Chapter 1: The Adventurer Who Snatched the Kobold Candle

 "What's that smell? Steel? Leather? Torches?... Ha, adventurer! Ah, it's an adventurer!"

 The goblin digger, who had been gathering mushrooms in the passage by the flickering light of a candle overhead, suddenly halted his work. His large nostrils had just caught a whiff of something peculiar in the air, prompting him to let out a sharp cry.

 Nearby, other goblin diggers also collecting mushrooms, upon hearing his cry, immediately drew their pickaxes, alert and ready.

 These creatures, with candles atop their heads, dressed in orange and red garments, with dog-like heads and rat-like tails, appeared comical at first glance. But in terms of ferocity, they were no less than beasts like wolves or leopards.

 "Charge!"

 But just as the goblin digger tried to discern the direction of the scent, something unknown rushed at him from the darkness, knocking him unconscious.

 No need to ask, it was undoubtedly the adventurer he had just detected—a human warrior.

 "Get him!"

 The other goblin diggers, seeing what had happened, raised their pickaxes and charged at the adventurer.

 "Hmph."

 The human warrior snorted disdainfully. Without bothering to draw his sword, he swung the unlit torch in his hand, knocking the goblins to the ground. Before they could rise, he swiftly extinguished the candles on their heads and pulled them off.

 At that moment, footsteps echoed from the other side of the passage.

 "Damn it, more of them! Why are there so many goblins here!"

 The human warrior grumbled in frustration, then pulled the candle from the goblin he had knocked out and promptly blew it out. As the last trace of light vanished from the passage, he took advantage of the darkness to flee.

 "Woof! Howl!"

 The reinforcements arrived swiftly, joined by the goblin diggers who had just regained consciousness, all emitting angry barks like puppies.

 But all they could do was express their fury with barks. After the human warrior escaped, a strong fishy smell quickly filled the air in the passage, making it impossible for them to track him by scent. In the labyrinthine underground tunnels full of forks, without the aid of smell, they had no hope of finding the fleeing human warrior.

 "Pant... pant..."

 After zigzagging through several twists and turns, the human warrior finally stopped, placing the lit torch aside and sitting down, gasping for breath. Despite his somewhat youthful face bearing scars, he appeared somewhat fierce.

 "Didn't expect the stinking salted fish I found on those fishmen before to come in handy today!"

 With that, he rewrapped the remaining fish, emanating a fishy odor, in the reeds and placed them back in his backpack. At every junction he had passed, he had dropped one to throw off the goblins' sense of smell.

 These fish, stored in his backpack for some time, were enough to make even himself, with his slightly stuffy nose, see stars upon catching a whiff. So, just like the previous escapes, he should be safe by now.

 "Fifty candles, I finally collected enough. I can finally leave this cursed place and deliver the mission!"

 The human warrior recounted the candles in his hand, adding those he had collected earlier in his backpack, ensuring he had gathered fifty in total before heaved a sigh of relief.

 His name was Alonso·Baird, a high-ranking human warrior.

 Originally, with his rank, he would have disdained dealing with goblins, such low-level monsters. However, the rewards for this task were considerable, so he accepted it wholeheartedly. The task was simple: kill fifty goblins and bring back the candles they wore atop their heads as proof of completion.

 But soon after entering the cave, he regretted it...

 The goblins here were significantly stronger and smarter than those he had encountered before. Yet, it wasn't just that which troubled him. These goblins liked to travel in groups, and the distance between these groups was close. Before he could even kill two goblins, another group, or even several, would come to their aid.

 Luckily, his extensive experience in dealing with monsters had honed his fleeing skills, or else he might have fallen into their hands.

 Yet, he didn't want to give up the lucrative rewards of the task. So, he came up with the embarrassing yet effective plan of snatching candles and running away.

 With the mission accomplished, Alonso followed the marks he had left at the junctions to find his way back to the entrance. As a seasoned adventurer, he had undertaken many exploration missions before, so he quickly arrived near the cave mouth.

 "Why is the entrance so dark? I remember kicking down the wooden door blocking the entrance when I came in?"

 Looking around at the marks, Alonso confirmed he was close to the exit, but apart from the flickering orange glow of torches, he couldn't see anything.

 "Could it be night already? It's confusing; spending so much time in the cave, I can't even tell what time it is. Huh! Why is there light again?"

 A light appeared in Alonso's direction, but it wasn't sunlight. Like the torches, it emitted a dim orange glow. Before Alonso could react, more lights appeared, illuminating everything around him.

 It was then that Alonso realized these lights weren't sunlight but the candles on the goblins' heads! He hadn't seen them before because the goblins had covered the flames with their hands. The flames of the candles were not hot enough to burn their calloused hands.

 "You can't take our candles!"

 Among the group of goblins, a significant portion had no candles on their heads. No need to ask, those candles must be in Alonso's backpack...

 Having been robbed of their candles, they couldn't track Alonso by scent, so they gathered at the cave entrance.

 "I've been Xed by these dog-headed creatures!"

 At this moment, Alonso showcased one of a warrior's essential skills—taunting (insulting).

 After being an adventurer for so many years and exterminating countless monsters, this was the first time he had been blocked by monsters.

 "Do you really think I'm afraid of you? Today, I'll show you what makes a high-ranking warrior truly terrifying!"

 Alonso glared, dropped the torch and extinguished it, held up his shield with one hand, and reached for his sword with the other.

 "Woof~"

 The goblins also sensed the danger emanating from Alonso and growled lowly, gripping their pickaxes tighter.

 The two sides faced off, and an intense battle seemed imminent.

 "Bring it on!"

 Alonso roared, and the goblins quickly drew their pickaxes to counter the sword. But instead of the expected sword, Alonso pulled out a leather water flask from his waist. The lid of the flask had already been unscrewed while he pretended to draw his sword.

 "Splash!"

 With a flick of his arm, the water from the flask splashed towards the densely lit area.

 The goblins, with their hands gripping the pickaxes, couldn't block it in time. The splash extinguished most of the candles.

 After splashing the water, Alonso turned and fled, while the goblins whose candles were still lit quickly chased after him.

 "Never mess with goblins' candles!" —From the front page of "Marlin's Underground Dungeon Adventure Diary."