Malphegor
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MoP: Ch. 39
🕑 Added 2025-01-25 22:46:36 +0000 UTC---Third POV---
For players who enjoyed causing trouble, having a second faction to choose from was definitely something to celebrate.
But for LootGoblin, he just wanted to be a casual player, flirt a little, and that was it.
He was not interested in advancing the main storyline.
If the second faction was hostile toward the first faction, he wouldn't even be able to meet the female players in The Watchers.
Where would he cry about that?
His situation was indeed rare, so Viktor temporarily changed his plans to stay and investigate the issue.
The remaining newbie players couldn't be left unattended.
The three veteran players discussed among themselves and decided to let ProGamer_Daddy take over LootGoblin's guidance quest.
Meanwhile, the others were taken out by NeverShowOff and Garble to get familiar with the town.
Once the group of players, who were chirping excitedly about everything, left, the church suddenly became much quieter.
Viktor pulled up the detailed data of LootGoblin and took a small sample of his blood.
After multiple verifications, it was confirmed: The other party indeed had dwarven bloodline, not just an abnormal development in a human.
So where exactly did it go wrong? He approached the Flesh Rebirth Array and waved with black wand.
The magic circle suddenly lit up with white light.
"Lie down first."
Hearing Viktor's suddenly serious tone, LootGoblin grew nervous and obediently lay in the center of the circle, closing his eyes peacefully.
"Huh? Oh, okay!"
ProGamer_Daddy stood nearby, worried. "Lord Viktor, is there any hope for LootGoblin?"
"…"
I am not a doctor, and the dwarven player isn't terminally ill.
Wait.
Randomly changing races might indeed cause unforeseen side effects!
"Let's observe first."
He tapped the wand on the ground, and the light from the magic circle began to flicker, illuminating the intricate runes and totems within the circle.
Rune of Monster Decomposition: No issues.
Rune of Matter Conversion: No issues.
Rune of Reconstruction: No issues.
Rune of Life Infusion: No issues.
So the problem lies with…
Viktor's gaze locked onto the runes in the second circular ring. A look of realization flashed in his eyes.
"So that's it."
The issue occurred during the aptitude optimization stage, specifically due to the impact of those 10 divine power points.
In Aeltia, there were many magical creatures and intelligent species. But most races didn't naturally evolve—they were created by gods.
Dwarves were one such race.
They were the creation of Bern, the God of Flame and Forging, one of the thirteen ancient gods.
Speaking of which, one of the three beginner spells that players could learn—Fireball—originated from Bern.
Under his divine authority, dwarves were born with exceptional talent in fire affinity, smelting, and forging.
They were a race that unconditionally supported Bern.
Their appearance was also very similar to the dwarves in Earth's fantasy literature. That was why Viktor translated their race name as "dwarves."
If he were to translate it literally, the true name would be "Servants of Flame."
The answer was now clear.
Humans were the foundational material Bern used to create dwarves, and for some unknown reason, LootGoblin's consciousness projection was highly compatible with dwarves.
Since the aptitude optimization process naturally gravitated toward the best possible choice, he was directly turned into a dwarf.
The only question was…
Creating dwarves was Bern's ability. So how did the God of Creativity managed to pull this off?
Viktor looked at Luminaris, who had followed him, with a complex expression.
The war six hundred years ago seemed even more intense than he'd imagined…
The ability to create core races had been transferred to another ancient god's divine essence.
That was nearly equivalent to the death of the original god—caused by none other than Aeceus?
---
"That's roughly what happened," Viktor summarized, skipping over the complicated magic circle mechanics as he explained to the two players.
"There's nothing wrong with your body. You can get up now."
ProGamer_Daddy suddenly understood: "Oh—so he really got a hidden race?"
He gave LootGoblin's shoulder a hard slap, his tone full of envy and jealousy.
"Nice! Why didn't something like this happen to me?"
"How would I know?" LootGoblin rubbed his sore shoulder.
Still, as a symbol of his incredible luck, he couldn't help but feel a bit smug.
"Well, I guess protagonists are just different. Lord Viktor, how rare is my situation?"
Viktor shook his head. "Extremely rare."
The ability to create dwarves had merely passed through Luminaris and then disappeared elsewhere. Currently, he only had the powers of Life Revival and Life Purification.
For him to accidentally create a dwarf, luck and LootGoblin's compatibility with the dwarven race were indispensable.
