With the shield raised, Lin Yun moved forward as steadily as he could, conserving his strength and keeping his pace more like a brisk walk than a run. Thanks to the Lantern Staff in his hand, he could make out the path ahead even in the darkness. But the sounds of commotion were drawing rapidly closer from far away. It seemed the players couldn't take it anymore and were trying to escape.
That meant it was about time. In a slightly lowered voice, Lin Yun said, "Get ready to fight. If anyone comes rushing toward us, let them pass. Otherwise, we could easily collide." He had considered the possibility of a stampede. Although this might scatter their formation, there was no other choice.
After all, Lin Yun had at least minored in psychology. He knew very well that when people were panicking and fleeing, most of them—unless they were exceptionally kind—would attack anyone who tried to stop them. That included Lin Yun and his companions, even though they were supposed to be there to help.
It wasn't that Lin Yun was being overly cynical. The main reason was that, compared to the goblins chasing them, he and his companions didn't look like much of a threat. After all, they were all human and looked the same, unlike goblins. Those players in adventurer disguises might have started off treating the so-called beginner monsters as a game, but once they actually came under attack, they'd realize how terrifying it was. And once they remembered that this was a game where their lives were at stake, it would be easy for them to break down. It was just a matter of avoiding the stronger threat and picking on the weaker one.
So Lin Yun had to be fully prepared. Even if the player rushing toward him didn't pose much of a threat, wasting energy for no reason was unwise in this situation.
That was why Lin Yun had said what he did.
"Ah... All right." The young warrior was flighty, and even thought that someone like Lin Yun, carrying a shield, was a coward. But as the panicked screams echoed faintly from within the cave, he looked anxious and still resolutely followed Lin Yun's instructions. He began shifting his feet, ready to clear the path down the middle at any moment.
Almost at the same time, Lin Yun began preparing in earnest. He steadied his breathing, as if gathering his strength—or perhaps praying. Then a pale blue barrier appeared around him.
Shield. A staple spell for wizards. As for why Lin Yun, who was a Priest, could use a wizard's spell... Well, Lin Yun was a follower of the Eye of Omniscience—no, wait, Silent was.
According to the rules of Dungeons & Dragons, it added 4 AC, or Armor Class. Incidentally, Lin Yun's AC at the moment was 18. Normally, an average person had an AC of 10. Wearing scale armor brought it up to 14, since it didn't fully cover the body and still allowed for fairly free movement. It also allowed for a +2 Dexterity modifier, letting Lin Yun dodge attacks while maintaining decent protection. Unfortunately, Lin Yun's Dexterity was only 8. He couldn't get a bonus; he was lucky not to take a penalty.
Then, with the heavy wooden shield's +2 AC and Shield's +4 AC, that made 20 AC. Well, actually, it should have been 18 AC, since, when it came to defense, bonuses of the same type couldn't stack unless they were dodge bonuses or environmental bonuses.
The heavy wooden shield's +2 AC was a shield bonus, and Shield's +4 AC was also a shield bonus. So in practice, he only had 18 AC. In a way, the shield had been rendered ineffective. But Lin Yun had only brought it for ordinary situations, and to use as a Holy Symbol, so it didn't really matter.
Among the members of this little party, Lin Yun estimated that he had the highest AC by far. Of course, he couldn't be sure about the Thief, since he didn't know his Dexterity modifier. But surely the man didn't have some godlike stat of 20. That was the pinnacle of mortal ability. Unless he had a godlike stat of 20, the most he could get was a +4 dodge bonus. But clearly, he didn't have a +4, because he was wearing something called Leather Scale Armor. As a leatherworker, Silent could tell at a glance that the man was wearing Leather Scale Armor beneath his clothes. Its defense was 13 AC, but the added weight of its scales limited the Dexterity modifier to +3, bringing him to just 16 AC.
Still, this seemingly flighty fellow had to be pretty capable. He'd managed to find Leather Scale Armor among that pile of items—a light armor with relatively good defense. It was a cut-down version of scale mail, with iron scales added only in vital areas to improve protection. Overall, though, it was still quite convenient to wear.
The best light armor was the Chain Mail Shirt, which was a cut-down version of chain mail. Chain mail had another name: mail armor. The Chain Mail Shirt was a cut-down version of the armor the little priestess was wearing now.
However, a Chain Mail Shirt cost 100 Gold Coins...
According to the combat rules, when making an attack, the first thing to determine was whether you could use the weapon proficiently. If so, you usually added your Strength modifier and your proficiency bonus. For people like Lin Yun and his companions, who were still low-level, the proficiency bonus was generally +2. It was much like the difference between a new recruit and a veteran: even with the same weapon, the veteran was naturally more proficient.
Of course, some attacks weren't calculated entirely by Strength. Dexterity represented things like explosive speed and reaction time, so some lighter weapons—daggers and scimitars, for instance—could use the Dexterity modifier for attack rolls. But ultimately, Strength was what really mattered.
Generally speaking, creatures like goblins had an attack bonus of around +4 at most.
Based on Lin Yun's current AC, they needed a 14 or higher to hit him. In other words, there was a 70% chance they couldn't hurt him. That was already pretty good.
"What spell is that? Shield?" Watching a barrier suddenly appear around Lin Yun, the Female Fighter curiously asked the Female Mage.
