NOVEL WEB Chapter 5
Thud, thud.
To block the attacks of the approaching orcs from behind, I lightly shifted my feet to make sure all orcs came into my line of sight.
“Whoosh!”
The orc at the front bellowed as it charged forward with a club.
Clang!
My sword activated the ‘Block’ skill, effortlessly deflecting the orc’s attack.
This time, two orcs on either side swung their clubs at the same time.
Clang!
My sword, positioned at an angle, quickly moved to bounce back all the orc attacks.
After parrying the last orc’s strike, my sword swung forward like a fierce gale.
Swish!
Slash!
“Ugh, eek!”
Blood sprayed, and the orcs shrieked in terror.
“Phew.”
Having downed four orcs, I stood in place, catching my breath for a moment.
[Drizzle Rain]
[Knight]
[Level 11 (88.14%)]
…
[Block (E)]
– Blocks attacks from a 180-degree front arc.
Though it wasn’t shown when I first acquired the skill, there were ranks in this game’s skills.
The more you used it, the higher the skill rank would go.
While I’d have to test the exact rank effects, the damage taken during blocks had definitely decreased from the early levels.
I minimized potion use with the Block skill and repeatedly used the basic attack skills, Slash and Thrust, to take down more orcs.
Now, even facing three or four orcs at once, my HP loss wasn’t that significant.
I could hunt non-stop for about thirty minutes without needing a potion!
After hours of relentless orc hunting, a field announcement popped up on my screen.
[Field Boss of Orc Forest, ‘Orc Sentinel’, has appeared!]
“Huh?”
I tilted my head.
A field boss, huh?
“Hey, a field boss has popped up!”
“Where? Quickly, mark the coordinates!”
Thud, thud!
Users hunting nearby quickly began to move somewhere.
Feeling a strong urge to follow them, I flailed my short legs and hurried along.
Hustle!
After a few minutes of running, I arrived at the clearing in the center of the Orc Forest, where stood an orc that looked twice as big as the others, armoured up.
“Gruggh!”
Whoosh!
That orc brandished a massive axe in one hand, threatening the gathered users.
“His attack power isn’t that strong! He’s just a meat shield!”
“Alright, let’s take him down quickly!”
Thud, thud!
Crash!
The melee and magic attacks of the users gathered focused on the Orc Sentinel.
It was clear he had a lot of HP, as he showed no signs of falling easily.
Swallowing hard, I gripped my sword tightly.
Typically, for this type of field boss, rewards are distributed based on contribution.
I needed to deal damage to get my reward.
Though I wasn’t thrilled about hunting with others, I had to attack to earn something.
Thud, thud.
I moved swiftly behind the Orc Sentinel and executed a thrust attack with a large motion.
Stab!
My sword slipped between the gaps in the orc’s armour, leaving a small wound.
“Ugh!”
The injured Orc Sentinel swung his axe wildly.
His attacks, sweeping wide behind him, included me as well.
Clang!
But my Block skill, now at a higher rank, successfully repelled the orc’s axe strike.
After blocking the axe, I immediately followed up with a thrust.
Thud, thud!
The counterattack from my thrust repeatedly jabbed into the Orc Sentinel’s body.
Since the melee users around me had consumed quite a bit of HP from the orc’s wide swings, they kept their distance to drink potions and recover.
The attackers included me with my Block skill, a few fighters who caught the counter-timing, and wizards and spirit wielders attacking from afar.
“Whoosh!”
Boom!
Finally, after a barrage of attacks from the users, the Orc Sentinel’s HP hit zero, and that massive figure fell to the ground.
Snort.
“Oh.”
I checked the items granted to me in my inventory.
[Orc Sentinel’s Essence x3]
[Using it grants an item from Orc Sentinel’s weapon, accessory, or outfit.]
My mouth dropped open.
A random reward, huh?
And not just equipment; outfits could come out too?
“I got two items.”
“No way, I only got one!”
“Yes! I just unboxed one and got a weapon!”
Cheering and lamenting sounds emerged from the surrounding users.
I quietly slipped away from the crowd.
Having reached a spot where no users were visible, I took out the Orc Sentinel’s Essence from my inventory and held it in my hand.
Using this could get me a weapon.
