Chapter 5: [STAGE 0] There’s a hole I can spring up through (2)

‘First, the magician. Lily.’

I quickly skipped over the regular stats window and opened Lily’s Traits tab.

[Lily (R)]

– Equipped traits (1 / 3)

} Fire Skin

It’s there!

It’s just like the game. Fire Skin.

[Fire Skin]

– A trait created due to an extreme fear of sharp weapons. Dodge physical attacks by turning your body into flames. Each evasion consumes MP.

It’s an excellent trait for a tanker. An amazing trait, actually, but the problem is that Lily is the main DPS in the party.

She’s also a fire-type magician that consumes a lot of mana.

This means that by the time Lily would have to use this trait, the party would already be on the verge of annihilation.

And in that kind of situation, rather than activating the trait, you’d have to squeeze the little mana you have left on attack magic.

This is how things will go in an average stage.

However, this situation is definitely irregular. So I’m thinking of actively taking advantage of this trait.

‘Next is Ken, the shield knight.’

I opened the trait tab in Ken’s status window.

[Ken (N)]

– Equipped Traits (1 / 3)

} Survival Method of a Petty Thief

As I expected there it is. The Survival Method of a Petty Thief.

[Survival Method of a Petty Thief]

– Habits from the user’s time as a petty thief. The user is able to decrease their presence in the face of danger and avoid attention. It consumes a lot of HP per use.

It’s an excellent trait too. If only Ken wasn’t a shield knight.

Ken is a shield knight who draws the enemy’s attention on the front line. His role is to attract the enemy’s attention by using wide AOE taunts and absorbing attacks with his body.

But a stealth trait?

Not to mention, it consumes a lot of HP per use.

It’d be great for a melee-type DPS class like the rogues, but this trait just doesn’t work with a shield knight like Ken.

However, I’ll have to somehow use it for now.

In a situation such as this, when using the straightforward tactic is impossible, all usable variables must be utilized.

‘And then, the last one.. Demian.’

I took a dry gulp as I opened Demian’s status window. Please, be there! Please!

All the other characters’ traits are nothing but side traits. They’re mere remnants that I can use to buy some time.

However, Demian’s trait was the most overpowered thing in the entire game. I need it more than anything for this strategy!

And,

[Demian (N)]

– Equipped Traits (1 / 3)

} Thousand-Mile Eyes

It’s there!

This insanely broken trait is still there just like in the game.

[Thousand-Mile Eyes]

– A trait that came to be due to God’s mistake. You are able to see anything that you wish to see and hit anything that you wish to hit.

So broken.

One might not fully understand how overpowered it is simply from its description, in the game, it grants the unit 50 extra vision blocks and a +999 accuracy value.

Due to how accuracy works in the game, when an attack’s accuracy value goes over 100, the attack will hit no matter what. And this trait grants a 999 value.

This means that the attack will hit in any circumstances. An arrow shot from one end of the map will accurately hit the target even if it’s as small as the eye of a needle.

However, there was a problem.. Demian, the possessor of this trait, was a healing priest.

Back in the game, the kind of equipment that could be equipped was systematically limited depending on the character’s class.

Demian, who was a priest, could only equip a staff, and the skill he had was just an average healing skill that normal N-rank units have.

Healing-type skills never fail to hit the target, so the +999 accuracy value would prove to be completely useless there.

There was no way to put this trait to use in the game. It was only a mean joke added by the developers.

‘However, this is reality.’

I can put it to use.

I can put it to use, real good.

‘A game exists to be cleared.’

The cards I had in my head were sorted out, and they started to form the best kind of strategy at hand.

‘You dare to throw me in the middle of an unclearable stage?’

Grin.

I smiled without realizing it.

It was the smile I put on my face every time I thought of a strategy that will clear a nearly unclearable stage. It was also the smile that would make my viewers beg me to turn my cam off.

“Then I’ll have to use some kind of cheat..!”

Just you wait, whoever threw me into this damned place.

I’ll clear this shitty game no matter what. And I’ll grab you by your collar and throw you to the ground..!

* * *

Mid credit:

[Translator: Dawn]

[Proofreader: Alissa]

Join our discord for release updates!

* * *

And back to the present.

I glanced at Lily, Ken, and Demian.

“Lily. You were attacked with a sharp weapon when you were a child, correct?”

Lily’s eyes widened.

“H-how did you know that?”

“It was a wound you got when the goblins attacked your village. After that, you developed a phobia of sharp weapons, so you can’t even use a kitchen knife at home.”

“....”

“But you also acquired something from it.”

I took the dagger out of my sheathe and stabbed the back of Lily’s hand.

“Eek?!”

Taken by surprise, nobody was able to react on time. Lily just froze there with a horrified expression.

Crash!

The dagger passed through Lily’s hand and lodged in the desk. The back of Lily’s hand, which the dagger had passed through, fluttered like a flame.

“After the incident, you acquired this trait, Fire Skin.”

“....”

“As long as you have sufficient mana, you are able to dodge all physical attacks. Am I wrong?”

Lily, trembling, slowly nodded her head. I pulled out the dagger again and put it back in my sheathe.

