A yellow Goblin might have looked like a new target to others, but to Damian, it had a whole different meaning.

‘Goldie?’

A Golden Goblin, nicknamed Goldie, was what you could call a sign of fortune. Although Damian had only encountered it twice in the dozen stages where he started in places similar to this Labyrinth, both encounters ended up being quite fruitful!

‘I didn’t expect to find one here.’

While the Goblin theme matched the requirements, Damian still felt some dissociation between the game and its reality patch, so things didn’t immediately register.

Once everything came together, however, he instantly knew what to do!

‘Calm down.’

He had just switched to a quick approach, but he now had to take it slower than before. Compared to green ones, Golden Goblins weren’t a target for hunting. The lore dictated that you have to follow it as quietly as possible.

‘Well, it would have been different if it had its bag.’

Although following it just in case was the one that promised the most gains, if one didn’t want to risk losing the Golden Goblin along the way, an instant attack wasn’t a bad strategy. After all, anything inside a Golden Goblin’s bag had a certain amount of value.

In Damian’s case, the Golden Goblin only had its own clothes on, so he could only hope that it would lead him to the place where it hid its treasures, the Golden Lair!

The Golden Goblin didn’t seem to have noticed him yet. At the very least, it looked like Damian had a decent chance of reaching his objective… Or so he hoped.

‘This is a bit tricky.’

In order not to startle the Goblin, Damian had to put away his torch, relying on the sound of footsteps. Fortunately, the Golden Goblin’s signature trail was the same in the reality patch.

There was an occasional golden shimmer flashing in the direction that it took! That being said, it was a very demanding hint. The shimmer came and went by so quickly that you would miss it just by blinking.

If Damian had a say in it, he really wanted his source of light back.

‘There is no way to tell if it’s different here, so I can’t just risk it.’

Damian always took risks when necessary since he could always respawn, but things were different with special encounters like this.

Whether it was a Golden Goblin or some other hidden piece, they disappeared once everything was renewed. At least that was the case in the game.

Respawning was worth a try if this attempt got messed up, but Damian wanted to treat this as if it was his one and only chance.

At times like this, Damian couldn’t help wishing that Iris had another fraudulent ability like night vision. Although something similar could be obtained if he stayed in the dark for long enough, he couldn’t afford to do so when he had a light source.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Not knowing where and when you would get attacked was too terrifying. Besides, it wasn’t like special chances like this were that common.

Krik.

Suddenly, the sound of a small rock sliding on the rough ground reached Damian’s ear. Just as expected, following silently in the darkness was impossible. It was already a miracle that he managed to avoid all obstacles up until now.

‘Shit!’

In response, the consistent soft steps paused before a pair of shining dots glared in Damian’s direction. They were the Golden Goblin’s eyes!

Damian froze in place upon receiving that gaze, he felt like it had completely seen through him!

‘What was this?’

Was the Golden Goblin such a cheat monster? Damian’s heart was full of apprehension as he locked eyes with the golden dots, but they quickly turned around before disappearing.

‘No!’

The sudden barrage of heavy steps woke Damian up as he realized that the Golden Goblin was running away. It didn’t matter if it was a scary monster or not, he had to stay on its trail!

He wasn’t going to give up on this chance unless the monster itself actually killed him!

‘Inventory.’

Now that he was already discovered, Damian took out the torch before speeding up ahead, he could afford to do so when he had full view. Thankfully, there was only one path straight ahead, so the Golden Goblin couldn’t have just slipped away.

‘I have to catch it!’

Damian pulled all stops, running with all he had. He kept going and going until his stamina almost reached its end. However, there was no longer any sign of the Golden Goblin’s existence.

‘No way…’

Although Damian didn’t want to slow down, he was running out of breath. Fate had been on his side once more, giving him a rare encounter in his very first reality patch level, but he ended up wasting it… Or so he thought.

‘Oh?’

Just when Damian was about to stop and catch his breath, one last golden shimmer appeared before his eyes. The Golden Goblin was still nowhere to be seen, but the spot where the gold sparkles appeared caught Damian’s eyes.

‘A Hidden Room?’

The slightly inconsistent stone wall reminded Damian of the entrance he found in the very first Den.

Even now, Damian still found it regrettable that he had missed the Golden Goblin, but rather than chasing an empty dream and missing out on the scraps, he chose to focus on what was within his grasp.

Holding the torch with one hand, Damian used the other to feel around the stone wall. After going through it all without finding anything special, he couldn’t help doubting himself.

Did he actually hallucinate that last golden shimmer? Was there really something different with this wall?

‘There definitely was.’

Self-doubt was a strong emotion, but a gamer’s expectations were something else. Not to mention failing to find something the first time, there were times when Damian spent a whole hour exploring the very same area just because he found a hint relating to it.

It wasn’t time to give up just yet!

‘It’s there. It’s there. It’s there…’

Hypnotizing himself that something was definitely waiting for him, Damian kept touching different parts of the wall. Since being systematic didn’t work, he alternated between random and ordered checks.

Click!

As if to confirm that stubbornness wasn’t useless when it poured in the right direction, a small part of the wall sank under Damian’s palm. There truly was a hidden mechanism in the wall!

Following the initial click, more noise came out of the wall as a larger part of it started moving like a sliding door, revealing an intense golden light…