Oscar walked through the entrance of the dungeon maze. The corridor was narrow, made of damp brick walls and a rough stone path covered in moss.
Torches mounted on the walls flickered, casting dim shadows across the floor.
Goblin Lounge was a remnant tunnel of a forgotten castle. When the dungeon first appeared, it cost hundreds of lives because the tunnels were originally filled with traps typically seen in BRD (Bronze Rank Difficulty) dungeons.
The Host Association had removed all these traps after conquering it, leaving it to help low-level Hosts level up without serious injuries.
Although death in government-regulated dungeons was nonexistent, there were instances of idiots doing stupid things and receiving harsh consequences for it.
He moved silently, his right hand buried deep inside his jacket pocket, resting on the cold surface of the steel throwing nails.
He did not have to wait long before a small creature appeared a few meters ahead. It was a lone goblin, standing less than four feet tall with dark green skin, pointy ears, and a loincloth tied around its waist.
The monster held a rusted iron dagger in its hand and snorted as it turned its head toward Oscar.
Before the goblin could react or screech, Oscar pulled a ten-inch steel nail out of his pocket and flicked his wrist.
Aimbot activated.
The sharp steel nail cut through the air in a perfect, straight trajectory, locking directly onto the monster’s weakest vital point.
Thwack!
The nail pierced straight through the goblin’s right eye socket and penetrated deep into its brain.
The creature froze instantly, its mouth hanging open, before falling backward onto the stone path with a dull thud.
Green blood pooled around its head.
Oscar stepped forward and pulled the bloody nail out of the monster’s skull, wiping it clean on the creature’s rag.
You have killed a Level 1 Ordinary Goblin.
+1 EXP gained
Oscar stared at the dark golden notification screen floating in front of his eyes.
"What the fuck. Only 1 experience point?" he cursed quietly, sliding the bloodied nail back into his jacket pocket.
He needed 100 experience points just to reach Level 1. Getting a single point per kill meant he would have to hunt down a hundred goblins just to advance once.
A moment later, Oscar calmed down as the logic behind it clicked in his head. This was the case for all government-regulated dungeons.
These IRD dungeons were already cleared by high-ranking Hosts long ago, and their original wild dungeon cores had been replaced with regulated control devices.
The monsters would still respawn endlessly for training, but the experience points awarded from killing them were cut down to a tiny fraction of what a real wild monster would give.
Also, the strength of the monsters was reduced significantly. After all, the main purpose of regulated dungeons was training, so earning experience points was just a side quest.
’It is no surprise,’ Oscar thought, sliding the nail back into his jacket pocket. ’Otherwise, humans would have mass-created millions of high-level Hosts within a few years.’
He checked the time display on his system interface. He had a total of eight hours in this evening slot. If he wanted to level up, he had to kill a hundred goblins before the portal kicked him out.
Each level up until Level 10 would give him two free attribute points to distribute freely. Once a Host reached Level 10, they could choose a Class.
After gaining a Class, every subsequent level up would automatically increase the specific attributes bound to that class while giving free points.
’Now is not the time to think about Class choices,’ Oscar thought, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the dark brick maze ahead. ’I have to reach at least Level 5 today.’
Only by reaching Level 5 could he accumulate enough free attribute points to completely dominate Brad and finish his main quest.
With his goal set, his hunting officially started.
The underground maze was dark and full of narrow brick corridors, but the goblins were noisy and completely unorganized.
Every time Oscar heard guttural shrieks or heavy footsteps echoing along the stone path, he did not run or hide.
He simply reached into his pockets, pulled out two sharp steel nails, and waited for them to come within range.
The moment a goblin stepped into range, Oscar flicked his wrist.
Aimbot activated.
The steel nails flew through the dim air in straight lines, automatically locking onto the goblins’ weakest spots before the monsters could even raise their rusty daggers.
You have killed a Level 1 Ordinary Goblin.
+1 EXP gained.
You have killed a Level 2 Ordinary Goblin.
+2 EXP gained.
You have killed a Level 1 Ordinary Goblin.
+1 EXP gained.
Oscar moved along the maze, leaving a trail of corpses behind. He did not forget to collect resources he could sell outside—mainly nails and goblin teeth.
Sadly, the weapons dissipated after the death of the goblin, or he could have collected them as well.
He did not waste time engaging in physical brawls or testing his weak physical strength against them. He relied entirely on his Aimbot trait to deliver instant headshots.
When his throwing arm grew sore and stiff from continuous flicking, he switched hands or rested for five minutes behind a pile of stone debris while drinking water.
When a group of four goblins rushed him at once, he threw four nails in rapid succession, killing all four before they could close the distance.
These fights gave him a rough idea of what class he could take in the future.
Archer.
Hours passed quietly inside the maze. The rhythmic sounds of metal piercing flesh and dying shrieks echoed repeatedly through the brick corridors.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 1.
You have gained 2 Free Attribute Points.
"Finally..." He immediately opened his interface and dumped both points straight into Intelligence, raising his INT from 2 to 4.
His total Mana pool instantly jumped from 20 to 40.
Feeling a slight surge of mental clarity as his Intelligence increased, Oscar picked up his spent nails from the ground and marched deeper into the higher-level zones of the maze, where Level 3 to Level 5 goblins respawned faster.
He kept throwing and killing.
You have killed a Level 4 Ordinary Goblin.
+4 EXP gained
You have killed a Level 3 Ordinary Goblin.
+3 EXP gained
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 2.
You have gained 2 Free Attribute Points.
Without hesitation, he put both points into Intelligence again, bringing his INT up to 6.
After deciding on his trajectory, it made sense to invest heavily in INT stats.
Also, as his INT stat increased, the effective detection range of his Aimbot trait seemed to expand as well.
With 2 Intelligence, Aimbot had a maximum range of ten meters. Now, with his INT boosted, the effective targeting range expanded out to thirty meters!
If anything was stopping him from taking advantage of this increased range, it was his own physical throwing strength. That could easily be fixed once he bought a crossbow.
. . .
You have killed a Level 5 Ordinary Goblin.
+5 EXP gained.
You have killed a Level 5 Ordinary Goblin.
+5 EXP gained.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 3.
You have gained 2 Free Attribute Points.
. . .
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 4.
You have gained 2 Free Attribute Points.
Oscar dumped all four new points into Intelligence, pushing his INT score up to 10.
Finally, as the red timer in his vision signaled that only fifteen minutes remained in his eight-hour portal slot, he threw his last steel nail into the throat of an incoming goblin leader.
Bang!
You have killed a Level 5 Ordinary Goblin.
+5 EXP gained.
Ding!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 5.
You have gained 2 Free Attribute Points.
A warm current of energy washed over his tired body as the level-up light flashed across his frame, restoring his physical stamina instantly.
He held onto his two newly earned attribute points for now, keeping them ready to distribute whenever needed.
Oscar took a deep breath and called up his status screen one last time before the dungeon portal forced him out.
Name: Oscar
System: Divine Hack System
Traits: Aimbot | Invisibility (Locked - 10,000 EP to unlock) | Locked | Locked...
Level: 5 (0/500)
STR: 2
CONST: 1
AGI: 3
INT: 12
Mana: 120
HP: 10
Unallocated Points: 2
He looked at his Intelligence attribute sitting comfortably at 12. Brad’s Intelligence was only 3.
A wide, sinister smile spread across Oscar’s face as the portal light began to wrap around his body, preparing to teleport him back to the Host Association hall.
Brad was going to have a very bad morning tomorrow.