Chapter 47 : Special item

As soon as I entered the hidden space, the first thing I felt was a sense of powerlessness.

My body became heavier, and I felt as if the surrounding air was pushing me away.

Resistance built up as I tried to move forward, and I felt an odd sensation in simply trying to move.

I knew what had happened. It was something I had experienced in the game before.

I opened the status window, which I had forgotten about since there was no need to view it until now.

[Rudion]
[Strength: 17 (-12)]
[Endurance: 8 (-6)]
[Agility: 26 (-18)]
[Magic: 11 (-8)]

This was a debuff reducing my stats.
It seemed to have decreased by about 70%, just like in the game.

But that’s not a problem. The stats were already below average to begin with, and here, as long as I don’t mess with anything too much, it doesn’t really matter what the numbers are.

However, growth seems to be blocked. It’s changing into something else.

I don’t know how I can use this yet, but I might as well keep it in mind for now.

For now, I decided to take a moment to reflect on where I had entered.

The secrets of the Lubetia Imperial family are many, but three things are often regarded as most important.

The remnants of the past, the curse of the defeated, and the fate of the apocalypse.

One is the dark knowledge accumulated by the ancient ancestors of Lubetia.

Another is the seed of demonic magic created by the curses of kingdoms lost in the Lubetia war.

And the final one… is an absurd, yet incredibly rare, gimmick: the sudden arrival of the apocalypse.

And here, in this place, I had fortunately been able to deal with the last one.

“If the first two happen, they’d be pretty troublesome…”

They make sense, so I can at least understand them, but the apocalypse gimmick, I still don’t get why it was included in the first place.

Have you ever experienced the emptiness of suddenly seeing the message ‘The apocalypse is upon us,’ and then the game ending out of nowhere?

I even experienced this right after the game was released, during the first playthrough.

I spent a long time trying to figure out what I had done wrong, but nothing came up.

It wasn’t until months later that I finally discovered what was going on, and it started popping up on the internet… I had really suffered an unbelievable random event.

Anyway, since it’s such an absurd ending, the probability of it happening is equally ridiculous, so I didn’t think I needed to worry about it… but since I’ve come this far, it’s better to eliminate at least one potential problem.

With that thought in mind, I walked further inside when a voice echoed from the air, its gender indeterminable.

An unauthorized individual has been detected.

I lifted my head towards the direction of the sound, but there was no one to be seen.

Yet, I wasn’t particularly startled.

“This place really is exactly the same as the game,” I thought.

Since the story was unfolding in exactly the same way as it did in the game.

Because of that, I ignored the voice and continued walking further into the space.

Perhaps sensing that, the voice issued another warning.

Unauthorized individual’s approach is prohibited. Please stop.

Failure to comply will trigger the defense protocol.

“Go ahead~”

While it was called a defense, in reality, it was a function designed to eliminate intruders.

Powerful magical bullets began to fly haphazardly through the space, and since my endurance was only 2, even a single hit would likely kill me.

In other words, I had to play a bullet-hell game where not even one hit was allowed.

And there would be no retries.

‘This is a bit tense.’

But I was somewhat confident.
The difficulty level was absurd, but this was originally a game for experienced players.

Executing defense protocol.

Just after the voice in the air spoke, a bright red line began to appear in the air.

I quickly realized what it was.

‘Are they showing me this too?’

It was marking the locations where the attacks were going to come from.

I don’t know what the criteria are for what’s visible, but… I was planning to just dodge the bullets, and this makes it easier.

I move my body, recalling the memories of playing here.

I dodge what I can, and ignore the rest with my invincible evasion.

Do you think solving difficult patterns is a matter of talent?

No, it’s surprisingly a matter of effort.

How many times do you think I got a game over while playing this game?

Ten times? A hundred times?

‘I don’t really remember.’

I asked the question, but the truth is, there’s no answer. I don’t know either.

If I had cleared it enough times to count, that would be talent, for sure.

But now that I’ve started trying, it doesn’t really matter how many times I did it.

I just keep going until I clear it.

That’s probably why I’ve been able to survive until now after coming to this place.

Looking back now, the evasion and parrying I’ve done so far… If I had messed up even once, who knows what would have happened.

‘I did it because I was confident… but…’

I wonder if I’ve been handling everything with too much of a game-like mindset, even though this is reality.

In fact, I entered this place with that same mindset, but of course, my thinking had to change.

While evading, my left arm suddenly started to sting.

“Ugh.”

It seemed a bullet had grazed my forearm without me even realizing it.

I thought I had dodged it, but my timing was just slightly off.

This was my first evasion failure and my first injury in this world.

Defense protocol deactivated. Authorization granted for this individual.

Complete. Access permitted. Welcome.

Fortunately, the situation ended before any further mistakes could happen.

The deafening noise from the bullets passing by faded away, and the bright red lines that had filled my vision vanished as well.

