Beating the Corpse

The giant venomous snake's bite landed on the heavy mace. Perhaps realizing that such a hard object couldn't be poisoned, it quickly let go and lunged at Lin Yun again. This time, however, Lin Yun was somewhat prepared and directly raised his shield, blocking the snake's mouth.

Feeling the force transmitted through the shield, Lin Yun's expression sharpened beneath his helmet. He then raised the heavy mace in his hand and swung.

"D20+2+2=15, Hit."

The heavy mace struck the giant venomous snake's head directly, causing it to hiss in agony.

"D8+2=10."

Full damage dealt. This giant venomous snake was truly tragic.

Seemingly sensing that Lin Yun was not to be trifled with, the giant venomous snake decided to flee. It turned and quickly tried to escape, not even caring about exposing its back to Lin Yun.

Seeing the giant venomous snake attempting to flee, Lin Yun knew that while snakes were generally cold-blooded and rarely acted in groups, and even fought amongst themselves, he couldn't assume the same for the snakes in this magical world. If it called for reinforcements, he'd be in serious trouble. So, Lin Yun quickly swung his mace again.

"D20+2+2=21, Hit."

"D8+2=3"

The mace hit, but only struck the snake's tail. Although it let out a hiss and glared at Lin Yun with venomous eyes, the damage was clearly not significant, and the snake continued its escape into the distance.

It had just dealt maximum damage, how could it suddenly become minimum damage?

Watching the giant venomous snake, though appearing somewhat disheveled, still determinedly crawl away, Lin Yun declared that he wouldn't let it go that easily.

Did you think this was a public restroom, where you could come and go as you please?

So, Lin Yun also quickened his pace, charging towards the giant venomous snake. Fortunately, the snake wasn't too fast, and Lin Yun could just barely keep up, swinging his mace down again.

"D20+2+2=20, Hit."

"D8+2=6"

This blow landed on the giant venomous snake, finally dealing decent damage. Due to the severe injury, the snake collapsed to the ground, motionless.

Then... to prevent it from feigning death, Lin Yun didn't let his guard down and aimed another mace strike directly at the snake's head.

"D20+2+2+4=20, Critical Hit." Attacks against a creature with 0 or less HP that hit automatically become critical hits. In a way, it's also an execution, as attacking a downed creature adds +4 to hit, making it almost guaranteed.

"2D8+2=10"

The mace struck the giant venomous snake's head, but it didn't seem to be completely dead. Was it really that tough? To truly kill it, to pierce through its HP, it would require accumulating damage equal to its original HP. Theoretically, someone like Lin Yun with 24 HP would only truly die when their HP dropped to -24.

However, when receiving such an attack, a dying creature actually has to make a death saving throw. The DC is the amount of damage taken, and if they fail the Constitution save, they die instantly. Otherwise, it wouldn't be called a death save.

One might wonder, why not just chop off its head? Well, in normal circumstances, decapitation isn't that easy. Even when chopping things, it's not as clean as it looks. It usually takes two or three chops, and those two or three chops represent the maximum damage the body can withstand.

Seeing that the giant venomous snake hadn't dropped any experience yet, Lin Yun swiftly swung his mace down again.

Then, something magical happened. Perhaps due to swinging the heavy mace so many times consecutively, Lin Yun's hand felt numb, and this swing completely missed the giant venomous snake.

"D20+2+2+4=10, MISS."

...This was incredibly awkward. Lin Yun even felt as if the air had gone silent for a moment.

He quickly swung his mace again.

This time, he finally hit the giant venomous snake's head. However, with the perfectionism of a Libra, he felt like he had hit it a bit crookedly.

"D20+2+2+4=13, Critical Hit."

"2D8+2=12"

Finally, this blow smashed the giant venomous snake to pieces. Lin Yun finally breathed a sigh of relief. He then happily tossed the snake into his backpack. Both the snake skin, meat, and gall were valuable items. Ahem, ahem, ahem.

It feels like I'm heading down a greedy path from a certain angle.

Meanwhile, Female Fighter finally arrived before Lin Yun. Everything had happened so quickly that by the time Female Fighter arrived, Lin Yun was already preparing to desecrate the corpse. So, Female Fighter wasn't in a hurry and, as Lin Yun had instructed earlier, kept an eye on their surroundings. Seeing that Lin Yun had finished, she also let out a sigh of relief.

