Chapter 8: Almost Scared Me to Death
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
According to Bru, the gamers from the otherworld treated adventure as a form of entertainment. After Sherlock announced the new mission of clearing the Spiders’ Lair, the gamers cheered loudly. Some even shouted “For Eternal Kingdom!” and “For Devil Lord Sherlock!”
The enthusiasm of the gamers gave a fright to Simba, who was forging the weapons.
Enthusiasm was a good thing, as it showed high morale. They would work more diligently if they were motivated.
Sherlock opened the door of the underground tunnel to the outside world. The Spiders’ Lair was close to the Dungeon. It was directly connected by a single tunnel so Sherlock did not have to worry that the gamers would wander to other places. To reach the other areas of the Underworld, the gamers had to go through the Spiders’ Lair. The gamers were also unable to tunnel to other areas because without Sherlock’s order, the gamers were unable to mine indiscriminately. The gamers’ enthusiasm was endorsed by Sherlock. The lowly Goblins were unable to rebel against the superior Devil. However, they could choose to escape the Dungeon.
The possibility of rebelling was slim as the gamers looked happy.
When the main door opened, the gamers rushed in hordes to buy weapons and equipment. Sherlock was pleased. Though their behavior was strange, they were no fools. They would not venture empty-handed into the Spiders’ Lair and lose their lives.
Simba’s forged weapons were limited in number and he only managed five Short Swords and armor in a few hours. Forging required a bit more time.
The hundred gamers could not all get their hands on the equipment, but Sherlock thought of a good solution: increase the price!
A Short Sword for 300 bronze coins! A set of armor for 300 bronze coins!
Sherlock did some calculations according to the rewards that the Goblins earned yesterday. They only had at most a hundred bronze coins each. So, they would have to continue carrying the ores to acc.u.mulate a total of six hundred bronze coins to buy their equipment. By that time, Simba would have already completed the hundred sets of equipment.
Sherlock thought his plan was fool-proof, but an incredible thing occurred. A Goblin started buying up the bronze coins.
A gamer called Arthur shouted among the crowd, “Ten yuan for each bronze coin! I’ll only collect 550 bronze coins! Deal is open until I meet my quota! You can use Alipay or Wechat for transaction. Search for my number 185x.x.xXX and add me as a friend! I can send you money in advance!”
When the other gamers heard Arthur, they brought their bronze coins to sell to him.
Even other gamers like NotWearingPants started shouting to buy bronze coins. Some had the same price as Arthur at ten yuan for a bronze coin. There were others who raised the price to a hundred yuan for a bronze coin.
Sherlock learned the otherworld’s language before and knew that the yuan was also called Renminbi. It was the otherworld’s currency and it had the same value as the Underworld’s Magic Stones. Sherlock didn’t expect the gamers to use the otherworld’s currency to exchange for bronze coins, which did not have much value in the Underworld. Was the chance to have the equipment and venture out first that important?
Sherlock would never use his Magic Stones to exchange for the otherworld’s currency!
Sherlock could not figure out the gamers’ behavior, but Bru understood them and said, “Did you see that? Didn’t I say they were rich sows? Aiya, it’s a pity we can’t implement a currency exchange and commerce system. If we could exchange the Renminbi for Magic Stones, we would be the richest Dungeon in the world!”
Sherlock understood Bru’s words immediately. If the gamers were that generous and the otherworld’s currency could be exchanged for Magic Stones, then he could make a handsome profit just by selling the most common equipment! Sherlock was excited, but it was not possible to exchange the otherworld’s currency for Magic Stones.
The trading of bronze coins was completed and five gamers managed to acc.u.mulate their 600 bronze coins each. Some of the other gamers continued acc.u.mulating the bronze coins at lower prices, while the rest started carrying the ores to earn their bronze coins.
The five gamers immediately bought their equipment from Simba. Sherlock examined their names. They were Arthur, NotWearingPants, BurningChestHair, Sylvanas and Sakuranomiya Cat Demon.
