TARRITW 03

The Auto-Looting Range Is Too Wide
Episode 3: The Battle Is Too Easy

When he opened his eyes, Mincheol found himself inside the Tower.

<You have entered the 1st Floor of the Tower.>
<Find the blue gem hidden somewhere.>
<However, the goblins inhabiting the forest will interfere with you.>

If the place where the tutorial took place resembled an abandoned shrine, the 1st floor was a forest with dense trees and vegetation.
Because of this, unlike during the tutorial, there were many factors that obstructed his view. It got to the point where he wouldn’t know if monsters were hiding.

‘They said that from the 1st floor on wards, it’s important to prepare for monster ambushes, right?’

Mincheol recalled information circulating on hunter communities.
Everyone repeatedly emphasized that from the 1st floor, the terrain becomes complex, so one must be wary of hidden monsters.

“Designate ‘herbs’ as the target.”

<Acquiring all ‘herbs’ within a 200 m radius.>

First, Mincheol added the medicinal herb he had aimed for to the auto-looting list.

<(Auto-Looting slot is empty.)>
<(Would you like to designate another item?)>

The message inquired of Mincheol.
This was because as the Auto-Looting skill reached level 2, the number of targets he could designate had increased to two.

“Designate ‘all weapons’ as the target.”

From the moment he saw the advice to be wary of hidden monsters, Mincheol had the Auto-Looting skill in mind.
The Auto-Looting skill could even steal equipment that monsters were currently using.
If so, wouldn’t he be able to detect a goblin’s approach in advance by setting the skill to target weapons?
As a bonus, he could gain an advantageous position by stealing their weapons.

<(Please designate a specific object.)>

However, contrary to Mincheol’s expectations, he couldn’t add ‘all weapons’ to the auto-looting list.
“Is it because it’s too broad? Then what about ‘goblin stone axe’?”

<(Please designate a specific object.)>

“Why is it like this? It stole the club just fine.”

Mincheol, finding this odd, came up with one hypothesis.
“Could it be that I can’t add items I don’t know about?”

Mincheol didn’t know what a goblin’s stone axe looked like. He hadn’t researched it separately before entering the 1st floor.
On the other hand, during the tutorial, he had seen a goblin’s club with his own two eyes.
“Then how was ‘herbs’ designated? Ah, right. I saw a picture of it before entering.”

Mincheol fell into thought. ‘All weapons’ didn’t work, and ‘stone axe’ didn’t work either.
But designating ‘club’ bothered him because of a comment he’d seen in the hunter community saying clubs don’t appear often.

Mincheol racked his brain. What other items had he seen with his own two eyes that goblins possessed?
“Goblin’s upper garment?”

<Acquiring all ‘Goblin Vine Tops’ within a 200 m radius.>

Mincheol’s face lit up. With this, he had secured at least a basic countermeasure against goblin attacks.
“Still, it’s better to be careful, right?”

Mincheol proceeded forward, alert to his surroundings. He set out to find the blue gem.

<‘Standing Herbs’ (3) stored in inventory.>
<‘Standing Herbs’ (1) stored in inventory.>
<‘Standing Herbs’ (2) stored in inventory… >
<‘Standing Herbs’… >

With every step he took, Standing Herbs were being stored one by one in his inventory.
‘Let’s see, I’ve gathered 12 so far, and the total weight is 1.3 kg. So roughly one herb is about 100 g.’
The inventory displayed the weight and quantity of items. Mincheol calculated based on this.
‘The total capacity of the inventory is 10 kg, and each herb is 100 g. So if I fill the inventory, it would be about 100? If they buy each herb for 50,000 won, the total would be…’
About 5 million won.
That was far more money than Mincheol had earned by selling the goblin’s club.
Judging by the rate at which the herbs were stacking up, it seemed like just by walking around for about an hour, his inventory would be full.
‘Is it supposed to be this easy to make money?’

Just as Mincheol was about to inwardly cheer.

<‘Standing Herbs’ (3) stored in inventory.>
<‘Lucky Coin’ activates! The number of herbs acquired is doubled!>
<‘Standing Herbs’ (3) changed to (6)!>

‘Oh? The Lucky Coin had this kind of effect?’
Mincheol stared at the message with a look of wonder. He didn’t expect that bringing luck would be applied in this way.
‘I wonder if this applies when gaining experience rewards or acquiring items too?’
If Mincheol’s assumption was correct, he might be able to get double the experience reward and double the item reward.
‘They said it was a hidden piece, but it really is an amazing item.’
Its performance truly made anticipation unavoidable.

