He'd spotted a cluster of small red dots in the area, and Nero had suggested that, because of their size, the dots likely represented smaller and weaker enemies. It looked like there were half a dozen, but Nero also made a point of informing Ollie that this could be deceiving as, sometimes, enemies might be grouped together and low-level maps like the one he was using wouldn’t be able to differentiate between a lone goblin and one with a friend on his shoulders.
“Do they do that then? Run around with other goblins on their shoulders?”
[Nero] I would not be surprised. The sheer variety of enemies you may face in the Dominion Ultrimax Competition is quite baffling. Enemies are rewarded not only for their ability to kill or steal from players, but also for the originality of their appearance and class mechanics, and for the amount of excitement and entertainment they create.
Ollie nodded as he moved to the edge of a nearby building and looked out across the road at the park up ahead. “Because there are millions of aliens betting on this game. I get it. The crazier they are, the more likely they’ll get the big bets.”
[Nero] Indeed. But originality is also a welcome balm for Dominion citizens who have watched and wagered on the game for several seasons. That audience craves novelty, and it is prepared to pay a hefty price for it.
Ollie squinted, shielding his eyes against the morning sun as he looked over at the skate park. Half a dozen figures were walking about, not really doing anything other than milling together. As he moved closer, a description of the enemies appeared on his display, and the sight was accompanied by a strange mewing sound coming from the group that sounded like they were squawking underwater at one another.
>> NON PLAYER CAPITALIST [NPC] CLAN
NAME: The Refunded Dead
ENTITY: Goblin Revenant (Undead / Economic Construct)
DESCRIPTION:
When a goblin dies in the Mammon System with sufficient flair, failure, or financial devastation, the System takes notice. Those whose deaths were deemed “profitable entertainment” are resurrected — their bodies reanimated by pure economic residue. These creatures return not for vengeance or redemption, but because their demise earned the System a return on investment. They are given one more chance to die — spectacularly — in service to the entertainment economy of Mammon.
>> CORE CLAN TRAITS
PRIMARY ATTACK METHODS
+| Profit Slash: A frenzied melee attack with jagged coin-blades or broken vendor tools. Each hit steals a small percentage of the player’s Belch Bucks.
+| Dividend Burst: When struck, the goblin emits a spray of molten currency, dealing minor AoE damage. Enemies killed by this burst explode into collectible “Coin Dust.”
+| Receipt Curse: Marks a player as a “Loss on Record.” The marked player takes incremental damage over time — each tick announced by the System as “Interest Accrued.”
DEFENSIVE TRAITS
+| Ledger Skin: Hardened flesh fused with account pages and credit sigils grants minor resistance to slashing and piercing attacks.
+| Profit Shield (Reactive): Upon dropping below 50% HP, the goblin’s body briefly solidifies into coin-shell armor, reducing damage by 40% for 1 second.
A few more steps brought him closer to the group of zombie goblins, and Ollie caught a whiff of decaying flesh, which stank like a trash fire. He gagged, suddenly realizing what was going to be the hardest thing about the coming fight.
“Fuck me, that’s a smell that will outlast religion!”
[Nero] Indeed, you might be best to take precautions as undead enemies tend to be quite messy to dispatch. I should advise you, however, that finding enemies such as this so early on in the game is quite rare. Despite the fact that you have not yet acquired your Attributes and thus cannot assign points to Luck, you have thus far proved extraordinarily lucky.
“Well, they call Australia the lucky country, you know. Maybe that has something to do with it?”
[Nero] Highly unlikely, given that your land of birth is simply a landmass like any other. There are certainly significant advantages to building a civilization on a vast island which is effectively cut off from the rest of the world; however, I can find no evidence to suggest that the region demonstrates any specific affinity for Luck.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Ollie rolled his eyes. “Alright, well why the hell don’t you tell me why finding a bunch of stinky zombie goblins is a good thing? I’m guessing they’ll be fairly easy to kill, so that’s something but—”
>> ACHIEVEMENT: Lucky Find!
Congratulations, you’ve just come across a pack of goblin zombies. Few players are so lucky in the early game, but for some reason, the gods of circumstance have chosen to turn their eyes toward you and shower you with riches…well, it’s more likely that you’ll be showered in entrails, but a coin covered in decaying zombie guts is still a coin!
ACHIEVEMENT REWARD: Entrail Resistant Poncho [2hr use]
“Shit! Okay, you were right then, I guess. That still doesn’t explain how any of this is—”
>> THE UNDEAD BOON: Cashgrab Opportunity
Whether by skill or luck, you have stumbled across a highly advantageous opportunity, player Ollie. Unlike other low-level enemies, zombies offer a much higher payout for each death, and there are other significant benefits to killing as many zombies as possible.
+| ZOMBIE REWARDS
Each zombie killed will result in twice the usual kill rewards because you are technically killing two enemies with each kill—the undead goblin itself and the pre-dead goblin that existed prior to their resurrection. Thus, even the lowest-level zombie goblins will reward 10 Belch Bucks for each kill.