But luck probably accounted for 98%.
After all, using divine powers was like touching a gold medal.
Whether any Au elements remained for the next person depended entirely on how well the medal was plated.
Without the prerequisite conditions, compatibility meant nothing.
Hearing this, LootGoblin became even more pleased, his nostrils practically pointing to the sky.
"Heh heh! See that? I'm probably an S-rank rare race! Kneel before me, you mere humans!"
He stood with arms akimbo, trying to look disdainful.
But as he stood up, he realized he was still the shortest among everyone and had to look up at a 45-degree angle just to meet their eyes.
ProGamer_Daddy looked down at him in confusion. "S-rank dwarf, is your face twitching?"
"Twitch your face!" LootGoblin wiped his own face and gave up pretending. "Lord Viktor, is there a way for dwarves to grow taller?"
Special races were great and all, but being short was a bit of a bummer.
How was he supposed to flirt like this?
"No," Viktor said mercilessly.
"Ahhh—" LootGoblin dragged out his disappointment.
What is there to be disappointed about? After all, being a creation of an ancient god means racial traits aren't easily altered. Viktor thought as he led the two players away from the magic circle.
Before leaving, he set up a large barrier to prevent other players from messing around.
Still, as the first player with a special race, some reassurance was necessary.
He looked at the dwarf, who was barely 1.2 meters tall, with a kind gaze. "Aeltia is full of miracles. So, maybe there is a way. Height is just a minor issue—it's not beyond hope."
"Besides, even now, your talents are enough to make up for the drawbacks of your appearance. Overall, the benefits may outweigh the disadvantages."
As he spoke, he secretly opened the GM panel and adjusted LootGoblin's stats.
Manually modified panels had this flaw—they couldn't predict unexpected cases like LootGoblin's.
Adjustments could only be made discreetly afterward.
---
As soon as Viktor finished speaking, a translucent notification popped up in front of LootGoblin.
[Your character information has been updated!]
LootGoblin hurriedly opened his game panel.
[Name: LootGoblin]
[Race: Dwarf]
[Level: 1 (Newbie)]
[XP: 0/100]
[SAN: 100]
[Talents: Forging (Crude), Rage (Non-upgradable)]
[Skills: None]
[Inventory: Empty]
"Whoa, two talents!" he shouted.
"What? Your character has talents?" ProGamer_Daddy widened his eyes in surprise. "Let me see!"
LootGoblin didn't bother hiding it, making his game panel visible to everyone.
"Perfect timing—help me figure out what these two talents do!"
Actually, just thinking about clicking on two talents in his mind could provide specific details about them.
The first talent, forging, needed no further explanation. As the name implied, it granted bonuses to forging skills.
The initial forging level was "Crude."
After that, the levels progressed through Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Superior, Master, Expert, and Legendary.
By using the talent frequently, its level could be upgraded.
The second talent, "Rage," couldn't be upgraded. Its effect was a 25% increase in strength during states of anger.
"Damn, such luxurious stats?! And it's still a talent that can upgrade?"
ProGamer_Daddy's jaw nearly dropped to the ground. He looked at LootGoblin with envy, which quickly turned into a dangerous glint.
"As expected, the luckiest players deserve the worst endings!"
Although the second talent couldn't be upgraded, as the character's level increased, their constitution would also improve.
And with better stats, wouldn't that extra 25% strength bonus become even more effective?
By utilizing this talent well, even grinding for experience and gathering resources would become far more efficient!
LootGoblin chuckled foolishly as he looked at his game interface, "Stay humble, stay humble."
He was secretly elated.
Indeed, the joy of a hidden race lay in watching the jealous stares of unlucky players.
"But this game has way too many bugs," he muttered. "Before the update, my race was still human. After the update, it changed. That seems like a problem."
Hearing LootGoblin's complaint, Viktor felt a jolt of panic in his heart.
But their bluff had failed—he really noticed the issue.
The next second, ProGamer_Daddy thought for a moment and said, "Maybe the hidden race is just too rare, and the developers haven't adjusted the data properly. Typos in descriptions are pretty common."
"That makes sense." LootGoblin's excitement surged further as he pretentiously brushed back his hair. "Oh well, what can I do? My race is just too exceptional."
Viktor breathed a sigh of relief.
Thankfully, the players had rationalized it themselves.
