Chapter 6

The figure that appeared before our cautiously walking selves was a goblin.

Goblins were a race of fairies that had succumbed to the temptations of darkness and transformed into fiends.

They were deeply reviled because they raided human fields and livestock, and in some cases, even treated humanity itself as a food source.

Standing around 130 centimeters tall with nimble hands capable of crafting rudimentary weapons on their own, and boasting a reproduction rate that rivals rats, they were a remarkably troublesome species even if individual goblins were weak.

That was the setting established in the original game.

Right before our eyes stood a single Goblin Ranger equipped with a bow and arrow.

I looked at the horn hanging around their neck and spoke up.

“I want to take it down before it can alert its comrades.”

Goblin Rangers had the characteristic trait of summoning reinforcements with the sound of a horn, which would force you to deal with a swarm of goblins.

Even though this was a beginner dungeon managed by the authorities, we couldn’t afford to let our guard down.

Rasta was the kind of weak individual who could easily end up on the brink of death from a blunder that wouldn’t even threaten other explorers.

Hearing my words, Gina kicked off the ground to close the distance and slit the goblin’s throat with her dagger.

It was a feat of swiftness resembling instantaneous movement.

Gina picked up the bow and arrow dropped by the goblin, stored them away, and returned.

“What shall we do with the goblin’s bow and arrow?”

“Let’s sell them to help fund our supplies.”

“Understood.”

Gina readily accepted my idea.

It was a promising start that the goblin had dropped an item, though that was likely thanks to Gina.

Her Rogue class came with a skill that boosted drop rates.

Teaming up with her meant she defeated monsters in my place, increased drop rates, and shared her experience points with me even though I did practically nothing.

A lot of players used to call this practice “farming.”

The reason the original Rasta appearing as an enemy wasn’t level one was obviously due to developer logic because he was a boss, but the game system could explain it away too.

“Things are going smoothly.”

I glanced down at the measurement brooch hanging from my neck.

It came with a feature that notified you with a vibration when you leveled up, but of course, a single battle wasn’t going to trigger anything yet.

“My lord, what shall we do next? Given that the Goblin Ranger was alone, more reinforcements will likely come to check if we wait around.”

Gina’s remark was based on an understanding of goblin ecology.
If a scout Goblin Ranger failed to return, its companions would come to investigate.

“Goblins aren’t that smart, so they probably won’t all charge at us at once.”

“Understood. To ensure safety, I believe the best course is not to venture too deep, but rather to set an ambush right around here.”

“Let’s go with that.”

I adopted Gina’s strategy.

Since it was both easy and made total sense, there was no reason to reject it.