Chapter Summaries

Tang Zheng reflected on his Justice Value and growing strength before six Trolls surrounded him in the forest. He escaped their encirclement, but the Trolls pursued him through the trees.

• Tang Zheng noted that his Sword Saint class had reached its maximum level and considered how Justice Value affected skills, spells, and builds.
• Tang Zheng estimated his strength and noticed that his chipped iron sword was nearing the end of its use.
• Six Trolls emerged from the forest and surrounded Tang Zheng, an unusually coordinated sight that made him suspect something was wrong.
• Tang Zheng cast Magic Arrow at the farthest Troll to open a gap, dodged its club, and broke through the encirclement.
• Tang Zheng fled through the forest as the six Trolls chased him, smashing through the trees and bushes.

Tang Zheng fought off the Trolls pursuing him through the jungle, but their numbers and strength left him badly injured and without a reliable weapon. After killing one Troll with Quick Slash, he escaped into the bushes while the remaining five hesitated.

• Tang Zheng tried to evade six Trolls through the jungle, but two uprooted a tree and hurled it at him, injuring him.
• Four Trolls attacked with wooden clubs, and Tang Zheng broke their weapons with Quick Slash, shattering his iron sword in the clash.
• Tang Zheng summoned more swords to fend off the Trolls, but one struck his shoulder and sent him crashing into a tree.
• With Quick Slash ready again, Tang Zheng charged and cut one Troll in half, gaining 310 experience.
• The five surviving Trolls froze in fear, and Tang Zheng fled into the bushes.

Tang Zheng recovered from a Troll attack and continued hunting in the Great Forest of Tob, where Goblins became scarce for several days before he found a richer area. After killing twenty-one Goblins and suspecting a large settlement was nearby, he rested in a tree as a beast passed below.

• Tang Zheng healed his wounds and wondered why the Trolls had worked together, deciding to be more cautious.
• He hid in a tree overnight as faint footsteps paused beneath him and then moved away.
• Tang Zheng hunted for several days but found few Goblins, so he killed wild animals and searched for other prey.
• On June 16th, Tang Zheng killed twenty-one Goblins, raised his Experience Points to 2620/5000, and suspected a large Goblin settlement was nearby.
• At night, Tang Zheng rested in a tree while a wild beast passed beneath him, unable to detect him through his Scent Removal magic.

Tang Zheng realized that a Goblin had secretly monitored him at night and suspected it was a skilled or mutated Goblin preparing a trap. He pretended not to notice and continued along his route, hoping to draw it out.

• Tang Zheng recognized the familiar Goblin stench near his camp and realized Goblins had been watching him for several nights.
• Tang Zheng suspected his watcher was a mutated Goblin with tracking skills and decided to feign ignorance until it revealed its trap.
• Tang Zheng slept in his usual spot and set out in the morning, watching for signs of the distant watcher.
• A Goblin-like figure twice the size of a normal Goblin followed Tang Zheng's trail silently, making the vegetation part before it.
• Tang Zheng drank from one of his many waterskins at noon as he continued through the jungle.

Tang Zheng recognized that the Goblins had lured him into a narrow passage as part of a trap involving Trolls, then used the settlement as bait to make their hidden leader lower his guard. He suddenly turned on the Goblin following him and detected its Camouflage spell.

• Tang Zheng watched Goblins kill a black bear and carry it toward their settlement, realizing they were repeating the tactic that had drawn Trolls to him before.
• Tang Zheng examined the narrow passage around the settlement and suspected the Goblins planned to sacrifice it to trap him.
• A Goblin secretly followed Tang Zheng, vowing revenge for the Goblin children he had killed and expecting Trolls to finish him off.
• After Tang Zheng entered the passage, the Goblin lowered its guard and followed, believing he was caught in the trap.
• Tang Zheng stopped midway, spun around, and charged toward the hidden Goblin, triggering a status message that revealed its Camouflage spell.

Tang Zheng uncovered a Goblin using Camouflage and fought his way past two Trolls guarding the jungle passage. He destroyed the surrounding vegetation to expose the hidden Goblin while more Trolls remained trapped in the narrow passage behind him.

