Gamers of the Underworld

Panda Novel

“Is this the Instance Dungeon from the otherworld’s online game?” Sherlock viewed various games video channels. Some of the videos were narrated by the otherworld’s gamers.

Sherlock held his arm and pondered before saying, “Though I don’t understand a lot of the terms, I find the way they played the games interesting. I roughly understand the gamers’ tastes. It seems like a notorious leader of the Houndhead Men like Cramer isn’t enough to whet their appetite.”

Sherlock thought for a few minutes. Then he took out a pen and paper and started writing.

“Respectable Professor Bacon, Academic Deputy Director of the Specter College,

I am sorry to impose on you while you’re helping those poor female students. I’m Lord Sherlock from Eternal Kingdom. I have thought of a way for you to appear…”

It had been three days since the end of the Winterfell Dungeon Lord Experience Sharing Conference.

Though the gamers were discussing excitedly in the forum, the hundred Beta Gamers decided to further the plot.

They decided to conquer the Spiders’ Lair!

As the first released area in the game, the Spiders’ Lair had been a difficult area to conquer. Many gamers were in fear of the Spiders.

Later, there was the appearance of the BOSS, Cramer, who massacred the gamers. With the gamers’ teamwork, they conquered the terrifying Cramer.

After Cramer was defeated, there were many new plots and even a hidden mission—the Winterfell Dungeon Lord Experience Sharing Conference.

Though only three gamers were selected for this hidden mission, they witnessed the immensity of the outside world.

NotWearingPants posted the details of the hidden mission on the official forum, causing many gamers to speculate about Eternal Kingdom’s world view and background story.

Deep within the Spiders’ Lair was the Spider Queen, which was the first designated BOSS in the game. The gamers looked forward to defeating the Spider Queen so that they could discover new plots. Moreover, the Spider Queen’s Hair was one of the things sought after by Sherlie. Perhaps, there would be another hidden plot!

As such, the excitement of conquering the Spiders’ Lair reached a new high.

The gamers’ combat skills were being honed. With the help of Bru and Moroes, the gamers’ skills improved by leaps and bounds.

The gamers discovered tips about improving their equipment like “When seeing Simba at work, volunteer and help”, “When Simba is at work, do not disturb him”, and “Don’t speak nonsense to Simba”.

Especially the third point. The gamers who spoke more nonsense to Simba or harassed him had an incredibly low chance of improving equipment.

When Peasant was improving his Level 2 Short Sword, he asked Simba if there was a mission for him. Simba threatened to break his Short Sword, saying, “One more word from you, and I’ll destroy your sword!”

With such good tips, it was foolish to antagonize Simba. If the gamers made Simba angry, they deserved to lose their swords.

Because of the previous factors, the gamers’ progress of conquering the Spiders’ Lair accelerated from loitering at the entrance to clearing out a large safety zone. Using it as a stronghold, they ventured deeper into the Spiders’ Lair.

Another big piece of news was that while normally gamers formed a team of three to hunt Spiders, Arthur managed to kill a Spider one-on-one using three pieces of Cramer’s equipment.

The discussion forum exploded with many topics, and many gamers tried to mimic Arthur’s feat. All attempts ended in failure.

BurningChestHair was one of them.

He wielded one of Cramer’s weapons, Cramer’s Dagger, while he was armed with Eternal Kingdom’s shield and armor that were improved to Level 4. He was challenging a Spider cautiously while the other gamers watched from a hidden location.

If the gamers were too close, the Spider might escape in fear.

When faced with a single Goblin, the Spider had no intention to flee. Though the Spiders were hunted daily, with their low intellect, they didn’t have the intelligence to figure out the capability of the Goblins.

BurningChestHair regulated his breathing, which was something taught to him by Moroes in his first class. To survive in a life or death situation, the Goblin had to master his breathing!

BurningChestHair wasn’t in a life or death situation. Instead, the Spider had many injuries after being stabbed many times.

The advantage of the Dagger was that it was small and convenient. If the Goblin was able to get close to the Spider, he was able to stab many times. As the Dagger was lighter, the attack speed was higher than a Short Sword.

Though the damage wasn’t as high as the Short Sword and Hammer, it was as high as 0-25. A fully improved Eternal Kingdom Short Sword only had 0-15 damage.

With such high damage, it was a different feeling to stab the Spider with the Dagger.

There was no way to verify that the 0-25 Dagger was more destructive than the Hiltless Short Sword with 0-15 damage. It was a joy to stab, and the Dagger created confidence.

BurningChestHair wasn’t complacent, as he didn’t have three pieces of legendary equipment like Arthur. Arthur had a Plate Legging, a Short Sword, and a Breastplate.

With the three pieces of legendary equipment, as long as the head wasn’t stomped by the Spider’s leg, the Goblin was safe. But for BurningChestHair, he only had a piece of Level 4 armor. If he didn’t parry with his shield, his body armor could only take a hit. If his armor took a second hit, he would be mortally wounded.

BurningChestHair could feel that the hit points of the Spider were dwindling. Though he couldn’t see the hit points, after killing so many Spiders over these few days, he could feel it!

The Spider charged at BurningChestHair!

He also charged at the Spider with a cool slide as he raised up his Dagger in an attempt to slit open the belly of the struggling Spider!

He was fast and looked cool. As he neared the Spider’s leg, he didn’t panic, and there was no fear.

The Spider’s leg penetrated his skull and nailed him to the ground. BurningChestHair perished.

“Aiya, it was that close, but he failed again!”

“It’s a pity. ChestHair’s solo kill was harder than Arthur’s. It’s a pity it failed.”

“What a pity. Try again next time. He fought the Spider for two hours. Such a pity.”

“Let’s go and recover the corpse. I wonder if Sherlie can revive him with his smashed head.”

The four gamers finished off the struggling Spider. They then dragged BurningChestHair’s corpse and the Spider’s carcass happily back to Eternal Kingdom.

The gamers didn’t know that their actions were being observed by a superior Devil and a skeleton Lich hidden in the shadows.

Bacon gazed at the scene with his empty eye sockets and gaped for a long time.

Bacon was summoned by Sherlock to Eternal Kingdom secretly. Sherlock accepted his Teleport request after he closed the Dungeon Core Main Hall. Then he used his Mana to make both of them invisible before sneaking into the Spiders’ Lair to observe.

After a long time, Bacon said with a tone of disbelief, “These Goblins… were they trained by you? How many of these combat Goblins do you have? Though they are a bit weak, they are perfect for our graduating students. Do you have a thousand? With these Goblins, I would need 1500 of them to be cannon fodder… I mean to complete the graduating research.”

“Don’t worry about the numbers. As long as Professor Bacon feels that they are suitable, and as long as there’s payment of Magic Stones, the quantity of Goblins is not a problem,” Sherlock assured him solemnly.

“What about combat skills quality? Are they like the Goblins just now?” Professor Bacon sounded worried.

“I’ve already discussed this with you. You have to investigate and test the capabilities of the Goblins according to our discussed method,” Sherlock said.

“Yes, I’ll do the testing, but is it necessary? Lord Sherlock recommended the poor students’ gathering place and allowed me to help them complete their studies, and while I’m very grateful, this matter is embarrassing. I don’t have any drama performance experience. Should we get a professional actor?” Professor Bacon looked hesitant.

“A professional actor wouldn’t have the capability. Professor Bacon is more suitable. Enough discussion. Since they’re online, I mean, since they haven’t slept, let’s start the show!” Sherlock looked at Professor Bacon and said.