The sword went through the Goblin King's chest and the creature screamed, a sound that echoed off the ruined walls and made Tangeni's ears ring. He twisted the blade, pushed harder until the tip came out the other side and the Goblin King stopped screaming.
The creature dissolved into green mana particles that drifted up toward the ceiling and disappeared into nothing. The crown clattered to the ground, too small and too human for the thing that wore it, and then everything was quiet.
For a long moment Tangeni just stood there, sword still extended, breathing hard and covered in blood. The silence was almost worse than the fighting because now he had time to feel everything that hurt, and everything hurt.
[BOSS DEFEATED: Goblin King (E-rank)]
[First Clear Bonus Active!]
[Rewards: 500 EXP, E-rank Sword, 1000 Credits]
He stared at the notifications for a long moment, not quite believing what he was seeing. He did it. He actually did it, solo cleared a dungeon on his first stream with no gear and no backup and no plan.
[Level Up! 1 → 3]
[Rank Up! F → F+]
[Stats increased across all categories]
The level up felt like warm water spreading through his body, easing some of the pain and giving him just enough energy to stay standing. It wasn't healing exactly, but his cuts stopped bleeding as fast and his muscles didn't scream quite as loud when he moved.
[Chat]
[viewer_47: LETS GOOOOO]
[lonely_ghost: HE ACTUALLY DID IT]
[randomgamer42: NO WAY BRO CLEARED IT]
[bestlittlesis: TANGENI IM CRYING RN OMG 😭😭😭]
The chat was exploding, messages flying by too fast to read. He saw donation notifications popping up but he didn't have the energy to look at them, his whole body shaking from exhaustion and the adrenaline finally wearing off.
He checked the counter and saw three hundred and forty-seven viewers watching him.
He sat down on the steps of the throne because standing was too hard. The bodies of the guards he killed were dissolving now, turning into the same green mana particles as their king, leaving behind nothing but their weapons and whatever loot the System decided to drop. In a few minutes the throne room would be empty, all evidence of the battle gone except for the scorch marks and the blood that was definitely his.
"Holy shit," he said out loud, and his voice was hoarse from screaming. "Chat, I actually did it. I cleared a dungeon on my first stream."
[Chat]
[flame_queen: TANGENI GOATED]
[new_viewer_203: bro i just got here what did i miss]
[lonely_ghost: YOU MISSED EVERYTHING]
[randomgamer42: best stream of the year no cap]
A new sword materialized in front of him, dropped by the boss kill, heavier and sharper than the chipped blade he was holding. He picked it up and the System recognized it immediately.
[Obtained: Goblin King's Blade (E-rank)]
[Attack: +25]
[Durability: 45/50]
[Special: Intimidation Aura (minor)]
The blade was dark iron with green veins running through it, probably some kind of goblin metal that wasn't supposed to exist in the real world. The edge was sharp enough to split hair and the weight felt perfect in his hand, balanced for someone who didn't know what they were doing but still wanted to look cool doing it.
"Chat," he said, holding up the new sword, "I got a boss drop. An actual boss drop. Look at this thing."
[Chat]
[lonely_ghost: W SWORD]
[viewer_47: intimidation aura tho???]
[randomgamer42: this stream is actually insane]
[bestlittlesis: tangeni that sword looks so cool omg]
He set down the chipped shortsword that saved his life and equipped the new one. The System registered the change and his attack stat went from mediocre to actually respectable. He was still F+ rank and still weaker than most hunters, but he was getting stronger.
[Dungeon Cleared: Goblin Fortress World]
[Time: 4 hours 32 minutes]
[Solo Clear Achieved]
[Rating Available via First Impression]
The First Impression skill. He almost forgot about it, the second ability he awoke with that nobody understood. The System was asking him to rate the dungeon.
"Okay chat," he said, leaning against the throne because the steps were getting uncomfortable. "Time to review this place. Goblin Fortress World, F-rank dungeon, solo cleared by yours truly. Let's break it down."
He thought about it for a second, trying to be fair despite everything that tried to kill him.
"Design: six out of ten. The open world thing was cool and I liked that it wasn't just a cave, but it got repetitive after a while. Same ruined buildings everywhere, same goblin camps. The fortress was a nice change of pace but nothing special. Needed more variety, maybe some puzzles or hidden areas."
Four hundred and twelve viewers were watching now and the number kept climbing even after the boss was dead.