• Tang Zheng used the Attribute Panel to infer that a nearby Goblin was hiding with First-Tier Camouflage and might be a Druid or a dual-class user.
• Two Trolls burst from the forest to block the passage, but Tang Zheng killed the first with Quick Slash and pierced the second through the heart with an iron sword.
• The Attribute Panel credited Tang Zheng with experience after both Trolls died, and at least five more Trolls charged from the Goblin settlement but crowded together in the narrow passage.
• Tang Zheng turned away from the Trolls and slashed through the nearby vegetation to reveal the Goblin, which trembled in terror while concealed about ten meters away.

Tang Zheng defeated a Hobgoblin that had been leading Goblins and Trolls, then healed it after learning it was connected to the Ogres. He left the Hobgoblin alive and facing it as it tried to bargain for its freedom.

• The fleeing Goblin’s Camouflage spell revealed its position, and Tang Zheng struck it with an iron sword.
• Tang Zheng identified the injured creature as a Hobgoblin and learned it threatened him with the Ogres.
• Tang Zheng recognized the Hobgoblin as likely belonging to the Jik Tribe, which served the Ogres and commanded Goblins and Trolls.
• Tang Zheng stomped the Hobgoblin into silence, then used Minor Healing to keep it alive.
• The Hobgoblin got up and pleaded for its release, claiming the Ogres would leave Tang Zheng alone.

Tang Zheng interrogated the captured hobgoblin Muguo, learned why it had come from the Jik Tribe, and acquired its Scout and Forest Priest abilities. After noticing Muguo had used an unknown means to move through the forest, Tang Zheng made it surrender an ancient necklace that the hobgoblin called a Jik Tribe treasure.

• Tang Zheng kicked Muguo into a tree, threatened it into silence, and demanded its name and reasons for appearing there.
• Muguo revealed that it had come from the Jik Tribe to select healthy goblins for breeding, and had encountered Tang Zheng while he was killing goblins.
• Tang Zheng examined Muguo's abilities, learned it had the Scout and Forest Priest classes, and acquired both classes along with Tracking and Camouflage.
• Tang Zheng recalled that the forest had seemed to move aside for Muguo and suspected it had used an ability or item.
• Muguo reluctantly removed an animal-bone necklace and offered it to Tang Zheng as a treasure of the Jik Tribe.

Tang Zheng took the Bone Necklace from Hobgoblin Muguo and discovered it granted Forest Traversal, then forced Muguo to guide him to Goblin settlements. Using the magic item and Muguo’s directions, Tang Zheng slaughtered Goblins across the forest, leaving Muguo fully obedient.

• Tang Zheng learned that the Bone Necklace was made from a Great-Horned Elk bone and granted Forest Traversal, then wrapped it around his wrist.
• Tang Zheng demanded that Hobgoblin Muguo guide him to Goblin settlements and crushed Muguo’s ankle when it resisted.
• Muguo revealed the nearest Goblin group’s location, and Tang Zheng carried it through the forest using Forest Traversal.
• Tang Zheng hunted down Goblin settlements, including a large tribe with more than two hundred Goblins and five Trolls, killing them all.
• After witnessing Tang Zheng destroy the large tribe, Muguo abandoned its resistance and became his obedient guide.

Tang Zheng continued slaughtering Goblin tribes with Hobgoblin Muguo’s guidance, while Muguo pleaded for the killings to stop. In E-Rantel, the leaders of the Adventurers’ Guild, Magic Caster’s Guild, and city government met, and Ainzach addressed Mayor Panasole.

• Tang Zheng bathed, changed clothes, and ate meat soup while Hobgoblin Muguo begged him to stop killing Goblins.
• Tang Zheng silenced Muguo, then threw him cooked wild boar meat, which Muguo greedily devoured.
• Boulton Ainzach, Theo Rakeshir, and Mayor Panasole Gruze Del Raitinmaiya gathered in the Adventurer’s Guild’s top-floor room.
• Ainzach set down a silver container and addressed Panasole, who opened his eyes.

Ainzach, Laxil, and City Mayor Panasole discussed the sudden decline in Goblin attacks near E-Rantel and suspected a major disturbance in the Great Forest of Tob. Unaware of their meeting, Tang Zheng concealed the corpses of the Goblins and Trolls he had killed, took a day to recover, and reviewed his level 19 abilities.

