Chapter Summaries

The author reflected on returning to web novel writing after years of hardship and thanked readers for supporting the book. The author announced September writing goals, a monthly-pass bonus chapter, and a raffle for readers who voted for the book.

• The author described financial struggles and how they found the courage to start writing again.
• The author reported updating 210,000 words in August and aimed to write at least 240,000 words in September.
• The author announced a monthly-pass bonus chapter would be available on September 1 and require a monthly-pass vote to unlock.
• The author announced a raffle of 50 KFC vouchers for readers who voted for the book between September 1 and 8, with the draw on September 8.

Gauss and Thorin’s party traveled toward the ruins and reached the suspicious Rolling Stone Village, where the villagers refused to host them. When a disguised Plague Rat Demon Kin attacked their camp, Gauss destroyed it, and a strange energy entered his body as the mysterious egg inside him stirred.

• Gauss and Thorin’s groups left Canopy Town, hunted a wild boar, and shared a meal cooked by Thorin as they traveled toward the Emerald Forest.
• The party reached decaying Rolling Stone Village, where the village chief refused them lodging and Elton suspected the villagers had sick people.
• Thorin led the group to camp outside the village, and a frail young woman appeared to ask for food before transforming into a Plague Rat Demon Kin.
• Thorin struck the monster with his warhammer, and Gauss followed with powerful dragon-claw attacks and Magic Missiles until he destroyed it.
• Gauss received the Rat Hunter title and 10 Elite Points, then sensed the mysterious egg inside him react as strange energy entered his body.

Gauss and his companions learned that a demon’s curse had transformed Rolling Stone Village’s people and spawned the night monster, which would return after being killed. Unable to break the curse, they left the villagers behind and continued their journey.

• Gauss and Thorin returned to Rolling Stone Village with their companions after Elton purified the Demon Kin’s remains.
• Gauss persuaded the old man to explain that a demon’s curse had afflicted the village for about a year and that the night monster reappeared after each time it was killed.
• Theron and Elton failed to remove the curse, and the old man said the villagers hid because they feared adventurers would mistake them for monsters.
• The next morning, Gauss shared honey candies with Lucy and learned that the other children avoided her because of her appearance and smell.
• After breakfast, Thorin led the group onward, and Gauss took one last look at Rolling Stone Village before catching up.

Gauss and his companions reached the hidden Dwarf workshop while avoiding the Green Dragon Army’s patrols, then searched its weapon store. Gauss claimed the Elite Grade sword Wind Chaser and discovered he could combine its rune effects, but the group’s celebration ended when stone statues began to awaken.

• Gauss secretly killed seven goblins at a small outpost while hunting pheasants, then rejoined the party.
• Nancy warned the party away from dangerous monster settlements, and they hid from an Elite Grade patrol near a Green Dragon Army camp.
• Thorin uncovered the collapsed entrance to the Dwarf workshop, and Gauss and the others entered through a narrow fissure.
• The party found rusted weapons in a work area, and Gauss chose Wind Chaser, an Elite Grade sword with [Combo] and [Wind Pressure] runes.
• Gauss activated both rune effects together and gained Sword Skill Basics proficiency after testing the sword on a stone block.
• Hidden statues in the room lit their red eyes and began breaking free from the walls and ceiling.

Gauss and his companions defeated the Magic Armor Constructs guarding the ancient workshop, then learned that Thorin's group had come to cleanse a trace of the Evil God Ladug's energy. They reached a corrupted archway deep in the passage, where its influence awakened Gauss's Giant Egg and made him hungry.

• Gauss, Thorin, and their companions coordinated their abilities to destroy the Magic Armor Constructs, with Gauss using his vision of their magic flows to target their weak points.
• Gauss discovered dark contamination in the constructs and questioned Thorin, who revealed that they had been made by the Duergar.
• Thorin and Elton explained that their mission was to investigate and cleanse a trace of Ladug's aura before it corrupted the land or formed a gateway from the Underdark.
• Gauss agreed to continue with the mission after the group offered him an additional fee, and the companions gathered their spoils before proceeding deeper.
• Gauss and the others found a huge archway covered in living dark-red growth, whose influence caused nausea and dizziness until Elton's Holy Emblem dispelled the effects.
• The Giant Egg inside Gauss awoke and hunger surged through him, prompting Alya to offer him Mana Berries.

Gauss used the White Egg’s power to destroy the Evil God aura in the Emerald Forest ruins, gaining a surge of energy that advanced his progress toward level 4 and helped Theron break through his bottleneck. After the team escaped the collapsing ruins and fled the nearby monster camp, Green Dragon Queen Aetheras sensed Gauss’s unusual power and ordered a shaman to investigate.

