Chapter 5: Ghouls Unleashed

There are many reasons why people find enjoyment in RPG games.

Because it relieves stress, to feel a sense of accomplishment from their character’s growth, or even because decorating their character is fun.

But underlying all those reasons was the basic condition: the game had to be fun.

In the case of ASA, if asked what made the game truly enjoyable, it was undoubtedly the use of Skills.

Like superheroes in comics or novels, the thrill of conjuring fire or ice from your hands—making the unreal real—was indescribable.

For ASA, that dreamlike experience wasn’t confined to the edge of a monitor, but was something he could receive directly, in real time.

That’s why ASA was called a second life, and why so many people enjoyed ASA.

“Come forth.”

As he stretched his hand into the air, the Skill—Morgue dimension—activated, and a magic circle was drawn on the ground.

With a swirl of black smoke, the two Ghouls he had stored in his inventory appeared, bowing their heads towards Dahav.

“Ooh! This is what makes ASA so satisfying—the feeling of using Skills! This is electrifying! The best!”

He showered his loyal Ghouls with praise, but considering the effort he’d put in, this alone wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

He immediately turned his head and shouted at the Goblins.

“Charge!”

The two Ghouls sprang into action, rushing toward the Goblins as soon as the command was given.

Sensing the Ghouls’ charge, the Goblins let out strange shrieks and rushed in as well.

Kkieeek-!

The moment when the result of six hours of hard work was finally visible before his eyes.

He couldn’t help but feel tense.

“Please, let it not all be for nothing…!”

As he prayed fervently, the Ghouls and the Goblin horde clashed at the center point.

The first strike belonged to the long-limbed Ghouls.

However, the Goblins compensated for their short reach with agile movements.

Kieeek-

Not only did they twist their faces to dodge the Ghouls’ punches, but they also kicked off the ground with quick feet, slipping inside the Ghouls’ guard.

A flurry of attacks followed.

The sharp Goblin claws slashed at the Ghouls’ torsos.

With the relentless assault, the Ghouls began to stumble backward.

“They want us to lay those Goblins at the village entrance?”

If that had been me, I’d have died and been forced to log out by death.

He wanted to file a complaint with the developers, but for now, the Goblin in front of him took priority.

Seeing the tide of battle turning against him, he hesitated.

“Should I retreat for now…”

It was a decision made because the Goblins’ agility surpassed that of the Ghouls.

As he turned his head to look for an escape route, something caught his eye.

Floating above the Ghouls’ heads was a 1 HP bar.

“What’s this?

The Ghouls, who had seemed to be getting trounced, didn’t even have a tenth of their HP gone, contrary to the dire situation.

Dahav was about to wonder ‘But why?’ when one of the Ghouls stepped forward and started advancing.

Grrr—

Sensing danger, the Goblin sped up and slashed even more frantically, but the Ghoul didn’t get pushed back and kept advancing.

No, from the start, being pushed back was impossible.

That was because the wounds on its abdomen healed instantly.

The advancing Ghoul finally grabbed the Goblin’s head.

At that moment!

With a monstrous roar, the Ghoul threw the Goblin it held into the air.

Then, as if waiting for this, the other Ghoul leapt up with a jump Skill, soared through the air, grabbed the airborne Goblin’s head, and quickly slammed it down.

Crack—!

Just from the splattered corpse, it was obvious the Goblin was dead.

Even in a 2:2 situation, the Ghouls’ defense was unbreakable; now, with 2:1, there was nothing left to see.

The outcome of the battle was already clear.

The surviving Goblin was so shocked by the sight of its dead comrade’s corpse that it froze in place.

Meanwhile, just as the Goblins had done earlier, the Ghouls launched a merciless attack.

But unlike a Troll’s sturdy body, the Goblin’s flesh was pathetically weak.

Thud—

After just a few hits, its waist bent at a 90-degree angle, and it crumbled to dust, signaling its death.

Grrr—

As the Ghouls howled, a message window popped up before his eyes.

[You have killed an Eren Port Goblin.]

[You have gained 200 Experience Points.]

[Congratulations! Your Level has increased to 2.]

[Congratulations! As the Necromancer’s Level has increased, the Level of your Familiars, the Ghouls, has also increased to 2.]

[You have acquired 2 EA of the miscellaneous item ‘Goblin Claw’ and 1 EA of the Quest item ‘Goblin Leather’!]

The Ghouls displayed strength beyond expectation, and with just two kills, he’d gained enough Experience Points for a Level up.

The exhilaration was more than he’d imagined—he could only say one thing.

“This is awesome.”

The Ghouls were stronger than expected.

They had completely overwhelmed the Goblins who ruled the beginner village.

And thanks to their rapid health regeneration, there was no fatigue after the battle.

Knowing that his efforts hadn’t been in vain, Dahav cheered excitedly.

“Guys, let’s wipe out all the Goblins today!”

But when he heard no response, he turned around and saw the Ghouls were gone.

“Um…”

Just as he was about to panic, a message window gave him the answer.

[Due to insufficient MP, the Ghouls have been unsummoned.]

“Huhh…”

Embarrassed at shouting out a victory cry without even realizing, he coughed awkwardly and quickly took out a Mana Potion from his inventory, gulping it down.

***

As mentioned earlier, the three most important factors in playing ASA are talent, luck, and money.

Of those, what players value most is undoubtedly ‘money’.

Above all, the first two can be acquired simply by hiring those with talent or luck.

Money is the holy grail in a capitalist society—it allows you to do anything.

If you want to arm yourself, expand your influence, and build a fence around yourself in the world, nothing beats money.