But random gacha from the very first reward, huh?
I bit my lip at the merciless game’s reward system and used the Orc Sentinel’s Essence.
Snort.
With the notification sound, I checked the item that entered my inventory.
“This… no way!”
I was furious.
[Orc Sentinel’s Hat]
[Head decoration item]
An outfit item with a cute pig face drawn on the front.
It was the Orc Sentinel’s hat.
“Ugh, fashion items don’t boost stats!”
I stomped my feet in place.
But there were still two left.
I pulled out all the Orc Sentinel’s Essences from my inventory and used them in quick succession.
Snort, snort.
[Orc Sentinel’s Top]
[Orc Sentinel’s Bottom]
“Yikes, yikes.”
Having acquired the full outfit set including the Orc Sentinel’s hat, I couldn’t help but whimper.
Anyway, I had to wear the full Orc Sentinel outfit now.
I was likely the first to obtain the full set unless someone else who got three essences had managed to get all three outfit pieces too.
I wiped the tears pooling in my eyes and put on the gear item.
A beret with a cute pig face was on my head.
A matching t-shirt with a cute pig character in the center.
And a skirt with a tiny pig face peeking out on the left hem.
“Heh.”
Wearing this adorable outfit set lightened my mood a bit.
With my spirits lifted, I jumped up and down in place.
I’m the owner of the full Orc Sentinel outfit!
*
[Title]
The owner of the full Orc Sentinel outfit has appeared.jpg (+107)
[Content]
-Attached image file-
[Comments]
– Nuooooooo, lol.
– Whoooa, haha!
– Wow; that’s so cute! What are the character stats like?
ㄴ I’m not sharing my character stats! I must have put a lot of effort into it.
– But making such a small character might lower strength, right? The race seems to be human, and judging by the fact they’re holding a sword, they look like a knight?
ㄴ I saw them briefly while hunting the Orc Sentinel, and they are indeed a knight. I wanted to talk to them after defeating the sentinel, but they ran away.
– We all know virtual reality games. If your character doesn’t match your body, synchronization drops a lot, making it hard to play. They’re definitely a female user aiming for looks.
ㄴ But they seemed to deal quite a bit of damage! To get the full outfit set at once, they need to get three essences, which means they should have been dealing a lot of damage.
*
I had a brief nap and a simple meal before logging back in just in time for the field boss respawn.
The respawn time for the Orc Sentinel took about half a day in real-time, which was quite lengthy.
It took me three more kills before I finally managed to get all the accessories and weapons from the Orc Sentinel.
I smiled brightly at the weapon I obtained from this field boss hunt.
[Orc Sentinel’s Sword]
[Rare grade]
[Attack Power 30]
[Blocks damage by 5% more when successful]
A rare weapon with a special option that boosts the performance of the ‘Block’ skill!
It had an attack power that was 10 higher than the common-grade self-defense weapon worth 10 silver.
The weapons in shops were standard grade.
Weapons obtained from field monsters like this were of rare grade.
Of course, there would be Elite grade weapons in the elite dungeon that users had yet to conquer.
There might even be higher-tier weapons, but according to beta tester information, only elite-grade weapons were verified to exist.
Fortunately, the job class for the weapons obtained by using essences wasn’t random.
If you obtained a weapon through the field boss’s essence, you would receive a weapon of your current job class.
[Drizzle Rain]
[Knight]
[Level 14 (90.27%)]
I was nearly finished hunting in the Orc Forest.
Repeatedly hunting with minimal rest while waiting for the field boss, I was on the brink of reaching level 15.
Once I hit level 15, I’d finally be able to enter the first elite dungeon.
After level 15, monster specs would improve to the extent that if I hadn’t finished farming in the elite dungeon for the current area, I wouldn’t be able to hunt anymore.
From the chat hints as users passed by, it seemed parties were already being formed among players who had reached level 15 for the first elite dungeon strategy.
“Hmmm.”
I looked towards the first elite dungeon visible from the edge of the Orc Forest.
[Entry level 15]
[Elite Dungeon (4-person party recommended)]
[Orc King’s Cave]
Party play? Nah, I’d rather not.
Well, they wouldn’t have made it possible to clear solo, would they?