Honestly, watching the giant venomous snake pounce on Lin Yun, her heart had nearly leaped out of her chest. But speaking of which, "Mr. Silent, did you just cry out just now?"

Faintly, Female Fighter thought she had heard someone call out, and it sounded like Lin Yun's voice.

"Ahem, no, I was just letting out a battle cry to prepare myself," Lin Yun said, relying on his helmet to hide his expression as he tried to lie with a straight face. However, as a shut-in, his lying skills were frankly... embarrassing.

"D20+2+5=8, Critical Fail."

"Oh." Female Fighter looked at Lin Yun strangely. Although Lin Yun's face was completely hidden by his helmet, making it difficult for her to read his expression, the problem was... Lin Yun's tone of voice was incredibly unstable, completely unlike his usual demeanor.

Realizing that Lin Yun might not be as composed as he appeared, Female Fighter's lips unconsciously curved into a smile. She then said to Lin Yun, "Yes, yes, I'll just take your word for it." With that, Female Fighter skipped back, her ponytail swaying excitedly.

"This is terrible." The corners of Lin Yun's mouth, hidden behind his helmet, revealed a wry smile. He then adjusted his expression and continued to advance cautiously.

Incidentally, this brave and fearless giant venomous snake generously awarded Lin Yun 400 experience points. Lin Yun estimated that the snake's main threat was its venom. Based on Lin Yun's judgment as a Dungeon Master, the giant venomous snake's damage might not have been high, but its venom save DC was high, or its venom damage was high. Judging by its vibrant color, it wouldn't be strange for a single bite to send Lin Yun to his demise. However, he wondered if the venom could be utilized. Speaking of which, it's fortunate I missed the mark. The venom sac area should be alright, right?

Well, the venom sac is in the head, but generally speaking, it's located at the back of the snake's head. This giant venomous snake was over a meter long. Although it looked slender, its head was about four fingers wide.

So, even though Lin Yun's mace strike was a headshot, it didn't damage the area behind it. In fact, he should be thankful that his accuracy was a bit lacking.

After dealing with the snake, Lin Yun led the group of women onward. This time, nothing blocked their path. Upon reaching the main road, Lin Yun finally breathed a slight sigh of relief. As agreed earlier, the young warrior was responsible for contacting the village.

They were to arrange for carts to help transport the girls away and provide them with a voucher. Then, they would return to the Adventurer's Guild to collect their reward, saving Lin Yun and the others the trouble of running around.

After about an hour, during which Lin Yun's HP had fully recovered, the young warrior finally returned with the carts.

In Dungeons & Dragons, there are long rests and short rests. A long rest is equivalent to a normal 8-hour sleep, while a short rest is a minimum of 1 hour of respite and rest. During this rest period, characters can recover HP by rolling their hit dice. Each level grants one hit die, so Lin Yun, being level two, should theoretically have two, but in reality, Lin Yun only has one hit die. And he can only use one hit die per hour to recover HP. In a way, it's like being injured in a game and slowly recovering, except the recovery depends on your... physical condition.

The Priest's hit dice were D8, while Lin Yun rolled a 6. Adding his Constitution modifier of 4, it was just enough to fully restore his health.

Then, there were rules for hit dice recovery. During a long rest, one could only recover a number of hit dice equal to half their level (rounded down for odd numbers). For example, if Lin Yun were level 13, he would roll D6 dice, and recover health based on the results.

After placing the girls back in the carriage, the coachman counted them and produced a slip of paper, likely a voucher. With this, Lin Yun and the others could prove they completed the quest upon returning to the Adventurer's Guild.

Watching the coachman sign the paper and press his thumbprint, he thanked Lin Yun and the others profusely before driving away.

Lin Yun and the others then followed the main road back to the Adventurer's Guild in the border town.

However, as they walked, Lin Yun had a question: where had Goblin Slayer gone? Or, had he really come to help these newbies, and the receptionist hadn't called Goblin Slayer? Or perhaps Goblin Slayer had gone to another goblin lair?