• Ainzach told City Mayor Panasole and Laxil that Goblin attacks had stopped during a season when they normally increased.
• Ainzach reported signs of a massacre in the Eastern Giant's Ogre territory, and the three considered infighting among Goblins or a battle between the Wise King of the Forest and the Eastern Giant.
• City Mayor Panasole ordered Ainzach to keep watch on the forest's situation.
• Tang Zheng stored more than two thousand Goblin corpses and over thirty Troll corpses in his Item Box to avoid attracting Ogres or E-Rantel adventurers.
• Tang Zheng rested by the river and checked his Ability Table, which showed an overall level of 19 and new skills and class progress.

Tang Zheng used Item Appraisal to identify four magic items and discovered the properties of his newly upgraded Second-Tier spells. He found that Second-Tier Papermaking produced durable, mana-infused paper that could be valuable, and realized the world already had access to the spell.

• Tang Zheng appraised the Guardian Necklace, Secret Art Staff, Short Staff, and Mithril Dagger, learning that the staff improved mana recovery and the other items had defensive or utility effects.
• Tang Zheng used Skill Points to raise Warming and Papermaking to Second-Tier, giving Warming the ability to heat a touched object to 100°C instantly.
• Tang Zheng compared paper made by First-Tier and Second-Tier Papermaking and appraised the latter as durable mana-infused material that preserved writing for a hundred years.
• Tang Zheng recalled that nobles owned books that preserved writing and concluded that Second-Tier Papermaking already existed in the world, though the frontier Magic Caster's Guild did not openly sell its scrolls.

Tang Zheng discovered that the Genius class combined the levels of his recorded caster classes, letting him raise Household Magic to higher tiers. He realized he could use this hidden ability to reach the highest magic tiers across all four caster systems.

• Tang Zheng wondered why the New World had developed Second-Tier Papermaking and suspected it served some demand for alchemy materials.
• Tang Zheng spent Skill Points to raise Warming to Third-Tier and then Fourth-Tier, increasing its heat and destructive power.
• Tang Zheng concluded that Genius counted the combined levels of Magic Caster, Alchemist, and Potion Maker toward caster-tier requirements.
• Tang Zheng realized Genius could let him meet the requirements for Tenth-Tier Magic in the Arcane, Divine, Mental, and Other systems.
• Tang Zheng recalled that Bone Lord had described an Illusionist Special Class capable of disguising Arcane magic as another caster system.

Tang Zheng examined the difference between Household Magic and Tier Magic, then tested his Potion Maker and Alchemist skills using Hotleaf. The medicinal powder stopped his wound from bleeding, but the Alchemy Solution was unexpectedly less effective, leaving him to investigate the cause.

• Tang Zheng concluded that obtaining a Special Class was his priority and rested for a day while considering his recent level gains.
• Tang Zheng used Potion Making to turn Hotleaf into medicinal powder and found that it stopped a wound from bleeding quickly.
• Tang Zheng made Alchemy Solution from Hotleaf powder and water, but it healed his second wound less effectively than the powder.
• Tang Zheng ruled out his class levels as the likely cause and considered whether the dosage was wrong, then waited for his mana to recover so he could continue testing.

Tang Zheng discovered that his homemade Hot Grass solution was an inferior, short-lived remedy and reconsidered whether Potion Maker training could help him. He realized Alchemy Solutions might still be useful for temporary effects if Lizzie’s Preservation spell could keep them from spoiling, then made camp by the river with Muguo nearby.

• Tang Zheng used seven stalks of Hot Grass to make a wood-yellow solution that healed wounds better than medicinal powder.
• Tang Zheng appraised the solution and learned it was inferior, restored only 1 HP, and lost its effects within an hour.
• Tang Zheng considered three possible reasons New World Potion Makers could not create YGGDRASIL Healing Potions and favored the theory that they required unavailable game materials.
• Tang Zheng concluded that learning to make potions was unrealistic without time, herb knowledge, or a teacher, but considered using Alchemy Solutions for temporary effects.
• Tang Zheng remembered that Lizzie’s Preservation spell could preserve medicinal effects for up to a year and set up camp beside the river with Muguo.

