Novel Bin Chapter 9: I Didn't Know (2)
Chapter 9: I Didn't Know (2)
Kaang!
The blade infused with black energy looked truly ominous and sinister. However, if one knew that this was a Demon Knight’s skill, one would realize that there wasn’t a more suitable effect for such a skill.
“Kurgh!”
“Hiding behind that shield of yours makes you seem like a little turtle…!”
“You little…!”
The Priest gritted her teeth at my provocation and lifted her mace again.
“God is with me!”
Suddenly, a glowing light scattered through the dark forest, embracing the mace as its source.
I couldn’t remember the skill’s name, but it looked like an attack buff, perhaps? No, was it actually a defense buff?
Anyway, the pain from her attacks didn’t seem much different to me. However, because of our poor compatibility, the Priest’s attacks did an additional 30% damage.
As such, I quickly stepped back. I didn’t know how big our level difference was, but I could see more than half of my HP bar disappearing in just one hit. It would have been better had I been careful from the get-go.
Thump, thump.
Rather than continuing to attack me, the Priest transmitted more light by tapping her shield with her mace.
That was a total cheat. In the original, I could only buff one of my weapons.
“Haap!”
Then my opponent, who rushed forward with her large rectangular shield stuck to the ground, swung her mace.
The attack wasn’t too difficult to evade. Because Priest-type classes were usually more focused on strength than agility, they were often slower.
However, just because my opponent couldn’t hit me properly didn’t mean I had the advantage.
I couldn’t get any hits on my opponent either, all because of that stupidly large shield she was carrying.
“You coward…!”
What was cowardly was that she was constantly hiding behind that shield, guaranteeing a 100% guard rate. I couldn’t cause any damage to her unless I somehow managed to penetrate that thing…!
Even if I tried to attack her back, she would simply follow my movements and turn around with her shield. However, even without it, her metal armor provided a strong defense. Even her backside was armored.
She really was an infuriating Priest.
‘How about aiming for her head?’
I pondered as I stared at her entirety, feeling aggravated.
She wasn’t wearing a helmet, so if I stabbed her head with one of my swords, it would be fatal.
How could I pierce such a massive shield? There was no way I could do something like that.
‘If I press down on it with a strong force or something.’
A skill… Would it be possible if I used a skill? Even if her guard rate was 100%, if I struck the shield strongly enough, I could knock it out of her hand.
“Tsk.”
Ah, I didn’t know anymore. I was exhausted because the confrontation between us was taking too long.
So I just had to bet everything on this gamble.
“I will make sure to offer your head to your victims!”
“Phew…”
I tightly gripped my sword.
My aim was to jump over her shield and attack her. This movement wouldn’t have been possible if this was running on a PC and not a VR game, although it should only be attempted if one was skilled enough.
Still, from my point of view, I wasn’t that bad a player, nor was I scared of a small challenge like that. Even after thinking about it again, it was something worth trying.
Even if I failed, I could start over again, as this was just a game.
As such, I sucked in some air and kicked my Zweihänder, which I had tilted slightly toward the ground. After bouncing up, the blade spun gently before I properly grasped it.
Bam!
I then hit the top part of her shield. It tilted slightly as a groan flowed out of my opponent’s mouth. It was nice seeing her react like that, even though my attack hadn’t worked properly.
“Do you really think I would lose to something like that!”
Then my opponent charged at me with her shield. It felt like a bull was rushing toward me, but it didn’t seem that scary, as I was in a position where dying once would still be fine.
Instead, I mechanically retrieved my weapon, raised one of the hands holding the hilt to the Ricasso, and lifted the sword over my head.
Thud!
I jumped up at the same time. As if climbing a wall, the soles of my feet stepped on the surface of the tilted shield.
“…!”
My opponent noticed what was happening and tried to push me away with her shield, but I wasn’t sent flying away like in those manhwas.
At that moment, with my body seemingly attached to the shield, I spun the sword above my head. Using the hand holding the Ricasso as the axis, I rotated the blade to point downward.
With that, my position would allow me to strike her behind her shield.
A white blade struck down.
“Urgh!”
Kadadang!
I had aimed for her head, but my blade instead hit her shoulder. Due to her protective gear, I couldn't even scratch her skin. What a pity.
I wanted to attack her more, but gravity slowly dragged at my feet. As I felt my body sliding down the shield, my thoughts moved through my head at lightning speed.
Hmm. If I fell like that, I would most certainly get hit by the mace from the left next.
Just in case, I activated [Survival Instinct]. A translucent arrow pointed to the right side of the shield. It was an area in which I could avoid being hit by that mace.
So I put all my weight to the right. A very wise decision, as my fall to the side allowed me to avoid the subsequent strike by the mace.
Phew. That scared the crap out of me. I rolled once and was soon back on my feet, my body completely out of the Priest’s range.
“You Demon—”
Still, I got some good results out of this. I didn’t do much damage, but I did get in a proper attack, didn’t I?
