In the heart of the labyrinthine dungeon, Reed and Yael stumbled upon a goblin's nest, teeming with dozens of the green-skinned creatures. Reed's eyes gleamed with excitement at the sight of the numerous goblins, as the prospect of more foes meant a higher likelihood of valuable item drops.
Amidst the chaotic clash with the goblin horde, Reed's mind flickered with memories of an old myth circulating among adventurers. Whispers told of a supposed correlation between item drops and the timing of dungeon clearances—particularly favoring those achieved after the stroke of midnight. However, this fantastical notion was eventually debunked, revealing itself as mere hearsay.
The mystery of the tower's Random Number Generator (RNG) and the elusive patterns governing item drops remained an unsolved enigma. While many believed in a correlation between the time taken to clear dungeons and the probability of obtaining items, even those who meticulously combed through dungeons for hours had stumbled upon valuable treasures.
Reed surveyed the goblin nest, meticulously counting the visible horde that stood before him—16 goblins. Yet, his honed instincts hinted at the presence of a concealed additional force. A silent ten remained elusive, concealed either in the shadows or, as Reed speculated, programmed to reveal themselves once the initial wave was thwarted. The total count now stood at 26 goblins.
Without a moment's hesitation, Reed orchestrated his plan of attack. He deftly gripped his dagger in the left hand and brandished his sword in the right. Closing one eye, he gauged the distance to the goblin horde, using the dagger as his measure.
In a breathtaking display of agility and skill, Reed flung his dagger into the air, twirling as Reed expertly caught it by the tip before hurling it towards the nearest goblins. In a swift, seamless motion, he sprinted towards the disoriented creatures, his sword dancing through the air as three goblins fell beneath its razor-sharp edge. Retrieving his thrown dagger from the skull of one fallen goblin, Reed hurled it once more, this time at a distant goblin.
Reed's precision was unmatched , focused on the vulnerable necks of his adversaries. His unparalleled speed, masterful swordsmanship, and the formidable epic-grade sword culminated in a spectacle of lethal efficiency. In less than five minutes, Reed dispatched all 16 goblins, leaving the nest eerily silent in the aftermath of his calculated assault.
Reed lowered himself to a seated position, using the hilt of his sword for support as he caught his breath. He yearned for a water bottle, regretting not bringing one along to alleviate his growing thirst.
"Don't come near me!" Yael's panicked cry reached Reed's ears, drawing his attention. Turning to look, Reed saw Yael surrounded by a group of goblins.
"Why didn't I sense them... Wait, I was sensing them all along. I just assumed they were still hidden. Those must be the remaining 10 goblins," Reed realized, his thoughts racing.
"Can you fight?" Reed inquired, assessing the situation.
"No! Help me!" Yael pleaded desperately.
Reed pondered his options. "Well... I can't quite reach there in time." Nonchalantly picking up a few stones, he tossed them at the goblins, diverting their attention.
"Good boy," Reed smirked at the goblins. "Come, let's go for a walk and touch some grass."
Taking a deep breath, Reed tightened his grip on the sword and swiftly dealt with the approaching goblins. Once they were vanquished, he sank back to his knees, using the sword as support.
"I am so thirsty, I could drink an ocean," Reed muttered, feeling the toll of the battle on his energy.
His brows furrowed as he recounted the goblins he had just dispatched. A realization dawned on him – he had only killed nine. Reed's ears twitched as he scanned the surroundings, searching for Yael. To his dismay, Yael was nowhere to be seen. The goblins had seized him, and Reed couldn't sense their presence.
Reed wondered where the goblin would have taken Yael.
'This can't be part of the programmed floor, right? Do monsters really kidnap people like this? They would usually kill the heroes, but perhaps it's because Yael hasn't been registered as a hero yet so the goblin took him as a… resident of the tower and kidnapped him, hoping someone would come to save him.'
"Wait… does that mean…"
Reed opened his system menu and saw a quest — Save Yael.
"I got a system quest!" Reed exclaimed.
There were multiple types of quests in the tower.
A quest given by residents which usually ended up fetching some materials for them.
Quests generated by the heroes which involved fighting alongside them.
