WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 26: Misfortune Piles Up

──────

When people are startled, they instinctively scream.

I was no different after getting stabbed out of nowhere while dead asleep, except for one thing.

“Cough, kahk!”

I tried to cry out on reflex, but blood surged up from the stab wound and spilled from my mouth instead.

Fighting through the pain, I grabbed the blade lodged in my neck and kicked the person straddling me away with all my strength.

-Thud!

The unknown attacker flew several meters and rolled across the ground. I used that opening to pull the dagger from my neck and get to my feet.

-Drip, drip!

It was a short dagger. Either it wasn't a very good weapon, or my defense was high enough that it hadn't gone in deep enough to be fatal.

Still, fuck. I was bleeding like crazy. Was it really okay to pull that out?

I clamped a hand over the wound in my neck and looked around, trying to hold on as best I could. It didn't take long to see who had attacked me.

“Damn it... That idiot couldn't even do one simple thing right!”

I'd already had a rough idea after being stabbed with a dagger, but the attacker wasn't a monster.

The Expedition Team Members stood there with tense expressions, weapons in hand. The one I'd sent flying earlier was another Non-Player Character.

“Cough, you fucking bastards...”

I'd thought their behavior was a little strange, but I never imagined they'd been getting ready to stab me in the back.

I'd heard in the community that certain quest routes could make specific Non-Player Characters hostile.

But I'd never heard of Non-Player Characters pretending to be friendly just to assassinate a Challenger.

“I'm sorry about this, but don't hold it against us too much.”

They stabbed a sleeping man in the neck, then told me not to resent them. I couldn't understand that kind of bullshit.

“You're far too strong for us to handle. We couldn't ignore the possibility that you'd take the treasure from us.”

Windsor was still as talkative as ever, even in a situation like this. Most of the stuff he kept muttering wasn't worth hearing.

These guys assumed any adventurer would naturally be greedy for treasure.

On top of that, they thought they wouldn't be able to stop me if I decided to slaughter the Expedition Team Members and keep the treasure for myself.

Honestly, they weren't entirely wrong. I was interested in that weapon that wields lightning, after all.

“Besides, what kind of adventurer wanders through a place like this alone? Isn't it more likely that you're a wanted bandit?”

It was absurd, but listening to him, it made a certain amount of sense.

In the end, being a solo player was the problem again.

If I hadn't been a solo player, I wouldn't have become strong enough for these guys to be wary of me in the first place.

“If you'd fallen for a trap before getting here, we wouldn't have needed to do this... but there aren't any traps left now.”

Oh, is that so?

I'd wondered why there had been so many traps. Had these bastards been setting off every trap they came across?

I'd heard enough. I took my hand off my neck and drew my sword.

[Combat Healing Lv.1]

Combat Healing was the passive skill I'd acquired after nearly dying in the second-floor boss fight.

Its effect was constant HP regeneration.

While Windsor had been running his mouth, the wound from the dagger had mostly healed.

That bastard really talked too much.

* * *

Before I could move after taking my hand from my neck, someone else made the first move.

“B-Blow up!”

One of the Non-Player Characters threw something that looked like a black stone. I didn't know what it was, but apparently it exploded.

The object, which I guessed was a bomb, struck the wall behind me and burst into flames with a loud bang.

It seemed closer to a firebomb than an actual bomb. Even if it had hit me, it probably wouldn't have been a big problem.

“Yaaah!”

Maybe they had figured out what was happening after seeing the wound on my neck close up, because the Non-Player Characters rushed at me all at once.

Come to think of it, these guys had each grabbed weapons and prepared to fight when the Lizardmen appeared.

Since they had prepared for battle instead of running, they must have been confident they could handle at least one Lizardman.

How else could they set up camp in Lizardman territory if they weren't even capable of that much?

-Crack!

I knocked down the Non-Player Character swinging an axe, then punched another one rushing in behind them in the jaw.

I hadn't even hit that hard, but something made a nasty breaking sound.

Maybe it was because I fought Lizardmen all the time, but Non-Player Character bodies felt like crackers that snapped apart too easily.

The axeman got back up, grabbed a rock, and charged at me barehanded.

“What the fuck are you doing?”

-Thunk!

The sword I swung casually buried itself deep in the Non-Player Character's forearm. Red blood dripped down.

