Chapter 8

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The dark and dim cave was still the same. But Chu Ge was no longer the same person as he was when he first came in. Fully armored, he was more confident and assured.

Moving deeper into the quarry, he soon came across the corpses of the Kobolds he had killed. They were lying on the ground peacefully and silently. There was no change to their perished status. It seemed like the monsters’ corpses would not respawn within the Instance Dungeon. So that meant that monsters that were killed would not respawn either.

That worked just as well. There were only so many monsters in the Instance Dungeon. One less monster meant that he was closer to clearing the Instance Dungeon. When Chu Ge came to this conclusion, he felt calm and decisive. If he continued conquering the Instance Dungeon carefully, he would be able to clear the Instance Dungeon quickly.

Walking to the corner of the cave, the Kobolds were still hard at work mining for ore nearby. It was as if the Kobolds did not need food or drink to sustain their strength to work. It seemed as if it really were like the Instance Dungeons in games, Chu Ge thought. It felt so familiar and comforting to Chu Ge that he was less nervous.

First, he placed the zanbato in his hands to one side. Then, Chu Ge took down the bow he carried on his back. The trilobate arrow that was used for hunting glinted coldly under the light of the torches. Chu Ge took a deep breath, nocked the shaft, and started aiming.

The way to aim at the target for a bow was basically the same as aiming for a gun. The trick was to draw three points into a line. The three points were the arrow nock, arrowhead, and the target. As long as the aim was accurate, the target will most likely be hit. Of course, he had to aim at a point-blank target. Because the trajectory of an arrow falls quickly, if the distance is further, Chu Ge would have to consider the parabola. When a beginner learns archery, they only have to master aiming. It’s easy for beginners to learn shooting a specific target at a shorter distance. The more difficult targets are the ones outside the point-blank range. Even harder targets are the ones that move. Arrows don’t move at the same speed as a gun, so it’s much more challenging to hit a moving object with a bow and arrow.

But thankfully, the distance between Chu Ge and the Kobold was just around 20 meters. It was totally within the point-blank range. Besides, the Kobolds rarely moved, and they had no mind to dodge. With such conditions, if he was still unable to hit the target, it would be shameful. Chu Ge aimed for a while, then released the finger holding the bowstring.

With a “Swoosh!”, there was a resulting shrill cry. An arrow hit the Kobold miner closest to him to the neck. The HP bar on top of his head emptied instantly. The Kobold clutched its throat and slumped to the ground; it was a one-hit KO.

“I’ll be da*ned! I’m too awesome,” Chu Ge silently praised himself, surprised and happy with the outcome.

The rest of the Kobolds looked as if they did not notice the death of their companion. They were still mining continuously. Chu Ge was reassured at the sight, and he nocked another arrow on the bow. Once the arrow was nocked, he aimed at another nearby Kobold whose back was to him; he pointed at the Kobold’s heart. The Kobold was concentrated intensely on mining and was unsuspecting that he had been targeted to die. With a swoosh, the arrow shot from the bow. However, Chu Ge wasn’t so lucky as before. The arrow hit the Kobold on the butt.

The HP bar only went down a quarter. What was worse was that the Kobold started screaming.

“Ah! Intruder! There’s an intruder! You will not take away my candle!”

With that holler, the two Kobolds beside it were alerted, and they started screaming as well.

“Intruder, you will not take away our candles,” then, the three Kobolds started moving towards Chu Ge while waving the pickaxes in their hands.

Chu Ge gave up the idea of shooting another arrow. Although it would be more accurate if the distance between the Kobolds and himself was shortened, the shorter distance left him with literally no room to retreat while shooting at the Kobolds.

Placing the bow to one side, Chu Ge raised the zanbato high above his head. Although Chu Ge had never chopped at a person, he had chopped wood using an ax. He thought the movements should be similar. Just when the first Kobold had reached him, Chu Ge swung down in a chopping motion.

Chu Ge had been waiting for this moment, so the hit was spot on. Hacking down from the Kobold’s neck, the Kobold had been sliced into two instantly. The HP bar dropped to zero with that one hit—Instant Kill.

