A Veteran of Infinite Buffs - Chapter 41

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 41

The Goblin Cave was far deeper than I’d anticipated.
No matter which tunnel I ventured down, goblins emerged without fail.
“Kieeeek!”
Splat!
Yet with Contempt for the Weak active and Seven Impact at my disposal, they posed no real threat.
If anything, I was a calamity unto them.
Splat! Boom!
Goblin heads burst apart in succession.
It felt like spray-painting the cave walls.
The medium was goblin skulls, but the Goblin Cave’s identity only grew stronger.
“So where does this end?”
What I sought was clear.
The boss chamber.
A cave with this many monsters should naturally have a leader worthy of them.
“This doesn’t feel like a dungeon beginners should be tackling.”
My former party had chosen this hunting ground for a reason.
The endless flood of goblins was nearly impossible to overcome without an option like Contempt for the Weak.
Splat!
“Call the boss already. How many of these things are there?”
“Kieeeek!”
After wandering for some time, I reached a new vista.
Torches flickered faintly in the distance.
“Maybe something worthwhile will finally appear.”
Before the words left my mouth, new goblins emerged.
These were larger than their predecessors, and their equipment was of superior quality.
Mutant goblins wielding weapons so sharp and pristine that not a speck of rust marred them.
“Kruk! Kru!”
“Now we’re talking. Finally some decent farming.”
My greatest frustration in this cave had been the lack of farmable items from defeated monsters.
Since these creatures yielded so little coin, the reward system had resorted to pricing goblin ears as compensation.
“Here goes.”
Crash!
“Kruaaah!”
This goblin’s reaction speed was indeed exceptional.
It blocked my full-powered strike.
And there were three of them.
Crash! Bang!
“You’ll damage the weapon. Don’t block.”
The moment my attack was blocked, I decided to mix in unpredictable strikes.
After all, I had an excellent option called Instant Pierce at my disposal.
Crack!
This time, it connected.
It would have been nearly impossible for a mutant goblin to defend against an attack that even humans would struggle to stop.
“Screech!”
Thud.
Even as one fell, the remaining mutants unleashed a ferocious counterattack.
They even weaponized their comrade’s death—there was something oppressive about their coordination.
“Hm.”
Moreover, I allowed an attack to land for the first time.
An iron blade had pierced my forearm.
But I didn’t rely solely on offensive buffs.

[Life Whisper]
[Agility +2 Stamina +2 Luck +5]
[Evades critical wounds with high probability.]
[Wound natural healing speed increases dramatically.]
[Duration: ∞]

Life Whisper—my fundamental defensive buff—had played its role in allowing the blade to strike my forearm instead of a vital point.
Originally, the mutant goblin’s iron blade should have pierced my heart, not my forearm.

[Green Fragrance Soup (Masterpiece)]
[Strength +10 Agility +10 Stamina +10 Wisdom +10 Luck +10]
[Stamina recovery speed increases dramatically]
[Physical attack resistance (Medium)]
[Mental attack and magic resistance (Medium)]
[Duration: ∞]

Moreover, the Boa Village treasure that boosted physical resistance and dramatically accelerated stamina recovery—the Green Fragrance Soup buff—was persisting permanently.
In other words, there was only momentary stamina loss.
Even allowing attacks meant there was no actual damage.
“You weren’t the Hopeless Three Brothers after all.”
“Krkrgh?”
Crack! Crack!
Swift and decisive.
I channeled mana into the wooden sword and cleaved the goblin along with its weapon.
“These things are more troublesome than humans. They only have one life just like us.”
I shook off the blood and claimed the weapon that was still in decent condition.

[Vital Point Hunter Iron Sword (Superior)]
[Attack Power: 15~47]
[Durability: 76]
[Vital Point Hunter: Increased thrust modifier and critical strike probability]
[A fine quality sword forged in steel. Born from the hands of a blacksmith who grew weary of high taxes and hammered away at his anvil.]
Was this a good option?
The comparison was unfortunately with a Unique-grade Mauro wooden sword.

[Mauro Wooden Sword of Resentment (Unique)]
[Attack Power: 24~44]
[Durability: 320 (Unrepairable)]
[Resentment Imbued: Triggers ‘Severance’ at certain probability]
[Severance: Leaves a wound on the target that cannot be healed for a certain duration.]
[A wooden sword crafted from Mauro wood. Carefully maintained and treated with fine oil for decades. It surpasses most real blades and boasts unparalleled performance among wooden swords.]

The minimum attack power was lower than the wooden sword, but the iron sword’s maximum attack power was slightly higher.
However, the wooden sword had the additional effect of Severance, so I likely wouldn’t have occasion to use the iron sword directly.

[Kael: ‘Link: Vital Point Hunter Iron Sword (Superior)’ Elder. How does the goblin look?]

Fortunately, Sung-chul (Elder)’s response came back in less than a minute.

[Nyx: The attack power is quite high? You should be able to get at least 30 Silver for it?]
[Kael: Ah. It’s high?]
[Nyx: Yeah. It’s newbie graduation weapon specs. Office workers can use it cost-effectively. Usually people push through with the Hidden wooden sword as long as possible before switching to the iron sword route.]

30 Silver translates to 600,000 won in cash.
While I questioned whether it was worth that much, considering the money I’d earn by improving my hunting efficiency, it actually felt like a bargain.
This iron sword only fell slightly short of my wooden sword in terms of raw performance—there was no significant difference when evaluated objectively.