+| ZOMBIE SPAWNING
While The Refunded Dead are not particularly difficult enemies to face individually, their numbers can quickly add up. If you attack and kill one of The Refunded Dead, it will have a 30% chance of sending out a Death Pulse that will alert other undead entities within a half-mile radius. The more deaths and death pulses that occur, the more urgently undead enemies who are called to aid their brainless allies will head toward the scene. Any player looking to make a quick buck by “farming” zombies and accruing death rewards should beware of the fact that vast numbers of zombies are scattered all around the Dominion Ultrimax Contest field. However, given the increased rewards for killing zombie goblins, Death Pulse also offers a significant opportunity for an enterprising player to bring in a substantial amount of coin.
+| THE STINK OF DEATH
Another effect of killing multiple numbers of The Refunded Dead is that each kill has a .01% chance of applying a Stink of Death debuff. This debuff does not negatively affect the player in any physical way; however, it will make you 20% more likely to attract undead enemies within a half-mile radius of your location at all times. The debuff is applied with an element of random chance, meaning that it may be in place for two hours or two weeks (viewers will be able to bet on the exact timeframe).
“So, there are probably more zombie goblins in the area, right? I just can’t see them.”
[Nero] That is entirely likely. When it comes to zombies, viewers tend to like it when they appear in great numbers, swamping players and forcing them to find ingenious ways of surviving and escaping the horde. This being the case, the System tends to favor horde-style mechanics whenever zombies are in play. I would guess that there are a number of zombie groups nearby, but which are not currently visible.
“What about the hobgoblins? Are they gonna get alerted by that Death Pulse thing and come running?”
[Nero] Given that they prefer to travel via modified motorbikes, I would suggest that they would ride rather than run, but in answer to your question, yes. There is an increased risk that the hobgoblins will either feel the death pulse or hear the disturbance of zombies stirring and come to investigate.
“Okay.” Ollie nodded to himself. “A good chance to get some coin nice and early. Maybe even enough to buy a class and all that other shit if I play my cards right.”
[Nero] Correct. While I cannot confirm the exact number of enemies that may be drawn to you and I therefore cannot estimate the amount of money you stand to gain, previous experience suggests that you could be able to amass anything up to five thousand Belch Bucks, perhaps more.
He tightened the grip on his crowbar. “Five grand? That would mean killing, what, five hundred zombies?”
[Nero] Somewhat less, as rewards will likely increase the longer you fight as an incentive to keep going. Viewers will be betting on exactly when you will stop, whether or not you will die, how you will die, and so on. The longer it goes on, the more you will be rewarded. So, a kill initially might only be worth ten Belch Bucks, but toward the end, you might be getting fifty Belch Bucks a kill. There will be a limit, however. Once all of the zombies in the area have been eradicated, the fight will be over.
“And there’s a chance the hobgoblins will show up. Also, a chance that I might get a debuff that makes more zombies come at me? But that won’t happen if I’ve killed them all, right?”
[Nero] Not unless others respawn at a later stage, or you move into a different area of the map and new zombies are drawn toward you.
It didn’t take Ollie long to decide what he was going to do. This game was powered by money, and he had next to none of it. He needed to buy Attributes, a class, and God only knew what else. He still hadn’t managed to find any shoes, so buying a pair of boots was a priority, and he was already starting to get hungry, despite the fact that it was still early morning and he’d only scoffed down that donut a short while ago.
He needed money, and lots of it.
>> NEW QUEST: Survive the Zombie Horde!
Survive the horde of flesh-eating, brain-guzzling goblin zombies and earn yourself the rare distinction of encountering and surviving a zombie horde event at novice level. ‘Survival’ in this endeavor means killing all zombies within a one-hour period. You also have the option to flee at any time; however, this will result in quest failure.
QUEST REWARD: Zombie Slayer title, 500 Belch Bucks
QUEST FAILURE PENALTY: Chicken Shit title [forced for 10 hrs]
“Fuck yeah!” Ollie said with a broad grin. “Zombie Slayer. I like the sound of that. The five hundred Belch Bucks would come in handy too.”
[Nero] Indeed. The System has provided you with a rare opportunity for early advancement. Be aware, however, that this will likely be a difficult task to achieve. If you fail, you will be forced to hold the Chicken Shit title, which will be visible to all other players, NPCs, and audience members for ten hours. This would negatively affect your reputation and may even encourage NPCs to be more willing to attack you. The Zombie Slayer title, however, may do the reverse. Smaller enemies may be slightly less willing to attack you unprovoked if they see that you have survived a zombie horde challenge.
“Yeah, I get it,” Ollie said, nodding to himself. “Kill the zombies. Don’t chicken out.”
Ollie pulled the Entrail Resistant Poncho from his new inventory and slipped it on. It was a simple enough garment, made of a slick kind of plastic that was quite giving as he slipped it on.
“Time to fuck shit up!”
He hefted the crowbar in his right hand, set his mind to the task ahead, and strode forward, intent on violence and, hopefully, a hefty portion of Belch Bucks!