Quests generated by guilds, which were open to everyone even if they were part of the guild; the rewards to such quests were handsome, but the downside was that multiple heroes took part in the same quests and the reward wasn't guaranteed upon completion if someone else had completed before you.
And the rarest quests generated by the system which were rare to trigger. The rewards to such quests always involved something system or tower related that would help the hero survive longer, rather than something materialistic.
Heroes died for system quests, quite literally. Because the heroes had no choice but to finish the quest in the said time, and upon failing to complete the quest involved a penalty— which was related to the system or the tower, making it harder for the heroes to survive.
Reed had gotten such a quest and the time he was given to complete the quest, or rather, save Yael was ten minutes. In those ten minutes, Reed had to find the goblin's lair and save Yael.
Defeating even the designs of goblins wasn't as challenging for Reed as it was to find Yael, especially when it came to his sense of direction. For Reed, finding Yael in the labyrinthe was like searching for innocence inside politicians.
Reed bit the insides of his cheeks and uttered, "Am I supposed to go to the next dungeon area to save Yael? That's where the goblin would have taken him, right? Because the only other way is outside the dungeon, where… I don't think it's possible for the monsters of the dungeons to leave the dungeons… unless they are not respawnable. The tower system registers those types of monsters as wild animals.'
Reed decided to head to the next area, but even after walking for a few minutes, he couldn't spot any monsters.
'I can't seem to sense them either…'
Then, he reached a gorge but the valley didn't have a river running, it was dried.
'Something is blocking the river… that's for sure. But…' Reed glanced at his left and right, wondering which way he should go.
'I don't know where the river flows.'
Reed thought it would be better and logical for him to go uphill against the slope, since the river would be climbing down instead of up.
Reed had only 3 minutes left to save Yael and he still hadn't found him. Even if he found Yael, he wouldn't be able to defeat the monsters in under three minutes. Still, Reed wasn't the type to give up. He would rather try and fail than never try and regret later.
"I would have drank some water if there was a river," Reed let out an annoyed sigh. "Fucking goblins."
After running for a while, Reed sensed something in the distance . He was certain he had found the goblin's lair.
In the valley, he saw about fifty goblins, separated by the camps. And in the middle of the goblin's lair, there was a throne, seemingly for the goblin king.
Reed's eyes frantically searched for Yael, and he found him locked in a cage.
"I have a minute left to complete the quest. I don't have time to climb down the valley. And I definitely can't deal with 50 goblins in such a short amount of time."
Reed watched as the goblin took out Yael from the cage and dragged him to the throne. After witnessing that, Reed knew what was going to happen and why the timer was of ten minutes only.
A minute had left and the goblins were preparing Yael for the goblin king's dinner. After the timer ends, the goblin king would feast on Yael.
Thirty seconds remained and the goblin king approached his throne, asking the goblins to increase the fire.
"What does saving someone mean…?" Reed wondered.
Reed grabbed his dagger by the time and aimed it at the goblin king's head.
[10 seconds remaining.]
The goblin king grabbed Yael by the neck and stood in front of the fire.
[8 seconds remaining.]
The camp was a few hundred meters away from Reed. However, Reed wasn't worried that his dagger attack won't reach there; he was worried about the aim.
Throwing something so far away and hitting the target required absolute precise aim. If Reed missed, even by a few inches, the dagger would hit Yael instead.
[5 seconds remaining.]
"Would killing Yael be considered as saving him since I am saving him from the goblins?" Reed muttered.
Reed pulled his hand back and prepared to throw the dagger.
[3 seconds remaining.]
The moment the dagger slipped out of Reed's hand, lightning sparkled at the connection between the dagger and Rudy's fingertips, and the dagger traveled with super fast speed, hitting the goblin king in the head, piercing through its skull, killing the goblins in the way, and plunged into the mountain.
[Quest- Save Yael has been completed. Clear the remaining monsters to obtain the reward.]
Reed looked at his hands, completely baffled as he couldn't believe what just happened. The output of his attack was something he couldn't comprehend .
"What the fuck was that? That was the dagger's doing. Does it have a skill like that? Not that I am aware of…"
Reed grabbed his sword and jumped down the valley that was almost ten meters deep.
"May I have some water, please?"