• Gauss joined Elton’s effort to suppress the Evil God aura, then struck the archway’s core with a holy, gold-white Dragon Claw and let the White Egg devour its power.
• The Evil God aura and its shadow creatures vanished, while the energy absorbed by the White Egg strengthened Gauss and helped Theron approach level 4.
• Gauss led Thorin, Nancy, Alya, Theron, and the exhausted Elton out of the collapsing ruins just before the entrance was buried.
• The team fled the nearby monster camp after hearing its horns, then recovered their mounts and rode toward the edge of the Emerald Forest.
• Green Dragon Queen Aetheras sensed the unusual energy that had destroyed the Evil God aura and ordered an old Lizardman shaman to investigate.

After returning to Canopy Town, Gauss’s team reported a monster camp, collected their expedition earnings, and parted ways with Thorin’s group. Theron left to attempt a breakthrough, while Gauss and Alya repaired their weapons, restocked supplies, and bought spells before investigating the Emerald Forest further.

• Gauss reported the Green Dragon-bannered monster camp to the Adventurer’s Guild and received 40 gold coins and five merit points for completing the Black Forest commission.
• Gauss’s group sold their expedition spoils for 95 gold coins, and Thorin gave Gauss Squad 60 gold coins as compensation for helping cleanse the Evil God’s aura.
• Thorin and Nancy invited Gauss to join their team, but he declined, and Elton warned him to be careful with his mysterious power.
• Theron said the mission and Gauss’s purification had helped loosen his Level 3 bottleneck, and Gauss guessed the Giant Egg had shared energy with his teammates.
• Theron left to prepare for advancement, while Gauss and Alya stayed in Canopy Town and commissioned Morik to repair their weapons.
• Gauss and Alya replenished supplies, bought the spells Will-o’-the-wisp and Searing Metal, and prepared to ask about the Emerald Forest.

Gauss accepted three nearby quests and tracked a Goblin scout to a hidden lair, where he used his Clay creatures and Magic Missile to destroy a much larger-than-reported tribe. He gained a new Elite Monster entry and successfully practiced the advanced Casting Technique for Magic Missile.

• Gauss accepted quests to kill Feral Boars and clear two Goblin groups near Canopy Town.
• At the Logging Camp, Gauss followed a Goblin scout to a concealed ravine and discovered nearly forty Goblins inside, far more than the quest report indicated.
• Gauss sent a Clay Goblin into the lair while Clay Spiders blocked escape routes, and he interrupted the Goblin Shaman's spells with Magic Missile.
• The Clay Goblin and Gauss killed the tribe, including its Goblin Cubs and Goblin Shaman.
• Gauss registered the Goblin Shaman as a new Elite Monster and completed his practice of the Ascending Circle Spellcasting technique.

Gauss completed several commissions, reported that the goblins near the Logging Camp had been stronger than the Guild’s information suggested, and went to Canopy Town’s unofficial market to seek clay and sell a monster core. There, a black-robed woman fleeing pursuers passed him, and the men chasing her demanded that he help catch her.

• George recoiled from the bloody goblin battlefield while Gauss collected valuables and a magical core from the Goblin Shaman.
• Gauss returned to the Logging Camp, gave the foreman a map to the goblin nest, and rode off to complete two more commissions.
• Gauss turned in three commissions and reported the discrepancy in the goblin information to the Canopy Town Adventurer's Guild, which promised to investigate and offered compensation if confirmed.
• Gauss checked his clay-based Magic Item collection commission, then followed the receptionist’s directions to the unofficial market.
• A black-robed woman leapt from a balcony and ran past Gauss as several men pursued her, and their leader accused Gauss of failing to stop her.

Gauss dealt with an angry pursuer in the market, while Shadow returned a stolen keepsake to its owner and wondered where she had seen Gauss before. After several days of hunting goblins, Gauss received compensation from the Adventurer's Guild and was offered an unusual, non-public commission.

• Gauss threw Antony to the ground when Antony and his companions threatened him, then watched them leave with their injured leader.
• Shadow returned a young woman’s pendant and told her the theft had likely been carried out by a pickpocket linked to the Old Pipe general store.
• Shadow told her living shadow that Gauss seemed familiar, though she could not remember where she had seen him.
• Gauss bought clay for his Clay Goblins and spent the next several days completing requests and hunting additional monster groups, bringing his Monster Kill Count to 3611.
• Bronze Badge adventurers questioned Gauss’s focus on low-level goblin requests, while the Adventurer’s Guild staff praised his efficiency.
• A Senior Council Member paid Gauss ten gold coins for a verified anomaly report and offered him a lucrative non-public commission.

