Is It Bad That the Main Character's a Roleplayer?

Chapter 30: The Consequences of One’s Choices (5)

“Shit…"

After watching over the horses for about five hours, Deathbringer started swearing, suddenly irritated with his situation.

“I should have followed him."

Was it because his job of looking over the horses was simply too mundane? Or was it because the Archmage had said they might have to give up on this city?

He just kept looking at a certain someone's back. Someone who continued to move forward without ever looking back.

“No, even if I followed him, he wouldn't need my help."

Didn't the Demon Knight say so? That he was weak and would just be a burden!

“…Tsk."

Even so, the tightness in his chest simply wouldn't go away.

Deathbringer simply wiped over his face but couldn’t wipe away his frustration.

“What the hell am I doing?"

He was told the city was a very dangerous place right now, so what was he doing here just watching over some horses? If they failed, wouldn't he die here, as well? The situation was just that precarious.

But he knew his place too well to just ask to join them. His specialty was picking people's pockets, not Demons' lives.

“This is all because of Skyley."

He had just asked her to lend him some horses, and she made him follow these guys. If not for that, he would be sleeping like a baby in Somon right about now.

His safety would be guaranteed, and he wouldn't need to endure any verbal abuse demanding he go away or constantly being called a criminal!

“Help me, my ass… "

He gritted his teeth as he recalled his conversation with Skyley before leaving Somon.

『Keep an eye on him, kid.』

『What?』

『And think carefully about what you want to do from now on.』

『What are you talking about…?』

『Judge with your own eyes whether you really won’t regret it, even if the rest of your life ends up resembling his. I’m sure it’ll help you in the future.』

How… how would that help him in the future? He did what she’d asked, followed them, slept with them, and then he would die, so what was the good in that?!

And he had no idea why she thought his life would eventually resemble the Demon Knight’s. He had no intention of becoming a Demon hunter.

“Sigh, damn it. Should I just bounce now…?”

He really wanted to, but he wasn’t confident he could break through this siege alone. Damn it. He wasn’t even equal to them, either.

“Why didn’t I even think of refusing her? Really pisses me off… Huh?”

He paused momentarily, then quickly came down from the Temple wall.

He didn’t quite remember how he ended up on the Temple walls. That would require a lot of thinking, but since it wasn’t immediately important, he just stopped thinking about it.

“…Who are those bastards?”

What he needed to focus on now was that suspicious group hiding away in an alley.

* * *

Just how many Demon Contractors were hiding in this city?

Whenever I tried to catch my breath, more enemies would come rushing in, and the specific frustration brought on by enclosed spaces like these made me feel even more tired.

The uncertainties of not knowing the time or where this dungeon would end were equally overwhelming for me.

Should I just leave now and come back later? I even had these kinds of thoughts…

Of course, putting my character setting aside, a gamer’s unique stubbornness of wanting to see who gives in first eventually won, though. Going back was actually a lot more bothersome, after all.

“Sigh.”

Fortunately, it seemed I had almost reached the end. Not only did I already explore half of the map, but I also succeeded in finding a path leading down.

The new [Tracking] skill I had gotten also showed me that the traces were leading underground, so I was certain.

“…Let’s rest for a bit.”

After reaching the destination, I was sure a boss battle would ensue. As such, I decided to do some maintenance and preparation for now. Well, all I did was cover my wounds with bandages and sharpen my blades.

“Cuts, wounds from that mob’s needle.”

Since I could only vaguely feel pain, it was rather difficult for me to find the injured areas.

I tried temporarily raising my pain level. Was it because I only raised it by 10%? I didn’t really feel any different than before. The wounds were probably minor, then.

However, I thought it would be too painful if I raised it further, so I just fumbled around to find the injured areas. I happened to stumble over a few.

「Hemostatic Bandages │ Cloth used to cover wounds. It doesn’t have much of a healing effect, but it may prevent bleeding.」

For your information, in the Legend of Heroes remake, there weren’t any items like potions that instantly restored one’s HP.

