#048
With a somewhat gloomy feeling, I gripped my only weapon in my hand—the one I hadn’t even managed to put away after the day’s battle. Thanks to my combat level rising and feeding it plenty of enhancement stones, it had become much sturdier and sharper, but it was still just a sword. It wasn’t an appropriate weapon for dealing with swarms attacking in groups like this.
‘Am I really going to die this time?’
The most serious issue was that the effects of the Tranquility Potion were finally wearing off. Day by day, my tension levels increased and I even started getting headaches. Every moment danger approached, my anxiety surged to near-panic levels, and when I was alone on night watch, I was gripped by indescribable unease.
Physically, I was already a wreck. I was covered in sand from head to toe, and my torn clothes had seriously reduced defense capabilities. The cooling bands and stamina potions had run out long ago. To conserve the insufficient healing potions, I’d left minor wounds untreated, resulting in scars forming all over my body.
I’d been able to endure until now thanks to the snack box Taro had shared. The frozen fruit in the snack box didn’t just restore stamina—it also helped cool down my heated body temperature. (I would have been in serious trouble if I’d really refused the snack box!)
I took out a frozen strawberry I’d saved in my pocket for battle and put it in my mouth. Cool energy spread throughout my body while fatigue lessened. My depleted stamina was filling up.
“I’ll try running as far as we can go!”
Taro shouted. Once again, stepping on the accelerator was faster than words. Having become somewhat able to predict this, I grabbed the handle in advance and pressed my body firmly against the backrest, preparing for impact. Even so, when the car shot forward like a bullet, my body was pushed back as if it would be buried in the backrest.
CRASH CRASH CRASH CRASH BANG!
Crack-crack, crack-crack.
As soon as we entered the black sand, small scorpions covered the vehicle like a black swarm. It felt like entering a black curtain. I could no longer see ahead. The rattling noise, like hail pouring on a tin roof, was so loud I thought I’d go insane.
My heightened senses triggered alarms. Tinnitus rang and headache split my head. My heart was beating so fast I started getting short of breath.
‘Shibal, Tranquility Potion…’
In the midst of extreme tension, the car suddenly turned and came to an abrupt stop. I hadn’t fastened my seatbelt while preparing for battle. This time I hadn’t predicted it at all, so my body bounced up and nearly rolled sideways. If a reflexively extended hand hadn’t caught me, I definitely would have tumbled pathetically.
“Th-thanks.”
I expressed my gratitude feeling somewhat dazed. Carlisle immediately pushed me away and looked at his own hand with a frown.
“Tch.”
“……”
Did he really need to click his tongue? Even without saying it, his face clearly showed he was thinking ‘Why did I do such a thing.’ It seemed like a reflexive action that came out unconsciously.
Instead of scolding me, Carlisle asked curtly toward the front.
“What’s wrong?”
“Something suddenly appeared in front.”
Taro answered while moving the windshield wipers. As the black scorpion swarm was cleared away, through the briefly clean window I caught a glimpse of what looked like a wall blocking the path. It seemed like a giant pillar or a centuries-old tree trunk had fallen.
“What is that?”
It was absurd. Where did such a pillar suddenly appear in a desert that seemed to have nothing but sand and monsters?
“Looks like a cactus.”
At Taro’s words, I gaped. I was about to say ‘what kind of cactus is that big’ when I remembered this was a world inside a game. Well, there are cacti several meters tall in reality too, so here it goes without saying.
“Should we do a clean sweep?”
At Carlisle’s muttering, Taro pressed something. At the same time, Carlisle’s large hand covered my eyes.
“Huh, why…?”
Flash.
“Ugh.”
Even with my eyes covered, I felt intense light.
Sizzle-crack.
Sounds like something frying, or dry branches crackling in fire, rang out noisily in all directions. As soon as Carlisle’s quite hot hand left my face, I gaped.
‘What just happened?’
My vision had suddenly cleared. All the black scorpions covering the car windows had disappeared. Charred scorpion corpses still writhing blackly were scattered on the ground. The car body had probably sent out powerful electric current or something.
“Opening roof!”