"Difficulty: four out of ten. Fair for an F-rank dungeon, maybe a little easy if you know what you're doing. The hobgoblin and the shaman were decent challenges but the regular goblins were free kills once I got a weapon. The boss was tanky but too slow, especially after chat debuffed him."
[Chat]
[viewer_47: bro gave it a 4 after almost dying like ten times]
[lonely_ghost: LMAOOO]
[randomgamer42: tangeni built different]
[bestlittlesis: you literally passed out from blood loss earlier]
"I didn't almost die that many times," he said defensively.
[Chat]
[lonely_ghost: yes you did]
[viewer_47: we watched you almost die at least ten times]
[bestlittlesis: tangeni i was counting it was twelve]
"Okay maybe I almost died a few times. Moving on."
He grinned despite how tired he was.
"Loot: five out of ten. Got a sword early which saved my life, got a skill book drop from the shaman which was huge, got the boss sword at the end. Not bad for an F-rank but nothing crazy. Would have been nice to get some armor, you know, something to protect me from all those hits I took."
The counter hit five hundred and thirty viewers and people were sharing clips already, filling his vision with notification icons.
"Boss: seven out of ten. Skibidi Goblin was a good fight, tanky enough to be dangerous but slow enough to outplay. Chat naming him was the highlight. The morale debuff from the naming thing was clutch, I don't know if I could have won without it. Would recommend fighting him, just don't forget to let chat name him first."
[Donation: 50 credits]
[legend_hunter: FIRST STREAM AND HE CLEARED IT LETS GO]
Fifty credits. That was more than he made in a week at his old delivery job.
[Donation: 25 credits]
[flame_queen: you deserve this king]
[Donation: 10 credits]
[randomgamer42: best content ive seen in months no cap]
More donations kept rolling in and he watched the credit counter in his vision tick up higher and higher. People were actually paying him money to watch him almost die, and apparently that was a viable business model.
"Overall rating: five point five out of ten. Mid dungeon, good for beginners, not much replay value. If you're an F-rank hunter looking for your first solo clear, Goblin Fortress World is a decent choice. Just bring a weapon, don't be an idiot like me. And maybe bring a party, or at least some armor. Actually just do the opposite of everything I did and you'll be fine."
[Review Published: Goblin Fortress World]
[Intel Value: Low-Medium]
[First Impression Bonus: 500 Credits]
Five hundred more credits for the review. Between the stream, the donations, and the dungeon rewards, he made almost three thousand credits in one afternoon. That was rent money, food money, new gear money, maybe even enough to take his family out for a real dinner instead of the cheap stuff they usually ate.
A portal appeared in the center of the throne room, swirling blue-white like the gate he came through to mark the exit.
There were eight hundred and forty-seven viewers watching him stand in front of it.
"Thanks for watching, chat," he said. "This was my first stream ever and I didn't expect anyone to show up, let alone watch me almost die a hundred times."
bestlittlesis: twelve times
viewer_47: it was definitely more than twelve
"Okay fine, more than twelve times. Point is, this was insane and I couldn't have done it without you guys. Chat literally saved my life with the flank callout on the shaman, and the Skibidi Goblin naming thing was the biggest clutch of all time. Same time tomorrow, we're going to find another dungeon and do this again."
[Chat]
[bestlittlesis: TANGENI PLEASE GO TO A HOSPITAL FIRST]
[lonely_ghost: bro is already planning the next one lmaooo]
[viewer_47: followed and subscribed]
[randomgamer42: best stream ive seen in months]
[flame_queen: ill be there tomorrow for sure]
He stepped through the portal.
The world twisted around him the same way it did before, colors bleeding into noise and noise becoming nothing, and then he was standing outside the gate in the abandoned industrial zone. The orange sky of Goblin Fortress World was gone, replaced by the gray overcast of Neo-Lumina in the evening.
The bored guard was still sitting in his folding chair, still scrolling through his phone, but he looked up when Tangeni materialized out of the portal. His eyes went wide.
"You... actually cleared it?"
Tangeni tried to say something cool, something for the stream, but his legs gave out and he collapsed on the concrete. The guard jumped up from his chair and ran over, shouting something about calling medical services.
He tried to focus on the guard but his eyes drifted to the viewer count one last time.
He grinned at the eight hundred and ninety-two viewers watching him lie on the ground, bloody and exhausted because he just did the impossible.
His first stream, his first dungeon clear, and his first step toward something bigger, and he was already thinking about what came next even as consciousness slipped away.