[Kael: Oh. I just hunted and ate a goblin. This is pretty good.]
[Nyx: Huh? That sword came from a goblin? Those guys only carry rusty, dull weapons.]
[Kael: Seems like a mutant variant. Only three of them roam together, but they’re skilled at coordinated attacks and move much faster.]
[Nyx: Mutant goblins exist? You’re in Dran, right?]
[Kael: Ah, I’ve drifted a bit, but it’s still the closest area to Dran.]
[Nyx: What? Can you share your coordinates?]

An awkward situation had arisen.
Coordinate sharing wasn’t a feature available on the device I was currently using—Dimension Gate II.

[Kael: Later. Another goblin just showed up.]
[Nyx: Okay.]

Sung-chul was quite knowledgeable about this game.
Therefore, there was no chance he’d worry after seeing my equipment directly.
He’d simply asked out of genuine curiosity about the coordinates.
I felt I’d navigated the crisis reasonably well.
“Anyway, it’s 30 Silver, so I need to avoid splitting the weapon itself as much as possible.”
I realized that Mana Instant Strike also had to be used with proper timing.
If things went wrong, the weapon could be cleaved in half—something I needed to be careful about.
Having discovered new terrain, I pressed forward.
Torches were planted at regular intervals along the narrow passage, and where it ended, a relatively spacious cavern opened up.
And there was always a mutant goblin there.
“Grrrrk?”
“Yeah, it’s me.”
This time there were four of them.
So I used Gale Rush to close the distance in an instant, and before even drawing my weapon, I blew off one mutant goblin’s head.
Boom!
Since these monsters didn’t exceed goblin-class physiology, one direct hit with the weapon was enough to finish them.
Moreover, blocking with an arm or twisting the head wouldn’t change the outcome—it was still a one-hit kill.
Crack!
The ambush was effective.
I was able to dispatch two mutant goblins quickly.
Now it was time to face the goblin that had belatedly drawn its weapon.
Since a half-hearted attack would obviously be blocked, I mixed in an unconventional kick attack from the start.
Whoosh!
“Gahhck!”
When I cut off their breath, their guard momentarily crumbled.
Striking at that opening, I could cleanly target the crown of their head.
I flowed through this sequence like water.
It was a method I’d used frequently against bipedal monsters in my previous playthrough.
Crack!
I’d won every exchange of blows against the mutant goblin.
The reward I’d receive here was one-to-one.
“Come on.”
“Kyaaaagh!”
Clang! Clang! Clang!
I saw every attack from the goblin and deflected them all.
With my elevated stats, I could now handle every assault the mutant goblin threw at me.
Thud!
In the gaps created by our back-and-forth exchanges, I drove my wooden sword into the vital points.
No matter how strong the mutant goblin was, it had no defense against relentless strikes aimed at its weak spots.
“Grrrrgh!”
Thump!
I’d successfully cleared the mutant goblin.
This time, I was even able to recover all of its weapons intact.

[Keen-Eyed Iron Sword (Superior)]
[Attack Power: 13~41]
[Durability: 84]
[Keen-Eyed: Damage doubles on critical hits to vital points]
[A finely crafted iron sword born from the hands of a blacksmith who married off his only daughter.]

[Mighty Woodcutter’s Axe]
[Attack Power: 8~36]
[Durability: 51]
[Mighty Woodcutter’s: Additional power bonus when logging]
[An axe crafted for woodcutting. While the iron purity is lower, it was manufactured to be lightweight for practicality.]

The weapon’s quality was comparable to the iron sword I’d acquired earlier.
In other words, this would also sell for silver coins.
Moreover, the axe seemed like it would fetch a decent price in Liam, where dense forests and logging camps thrived.
This time, I decided not to ask Sung-chul about it.
“Excellent. A great find.”
At this rate, I might have earned around 1 gold coin.
The Goblin Cave continued deeper, so I pressed forward.

“Kiiiieeee!”
The number of mutant goblins I encountered began to increase.
Whether they’d divided territories among themselves or had assigned zones, I couldn’t tell, but I simply continued fighting regardless.
[Your level has increased!]
“Kyaaaagh!”
Crack!
As the monster quality improved, my leveling curve began to steepen dramatically.

[Your level has increased!]
[Your level has increased!]
[Level: 25]
[Unallocated Points: 2]
[Strength: 40 Agility: 59 Vitality: 42 Wisdom: 44 Luck: 40]
[Eternity: 5 Mana: 2]

After clearing about five chambers, I’d gained 3 levels.
The deeper I ventured into the Goblin Cave, the more decorations appeared within the chambers.
The possibility of encountering new entities beyond mutant goblins had grown.
“Phew.”
I carefully stored the acquired equipment in my subspace and advanced further.
Then a new message appeared.

[Magnificent Achievement! You have discovered your first hidden dungeon!]
[Strength increases by 1.]
[Luck increases by 1.]

First discovery of a hidden dungeon.
It was an achievement I would have obtained eventually, but seeing it firsthand made my heart swell even more.
With my heart racing, I took another step forward, and the hidden dungeon entry message appeared.

[Hidden Dungeon, Throne of the Goblin King. Entering now.]
[Participants: Kael, Eden]

“Huh?”
The dungeon’s name was Throne of the Goblin King.
But something felt off about the participant list.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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