Finch felt the blinding white light swallow him whole. He could only close his eyes as he felt as though the light was going to blind him, the next moment, he felt the ground underneath his feet, his eyes immediately snapped open as he instantly went on the defensive, ready to battle anything that attacked him.
But after being on guard for a couple of seconds, nothing happened, he exhaled and looked around, he had appeared inside what seemed to be a cavern, which was dimly lit, jagged pillars rose upwards, supporting a ceiling that looked as though it was going to collapse at any moment with the slightest disturbance.
He stood in the middle of two paths, to his left was a path that led straight down, and to his right was a path that was further divided into two separate passages. Finch didnât know which particular path to take, but he didnât think too much about it and simply walked to his right. Arriving at the divided passages, he chose the passage on the left, selecting at random, as there werenât exactly any clues to follow.
But the moment he stepped into the left passage, which was dark, the torches on the wall lit up, illuminating the area and dispersing the darkness slightly, as what seemed to be an announcement echoed throughout the passage.
"An unknown Player has entered a designated Positive Zone. The Zone Function is as follows; multiplication of any points gained from monster kills by a factor of two."
Finch was immediately elated, he felt like laughing out loud, but he couldnât; he was being watched. He had just arrived, he hadnât even been here for up to a minute, yet he had already stumbled upon a Positive Zone.
âIt seems even the bracelet canât restrict my Good Luck ability,â Finch mused to himself.
He threw away such thoughts and immediately got into a combat stance. After one year at the Star Academy, Finch could now think like a warrior and not only as a merchant. The Zone had said it would multiply points gained by a factor of two, meaning that the Zone was going to provide monsters to kill. If not, the Zoneâs function would have been somewhat useless.
But still, Finch felt caution creep into his mind. Yes, this was a Positive Zone, but who said the Monsters or Emovirae within a Positive Zone were something he could handle? As the thought occurred to him, he immediately dismissed it. If his Good Luck had led him here, then he was supposed to gain something from this place.
Just like how Asher trusted his senses above all else, Finch trusted his Good Luck above all else.
The next moment, footsteps began to echo, Finch could see perfectly fine as the torches on the walls ensured that the passage remained visible, unlike the rest of the cavern, which was dimly lit.
âHobgoblins, Veil-class,â Finch immediately identified as his eyes ran through their numbers while making a headcount. âFifteen in total,â he established after a brief glance.
Finch didnât move for a moment, his eyes fixed on them as they snarled and spoke in their own language, making fun of him and laughing amongst themselves with weapons in hand. After assessing them for a moment, Finch immediately blurred forward and took the initiative, he wasnât going to allow them to encircle him or trap him within whatever formation they were trying to establish.
Arriving before the first one, Finchâs foot tore upwards, his form was excellent, his steps nimble despite his size, and with a booming sound, Finchâs toes connected with the Hobgoblinâs head. The Hobgoblinâs skull immediately caved inward, its body shooting to the side like a kite before slamming violently into the wall.
It was dead.
The Hobgoblins that had been discussing moments earlier immediately froze, as they hadnât expected this fat human to make the first move. And yes, they had been making fun of Finchâs fat body in their goblin language.
Finch didnât hesitate, he was decisive, he capitalized on the moment they froze in shock and immediately unleashed another attack. His soul-bound chain appeared in his hand as he immediately spun it at high speed before sweeping it in a low circular 360 degree motion.
The sound of the air barrier shattering echoed as Finchâs chain lashed out against their ankles.
The pain registered instantly as four of them had been caught within that single attack, their ankles were blown apart, causing them to collapse face-first onto the ground. Finch immediately moved in for the kill, but before he could finish them, the other Hobgoblins sprang into action. After all, they werenât decorations.
But Finch had already expected this, he swung his chain forward, and with another sonic boom, it detonated against the chest of another Hobgoblin, the chain tore through the paper-like armour it wore as its flesh mangled and blood splashed against the wall behind it.
Within a couple of minutes, Finch had already ended five of them before leaping backwards to dodge another attack from behind. He couldnât help but feel that these Hobgoblins were idiots, who screamed at their opponents when they were attacking from behind? They practically announced every attack before launching it.
As he fought, three more died, but Finch understood he couldnât spend too much time entertaining these weaker creatures. Although this was a Positive Zone, it most certainly didnât spawn infinite Monsters and Beasts. Every second spent here was a second that could be used to gather more points elsewhere.
Finch immediately leaped above the remaining seven Hobgoblins, with a thought, he commanded his soul-bound chain to form a dome that trapped them within, the moment the dome of chains was formed, Finch landed atop it, then, with another thought, he commanded the chain to flatten.
And with breathtaking ease, Finchâs soul-bound chain flattened the seven Hobgoblins into minced meat, bones crushed under the force, blood splashed upwards and backwards, and the sickening sound of flesh being torn apart echoed throughout the passage.
Finch stood with indifferent calmness as he found himself surrounded by mangled flesh and blood. After spending time with people like Asher, William, and Lucifer, it was only natural that he would become creative with his chain and far more accustomed to brutal sights.
He raised a hand and saw a point balance of three thousand (3000), confirming that he occupied the first rank at the moment. A smile couldnât help but appear on his lips as he did the maths.
âThree thousand points and fifteen Hobgoblins means one hundred points each, and with the multiplier of two bringing the total to two hundred points per Hobgoblin,â he thought to himself.
The moment his eyes returned to the rankings to check them once more, he saw Asherâs name right below him, Finch couldnât help but sigh at this.
âEven in an Inter-Empire Competition, this guy still stands above everyone,â he thought as he shook his head.
âAnyway, Iâm sure Rachael is watching and happy that her brother is Rank 1,â he smirked at the thought. He knew that Asher would soon overtake him, but it didnât matter. What mattered was that he had held that rank, even if only for a short while, and that alone was enough to satisfy him.
With that, Finch began to run deeper into the passage without wasting any more time. There was no telling what other opportunities this Positive Zone might contain, and he intended to make the most of every single one of them while his luck continued to work its magic.
Lior, who resided within his soul, could only watch as his lips twitched at the sheer ridiculousness of his Hostâs Good Luck ability. Even after witnessing it countless times, he still found it absurd how often fortune seemed to bend itself around Finchâs existence.