Part-216

  He gnced down at the eight goblin ears he'd collected, pig one up and iing it closely. The sight was unpleasant, a bit gruesome, but he shrugged it off, thinking they might be useful. Acc to the system, selling these goblin ears to the dungeon's buying house would earn him 0.2 dolrs for eae. Not much, but still something. He made a mental a backpaext time, thinking it would e in handy fer hauls in future dungeon runs.

  As he wiped some sweat off his brow, he quickly checked his EXP bar. The dispy showed 5650 EXP. Not bad, but still not enough to allocate aat points just yet. He would have to keep pushing if he wao hit the level.

  "Well, that was tougher than I thought," James muttered, wiping sweat from his brow. He khat this was just the beginning. Level 2 roving to be far more challenging than the first, and he would o stay on his toes if he wao survive.

  He gnced down at his wooden sword, a small smile f on his lips. It wasn’t fshy, but it had gotten the job done. For now, he’d keep it close.

  James stood at the entrance of the Level 2 Early Midse, his heart rag in anticipation. He had barely caught his breath from defeating the goblins in the previous se, and now he was about to fa eveer challehe dungeon's eerie glow seemed to throb around him, as if the walls themselves were alive, feeding off his uainty. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward.

  In the dim light, James spotted the goblins almost immediately—ten of them in total. Five wielded rusted swords, while the other five stood farther back, armed with crude bows. The archers were positiorategically, making it clear they had no iion of letting him get close without a fight. The goblins snarled in unison, their eyes gleaming with malice as they watched James approach.

  Before he could even strategize or make his first move, the sharp twang of a b echoed through the chamber. An arrow flew faster than he could react, striking him squarely in the neck. Paied through his body like a lightning bolt. He staggered, gasping for air, as his vision blurred. Blood trickled down his neck, and his grip on his wooden sword weakened.

  Stumbling back, James tried to activate **Sloth View**, but the pain made it difficult to trate. The world around him slowed, but his rea time remained sluggish. Before he could fully recover, the sword-wielding goblins rushed him. They moved in tight formation, their jagged bdes fshing in the dungeon's dim light. In seds, four more arrows found their mark—two in his chest, one in his thigh, and another embedding itself painfully into his shoulder. James’s legs buckled uhe assault, and his world faded to bck.

  When he regained sciousness, he was lying on the cold stone floor at the entrance of the Level 2 Early Se, exactly where he had respawned every other time he had beeed. The dungeon's resurre system had saved him once again, but not without cost.