The Female Mage narrowed her eyes slightly and lowered her voice. "Yes, that's Shield. It just seems a little different from ours. Well, Mr. Silent is a follower of the Eye of Omniscience, so it's not surprising that he can use Shield."
In the world of Dungeons & Dragons, all spellcasters had a limited number of castings. Those were generally called Spell Slots. Although Lin Yun was only level 1, he could cast three Cantrips and three 1st-Circle spells.
Strictly speaking, though, he had two ordinary 1st-Circle Spell Slots and one special Spell Slot called a Domain Spell Slot.
All Priests followed a deity. Depending on the deity's portfolio, their divine offices covered multiple domains. Priests could choose two of those domains as their areas of expertise. Lin Yun had chosen the Eye of Omniscience, whose domains were Destruction, Knowledge, Magic, Protection, and Runes—a total of five.
As someone who wanted to stay alive, Lin Yun had naturally chosen Protection. Then, hoping to learn wizard spells through it in the future, he had chosen Magic.
However, there were many subdomains within each domain. The Protection domain included a subdomain called Defense. Lin Yun had chosen that subdomain, which gave him access to Shield, a spell Priests normally couldn't learn.
As mentioned earlier, Shield added 4 AC and could also defend against Magic Missile, which was theoretically a Sure Hit. Since the spell lasted only one minute per caster level, Lin Yun had waited until now to cast it so he wouldn't waste its duration.
"Stop chatting. Stay ready." With a passive Perception of 13, Lin Yun could easily hear them. Passive Perception was different from actively searching. It was like doing nothing in particular and suddenly hearing a mosquito. Active Perception, on the other hand, meant deliberately listening for something.
In Dungeons & Dragons, this usually came up when a Thief was sneaking around and you weren't actively trying to spot them. If their stealth was bad enough, you might notice them passively.
Here, it had simply become sharper hearing.
"Ah, yes." The lively-looking Female Fighter immediately straightened up.
Just then, "There's... fire. Humans! Humans!" A few figures came racing toward them from a place so far away that even the Lantern Staff's light couldn't reach. Goblins had darkvision, so even without torches, they had no trouble navigating this underground cavern. It was practically an ideal place for them to ambush people.
That was why they had noticed the light from Lin Yun's Lantern Staff. The people on the other side immediately realized it came from humans.
If it had been Lin Yun, he might have mistaken them for goblins that had gotten smarter. If he remembered correctly, later on there really were goblins who used lights like this to attract adventurers, making them think they'd run into fellow travelers. Those goblins were downright twisted.
In this world, goblins seemed like the sort of creatures whose learning ability was MAX. They might be stupid, but they weren't idiots. They could set traps and use human habits to ambush people. It was remarkable.
Before long, the people on the other side had run over. Sure enough, they were the same bunch who had tried to join the party earlier, only to be rejected by the Thief, so they had formed their own group and gone in by themselves.
But the dice were rolling.
D20+2+3=15, success.
Seeing that there didn't seem to be much blood on these people, Lin Yun frowned beneath his helmet. Could it be that they'd thought goblins were easy prey at first, attacked them head-on, then realized they were too tough and had even lost someone before fleeing?
Otherwise, he couldn't imagine why so many people had made it out.
After all... most goblins' weapons were poisoned. In theory, if you got hit, you'd be poisoned, gradually weaken, and eventually collapse. It would be hard to run away, let alone make it out. Yet these people were still running about, and there were so many of them. Lin Yun had thought perhaps just one person would escape... It really wasn't a good idea to drop a bunch of genuine players into a place this intense.
When all was said and done, most players were just ordinary people. They might never have been in more than a few fights in their lives. They weren't like Lin Yun, who used to get into brawls all the time. If his parents hadn't had a bit of influence, he might have ended up in juvenile detention. Later, he'd mended his ways and become addicted to games, venting his aggression only in-game and eventually becoming the owner of a tabletop gaming store.
Still, ah, if only he'd used Silent's skills in that little town to earn some money first, then slowly bought equipment and strengthened himself before going off to level up. But whatever. He was already here, right?
As the players neared, Lin Yun shifted slightly to one side and turned his shield toward them. After all, as the saying went, when you encountered a bear, don't panic. Just make sure you could run faster than the person next to you.
Who knew whether these brainless players might suddenly get desperate and stab Lin Yun in the back, so they could get away?
Sure enough, the players charged past Lin Yun. One of them, carrying a longsword, actually swung at Lin Yun's leg. Fortunately, Lin Yun had prepared in advance. He planted the Lantern Staff in the ground and used it to block the man's sword. Then he yanked it free, wielded it like a spear, and thrust the flaming end straight at his attacker.
Just like a goblin, Lin Yun had a Strength modifier of +2 and a proficiency bonus of +2, for a total of +4. The dice began to roll.
D20+2+2=19, hit.
With a single strike, Lin Yun's Lantern Staff smacked the man on the arm. The fellow who had tried to ambush him let out a scream.
The dice of fate rolled again.
D6+2+1=6.
The Lantern Staff dealt D6 damage—that is, a six-sided die, like the kind used in ordinary games. Judging by the numbers, it must have rolled a 3. Add Lin Yun's 2 points of Strength damage and 1 point of fire damage from the splashing lamp oil, and that made 6 points in total.
Lin Yun really hadn't expected that his first damage output in this real-life D&D game would be against another player. All he could say was that this world was truly amazing.
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