The mission was to "investigate the goblins' conspiracy." Naturally, that meant pushing toward the core zone. And to reach the core, Mysterious would inevitably run into patrols. These goblins wouldn’t let an intruder roam freely. A fight was almost guaranteed.

In other words, despite the mission’s wording, it was pure dungeon-crawling combat. Even at midnight, groups of goblins roamed in formation instead of sleeping—proof enough.

Once the objective was clear, the rest was simple for Mysterious.

He slipped between buildings, tracking a patrol of four goblins. Though they wandered, their path followed a strict patrol route. When they drew near, Mysterious lunged out. His Novice Sword pierced the nearest goblin’s throat.

【-124】

The critical hit drained a fifth of its health.

The wounded goblin shrieked. The others locked onto Mysterious, howling “Awooo!” Their muscles bulged thicker than the gate guards’, eyes bloodshot like the monsters near the village.

【Rabid Goblin | Level: 9

???】

The combat log confirmed it.

Mysterious yanked his sword free. He kicked the chest of a goblin swinging a crude club, staggering it back and shaving off a few HP.

With four alert goblins, a quick takedown was impossible. But the commotion didn’t draw distant patrols—luck held.

The throat-stabbed goblin, after its initial cry, swung its club like nothing happened. Mysterious twisted aside. His sword slashed its left eye. Then he activated Fierce Strike—a universal physical skill—and drove an upward kick into another goblin’s jaw. It crashed backward.

He’d seen Silent Sword use Fierce Strike with arrows. Testing it on kicks had worked.

Before the remaining two could surround him, Mysterious darted behind the blinded goblin. As it turned, he hacked twice at its neck. It collapsed.

The kill boosted Mysterious to Level 8.

Three against one seemed uneven. But at barely 1.3 meters tall, three goblins posed little threat. Minutes later, they joined their fallen comrade, leaving only XP and loot.

Mysterious snatched the drops and crept toward the next patrol.

Whether by design or luck, he never aggroed two groups at once. Even when goblin shrieks echoed, only once did reinforcements arrive—when a patrol’s path, hidden by buildings, collided mid-fight. Even then, it was merely a nuisance.

He carved a path to the fortress’s central structure.

Drop rates here were absurdly high. Nearly every patrol yielded gear, half of it green-quality. But all required Level 9 or 10. No weapons. Useless to him.

Unlike the crude huts around it, this building stood massive and sturdy—no goblin craftsmanship. If secrets existed, they’d be here.

Mysterious circled it. No side entrances. Only a 5-meter-tall wooden door dominated the front. Far too large for goblins.

He didn’t dwell on it.

The moment he stepped inside, hostile eyes locked onto him. He leaped right.

*THUD!*

Where he’d stood shattered under a colossal axe. Shrapnel nicked his health—the first damage he’d taken inside the fortress.

His attacker loomed: a 3-meter-tall goblin. Muscles coiled like explosives over scarred, crimson flesh. Its face, twisted by unnatural growth, barely resembled a goblin. It gripped a gore-caked axe heavier than Mysterious himself.

**“ROAR—”**

It charged.

Mysterious sprinted *toward* it. He slid under a horizontal sweep, rolled past its flank, and sprang up. His sword bit into its back—barely breaking skin.

【-7】

【Goblin Wrecker (Elite) | Level: 9

HP: 2700】

Only one level lower, Mysterious saw its stats clearly.

The Wrecker whirled, swinging its axe with its turn. Mysterious ducked. He circled opposite its rotation and slashed its ribs. Soft tissue yielded slightly better damage.

Still trivial. Scratches wouldn’t win this fight.

Mysterious excelled against humanoids. But this brute? He almost wished—

*If only I had a sharper blade, not this Novice Sword.*

The starter weapon’s dull edge struggled against thick hide. He shook off the thought.

They danced. Mysterious’s precise strikes widened old wounds. Damage climbed.

The Wrecker, meanwhile, was all brute force. Its axe cratered the floor. But its movements were clumsy, mindless. It lumbered after Mysterious like a puppet with cut strings.

Mysterious seized an opening. He drove his sword deep into a bleeding wound on the Wrecker’s back.

【-68】

At this rate, the beast would fall in five minutes.

Then the Wrecker roared in pain—and *clenched* its back muscles.

Mysterious’s sword jammed tight. He yanked. Nothing.

“Seriously?!” he blurted, unused to real-world physics.

His low Strength stat lost the tug-of-war. He abandoned the sword. Survival first.

As he plotted retrieval, the Wrecker did the unthinkable. It dropped its axe. Grabbed the Novice Sword embedded in its back. And tried to *snap it in half*.

Its 【Equipment Breaker】 skill—a nightmare that permanently disabled gear until repaired.

But the Novice Sword had no durability. No wear. It couldn’t be broken.

The Wrecker strained, veins bulging. Its hands bled where the unyielding blade bit deep.

【-3】

【-4】

Damage numbers flickered above its head. The bleeding worsened.

【-9】

【-12】

Still, it refused to stop. Blood slicked the sword’s hilt as it fought the system itself.

Mysterious stood dumbfounded, watching the Goblin Destroyer strain desperately to break his Novice Sword. Damage numbers above its head climbed higher and higher, while its health bar slowly dwindled...

Until the bar emptied completely. The Goblin Destroyer collapsed stiffly onto the ground.

The system notification showed experience gained from the kill, alongside equipment and coins dropped beside the corpse. Mysterious still couldn’t believe it—what a stubborn monster. It must’ve destroyed its own intelligence first.

After picking up the Goblin Destroyer’s loot, Mysterious retrieved his Novice Sword with a conflicted expression. Despite the rough treatment, the blade remained pristine, not even a hint of bending.

He vowed never to disdain this sword again.