Well, they might exist and I just couldn’t find them, or they might appear later in the game, but what I was trying to say was that I had to rely on natural recovery for now.

That didn’t make the bandages useless. Bleeding was a condition that lowered one’s natural recovery rate or reduced HP at a certain rate, and bandages solved that problem.

Although their effect might not be immediate, they weren’t pointless.

Wrap.

After I wrapped some bandages around my left forearm and right thigh, my HP, which had been hovering around the same spot for some time, finally started slowly recovering.

Now, it was time to take out my blades.

I wiped down my sword with the hem of my coat. Since I had nothing else to wipe away the blood, I had to use it that way temporarily. Clothes were cleaned automatically in this game, anyway.

Scrape, scrape.

Completely relying on the game’s correction, as I had no idea how to do something like this, my hands mechanically sharpened the blade. Since it wasn’t a task that required thinking, I felt a bit dazed for a moment.

「A hostile existence has entered a radius of 20m.」

However, this dungeon simply didn’t leave me alone.

Taking my two almost completely sharpened blades, I looked around. There were no visible signs of enemies.

Then why did that notification appear?

Tak.

Hearing the sound of falling stones, I lowered my gaze. I could see a target move inside the hole leading down.

I wondered how many would come up this time to stop me.

“Shit, why aren’t those who went ahead coming back?”

Gee, I wonder why. I quietly placed my lantern on the floor and carefully stepped out of its light. As bright as it was, the area outside its radius was eerily dark. So dark that I could easily hide in it.

“There’s no one left now…”

“Stop complaining. Just hold on for a bit longer.”

Soon, one of them came out from the hole.

“But who put that lantern here? What if we get caught because of it…?!”

“No idea. We’ll just have to clean the area. It’s almost time, anyway.”

And then another one came.

My hands, buried in darkness, held onto my Zweih?nder like a lance.

“All of them went up, right? Why should we—?”

Ah, they noticed. It didn’t really matter, though.

“Huh?”

This wasn’t an official skill, but if I had to give it a name, it would be something like [Charging Thrust]. Useless thoughts ran through my mind as I put some strength into my feet.

Thud. Barely giving off a sound, my body bounced forward.

“What are you do—?”

Staaab!!

This was what one usually meant by killing two birds with one stone, right?

I swung my sword to the right, looking at the people simultaneously pierced by my Zweih?nder. Slash! Although the sight was a bit gruesome, I had definitely mortally wounded these two enemies.

“Kuuurgh!”

However, when I saw one about to fall into the hole, I quickly grabbed him by the collar and pulled him up. If this corpse fell down there, those waiting below would be alerted, after all.

Well, considering that Sammokgu walked around here, I guessed it would take a while.

「? The Truth Behind the Curtain

? Search the Sewers

? Optional- Demons eliminated: 200 / ??」

At that moment, my kill counter hit 200.

As I wondered whether I actually killed that many things, I realized the number was overblown because of all the Goblins and Skeletons. The total number of Demon Contractors and stronger Demons I killed here was less than 40.

Still, it was true that the total amount was quite large.

“…Urgh, my eyes are straining.”

I pressed the area around my eyes as I grabbed the rope leading down the hole.

Those two said it was almost time when they came up here, so I needed to hurry. If I failed to get to the proper place just because I was a little lazy, I would get so pissed, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“Once this is over, I’ll just make an excuse that fits my character setting and get some proper rest.”

No matter the cost, I would absolutely sleep in some high-end, VIP inn. I would sleep for 12 hours tops in a soft, fluffy bed covered with a thick blanket, and after waking up, I would buy something delicious for breakfast.

Just imagining it made me feel better.

“Okay, let’s go.”

I began my descent, dreaming of a comfortable bed and delicious food.

* * *

* * *

Since I turned off the lantern after retrieving it, total, impenetrable darkness was pressing at me from all directions.

“Die!”