<‘Goblin Vine Tops’ (3) acquired in inventory.>
<‘Goblin Vine Tops’ (2) acquired in inventory.>

At that moment, messages appeared that wiped the smile off his face.
Mincheol quickly focused his attention on the surrounding sounds. Sure enough, cries could be heard from afar.
“Kieeek?”
“Keeeek?”
Even to Mincheol, a human, the cries sounded full of bewilderment. They must have been startled by their clothes suddenly disappearing.

The clear condition for the 1st floor was to find the blue gem. There was no need to fight the goblins.
But Mincheol ran towards the direction of the sound.
‘I can’t keep avoiding monsters forever.’
Having decided to climb the tower, he couldn’t completely avoid battles with monsters.
Therefore, to prepare for any eventuality, he needed to get accustomed to fighting monsters.

‘I hope the tactic I thought of works.’

Since finishing the tutorial, Mincheol had been constantly pondering ways to utilize Auto-Looting in combat.
There was no guarantee that the tactic he devised would work. But it was worth attempting.

‘Where are they? They should be visible soon.’
Considering the range of the Auto-Looting skill, the goblins should also be within 200 m.
Mincheol covered that long distance in an instant. Thanks to his stats, which were several times higher than hunters of the same level.
After running for a while, pushing through the undergrowth, he spotted goblins in the distance with their upper bodies fully exposed.

“Kieeek!”
“Keeeek!”
Upon spotting Mincheol, the goblins immediately showed hostility towards him, as if they had never been flustered.
‘A total of five. Three have stone axes. Two have blowpipes.’

Mincheol recalled advice he’d seen on the hunter community.

-King Burger: Goblins themselves are nothing special. But when they swarm in groups, it gets quite dangerous.
-King Burger: When dealing with a goblin group, the thing to be most careful of is the poison dart. If even one gets stuck in you, symptoms of dizziness and vomiting will hit you.

Two goblins put the blowpipes in their mouths. Mincheol immediately changed the target of Auto-Looting.
‘Blowpipe.’

<Acquiring all ‘Goblin Blowpipes’ within a 200 m radius.>
<‘Goblin Blowpipes’ (2) stored in inventory.>

The blowpipes the goblins were holding in their mouths disappeared. The two goblins shrieked in surprise.
‘Next is the stone axe.’
Mincheol then tried to snatch the stone axes the goblins were holding.

<(You can change the target after 29 seconds.)>

‘So there’s a cool down.’

This was the first time he had changed targets so hastily. Even if it wasn’t dangerous, he briefly reproached himself for his carelessness.
But he couldn’t wait until the cool down ended. Because the goblins were charging toward him.
Not only the three that originally held stone axes, but even the goblins whose blowpipes were snatched were now running towards him, having picked up stone axes instead.

“Kieeek!”
One goblin leaped high and brought its stone axe down. Mincheol calmly blocked the stone axe with his small shield.
The attack was heavier than expected, but manageable. Mincheol pushed the stone axe away and immediately swung his short sword.
Chwaak-.
With a clean sound, the goblin’s upper body was split diagonally.
Surprised by the power exceeding his expectations, Mincheol’s eyes widened.
‘What’s this? Why is it so sharp? Or is it because my stats are just too high?’
Mincheol’s stats were far higher than hunters of the same level. On top of that, he was wielding a rare-grade weapon.
It wouldn’t be strange for him to slice through a goblin in one blow.

“Keeeek!”
Mincheol thrust his short sword towards the next goblin rushing at him. The tip of the blade pierced the goblin’s chest.
Something hard caught, but trusting his stats, Mincheol pushed the short sword with all his might.
Kwajik-.
The blade tip shattered the rib cage and protruded out the back. At the same time, the goblin’s body went limp.
‘That’s two!’
Despite having killed two living creatures, no guilt arose.
Probably because he was keenly aware that if he didn’t kill, he would be the one to die.

