Chapter 8 (Assassin Reborn)

[Translated by ChickenBakuba]

Chapter 8, Dog in the manger!

Today, Xu Xiang planned to get his level to 3 before searching for more equipments and skills. That way, he’d at least be more confident and prepared. He exited novice village.

The people farming in the level 0 slime area had lessened by a lot. However, there were still many people. Even if they had levelled up to level 1, normal players killing level 1 monsters alone was still less efficient than killing level 0 slimes. Killing level 1 monsters required more time and level 1 monsters were more dangerous. They also needed to wait for their HP to recover between fighting every level 1 monster.

When Xu Xiang headed deeper into the monster zone, not one person glanced at him. There had already been people advancing into the level 1 and level 2 monsters areas to farm. He was not the first.

Xu Xiang's target today as the level 4 goblin archer area.

Goblin archer

Level: 4

Attack: 41

Defence: 9

HP: 180

Aside from having a decent HP, goblin archers did not really have any attributes comparable to other monsters. They were only slightly stronger than level 3 goblins, except that they could attack from a distance. Due to the cowardly nature of the goblin race, when a goblin was attacked, all goblins within 5 yards of it would join the attacked goblin in ganging up on the player. If there were 2 goblins within 5 yards of a goblin, it meant that the player had to face 3 goblin archers in total.

Using his memory, Xu Xiang arrived at the monster area. This was a mountain wall, but there was actually a cramped crevice in the wall that could fit one person.A goblin archer spawned inside the crevice. The goblin race was a very ugly race. Stunted and ugly, with skin the sickly grey of a terminal patient, they were barely more humanoid than not, caught on the evolutionary scale between a chimpanzee and a deformed tribal pygmy. Their bows and arrows raised them from disturbing to terrifying.*

*Last part was heavily original, I drew reference from one of my favourite stories: No Life to Lose. Good story.

In his previous life, a player who was a warrior discovered it. Because he was a casual player, he had no fixed group. When he passed by here and checked it out, he discovered, to his surprise, only one goblin archer. There was no other mobs within 5 yards — no, even the faintest shadow of a second goblin archer could not be found within 20 yards of it. As would any normal player, he slew the goblin archer.

Only to discover another goblin archer spawning within 5 seconds of the previous goblin's death. The fast respawn rate of it immediately caught his attention.

Furthermore, <i>Dispute</i> also had a particular condition for the archer class. Attack damage of the archer profession would be reduced by 50% and could also be interrupted when the enemy was within 3 yards of it.

Xu Xiang was now going to exploit this condition as well as the high respawn rate to level up. The attack rate of thieves were relatively faster than other professions. The high attack rate of thieves would get more and more distinct in later stages. Xu Xiang was able to capture the movements of the goblin archer and interrupt its attack. Even if Xu Xiang was hit by the occasional arrow, the reduction of 50 per cent damage would not make the hit dangerous.

Xu Xiang entered the crevice and blocked all paths of retreat for the goblin. Raising his dagger, Xu Xiang dashed his dagger into the goblin archer's ugly face. 3 points of damage rose from the goblin archer's head. Xu Xiang's level was pretty low, and he was also using novice equipment.

The goblin archer was furious. Raising its bow, it sent an arrow towards Xu Xiang's face. Xu Xiang coughed. His HP had fallen a little. 20 points of damage rose from Xu Xiang's head.

"Still manageable." Xu Xiang nodded imperceptibly to himself. He had purposely taken the hit to see how much damage the goblin would fare. Its damage was not high. Satisfied, Xu Xiang began to attack. 3 points, 2 points, the occasional 6-7 points of crit. Because his level gap was pretty big, even several dozen strikes would only see a few crits.

Xu Xiang continued attacking the monster effortlessly. The goblin was only a level 4 mob. As a former level 65 thief, although he no longer had his attributes, his eyesight and skill was still there. If the goblin archer managed a shot on him he would be thoroughly ashamed. His three years of mercenary experience allowed him to handle the mob with ease.