They quickly donned the armor and took up their Hiltless Short Swords before setting off under the watchful gazes of the other gamers. A few bold gamers wanted to follow behind but were harshly declined by the five adventurers who did not want any additional burdens. The adventurers ventured outside as a team.
Sherlock was curious what these five adventurers would do in the Spiders’ Lair and whether they would be pleased with his arrangements. Sherlock had no intention to follow behind the adventurers since the low-intellect Spiders were instinctively afraid of Devils. If he followed them, they would not encounter any Crypt Spiders.
Sherlock had another way to observe this team of adventurers.
Sherlock returned to the Dungeon Core Main Hall quickly and infused Mana into the Dungeon Core. A misty image appeared before him. It was a simple Surveillance Spell that could observe people and objects within a certain radius. The Surface World’s Magician had to use a crystal ball to do the same thing for a shorter duration.
Sherlock discovered he had a tendency to observe the gamers’ behavior because they always did the unexpected and were always curious about this world. A slight discovery would make them very happy, and they were extremely excited to explore.
The five adventurers left the Dungeon warily and lit up torches in the darkness. Holding the torches in one hand and their Short Swords in the other, they surveyed the environment carefully. Before long, they entered the Spiders’ Lair.
After much discussion, BurningChestHair was placed in front, followed by Arthur, Sakuranomiya Cat Demon, NotWearingPants, and Sylvanas.
They attracted the attention of the Underground Spiders and a Spider blocked their advance. It attacked them without hesitation.
In the surveillance image, the five adventurers were stunned by the sudden appearance of the Spider and recoiled in fear. It was normal for them to feel fear when a Spider that was larger than a Goblin charged at them maliciously.
The first Goblin to control his fear was Arthur. He stabbed the Short Sword into an eye of the Spider that caused it to retreat in pain. The Spider moved its huge mandibles wildly in a bid to dislodge the Short Sword from its eye and threw Arthur away with great force. The Spider escaped quickly with the Short Sword impaled in its eye.
The other four Goblins helped Arthur to stand up. The five of them paced around at the Spiders’ Lair entrance as they hesitated whether to proceed. However, the Underground Spiders did not give the Goblins any time. As indicated by Sherlock’s Monster Bestiary, they lived in hordes.
Ten Underground Spiders surrounded and attacked the pitiful gamers from all directions. The encounter ended in a complete victory for the Underground Spiders.
The gamers were tightly bound by Spider Silk and dragged to the middle of the Lair. Before long, the five souls of the adventurers appeared at the Dungeon Core.
The first exploration into the Spiders’ Lair ended in complete annihilation.
Sherlock did not intend to bring their bodies back from the Spiders’ Lair as it was too late. By this time, their bodies would have been completely devoured by the Spiders. It was just as Sherlock had expected.
A Teleport Portal appeared at the Dungeon Core Main Hall. A beginner Goblin walked out with the words NotWearingPants above his head.
The other gamers saw the adventurer NotWearingPants returning to the Dungeon in this fas.h.i.+on and understood that he had died without a corpse.
“How’s it? Are the monsters difficult to kill?”
“How did you die?”
“Did you kill any monsters? Did you get any treasures?”
“Tell us something!”
The gamers surrounded NotWearingPants and bombarded him with questions, but NotWearingPants seemed to be in shock as he was quiet for a long time. Four Teleport Portals appeared and four Goblins walked out. The names above their heads showed Arthur, Sakuranomiya Cat Demon, BurningChestHair, and Sylvanas.
The otherworld’s gamers went into a frenzy and exclaimed, “This is total annihilation!”
“Why is it so difficult? Isn’t this the first opened combat area?”
“Wah, what about the weapons and armor? Lost in the Spiders’ Lair?”
“I hope that the equipment hasn’t vanished. Maybe I can retrieve them?”
“Don’t bother. Wait till we have the numbers before going back!”
Arthur suddenly shouted, “D*mn! This game monster is too realistic! The Giant Spider was twice my size and I saw its mandibles in detail. I’m fearless in real life, but I was almost scared to death just now!”