Chương 90: Reborn as the Dragon — Chapter 90 - Impatience in Small Matters Ruins Big Plans

"Baka! These monsters are actually counterattacking the Starter Village!" Yamaguchi Mura Chicken was dumbfounded. The pitch of his roar had gone embarrassingly high, like a little girl being choked by an iron fist. Look, this was a real world. Fine. The god dropping them here, fine. A big BOSS lurking somewhere nearby, also fine. But now the big BOSS was personally leading a monster army to attack their Starter Village? Wasn't that a bit much!?

[WARNING: Monster Siege in Progress] [Starter Village Protection Activated, scanning current Starter Village as Level 1 Starter Village, protection level increased...] [All attributes of monsters inside the Starter Village reduced by 50%] The system's red alert blazed to life in his vision, accompanied by a flood of pop-up windows. Yamaguchi Mura Chicken saw it and immediately broke into a grin. Now that was timely help. That god really was a decent person after all.

The "game" was still fair, it wasn't going to leave players completely at the mercy of this world. They were invaders, for crying out loud. What kind of invaders had no trump cards?

"Now we have nothing to worry about! Let those monsters come in — we'll kill every last one of them!" He was practically bouncing, spittle flying. He could not wait to see these monsters charge straight into the trap.

"Gentlemen! Assemble at the village entrance! Show those hateful beasts the courage of our Emperor's warriors!" Not that he actually needed to give the order. The players of Sakura Island No. 1 Starter Village had already done it themselves, streaming out of their huts in their novice linen clothes and crowding around the village entrance. They were grinning. Cackling, even. Watching the approaching monster army with gleeful, not-even-slightly-afraid expressions.

Above their heads, a pale red dome of light bloomed overhead and settled over the entire Starter Village like an enormous bra. That ridiculous thing was the source of all their courage. The monster army drew closer. The dark clouds above seemed to roll with them, pushed by the same wind. The sky darkened. The howling grew louder. And the monsters' crimson eyes burned brighter with every step, hundreds of them glinting through the gloom. Massive bodies. Rasping, heavy breaths.

Footfalls that seemed to land not on the ground but directly on the players' chests. The grins faded. Breathing got harder. Even with a 50% debuff, could they actually beat these things? The doubt crept through the crowd without anyone saying it out loud. Then the monster army stopped. Less than two hundred meters from the Starter Village gate.

Players whose bodies had been enhanced by mana and fighting spirit could see clearly from here: the saliva stringing between the Gnolls' fangs, the cold glint of their iron claws. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

[Sturdy · Brutal · Gnoll Leader (Dragon Ancestry Corrosion)] [Sturdy · Cunning · Kobold Leader (Dragon Ancestry Corrosion)] [Majestic · Mighty · Blaze Rabbit Leader (Dragon Ancestry Corrosion)] The three leaders stood at the front of the army in a loose triangle, Grey Wolf at the point. The other monster leaders hadn't come. Their orders were to stay behind with Bird Demon Leader Ji Taimei and guard the dragon's lair.

"Begin. Laying. Traps." Grey Wolf turned his head and said it quietly, giving the order to Bolikri. Then he cut his eyes sideways at the elite Gnolls flanking him. The monsters moved fast. Brother Grey, Banana Wolf, and the rest of the elite Gnolls fanned out immediately, leading ordinary Gnolls and Blaze Rabbits in a sweeping encirclement of the Starter Village, three layers deep, a wall of monsters on every side. Between those layers, in the gaps the players couldn't see, Bolikri's Kobolds were already digging.

Tunnel by tunnel. Trap by trap.

"What are they doing?" Yamaguchi Mura Chicken muttered, watching with a furrowed brow.

"Surround without attacking? Are they just going to starve us out?" A cold thought surfaced. Did these monsters know about the Starter Village protection mechanic? That couldn't be right. The mechanic had just activated. And the pale red dome was only visible to players, the monsters couldn't see it. Still. Whatever they were planning, the answer was the same: lure them inside. Out here, these monsters had none of the advantages they'd had in the Silvermoon Forest. No terrain cover. No Flame Arrow Towers.

And the black dragon itself hadn't bothered to show up. Was that the dragon's arrogance talking? Too proud to lead the charge personally, so it had just sent its underlings? A sharp gleam entered Yamaguchi Mura Chicken's eyes. Stupid black dragon. You're going to pay dearly for that pride. He turned to look at Moriyama Nobihito.

"Nobihito-kun, do you have any way to anger these monsters? Make them throw caution out and charge in?" Moriyama Nobihito blinked, lowered his head in thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. He bowed at a sharp ninety degrees.

"Young master, these monsters understand the Common Tongue of the continent, particularly the Gnolls and Kobolds."

"So we can provoke them into attacking by insulting them."

"Additionally, according to intelligence passed along by our captured comrades before they went silent, these monsters have a particular attachment to potatoes." He straightened and waited respectfully.

"Yoshi, Nobihito-kun! Very, very yoshi!" Yamaguchi Mura Chicken clapped him on the shoulder, beaming.

"Do exactly that. Insult them. Use the full depth of our rich and magnificent Sakura language."

"And the potatoes — get some out. Stomp them flat, right in front of those monsters' faces."

"Hai!"

A few minutes later, Grey Wolf and the monsters stationed outside the village watched three humans walk out of the gate. They didn't approach far. Around a hundred meters from the monster line, they stopped.

"Monsters out there — can you hear us?"

"You miserable monsters! Are you scared? Come on in and fight us if you dare!" The Sakura players' distinctive rolling accent cut sharply through the silence of the open plain. Every monster in earshot twitched an ear. Brows creased. They couldn't understand the words. But the sound was deeply irritating.

"How dare they?!"

"You're just a bunch of trash monsters!"

"You'll all end up skinned and gutted! Your parts sold off as crafting materials! Your flesh and blood digested inside us! And eventually flushed out the other end!"

"Hehehehe..." The players kept going, an endless stream of meaningless garbage. Every monster in sight remained perfectly still, watching with the flat, patient gaze of something observing a pest it was choosing not to crush yet.

"Damn it. They're not taking the bait..."

"We're going to have to use the other thing." The three Sakura Island players exchanged a look. Each reached into their inventory, pulled out a handful of potatoes, and dropped them on the ground with a dull smack. Then they raised their boots and stomped.

"You like potatoes, don't you? We've got plenty! We're just stomping them for fun, does that bother you?" A gust of wind swept across the plain. Something warm hit one player's cheek. He frowned. He looked up. No clouds overhead. It hadn't been a raindrop. He turned his head slowly. His companion was standing beside him with a table knife buried in his forehead and another buried in his throat. The health bar above his head emptied at a visible rate.

Then, with a heavy thud, the man fell straight backward and hit the ground. Grey Wolf wiped his claws on his shorts, expression flat, and held up a paw to the monsters behind him who had started shifting with eagerness.

"Master. Said. Little impatience. Ruins big plans."

"Small matters, no need to endure. Big matters, fight recklessly. That is. Best strategy."

"But. Master's order. Wait for humans to come out. So." He turned.

"Banana Wolf." Banana Wolf understood immediately. He swung a large leather pouch off his back and dropped it on the ground with a wet splat. He pulled the bag open. A wall of stench hit the air. The pouch was full to the brim, a dense, reeking mass of Tyrant Stink Bug dung pellets. Evolve your minds. Soothe your disgusting feelings. ➤ Next: Flying Bombardment