Chapter 32: Altered Goblins

[Ding]

[You have received your first Blood Serpents' mission.]

[Elite quest received: Protect the Oni race from the Goblins' extermination. Liberate them from the Goblins' reign of terror.]

[Quest reward: +20 Recognition in Blood Serpent.]

[Time limit: 10 days.]

[Quest penalty: Failure in completing the mission as stated would result in permanent death of in-game character. Blood Serpent never forgives and Blood Serpent never forgets.]

"Fuck me again!"

Venn's eyes were clouded with despair after he finished looking through the quest instruction given by Lilith. He couldn't help himself and cursed out loud after finding out that reality had failed him again.

Although he knew he wasn't exactly a lucky person to begin with, at the back of his head, he was still somewhat hopeful that a miracle might happen.

But looking at the scenes of terror happening around him, Venn couldn't help but complain about his terrible luck.

How the hell was he going to save the Oni race here when it's already overrun by the well-equipped army of goblins here?

The quest was impossible to begin with! Especially he had to rely on just his own power.

Can I gather the rest of the Oni here and mount a comeback?

No… they are too weak to start with, and there's too many goblins here.

How about using my wits to trick the goblins?

No! The battle had already begun. They won't listen to anyone anymore. Any tricks won't be useful here.

Despite the odds, it was not the character for Venn to give up so easily. 

Swiftly drawing up solutions upon solutions in his mind, his brain quickly analysed the success rate of each individual plan he had thought up from the spot.

It wasn't until someone surprised him from behind did he finally stopped his thoughts.

Thankfully, Venn had always kept his guard on all this time in a hostile environment, thus he was able to react at the nick of time.

Dodging the advancement of the sneak attack, he threw his entire body to the ground before rolling away in one swift motion.

After getting some distance between them, Venn tilted his head to the attacker's direction, and discovered that the one who had launched a sneak attack at him was one of the goblin that was attacking the Oni.

It must have spotted his figure and tried to kill him. Thankfully, it came alone and did not call for reinforcement, otherwise Venn would be in greater trouble.

The goblin's outer appearance was hideous looking to say the least. It was baring its sharp and crooked teeth at Venn with great animosity while wildly swinging his steel sword at him, taunting him to fight.

Its green skin showed that it belonged to the one of the weaker and common goblin race that players often slain around the human kingdoms but the size of the goblin and its expression seemed to dictate otherwise.

It had a frenzy expression similar to a mad dog with its mouth salivating with drool all over.

Observing the goblin with great caution, Venn having seen plenty of goblins before in the past, could judge that there was something peculiar and wrong about the goblin who was standing opposing to him.

And as expected, when Venn took a glance at the status bar of the goblin, he finally understood the reason why.

[Altered Green Goblin Scout]

[Level: ???]

[HP: ???/???]

The goblin was much stronger than he had expected. For Venn to be unable to see its level information and HP information, the goblin in front of him had to be more than 20 levels above him.

Thinking back on the situation that just happened, Venn's body shuddered with fear. He was so close to death and he hadn't got the slightest clue.

A simple graze from the goblin's sword would be devastating to him, the level difference between them was too big, and the penalty for the large gap in level between the goblin and him would be detrimental for him if he decides to challenge the goblin.

He could not see him winning. There was simply zero probability of him winning this.

Within seconds, he had made his decision without any hesitation, he had to flee from his current spot as fast as possible.

Unfortunately for Venn, he could not get away for the goblin launched its attack the moment it senses Venn's lack of intention to fight.

With a heavy twist of its ankles, it practically leaped across several metres of distance and closed the gap between Venn and him at one go, leaving Venn utterly in shock.

"Fast!" Venn couldn't help but yelped in surprise when he saw the goblin's movement.

Compared to the slow and utterly weak goblins that were prevalent across the human kingdoms, the altered goblin in front of him was several times much stronger in both the attributes of strength and speed.

Venn was in a great peril.

In a flash, the goblin appeared right in front of Venn's position and swung its steel sword with great speed. When Venn managed to dodge its savage swing, it kept on pressing Venn with its wild thrashing, forcing Venn to be quick on his feet in retreating.

Unlike the weak goblin counterparts that Venn had seen before in the past, there was no possible way for Venn to discern the disorientating attacking pattern of the frenzied goblin he was fighting. Although he managed to complete multiple successful dodges, he was gradually cornered into a corner with little space left for him to manoeuvre. 

Realising his dangerous situation of slowly being cornered with nowhere to escape, Venn retaliated back at the goblin with his daggers to push it back.

However, contrary to what he expected to happen, the result of the clash was the complete opposite.

At the point of their weapons' collision, multiple sparks flew with the clanging of the metals. But unlike what Venn had envisioned, the strength of the goblin was several times more than his and it quickly overpowered him with the resultant force of its strike transferred entirely to his body.

-356

[Ding]

[Novice dagger durability had reached zero.]

[Your weapon has been shattered.]