Chapter 8：Troll's Treasure Trove

"System, how much mana will the next simulation consume?"

[The next simulation will require 25 mana crystals.]

Upon hearing the prompt from the system, Goburo felt somewhat helpless. He had been thinking of exploiting a loophole in the system by only increasing his skill level without leveling up, to reduce the cost of the next simulation. However, it seemed that the system had closed off any such loopholes. Simulation attempts could not be accumulated, and each time his power increased, the cost of the next simulation would also increase. It was quite ruthless.

However, collecting 25 mana crystals now was not a difficult task for him at all.

But when he thought about the manner of his death in the previous simulation, Goburo couldn't help but feel speechless. Perhaps if he hadn't formed that reconnaissance team, the valley would not have been discovered. Perhaps doing nothing among the three options was the correct choice.

Afterward, he glanced at the troll cave, a greedy look appearing in his eyes. With his current strength, he should only need a little trick to take down that lazy troll and claim all of its mana crystals for himself.

However, Goburo quickly suppressed this thought. Although he had a high chance of defeating the troll now, this was the real world, not a simulation. There was no room for error. It would be better to wait until after the next simulation to kill the troll. For now, he needed to adapt to his body's abilities.

With that in mind, he left the campsite, intending to see how he would fare hunting alone. His level hadn't increased, but he had gained new skills and his critical strike level had improved, so his efficiency should have increased significantly.

Outside the campsite, Goburo noticed that his vision had become much clearer. Although Cyan, the system, had claimed it was only a slight improvement in vision, it was quite significant. The world before him was much clearer now. With a quick scan, he spotted several small monsters hiding in the bushes.

Normally, he would focus on hunting these small monsters, but now he planned to hunt some slightly stronger ones to test his abilities.

He locked his gaze onto a wild monster that looked very similar to a wild dog not far away. This wild dog monster was about 1.3 meters long, relatively large for a low-level monster, and a carnivorous beast. Its strength should not be weak.

Once he locked onto his target, he stealthily approached the position of the wild dog. Perhaps due to his strength and combat instincts, he felt that his body had become much lighter during his movements. His stealth was also much quieter. It wasn't until he was about ten meters away from the wild dog that he finally realized something was wrong.

But by the time it realized something was wrong, it was already too late. When it looked up, it only felt a sharp pain in its neck before losing consciousness completely.

Goburo used his level 9 critical strike and accurately hit the wild dog's neck. With tremendous force, he crushed the dog's neck, causing its head to droop weakly to one side.

Seeing this scene, Goburo began comparing himself to the troll. Yesterday, the troll could easily smash a goblin with just one punch. However, those goblins were all newborns with fragile bones that hadn't fully developed yet.

The wild dog he just killed was different. It was an adult monster with extremely tough bones. Although Goburo attacked the relatively vulnerable neck, it was still much stronger than smashing a goblin that had just been born a few days ago.

His level 9 critical strike made him stronger than the troll, but critical strikes had a cooldown and couldn't be used as regular attacks. Overall, his current strength should be on par with the troll's.

With this in mind, he decided to continue hunting monsters. This time, he didn't bring Goburi and Gobura with him. With his current strength, he could hunt alone at a much faster pace. He no longer cared much about monster meat; the most important thing was to improve his strength quickly.

As he contemplated, he continued searching for his next target.

Three hours later, looking at the five monster corpses in front of him, Goburo was very satisfied. Due to his strength, his stamina had improved significantly. However, he also noticed a problem - why were the monsters in this valley so weak?

From the time he was born until now, apart from the troll, the strongest monster he had encountered was the wild dog he just hit with a stick. This shouldn't be the case. Was it just his luck, or was there something special in this valley?

Pondering this, he began enjoying his spoils of war. With his increased strength, his appetite had also grown. His experience bar had already reached 4%, and with a higher food intake of monster meat, his level would increase faster.

While eating, he kept thinking about why the valley was in such a state. He looked towards the direction where the troll was. Compared to the other creatures in the valley, the troll seemed unnaturally strong. Perhaps the troll knew why the valley was like this.

With that in mind, he planned to observe the troll before obtaining the next simulation. He wanted to see why it could live in this valley, which seemed incompatible with the other creatures.

At nightfall, he didn't continue hunting. After all, he had been active during the day, consuming a lot of energy. So he silently observed the troll's cave until midnight. All he could hear was the sound of snoring coming from the troll's cave; nothing else happened.

For the next three days, he hunted during the day and kept watch at night, with only a small amount of time for rest. So far, he had accumulated 19 first-tier magic crystals. With 6 more, he could initiate the next simulation.

Tonight was the last night he would observe the troll. If the troll continued to sleep like yesterday, then tomorrow, after collecting all the magic crystals, he would eliminate it.

Just like the previous few days, Goburo kept watch until midnight. Just as he was about to leave and rest, he noticed that the snoring from the troll's cave suddenly stopped.

"He's waking up? It's strange for him to wake up at this time."

In the next moment, he saw the troll emerge from the cave holding a pile of magic crystals.

The troll had at least a hundred magic crystals in his hands, and Goburo's eyes widened in amazement. He almost rushed over to snatch them, but rationality triumphed over impulse. He wanted to see what the troll would do with so many magic crystals. Could it be that he would hide them all away?

Realizing that he might discover the troll's little treasure trove, Goburo's excitement grew.