Of course, goblins. He already had stats, and now he was exploring a dungeon. Logically, there would be monsters too. He had already mentally prepared himself for this possibility, so he wasn't too surprised that goblins existed here.
The first goblin that James saw was out on its own. It was about the size of a child, with roughly human proportions. But, it was also green, ugly, and disgusting, covered in filth and odor. James thought it was a little odd that the goblin was just standing there. But, James peered a little further, and saw about 15 goblins huddled around a campfire. They were talking in a language that James didn't understand and roasting meat on the fire. Because of the goblins, James decided to whisper.
"Announcer woman, where did they get the wood for the campfire?"
[...this is the first question you asked? Haaah. The dungeon made it. The goblins spawned in with the wood. Don't ask me why.]
"Okay okay. Anyways, I have to beat these goblins if I want to climb this dungeon of yours, right?"
[Indeed.]
James took a deep breath and began to use the only thing he had: his brain. He hadn't ever been in a real fight before, but he did understand that the opponent greatly outnumbered him.
"So the lone goblin standing out there must be on watch. Wait. I'm right here and it hasn't seen me yet! My guy, you really gotta step it up. You're slacking on watch!"
[You are encouraging the goblin you are about to fight to the death to 'step it up'.]
"Nobody asked you. Aren't you supposed to just answer my questions?"
[…]
James shifted his focus to the task at hand. The goblin on watch looked rather weak, but it was armed with a small knife. James was a little apprehensive, but he thought that if he got a surprise attack in, he could defeat the goblin. Then, James looked at the goblins around the campfire again. The group of 15 or so goblins had weapons next to them. James could see knives, rusty short swords, and bows.
"I've changed my mind. I don't want to climb the dungeon anymore. Those look like they would hurt!"
[...there's only one way forward.]
"And is there a way out?"
[…]
Of course there wasn't an exit. Otherwise, James would've taken it immediately. He knew this answer was coming, but it hurt him a little anyways.
"Fine. If this is a dream, dying might wake me up. If this is real, then I have no choice."
James steeled his nerves and crouched next to the corner of the wall, ready to leap out at any time. He definitely had to wait till the large group of goblins around the campfire was distracted. Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to take down the lone goblin without the large group noticing. It would be even better if the lone goblin was also distracted.
Then, the moment he was waiting for came. Maybe one of the goblins made a really funny joke, but the rest of the group started laughing. Those laughs were raspy and not pleasing to the ear. But, as luck would have it, the goblin on watch looked back at the laughing goblins.
"Now!"
James leapt at the goblin with all his strength. However, it was at this moment that James realized something was wrong with his plan. Actually, he realized multiple things wrong with his plan.
1. James had no weapon. The goblins did.
2. The group of large goblins and the goblin on watch were in each other's line of sight.
Would James be able to make the kill and get out of sight before the other goblins turned around?
How would James be able to kill the goblin without any noise?
3. The goblins would eventually notice that the goblin on watch was missing, and would thus start to hunt him.
These thoughts flew through James' mind as he approached the goblin.
It was just as the announcer lady said before. A person could have a decently high intelligence stat and still act like an Absolute. Fucking. Idiot.
"Well, I threw myself into this, so I might as well see where it goes," James thought. "No regrets!"
James didn't have a weapon, so he used his fist! He caught the goblin on watch by surprise, so as it was turning around, James sank his fist into the face of the goblin.
But the result was far from what he expected. When he hit the goblin, it was pushed back from the impact, but it didn't look wounded at all. Instead, the skin on James' fist split, and he started bleeding.
"Fuck!"
James cursed loudly. It really hurt! The pain was excruciating. James wouldn't be surprised if he had fractured some of the fingers in his bone. It was as if he had punched a brick.
"How are these goblins so strong! They're just goblins! Aren't they supposed to be the weakest mobs!?"
But then, James remembered something. Something he wished he did not remember. These goblins were the size of a human child. James recalled the announcer woman saying that the average human child had stats from around 10 to 15. And James' current stats were…1. Everything except for luck and intelligence was 1. That meant….James was much weaker than these goblins!
James felt like crying. Why was he so weak? What did he do in his past life to get such treatment. James was about to call out the gods for their injustice, but then, he heard a noise.
{EI EIE!!}
It was the shriek of the goblins.
James looked up and saw the goblins scrambling to pick up their weapons. At that moment, he had a bad feeling. He realized the situation he was in. There were 15 goblins within the vicinity of James. All of them were armed with knives, swords, or bows. Each one of them was, if stats told correct information, about 10 times stronger than James. James, on the other hand, was unarmed. Actually, he was both unarmed and one-armed, because he had fractured one of his hands while punching the goblin that was on watch.
There was no way James was winning this battle.
"Ahahah. Just passing through. "
Silence. The goblins near the campfire looked at each other. Did his attempt at settling this peacefully work?
James was hoping against hope when all of a sudden he heard another shriek nearby him. It was the goblin he had punched before. It did not look very happy.
"Shit."