I could select at least one good scene out of this fight. I was recording all my plays, so I should check out the video later.
“By the way, fanatic…!”
I barely managed to stop my eyes from widening with joy as I rolled on the ground while swearing.
Thanks to that, I was able to move diagonally behind the Priest.
Her movements were sluggish from her shield sticking to the ground and her mace grounded right in front of it.
“You should pay the price for freely flailing your tongue about!”
Wasn’t this a fantastic opportunity? Ah, I couldn’t miss this. I had to do it right this time—!
“Oh Fire, burn my enemies!”
I tried to hit her with my sword right away using a skill. Well, I would have succeeded if not for the spell cast from the other side of the forest.
“So there was another rat!”
Wow. There was one more coming here? Right now?
They were so merciless. Did they even make this event winnable?
I stepped back without even trying to block, my expression completely crumpled. The ball of fire struck the area where I had just stood, and a temporary pillar of fire rose high into the air.
It was more than obvious this was a Wizard-type class skill.
What should I do? At this point, even I, a veteran gamer, was a little flustered. That didn’t mean that I wasn’t having fun, though.
Was this some kind of plot point, or did they suddenly bring out a healer/tanker and a long-range dealer as a combo enemy? They were even higher-leveled than the player at that point, too?
Could one still call this fair…? I didn’t think so, at least. It wasn’t like I just wandered into some high-level map first. I came here because of a Quest still deemed part of the tutorial.
“Sir Archmage!”
“Oh my. I never thought you would have so much trouble, Ms. Inquisitor.”
I furrowed my brows before almost reflexively unfurling them again. Archmage and Inquisitor were the names of the 3rd-class advancement of the Wizard and Priest paths, respectively.
“You’re late, but anyway, I need your help!”
Of course, as the game genre had changed, the class change function might have disappeared—the trailer hadn’t been very clear about that—and they might just be titles now.
“Archmage? Hah, it seems you sages aren’t much anymore either, seeing that you associate with lunatics who randomly attack passersby!”
So I just fired off with those insults! Even if those titles still alluded to the names of the class advancements, I still would have done it!
“Passersby? How could you, scum who made a contract with a Demon, pretend to be innocent!”
Meanwhile, the Priest threw remarks at me that played well into my character setting. I couldn’t just let that go.
“Contract? Did you just say that I made a contract?”
Looking at these lines alone, it might seem to this character that she’d mistaken him as someone who signed a contract with the demonic bastard who killed his whole family.
Because of that incident, he had dedicated his whole life to hunting Demons, so if anyone misunderstood him in such a way, it was inevitable that this would flip his switch.
“Hah! It seems you devoted yourself to God’s light so much that it’s blinded you!”
I made my voice sound as scratchy as possible, letting out a sharp laugh to express those feelings.
It may be a bit arrogant, but I believe I managed to express that deep-seated resentment quite well if I do say so myself.
I hoped the expression I wore was just as perfectly fitting. I didn’t know how I looked, but well, it was dark anyway, so the other two wouldn’t see it, either.
“God has no use for a senseless person like you! I'll just tear you apart and feed the pieces to dogs!"
“How dare a traitor—!"
“…? Wait a second…"
It seemed like the Archmage was trying to say something, but we were much faster in drawing our weapons.
「A hostile existence has entered a radius of 10m.」
* * *
* * *
Ssssssss!
A creepy sound penetrated my ear, not too far from the Archmage and myself.
I instinctively stopped in my tracks when the System Window appeared before my eyes. The Priest also seemed to have noticed something; her sparkling light didn't move.
“Disgusting bastard, he must have called his friends!"
I ignored the Priest's words and observed my surroundings. Having recognized that there was an enemy, I started to notice many other things on the trees and under the ground.
There were dozens of sounds that all gathered in one place. Even the forest's darkness couldn't conceal their presence.
“…I wondered what kind of Demon it was, able to conceal itself to such a degree, but it turned out to be a Medusa, huh?"
The Archmage muttered. However, it was still loud enough for me to hear. Even without saying it, I already knew about that.
「Medusa │ A Demon created by gathering hundreds of snakes around a red one. They disperse as soon as they sense danger.」
As that floating Window described, a Medusa was a gathering of hundreds of snakes. Because of that, its appearance was quite disgusting. It was also rather difficult to hunt. It tended to disperse if it was about to die, only to gather around that red snake again to reform their body.
“Sigh."
But how was that important? As they existed to be killed, there was a method to effectively hunt them as well.
So all one needed to pay attention to was the appearance of that thing and keep in mind that it was a Demon.
“Is that the Demon…?!"
As I thought, this was all part of the plot! Otherwise, this enemy wouldn't have appeared with this kind of timing!
In that case, was it the sort of scenario in which we would have to cooperate using a common enemy as an excuse?
“Well done, you worms!"
But I denied that kind of scenario!