The goblin archer fell down with a gurgle and took its last breath. As it died, it dropped leggings.

"Ding~ Congratulations for killing a goblin archer. 250 experience points awarded. You have killed a monster 2 levels higher than you, experience awarded has been increased by 20 per cent. Total experience points: 300." 300 experience points for one monster was pretty decent. He needed to kill 600+ monsters to level. Every monster required around 40 seconds, so 6 hours of farming would suffice. Xu Xiang examined the equipment.

Goblin's leggings

Level requirement: 0

Type: Leather

Defence: 4

Can be enhanced by 1 level, HP +5

Weight: 4

Wearer's restrictions: Thief, Archer. Not limited to races.

Nothing much, but it was better than nothing. Xu Xiang happily accepted the equipment and wore the leggings. The leggings would provide some shelter against the elements for his legs. His novice garments were of poor quality and did not provide the wearer warmth. His defence was also boosted to 7 by wearing the leggings.

Sure enough as stated on the forums in his last life, within 5 seconds, a new goblin archer spawned. In his past life, the warrior had eventually been discovered after he farmed there for a short while because there were many people in the monster area. After all, a warrior determinedly assaulting a mountain wall was a weird sight.

However, Xu Xiang did not have to worry about this. Nobody would have reached here yet. Xu Xiang could set his mine at ease and grind.

And thus Xu Xiang swung his dagger for 40 seconds, rested for 5 seconds, then continued for the next 40 seconds. The cycle continued until the system's metallic voice rang out. After going through three years as a mercenary, Xu Xiang's temperament was as hard as steel. Not just anyone could continuously strike at a goblin archer fro 6 hours just to level up.

"Ding! Congratulations for killing a goblin archer. 251 experience points awarded. You have slain a monster 2 levels higher than you, experience received increased by 20 per cent. Total experience gained: 300. Congratulations, your level has risen to level 3. All attributes have risen by 1. 10 free attribute points gained."

Xu Xiang pumped 3 points into strength and 7 points into agility just like before. He had also gained two new equipment in his inventory.

Goblin armguard

Level requirement: 0

Type: Leather

Defence: 3

Can be enhanced by 1 level. Attack rate increased by 1%

Weight: 3

Wearer restrictions: Thief, Archer. Not limited to race.

Goblin's leather hat

Level requirement: 0

Type: Leather

Defence: 4

Can be enhanced by 1 level, defence +1

Weight: 3

Wearer's restrictions: Thief, archer. Not limited to race.

Perhaps it was because the profession of the goblin only wore leather that everything it dropped was leather. Xu Xiang's attack was now at 23 points, and his defence had increased to 15 points.

"A pity that it didn't drop any weapons," Xu Xiang mused. "It'll be really depressing if it drops only a bow the next time it drops."

The goblin archer respawned. Xu Xiang regarded the crevice as a manger in this point, where the goblin archer was the dog in the manger. Xu Xiang thought of himself as justice as he killed the goblins in an attempt to stave away his boredom. Now that he'd levelled up, he'd kill one more for practice. He plunged his knife into the goblin archer's face.

14 points of damage. Impressive, but he still had no weapon.

Within a few hits, he finished off the monster. As Xu Xiang turned to leave, he discovered one equipment the monster had dropped.

Goblin shortbow

Level requirement: 0

Type: Shortbow

Attack: 8-10

Attack speed: 1.3

Can be enhanced by 1 level, attack +1

Weight: 6

User restrictions: Archer. Not limited to race.

Actually, thieves could also use bows, but the bows thieves used were crossbows. Not shortbows like this.

"Eh, it actually dropped a weapon. But not a weapon I can use." Xu Xiang sighed with sorrow. Seeing something one could not eat was the most painful pain.

Chapter 8, END

Finally finished translating to the point the previous translator stopped.