Looking around, I saw that the bullets I had dodged had created numerous holes in the wall, leaving a gruesome sight behind.

I felt like I might develop a fear of the open space, so I didn’t stare at it for too long. But one thing was certain.

…
That was reckless.

I almost just died back there.

Honestly, I’m lucky it just grazed me. If one of those had pierced me, I don’t even want to imagine what would’ve happened afterward.

I knew this place was dangerous, and that it wasn’t the kind of place you could casually challenge because it’s a high-level players’ playground.

But I thought I’d be fine.

I thought that if I just dodged well, like I had until now, I could get through everything easily and come out unscathed.

That wasn’t the case. The torn clothes from the magic bullets grazing me, and the red liquid flowing from where I was hit, were completely disproving my earlier assumptions.

Now I realize that, but… well…

At least I survived, so that’s something, right?

I’m fully aware of the situation, but somehow, all that comes to mind is this calm thought.

When faced with the threat of death, people often become calm.

And, along with the thought that I almost died, another thought crossed my mind.

“So this is how it is… I needed to be pushed this hard before I missed a dodge.”

In a state where my stats were reduced by 70%, and with bullets pouring from all directions—front, side, back, everywhere—I managed to miss a dodge once?

From now on, I think I can trust my evasion skills a little more.

Of course, I still need to be mindful of my safety. My left forearm was starting to sting.

“How do I explain this one?”

Looking at the wound, the skin had been torn in a straight line.

It’s just a sting right now, but I figured it would start to hurt properly soon.

My clothes were also torn. Seria would definitely say something if she saw this.

For now, I tore off a piece of my torn clothing and wrapped it around the wound to stop the bleeding.

It seemed to be working well. I felt like it was getting better.

Next, I headed toward the door that had opened, accompanied by the message that access had been granted.

I couldn’t just turn back now that I had come this far… I had to do what I could while I had the chance.

Beyond the door was a large hall with three doors.

Inside the hall were all sorts of treasures, relics, and special items scattered around.

“I didn’t think I’d be able to get here so soon.”

Honestly, I had planned to find this place eventually, but I didn’t expect to arrive so quickly.

Of course, I couldn’t just grab everything I needed and leave right now.

I could take things out if I wanted to, but… it would be too obvious if I did.

I still hadn’t unlocked the inventory, which was a bit of a regret.

Once I unlock it, I’ll probably come back here.

Still, I decided it was best to pick up anything useful for now, so I started rummaging through the items.

Soon enough, I found what I was hoping to find.

A peculiar purple gem, and a strange disk with a magic circle drawn on it.

…No system description, huh?

When I picked it up, I thought something like an item description would pop up, but it didn’t.

Come to think of it, if it was going to show something, it probably would’ve appeared by now.

I don’t really mind, though. I know exactly what the items are and what they can do.

[Vengeance of the Hidden Witch]

“There was no reason to take revenge on the witch who was never found, but her power was revenge itself.”

“While holding this item, if you take an attack from an opponent, ‘resentment’ will accumulate. You can expend all accumulated resentment to activate ‘revenge’ and deal fixed damage equal to the amount of accumulated resentment.”

The purple gem was one of the items I had thought of when pondering how to get through the world with evasion and parrying.

Of course, the resentment accumulated is quite minimal, and it can only stack up to 500, so it won’t deal massive damage to defeat top-tier enemies in one hit, but… the fact that it deals fixed damage is still highly valued.

I’ve never used it in the game, though. Usually, the protagonist’s normal attacks are stronger, so there’s no need for this.

But, assuming I use it with full charge, 500 damage is a decent amount in this dangerous world, and I can walk around a little more confidently with that.

I’m not sure if resentment will even accumulate properly, and if it does, it’ll probably be for a critical situation, but… it’s better than having nothing.

Then, the disk…

[The Regret of the Ancient Sorcerer]

“What do you think is necessary before beginning your journey?”

“Courage like a wolf? Flexibility like a butterfly? Stealth like a snake?”

“All wrong. What’s needed is the courage to acknowledge your own weakness and abandon the journey.”

“But it’s better to have something than nothing. Take at least one.”

“When used, a random type of mark is engraved on the body, and the ability corresponding to that mark is acquired.”

It’s a gacha system. An ability gacha.

There are three types of marks: the red wolf, the golden butterfly, and the black snake, but as long as I don’t get the snake, everything should be fine.

But how do I use this?

Not sure, so I placed my hand on the center of the disk, and it began to shimmer with magical energy.

At the same time, I felt something leaving my body.

It seemed like the magic from the person who touched the disk would activate it automatically.

How thoughtful of the ancient sorcerer to make this so convenient for newbies.

Flash!

The magic circle on the disk glowed, and something started to happen.

For now, this is my only hope, as my evasion and parrying are my main skills! Please, not the snake, at least not the snake!