Then suddenly, as my feet touched the ground, I was attacked. Judging by the close proximity, it seemed to be a Vampire.

“Useless resistance.”

Ah, I was expecting it a bit, but I still got caught by surprise.

I couldn’t help but feel some regret as I swung my knife, making my voice sound as calm as possible. It wasn’t too hard to fight it, as I could determine the enemy's location using [Detection] and by sound.

And if it got a bit dicey, all I had to do was use [Survival Instinct] to get myself out of danger.

Ruuuuumble!

Uwaaargh.

“Die, you bastards.”

Judging by the multiple presences I felt around me, the space seemed quite large. With that in mind, I immediately used Ground Crash before grabbing my Zweih?nder and swinging it.

Crush!

The sounds of crashing and screams echoed in the endless darkness. It was a sound born through the screams of various Demons and people melding together.

“Damn it, we can’t attack him!”

“Vampires, take the lead! Take some Demons with you! We just need to hold on for a few more minutes!”

I see. So there were only a few more minutes left. I should move faster, then.

“Did you think I’d let you do that…!”

I sent a [Slash] barrage in all directions. The MP needed for the skill steadily drained from my MP bar, but it was better than giving these guys more time to summon a powerful mob.

Of course, their plan might be different from the summoning in Somon, but that was something I could think about later.

Furthermore, my MP recovery was pretty fast, so the skill was worth giving a few shots. And I really didn’t want to think too deeply about certain things right now. I was simply too tired.

“Uwaaargh!!”

“I can’t see it!”

“Kaaargh!”

Alright, so was there a separate boss room or something? Where is it?

It was hard to tell because I couldn’t really see anything. They had killed all the lights in fear of someone noticing the Demons and their Contractors, so the area seemed especially gloomy.

“Is it there?!”

I couldn’t find any hints at all.

However, after some time, I finally discovered a faint light flowing in. It was creeping toward me from the other side of the hall. Its shape resembled that of a magic circle.

Additionally, a strong smell of blood and rotten meat penetrated my nose, even though my sense of smell had already grown numb from the sewer’s stench.

They were clearly performing a sacrificial ritual.

“I’ll kill you all…!”

As such, I ran straight toward the light. Trying to avoid making the mistake made in Somon, I slashed out as I ran this time.

I wanted to kill at least three people performing the ritual to stop it.

“Now!”

It was then I realized I had misunderstood something.

“Bind him!”

That magic circle wasn’t for summoning a boss mob.

Glooow!

Even though I had killed two of the Contractors powering the magic circle with a slash and a third by stabbing them, the magic circle still activated. The light of the lines making up the circle began glowing stronger, enough to brighten up the whole area.

A pile of corpses became vaguely visible in the darkness. Some magic was invoked. and something came out of the circle.

Clatter!

It wasn’t some high-ranking Demon, but white and red chains.

“…!”

Because of my curiosity about what that might be and the anxiety brought on by my gamer’s instinct, I urgently tried to get away from the magic circle.

However, that was when I realized my second mistake.

“I can’t move…!”

One of the Vampires I stabbed had miraculously survived and grabbed me by the ankles.

Clank!

That thing was so weak that I could have shaken it off just by applying some strength to my leg, but I had lost too much time because of it.

The chains coming toward me wrapped around my arm as I tried to resist.

My right arm, which wasn’t holding anything, had been tied up by those chains.

“To be beaten by something like this—”

Well, whatever. Shouldn’t it be fine since I could easily break through the Archmage’s bindings?

With that in mind, I tried using my skills. Claaank. At that moment, my left arm had also been tied up by more chains.

“What…!”

As much as I wanted to shake it off, an incomprehensible strength was binding both my arms. Even if I used one of my skills, this was simply too much.

After my arms, the chains tied around my neck, choking me. It wasn’t to the point of actually strangling me, but it still felt like a choker or something.

“Was he bound?!”

“We succeeded…!”