That’s why everyone tries to catch the eye of someone with ‘money’.

In that sense, Eren port is the perfect stage.

Just starting and succeeding in growth at Eren port gives you a unique background to put on your application for top parties or guilds.

In fact, those who grew in Eren port often ended up joining top guilds.

That’s why ambitious people tend to start at Eren port.

“As I just revealed, my current Level is 1, and as you can see, this is the infamous east gate of Eren port.”

Standing in front of the city gate, the man recording himself—using the nickname ‘Glen’—was one of them.

“As you all know, because of its high difficulty, Eren port has earned the nickname ‘beginner’s graveyard’.”

Glen continued explaining, his status window open for all to see.

“And as you can see, I’m still Level 1, without even clearing the Tutorial Quest, and I’ll show you how to hunt Goblins. Additionally, as for my equipment…”

While he was still talking, a white light rose from the ground and a Goblin appeared.

“Alright! The Goblin I was looking for has spawned right in front of me.”

Glen immediately kicked off the ground and rushed forward.

“From now on, I’ll keep the commentary to a minimum and prove myself with skill.”

He was confident.

‘I absolutely can’t fail at this.’

With over ten years of training, he had near-Pro Player-level skills, and on top of that, he’d drawn the rare class ‘Wind Fist Master’.

He had also watched the ‘Ranker Shupillen’s Eren port Goblin One-Shot Strategy Video’ on I-tube hundreds of times.

‘The first diagonal slash is avoidable by stepping back half a step…’

As he recalled the video, the Goblin, just as expected, twisted its waist and swung its arm back, slashing with its hand.

Kkieeek-!

He tried to lightly pull back his right foot as the Goblin charged in.

But reality was different from the video.

He should have pulled back, but before he could, the Goblin’s claws filled his vision.

“Hup…”

He barely managed to roll away and dodge, but the stinging pain in his forearm and the fact that he’d lost about a quarter of his HP made him tense up.

Focus, focus!’

He had to abandon arrogance.

He needed to focus on every movement and even the Goblin’s breathing.

Just then, the Goblin took a deep breath and kicked off the ground, charging at him.

It was the same diagonal slash move as before.

‘It’s faster than it looks.’

He quickly stepped back half a step.

Whoosh—

His forearm still hurt, but this time, he managed to keep his stance without rolling.

“The follow-up pattern is a flurry of attacks .”

The big swinging motion left the Goblin’s crown exposed, but if he got greedy and closed the distance carelessly, even someone strong enough to catch a Goblin could have their HP wiped out in a single hit.

“Now!”

As expected, the Goblin unleashed a flurry of attacks in the air, and as it panted heavily from exhaustion, Glen seized the opening.

“Gale Strike!”

Glen’s fists struck the Goblin’s body three times in a burst, like a fierce wind.

Papapak—

The Goblin’s body shook violently, but his aim was to hit and retreat quickly.

And that was the key to victory.

Before he knew it, the Goblin, having recovered, swung its claws diagonally just as before.

Seeing the Goblin’s movements, Glen was sure.

“That’s it! I can do this!”

The pattern was simple—if he just kept his focus, it wouldn’t be hard.

After repeating the same hit-and-run tactic three times, the Goblin finally collapsed where it stood and crumbled into dust.

“That’s it for me. I look forward to the judges’ wise evaluation!”

After finishing the recording, he wiped the cold sweat from his brow and collapsed to the ground.

“The difficulty is insane.”

He’d managed to kill it somehow, but seeing that he had only 20 of his HP bar left, he couldn’t help but sigh.

“Am I the only one who finds this so hard?”

Feeling uneasy, he entered I-tube with a command and searched for ‘Eren port Goblin Level 1 Challenge’, then quickly skimmed through the videos that came up.

Soon, a smile crept across Glen’s face.

“Knew it.”

Shupillen was just a monster.

Most people only managed to get the Goblin’s HP down to 50 or even 30 percent.

“I actually did really well.”

At this rate, even if he couldn’t get into the top 10 guilds like Heaven Guild, Mir, Dunkel, or Biik Yeonri, he was confident he could easily get into his target, a ‘Ranking 100 Guild’.

With some luck, he thought he could even aim for the 60th or 70th ranks.

“Am I what they call naturally gifted? No, get a grip, Glen! Anyone aiming to go Pro Player in ASA should at least be able to do this much.”

As he composed himself and tried to get up, a loud noise came from behind.

He was startled to realize there was someone else in Eren port, the so-called beginner’s graveyard, and couldn’t help but turn his head.

“What the…”

Glen’s eyes widened like lanterns.

Sure enough, a user was hunting a group of Goblins with two monsters at their side.

They seemed to be summons of some kind… Familiars, perhaps?

Two Ghouls that looked like Familiars.

They were no ordinary summons.

They looked crude, but their combat power surpassed that of the Eren port, beginner’s graveyard Goblins.

He almost felt pathetic for being so proud after killing just one Goblin, but fortunately, he found a good excuse.

“No need to be intimidated. That’s just a job Skill.”

It was an optimistic thought, but it was shattered in seconds.

A Goblin outside the range tried to ambush the Familiar’s master, but just like in Shupillen’s video, he perfectly dodged by simply stepping back half a step.

“No way…”

He’d just learned firsthand that reality is different from videos.

Dodging that wasn’t as easy as it looked.

In other words, that person was a player with overwhelming talent.

Just then, a rumor he’d read a few days ago flashed through his mind.

So it was true that the Heaven Guild was nurturing a super rookie to become a pro player…

Watching the true super rookie’s play, Glen calmed his once-arrogant heart and resolved to devote himself to training.