Malphegor
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MoP: Ch. 75
🕑 Added 2025-03-12 19:26:25 +0000 UTC---Viktor's POV---
The dazed and clueless goblin was placed on the ground, with only its head sticking out.
Its blank expression seemed to question why the sky above its head was reduced to just a small circular patch.
After some inspection, the players began offering their assessments.
"What a dumb look."
"You guys let this thing fool you the whole way?"
"At first, I thought the goblin was too smart. Now it seems like you all are just too dumb."
Realizing they had no good counterarguments, the four players who had been duped could only glare daggers at the ones making sarcastic remarks.
I observed the goblin for a moment before remarking curiously, "Its reaction does seem off. After being caught, it's not showing any kind of stress response."
The players had tied it up using makeshift rope made from resilient grass strips they found. It wasn't nearly as sturdy as spider silk. Yet the goblin didn't struggle, curse, or scream—it behaved too civilized for a goblin.
I untied half of its bindings.
Still, there was no reaction.
A sudden realization struck me.
"It's been poisoned by a Green-Tailed Weasel!"
Thor asked, "What's a Green-Tailed Weasel?"
"It's a common weasel species found on the outskirts of the Great Oak Forest. Its tail sprays a potent green venom that causes paralysis. The paralysis effects are just like this goblin. If any of you got hit by it, the outcome might've been even worse."
After all, human constitutions weren't as hardy as goblins'.
"With its nerves paralyzed by the green-tailed weasel's venom, there's no way it could act as an undercover agent."
"Are you sure it followed you willingly?"
I watched Apple's face as he processed my question. His confident expression faltered, eyes widening slightly as he seemed to replay the memory in his head.
"Actually..." he admitted, looking startled, "it didn't!"
"LootGoblin's a dwarf, so he's slow as molasses. But he's always desperate for extra XP from exploration, so he pays us to team up and carry his weight."
"When he came back from taking a leak, we'd just found our way back to the main path."
"And I got tired of waiting for his tiny legs to catch up," he shrugged, "so I just picked him up and carried him."
After Apple recounted the story, Thor immediately sided with the skeptics.
"Seriously? You can't even tell a dwarf from a goblin? Just let me take over next time."
Apple protested loudly. "So it's my fault for being tall? The goblin was even wearing LootGoblin's pants! Who could tell the difference?"
From his perspective, all he could see of LootGoblin was the top of his head. Since the goblin didn't resist while being carried, he didn't realize anything was wrong until much later when he noticed it wasn't wearing any clothes.
I pointed out another obvious fact. "But goblins have green skin."
"He dyed himself green with plant pigments, claiming it would increase his survival chances," Apple said.
Whether it improved his survival chances was uncertain, but it definitely fooled his own teammates first.
The players doing the sulfur mine quest had been listening to this absurd tale the entire time. One of them rubbed his chin and summarized, "So, LootGoblin wasn't actually captured by goblins. You just left him outside?"
Thor shot him a side-eye.
"The goblin's wearing his pants. How could he not have been captured?"
There was no dispute that LootGoblin had been taken.
I had already checked his location using my admin rights but found nothing. There were no death records either, meaning he must have been taken to a hidden area like a goblin nest.
At most, the theory about the goblins using an undercover agent to find the players' base had been disproven.
"Oh—well, that's a relief," one player patted his chest in relief. "I thought the enemy was already knocking on our door!"
"So, LootGoblin was captured, but it was by a group of injured goblins. That's why you four managed to escape," I concluded.
Apple's blunder had accidentally led to bringing back a goblin weakened by poison, resulting in this series of misunderstandings.
"Although it was a mix-up, we still got valuable intel. We've discovered another goblin sighting location, and we know they're facing a food shortage."
I retied the goblin and assigned a random player to escort it to join the other captured goblins. Then, I elaborated further, "The green-tailed weasels are fast, and their venom is troublesome. The goblins targeting them as prey suggests they're desperate for food."
"I'll have people monitor areas with high animal activity nearby. Maybe we'll find traces of the goblins. If we can't locate their nest, luring them out and picking them off one by one is also a good strategy."
The players nodded in agreement, with no objections.
The matter was settled.
It was time for rewards to be distributed.