Next, my waist, thighs, and ankles were completely wrapped in chains. It was around then that the hall began to brighten up.

A magic circle was in the middle of the room, with lanterns sparsely placed around it. It looked like a makeshift altar.

However, could I really call those things lanterns? They were made from hollowed-out cube-shaped marble filled with oil and lit on fire, or so it seemed.

I tried remembering what those things were called for a moment before returning to my senses. I didn’t have the time to think about useless things like that. I was about to die here. I had to get out of these chains as quickly as possible.

I had no idea where my last save point was, but I really didn’t want to do this again.

“How dare you, you bastards…!”

“We finally got you!”

“This was originally intended to be used on the Hero, but…”

I felt like I was about to go crazy. From what was said, they were acting like I was the final boss here.

Well, to be fair, the strongest and most vicious person in a game was the player, so that perception wasn’t entirely wrong. “Well, it doesn’t really matter. The Hero has also entered the underground cave, after all.”

“Sigh, we finally get to kill that monster…!”

“You think these flimsy chains can hold me?!”

I intermittently shook my body, attempting to free myself from the chains.

Did it matter since the Hero had also entered the underground cave already? Also, this wasn’t a summoning circle but one made to bind a specific target.

Moreover, going by what I heard, this magic circle seemed to have been initially intended to be used on the Hero… So, was their original intention to bind the Hero here? If so, why did they say it would be fine, even though the Hero has also entered the underground cave…?

Ah, my head was so muddled that I couldn’t even think properly. How irritating.

Grooowl.

At that moment, the two Sammokgu and five Skeletons I couldn't kill before slowly approached me. However, I still couldn’t break through these chains.

Even if I wanted to use skills, there was no point in even trying as I couldn’t swing a weapon properly with my body tied up like this.

I was sure I could break the chains with the black energy surrounding my sword if I struck with it, but that wouldn’t work now.

This situation was truly annoying.

Wait, was I going to die here? Wow, that’s too much. No, I didn’t really mind dying because it wouldn’t be in vain, but I wouldn’t have to do all this again, right? Where was my last save point, seriously?

Or would that actually happen…?

I let out a sigh through my tied-up throat.

There was a certain matter I had been thinking about ever since I realized I was trapped in this game.

If my player character died, the city got destroyed, or anything else went wrong, and I was sent to the GAME OVER screen…

Would I be able to log out, or did I have to retry, or would something else entirely happen…?

Growl.

I let out a shaky breath as I looked at the Sammokgu before me.

Ah, being forced to retry was the most likely scenario, right? While being able to log out would be best, honestly, that was very unlikely to happen.

So, in the end, the former would probably occur. I would have to retry after getting killed by a stupid dog or a pile of bones, huh?

Wow. That was just too much. Even after catching all those elite mobs, I would die to these trash mobs before I even got to see the boss.

This was just, just…

At that point, I just stopped thinking.

My struggling, which had stopped for a moment, resumed. It would have been nice if I could apply my skills to just my body. If I could, an opportunity to apply more strength to my fists and swing them out would certainly come. Those thoughts were running through my mind.

Even to me, those thoughts were utterly shameless. I was asking them to increase the skill application range when the game already suffered from so many bugs. I really had no conscience.

Rumble.

And yet, the game actually listened to me.

I could see the black energy effect that only appeared when activating a skill emerging from the gauntlet on my right arm.

“No! Hurry up and kill him!”

“But that binding took 40 sacrifices to form…!”

“Hah—!”

What? What? Seriously?

However, not one to miss an opportunity, I immediately put some strength into my arm. The acted-out laughter fitting my character was a bonus.

“I should have told you…!”

The chains, which hadn’t even budged up until this point, began giving off clinking sounds. Thoughts of calling it ‘a buggy game’ and ‘a divine game I just couldn’t log out of’ were mixing in my head.

“Don’t ever think you can stop me with something as flimsy as that!”

Snap!

The chains around my right arm shattered with incongruously clear sound.