t defeat them, we might be eliminated from the first floor and die.’
Maybe there’s only one, so only one person can clear it.
But what if this Goblin Shaman is stronger than expected?
What if there are so many goblins that people need to cooperate to fight?
‘When I meet people, should I compete or cooperate?’
He was torn about which choice to make.
‘Let’s think about that when we encounter people. There’s no point in just standing here.’
With that, he moves forward.
And not long after.
“Keeeeek!”
“…!!”
He encountered a group of goblins.
There were a total of 3 goblins.
Swoosh─!
“Kieeeeek!”
Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be much difference in specs compared to the tutorial goblins.
He killed one by slicing its body in a single breath.
Slash!
Then he quickly dealt with the others, and the battle was over.
“Phew… Indeed, the first time is hard, but it gets easier after that.”
In fact, goblins themselves are weak.
It’s just a matter of whether you can cut down a life similar to a human walking on two legs or not.
Even an ordinary person with a sword could easily defeat about 3 of them.
For Lee Hyunsoo, once called a sword genius, it was naturally much easier to win, even if he had picked up a sword after 7 years.
“Hm? Something dropped.”
After the battle, Hyunsoo noticed something near the goblin corpses and picked it up.
[ Goblin Essence ]
[ Can be synthesized into a Powerful Goblin Essence by collecting 10. ]
“…Synthesis?”
So something happens when you synthesize 10 of them.
Not sure what it means, but since he’d collect them anyway while defeating goblins, he picked up all 3 and put them in his pocket.
A moment later.
[ You have synthesized 10 Goblin Essences to create a Powerful Goblin Essence. ]
[ Powerful Goblin Essence ]
[ Increases 1 random stat when used. (Max 15) ]
[ When possessed, guides to the location of the nearest Goblin Shaman. ]
“I see. So I can increase my stats with this, and then after that, I should find and defeat the Goblin Shaman.”
Hyunsoo nodded, immediately understanding the structure of the first floor trial.
Holding the powerful essence, he could faintly see something like a navigation arrow pointing somewhere.
It probably means he can meet the Goblin Shaman if he goes in the direction it’s pointing.
‘Come to think of it, it says the nearest shaman. Are there multiple?’
If so, it seemed that cooperating when encountering people might not be a bad method.
Of course, the catch was that he hadn’t met a single person so far.
‘Let’s start by increasing my stats.’
There’s no need to rush if there are multiple shamans and he’s even given guidance.
It seemed best to increase all the stats he could before going.
‘With things like this, you should maximize them when you can.’
That’s what he thought.
Until just a moment ago.
[ Goblin Shaman ]
“Keeeeek!”
“Oh shit.”
While hunting goblins to farm essences, he finally encountered it.
He had only managed to kill about 30 so far and raised only 3 stats, but suddenly he was face to face with the boss.
‘Just my luck.’
The fact that stats could be raised up to 15 meant that was the recommended level for fighting the Goblin Shaman.
But Lee Hyunsoo’s current stats were….
[ Name: Lee Hyunsoo ]
[ Weapon: Sword ]
[ Armor: Leather ]
[ Strength: 14(+2) ] [ Agility: 13(+2) ] [ Stamina: 14(+2) ]
[ Magic Power: 12(+2) ]
His stats had risen a bit more from farming essences, and he had quite a few stats increased from the tutorial earlier, so the numbers were high, but still, none had reached 15 yet. �
But there was no choice.
If he encountered it, he had to fight.
‘First, I’ll deal with the surrounding goblins.’
There were 4 goblins.
Not a particularly difficult number.
Of course, it was worrying not knowing what the Goblin Shaman would do from behind.
“Keeek! Kieek!”
[ You are afflicted with the Slow status effect. ]
[ Agility decreases by 2. ]
‘Oh shit!’
No sooner had the thought finished than the Goblin Shaman was already doing something.
And right after that, 4 goblins rushed at him.
‘It’s okay. If it were strength, it’d be a problem, but agility I can still manage.’
It wasn’t that his physical strength had decreased, but his reaction speed.
As long as he had the strength, he could deal with them in one blow, so there was no difficulty.
“Huaaah!”
Swoosh!
Slash! Slice!
He sliced the necks of two charging goblins.
Thanks to his increased stats and the experience he had gained, his peak form was returning, allowing him to cut them down very cleanly.
‘Next…!’
Just as he was about to cut down the remaining goblins with a follow-up attack.
Whoosh─!
“Argh! It’s hot!”
Suddenly, a fireball flew from somewhere and scorched his body.
He hurriedly shook his body to shake off the fireball, but as a result, his arm was burned and started to sting.
His body stiffened, allowing the goblins’ attacks to land.
Thud!
His stomach and left shoulder.
Fortunately, if you could call it that, they were wielding wooden clubs instead of blades, so he didn’t suffer major injuries.
A pain like his bones were about to break washed over him, but it seemed his bones weren’t actually broken. It just ached, but there was no problem moving his body.
‘Good thing my Stamina increased.’
It must be thanks to the increased Stamina that his body’s defense itself had risen.
“Uaaaah!”
Somehow enduring the pain, he sliced the goblins’ necks.
Next was the shaman.
“Keeeeek!”
Without any shield to protect it, he instantly severed the shaman’s neck, killing it on the spot.
Ding!
[ You have defeated the Goblin Shaman. ]
[ You have acquired the Goblin Shaman’s essence. ]
[ You have achieved the clear condition for the first floor. ]
[ Number of Goblin Shamans defeated: 1 ]
With burns and bruises, his body wasn’t in great shape, but he managed to defeat the Goblin Shaman without major injuries.
“Phew.”
Now that the battle was over, it was time to check the rewards.
The essence of the Goblin Shaman, when used, increases one stat and has a maximum of 20, or teleports to the second floor.
I set it up as an item that allows you to choose between these two options.
Hehehe, this way, given Hyunsoo’s strong desire for improvement, he’ll naturally raise his stats to the maximum of 20 before moving on.
Actually, there are up to 100 Goblin Shamans prepared, far more than the number of participants.
[ Ah, this is fun. With even a status window, it really feels like I’m making a game. A tower-climbing RPG game. ]
I wonder how far Hyunsoo, whom I’ve set as the protagonist this time, will be able to climb.
At the current pace, it looks like he’ll easily climb up to about the 20th floor.
I’ve set the tower to have a total of 100 floors.
Well, most climbers are still unable to surpass the 40th floor, and even the most advanced vanguard is stuck around the 50th floor…
I wonder how quickly Hyunsoo will climb?
I’m really looking forward to it.
Of course, since I’ve set Hyunsoo as the protagonist of this world, I plan to support him diligently so he can reach the 100th floor at the top.
He’ll probably make it to the very top no matter what.
Hmm, a wish, huh.
What wish will he make?
To become the richest person in the world?
To be able to practice kendo again?
To keep the tower’s abilities in the real world?
He might even ask to become a god.
Whatever he wants, I can grant it all.
I am, literally, the omnipotent god of the outside world.
I have the power to even recreate the world if he asks for it.
Come on, hurry up and climb.
Oh protagonist of this world.
Hmm, saying it like this makes me sound like an evil mastermind.
But it’s not wrong since I created everything, right?