‘Here comes another!’
Mincheol tried to pull out the short sword stuck in the goblin’s torso.
But no matter how hard he pulled, it wouldn’t budge. The goblin’s corpse was gripping the blade tightly.
“Kieeek!”
Seizing the opportunity, another goblin leaped at him.
Mincheol didn’t panic. He let go of the short sword and swung his small shield with force.
Kwang-.
The small shield struck the goblin’s face squarely. The goblin’s head burst like a watermelon.
‘Wow, so this is why everyone emphasized stats.’
It felt more like smashing a watermelon than a living creature’s head. Thanks to his high Strength stat.

“Keeek!”

“Keeeek!”

The remaining two goblins couldn’t easily rush at Mincheol.
A natural reaction, seeing three of their kind killed in the blink of an eye.
In that gap, Mincheol stepped on the goblin’s corpse and pulled out his short sword.

‘Cool down is over, right?’
Mincheol quickly changed the Auto-Looting target from blowpipe to stone axe.
Having just seen the stone axes with his own eyes moments ago, they became eligible targets.

<Acquiring all ‘Goblin Stone Axes’ within a 200 m radius.>
<‘Goblin Stone Axes’ (2) acquired.>
<Inventory is full. Cannot use Auto-Looting skill any further.>

The stone axes the two goblins were holding disappeared. The two goblins flinched in surprise.
“

“Keeek?”

“Huh?”

Paat-.
Seizing the moment, Mincheol lunged forward. He swung his short sword twice, beheading the goblins.
Thud- Deukudeuru.
Two heads fell to the ground.

Mincheol swung his sword in the air to flick off the blood on the blade.
“Hoo.”
He caught his breath and looked around.
The goblins that had been alive and trying to kill him just moments ago were now all dead, lying scattered on the ground.
Staring blankly at the scene, Mincheol muttered briefly.
“It’s more doable than I thought?”

Mincheol roamed the forest again, searching for the blue crystal.

<‘Standing Herb’ (1) stored in inventory.>
<‘Standing Herb’ (2) stored in inventory.>

Thanks to discarding all the goblin clothes and blowpipes, there was enough space in his inventory.
‘The coin’s effect doesn’t trigger often.’
After activating once at the beginning, the Lucky Coin had been nowhere to be seen.
Mincheol didn’t worry about it much. After all, luck wasn’t supposed to come easily by nature.

“Keeeek!”

“Keeeek!”

He encountered another goblin group along the way, but was able to defeat them without difficulty.
‘Is it because it’s the second time? It feels much easier?’
This time, even though there were seven instead of five, he could handle them with ease.

After roaming the forest for a while longer,
Mincheol was able to find the blue gem lodged in a crevice between tree trunks.
“What? It was here?”
Incredibly, the blue gem was at a spot close to where Mincheol had originally been summoned.
Mincheol grabbed the blue gem. Then a message appeared.

<You have acquired the quest item!>
<You have cleared the 1st Floor! You may challenge the 2nd Floor!>
<Time: 1 hour 49 minutes. Out of ranking!>

Mincheol looked at the message with a dissatisfied expression. The phrase ‘out of ranking’ didn’t sit well with him at all.
Moreover, through the tutorial, Mincheol knew exactly how great the rewards could be when ranking.
Ending the 1st floor like this was too disappointing.

‘They said you can re-challenge floors you’ve already cleared?’
However, the structure was such that you had to break your own record to obtain new rewards.
‘If I challenge the 1st floor again, the gem’s location will probably change.’
If not, everyone would have drastically shortened their records, so it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.
But even if the location changes, what if it’s still within 200 m?

“I will challenge the 1st floor again.”
Light enveloped Mincheol. Everything was reset.

<You are re-challenging the 1st Floor of the Tower.>
<Find the blue gem hidden somewhere.>
<However, the goblins hiding somewhere will interfere with you.>

“Blue gem!”

<Acquiring all ‘Blue Gems’ within a 200 m radius.>
<You have acquired the quest item.>
<You have successfully cleared the 1st Floor!>
<Time: 0.01 seconds! A world-shattering new record!>
<You have cleared the 1st Floor in an impossible time frame!>
<The Tower is greatly pleased with your achievement!>
<Clear rewards are significantly enhanced!>
<You acquire a special title!>
<You acquire a ‘Hidden Piece’!>

Just like during the tutorial, a flood of messages filled his vision.

Next