Since so many goblins had already been captured, I reduced the rewards for Apple's group and politely suggested they avoid capturing more next time.
Regular goblins had almost no value as captives; keeping a few for new players to recognize was enough.
At this moment, Hedgehog, who had gone to call for reinforcements, finally returned.
From afar, he waved to me. "Lord Viktor, I brought ProGamer_Daddy here!"
ProGamer_Daddy jogged over. "You were looking for me?"
"Yes." My original intent was to hand over the remaining sulfur found near the lava pool. Though I couldn't handle the Level 3 turtle-like monster there, I could still snatch some resources on the side.
I also wanted to check on the progress of gunpowder production and see what was still needed.
However, with the LootGoblin situation unfolding, informing all players and adjusting task priorities took precedence.
So I simply handed over the sulfur, exchanged a few words, and prepared to leave.
He was overjoyed to receive it and hurried off with the sulfur miners, eager to avoid any delay in production.
This left LootGoblin's teammates and Hedgehog, who stayed behind to gossip.
Apple, holding onto the last shred of teammate loyalty, asked about LootGoblin's fate. "Since he was also captured by goblins, do you think he'll end up with the dwarf craftsman we heard about before?"
"Theoretically, yes," I replied, then added, "But I'd recommend he suicides to respawn as soon as possible."
"Why?" Apple was startled.
"The goblin nest has a food shortage. The treatment for captives won't be great," I explained.
"Bad treatment?!" Apple's eyes widened. "You mean they eat people?!"
"There are plenty of cases of humans eating humans. Goblins eating a dwarf is hardly surprising," I said nonchalantly.
The goblin nest's ability to remain hidden for so long meant it must have its own unique strategies. I didn't expect a single captive to figure out the routes in and out. Dying and respawning to contribute as labor was the more practical approach.
Apple sighed heavily.
Hedgehog, piecing together the clues, suddenly had an epiphany.
"Wait… so LootGoblin really infiltrated the goblin nest? I thought he was just bragging on the forum!"
I froze and gave him a puzzled look. "Infiltrated?"
---Third POV---
LootGoblin felt that his luck was completely off today.
First, he was forced to hire a few players at a price 10% higher than the market rate.
The result? Not a single one of them was reliable, and combined, their sense of direction was worse than his alone!
It didn't take long after they set out before they got completely lost.
Then, while taking a leak break, he got ambushed. Some unknown creature snatched his pants away.
And finally, he had the misfortune to run into a group of goblins.
Thinking about it now, he ground his teeth in frustration.
"Which guy was it on the forums that posted such a guide?! Since when is the Goddess of Light's reward a 'Lucky Buff'?!"
When he got back, he vowed to track down the person who posted that nonsense and make them pay dearly for it.
Did they know how many good items he had to send over to Luminaris just to erase a negative 500 favorability score?
Lucky Buff? More like a Misfortune Buff!
It was bad enough to turn his multiplayer experience into a single-player nightmare.
He took a deep breath to calm himself before surveying his surroundings again.
He was in a small, square space.
At most, it was three square meters in size.
There was no door, just a small window that was barely big enough for him to crawl through.
Inside, there wasn't much either—just a few broken jars piled in the corner, emanating a strange smell.
Using the jars as a step, he climbed to the window, where he came face to face with a patrolling goblin outside.
The goblin waved its wooden club and babbled something incomprehensible.
He couldn't understand, so his gaze lingered on the goblin's well-developed biceps for a moment before he silently shrank back into the room.
"Sigh!" Leaning against the wall, he let out a long sigh.
"What did I do to deserve this…"
After stumbling upon the goblin patrol, he somehow ended up being taken back with them, completely bewildered.
Now he was in this room.
From his observations, he suspected the goblins had mistaken him for one of their own.
Otherwise, how could he explain why they hadn't tied him up or restricted his movements in any way?
At least he was safe for now. But it was all temporary.
He didn't understand goblin language or culture at all.
Even though he'd managed to blend in somehow, he'd be exposed sooner or later.
He tried to reduce the chances of making a mistake by staying inside as much as possible.
But who knew if there was some goblin rule that required him to go outside?
What would he do then?
Die and respawn?
