Chapter 30 — The Stinking Attack

Chapter 30 — The Stinking Attack

A round sphere formed above the goblin shaman’s staff.

At first glance it looked like a fireball, but… purple.

Not flame, not fire — just a dense, spherical violet cluster.

The sphere shot forward and flew straight toward me.

I dodged easily — the projectile hit the wall behind me.

I didn’t feel any heat at all.

So this definitely wasn’t a fireball.

The goblin shaman didn’t stop — he started firing one projectile after another, fast, with almost no delay.

What the hell?

Why is magic in this world so fast?

First Damon was spamming fireballs, and now this goblin shaman…

What is with this casting speed?

Alright.

Time to end this.

I dashed forward toward the goblin shaman’s position, and with a single sword strike — in an instant — cut off his head along with his staff.

His body dissolved immediately in a flash of light, and a magic stone dropped to the ground.

[Dungeon Boss Defeated: Goblin Shaman (Lv. 30)]

[Reward: +5,550 EXP (+22,200 Bonus EXP)]

Only level thirty…

Well, what else did I expect?

This was only the first boss of the dungeon.

Not the final one.

Alright…

Oh. A treasure chest appeared.

I wonder what’s inside.

I opened the chest and… yeah… disappointing.

I thought something—maybe not valuable—but at least something sizable would be inside, since the chest itself was fairly big.

But it was almost empty.

Only three magic stones — the same type as the one that dropped from the boss I just killed.

Fine. Better than nothing.

I picked up the magic stones and closed the chest — it disappeared instantly, and a door opened.

The door on the opposite side of the room from where I entered.

Good. I can continue.

Oh! I almost forgot my bag.

I went back, picked it up, and walked through the open door.

Not bad at all.

I found myself in a large room — slightly bigger than the boss room.

In the center stood a fountain.

Hmm… maybe this is a safe zone of the dungeon?

Games often have places like this.

Probably the same idea.

I approached the fountain and reached out, planning to wash my face and drink, but stopped.

What if the water is poisoned?

Ah, right. I have potions — if anything happens, I can cure poison.

Still, better to be careful.

Oh!

Speaking of poison… I totally forgot.

I opened the status window.

Damn… looks like the poison Damon “treated” me with is still active.

Though, thinking about it, its effect is much weaker now.

During all this time — remembering what happened, experimenting with teleportation, and then fighting the dungeon boss — I lost only a little more than three hundred HP.

Nothing critical.

Maybe I should drink a potion now?

…No.

I have the daily limit — a restricted number of potions I can use per day.

It’s stupid to waste them when the damage is so small.

I’ll drink one when I’ve lost at least… well, 900 HP. Then it’s worth it.

I took a few sips of water from the fountain.

I was a bit nervous… but nothing happened.

Just regular, clean drinking water.

Then I splashed some water on my face.

Of course, carefully — I didn’t scoop water with my hands.

I used the large bowl I carried in my bag.

Would’ve been stupid to contaminate the water I plan to drink later.

Well… I’ll rest here for a bit.

Then continue deeper into the dungeon.

Water problem — solved.

And I have more than enough food.

---

Rest over. Time to move again through the dungeon corridor.

Somewhere ahead, a sharp cry echoed.

WHOOSH!

Whoa! I barely dodged — I didn’t expect that.

A violet energy sphere flew past me.

The same type as the one used by the dungeon boss I defeated earlier.

Looks like what’s ahead isn’t just an ordinary goblin…

I walked a bit further, and two goblins appeared in front of me — with a goblin shaman standing behind them.

Well, look at that.

Just like in games: defeat the boss, and a weaker “mini version” starts appearing as a regular mob.

WHOOSH!

Another violet projectile flew past.

I dodged.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

Two more slid by me.

Two goblins rushed to attack.

SLASH! SLASH!

My sword cut them down almost instantly.

Two magic stones dropped to the floor.

[Dungeon Monsters Defeated: Goblins (Lv. 26–27) ×2]

[Received: +6,250 EXP]

Levels 27 and 26.

Nice difficulty increase.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The goblin shaman fired much faster — almost in bursts.

But it wouldn’t save him.

I dashed forward—

SLASH!

—and another magic stone dropped to the ground.

[Dungeon Monster Defeated: Goblin Shaman (Lv. 27)]

[Received: +3,750 EXP]

---

[Dungeon Monsters Defeated:

Goblins (Lv. 21–40) ×326

Goblin Shaman (Lv. 22–40) ×83]

[Received: +2,269,950 EXP]

More than five hours passed.

Honestly?

This is pretty fun!

Yeah, I can easily kill goblins and goblin shamans.

But the deeper I go, the more of them there are.

The last group… yeah, that last one was huge: fourteen goblins and three goblin shamans.

A bit harder, sure, but still easy enough.

And I think my skills really are improving.

At least, that’s how it feels.

On the one hand — yes, I’ve definitely gotten better.

On the other… these are just goblins.

Even goblin shamans always behave the same way.

Can I really be proud of learning how to kill a bunch of identical monsters faster?

I don’t know.

Oh.

Looks like the corridor ends.

A small room opened ahead, and at the far end — massive double doors.

That means… another boss.