Once his divine power was sufficient, the first thing he planned to do was to make the game interface more realistic.
With more players joining, he wouldn't be able to stalk every player and fix the game panel bugs manually.
LootGoblin cheerfully admired his racial talents.
"Except for being a little short, I've got both life skills and combat skills. I'm the ultimate wingman!"
"Hey, what's with that expression?"
ProGamer_Daddy covered his mouth, struggling to hold back tears of laughter. "Nothing, nothing."
He nearly forgot—this guy was an obsessive "carry-my-teammates" type of player.
Seeing ProGamer_Daddy's face as though he'd eaten something awful, LootGoblin suddenly had a bad feeling.
He seemed to recall hearing an NPC mention something about "appearance flaws" earlier?
Viktor also realized something, "You don't know what you look like?"
Of course. There were no mirrors in the chapel, so it was normal for new players to be unaware of their appearance.
Out of a sense of charity, he thoughtfully pried off a shard of glass from the already-damaged stained-glass window.
The shard, reflecting a rainbow of sunlight, floated gently down to LootGoblin.
"You might need this."
"Whoa! Telekinesis! Can I learn this?" ProGamer_Daddy stared excitedly at the floating shard of glass. "Look at my name! I was born to be a pilot!"
What on earth is he talking about?
Where's the logic?
If Viktor had a human face right now, he'd be twitching uncontrollably at the corners of his mouth.
"You'll know soon enough."
"Do we learn that in the second skill tutorial?" ProGamer_Daddy's eyes lit up, already answering his own question. "Man, I love you, Overlord!"
"Let's talk again once you've unified your titles for me."
When LootGoblin reached out to catch the glass shard, a skeletal hand pressed down on it first.
There was no rush to look in the mirror; that could wait until Viktor left.
For now, there was one last thing to be addressed.
"Welcome to this world. Before you arrived, I'd already heard of your name."
LootGoblin looked around and pointed at himself. "Me?"
Viktor nodded affirmatively.
"I heard that you're highly skilled in construction, invention, and farming. Now, with the dwarven talents, you're even more versatile."
"You are exactly the kind of talent The Watchers need! There's approximately one autumn and half a summer left before the tide arrives. Before then, we need a wall."
"Perhaps you are the key to its completion!"
LootGoblin's eyes widened in shock, nervously scratching his rear.
He couldn't help it; he was anxious.
In NeverShowOff's fan group, he had long heard that there was a storyline quest to build a city wall that no one could unlock.
So he was a key player in this?
Could it be that he was the protagonist, the Chosen One?
"I guarantee I'll complete the mission!" he shouted excitedly.
This kind of special storyline—it clearly hinted that only he could take on the quest, didn't it?
Who else could it be!
"Don't worry, Lord Viktor! I'll work hard to improve my talent levels! I won't let you down!"
Viktor nodded in satisfaction. "Good, the organization has high hopes for you."
The Ironclad Wall, of course, couldn't be built by a new player with no experience in magical forging.
But it didn't hurt to dangle this task as motivation.
He was genuinely curious to see how far a player with dwarven talents could go.
To avoid any potential oddities that might arise next, he left the chapel immediately after speaking, not waiting for the two players to react.
With the situation here resolved, he still needed to check on the other players.
ProGamer_Daddy looked on enviously. "Damn, racial advantages and exclusive quest perks?"
The city wall quest had a generous reward, and this was practically a direct confirmation that LootGoblin had a guaranteed spot!
This was solid stuff!
LootGoblin crossed his legs smugly, ready to say something.
Suddenly, the glass shard in his hand pricked him.
"Oh, I almost forgot—I still haven't looked at my appearance!"
Judging by ProGamer_Daddy's expression and Viktor's tone, he was already prepared for the worst.
But when he used the reflective shard to get a good look at his humanoid figure, he was still dumbfounded.
"What the hell is this?!"
He looked like a humanoid goblin in real life!
No, goblins were better-looking than this!
At least goblins didn't have such a twisted, grotesque face that seemed like it had been stretched apart by wild horses!
Dead fish eyes, a hooked nose, sagging skin full of wrinkles, and sparse, yellowing hair.
He slowly touched the top of his head in slow motion.
No wonder his head had felt so chilly since he entered the game.
He was bald!
"Hahahaha!"
Crunch!
LootGoblin broke the shard of glass in his hand on the spot!