"No way! Dying here would be way too embarrassing!" he suddenly exclaimed, agitated.
He'd ventured out to earn extra experience points.
How could he let a basic biological need not only erase all his hard-earned experience but also put him on a one-day resurrection cooldown on the forums?
Considering his unique situation, there had to be a way to get out of here alive.
Plus, this was a rare opportunity to uncover the location of the goblin nest.
Despite logging back into the game, he still couldn't find any means of escape.
Frustrated, he logged out and turned to the forums for help.
His post had been up for a while and had garnered quite a few comments.
---
[Shocking! As a random dwarf species player, I was mistaken for a goblin by NPC mobs in-game!]
---
That was the title of his post.
He wrote about his miserable experience of being semi-kidnapped by goblins in the hopes that the all-knowing netizens could offer some ideas.
Instead, casual players were busy cracking jokes, and beta testers outright refused to believe him.
Both sides thought he was making it all up.
Since the main storyline's progress was currently stuck at finding the goblin nest, his claim that he was already inside sounded ridiculous to them.
As soon as he logged off, he saw more skeptical comments piling up in the thread. Not a single useful suggestion.
He was furious.
"You guys are full of bright ideas on a normal day. Why can't you come up with anything useful now?!" So, he furiously began typing on his keyboard.
---
[BananaYouKiddingMe]: Heh, this extra's story is way too disconnected from the rest of us. Zero professionalism!
[LootGoblin]: Still stuck in your extra role, huh? Isn't this the 'God of Gods' forum?
[FastingMidLane]: Beta testers have truly fallen. Now we have a full-blown actor in our ranks
[LootGoblin]: Hey, don't you trust my integrity?
[FastingMidLane]: Of course, I don't trust you
[FastingMidLane]: If it's true, how could the route to the goblin nest be glossed over like that? Who are you trying to fool?
[LootGoblin]: I swear! I tried to remember the route, but, but I was just so disoriented at the time!
He knew why the beta testers didn't believe him.
It was because he couldn't clearly explain how he got into the goblin nest. But no matter how much he tried to recall, he just couldn't figure it out!
It seemed like he had just kept walking forward, and the surroundings had inexplicably transitioned from a jungle to stone ruins.
Even he found it strange.
[LootGoblin]: Guys, I'm serious! I'm really trapped in here! Help me out, please!
[LootGoblin]: My life is on the line here! It's urgent! Someone clever, please think of something!
[Hedgehog]: Ta-da! Your savior has arrived!
[Hedgehog]: Everyone lurking, come out now. Confirmed: this guy really got himself stuck. Even NPCs can't find his location
Since LootGoblin had good writing skills and his story about being mistaken for a goblin was amusing, this comment immediately drew out a bunch of lurking players.
[FastingMidLane]: !!! No way, it's actually true!
[Hedgehog]: 100% legit. His teammates can testify
[LootGoblin]: Oh, thank god! Those four finally managed to report my disappearance!
He'd been offline for nearly two hours, anxiously eating takeout while waiting for those IDs to show up in his thread.
He thought they were still lost in the game.
[CowardlySurvivor]: Something's off. Goblins don't look nearly as ugly as LootGoblin does!
[LootGoblin]: Watch your words!
[Blade]: Extras are multiplying. Is this actually becoming a main storyline?
---
In Honeyvale, as Viktor looked at the increasingly popular thread and the details LootGoblin had shared, he had to admit the truth.
LootGoblin actually snuck into the goblin nest?
His eyes flashed with disbelief.
It seemed being ugly did have its advantages.
At least, he had never heard of anyone else being mistaken for a goblin instead of a dwarf.
But there was a silver lining.
Ordinary goblins and captives had vastly different levels of freedom.
Maybe this coincidence could finally break the deadlock in exploring the goblin nest.
Thinking of this, he quickly opened a half-finished private chat window he had prepared earlier.
Before sending a message, he hesitated.
Wait, how should I contact him?
As a game admin?
Why would a staff member intervene in in-game matters?
As Viktor, the faction leader?
Why would an NPC use the forums?
While pondering, his gaze landed on a particular detail in LootGoblin's thread, sparking inspiration.
I've got it!
Comments
lohan seibert raimundo
Obrigado pelo capítulo