“I’m sorry for proving it through a rough method.”

“N-no, Your Highness. It’s fine. But how did you know about this..?”

“That’s not the most important thing right now.”

After equivocating, I turned my head to Ken.

“Ken.”

“Y-yes, Your Highness?!”

Ken thought I was going to stab him too, so he flinched to dodge the attack. I smiled and gave him a chin gesture.

“You were a thief when you were young, correct?”

“....?!”

“You came from the slums and had quite a few family members to support. It must have been difficult to feed the whole family through stealing.”

Ken couldn’t reply as he stood stiff on the spot, but that alone was enough of an answer for me. I nodded my head.

“You made a living by stealing, and as soon as you became an adult, you volunteered as a soldier. After that, you relentlessly made contributions to the country and climbed up to the knight’s position. You must’ve gone through a lot of trouble.

“Uh, uhm. H-how did you..”

“As I’ve already said, the important thing isn’t how I found out. It’s about what you can do with it.”

I made eye contact with Ken’s trembling eyes.

“If you put your mind to it, you can hide from the eyes around you, right?”

“....”

“Answer me. Or should I try to prove it here?”

“N-no, Your Highness. You are correct. I-I can do that.”

“Alright, then. You’re perfectly capable of carrying out the mission I just gave you.”

Turning away from Ken who was frozen, I looked at Demian, the last, who was squatting in the corner.

“Demian.”

“....”

“You have good eyes, correct? Maybe even a little ‘excessive’.”

Demian glanced at me with a blank gaze. I squatted in front of him.

“That’s why you can clearly remember what your friend’s death was like.”

“....”

“Even now, it’s so vivid that it feels like you can touch it right before you. And that’s why you’re crying right now?”

Demian remained silent for a long time without answering. I waited.

“..H-he was a friend from my hometown. From the same orphanage.”

Demian opened his mouth a few minutes later. With a dry voice.

“The orphanage was a terrible place.. When I was 15, Van and I escaped from there.”

Apparently, the dead friend’s name was Van. I listened quietly.

“Van was very talented as a swordsman. I was lucky enough to have the aptitude to become a healer. We survived every day as mercenaries, earning just enough to feed ourselves.”

“....”

“I am a third-class mercenary who is afraid of monsters and is terrified every time I see blood. But Van, who had already become a first-class mercenary, led me out of that. We even promised to earn more money so we could feed our siblings back in the orphanage by working hard together.”

Demian covered his face with both hands.

“But he died. He died.”

“....”

“I was attacked by a black spider while I was exhausted. Van pushed me away and took the attack himself. He was torn apart right in front of my eyes! Just so he could save someone like me!”

Demian howled, and the other party members looked at him with bewildered faces.

“He wasn’t supposed to die in a place like this. He had a dream, and he had the ability to achieve that dream. But in a place like this, like this..”

“....”

“Why did you bring us here, Your Highness? Why? Did you have some kind of a grand goal in mind? Or are our cheap lives nothing more than just entertainment for you?”

Tears started flowing down again from Demian’s dry eyes.

“Bring Van back. Bring.. my friend back..”

I silently listened to everything Demian had to say, and then briefly nodded my head.

“You can blame me, Demian. You can even despise me if you want to.”

I put my hand on Demian’s trembling shoulder.

“However, your friend threw away his life in order to save yours.”

“....”

“So are you just going to sit here and wait for your demise?”

Demian’s trembling started to lessen. I put more strength in my voice.

“Are you going to give up on your life just because you’re at death’s door because of a trash commander?”

“I..”

“You need to resist.”

I put more strength into my grip on Demian’s shoulder.

“You have to take revenge!”

“....”

“You have to kill the spiders, make it out of here alive! And then teach me a lesson.”

Grin.

I twisted my lips and asked in a soft tone.

“Demian, do you want to kill those damned spiders?”

Demian’s big eyes in the blood-stained glasses still seemed uneasy, but they weren’t shaking anymore.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to kill me as well?”

The other party members were startled by my question.

Demian’s thought process was very short, and the answer was straightforward.

“..Yes.”

“Good.”

I released my hand from Demian’s shoulder and pointed at myself with my thumb.

“I promise, if we make it out of here alive, I’ll have you be the one to take my life, whenever that may be.”

“Your Highness?!”

Lucas, surprised by my remarks, tried to say something, but I stretched my hand and stopped him.

“If the plan fails, then we all die here. However, even in that case, I’ll make sure that you will be the one to take my life. This is a promise in the name of the imperial family.”

“....”

“So.. Just for tomorrow, one day. Please follow my orders.”

Demian’s eyes that were looking up at me gradually calmed down. I laughed contentedly.

Sometimes, it is necessary to use hatred as fuel.

Even if that hatred is toward me.

Demian staggered his feet and stood up straight.

I looked around with a smile at the four party members who were looking at me.

Finally, my hand is complete.

“Alright, everyone.”

I have no idea if this hand will prove to be a royal straight flush, a flush, or just complete garbage.

All I have left to do is, go all in.

“Then, starting now, I shall command the operation!”