The moment blood started to spurt, Chu Ge felt very nauseous and disgusted. But there was no time to waste. The other two Kobolds had rushed over.

Chu Ge gave a quick horizontal swing of the sword. The Kobold had just raised his weapon when the sword swept past. The Kobold’s head and arms dislodged from the main body and flew out. It was another Instant Kill.

During the time taken to kill the second Kobold, the third Kobold had rushed to where Chu Ge was. With its pickaxe, it aimed and took a swipe at Chu Ge’s leg. However, this time, the pickaxe that landed on the armor slipped to the side.

“Go and die!” Chu Ge raised his leg and sent the Kobold flying with a kick. Then, he poked at the Kobold with a stab of the zanbato.

Splurt! It was yet another Instant Kill.

“It’s so easy!” Chu Ge thought to himself proudly. The feel of the zanbato, when compared to chopping wood with an ax, was not much more difficult. It even felt easier because the Kobolds were not as hard as wood, and the blade of the zanbato was surprisingly sharp.

Looking at the three corpses on the ground, Chu Ge silently thought, as expected of Noob difficulty Instance Dungeon level. However, although it was an Instance Dungeon, compared to games, there were still some aspects of the Instance Dungeon that were closely linked to real-life—for example, being instantly KO-ed if a vital area was hit. It was obviously not a game setting. He raised his head to look at his own HP bar. But since that was the case, he had to be careful too.

Now Chu Ge had to search for loot. He stretched out his hand to touch the Kobold corpse.

At the first one: six bronze coins and one Kobold candle.

Second one: seven bronze coins.

Third one: five bronze coins, one piece of Hard Bread. Oh? Hard Bread?

“Item Name: Hard Bread (Food)

After Use: Allows you to recover 20 HP within ten seconds (only consumable in Peace Mode).

Item Introduction: Although it may appear to look like regular food, after consuming it, HP will be recovered gradually. A must-have supply for Adventurers.”

“My word! The item was rather useful after all. It could even recover HP, was it for real?” Chu Ge thought a little surprised. Although consuming items to recover, HP was a commonly found setting in games, was it even possible to do that in real life? It seemed a little dubious.

Chu Ge looked at the Hard Bread in his hands. The bread was about the size of a fist and was very dry and hard. It looked different from the bread he usually saw. He tried breaking a piece off, but the bread was rock hard and did not fall off. It really lived up to its name of Hard Bread. He did not waste the item by eating it but kept it in his bag. If it could really recover HP, then it was a real find. He had better keep the item safe.

Although he did not find gold in his search, Chu Ge was not disheartened. Looking around, the valuable drops from the Instance Dungeon were more than he had imagined and expected.

Once again, he drew the bow, still aiming at the Kobold closest to him. The Kobold miner was facing him and stretching. Although the distance between them was only about 20 meters, the Kobold seemed ignorant of his presence. Chu Ge’s arrow shot out, aimed at the Kobold’s chest. However, the arrow did not hit any vital area like the previous one. It hit the stomach. It couldn’t be helped. Although Chu Ge was able to hit the target, where the arrow pierced was merely up to luck. Despite everything, the Kobold’s HP had reduced by close to half, but it did not die. It screamed and charged towards Chu Ge.

As Chu Ge was a bit more experienced than the previous time, he did not feel as nervous as before. Turning around, he shot another arrow towards the Kobold, and this time, it died. Unfortunately, the distance was a little further away, so he had no way of searching for loot.

He continued shooting arrows and managed to lure two more Kobolds in the new round. Chu Ge shot another arrow at one and killed it. Then, raising the zanbato, he quickly finished off the remaining Kobold that came at him.

Here, he did not rush to search for loot. He decided to continue killing the monsters, slaughtering the rest of the Kobolds remaining before searching for loot in one go.

The third time, he managed to lure four Kobolds at one time. However, Chu Ge was already very familiar and knowledgeable on the battle strength and speed of the Kobolds. Without fear or nervousness, he shot arrows while backing away and killed off two Kobolds. Then put down the other two by hacking at them with the zanbato.

Just like that, after repeating his actions continuously, he managed to kill off the dozens of Kobold miners and four Kobold supervisors in the quarry cave within an hour.