The character setting I had made for this character described him as an antisocial and uncooperative guy, of course. Furthermore, it was practically impossible for him to even consider cooperating with someone he had fought with not long ago.
“I shall grant you death!"
Nevertheless, I turned my blade toward the Demon, as my analysis told me that his hatred of Demons was still greater than how he felt toward those characters.
To put the cherry on top, I completely immersed myself in my character and put a mad expression on my face.
Of course, I turned my back to them without a shred of hesitation, as if I had forgotten about that Priest and Wizard completely. They were only number two on my priority list! Gyahaha.
“Victory to my blade, glory to the heavens!"
I wasn't confident I could deal with that snake in total darkness, unlike that sparkling Priest.
As such, I turned on my lantern as I shouted my catchphrase. A Medusa was especially sensitive to light, so that was absolutely essential.
“What…?"
I thought I heard someone let out a stupid voice behind me, but that was none of my business anymore. So long as they didn't hit me over the head from behind, that much was enough.
Actually, even if they did… I had already been ready to die. 'Priest, you really know how to fight me. It is indeed common knowledge not to turn one’s back on their opponent.' That would be the end of my assessment of her if she actually did it.
But was she a character to do something like that to begin with? The plot wouldn't progress normally if she were, though. Also, even if she didn't do it, I felt like she could smash me to bits in just a few minutes anyway.
Sssssssss!
Without further ado, I pierced my Zweihänder into the Medusa's torso. I cut through dozens of snakes whose lifeless bodies fell to the ground.
However, others quickly took their place. The snakes that didn't actually die even sunk their teeth into me.
I ignored them. I had set the pain level to low, so it didn't really hurt. My HP didn't really take that big a hit, either.
My gauntlet-clad hand dug through the cluster of snakes.
SSS!
Ah. I had wanted to do that so much when playing the original.
Even if those snakes bit me, they would only cause two or five points of damage anyway, so it would be better to take those hits and get a hold of their main body. In the original game, one would have to cut it multiple times until it lost enough HP and then attack the red snake as they were scattering…
“There you are…!”
With snakes attached to my neck and limbs, I finally found the red snake. After I finally grabbed it with my hands, it struggled to escape my grip.
But attacking it would be too easy now.
I tossed the red snake I had plucked out in a completely random direction as if I’d thrown it away. Then I grabbed my Zweihänder from where I had stuck it in the tangled-up serpents.
The incredibly long sword slid out of the snake pile, dripping with their blood and reflecting the radiance of the lantern tied to my waist.
Slash!
Before the red snake could escape, my blade slashed through its form. Its long body was split in two, shedding vermillion blood.
However, I had to be sure. I cut it close to its tail in case it was still alive.
Bam!
I took my sword and slashed it again. I severed the snake’s head as it continued writhing, maybe out of a will to survive or perhaps because of the onset of rigor mortis.
Slash!
I cut it vertically and horizontally, but my hatred for that Demon wouldn’t end with just that.
I also smashed it to bits with my sword. I was pretty satisfied seeing its crushed head. A true roleplayer had to take care of even these trivial things.
「LEVEL UP!」
「❖ Danger in the Northwestern Forest
∎ Search for the Demon lurking in the Northwestern Forest
∎ Demon eliminated: 1 / 1
∎ Proof for hunting retrieved: 0 / 1」
As I did so, my Quest updated.
With their core dead, the snakes forming the Medusa’s body dispersed quickly in all directions. The feeling of those snakes falling off my body was refreshing and a little damp.
“Hah…”
I looked at the dead Medusa and raised the corners of my mouth slightly. I couldn’t really tell because I didn’t have a mirror, but the smile I was wearing probably didn’t look very pretty. It reflected madness rather than joy.
Additionally, I was smiling while covered in blood from head to toe, so how could that look pretty? It would be weirder if one didn’t think I was some crazy person.
Now that I thought of it, he would go absolutely crazy when confronted with Demons, so it was probably better that I seemed like that.
Oh well, whatever. With that, the Quest was over. So the only thing left now was to deal with that Wizard and Priest…
Right now, my character should be in a state of excitement after killing that Demon. Considering his grudge against those two over mistaking him for a Demon, it would only be right to react to them even more fiercely than before, right?
Alright, immersion ON!
Crack, crack.
I turned my stiff neck slightly and placed my sword on my shoulder. Then I erased the smile from my face while keeping my thirst for Demon blood and level of madness intact as I stared at those two.
“I commend you for not interfering in killing those damn rats. It seems like even fanatics have that much sense left in them.”
Honestly, I knew that this might get in the way of the plot a bit.
But if the plot got ruined just because of these words, that wouldn’t be very fun now, would it?
If they gave the player that much freedom to begin with, it should mean that the company was confident the game would adapt accordingly.Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m nov𝒆lb(i)n.c(o)m
“Now then, as promised, let me rip apart that mouth of yours.”
So, I would just do whatever I wanted. I couldn’t give up on roleplaying, even if I were to die.