Come to think of it, this was my first time fighting an enemy that looked human.

Goblins and Kobolds aside, even Werewolves and Lizardmen didn't really look human.

None of the monsters I'd fought so far had even been close to a human's size.

Goblins were too small, Kobolds were pretty scrawny, and Lizardmen were the closest to humans.

Even then, their average height was over two meters, so it still felt like I was fighting a completely different species.

“Argh!”

Seeing the Non-Player Character scream while bleeding red blood left me with mixed feelings.

What made killing these guys any different from murder?

I had the chance to finish them, but the moment that thought crossed my mind, my hand froze.

As if they had been waiting for exactly that moment, another Non-Player Character charged at me with a dagger.

Looking closer, it was the one I'd knocked flying earlier.

“Just stay down.”

-Crunch!

I kicked the charging Non-Player Character in the pit of the stomach.

The Non-Player Character spat something from their mouth. I hurriedly covered my face with my shield and stepped back.

It definitely wasn't saliva, and there was no reason to spit water in a situation like this. Was it poison or something?

Wait, poison?

Come to think of it, the edge of my vision had been wavering slightly for a while now.

If they used poison, it wouldn't have been strange for them to coat the dagger with it before stabbing me.

It had already been strange that I'd fallen asleep so soon after eating the meat soup. They must have mixed something into that too.

“Fuck.”

I didn't have an antidote in my inventory. Ordinary potions only healed wounds.

I had no idea how strong the poison was, but I didn't know what would happen if this dragged on.

Why was I hesitating just because they looked human? These bastards were all Non-Player Characters anyway.

I could sort out my complicated thoughts after I made sure I was safe.

For now, I'd kill them all.

* * *

Maybe it was because I didn't know what would happen to me at any moment.

Even after killing six human-looking beings, I felt surprisingly little about it.

There was one more surprising thing, too.

[In Search of the Ruins' Treasure - Expedition Leader Windsor]

[Quest Objectives]

1. Join the expedition team (Completed).

2. Explore the ruins (Completed).

3. Discover the true nature of the treasure.

The quest was still progressing even though I'd killed the Non-Player Character who gave it to me.

Then again, none of the quest objectives said anything about whether Windsor lived or died.

Since the ruins exploration was marked complete, it seemed like the treasure was only a little farther beyond this cavern.

But now wasn't the time to continue the quest.

“Whew...”

Cold sweat had been pouring down my body for a while. The dagger had definitely been coated in poison.

The area around my healed neck wound burned as though it had been scorched.

I didn't know if it was lethal poison, but there was no way I could fight the ruins boss in this condition.

Windsor had said there were no traps left in the ruins.

If that was true, getting back to the village shouldn't be too difficult. I'd head back first and buy an antidote or something.

-Step, step, step.

Moving around too actively might make the poison spread faster, so I walked at a steady pace.

Even so, the poison gradually spread through my body.

My fingertips began to tingle, and my movements grew stiff, as though it had a paralysis effect.

Then heat started building in my head, followed by a headache. My stomach also began to hurt as though I'd eaten something bad.

I drank recovery potions regularly, hoping they would help even a little, but they didn't seem to make any difference.

Fuck, this was my first time being poisoned... It was worse than I'd imagined.

The pain itself wasn't that bad, but the worst part was feeling worse as more time passed.

“Whew, fuck.”

As I cursed under my breath and walked faster, I soon saw the entrance to the ruins.

Then I heard what sounded like a commotion coming from that direction. Had other Expedition Team Members arrived?

Just in case, I gripped my sword and shield as I approached the entrance. The source of the noise quickly revealed itself.

-Keruk, keruk!

Outside the ruins, dozens of Lizardmen were encamped.

Unlike the Lizardmen I'd fought until now, every one of them was heavily armed.

Their weapons all gleamed with razor-sharp edges, and many wore metal armor.

The stripes marked on their shoulders were blue.

According to the Lizardmen's rank system Windsor had told me about, they were all Intermediate Lizardman Warriors.

There weren't just one-stripe warriors either. Plenty had two or three stripes.

A few High-Rank Warrior Lizardmen wearing red stripes were mixed in as well.

“Fuck my life.”

In other words, I was completely fucked.

Footnotes:

Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried