Gamers of the Underworld

Panda Novel

Simba was hammering away in his Blacksmith Shop, making more equipment and tools to stock up the warehouse.

That was Sherlock’s order. How could Simba get paid without doing work?

Sherlock was ambitious. He intended to have the Second, Third, and Fourth Beta Testing and expand the Dungeon with millions of creatures. That would require an enormous amount of equipment and tools.

When Simba saw Sherlock with the gamers, he put down his hammer and bowed to Sherlock, who said, “Simba, these warriors obtained quality equipment, but it doesn’t fit. Help them make some adjustments.”

Sherlock manifested some words on a piece of paper using Mana and passed it to Simba.

War… Warriors?

Simba stared wide-eyed at the green “warriors” behind Sherlock. Then he took the piece of paper from Sherlock.

“Add a new Blacksmith service called Reforge, which is to refit the equipment to a size suitable for the Goblins. It costs 100 bronze coins for each service. The extra metal can be reforged into new equipment and put on sale. Please burn this paper after reading. Do not ask as it is futile.”

Simba was puzzled, but he threw the paper into the fire.

The other helpful gamers brought the Instance Dungeon equipment of the “warriors” into the Blacksmith Shop. They surrounded Simba as he worked on the equipment.

Sherlock had to attend to other matters.

He returned to the Dungeon Core Main Hall, switched on the computer, adjusted his seat, readied his cup of bloody chrysanthemum tea, and browsed the official forum.

Just as Sherlock expected, the forum was filled with many posts on simulated Strategy Guides.

They were called simulated Strategy Guides because they were created by non-Beta gamers.

An example of a post was a detailed description of the first BOSS, Void Dragon, in the Instance Dungeon. It told of where to position the gamers so that damage could be inflicted on the Dragon from tactical gaps and the second BOSS, which was a Void Devil Commander.

It was quite convincing, and the replies were repetitive like a repeater machine—[It’s real, I am that Void Dragon].

The gamers had just completed their Instance Dungeon mission, and only one team survived while the other teams failed. The initial count of the Beta Gamers was low, and there were even fewer gamers who went for the Instance Dungeon missions. The gamers who liked to post Strategy Guides were few. An example was NotWearingPants.

The gamers were still at the Blacksmith Shop reforging their equipment. It would take some time for them to post Strategy Guides in the forum.

Sherlock wasn’t going to be idle. He was going to research the otherworld’s culture!

The “Anno” series game had finished downloading.

“Anno 1800” – began!

…

In the Academic Department of Specter College.

“Brainiac, I’ve finished reading this year’s academic report. You have done well, recruiting students and teaching duties. I will be submitting these reports soon, including the graduating research report that you have written. From the four elimination rounds, six Liches have successfully graduated within a day. This is the fastest and most efficient graduation in tens of years. You’ve raised some issues like collaboration termination, disguised graduation examination, and Goblin research. I have deliberated on them, and they are to be amended.”

Bacon sat on the chair as he looked at Brainiac and passed the report back to him.

“Professor Bacon, perhaps you haven’t seen the four elimination rounds. From what I observed, those aren’t ordinary Goblins!” Brainiac said confidently.

“Of course they aren’t normal Goblins. Normal Goblins wouldn’t be participating in our graduating research.”

Bacon unfolded his hands and said, “These Goblins were trained by the Devil Lord, though I’m not sure what methods he used to train them. I understand you are curious and wish to understand the reason and mechanics, but you have to think about it from the college’s perspective.”

Bacon tapped on the table and said, “The college is concerned about profits. It’s neither a charitable organization nor a research center. Of course, we also do some research, but our final customers are the Devil Lords. Though Eternal Kingdom is small and developing, with Lord Sherlock’s ambition and wealth, the future is extremely promising. He has sent highly trained Goblins to help us while bearing the costs. Are you thinking that Lord Sherlock found some free method to increase the Goblins’ intelligence and sent those Goblins to us because he lacks money?”

“Impossible! It was my sole effort. I went on a business trip to Winterfell for four to five days and accompanied the Devil Lord. I formed good relations with him and persuaded him to collaborate with Specter College.”

Bacon stood up and said earnestly, “Brainiac, I know you are diligent, curious, have ideas, and are a rare genius, but don’t bother with this matter. No matter how strong the Goblins are, they’re still Goblins. Do a good job in your teaching duties and apply for Professorship in a few years. With a stable job as a Professor and the support of the college, you will be able to do any research you want. Young lad, think of your future. Good riddance.”

“But, Professor Bacon…” Brainiac hesitated and finally said, “I recall that Lord Sherlock contacted us first.”

Bacon interrupted him and said, “Enough, amend the report, and I’ll take a look tomorrow. If you want to research more on those weird Goblins, visit the Training Grounds more often to observe them. Observation is part of research. Don’t do anything to renege on the contract. If you antagonize the Devil Lord and hinder the College from solving the graduation problem, it will be a huge question mark whether you can stay in the college.”

Bacon was stern, and he stared at Brainiac with an expression that said, “Don’t ask!”

“Okay, I understand, Professor Bacon.” Brainiac sighed and left the Academic Department with the report.

Seeing the dark and empty corridor outside the Academic Department, Brainiac grasped the report and sighed.

…

“When am I going to earn a profit in this game? Why am I getting a deficit?”

Sherlock was furious to see his finances in shambles on the computer screen.

“Many people on the internet were also complaining about this,” Bru said casually.

Sherlock lifted his head and noticed that there weren’t many online gamers.

There were four groups of gamers who challenged the “Specter College: Training Grounds” Instance Dungeon. All groups, except Arthur’s group, failed. They fought to the final BOSS, but he was too strong, and they all perished.

At this rate, he would receive 10,000 Magic Stones within seven to eight days. It was good to collaborate with the rich Specter College.

Sherlock understood that it wasn’t practical to sustain such a high casualty rate. With the improvement in the gamers’ combat skills, accumulated experience fighting the Skeleton Soldiers, and the captured equipment from the Specter College, the chance of conquering the Instance Dungeon would increase.

Sherlock was saving these issues to solve later. He wanted to know the gamers’ strategy and comments on the Instance Dungeon.

Sherlock shut down the game “Anno 1800”, in which he was always running a deficit. He browsed the discussion forum and found NotWearingPants’ Strategy Guide posted on the first page.

[“Dungeon: Eternal Kingdom” Latest Instance Dungeon, the Specter College: Training Grounds Strategy Guide after the first successful challenge!]

“Hello, everyone! I’m NotWearingPants ヾ(≧▽≦*)o”