Chapter 2: Floor 1, The Beginning

I stared at the options in front of me. Everything looked really good. Hell, I had never even seen a Rank [C] item before. And a [D] rating ability? None of my previous abilities were that strong. Especially since, other than the Class Ability, I only ever had two different ones that I had attained by chance.

“System. Am I able to pick two of the same option?”

[System: Negative.]

Well, my class isn’t proficient in any weapon. Rank [C] armor will definitely help me through the floors, and I need to survive. I must survive. I think that this and an ability are the right choices.

I tapped on ‘Ability: Rating [D]’. Another wheel appeared, smaller. It started spinning. There seemed to be many, many options. And the wheel stopped.

[System Notice: Congratulations! You have gained the Ability {Assimilation}. Please pick your second option!]

Assimilation?

I then tapped on the option ‘Armor: Rank [C]’, and once again, a wheel. There seemed to be even more options than the previous wheel. The wheel stopped.

[System Notice: Congratulations! You have obtained ‘Kite of Biding Eruption’. {Spin!} has gone on a five-floor cooldown.]

A kite? How is a kite armor?

I opened my inventory, and took a look. I pulled up the ‘Kite’. It was a large shield. Rounded at the top, with a point at the bottom. The front of the shield had a design of a volcano, blowing its top.

[Kite of Biding Eruption (Rank: C)] - A kite shield that takes a hit, and gives one back. Has a defense value of 130. Grants ability: {Biding Eruption} and ability: {Fire Resistance: B}. Requirements: 20 Strength, 20 Vitality. {Spin!} has negated requirements.

{Biding Eruption} - An active ability. An eruption bursts out of the shield. Damage absorbed by the shield increases eruption power. Value cannot go above 1.5x the defense of the shield. If fully charged, you must discharge the power within 15 seconds, or it explodes. No cooldown. [Current Power: 0/195]

{Fire Resistance: B} - Provides 50% resistance to fire.

I froze. Then, I looked again. I slapped my face. Did this really just happen? Even the requirements were negated? Is—is this a cheat? I equipped the shield, then I examined the shield. Although the shield looked heavy, it felt weightless as it rest on my left arm. Is this an effect of the negated requirements?

I started walking toward the exit of the cave, then I started running. I was full of glee and excitement. Outside the cave, the blue skies and green field looked stunningly beautiful. I took a step out of the cave, and realized I forgot something.

“Right! My new ability.” I forgot to look at my ability.

{Assimilation (Current Rating: D)} - A passive ability. You can learn things! Learn things faster by increasing the rating!

… ‘Learn things’. Well, at least I got a nice shield.

“Oh, wait! I forgot to grab a weap—” I started to turn around, and smacked my head on rock. Wait—where did the cave go? I started feeling around, trying to find the entrance. And I found nothing.

“S—system!”

[System: Once a starting point has been exited, you are restricted from re-entry, per Hardcore regulations.]

I panicked. Now what am I supposed to do? Smash my shield on top of the—wait. My shield—it’s freakin’ strong! I tried to recollect myself. I checked my inventory and checked what I had. Two ‘tubes of satiety’ and three ‘hydration bottles’.

Damn. Hardcore is full of ups and downs. I was given five times that amount on easy. Was playing on easy actually a trap?

I decided that I needed to get through the floor as quickly as possible. Killing monsters (mobs) and surviving traps gave few experience compared to clearing a floor. Let me tell you, when I struggled to even kill the Level (Lv) 1 Goblins, all they gave me were 2 experience points (EXP). To reach Lv1 from Lv0, a player needs 150 experience points. Getting through the levels, I figured out the formula for clearing a floor. Every floor you clear, the experience gained goes up by 100, and starts at 100. So, by clearing Floor 1, I will get 100 experience points! I can just survive by dodging all of the mobs.

I made my way through the field, looking at all my surroundings. The field was empty. There were no Goblins, no Goblin camps, no traps, nor signs of Goblins having been near the area. Very unlike my other three experiences.

This—this is strange. I decided to take a break. After having walked in a literal straight line through the field for three hours now, I decided to use my first ‘tube of satiety’. It tasted horrible. The food available at the Hub tastes much better. After I swallowed the contents of the tube, I finished off the rest of my ‘hydration bottle’. I had been sipping on it while also trying to stay vigilant. After resting for about 30 minutes, I started walking again. Then,I saw huts in the distance; a village, and a Goblin finally came into view. It seemed to be patrolling around the perimeter.

[System Notification: Quest Received. The stairs to the next floor are blocked by three Goblin Chiefs. The three Goblin Chiefs are at war with one another. There are three options to complete the quest.

Resolve the war using peace. Support a Goblin Chief to achieve victory in the war. Kill the three Goblin Chiefs and stop the war.

The stairs will be inaccessible until the quest has been completed.]

Whaaaat? A quest on floor 1? Quests only appeared on every 5th floor. Oh no.