Another dungeon boss.

I think I should rest a little before going in.

Though I feel completely fine.

Still, underestimating a dungeon boss is dangerous.

Especially since this one is probably Rank 3.

I don't know what level, but Rank 3 is already a real threat.

Carelessness can kill me.

Yeah… better not be overconfident.

A short rest.

---

A monster stood before me — around two and a half meters tall, towering over me.

His body was massive, but didn’t inspire fear or awe.

The reason was simple: he had an enormous drooping belly, so huge it looked like it might touch the floor at any moment.

His lower jaw also hung low, giving his face an almost cartoonish look.

He was very, very fat — a giant goblin holding a massive sword.

I don’t think there’s any reason to drag this fight out.

I lunged forward quickly and struck with my sword — just the way I always do.

KWANG!

The sound of metal hitting metal.

What the—

He blocked my attack.

I never would have thought that was possible.

I did not expect that kind of speed from him.

He swung his sword and struck.

I blocked easily, but my arm still went a bit numb.

Strong.

Very strong.

Standing this close, I had to look upward to see his face.

That’s how huge he was.

I attacked with my usual barrage of quick slashes.

I managed to deal a few wounds, but they were little more than scratches.

This fat giant goblin was fast enough to block nearly everything I threw at him.

CLANG!

Our swords clashed again.

He lowered his head closer to me, glaring with hatred.

His eyes narrowed.

He opened his mouth—

—and exhaled straight into my face.

What the hell?!

What is that stench?!

I instantly retreated — almost jumped across the room — just to avoid breathing that toxic nightmare.

What the hell?!

Has he never brushed his teeth?!

The smell—

It smelled like rotten meat.

No, worse — something completely decomposed, down to the last fiber.

Damn… this was even worse than the stench of a torn-apart black boar carcass.

Just remembering that smell makes me shiver.

And this… this came straight from the goblin’s mouth.

But wait… how can his breath even smell like that if he doesn’t eat anything?

He’s a dungeon monster created from mana and disappears on death.

Then how can he stink this badly?

No… this is probably one of his skills.

An attack.

A magical ability.

There’s no way such a horrible smell exists naturally.

It has to be magical.

Damn… I can’t take this anymore.

I quickly crafted a Rank 1 Health Potion and drank it.

Whew… relief.

Looks like my olfactory receptors really took damage — because I felt immediate relief in my nose after drinking the potion.

Alright.

I have to go all out.

I do not want this fight dragging on — otherwise he’ll use that stinking attack again.

And I absolutely cannot endure that a second time.

After that, I wouldn’t be able to eat anything for days… especially meat.

Okay… I have Berserk.

How do I activate it?

All I did was think about it — and the skill activated instantly.

I felt rage fill my entire body in a single moment.

Without even having time to think, I charged forward — straight at the giant goblin.

I attacked.

Again.

And again.

Again.

Again.

Again.

The blows followed one after another — incredibly fast, almost like a continuous stream.

And several of them broke through his defense easily, slicing into the monster’s body.

I kept attacking nonstop.

One minute… two…

Until the fat goblin finally roared, jerked — and burst into pure light.

A magic stone fell to the ground.

The biggest one I’ve ever seen — about four centimeters in diameter.

[Dungeon Boss Defeated: Goblin King (Lv. 60)]

[Reward: +110,000 EXP (+660,000 Bonus EXP)]

Goblin King, level 60?

He… a goblin king?

I thought a goblin king would be muscular.

Still tall, but strong, powerful — not this… giant frog-looking thing.

But I admit: he was strong.

Very strong.

And he was the highest-level monster I have ever defeated.

He was my level — 60.

Well… whatever.

The important part is that I won.

Finally.

I really am happy.

Much more than when I defeated the goblin shaman.

I got a couple of scratches, and out of curiosity, I decided to check how much HP I lost.

[Status]

[Name: Alisar

Level: 61

Experience: 260,059 / 7,600,000

Rank: 3]

HP: 16,117 / 16,190 (+240)

MP: 16,963 / 17,480 (+240)

Strength: 429 (+8)

Defense: 505 (+8)

Speed: 685 (+8)

Intelligence: 318 (+8)

Magic Power: 313 (+8)

Magic Defense: 757 (+8)

Free Attribute Points: 64 (+64)

Skills: Swordsman (Rank 1), Berserk (Rank 1)

Special Skills:

• Training Room (Rank 3)

• Alchemy (Rank 2)

Whoa… I leveled up?

Well, yeah, it makes sense.

I got around 770,000 EXP from the boss.

And earlier I earned a lot from killing goblins…

Yeah, I should’ve expected this.

But what’s really surprising — this is the first time I’ve leveled up from killing monsters, not from completing a Training Room quest.

Well then…

Considering how much EXP I can get by just wiping out monsters in this dungeon…

I think I’ll stay here a bit longer.

Oh, the treasure chest.

I almost forgot about it.

I hope there’s something valuable inside.

I approached the chest and opened it.

…Of course.

They could’ve at least put a couple of magic stones as big as the one that dropped from the boss.

But no.

At the very bottom lay a small mushroom.

I stared at it for a couple of seconds.

Is this… seriously?

This is my reward for defeating that boss?