Tang Zheng exhausted the nearby Goblin settlements and continued hunting in the forest rather than risk encountering the Ogres deeper within. At the Forest Rift, Agu emerged from the Ogres’ cave looking dejected, while two Hobgoblins from the Jik Tribe worried over him.

• Tang Zheng learned from Hobgoblin Muguo that the nearby Goblin tribes had been wiped out and that more Goblins lived deeper in the forest.
• Tang Zheng chose to avoid the Ogres and continued searching the forest for Goblins and magical beasts.
• The chapter described the damaged, treeless Forest Rift where the Ogres lived in a large cave.
• Agu, the Jik Tribe chief’s fourth son, came out of the Ogres’ cave, and two Hobgoblins anxiously asked whether he was all right.
• The Hobgoblins recognized Agu’s dejection and said the Ogres saw them only as food.

Agu failed to persuade the Ogres to help the Jik Tribe rescue Muguo, so he returned to seek another way to save his Big Brother. Meanwhile, Tang Zheng encountered two Barghests in the forest and pinned one down with a single sword strike, leaving the other afraid to attack.

• Agu reassured two Hobgoblins that the Ogres would not eat them while food was plentiful, then planned to take the tribe’s valuables and ask a human to spare Muguo.
• Agu recalled that Muguo had gone missing and that Goblins reported a powerful human had killed even Trolls, prompting the Jik Tribe to panic.
• Tang Zheng entered a pair of Barghests’ territory while searching for Goblins and faced the beasts with Muguo in hand.
• One Barghest attacked Tang Zheng from behind, but he turned and struck it down, pinning its head to the ground with his sword.
• The second Barghest froze after witnessing Tang Zheng’s strength, and Tang Zheng prepared to attack it.

Tang Zheng killed two Barghests after surviving their Bone Chains’ attacks and earned enough experience to come close to raising Genius to level ten. He examined the Barghests’ bone chains and removed them from their necks.

• One Barghest used Chain Tornado, but Tang Zheng dodged its chains and realized the ability left them limp afterward.
• Tang Zheng struck at the weakened Barghest, then redirected his slash to repel the second Barghest as it attacked.
• Tang Zheng dodged the weakened Barghest’s lunge and killed it, then killed the returning Barghest with another strike.
• Tang Zheng gained experience from both Barghests and saw that he needed just over two hundred more experience to reach Genius level ten.
• Tang Zheng found that the Barghests’ chains were bones extending from their necks and cut them free from the corpses.

Tang Zheng found a Lesser Barghest pup that submitted to him and followed him after he killed its parents. Meanwhile, three Hobgoblins from the Jik Tribe discovered the Barghest corpses and ate them as they searched for their missing Big Brother; Tang Zheng ended the day close to leveling up.

• Tang Zheng found a trembling Lesser Barghest pup, dismissed it as ugly, and then saw it follow him and expose its belly in submission.
• Hobgoblin Muguo explained that the pup wanted to follow Tang Zheng, who wondered why it would submit after he had killed its parents.
• Agu and two Hobgoblins from the Jik Tribe found the Barghest corpses and deduced that Tang Zheng had killed them.
• Agu said they had to find Big Brother because he carried the tribe's treasure, and the three Hobgoblins ate the Barghests.
• Tang Zheng stopped hunting at dusk and saw that he needed only 118 experience to level up.

Tang Zheng completed his preparations to leave the forest, having tested an inferior Alchemy Solution and hunted until he reached level 10. The exhausted Lesser Barghest continued tracking him as he finally prepared to depart.

• Tang Zheng examined an inferior paralysis solution made from Gallows Spider Venom Sacs and decided to pause his Alchemy research because the results were too weak.
• At dawn on July 4, Tang Zheng set out to hunt for the experience needed to level up, while the Lesser Barghest followed his trail through the forest.
• Tang Zheng killed a Hard-Shelled Beetle by tricking it into crashing into a tree, then exposed its abdomen and struck it with his iron sword.
• Tang Zheng hunted more creatures, including a wild rabbit, until he gained the final experience point and reached Genius 10 Lv.
• Tang Zheng crushed the rabbit and declared that he could finally leave the forest.