Gauss learned that a geological survey team had vanished near the Obsidian Trail, where a Black Fang goblin force was organizing local goblins, and the Adventurers' Guild asked him to investigate and eliminate it. He left without deciding, planning to discuss the dangerous, well-rewarded commission with his team and meet the temporary teammate before accepting.

• Gauss hesitated to accept a confidential commission before learning its details, and the Senior Council Member explained that a survey team had disappeared near the Obsidian Trail.
• The Senior Council Member revealed that a search party had found signs of a large goblin force and an amulet bearing the Black Fang totem.
• Gauss learned that the Guild suspected Black Fang scouts had united local goblins and wanted him to investigate the missing team and eliminate the fledgling force.
• The Senior Council Member described the generous potential rewards and task-specific supplies, and warned Gauss that a temporary teammate would join him.
• Gauss left to consider the danger, rewards, and risks of traveling with a stranger, and thought he should meet the temporary teammate before deciding.

Gauss told Alya about the guild’s high-risk, high-reward job hunting the Black Fang Tribe, and they agreed to wait for Theron before deciding. While exploring Canopy Town, Gauss saw a mysterious woman from a previous encounter rescue a boy from thugs, then dismissed her as a passerby.

• Alya told Gauss that she had mastered Will-o'-the-wisp quickly, possibly because of the mysterious energy that had merged with her and Theron.
• Gauss privately told Alya about the confidential Black Fang Tribe hunting job, and they agreed to discuss it with Theron before deciding whether to accept.
• Gauss explored Canopy Town and wandered into a run-down district where thugs were intimidating residents.
• Gauss saw several thugs threaten a boy over his books, but a mysterious woman appeared and knocked the thugs down before he could intervene.
• Gauss recognized the woman as the supposed thief he had encountered earlier, exchanged a brief look with her, and decided not to dwell on their meeting.

Theron advanced to Level 4, and Gauss, Alya, and Theron recruited the Level 5 Rogue Shadow for a two-month mission to investigate a missing survey team and fight the Black Fang Tribe. The next morning, the team took ordinary quests, startling low-level adventurers when other high-level Professionals also arrived to hunt goblins.

• Theron returned after advancing successfully, and Gauss briefed him and Alya on the Black Fang Tribe expedition.
• Gauss, Alya, and Theron met Shadow at the Adventurer's Guild and agreed to work with her on the mission.
• Gauss's team formally accepted the job, with two months to investigate the missing survey team and deal with the Black Fang Tribe's forces.
• Shadow privately discussed Gauss and the dangerous-sounding mission with her shadow, Shayid.
• The next morning, Gauss, Alya, Theron, and Shadow gathered at the guild and chose ordinary quests, astonishing low-level adventurers with Shadow's Level 5 badge.
• More bronze-rank adventurers arrived to take goblin-related quests, leaving the low-level adventurers shocked by the growing competition.

Gauss and his new team traveled west toward the Obsidian Trail, where rumors of trouble in the mountains and missing livestock pointed to a possible connection with the Black Fang Tribe. After finding and capturing a pack of Forest Wolves, Alya and Ulfhen began questioning them, leaving the team awaiting what they would learn.

• Gauss’s team completed several Goblin-hunting jobs, and Gauss noticed that Shadow’s shadow briefly moved independently.
• The team set out from Canopy Town for the special job at the Obsidian Trail and heard that adventurers were heading west amid rumors of trouble in the mountains.
• At Charlie Village, the Half-orc innkeeper warned Gauss about disappearing livestock and wolves, so the team decided to investigate nearby attacks.
• Gauss’s team visited a village troubled by a pack of Forest Wolves, located the wolves with Shadow’s help, and captured five of them.
• Alya and Ulfhen tried to communicate with the captured wolves, and Alya reacted with shock.

Gauss Squad followed the trail of enslaved wolves and discovered a pixie village hidden in the forest. After learning the pixies had information about the goblins, Gauss accepted four fairy warriors as guides, and Firefly Dew revealed the goblins were digging for something in a valley.

• Alya told Gauss Squad that goblins had captured and enslaved the wolves, and the team followed the wolves’ tracks into the forest.
• After two days of searching, Gauss led the team into a hidden pixie village, where Bluebell warned them to leave.
• Gauss explained that the team was tracking the goblins, and Bluebell offered information and four warrior guides: Thistle, Dandelion, Firefly Dew, and Moss.
• Alya gave Bluebell special flower seeds, and the fairy warriors joined Gauss Squad as they left the village.
• Firefly Dew told Gauss that goblins had recently been carrying what looked like ore deeper into a valley.

