Second Life: Welcome to Gaia

The entrance of the Mountain Forest is a very simple but beautiful Paifang[1], with two wooden pillars onto stone bases that are bound together with two wooden beams. The pillars are painted red and the roof was covered with red-colored tiles. In the lower of the two beams is written 'White Birch Mountain Forest' with beautiful calligraphy[2], but the 'White Birch' was marked with an "x" and the name Goblin was engraved rustically on top of it as if to declare ownership of the place.

This is the only way to enter the dungeon because all the places around the mountain are formed by very closely spaced trees, thorny bushes, and rocks, making it impossible for even a cat to pass through it.

When the party was entering through the gate, they heard the system message asking them to choose the difficulty of the dungeon.

System: Please select the dungeon difficulty: Easy, Normal, Hard, Torment, Nightmare, or Hell.

"Which difficulty do we should choose? Hell mode probably has the best drops." Conan asked Ye Yan, that looked back at him with pity.

"Idiot!" Spell Bound didn't mince his words.

"We are lacking in equipment right now, with most of them being level 1. To challenge a high difficult mode like this is suicide, even more considering that the doctors in the team don't have any resurrection skills. I battled some level 5 snakes before and discovered there is a huge difference between level 4 and 5. The dungeon's monster must be even more powerful than those snakes, so if we chose a higher level, we will be team wiped after 5 minutes after entering the dungeon or earlier. And this will be the first time that we will be fighting as a team, so we need to train our teamwork before tried something that will need more chemistry between the members. There is the fact that we don't know the map too. The better we can do now is choose the normal difficulty and challenge the others as we get better equipment."

The dungeons have limited daily entry according to the difficulty. The Easy mode has unlimited entries, the Normal mode can be challenge five times a day, the Hard mode, four times, the Torment mode, three times, the Nightmare mode, two times, and finally, the parties have only one chance to enter the Hell mode daily.

"It's not like we are some time travelers that know everything that can happen inside the dungeon. It will be lucky if we can defeat all the bosses in the first try on Normal mode already. I have read that the monsters in Second Life have a strong AI and are not limited to certain attack patterns, which will make it harder to finish the dungeon." Hu Ling added.

"I got it. Normal mode, it is." Conan said while feeling disheartened. He is thinking about when he will finally be able to stop doing his freelance jobs and focus solely on the game.

Ye Yan chose the Normal mode and they entered the dungeon.

System: You have entered 'White Trees Mountain Forest' on Normal Mode.

When they entered the dungeon, it was like they had just continued walking and not changed the map. Even from outside, they could be seen walking further inside. If another party wants to enter the dungeon, they will have to wait until they can't see the team that got in before them. And when they enter, it will be a different stance, they just won't feel it.

"Remember to stay together and don't roam around alone. I will go in front, followed by Mad Dog and I Love Skooma. The mages need to follow behind them, and the doctor should positioning themselves between the mages and Conan, which will be protecting our rear. Stay in position while we go further." Ye Yan instructed.

Ya Yan's party walked further inside and a few seconds later couldn't be seen because the vegetation of the area is too close together. Ye Yan had to change position with Conan because another kind of weapon is needed to open the way, to cut the branches that block the way. After 5 minutes, they arrived in a clearing and could change back to the original positioning.

Not far from them, there are a group of 3 goblins working. They are humanoid creatures, with about 120 cm in height, green skin, flat faces, broad noses, pointed ears, wide mouths, and sharp fangs. They were only using loincloths and a weapon holster on their backs or their waist. They have a different kind of weapon each.

"They are of your height Thumbelina. What do you think?" Mad Dog said smiling meaningfully and got a middle finger gesture back as an answer.

"It looks like they are laying traps there. I saw those traps many times when I was doing my job change quest. The dungeon should have many hidden traps." I Love Skooma warned his teammates.

"They probably are here as a way to remember us that the monsters aren't our only problem in the dungeon. Do you learned some skill to disarm traps?" Ye Yan asked the thief.

"No, but I got the passive skill [Perception] that makes me feel the danger in an area of 2 meters around me." I Love Skooma answered.

"That will help. Let's wait for a little to see if one of them gets away from the rest or we will have to fight all three at the same time." Ye Yan said to his teammates.

They waited for only 3 minutes when one of them separated from the others and went to a place near them.

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[Green Goblin] (Normal) [3]

Description: These small, mischievous and malicious creatures are always looking for opportunities to get their hands on some treasure.

Level: 5

HP: 432

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Ye Yan got near the monster and used [Provoke] to stabilizes the agro faster. The Goblin's HP is lower than the snakes that he fought before but his defense is higher. Ye Yan's normal attacks can take only 13 damage or 14 to 15 under provoke. After 6 seconds, he gave a signal to his teammates to attack.

The difference between the monster inside and outside the dungeons is in the strong AI of the dungeon monsters. But Ye Yan doesn't know if it is only because of the dungeon or the race of the enemy, after all, this is the first time they battle a humanoid monster, not counting the devils of his job change quest.

The Goblin has an ax that he knows how to make use of. He is attacking Ye Yan from various angles and never used the same patterns. Ye Yan is using the same technique that he fought the devils before but this time, he is using his fan to help deflect the attacks. In this way, he kept the Goblin in place while tanking, making it easier for his teammates to attack.

Although the Goblin defense is high, it can't be said of his magic defense. They are weak to the fire and ice magic, making the three mages damage them in about 27 HP with every spell. The swordsman is attacking with his normal attacks and using [Slash], and the thief and Conan are only using their normal attacks. With all of them working together, the Goblin didn't last for more than 10 seconds after the other started to attack.

When he fell, nothing dropped from him but it is the first monster so there are still many more in the dungeon.

"This monster is not very strong, so I will tank the two others at the same time." Ye Yan said then looked at I Love Skooma. "Do you think there is any trap in the area near the goblins?"

"I can't say for sure. I will walk beside you using my [Perseption] until before we get in the aggro range."

"Good."

They went near the goblins and Ye Yan pick a stone from the ground and threw it at them to attract their attention. In this way, he will not risk step on a trap for getting in a place that I Love Skooma didn't use his skill on.

Every member of the party is an elite player, so even this being the first time that all of them fight together, the teamwork was good and they killed the Goblins easily. With Ye Yan tanking the monster, the doctor keeping everyone in full health, and the other attacking, the battle ended in less than 40 seconds.

"Is it just my impression or does it seem too easy even for a beginner dungeon?" Ye Yan barely finished talking when they started to heard buzzing sounds.

The sound of battle before attracted the attention of the other animal of the forest and now, it is too late for them to do anything but fight.

...

[1] Paifang, also know as pailou, is a traditional style of Chinese architectural arch or gateway structure.

[2] White Birch (Baihua) is a slender, fast-growing tree with thin bark and bears catkins. There is a mountain on the west side of Beijing, China, named like this. But in the novel, the vegetation is different from the real place.

[3]In this dungeon, they are one of the goblin subtypes from European origins. There are many subtypes of goblins in the world, belonging to different cultures: Dokkaebi is a goblin subtype from Korean mythology and folklore; the Tengu are from Japan and China, Gremlin from the United Kingdom and North America (the USA and Canada only), the Redcap from England and Scotland, the Chupacabra (Goat Sucker) from Puerto Rico and Brazil (there are reports of appearances of this creature two decades ago), and many other subtypes.