And then it clicked. Hardcore. God damn hardcore. The reason I hadn’t seen any Goblins until now was because they were all huddled together. Fighting their war. More and more Goblins came into my view.

How the hell am I supposed to get through this?!

As I was thinking to myself, a Goblin came running to me. Rather, at me. The Goblin was about 4 ft tall, with a brownish-green skin color. It had its weapon, a hatchet, raised in the air while running at me. It came alone. I looked at the tag above the Goblin.

[Goblin, Lv3]

“A level 3 Goblin!? What the hell! Level 3 mobs don’t show up until you get near the end of Floor 2!”

The Goblin growled at me, “Raguhra!” And slashed his axe at me. I reflexively lifted my left arm, my shield, in front of me. It completely absorbed the damage and the impact of the blow.

[Biding Eruption power at 29/195.]

“A level 3 Goblin hit for 29 damage against a Rank [C] shield?”

I think I need to stop being so surprised. This is hardcore. Ugh. I need to leave the Easy me behind!

[System Notice: Wisdom increased by 0.2]

I took a step back and kept my eyes on the Goblin. It bent down, but I recognized this tactic. After having gone through the 1st Floor 3 times, I was at least able to remember this. The Goblin grabbed a handful of dirt, and I charged it with my shield. My shield was about ¾ the height of this Goblin.

[Goblin, Lv3 takes 2 damage.]

And my shield only hit it for two. But it fell down. I threw myself on top of the Goblin, and held it down with my shield. The top of my shield was wide enough to restrict its arms, and it was long enough to restrict its legs. As I had no weapon, I punched it.

[Goblin, Lv3 takes 1 damage.]

My attributes are just too low.

The Goblin was unable to do anything as it was restrained. I kept punching it, until it died. It took 18 punches. My fist was bloodied and hurt like hell.

[System Notice: You gained 10 EXP.]

I started coughing. “Wow, though. 10 experience points for a Goblin. Although it was Lv3. This shield was able to hold it down, thankfully.” I saw the body disintegrating, and I hoped for there to be loot, but there was none. “Damn. Well, I shouldn’t have expected too much from my first kill.”

I sat down, just so I could try and think about how to handle this situation. But, before I could even get a thought out, I noticed a Goblin. It was a good distance away, but I swear I could see it pointing at me. Then, two other Goblins arrived by it. They formed a group, and hobbled toward me. I stood up. I was pretty certain that I wouldn’t be able to win this. So, I turned and ran.

Right into two other Goblins. Now, I was surrounded. I took a quick look behind me.

[Goblin, Lv3] [Goblin Guard, Lv3] [Goblin Scout, Lv2]

And then in front of me.

[Goblin, Lv2] [Goblin Cantor, Lv3]

Nice. I’m surrounded and to make matters worse, a Cantor. The ‘Cantor’ class was a hybrid class that creates an aura around them self, either providing buffs or healing to their self and those around them. Not too many mobs are Cantors, and I had only seen one player.

The Goblins started rushing towards me. I was able move to the right, so I wasn’t directly between the two groups. The group of two were actually closer to me than the group of three, so I put my shield up in front of me and charged the two Goblins. I missed, the two separated and I went between them. But I was successful in getting in a more advantageous position.

I slowly backed up, and the Lv2 Goblin swung its knife at me. My shield, of course, took the hit.

[Biding Eruption power at 54/195.]

Holy hell. 25 damage from a Lv2. It must be because of the Goblin Cantor!

The other three Goblins made it over, and the Goblin Guard hit me with it’s shield.

[Biding Eruption power at 64/195.]

The hit from the Goblin Guard’s shield didn’t hit hard, but it made me stumble, and the Lv3 Goblin didn’t let the opportunity miss, and it slammed a hammer at my shield. So, I fell.

[Biding Eruption power at 104/195.]

I guess I’ll try it out. It might be my only chance.

“OK! Biding Eruption!”

Suddenly, my shield flashed red, and I felt a powerful force. In front of me, a giant eruption occurred, and my vision blew up with notifications.

[Goblin, Lv3 takes 104 damage.] [Goblin Guard, Lv3 takes 52 damage.] [Goblin Scout, Lv2 takes 104 damage.] [Goblin, Lv2 takes 104 damage.] [Goblin Cantor, Lv3 takes 104 damage.]

[System Notice: You gained 10 EXP. ] [System Notice: You gained 10 EXP.] [System Notice: You gained 6 EXP.] [System Notice: You gained 6 EXP.] [System Notice: You gained 10 EXP.]

[System Notice: You learned a new Ability through {Assimilation}. You learned {Goblin’s Recovery Hymn.}]

{Goblin’s Recovery Hymn} - An active Ability. Provides a health and mana regeneration aura over 10 minutes. Regeneration scales off Intelligence. Aura distance scales off Charisma. [Current Health Regen: 5 per 5 seconds. Current Mana Regen: 1 per minute.] [Current Aura distance: 0.3 Meters.] [Mana Cost: 10]

[System Notice: …]