Gauss traveled with four fairy guides through the forest, testing his upgraded Magic Missiles as he wiped out goblin settlements and gathered their spiritual energy. As he neared the reward threshold for his kill count, Shadow realized that being with Gauss was making her stronger and began considering how she might stay with the group.

• Gauss cast protective force fields on Thistle, Dandelion, Firefly Dew, and Moss despite their protests, and the fairies led the party to a goblin camp.
• Gauss destroyed the goblins with two volleys of upgraded Magic Missiles, impressing the fairies and collecting their spiritual energy.
• The fairies led Gauss to more goblin lairs, and he continued clearing them while nearing the next Monster Kill Count reward.
• Shadow noticed her strength and archery improving while she traveled with Gauss, and Shayid reminded her that she was only a temporary party member.
• Shadow decided she wanted to solve the mystery surrounding herself and began thinking about staying with Gauss's group.

Gauss and his companions searched abandoned goblin camps, then rested and ate a hot pot meal before a night raid interrupted them. Gauss fought off waves of goblins, but the Black Fang Tribe’s elite forces surrounded the camp, leaving him wondering how they had learned of his approach.

• Gauss found that several goblin settlements had been abandoned without signs of battle and continued toward the mining goblins the fairies had mentioned.
• Gauss cooked a hot pot meal for his companions, then checked that his Monster Kill Count was nearing four thousand.
• Gauss’s Alarm spell warned the party of an attack, and Shadow shot a scent-masked Red Cap Goblin as more than a dozen charged from the darkness.
• Gauss summoned Clay Creatures and used Magic Missiles while his companions fought the surrounding goblins, bringing his kill count close to the reward threshold.
• Shadow transported Gauss away from a massive bone javelin that struck the camp, and a Goblin Bat Rider appeared with more than a dozen elite goblins.
• Gauss recognized the attackers as forces of the Black Fang Tribe and wondered how they had learned about him.

Gauss fought through the goblin horde and reached the 4,000-kill milestone, gaining a new spell and increased Constitution. After Shadow saved him from the Goblin Bat Rider and Theron strengthened him with spells, Gauss prepared to target the Goblin Shaman as the Elite Goblins joined the fight.

• Gauss activated Tough Scale Bloodline and charged into the goblins while Shadow watched for attacks from the Goblin Bat Rider.
• Gauss killed goblins until he passed 4,000 kills, earning the 2nd Circle Spell [Dagger Cloud] and increasing his Constitution.
• The Goblin Bat Rider struck again, and Shadow teleported Gauss out of the attack as its blast killed nearby goblins.
• Theron cast Blessing Spell and a Support Spell on Gauss, bringing him to his strongest condition yet.
• Gauss turned toward the Goblin Shaman as the Elite Goblins prepared to enter the battle.

Gauss charged through the Goblin forces, killed the Goblin Shaman and eight Elite Goblins, and helped break the raid. The surviving Goblin Bat Rider fled into the clouds, leaving Gauss to wonder whether his actions would make him a target for more goblins.

• Gauss used his speed and dragon aura to reach the Goblin Shaman, shattered its shields with attacks, and killed it with upcast Magic Missiles.
• The Shaman’s death ended its buffs, weakening the Goblin army as Gauss fought off the Elite Goblins and killed a Two-headed Goblin.
• Gauss battled the remaining warriors with spells and close combat, eventually killing all eight Elite Goblins while Shadow and her companions defeated the Goblin Wolf Riders.
• Gauss saw Shadow still alive and noticed that only the Goblin Bat Riders remained in the air.
• The Goblin Bat Rider saw its companions dead, panicked at Gauss’s gaze, and fled into the clouds.
• Gauss wondered whether the fleeing rider would spread word of him among the goblins, then considered that more goblins might come after him.

After the team defeated a large goblin raid, Gauss collected the spoils and recovered from the battle. Shadow revealed more about her shadow abilities, and Gauss prepared to resume the commission while seeking a way to threaten the flying goblin.

• Gauss and the others cleaned the battlefield, while Gauss gathered goblin spirituality and raised his Monster Kill Count to 4253.
• The team washed at a lake after finishing their work and rested until afternoon.
• Shadow cooked meat for Gauss, then explained that her shadow, Shayid, had a consciousness of its own and demonstrated her shadow state.
• Gauss announced that the team would set out to find their commission's target, and Alya warned that they could not threaten the goblin that had flown above them.
• Gauss said they would need a large bed crossbow or a ballista.