With Taro’s shout, the ceiling began to open. Once again, battle was beginning.
Carlisle stepped on his seat and sprang up, scattering something in all directions. Rising flames encircled the surroundings. While the scorpions that had been swarming hesitated, Carlisle fired rapidly at the cactus lying across the path. As holes were drilled rata-tat-tat into the seemingly dead black trunk, dark green sap spurted out like blood.
My face automatically scrunched at the intense fishy smell. It wasn’t a scent that should come from a plant. Nausea rose and even breathing became difficult. The sound of monsters exploding made me dizzy with an upset stomach.
The cactus with countless holes in its trunk groaned “Grrrrrr” in pain and writhed like a giant snake. Branches covered with thorns reached toward Carlisle like animal limbs. Without even glancing at the branches, Carlisle continued shooting only at the trunk.
Swoosh.
I was the one who barely managed to swing my sword and cut off a branch. Even though I was dizzy, I had to do something. Sap spurted from the cut branch too. Since I’d cut it at close range, both Carlisle and I were drenched in sticky sap.
‘Ugh…’
I barely suppressed the rising nausea.
Hissss…
Spouting white smoke, my shabby clothes began burning away. The anticipated pain arrived. Carlisle would be fine wearing his special combat coat and suit, but my situation was different.
‘Shibal…’
I became dizzy from the extreme pain of my flesh burning. I could feel the color draining from my face myself. Without Tranquility Potion, even enduring the pain wasn’t easy. My head flickered. I had to grit my teeth to avoid losing consciousness.
Since I’d made a promise, I believed Carlisle would keep me alive until we recovered the Fragment of the Sacred Tree in this expedition, but pain was separate. This was something I had to endure somehow.
“Graaaaaah…”
Fortunately, I wasn’t the only one experiencing unbearable pain. The giant cactus that had been enduring the ordeal of having its branches cut and trunk pierced finally let out a groan and slowly withdrew its body.
‘Is the path clear now?’
Thinking this, I relaxed my body slightly. My shoulders and jaw hurt from being too tense. The problem was that crises always struck when tension was released.
Something poured down from the front like rain accompanied by a gale—no, like arrows. The cactus had started shooting out thorns. I thought I should dodge, but my body froze momentarily. Like in the early tutorial, my body stopped listening to me.
“Tch.”
Even amid all the noise that seemed like it would drive me insane, the sound of Carlisle clicking his tongue was clearly audible. The moment he grabbed me and pulled me into his arms felt like slow motion. Despite the external heat, Carlisle’s body temperature, which still felt warm, enveloped my entire body.
Carlisle fell into the car while wrapping me in his coat. As soon as we took cover, the roof closed and the car charged forward.
While the giant cactus was crouching, the car raced through the briefly created gap. I was in a dazed state. When I opened my eyes that I’d reflexively squeezed shut, Carlisle’s face was right above me.
His eyes were thoroughly scanning my body as I lay there. His slightly furrowed gaze was quite sharp—too sharp to pick a fight asking what he was looking at. Somehow it seemed like he was checking if I was injured anywhere. That couldn’t be right. Well, it would be troublesome if I died right before reaching our goal, so maybe that was it.
While following the movement of his pupils, I met his gaze as it swept up from below. Being somewhat out of it, I stared blankly into those eyes. I don’t know how long we stayed like that. It seemed like my frantically beating heart slowed down just for a moment.
The furrow between his brows deepened.
“Did you get hit by a thorn?”
“I… don’t think so.”
“Then why are you so out of it?”
“Uh… just because?”
Since I couldn’t think of anything appropriate to explain, I answered while still dazed, and his eyes crinkled sharply.
“It’s not like you want to die.”
Saying this coldly, he pushed my body away.
“Get it together. The battle’s not over yet.”
Following his gaze as he spoke like spitting, I awkwardly raised my upper body and looked ahead. The giant cactus that had blocked us had withdrawn while shooting thorns, but the path that opened wasn’t a clear highway. Between small cacti lined up like shrubs and small scorpions densely filling the spaces between them, a huge black shadow was waiting for us.
A giant scorpion the size of a house.
It was the appearance of a real boss mob.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
